Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

Quick summary

Global Social Innovators respects your privacy. We collect and use personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so, and only to the extent needed to provide services, run our organisation, and meet legal and safeguarding obligations. We do not sell personal information. You can contact us at any time to ask questions or exercise your rights.

Key points:

Contents

1. Who We Are

Global Social Innovators is a Community Interest Company working to empower communities facing poverty, inequality, and lack of access to essential services.

Organisation details:

For data protection purposes, we are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy (meaning we decide why and how it is used).

2. What This Policy Covers

This policy explains how we handle personal information when you:

3. Personal Information We Collect

A) Information we collect from most people:

B) Advice For Life subscribers:

C) Job applicants and volunteers:

D) Website visitors:

4. Where We Get Personal Information From

We usually collect personal information:

5. Why We Use Personal Information

We use personal information to:

We aim to collect and use only the personal information we need for these purposes.

6. Our Lawful Bases (including marketing)

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information and to be transparent about it.

We rely on one or more of the following bases, depending on the context:

A) Consent – We rely on consent where appropriate, including non-essential cookies and Google Analytics (see Section 14), and marketing emails/texts to individual subscribers where PECR requires consent. You can withdraw consent at any time.

B) Contract – We process personal information where necessary to provide a service you have signed up for (e.g., Advice For Life subscriptions or paid services).

C) Legal obligation – We process information where required by law (e.g., financial record-keeping, safeguarding).

D) Legitimate interests – We may process information where we have a legitimate organisational reason and this does not override your rights and freedoms (e.g., service improvement, preventing fraud, managing enquiries, organisational administration and security).

E) Recognised legitimate interests (limited public-interest purposes) – For certain limited public-interest purposes (e.g., safeguarding, emergencies, crime prevention, or responding to certain requests from public bodies), we may rely on recognised legitimate interests where the law permits. We still ensure processing is necessary and complies with UK GDPR principles.

Marketing emails and texts (PECR rules):

Direct marketing by email, SMS, and similar electronic messages is governed by PECR. In general, we do not send marketing emails or texts to individual subscribers unless: (1) you have given specific consent, or (2) the commercial soft opt-in applies (e.g., you are an existing customer who bought or negotiated to buy a service from us, we are marketing our own similar services, and you were given a simple opt-out when we collected your details and in every message). We always include an unsubscribe option in marketing emails.

7. Special Category (Sensitive) Information

Some information is more protected under UK data protection law (e.g., health information, immigration status, ethnicity). We only collect and use this information where necessary and where we have a lawful basis plus an additional condition required by law.

This may include situations where you provide the information to receive appropriate support through Advice For Life and/or where safeguarding or other substantial public-interest conditions apply (depending on the circumstances).

8. Privacy for Advice For Life Subscribers

Confidentiality and access:

When we might share information:

We share Advice For Life information only when:

Where appropriate, we will explain what we are sharing and why.

9. Sharing Personal Information

We do not sell personal information.

We may share personal information with:

10. International Data Transfers

We primarily store and process information in the UK. Where we use suppliers that process personal information outside the UK, we use appropriate safeguards and assess transfer risk in line with UK requirements (including the updated approach introduced under the DUAA reforms).

11. Keeping Personal Information Safe

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including access controls, staff training, and secure systems. If a personal data breach occurs, we will assess it and notify the ICO and affected individuals where required by law.

12. How Long We Keep Personal Information

We keep personal information only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected for, and to meet legal, accounting, or safeguarding obligations.

Typical retention periods:

We securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.

13. Your Rights (including marketing opt-out)

You have rights under UK data protection law, including the right to: access your personal information, correct inaccurate information, request deletion in certain circumstances, restrict or object to certain processing, data portability (in some cases), withdraw consent (where we rely on it), and complain.

We usually respond within one month, and may extend by up to two further months for complex requests, explaining why.

Marketing preferences and opt-out (donors/supporters and subscribers):

You can opt out of marketing at any time:

We will keep a record of your preference so we do not send you marketing again.

How to exercise your rights:

Email: hello@globalsocialinnovators.org.uk

Phone: +44 (0)300 302 0344

Post: Data Protection, Global Social Innovators, 1349, 1353 London Rd, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 2AB

We may need to verify your identity before responding.

14. Cookies and Website Usage (including Google Analytics)

What are cookies?

Cookies and similar technologies store or access information on your device to help websites function and to understand how visitors use a site.

How we use cookies:

We use:

Google Analytics:

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website (e.g., which pages are visited, how long people spend on pages, and how users move through the site) so we can improve content and user experience. We only set Google Analytics cookies if you enable Analytics cookies.

Your choices:

You can manage your cookie choices at any time using our cookie preferences tool and/or your browser settings.

[Manage Cookie Preferences]

15. Social Media

We use social media (e.g., Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram) to share updates and engage with supporters. When you interact with us on social media, the platform’s privacy policy applies. If you message us, we process your message and contact details to respond.

16. Job Applications and Volunteering