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Data Privacy Notice

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Statement of Privacy Policy 

ASIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, INC. (ATS) is committed to protecting the privacy of its data subjects and ensuring the safety and security of personal data under its control and custody. This policy provides information on what data is gathered by ATS about its current, past, and prospective students; how it will use and process this; how it will keep this secure; and how it will dispose of it when it is no longer needed. This information is provided in compliance with the Philippine Republic Act No. 10173, also known as, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (DPA-IRR). It sets out ATS’ data protection practices designed to safeguard the personal information of individuals it deals with, and to inform such individuals of their rights under the Act.  

This Privacy Notice may be amended at any time without prior notice, and such amendments will be notified to you via ATS’ website or by email.  

Privacy Notice 

Information Collected 

ATS collects, stores, and processes personal data from its current, past, and prospective students, starting with the information provided at application through to information collected throughout the whole course of student study at the school.

  • Permanent Student Academic Records, including transcripts and the academic history of the student in ATS
  • Personal data and education records, i.e., student’s school works, needed at set-up, and collected while using Podio, Office 365, GSuite for Education and Google services, learning management systems and online learning tools.
  • Personal data required at set-up; and video, audio, chats/shared screens, and non-verbal reactions of video call participants taken during video conferences, which may be recorded. Recordings shall be limited to video recording of classes, new student orientations, public online forums, and video conferences for educational and ATS community building purposes.

ATS also collects, stores, and processes necessary personal data from ministry partners, starting with the information provided whenever they send donation, love gifts and gifts-in-kind to ATS. Ministry Partners, however are covered by the Donations Policy of the Seminary. 

Use of Information 

The collected personal information is utilized solely for the following purposes: 

  • Processing of admission application and student selection 
  • Verifying authenticity of student records and documents
  • Supporting student learning, and validating students’ program of study based on curriculum requirements, and other activities and experiences forming part of the student’s formation and education
  • Marketing and promotions of ATS, its students, employees, and other academic and non-academic student and/or school activities inside and outside the campus
  • Enabling distance learning and learning from home facilitated by Office 365, GSuite for Education, and other learning management systems and online learning tools
  • Supporting synchronous learning via video conferences, using tools such as Zoom or Google Meet or MS Teams, so that teachers and students can interact face-to-face even while they are in different locations. 
  • Processing of official receipts, certificate of donations and other notarized certifications and reports for ministry partners.
  • Donor Relations purposes.  

Information Sharing 

Personal data under the custody of ATS shall be disclosed only to authorized recipients of such data. Otherwise, we will share your personal data with third parties, other than your parents and/or guardian on record for minors, only with your consent, or when required or permitted by our policies and applicable law, such as with: 

  • Regulatory authorities, courts, and government agencies, e.g., Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, etc.
  • The Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, a service organization which accredits academic programs that meet commonly accepted standards of quality education.
  • Service Providers who perform services for us and help us support your learning, monitor, and report on your progress, manage the operations of our school, and assess how well ATS is doing.
  • BIR-related certifications.

Data Transfer 

Where ATS consider it necessary or appropriate, for the purposes of data storage, processing, or providing any service or product on our behalf to you, or implementing an academic linkage program, we may transfer your personal data to third parties inside or outside the Philippines, under conditions of confidentiality and similar levels of security safeguards.  

Security 

We continuously implement organizational, administrative, technical, and physical security measures to safeguard your personal data.  

  • Only authorized personnel have access to your personal data, the exchange of which is secured and facilitated through state-of-the-art online communication and collaboration tools, on-premise cloud and shared servers, email and paper files.  
  • Should third parties require access to your personal data, we require some form of data sharing agreement with them, in compliance with the DPA and its IRR.  (Implementing Rules and Regulation)
  • Your paper and digital files are securely stored: employing physical security to safeguard the paper files and technical security to safeguard the digital files.  

Retention of Information 

We keep your paper and digital files only for as long as necessary. 

  • Scholarship application forms and supporting documentation are kept by the Student Affairs for four years, or until the scholar graduates.
  • The Student Cumulative Guidance Folders are kept by the divisional Guidance Office for five years after graduation.
  • Student school works are kept for five years, but, in a few cases, selected student works may be retained for 10 years as exemplars.
  • Student disciplinary records are stored by the division of Office of Student Affairs, for five years after graduation.
  • Non-academic records, e.g., service records for scholarship, extra-curricular activities, emergency contact forms, etc. are kept for five years. 
  • Non-ATS contacts (ATS update subscriptions and data gathered from promotional events of ATS) are kept by Communications and Development Office and shall be discarded 3 years after sign-up. Renewal and opt to sign out is always available. 

When your personal data is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy such information or permanently de-identify it. Paper files are securely shredded; and electronic information is deleted, and Secure Erase applied so that this is no longer recoverable nor reproducible. 

Your rights  

You have the right to be informed, object to processing, access and rectify, suspend, or withdraw your personal data, including, any such information held by third parties, with whom ATS have a data sharing agreement; and be indemnified in case of damages pursuant to the provisions of the DPA and the DPAIRR.  

If you want to exercise any of your rights, or if you have any questions about how we process your personal data, please contact ATS’ Data Protection Officer, through the following channels:  

Email to:
dpo@ats.ph  
Call the Trunkline +632 8928-6717 (Local 1022)  

Write to:  
The Data Protection Officer, Asian Theological Seminary, Inc. 
54 Scout Madriñan, South Triangle,  
Quezon City 1103, Philippines   

If you have a concern or complaint about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance, or directly to the National Privacy Commission.