Privacy Notice

This policy describes how we collect and use your personal data during your use of this website in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related UK data protection legislation. It also describes how we collect and use personal data of research participants of this study.

Web users

A) Who is using your personal data?

The University of Oxford1 is the “data controller" for the information that we collect when you visit the website. This means that we decide how to use it and are responsible for looking after it in accordance with the GDPR. This website is created and hosted by HURIDOCS on their Uwazi platform, which carries its own privacy policy. This policy only relates to the University of Oxford’s role as controller.

Access to your personal data within the University will be provided to those staff who need to view it as part of their work in connection with the operation of the website. It will also be shared with the third parties described in Section E.

Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. We may update this policy at any time.

B) Glossary

Where we refer in this policy to your ‘personal data’, we mean any recorded information that is about you and from which you can be identified. It does not include data where your identity has been removed (anonymous data).

Where we refer to the ‘processing’ of your personal data, we mean anything that we do with that information, including collection, use, storage, disclosure, deletion or retention.

C) Types of data we collect about you

We will automatically collect, store, and use the following categories of data when you browse and search our site, if you have consented to our use of cookies:

technical information, for example, the type of device (and its unique device identifier) you use to access our site, the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, mobile network information and platform; and

information about your visit to our site including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL), clickstream to, through and from the website (including date and time), pages you viewed, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page.

If you contact us through the contact page, we will also collect whatever personal data you choose to share with us, such as your name and email address.

D) How we use your data

We process your data for purposes arising from your use of the website, for example, to ensure that we understand who uses our site and how our site is used and to improve our site and ensure it is secure or to reply to your message if you contact us. This processing occurs because it is necessary to meet our legitimate interests in operating and improving the website, analysing its use, and ensuring its security.

We will only use your data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another related reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your data for an unrelated purpose, we will seek your consent to use it for that new purpose.

E) Sharing your data with third parties

We may share your data with third parties who provide services on our behalf, such as those who help us to operate the website. All our third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your data in line with our policies. We do not allow them to use your data for their own purposes. We permit them to process your data only for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

We may also share your personal data with third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our site terms of use or to protect the rights, property or safety of our site, our users, and others.

Where your data is shared with third parties, we will seek to share the minimum amount necessary.

F) Where we store or use your data

We may store data collected by the website manually or electronically. The data is stored on our secure servers and/or in our premises within the UK. Data held by HURIDOCS will be held on their own servers.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to the website and any transmission is at your own risk.

G) Third party websites

Our site contains links to and from various third party websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

H) Retaining your data

We will only retain your data for as long as we need it to fulfil our purposes, including any relating to legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

I) Your rights

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

  • Request access to your data

    (commonly known as a "subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of your data and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

  • Request correction of your data.

    This enables you to ask us to correct any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you.

  • Request erasure of your data.

    This enables you to ask us to delete or remove your data under certain circumstances, for example, if you consider that there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your data where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).

  • Object to processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interests (or those of a third party)

    and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground.

  • Request the restriction of processing of your data.

    This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your data, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.

  • Request the transfer of your data to another party

    Depending on the circumstances and the nature of your request it may not be possible for us to do what you have asked, for example, where there is a statutory or contractual requirement for us to process your data and it would not be possible to fulfil our legal obligations if we were to stop. Further information on your rights is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

    If you want to exercise any of the rights described above or are dissatisfied with the way we have used your information, you should contact the University’s Information Compliance Team at data.protection@admin.ox.ac.uk. The same email address may be used to contact the University’s Data Protection Officer. We will seek to deal with your request without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.

    If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

J) Cookies

Our site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our site. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our site and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.

K) Changes to this policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

L) Contact

If you wish to raise any queries or concerns about this privacy policy please contact the Information Compliance Team by email at data.protection@admin.ox.ac.uk or by post at University of Oxford, University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JD.

Research Participants

A) Who is organising and funding this research?

This research is organised by Death Penalty Research Unit of the University of Oxford Centre for Criminology. It is funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Award (IAA).

This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: R84074/RE001).

B) What is the purpose of this study?

This study will be carried out by the Death Penalty Research Unit to consider the plight of foreign nationals under sentence of death or executed across Asia and the Middle East. It will gather case data and information on foreign nationals imprisoned under sentence of death or executed across Asia and the Middle East from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2021, on the characteristics that might expose them to discrimination and disadvantage, and on what support and services are offered to them by the authorities in the countries of detention in Asia and the Middle East and by their own governments, NGOs, and legal representatives.

C) How will data be collected?

As there is a practical limit to the primary involvement of data subjects in this project, given that they are detained on death row in jurisdictions in which direct communications with death row prisoners are either impossible or very strictly limited, the data will be collected through two processes: i) via partner NGOs and ii) from online sources. Where it is collected through partner NGOs, partners will share secondary data files with the research team; where it is collected through online sources, the research will be undertaken by the research team from public sources such as news/media websites, publicly-available court records or from reports made available by other NGOs or international institutions.

D) What will happen with the data that has been collected?

The data that is collected will be collated and entered into our database. This data will then be analysed, checked for duplicates and inconsistencies and triangulated to improve accuracy. Where data is collected on individuals whose cases are considered to be more sensitive or whose cases are not documented by public sources, data will be restricted in order to pseudonymise the individual. However, in some circumstances it might be possible for someone to reidentify a participant if they are well-acquainted with the cases.

A redacted version of this data will then be uploaded to the HURIDOCS Uwazi platform for dissemination. We will also use the data to write research outputs, again using publicly-appropriate redacted versions of the data, depending on individual case situations. These processing activities are carried out under the University’s legitimate interests to carry out research.

All research data and records will be stored for a period of 10 years after publication. After this time, the data may be destroyed, if it is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected, following the university’s policy on the destruction of confidential data. However, the data may be held for longer to facilitate ongoing research.

E) Data protection

The University of Oxford is the data controller with respect to any personal data, and as such will determine how personal data is used in the study. The University will process personal data for the purpose of the research outlined above. Research is a task that is performed in the public interest. Further information about your rights with respect to your personal data is available at https://compliance.admin.ox.ac.uk/individual-rights.

F) Who do I contact if I have a concern about the study or I wish to complain?

If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, please contact the head of the Death Penalty Research Unit, Professor Carolyn Hoyle (carolyn.hoyle@crim.ox.ac.uk), and she will do her best to answer your query. She will acknowledge your concern within 10 working days and give you an indication of how it will be dealt with. If you remain unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint, please contact the Chair of the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Oxford who will seek to resolve the matter as soon as possible:

The Chair, Social Sciences & Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee; Email: ethics@socsci.ox.ac.uk; Address: Research Services, University of Oxford, Boundary Brook House, Churchill Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7GB

G) Further Information and Contact Details

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this research with someone please contact: Professor Carolyn Hoyle (Carolyn.Hoyle@crim.ox.ac.uk).

[1] The University’s legal title is the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford

Partners

Funded by