Student Policies and Regulations

Student Data Protection Complaint Procedures

The Student Data Protection Complaint Procedures enable you to bring matters of concern regarding the processing of your personal data to the attention of The Open University, and provide mechanisms through which those concerns may be resolved.

This document outlines the different routes to make a complaint about data protection including:

Making a complaint about The Open University’s processing of your personal data (Section 3).

Making a complaint about how we have handled a data protection request (Section 4).

Making a general complaint which also includes data protection (Section 5).

Each complaint route comprises different stages. Our aim is to resolve most problems and difficulties as quickly and easily as possible at the earliest stage within the process. It is important that you raise any concerns you may have as soon as possible.

The Open University is committed to investigating and resolving data protection complaints fairly and in accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance on data protection complaints. No student who brings a genuine complaint under this procedure will be disadvantaged by The Open University, regardless of the outcome. We aim to promote a positive culture whereby students can raise genuine concerns confidently.

Once you have exhausted The Open University’s internal procedures, if you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you may raise a complaint directly with the ICO.