PRIVACY POLICY

At Be The Earth Foundation ("we", "our", "us"), we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the confidentiality of your personal data. This Privacy Policy outlines what personal information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data. By interacting with our services, including our website, events, donation page, and programmes, you agree to the terms described in this policy.

Be The Earth operates as a group of related entities - Be The Earth Foundation (UK), Be The Earth Investments, and Be The Earth SA (South Africa) - working together across the UK and South Africa. Where we refer to "Be The Earth" or "we" in this policy, this includes all three entities where relevant to the processing described. Where your data is shared between these entities, or transferred to South Africa, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, as set out in Section 9 (International Data Transfers).

 

1. Information We Collect and Purpose of Processing

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• Newsletter Sign-Up

  • Data collected: Name and email address

  • Purpose: To send newsletters, updates, and communications about our activities, events, and opportunities.

 

• Subsidy Application

  • Data collected: Name and email address

  • Purpose: To process and evaluate applications for subsidies.

 

• Event Onboarding

  • Data collected: Name and email address

  • Purpose: To provide updates and communications about events we host or sponsor.

 

• Event Photography and Video

  • Data collected: Images, video, and audio recordings

  • Purpose: Captured at our events and gatherings for use in marketing, communications, and archival purposes, including on our website and social media. Where practical, we will indicate at an event that recording is taking place and provide an opportunity to opt out of being featured.

 

• Reciprocity Hive Application

  • Data collected: Name and email address

  • Purpose: To process and evaluate applications to donate to the Reciprocity Hive.

 

• Donations (Give page)

  • Data collected: Name, email address, and payment information

  • Purpose: Collected via our donation page, hosted by our payment processor Raisely, to process your donation. Payment card details are collected and processed directly by Raisely and its payment provider; we do not store your full card details.

 

• Gift Aid

  • Data collected: Name, home address, and taxpayer status declaration

  • Purpose: Where you choose to add Gift Aid to your donation, we collect this data to make a Gift Aid claim to HMRC, as required under UK tax law.

 

• Grant Onboarding

  • Data collected: Name, email address, phone number, home/business address, and bank details

  • Purpose: To manage grant onboarding, communication, and the transfer of grant funds.

 

• Supplier Onboarding

  • Data collected: Name, email address, phone number, home/business address, and bank details

  • Purpose: To manage supplier onboarding, communication, and disbursement of payments.

 

2. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

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Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it function properly and to understand how visitors use our site. This may include essential cookies (required for the site to work), analytics cookies (to help us understand visitor behaviour), and cookies set by third-party services embedded in our site, such as our donation page (Raisely) and booking widget. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect how parts of the site function.

 

3. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

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• Consent: for newsletters, event updates, and event photography/video, where we rely on your consent.

• Contract: for processing subsidy, grant, and supplier applications, where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or take steps at your request before entering one.

• Legal obligation: for Gift Aid claims and other regulatory requirements, where we must process data to comply with UK tax and charity law.

• Legitimate interests: for donation processing (excluding Gift Aid), where processing is necessary for our legitimate interest in administering donations, and this interest is not overridden by your rights.

4. How We Share Your Data

 

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share your data with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate our services (for example, form processing, payment processing, and financial management). These providers are bound by confidentiality obligations and may only use your data to provide their service to us.

We may also disclose your data where required by law, such as in response to a court order, regulatory request, or HMRC requirement (for Gift Aid).

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or disclosure, including secure servers, encryption, and restricted access. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law:

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• Newsletter data: until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.

• Subsidy, grant, Reciprocity Hive, and supplier application data: for the duration of the relationship, and for six years afterward to meet legal and financial obligations.

• Donation and Gift Aid data: for six years, in line with HMRC record-keeping requirements for Gift Aid claims.

• Event photography/video: three years, or until you request removal, whichever is earlier.

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to: access your data; request correction of inaccurate data; request deletion, subject to legal or contractual obligations; object to processing in certain circumstances; request data portability; withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent; and lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been mishandled.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at ellie@betheearth.foundation.

8. International Data Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK - including to Be The Earth SA, or to service providers based elsewhere - we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), in accordance with UK GDPR.

9. Children's Privacy

We recognise the importance of protecting children's privacy and take a precautionary approach:

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• Under 13: We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. Where a child under 13 wishes to sign up for our newsletter or attend an event, we require verifiable consent from a parent or guardian before collecting any personal data. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 13 without such consent, we will delete it promptly.

• Aged 13 to 17: We require confirmation of parent or guardian consent before collecting personal data from anyone aged 13 to 17, including for newsletter sign-up or event attendance.

• If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected data from your child without appropriate consent, please contact us immediately at ellie@betheearth.foundation.

10. Data Breaches

 

In the event of a data breach, we will notify the ICO and affected individuals where required by law, particularly where there is high risk to your rights and freedoms.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Updates will be posted on this page, and we will notify you of significant changes through appropriate channels.

12. Contact Us

Be The Earth Foundation
7 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PE
Email: ellie@betheearth.foundation