Want to know more about our support?

About

This notice was last updated on 23 May 2024.

This privacy notice is a statement that describes how and why Invest Northern Ireland processes (‘collects’, ‘uses’, ‘retains’, ‘discloses’, ‘disposes of’) personal data.

This notice applies to customers using our services and covers our website and cookie policy. It also explains how you can control how we use your information in accordance with your rights under relevant data protection legislation.

Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) processes personal data in accordance with our obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR') and the Data Protection Act 2018 ('DPA').

This notice is written to comply with requirements under both DPA and GDPR, however, elements may be revised on occasion to reflect any changes to Invest NI's data processing or to follow relevant guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We shall update this notice to reflect any such changes.

Data Controller

Invest NI is the data controller (ICO Registration number: Z6586089) for the personal data we process as detailed within this Privacy Notice. 

Invest NI regards the lawful and correct handling of personal and business sensitive information as essential to its successful operation and to maintaining confidence of its customers. To this end, Invest NI maintains an Information Security Management System certified to the international security standard ISO 27001 to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of corporate information, including personal data entrusted to us by our customers and stakeholders.

Further detail on our data processing arrangements can be found in the Invest NI Information Security Handbook (PDF).

How we process data

This section details the purpose and categories under which we collect data, the data we hold, what we do with the data and how we retain the data. We will never share your information other than for the purpose for which it was provided to us (economic development activities).

Invest NI’s statutory functions include the requirement to promote the activities of the organisation. Therefore promotional and marketing activities will be carried out in the exercise of our official authority. You can unsubscribe at any time by selecting the ‘unsubscribe’ link within each email. We will never sell your personal data.

We use online advertising services provided by Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Invest NI does not collect or store any personal information which may be used by the providers in their delivery of these services.

When conducting promotional activities Invest NI will capture photographs and videos that identify people. Our legal basis for this activity is in the exercise of our official authority (the promotion of Invest NI role and remit). We will ensure that attendees are fully aware of the photography taking place and ensure that individuals have an option not to appear within a photograph. Images taken for promotional purposes will be shared with media outlets, our economic development partners, used on our websites and promoted through social media platforms. These images will be retained in line with our retention and disposal schedule however if you wish an image of you to be removed at any time please contact dpo@investni.com. We will also make use of quotes provided by customer representatives when publicising Invest NI supported projects.

Invest NI also engages in lead generation or prospecting activity to promote Northern Ireland and attract businesses to Northern Ireland. This mainly focusses on corporations but as part of this activity we will collect information on key decision makers such as a company’s owners and senior management team, including name, job title, contact details and biographical information. This may be collected from:

  • Mutual acquaintances.
  • Public sources, for example social media platforms (such as LinkedIn or Facebook) or publicly available sources (such as Companies House and other business-related resources, databases, the World-Wide-Web, publications and news articles).
  • Business cards, promotional materials, brochures and attendee lists associated with sector specific conferences or events available for the public and businesses to participate in.

This information is placed on our CRM system and is kept in line with our records retention and disposal schedule (PDF). When this data is collected from third party sources, we will issue a notification to the individuals within one month to promote transparency of our processing.

Invest NI uses website visitor ID services provided by Visual Visitor LLC for prospecting and lead generation purposes in the USA. This enables us to identify the companies who are visiting our website. This service is only active if you consent to enabling our optional analytics cookies. Data relating to website visitors from outside the USA is deleted immediately following identification of their geographic location, and no further processing is conducted on non-USA visitors. An International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) is in place with the US-based service provider.

Invest NI’s Americas team use clear pixel tokens within prospecting emails to understand if their messages are being received. These pixel tokens collect the location the email was opened from, the open date and time, total times opened, and how long it took for the recipient to open it. Emails sent using this technology clearly state that tracking is active and recipients are provided with the opportunity to opt out of future emails being tracked.

Your rights

This section details your rights and the circumstances in which they apply in relation to the personal information we process about you.

To exercise any of these rights please send an email to dpo@investni.com . To learn more about these rights, please visit the ICO website.

Contacting us

To contact Invest NI with a data protection query regarding the processing of your personal data, or to exercise any of your rights noted above, please send an email to dpo@investni.com or write to:

Data Protection Officer
Information Governance Team
Invest NI
Bedford Square
Bedford Street
Belfast
BT2 7ES

Making a complaint about how your data is processed

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of how Invest NI processes your personal data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
T: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
F: 01625 524 510
E: casework@ico.org.uk
W: https://ico.org.uk/

If you require a copy of this notice in an alternative format (including braille, disk, audio cassette or in minority languages to meet the needs of those who are not fluent in English), then please contact the Equality Team on:  
 
T: 028 9069 8273
E: equality@investni.com
Text phone: 028 9069 8273