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Privacy Policy
The Catalyst Magazine/Website is a unique subscription based, international science magazine that provides STEM insight with articles on cutting-edge science, research and interviews, prepared by researchers in academia and industry. It is delivered by STEM Learning.
We take the care of your personal data seriously. This privacy notice is here to explain how the personal data you supply to us is collected and used.
We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information. In this document we will explain:
- Who we are
- What information we collect about you
- Why we collect that information
- How we collect and store that information
- What we use your information for
- On what legal basis we use your information
- Who we share your information with
- How long we keep your information for
- Your rights
- Information about cookies
- About changes to our privacy policy
- How to contact us about your data
If you have any questions at any time about data privacy with Catalyst Magazine please contact us at catalyst@stem.org.uk or write to: The Data Protection Officer, STEM Learning, University of York, York, YO10 5DD.
1. Who we are
The Catalyst Magazine is a subscription based website that enables subscribers to:
- Enrich the curriculum, directly boosting extracurricular activities with dedicated teacher’s notes.
- Excite and engage young people with real stories of up-to-date research and STEM career journeys.
- Encourage teaching, learning and debate among students (14-19 year olds), teachers and technicians.
- STEM Learning Ltd is the UK’s largest provider of education and careers support in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It has a mission to improve lives through world-leading STEM education. For more information, visit www.stem.org.uk.
2. What information we collect about you
We aim to collect only the information that we think is required for the purpose for which we collect it.
We collect and process personal data about you when you interact with us and our products or participate in any of our programmes. The personal data we process may include:
- name;
- shipping address, email address and/ or phone number
- company, payment and invoicing details
- technical information as described below
When you visit our website, we may collect technical information relating to your use of our website, including your browser type or the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet. For more on this please see cookies policy.
As the information we collect about you will be stored on our IT infrastructures, it may also be shared with our data processors who provide email, relationship management, anonymous analytics and storage services.
3. Why we collect that information
We collect your information for the following reasons:
- When you sign up to subscribe to our Catalyst Website/Magazine
- When you visit our website
- When you have made a request for information from us
4. How we collect and store that information
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate, and up to date, and that it is kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used. You should be aware that the use of the internet is not entirely secure, and although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information that is transferred from you or to you via the internet. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features such as encryption to try to prevent unauthorised access.
5. What we use your information for
We collect your data on the occasions listed in section 3, “Why we collect that Information”.
We use the information we have collected to deliver to you information and services connected with the Catalyst Website/Magazine.
6. On what legal basis we use your information
We have a lawful basis for collecting your data as set out in section 3, “Why we collect that Information”, and for using the data for the purposes described in section 5, “What we use your information for”.
Lawful basis may include:
- Where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party. If you fail to provide this information, we may be unable to perform the contract.
- Where it is within legitimate interests to process your information. We know that under this basis of processing, we have a heightened responsibility to keep your interests central and to make sure that your rights as a data subject override our legitimate interest.
- Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
7. Who we share your information with
We never sell your information to any third party.
We do use third parties to process your personal data on our behalf. These third party processors are listed below. We do change these processors from time to time and will do what we can to update this table regularly.
| Third party processor | For what purpose |
| STEM Learning Limited | Business processing, reporting |
| Shopify | Process payments https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy |
| Woocommerce | Manage subscriptions https://automattic.com/privacy/ |
We may share your information with other relevant organisations if you are asked and you agree that your information can be shared in that way.
As part of the services offered to you through the Catalyst Magazine, the information you provide may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. When transferring your information outside of the EU in this way, we take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected. For example, if using a service in the US it is signed up to the EU-US Privacy Shield.
8. How long we keep your information for
We keep your information for no longer than is necessary for our purposes, or for any period required by law, for example for compliance with HMRC requirements, if this is longer. What is necessary will depend on the reason for which the information was collected.
Maximum retention periods
6 months – short term business use e.g. incomplete orders, requests for information
2 years after the last subscription.
Regulatory lifetime – related to financial transactions which are required to be held to comply with other legislation or regulatory requirements.
If you have any questions about how long we keep your information, contact us at datasecurity@stem.org.uk
9. Your rights
Right of access — you have a right to ask us to confirm whether we are processing information about you, and to request access to this information.
Right to rectification — it is your responsibility to see that the information held on the website is up to date. We may also update some information if we identify it is out of date, for example a school closes and reopens with a different name. You may ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate, and you may also ask us to remove information which is inaccurate or incomplete. If you inform us that your personal data is inaccurate, we will inform relevant third parties with whom we have shared your data so that they may update their own records.
In order to ensure we do not hold any out of date information for individuals we regularly remove registered users for whom we do not have a valid email address; this includes those accounts to which the email address has been reported as undeliverable.
Right of portability — you have a right to obtain your personal data from us and reuse it for your own purposes.
Right to be forgotten — You have a right to seek the erasure of your data, for example where it is no longer necessary for us to continue holding or processing your personal data. This right is not absolute, as we may need to continue processing this information to comply with a legal obligation.
Right to restriction — you have a right to ask us to restrict our processing of your information if:
- You contest its accuracy and we need to verify whether it is accurate.
- You ask us to restrict use of it instead of deleting it.
- We no longer need the information for the purpose of processing, but you need it to establish or defend legal claims.
- You have objected to processing of your information being necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. The restriction would apply while we carry out a balancing act between your rights and our legitimate interests. If you exercise your right to restrict processing, we would still need to process your information for the purpose of exercising or defending legal claims, for the purpose of protecting the rights of another person, or for public interest reasons.
Accessing your personal information — you can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’. If we do hold information about you we will:
- give you a description of it
- tell you why we are holding it
- tell you who it could be disclosed to
- let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form
To make a request for any personal information we may hold or exercise any of your rights, you need to put the request in writing addressing it to: The Data Protection Officer, STEM Learning, University of York, York, YO10 5DD.
We may ask for your help in locating specific information and confirming your identity. We will act in accordance with your instructions as soon as reasonably possible, and there will be no charge.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
Our use of your data processed in the UK is regulated by the Information Commissioner. You have a right to report any of your concerns about our use of your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office.