Privacy Policy | UK-AID Foundation

1. Introduction

UK-AID Foundation ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are registered as a humanitarian charity with the UK Charity Commission (Reg. No. 17197326) with our registered office at Regus Jhumat House, 160 London Road, Barking, Greater London, IG11 8BB.

This Privacy Policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed. It applies to all website visitors, financial donors, charity volunteers, community partners, and individuals reaching out to us with general inquiries.

Please read this policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting and using our website, you acknowledge the terms described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different kinds of personal data about you depending on how you interact with us:

Identity Data: Includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, and title.
Contact Data: Includes email address, telephone numbers, and postal address (billing or physical).
Financial Data: For online donations, your transaction data is securely routed via our PCI-compliant payment gateways (e.g., Stripe, PayPal). We do not store credit card or bank account credentials on our systems.
Technical & Usage Data: Includes IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, operating system, and how you browse our website.
Volunteer & Engagement Data: Includes skills, availability, and programmatic preferences when you apply to volunteer or collaborate with us.

3. How We Use Your Data

We only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we use your data in the following circumstances:

Donation Processing

To register and document donations, reclaim Gift Aid from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and issue formal transaction receipts.

Volunteer Support

To evaluate your signups, place you on suitable humanitarian programs, and communicate schedules or coordination plans.

Updates & Newsletters

To send periodic emails with project updates, transparency reports, or emergency relief alerts, subject to your express subscription consent.

Site Management & Security

To secure, monitor, and improve our online services, diagnosing technical issues, and verifying authenticity of transactions.

4. Legal Basis under GDPR

Pursuant to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), our lawful bases for processing your information include:

Consent:You have given clear, affirmative consent for us to process your personal data for specific purposes (such as receiving our newsletter). You can withdraw consent at any time.

Contractual Necessity:The processing is necessary for a contract we have with you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract (e.g., executing donor/volunteer registrations).

Legal Obligation:The processing is necessary for us to comply with the law, including recording charitable financial statements or retaining HMRC Gift Aid declarations for 6 years.

Legitimate Interests:The processing is necessary for our legitimate interest in administering, securing, optimizing, and tracking the efficacy of our charity programs.

5. Data Security & Retention

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, altered, disclosed, or accessed in an unauthorized way. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to only those trustees, employees, volunteers, and agents who have a business need-to-know.

All online payments and transactions are encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. However, please remember that no transmission of data over the internet can be guaranteed as 100% secure.

Data Retention: We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including any legal, accounting, tax, or regulatory reporting obligations. Financial donation histories associated with Gift Aid are securely stored for at least six tax years in compliance with UK HMRC regulations.

6. Your Legal Rights

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, you possess several key rights in relation to your personal information:

Right to Access (Subject Access Request)Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right to RectificationRequest correction of any incomplete or inaccurate data.

Right to Erasure (To Be Forgotten)Request deletion of your data when there is no valid reason for us keeping it.

Right to Restriction / ObjectionObject to or restrict data processing in certain circumstances.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us directly at info@ukaidfoundation.org. We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within 30 days.

7. Cookies & Third Parties

Our website uses cookies (small text files placed on your computer) to distinguish you from other users. This helps us to provide you with a high-quality experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve our services.

We utilize cookies for essential navigation, security validation, and performance tracking (such as Google Analytics to measure anonymous visitor traffic statistics).

You can choose to set your web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so, note that some parts of our website may not function correctly.

Third-Party Links

Our website contains links to external social media platforms or payment portals. Clicking those links may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy standards. We suggest reviewing their privacy statements upon leaving.