Compass+ is a free digital product from The Careers & Enterprise Company with features that help you to measure impact and inform continuous improvement of your careers provision.
Compass+ enables you to manage, track, evaluate and report on your institution’s careers provision at individual learner level.
To do this, we use learner data from your institutions’ Management Information System (MIS) pulled through to Compass+ by a digital platform called Xporter.
Xporter is managed by our specialist partner Community Brands, most commonly known as Groupcall. They provide data solutions for schools. We use Groupcall’s Xporter platform to manage the data feed between institutions' Management Information Systems and Compass+.
Learner data for those who have left your institution.
A learner's data stays on Compass+ for three years after they leave your institution, this is to help your institution achieve Gatsby Benchmark 3, where you are required to keep track of learner destinations for three years after they have left your institution.
After three years, the learner will no longer display on Compass+ and none of their data will be accessible. When the learner leaves your institution, their data is pseudonymised.
What is pseudonymised data?
To safeguard sensitive information under GDPR, we use a process called pseudonymisation. This involves altering specific pieces of data within our databases for Compass+ to anonymise sensitive information. It effectively hides this information from being visible on interfaces such as user screens and monthly reports, and it restricts access to sensitive details.
The pseudonymisation process affects certain data by transforming sensitive information as outlined below:
- Names, dates of birth, and other personal identifiers are replaced with generic terms like ‘Redacted’ or altered to default values (e.g., a date of birth is set to 1901-01-01)
- Unique pupil numbers (UPNs) and email addresses are transformed into another value, adding an additional layer of security
- Contact details in the alumni field of the learner profile are also anonymised, ensuring personal contact information is protected.
Can anyone access the original data?
While the original data may still exist in some parts of Compass+ due to internal processes like caching and data migration, access to sensitive information is strictly controlled. Permissions are set to limit access to these details so that they can only be seen by our Development Team.
When is the data pseudonymised?
The pseudonymisation process is initiated each August at the end of the academic year for all learners that left your institution three years ago. You do not need to do anything for this process to happen. You should see learners that left your institution three years ago no longer display in the Compass+ interface following this process each August.
How do I retain access to this data?
The pseudonymisation process will be initiated each August at the end of the academic year. If you want to retain any data, especially destinations data, for your long-term records, you should download this data from Compass+ in advance of this process being initiated.
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