DBT areas of research interest: submission form privacy notice
Updated 18 March 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbt-areas-of-research-interest/dbt-areas-of-research-interest-submission-form-privacy-notice
This privacy notice explains how the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), as a ‘data controller’, processes personal data for the areas of research interest (ARI) submission form.
This notice is supplemented by our main privacy notice which provides further information on how DBT processes personal data, and sets out your rights in respect of that personal data.
Personal data DBT collects
The personal information we collect and process is provided to us directly by you via the ARI form on a voluntary basis. This includes:
- your name and contact details (email address, institutional affiliation)
- information about your career and employment
- information about your research interests and expertise
- details of any evidence or research outputs you wish to share
- any other information you choose to provide in response to the form
Why DBT asks for this information
DBT collects this information to:
- identify researchers and organisations working in areas relevant to DBT’s ARI
- understand existing research activity and evidence gaps
- enable potential collaboration, consultation, or further engagement
- inform policy development, analysis, and commissioning decisions
- build and maintain a network of domain experts aligned with DBT’s evidence needs
This supports DBT’s public mission described in its privacy policy, including improving the evidence base that informs policy and supporting departmental functions.
What will happen if you do not provide this data
We are asking you to provide data in a structured format to engage in our research networks and to submit research evidence. All of the questions are optional, and you should only supply data you feel comfortable sharing with us.
What information you should not provide
Do not include sensitive personal information in your form responses. We do not require, and you should not provide, information about:
- racial or ethnic origin
- political opinions or affiliations
- religious or philosophical beliefs
- trade union membership
- health or medical information
- genetic or biometric data
- sex life or sexual orientation
- criminal convictions or offences
If you inadvertently include such information, we may need to redact or delete it from our records.
Legal basis for processing your personal data
Article 6(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the primary legal basis we rely on for processing the personal data we collect about you.
Personal data
We process personal data where:
- you agree to be contacted for follow-up engagement, research conversations, or collaboration
- processing is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
This applies to reviewing submissions, mapping research expertise, and integrating evidence into policy.
You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting DBT’s Data Protection Officer. This will not affect processing already carried out under the public task basis.
How DBT processes personal data it receives
Your personal data may be used internally within DBT to support evidence reviews, policy analysis, and research commissioning. Your information may be shared with:
- relevant DBT policy, analysis, and research teams, including uploading to the internal Evidence Library
- other UK government departments or public bodies where research interests align
- approved research contractors or analysts working on behalf of DBT (subject to strict data‑processing agreements, consistent with DBT practices)
We will not sell your data or share it for marketing purposes.
If required by law (for example, under the Freedom of Information Act) DBT may be obliged to disclose certain information, though appropriate redactions will be considered.
We will only process your personal data for purposes which are compatible with those specified in this privacy notice. This may include archiving in the public interest, or scientific, historical or statistical research, in accordance with Article 89 UK GDPR. Where your data is further used for research purposes, appropriate safeguards (including anonymisation, pseudonymisation and data minimisation techniques) will be used to ensure that your personal data is only processed where it is necessary for us to do so, and that it is processed lawfully and securely.
Compatible research purposes may include analysis:
- to further DBT policy development
- for public consultation responses or similar requests for information from the public
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help us process and analyse the information you provide efficiently. This includes identifying research themes, matching expertise to policy areas, and summarising submissions.
When we use AI:
- DBT remains responsible for your personal data as the data controller
- all processing complies with UK data protection law
- significant decisions involve human review and are not made solely by automated systems
Information sharing
We may share personal data you provide:
- with other government departments, public authorities, law enforcement agencies and regulators
- with other third parties where we consider it necessary in order to further our functions as a government department
- in response to information requests, for example, under Freedom of Information (FOI) law or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
- with a court, tribunal or party where the disclosure is necessary in order to exercise, establish or defend a legal claim
- where we are ordered to do so or where we are otherwise required to do so by law
- with third-party data processors as governed by contract
You can find out more detailed information about how we share data and further processing in the main privacy notice.
How long DBT will hold your data for
DBT will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
In line with DBT’s records management and retention and disposal policy, we will only retain your personal information for as long as:
- it is needed for the purposes set out in this document
- the law requires us to
Subject to these requirements, we will retain your personal information for up to 10 years from the date on which it is provided or subsequently updated, in order to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.
We will contact you at least every 2 years to check that the personal information we have is up to date and that you would like us to continue retaining your information.
If we decide that we need to process your personal data for a reason which is incompatible with the purposes for which we collected it for, we will contact you to explain why we are doing this and why it is lawful to do so.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the:
- amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data
- potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data
- purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means
- applicable legal requirements
Your rights
You have a number of rights available to you under UK data protection legislation, including the right:
- to request copies of the personal data we hold about you
- to request that we rectify information about you which you think is inaccurate or incomplete
- to request that we restrict your data from further processing (in certain circumstances)
- to object to the processing of your data (in certain circumstances)
- to data portability (in certain circumstances)
- to request that we erase your data (in certain circumstances)
- not to be subject to a decision based on solely automated data processing
Further information
You can contact DBT’s Data Protection Officer for further information about how your data has been processed by the department or to make a complaint about how your data has been used.
Data Protection Officer
Department for Business and Trade
Old Admiralty Building
Admiralty Place
London
SW1A 2DY
You can also submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm