To access the app, it is necessary to complete a user profile. This includes providing your:
These are necessary for individuals to be identified and are only used when providing assistance to you. You can change this information as required in the app and should keep this information up to date. This information is not publicly available nor shared with any other app user or party.
Geolocation data in BEACON is used only for the purpose of staff safety and security. The geolocation function in BEACON is disabled by default. Geolocation only collects data when you enable this feature. A notification is displayed before this happens. When enabled the device geolocation (GPS) data is shared even when the app is closed. This is done in the background. We use this information to provide you location-based services and information that is relevant to you, such as locating you when lost, to provide assistance to you in critical situations, or to notify you of local and changing safety security information.
All geolocation data collected is anonymized after a short time (normally 14 days) and deleted in accordance with your organisation's data retention policy. Only authorized Dashboard users can view your location information as a part of their role in helping to keep you safe.
As a user, you can and are encouraged to submit reports to assist your fellow users and aid your organisation's management of situations. The text and image of the report along with your current location, if enabled is collected. All submitted reports may be assessed by your organisation's Dashboard users who may choose to further disseminate information to other staff facing a similar risk.
You can communicate directly with your organisation's Dashboard users using instant messaging. Details of these communications are stored and then deleted in accordance with the organisation's data retention policy.
Your organisation may collect device and usage specific to your mobile device (e.g., model, operating system, device name). This helps with maintenance, improvements, and new feature development.
Anonymous data from your device is shared with Google Analytics for Firebase, which helps us analyse and improve our mobile app for you. It is used to monitor and provide information about app crashes and other errors.
You can learn more here:
Like many applications, we store log data on your device. You can choose to share this information if asked. This information is only requested as a part of resolving technical issues for you. The logs may contain information that is specific to your device as well as date and time information. We use this data to diagnose issues and analyse the performance of our service. This data is deleted in accordance with our data retention policy.
We follow accepted industry standards to protect any personal information you have provided to us. This includes but is not limited to encrypting all data when transmitted and stored at rest.
You may submit any questions you may have about our security procedures by emailing us at centric@shu.ac.uk.
Consistent with Sheffield Hallam University's Data Protection Principles, BEACON ensures that personal data is kept only as long as required through automated removal processes. Once data is removed, it is usually maintained for a short period (e.g., 28-days) for accountability reasons. Data may also be retained in automated system backups for up to one month, although this data is restricted and not accessible by your organisation except for disaster recovery.
BEACON has default retention policies for each type of data. Your organisation may have changed. You should refer to your organisation's data retention policies.
Sheffield Hallam University's Data Protection Principles can be found here: https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-this-website/privacy-policy/information-governance-policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to check occasionally to inform yourself of any changes. These changes are effective immediately after they are posted on this page. Your continued use of the mobile app after changes have been posted to the Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such changes.
Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments you may have about this Privacy Policy or any requests about your personal information via email to centric@shu.ac.uk.