The Data Protection Act 2001 regulates the processing of personal data whether held electronically or in manual form.
The Department of Examinations falling under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education is set to comply fully with the Data Protection Principles as set out in the Act.

The purpose for collecting data:
The Department of Examinations will hold the information supplied in terms of Section 40 of the Education Act No. XXIV (1988) and in terms of its role to fulfil its functions to act as Examination Secretary on behalf of the Local and Overseas Examining Authorities.
The Department needs to process information about its clients to:

• Local Public Examinations:

1. Compile a list of clients who are interested to sit for the specific Local Public Examinations;
2. Check that the applicants satisfy the requirements stipulated in the regulations as published in the Government Gazette;
3. Inform clients as regards the dates, time and venue of the examinations;
4. Check the attendance and identity of clients during the conduct of the
   examination;
5. Process results and draw up lists of successful and unsuccessful students.

• MATSEC Board:

1. MATSEC may use the mobile phone number and e-mail address to send information from the University of Malta of relevance to candidates.

• Local and Overseas Examining Boards:

1. Draw up the lists of clients who are interested to sit for any of the subjects on offer by the specific Examining Authority;
2. Allocate desk numbers and the venue of the examinations to clients;
3. Forward bulk registrations to the specific Examining Authority;
4. Complete and send customized forms to the respective Examining body as instructed;
5. Check attendance and identity of clients during the conduct of the
   examinations;
6. Recheck the information written on the examination scripts before
   dispatched to the Examining Body;
7. Archive bulk results of clients for each examination session to validate
   results when required;
8. Record the certification awarded to individual clients.

Recipients of Data:

A. In the case of Local Public Examinations, the information provided may be disclosed to the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation, the Public Service Commission, the People and Standards Division within OPM, and the specific Ministry on whose behalf the local public examination is being conducted.
B. As regards Local and Overseas Examinations the information provided may be disclosed to the respective Examining Authority and the educational institution presenting the clients.

Your rights:

Users are entitled to know what information the Department holds and processes about individuals and why; who has access to it; how it is kept up-to-date; what the Department is doing to abide to its obligations under the Data Protection Act (2001).

The Data Protection Act (2001) sets down a formal procedure for dealing with the data subject’s access requests, which the Department of Examinations follows.
All data subjects have the right to access any personal information kept about them by the Department, either electronically or in manual files.

Requests to access personal information by data subjects must be made in writing and addressed to the Data Protection Officer of the Department. A photocopy of the Identity Card or passport of the data subject must be submitted with the request. This will be returned back to the data subject.

The Department aims to comply as quickly as possible with requests for access to personal information and will ensure that it is provided within a reasonable time unless there is a good reason for delay. When a request for access cannot be met within a reasonable timeframe, the reason will be explained in writing to the data subject making the request.

All data subjects have the right to request that their information be amended, erased or not used in the event the data is incorrect.

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer of the Department of Examinations may be contacted by sending written requests addressed to The Department of Examinations, or by sending an e-mail on gertrude.wachter@gov.mt