1. Introduction
Language Testing (LT), a division of Pearson Education Ltd (Company Number 872828), of 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, a Pearson company, (“we”, “us”) has adopted the following Privacy Policy applicable to personal information that it may collect, store and use in the context of the provision of services related to language tests.
This Privacy Policy is accessible from www.pearsonpte.com and www.pearsonvue.com/pte. When the Privacy Policy refers to “this website” it means either of the websites referred to above, depending on which one you accessed the Privacy Policy from, unless otherwise stated. We mainly collect or receive personal information to communicate with users about our services and to provide these services. Users can either be test takers signing up for our tests or individuals at institutions/organizations that recognize Pearson Tests of English qualifications. Both these types of users access this Privacy Policy from http://www.pearsonvue.com/pte. Users can also be visitors of www.pearsonpte.com, where they will provide their personal data to LT when they sign up to the services offered from the website (i.e. sending inquiries, participating in discussion forums, etc). This Privacy Policy applies equally to the personal data of test takers, individuals at institutions/organizations and visitors, unless otherwise stated.
The personal data we collect is limited to the information that we require to provide the services that you sign up for and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We will handle and process all personal information collected and received by us from this website in the manner outlined in this Privacy Policy, and in accordance with UK Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998.
2. Type of information collected
If you are a test taker
We will only collect and process your personal data for the purposes that we describe in this Privacy Policy, providing personal data is voluntary. However, on occasions, there will be a minimum data that we need to collect from you for the services that you sign up to. We will let you know what data we require, if you wish to use our services, by indicating in the relevant fields of the webforms.
When you register with us and when you book the time to sit a test, we will ask some questions about your personal, academic and professional background and your habits. This is so that we can continue to improve our tests and send you information that may be of interest to you in the future. The request of accommodations to take the test (e.g. wheelchair access, computer screen magnifier, etc.) may require the collection of sensitive data to support the application.
On the day of the test, we will collect your photograph, and finger print (or, alternatively, the palm vein pattern) so that we can be satisfied that it is you who is sitting the test and for fraud detection purposes. This is a usual practice in the sector of test providers and the data will only be kept for the period for which your score is valid (i.e. two years) or perhaps less as local regulations may require.
We will also collect a spoken personal introduction from you on the day of the test so that institutions can use it as an element to assess your level of spoken English.
In addition, the test centers will use CCTV recording to monitor any possible infringement of the Test Taker Handbook and Test Taker’s Rules, address future claims regarding the test and for the purposes of managing the security of the building.
If you are an individual at an institution/organization
We will only collect your professional contact details, including your job title or position.
If you are a visitor of www.pearsonpte.com
We may ask you for your contact details when:
you send us an inquiry
you sign up for our discussion forums*
you sign up to join our mailing list
*When signing up for a discussion forum you will have the option of filling in a personal profile, which will request additional information about you. However, this is not a prerequisite for joining the forum.
Finally, you may also request to receive news or other content in our website by clicking the news feed (RSS) icon. Once you have clicked the icon and provided that your computer has a RSS reader installed, your computer will detect and retrieve the latest information from our website.
3. Use of personal information
If you are a test taker
We use personal information collected via http://www.pearsonvue.com/pte for the purposes of:
processing your registration for our tests
processing your request to schedule a test with us, once you have registered
confirming that you have scheduled a time for a test
managing your access to the “score portal”, from where you will access your scores
dealing with your inquiries and requests
processing the payment for the test fees or any query or cancellations of your registration for the test as described in the Test Taker’s Handbook – making your information (score and spoken personal introduction) available to the institutions of your choice, who have signed up for the service provided by LT
understanding you as a test taker so that we can improve our tests, obtain statistics and send you commercial communications that are tailored to your interests
processing your data on the day of the test for the purpose of verifying your identity and whether you comply with the Test Taker’s Handbook. You will also receive a copy of the Test Taker’s Terms and Conditions
sending your commercial communications in the way we have explained in section 5 of this Privacy Policy
If you are an individual at an institution/organization
We will process the personal data of the individuals who provide their contact details when they sign up for our services regarding the access to scores on behalf of their institutions.
We would also like to send you, from time to time, commercial communications in the way that we explain in section 5 of this Privacy Policy.
If you are a user of www.pearsonpte.com
You may provide us with your data when you send us an inquiry, when you participate in our discussion forums, request to receive our RSS feeds, when you sign up to our mailing list or when you sign up to receive marketing communications before visiting the practice test site.
We would also like to use the information you provide in order to send you, from time to time, commercial communications in the way that we explain in section 5 of this Privacy Policy.
4. Disclosures and international transfers
Your personal data will be disclosed to the business and suppliers we engage to process data on our behalf. NCS Pearson (as our main service provider) will collect your data on our behalf through the website http://www.pearsonvue.com/pte and will process it only for purposes defined in section 3 of this Privacy Policy. NCS Pearson adheres to the Safe Harbor principles, which means that the level of protection that your personal data will receive when it is processed by NCS Pearson is equivalent to the level of protection provided to personal data in accordance with the UK DPA 1998.
NCS Pearson may engage other third parties who will process your data, such us the organizations that run the test centers where you will go and take your test, which we call “third party testing centers”. These centers may also provide unrelated services and may collect and use personal data for other purposes under different terms and policies. If you have any questions or concerns about a third-party testing centers’ collection or use of any of your personal information, please feel free to talk to the third-party testing centers directly. If you have unaddressed concerns about an independent testing center and the processing of the data that they do for the purposes of running our test, please contact Pearson VUE at PearsonVUEContracts@pearson.com
Other tests centers will belong to NCS Pearson. In these cases, please refer your queries to the email address provided above.
Some of the organizations to whom we will disclose your data will be placed in jurisdictions without data protection legislation. LT will endeavor to ensure that they protect your personal information as if they were established in the UK.
If you are a test taker, your score and spoken personal introduction will be shared with the institution/s of your choice only. In addition, anonymized content of your test and spoken personal introduction may also be used by LT for the purposes of training internal or external members of staff involved in the management of language tests. LT will endeavor to ensure that this information does not allow any person that accesses it to identify you as an individual.
5. Commercial communications
We may use your personal information to send you commercial communications about products and services of LT. You may opt out of receiving information about our products and services by ticking the box in the registration form.
You will find information about the practice test for PTE Academic on this website. The practice test is run by Pearson Education Inc, another Pearson company and when you register you will provide your information to Pearson Education Inc (please read Pearson Education Inc’s Privacy Policy).
You can access the registration site for the PTE Academic practice test. Pearson Education Inc will send us your registration so that we can send you information if you have requested it.
Finally, you may also receive our RSS feeds if you have requested them.
6. Resolution of your concerns
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we have handled personal data, please contact us at pltsupport@pearson.com
7. Information from children
This website is not aimed at children. Some content will refer to PTE Young Learners . However, it is aimed at teachers, parents or guardians, rather than the children themselves. LT will not knowingly collect personal data of those aged under 16.
8. Information received from internet service providers through this website
This website receives information that is automatically generated by a user’s internet service provider (ISP). This information may include the IP address (a number automatically assigned to a computer by the ISP), the associated URLs, domain types, the browser type used to access our site, the country, state and telephone area code, the location of the ISP servers, the referring URL, the pages of our site that the user views during their visit, any search terms entered on this site, and the user’s website address and email address. This information may be collected for system administration purposes, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on the site. LT does not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information. However, we reserve the right to link IP addresses and other information supplied by the ISP to personally identifiable information in order to protect the integrity of our system and for security purposes.
9. Security of your information
We use all reasonable precautions to protect personal information from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. These precautions include appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures. We provide a secured transmission method for the electronic transmission of credit/debit card information.
10. Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enables the server to collect information from the browser. Find out more about the use of cookies on http://www.allaboutcookies.org/. We use cookies to identify you when you visit this website. Our use of cookies also allows registered users to be presented with a personalized version of the site, carry out transactions and have access to information about their account. Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies or to receive a warning before a cookie is stored on your hard drive. Please refer to your browser instructions or help screen to learn more about how to do this. However, should you decide to disable any cookies we place on your computer you may not be able to use certain services or facilities on the website.
For more details follow the links to Cookies and Cookie Policy on the left of this page.
11. International transmission of information
Given that the internet is a global environment, using the internet to collect and process personal data necessarily involves the transmission of data on an international basis. Therefore, by browsing this website and communicating electronically with us, you acknowledge our processing of personal data in this way. However, we will endeavor to protect all personal information collected through this website in accordance with strict data protection standards.
12. Links to other sites
This site may contain links to other websites on the Internet that are owned and operated by third parties, or by Pearson plc or its affiliates. The information practices of those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy, but by their own terms and policies, which you should read carefully. These other sites may send their cookies to users, collect data or solicit personal information. This Privacy Policy is not intended to apply to all other Pearson websites, or other types of information which may be subject to different privacy policies.
13. Changes to this privacy policy
We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy, from time to time, by posting an updated Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes or updates.
14. How to contact us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at pltsupport@pearson.com
