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Privacy and Cookies

Our privacy policy

The British Army, as part of the Ministry of Defence, is committed to protecting your privacy. When you contact us or visit our websites, your personal information is stored securely and processed fairly as required by the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy explains the following

  • What information the Army may collect about you
  • How the Army will use your information and ensure this is not shared with organisations outside the Ministry of Defence
  • How long your information may be held on our systems
  • Your choices regarding the personal information you provide to us
  • How cookies are used on our websites and the options available to reject these

Changes to our privacy policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time, so you may want to check the latest version before providing personal data to the Army.

How we collect information

We collect personal information when you

  • Register online, request information or submit an application through our websites
  • Complete a printed form, questionnaire or coupon
  • Contact us by phone, post, email or text message
  • Use web chat to talk to a recruiter

In addition, information is automatically captured each time you visit our websites. We use cookies (as described here) and collect IP addresses (that can uniquely identify a specific computer or network device on the internet) to track visitors to our websites and prepare management reports.

What we do with this information

We use the personal information you provide to answer your requests for information, to process your applications to join the Army, and to make improvements to our websites.

Who will have access to your information

Your personal information may be handled by the companies we use as data processors to provide marketing services and process your applications. These companies must comply strictly with our privacy policies that prohibit the use of personal data for their own business purposes. We will not share your information with other organisations outside the Ministry of Defence (unless we are required to do so by law).

If you apply to join the Army, your personal data may be shared with the Navy or Royal Air Force if you also apply to join these Services.

If you agree, the information contained in targeting cookies may be shared with other websites so the advertising displayed on these sites is more relevant to you. No personal data will be shared with other websites – only IP addresses, which identify a specific computer or network device.

How long do we keep your information?

Your information will be held on our systems for as long as is necessary to answer your requests and maintain a dialogue with those individuals who remain interested in the British Army and Army careers.

If you register an interest, but do not apply to join the Army, we will keep your personal data for no more than 3 years. This period starts on the day you last made contact with the Army, and is reset each time you logon to our website or contact us to request further information.

If you apply to join the Army, but do not enter Service in the UK Armed Forces, we will keep your personal data for no more than 10 years. Any sensitive personal data will be removed after 1 year. This period only starts if and when all your applications to join the UK Armed Forces have become inactive, and is reset each time you logon to our website or contact us to request further information.

At the end of this period, we will remove your personal information from our systems or treat the data to remove any personal identifiers that could be used to identify you as an individual.

If you enter Service in the UK Armed Forces, some of your personal data will be retained for 100 years as required under the Public Record Acts.

Can I remove the information held in my online account?

Your online account is required to manage your current applications.

You can ask us to remove your account but we can only do this if you have no active applications to join any Service in the UK Armed Forces.

You can ask us to delete an individual application and remove the personal data entered on your application form at any point before it is submitted.

You may contact us to withdraw a submitted application at any time but your personal data will continue to be held on our systems (as described above).

Will I be contacted by the Army for marketing purposes?

We will only contact or send information about the British Army and Army careers to those people who have given us permission to do so.

We will only provide information that is relevant to you. Further details are provided in our communications policy.

If you choose to receive marketing communications, you can tell us whether you want to be contacted by post, phone, email or text messages. You can change these preferences whenever you contact us or at any time by logging on to your account (if you have registered online).

If you submit an application to join the Army, we will contact you by the most appropriate means to follow-up and process your application.

Will the information be used to make automated decisions that affect me?

We may use the personal data you provide to make automated decisions that affect you – for example, to decide if you are eligible to join the Army or suitable for a particular role.

We will inform you whenever we use personal data processed solely by automated means to make a decision that has a significant effect on you as an individual. In these cases, we will take reasonable steps to safeguard your legitimate rights and give you the opportunity to challenge any decision taken by automated means.

Advice for parents and young people

Many young people are interested in information about the British Army. The privacy and security of their personal data is very important to us.

We encourage all parents to supervise their children’s use of the internet and for young people to always seek permission from a parent/guardian before entering any personal data in any website.

We will not process or store personal data about children under 14 years and will not accept registrations or applications to join the Army from individuals under 14 years.

We ask everyone under 18 years to confirm that they have spoken to a parent/guardian about their interest in the Army and obtained their permission before registering or applying to join the Army.

We require anyone under 18 to provide a signed consent form from a parent/guardian before they attend a recruitment event – including meetings, briefings, information days and visits.

What information do we hold about you?

You can request a report detailing all the information we hold about you by writing to the address below.

What to do if you don't want us to contact you in the future

Write to the address below asking us not to contact you again.

What to do if you want us to remove your details from our records

Write to the address below asking us to delete your details from our records.

You need to tell us which records you want us to remove, if you have registered an interest or applied to join more than one Service in the UK Armed Forces (British Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air Force).

Further advice on the “right to prevent processing” is provided on the Information Commission’s website. http://www.ico.org.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_6/damage_or_distress

Data Protection

More information about the Data Protection Act 2018 and your rights can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Freedom of Information

More information about the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the information made available to the public by the Ministry of Defence, can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Contacting the Army about personal information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the information we hold about you, please write to

MOD Data Protection Advisor
Ground Floor, Zone D,
Main Building
Whitehall
London
SW1A 2HB

Email: [email protected]

 

How does the Army website use cookies?

To improve your experience and make this website simpler to use, we sometimes place small amounts of information on your computer, mobile phone or device. These include small files known as cookies.

The cookies used on this website improve your experience by:

  • Recognising your settings – so you don’t need to keep re-entering them whenever you visit a new page
  • Remembering the information that you’ve given (e.g. your username and password) - so you don't need to keep entering it
  • Measuring how you use our website - so we can make improvements that meet your needs
  • Tracking the websites that you use - so our advertising using third-party networks is better targeted and more relevant to you
  • Our cookies contain anonymous information such as a unique identifier but this information is not used to identify you personally.

The cookies used on this website can be grouped into the following categories:

  1. Strictly necessary cookies – required to enable you to move around the website and use essential features
  2. Performance cookies – collect information about how you use our website and help us improve performance and provide a better user experience
  3. Functionality cookies – enhance the functionality of the website by storing your preferences
  4. Targeting cookies – used by advertising networks to track your browsing across the internet whilst enabling us to enhance our website with services provided by third-parties

Some cookies are set directly by the army.mod.uk website. Others are set by third-parties when you visit the Army website. Third-party cookies include those set by advertising networks, the partners we use for web analytics, and external websites delivering embedded content and videos (e.g. YouTube).

Cookies are stored on your computer for different lengths of time depending on what they are used for. Session cookies are temporary cookies and are only stored until you leave the website or when you close your web browser. Persistent cookies last for a fixed period of time, defined within the cookie, and allow the website to recognise the device and track repeat visits.

We do not sell the information collected by cookies.

Further information about individual cookies used on this website is provided below.

How can I control cookies?

If you don’t want to receive cookies, you can change your browser settings to reject new cookies or delete those that have already been set.

You can choose to accept or reject the functionality and targeting cookies set by the Army website on the cookie settings page and can change these settings at any time.

You will also be given the opportunity to change your cookie settings when you first visit our website. If you continue to browse the website without changing your cookie settings, we will assume you are happy to accept all types of cookie on the Army website.

You can accept or reject functionality or targeting cookies at any time by changing your cookie settings, although third-party advertising networks may continue to use the information previously collected through targeting cookies.

You cannot change the settings for strictly necessary or performance cookies because these are required to provide a good browsing experience and allow us to collect basic statistics on website usage.

If you create an online account, you will be asked to accept the cookies required for the online application when you register or log in.

In addition to managing the cookie settings on this website, you can opt-out of tracking and targeting cookies by following the instructions provided on the appropriate third-party websites. We have provided links to help you find this information and set your preferences.

Do Not Track (DNT) is a feature offered by some browsers but is not currently supported by this website. When enabled, it sends a request to the website not to track your browsing, but a universal standard to determine how DNT requests are to be interpreted has not yet been adopted by software providers and website owners.

To learn more about cookies in general and how to manage them, visit www.aboutcookies.org.

 

WHAT COOKIES ARE USED ON THE ARMY WEBSITE?

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES

The following cookies are strictly necessary to enable you to move around the website and use essential features. These cookies don’t collect any information that is used to identify you personally.

Accepting these cookies is a condition of using the Army website. If you prevent these cookies, we may be unable to protect your privacy or predict how our website will perform during your visit.

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES SET BY THE ARMY

_RequestVerificationToken
To validate the access requests made from your browser. It is designed to stop unauthorised posting of content to a website, known as Cross-Site Request Forgery. It holds no information about the user and is destroyed on closing the browser.

PERFORMANCE COOKIES

The following cookies collect information about how you use our website and help us improve performance and provide a better user experience. Cookies of this type collect information about the pages you visit, which videos you watch and if you experience any errors.

These cookies don't collect any information that could be used to identify you – all the information collected is anonymous and is only used to help us improve how our website works and understand what interests our users.

We often use independent web analytics companies to measure and report on the performance of our website. As a result, some performance cookies may be set by a third-party. These can be identified in the list below.

Accepting these cookies is a condition of using the Army website. If you prevent these cookies, we can’t be certain how our website will perform during your visit.

PERFORMANCE COOKIES SET BY THE ARMY AND OUR SUPPLIERS

Google Universal Analytics

  • _ga
  • _gid
  • _gat_UA-96951192-2
  • _gat_UA-96951192-1

To collect information about how you use our website. This data is shared with Google Analytics who provide analysis and reporting services. These cookies can be identified by the host domain google-analytics.com

HotJar

  • _hjid
  • _hjIncludedInSample

These cookies are associated with web analytics functionality and services from Hot Jar, a Malta based company. It uniquely identifies a visitor during a single browser session using random non-identifiable information and indicates they are included in an audience sample.

 

JSESSION

Used by the platform monitoring tool New Relic. The cookie is used to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for the site.

Doubleclick

  • IDE
  • test_cookie

Used to collect user information for targeted advertising.

FUNCTIONALITY COOKIES

The following cookies are used to provide services and enhance the functionality of the website by storing information about the choices you’ve made. These cookies don’t collect any personal information that could be used for direct marketing or to identify you personally.

We sometimes use components supplied by third-parties to improve your experience. As a result, some functionality cookies may be set by third-party. These can be identified in the list below.

Functionality cookies may also take the form of Flash cookies, which are stored in your Flash Player rather than your browser. These are used to remember your settings when watching videos embedded in the Army website.

You can use the cookie settings page to control whether or not functionality cookies are used, but preventing them may mean we can't offer you some services or reduce the support we can provide.

Preventing these cookies may also stop us remembering that you didn't want a specific service.

FUNCTIONALITY COOKIES SET BY THE ARMY AND OUR SUPPLIERS

 

TARGETING COOKIES

The following cookies are used by advertising networks to track your browsing across the internet or to enable us to enhance our website with services provided by third-parties.

Most third-parties provide these services in return for recognising that you have visited our website, and use the information about your visit to display adverts you may be interested in.

The cookies set by advertising networks are used to track the websites you visit before and after visiting the Army website and enable us to measure the effectiveness of our marketing programmes.

Most of the tracking data capture by our advertising and web analytics partners remains anonymous because the unique identifiers used in targeting cookies are not associated with an identifiable individual. Some tracking data may be linked to your record if you register on our website and submit an online application. We only use tracking data associated with an individual user or application in aggregate form for reporting purposes – for example, to measure the effectiveness of our online advertising. We don’t use tracking data to profile individual users or deliver targeted marketing communications.

You can use the cookie settings page to control whether or not these cookies are used, but preventing them may stop us from offering you some services. Alternatively, you can follow the links to access the tools provided on third-party websites to manage targeting cookies and opt-out of tracking.

TARGETING COOKIES SET BY THIRD-PARTIES

Adobe

  • everest_session_v2
  • everest_g_v2

These cookies are used by Adobe's advertising platform.

Adobe Marketing Manager

  • AMCV_E455079F575818E77F000101%40AdobeOrg
  • AMCVS_E455079F575818E77F000101%40AdobeOrg

These cookies are used to track users across the Army's domains and services by creating a unique identifier using random non-identifiable information.

Adobe Audience Manager

  • demdex
  • dpm
  • dextp

These cookies are used to profile user activity for use by targeted marketing.

fr

This cookie is used by Facebook's targeted advertising platform. It creates a browser and user unique ID combination to identify users across a range of websites.

YouTube

  • GPS
  • YSC
  • VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE

YouTube collects user data through videos embedded in websites, which is aggregated with profile data from other Google services in order to display targeted advertising to web visitors across a broad range of their own and other websites.

s_cc

Used by Adobe Site Catalyst to determine whether cookies are enabled in the browser.

 

Our communication policy

The Army will only provide information that is relevant to you. We will not contact or send communications to young people known to be under the age of 14 years.

We may provide young people under the age of 16 years (but at least 14 years) with information on the following topics if they can confirm that a parent or guardian has given them permission to request this information

  • The Army as an organisation
  • The Army in society
  • Army activities and local events of interest to young people
  • Educational opportunities, resources and financial support available from the Army
  • General information about jobs in the Army
  • Army lifestyle

We will not contact or send communications to young people under the age of 15 years and 7 months with the intention of starting the recruitment process, unless we are asked to provide information about Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College or sixth form scholarships.