Privacy Policy

Introduction

Access Group (“ACCESS GROUP,” “we,” or “us”) is an authorized Contractor of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Ghana Embassy and is authorized to perform administrative support and biometric collection services related to the processing of Visa and Passport applications “ application process” .

Scope

This Privacy Notice applies to the provision of additional services that are provided by ACCESS GROUP as listed below.

For information on how GHANAIAN EMBASSY collects and uses your personal data in connection to the “application process” please refer to the Privacy Notice or Disclosure section of the applicable application form, or to their website : Ghana Embassy - Beijing, China (ghanaembassy-china.com)

Additional Services

The additional services that are provided by ACCESS GROUP that fall under the scope of this Privacy Notice are:

Appointment scheduling at a Visa Application Centre (VAC).
Application/ Document Tracking and Transmittal.
Provision of Self-service visa application workstations.
Document Courier delivery services.

hereinafter called the (“Services”).

It is not mandatory to provide your personal data for the “Services”, however, without providing the required personal data, we may not be able to deliver these services.

ACCESS GROUP as an authorized Contractor of GHANAIAN EMBASSY complies with the instructions and obligations of GHANAIAN EMBASSY in in the collection, use, disclosure, safeguarding and retention and disposal of personal data related to the “visa application process”.

In respect to the services provided by ACCESS GROUP, this Privacy Notice describes:

The purpose and authority for collecting and using your personal data;
The parties responsible for handling your personal data;
How to contact the parties responsible for handling your personal data;
Why your data is collected;
What data is collected;
Transferring your data off-shore;
How long your data is held for;
Who do we share your information with;
Your individual rights with regards to your personal data;
Accessing or updating your Personal data;
How your data is protected;
Who to contact for privacy concerns?

We may change this Notice from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you are aware of any changes.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Notice or our privacy practices, please contact our Data Protection Officer via the email PrivacyTeam@visavisonline.net

Authority and Purpose for collection and processing.

Authority:

ACCESS GROUP is authorized by GHANAIAN EMBASSY to perform administrative support and biometric collection services related to processing visa and passport applications . GHANAIAN EMBASSY limits the personal data that is to be collected, used, and disclosed by ACCESS GROUP as part of the application process.

The authority (lawful basis) for collecting personal data from individuals for providing:

Appointment scheduling at a Premium Application Centre (PAC).
Application / Document Tracking and Transmittal Services.
Provision of Self-service visa application workstations.

is provided by GHANAIAN EMBASSY as part of the Contract between GHANAIAN EMBASSY and ACCESS GROUP.

In providing the commercial service of courier delivery of documents, if the data protection law in your country of residence allows, then we will use the lawful basis of “performance of contract” as the authority to collect and uses your personal data.

What this means in plain terms, is that when you purchase the additional service of courier delivery of documents, you enter into a contract with us to deliver that service. If it clearly obvious that we could not deliver that service without collecting and using some personal data, then by entering into that contract it implies that you have given your permission (consent) for us to collect and use that personal data. For example, in order to provide the courier service, we will need a delivery address.

If the data protection law in your country of residence does not have the lawful basis of “performance of contract”, then we will ask for your explicit consent for the collection of your personal data for the courier delivery of documents from us.

Purpose:

Personal data is collected and used for the sole purpose of facilitating visa applications and providing the services as described above. We do not use your personal data for any other purpose.

Provision of personal information to ACCESS GROUP is voluntary. Please note, however, that a refusal to provide personal information may limit our ability to provide the requested services. Personal information is collected directly from the applicant or an authorized representative on behalf of the applicant.

The parties responsible or handling your personal data;

Visa and Passport Application processing:

GHANAIAN EMBASSY is responsible for the use of the personal data you provide in the application form and for the data received from you in connection with processing your application. This role is known as a “Data Controller”, “DataFiduciary” or similar depending on your country of residence.

Additional “Services” processing:

When ACCESS GROUP provides additional “Services” at your request, such as document courier delivery, ACCESS GROUP is responsible for handling the personal data you provide in connection with these services.

How to contact the parties responsible for handling your personal data?

The contact details for GHANAIAN EMBASSY can be found on their website : Ghana Embassy - Beijing, China (ghanaembassy-china.com)

ACCESS GROUP Privacy team or Data Protection team Email : PrivacyTeam@visavisonline.net

Why your data is collected.

Your personal data is collected to:

Perform administrative support and biometric collection services related to the processing of temporary resident visa, permit and travel document applications for Ghanaian Embassy .

and to:

Book an appointment at Premium Application Centre (PAC)
To validate who you say you are when you come to collect your decision envelope.
To enable you to track the progress of your application;
To provide you with additional services that you request.;

What Information is collected

Information that may be collected.

When ACCESS GROUP performs administrative support and biometric collection services related to the visa application process:

Applicants may be asked to provide for the visa application process certain personal information including;

Name,
Photograph,
Address,
Date of birth,
Telephone number,
Passport information,
Birth certificate,
Income/financial information
Citizenship status,
Marital status,
Employment information,
Criminal background check
Educational background information.
Biometric data.

This above personal information is collected to provide the Ghanian Embassy with information required to process your requests for visas or Passports. This personal information may also be used to return your passport and documents once the application has been processed by GHANAIAN EMBASSY in the manner authorized at the time of application submission.

CCTV systems are used at our Application centres, where permitted under local law, to provide security for applicants and staff. The CCTV images are deleted after as per local law requirements..

Call centre application Status:

Applicants may choose to provide their name and reference number or unique application tracking ID by telephone to receive an update on the status of their applications.

Online Application Tracking:

Applicants will be required to provide Date of Birth and tracking ID on our website for the purpose of tracking the status of their application.

Applicant Inquiries:

We may collect certain limited personal information such as:

given (first) and family name.
date of birth,
phone number,
street address,
email address,
application date,
tracking ID;

When contacting us by phone with an inquiry or comment, you should not provide any more personal details than requested during the communication. We recommend that applicants do not reveal the specific nature of the service sought or application made via e-mail.

Information that ACCESS GROUP may request to provide additional “Services”.

ACCESS GROUP may request the following contact information to provide the document courier delivery service when requested:

given (first) and family name.
Delivery Address,
Mobile Phone Number.

Information collection and usage when you visit our website:

Like many other websites, the ACCESS GROUP websites use Cookies. 'Cookies' are small pieces of information sent by an organization to your browser and stored on your device. One purpose we use them for is to help collect statistical information about your browsing actions and patterns, but they do not identify you as an individual to us. Other uses are to set your preferred language and tell your browser what pages you have already visited so that you can use the "Back" function. Cookies help us to improve our websites and deliver a more personalised service.

We provide the choice for you to accept or refuse the use of cookies when you visit our websites, and you can change the Cookie settings at any time.

Transferring your data off-shore;

In order to facilitate your application and provide services such as appointment scheduling and tracking your application we will transfer your personal information, internally within ACCESS GROUP, to one of our data centers located in United Kingdom .

Personal data provided for your application will be sent directly to the GHANAIAN EMBASSY office dealing with applications.

How long your data is held for?

Your application personal data is deleted from ACCESS GROUP systems after successful transmission to the diplomatic mission.

Only your name and contact details, as well as the passport number, are retained for the purposes of the appointment scheduling, tracking the progress of your visa application, and returning your documents to you. This personal data is destroyed (30) thirty days after services rendered to you are completed, or as agreed to by Ghana.

If you use a self-service workstation in our PAC, the data on this workstation is deleted after every session.

If you contact us with follow-up questions or a complaint, we may retain your contact information, application reference number for the time it takes to resolve your matter.

We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations (for example; invoices for taxation legislation).

Who do we share your information with?

We share your personal information with the Ghanaian government as an authorized service provider. This information includes the personal information supplied by you to support your visa application.

We will not share your personal information to third parties, such a document courier company, without your consent. This consent may be explicit, such as when you give consent verbally, written, or on-line, or implied, such as when you enter into a contract with us to deliver an optional additional service.

We only use partners that have satisfactory data protection measures in place and that have been approved by the Government of Ghana.

We will only disclose personal information when requested by a public authority and only if that request is supported by a court order and with the permission of Ghana.

We may also share information concerning your interactions with us to the Ghanaian government in connection with a complaint, request, data access request, or as requested by the Ghanaian government

Your individual rights with regards to your personal data;

Under the data protection law of your country, you may have certain rights with regards to the personal information you provided when requesting the additional services.

These rights are:

The right to be informed how your personal information is being used.
The right of access and a copy of your personal information.
The right to rectification if your personal information is incorrect.
The right to erasure your personal information. (Where the law permits this).
The right to restrict processing of your personal information.
The right to data portability.
The right to object to how your personal information is used.
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Accessing or updating your Personal Information

You have the right to access and ask for a copy of the information ACCESS GROUP holds about you. We cannot provide access or a copy of the personal information you have provided in support of your application, for this you must contact the GHANAIAN EMBASSY office.

If you request access to your personal information, we will gladly comply, subject to any relevant legal requirements and exemptions. Before providing data to you, we will ask for proof of identity and sufficient information about your interaction with us so that we can locate any relevant data.

How is your data protected?

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it is treated securely. Any sensitive information is encrypted and protected both in transit and when it is stored. We protect your personal data by following the security requirements of our contract with the Canadian Government which specifies that a Contractor must at all times protect the privacy of any Personal Information, as understood in Canadian Law, specifically the Privacy Act (1985) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (2000).

Our visa applications centres are certified to the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard for the security of using information. This ensures that how ACCESS GROUP using your information is checked and validated by an independent party.

On our websites when you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear in the address bar of most web browsers. This means the transfer of information from your browser to our web servers is encrypted to keep it safe.

Please bear in mind that emails may be transmitted unencrypted over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, do not include personal information in an email when you communicate with us, if you do, you do so at your own risk.

Who to contact for privacy concerns?

If you feel that your personal information has been handled incorrectly or you have a complaint about how your personal information is handled/ used, you have the right to complain.

You can complain to our Data Protection Officer outlining how you think your rights may have been impacted by the data processing performed by ACCESS GROUP.

For more information concerning your rights you may contact: PrivacyTeam@visavisonline.net

Dubai World Central , Office 3, Dubai , UAE

Telephone: +97145525425