Guidance

SMarT privacy information notice

Updated 4 May 2023

This privacy information notice explains how the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) use any personal information we collect about you when your sponsoring company claims for the government funded Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) on your behalf. The MCA will use your personal data as necessary to carry out their public task of administering claims for the government funded SMarT scheme.

Government funded Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) is administered on behalf of the MCA by the administering body (AB), currently MaTSU, an independent unit of Ricardo Energy & Environment. MaTSU is not a policy making body but has an executive role in ensuring that the scheme is operated effectively. MaTSU approves the payment of public funding to approved Training Providers (sponsoring companies) to support the costs of approved training.

1. What information do we collect about you?

The following personal information will be shared with the MCA:

• your full name
• your date of birth
• your place of birth
• your gender
• your nationality
• your contact details including your address and postcode
• your college
• the client company you work for/subsidiary company (where client company is part of a consortium)
• seafarer classification/codes

The MCA will capture this data to support the Department for Transports (DfT) commitment to the Maritime 2050 initiative to grow our maritime workforce and transform their diversity to enhance the UK maritime sector and provide a more diverse place to work both onboard vessels and in maritime jobs ashore.

Capturing this data will enable both the MCA and DfT the ability to monitor the progress of increasing cadet diversity to help develop and implement policy.

This data will be used for statistical analysis only.

2. How we use the information about you?

The personal information collected will be directly related to the course that you are undertaking and the type of training. The information will be used to validate the claim submitted by the Training Provider and ensure a correct match between trainees and claim records and provide a record of training and funding claimed against a named trainee.

The personal information collected will be used to populate anonymised aggregate government statistics.

The personal information collected may be used for the purposes of verifying claims confirming that a CoC has been issued and the issue date.

Bi-annual audits undertaken by MaTSU will take place on individual sponsoring companies and additional information may be selected to ensure scheme compliance and appropriate use of government funding and state aid. If your records are selected, it may be necessary for some of your personal information and additional identification documents to be uploaded to a secure web enabled SMarT portal and retained until the audit has been fully completed within 30 days and for no more than 90 days. Personal information relating to the audit will then be deleted from the SMarT portal after this time.

3. Retaining your information

We will keep your personal information for 10 years from the date that SMarT funding was last granted in relation to you, after which time it will be deleted.

4. Sharing your information

We will not share your personal information with third parties to use for a purpose that is not compatible with the SMarT scheme, unless required or permitted to do so by law.

A copy of your CoC may be provided to the training provider as part of the process.

We use a third-party data processor who provide this service for us. We have a contract in place with our data processor. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.

5. Storing your information

We will securely store your personal information in the UK. We do not routinely transfer data overseas but when this is necessary, we will ensure that we have the appropriate safeguards in place.

6. Automated decision making

We will not use automated decision making or profiling in using your data.

7. Your rights

The UK GDPR sets out a number of rights which individuals have over their personal data, allowing you to request copies of your personal data and, in certain circumstances, to object to it being used for a certain purpose, or to have it deleted or modified. To find out more please see our Personal Information Charter.