Privacy

WriteGirl maintains a database of WriteGirl members in order to stay in touch with our community and keep you updated about news, events, careers initiatives and fundraising activities.

Some of our database (but not all) choose to join our online community by registering on this website and creating an online profile. In both instances (individuals with offline database records and individuals with online profiles), we collect and store personal information (or “data”) about you. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and this Policy sets out what information we collect about you, where and how we use (“process”) it.

We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on the website or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes. 

If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information, please email office@writegirl.org.  

For the purposes of current and future legislation covering data protection in the United States of America, the Data Controller is WriteGirl.

What type of personal information we collect

The information we have about you depends on where we collect it, but may include:

• First name
• Last name
• Email 
• Address
• Photographs
• Participation in our events, emails, surveys and other activities 
• Geo-location data (your geographical location based on your IP address)
• Log-ins and activity on the website
• Consent options and communication preferences
• Content (such as announcements, stories, photos, documents, comments, events, jobs) that you post on this website or provide to us by other means
• Messages that you send to other community members via the direct messaging system when logged in to this website

Where we collect information from

We collect personal information when you:

• visit this website
• create or update your online profile
• post content on to this website or other websites and social media sites managed by WriteGirl
• take part in an event
• attend a meeting with us and provide us with information
• contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or post
• open an email sent from this website
• send a message via the direct messaging system on this website

How we use your information

We will use your personal information in a number of ways, always with a legal basis for processing your data. These may include:

• providing you with the information or updates that you have asked for
• sending you communications (with your consent if required) that may be of interest, including invites to events, newsletters and fundraising campaigns
• delivering our obligations under any contract between us
• seeking your views on the services or activities we carry out, so that we can make improvements
• updating our database records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
• analyzing your engagement with our website and other content to help us improve our services for you
• displaying your name as a list of potential ‘record matches’ when you (or someone with similar details) sign up for an event or joins the online community and the system is trying to match your information to an existing record stored in our databases.

Our legal basis for processing your information

The use of your information for the purposes set out above is lawful because one or more of the following applies:

• you have given us your consent for the information to be used
• it is necessary for us to hold and use your information to carry out our obligations under a contract entered into with you
• it is necessary for our legitimate interests to hold and use your information and we are not impacting your privacy by doing so.

Updating your consent preferences

If you have an online profile on this website you can update your consent options by logging-in and clicking on “My Settings” in your profile.  Scroll down to find your ‘Consent options’ where you will see a list of consents and the options “opt-in”, “opt-out” and “unspecified”. 

Via ‘My Settings’ you can also choose to hide your profile from Google, limit access to your profile so that it’s only viewable to your connections and adjust some of the automatic notifications that you receive from this website.  Please note that your name (but not full profile) may appear in various places around the community website, such as a ‘Recent Joiners’ box and in ‘Search’ results irrespective of the privacy settings you have selected.  

If we are using consent as our legal basis for processing your data, we must have an explicit “opt-in” from you for this specific type of processing. 

If we are using legitimate interests as our legal basis for processing your data, we will process your data responsibly in a way that you would reasonably expect, and you can opt-out at any stage.

If you click ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of one of our emails sent you will be opted-out of these types of email communications in the future.

If you want to contact us about your consent preferences please contact us at office@writegirl.org. 

How we keep your information safe

We understand the importance of keeping your personal information secure and take appropriate steps to safeguard it.

Your data is stored on a dedicated, secure cloud server hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the US and managed by our website provider, ToucanTech. Industry standard firewalls, anti-virus, encryption and back-up methods are in place, as well as strict data handling protocols.

We always ensure only authorized persons have access to your information, which means only our approved employees and contractors, and that everyone who has access is appropriately trained in data management.   

If you have an online profile for this website you are responsible for keeping your login details (email and password) confidential and we ask that you do not share your password with anyone.

No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. So, while we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online and you do this at your own risk.

Who has access to your information?

Third parties who provide tech services for us, for example ToucanTech. We select our third-party service providers with care. We provide these third parties with the information that is necessary to provide the service and we will have an agreement in place that requires them to operate with the same care over data protection as we do

Third parties if we run an event in conjunction with them. We will let you know how your data is used when you register for any event

Web hosting, email hosting, analytics and search engine providers that enable us to run our community database and improve our website and its use

Third parties in connection with restructuring or reorganization of our operations, for example if we merge with another business. In such event, we will take steps to ensure your privacy rights will be protected by the third party

Other than this, we will not share your information with other organizations without your consent.

Keeping your information up to date

Please let us know if your contact details change. Online members can update their details directly by logging in to the website and clicking on ‘My Settings’ under their profile.  

Use of aggregated data

Where data can be aggregated and anonymised, our website provider (ToucanTech) might use this for research purposes without restriction. For example, they may monitor traffic patterns, site usage, response rates and data trends to help make improvement to the website software. They are entitled to do this because the resulting data will not personally identify you and will therefore no longer constitute personal data for the purposes of data protection laws.

How long we keep your information for

We will hold your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity. 

If you ask us to stop contacting you, we will keep a record of your contact details and limited information needed to ensure we comply with your request. 

Your rights

You have the right to request details of how we use your personal information through making a subject access request. Such requests have to be made in writing by contacting office@writegirl.org.

You also have the following rights:

• to request rectification of information that is inaccurate or out of date;
• to erase your information from this site (the “right to be forgotten”);
• to restrict the way in which we are dealing with and using your information; 

All of these rights are subject to certain safeguards and limits or exemptions. To exercise any of these rights, you should contact WriteGirl at the above address.

If an individual believes that WriteGirl has not complied with this policy or acted otherwise than in accordance with Data Protection Laws, please contact WriteGirl immediately at office@writegirl.org.

This Policy was last updated in August 2022