Afrikindness is a non-profit public-benefit organization with the primary aim of promoting acts of kindness amongst children and young adults, igniting a desire in them to make a positive impact in their communities. Afrikindness respects the privacy of visitors to our website, especially children under the age of 13, teenagers, and youths, the homepage of which is located at www.afrikindness.org.
This Privacy Policy is intended to inform you of our policies and to help you understand how we collect, use and protect every personal information that you submit to us through our website. We are committed to protecting and using your personal information in accordance with our responsibilities. We will only use your information for the purpose for which it has been collected. We are required to provide you with the information in this data protection policy (“Privacy Policy”) under applicable law, including:
- the UK version of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“UK GDPR”),
- the Data Protection Act 2018; and
- the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (“PECR”).
Contact Us
If you have any queries about our Privacy Policy at any time, do not hesitate to contact us. If you wish to change your preferences (unsubscribe from our emails that you have previously opted into) or exercise your data protection rights, please get in touch with our data protection team:
Email: info@afrikindness.org
Phone: 01924 216521
Afrikindness is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. Afrikindness will obtain, hold and process all personal data in accordance with the GDPR for the following lawful purposes. The information gathered are used to help us learn about your area of interests and to tailor our services to your best interest.
What information do we collect?
Personal Information
For the purposes of this Policy, we currently collect and process the following personal information:
- Name, date of birth, age, postal address, billing address, telephone number(s), and email address(es). This information may be provided through our website, via email, in paper form or verbally. You may provide such data to us when signing up for a newsletter, answering a survey, registering for our webinar/podcasts, donating or to complete a transaction, at Afrikindness event in schools or through general communications/queries with our volunteers and staff via phone or email.
- Your interests and preferences such as the type of activities you would like to be involved in, projects for children, company details or employer details or selecting campaign options you would like to be involved in. There are options to opt in and opt out of each interest areas and preferences.
- Personal data from your activities online with Afrikindness website or webapp could be collected. Examples of personal data generated by your activities on our website or through email newsletter are IP address logged when you visit our website. This is often analysed by Google Analytics service. This analytics helps us measure and keep a track of all the content that receives views and shares. With these analytics, we are better able to understand how people use our content and website and how we can further improve our site and services. Analytics cookies will only be set with your consent.
- Volunteer and Staff data base such as details for a reference checks, emergency contact details etc. To be able to operate efficiently, effectively, and economically, it is in the legitimate interests of the Charity to hold such personal information on its volunteers and trustees as it will enable the Charity to communicate with its volunteers on matters relating to the operation of the charity.
- Afrikindness uses local storage such as cookies to improve website functionality and user experience. Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your browser that help us analyse website usage, remember your preferences, and make navigation easier. You can disable cookies in your browser settings. Records of your support and involvement with Afrikindness (such as donations or event attendance) are stored in our database to allow us to provide better services.
We may also receive personal information from trusted third parties. For example:
- When you make donation through platforms like GoFundMe or JustGiving, we may receive relevant details such as corporate partners, where you have provided consent for your personal details to be shared with Afrikindness.
See JustGiving’s Privacy Policy here: https://www.justgiving.com/info/privacy-policy-versions/privacy-policy-v30.
- We may receive information from corporate partners where you have given consent for your details to be shared with us, often through joint campaigns, co-hosted events, or financial transactions.
- We may also collect information from your engagement with Afrikindness on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Please review the privacy policies of those platforms to understand how your data is used and how to set your preferences.
- Afrikindness does not sell or make personal data available to third parties. However, where it is necessary to pursue our charitable objectives, we may share data with trusted service providers. Examples include fraud investigations, event management via Eventbrite, software development, email delivery, marketing communications, payment processing, or site analytics. Before sharing data, we ensure that the third party is GDPR-compliant, and we formalise this in a written contract.
See Eventbrite’s Privacy Policy here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/support/articles/en_US/Troubleshooting/eventbrite-privacy-policy?lg=en_GB.
In some cases, we may need to collect sensitive personal data, such as health-related information (dietary requirements, allergies, mobility access needs) when you register for an event, workshop, volunteering opportunity, or campaign. We also keep records of incidents or accidents involving staff, volunteers, or event participants.
For volunteers working with us through an organisation, charity, trust, or foundation, we may keep a record of your personal details (such as name, work-related information, and signatures on contracts or agreements). Where partnership agreements or contracts exist, Afrikindness may process personal information as needed to meet those contractual obligations.
Calendly Scheduling
Afrikindness uses Calendly as an online scheduling tool to make it easier for participants to book sessions with us, including our neurodiversity drop-in sessions. When you make a booking through Calendly, we collect basic details such as your name, email address, and the time of your chosen appointment. You may also choose to provide additional information. If you share details about your health, neurodiversity, disability, or other support needs, this information is treated as special category data and will only be processed with your explicit consent, solely for the purpose of supporting you during the session.
You can learn more about how Calendly handles data by reading their Privacy Policy here: https://calendly.com/privacy
We may share your information with:
Afrikindness Volunteers and Staff so that they can support you and help in fulfilling our charity’s mission. We may share your information with Partners and Suppliers who work with us or on our behalf to deliver our services, but we will request your consent before we share any information. For example, we may share your information with our partners who help us to process donations and claim Gift Aid.
How do we use your information?
Afrikindness understand and accept their responsibility under GDPR to hold all personal data securely and use it only for legitimate purposes with your knowledge and approval. We understand the concerns of giving personal information online. By the following operational policies and procedures, Afrikindness undertake to uphold the principles and requirements of GDPR in a manner that is proportionate to the nature of the personal data being held by the Charity. We have security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration or destruction of personal data under our control.
We use your personal data for the following: -.
Administration
We may need to keep certain personal data to fulfil a transaction (such as a purchase or contract) or to manage an event. We will keep records of financial transactions, such as donations, and information such as Gift Aid instructions to comply with our financial responsibilities to HMRC (however we do not keep records of your payment details once the payment has been processed by Afrikindness)
Write to you or email you regarding a donation, membership, or product you have bought to confirm receipt of funds and to let you know about the impact of your donation. We will keep information that allows us to respect your choices and preferences. We will also notify you about changes to Afrikindness, the opportunities and services we offer. We use your information to help us carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered between you and us and to provide you with the information and services that you request from us.
Marketing
We often carryout fundraising activities to help us achieve our objectives. We may contact you as regards our events, activities etc and we will ensure that our activities are in line with your preferences and choices and that you are not receiving any information from us that you do not wish to. We just want you to know that you are always in control of your data. We require your consent to send you emails that contain marketing and therefore we will only send these to you if you have specifically opted in to receive them by signing up to email newsletters via our website. Our email newsletters are sent using Mailchimp. Our emails generally contain information such as news and updates about our events, work with children, work in Africa, parent updates and campaigns and news items relevant to children and young people. You can change your email preferences at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe on each newsletter.
We may send you postal mailings if we consider this will be of interest to you and it is in the legitimate interest of the charity, but we will ensure that any mailings are appropriate and proportionate, and you may opt out of receiving postal communications at any time by contacting us. We often send certificates and awards to children who participate in our competitions. Our emails and/or postal mailings may occasionally contain information about our partners, or third-party products and services, but these communications will always come from Afrikindness and will be incorporated into our own marketing materials. If you wish to change your preferences, please contact us via the contact details.
Research and analysis
We may use your data to tailor our communications with you. By understanding your interests, we can tailor our updates and posts to what you would like to see. We also often carry out surveys to help our research work and we may request for you to participate in our surveys so we can better serve you. Also, to administer our site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes.
How do we get your personal information?
- Donation through our website
- Subscription to Afrikindness newsletter.
- Enquires via email, phone or feedback, comments through our website.
Children’s Data
Children under 13 years of age cannot legally give consent themselves. Where consent is required, we will obtain verifiable parental/guardian consent before collecting children’s data.
For children aged 13–17, we provide clear, age-appropriate information and high privacy settings by default, in line with the UK Children’s Code (Age-Appropriate Design Code).
Lawful Bases for Processing
We rely on the following lawful bases:
- Contract – e.g., processing event registrations, merchandise purchases.
- Legal Obligation – e.g., keeping Gift Aid and finance records for HMRC.
- Legitimate Interests – e.g., keeping in touch with supporters, volunteer administration, fraud prevention, improving services.
- Consent – e.g., sending email newsletters, collecting health information for events.
- Vital Interests – in emergencies where someone’s life or safety is at risk.
How is your data stored and secured?
We do not rely only on password protection; we use appropriate technical and organisational measures including:
- Encryption in transit and at rest,
- Access controls and multi-factor authentication,
- Staff training on data protection,
- Incident response procedures,
- Contracts with processors requiring GDPR compliance
we use layered security and regularly review our measures. We ensure that any personal data we collect that needs to be stored is kept securely. We control who has access to your information, follow data protection policies and procedures, and ensure our staff receive data protection training on at least an annual basis. When your data is stored by us or our secure suppliers, we will always ensure that this is retained in accordance with the law.
International Transfers
Some of our providers (e.g., Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Eventbrite, Calendly) are based outside the UK. Where data is transferred internationally, we use approved safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), and we carry out transfer risk assessments.
How long do we keep your data?
Personal data shall not be retained for longer than the period for which you have consented to the Charity holding your data. The length of time your data is stored for depends on the purposes for which it was collected and recorded. We follow an internal policy to ensure that data no longer required or meeting the purposes of collection will be deleted. You have the right to request a copy of your personal data that has been recorded by Afrikindness, to have your data kept up-to-date, and/or to request for it to be deleted (though this will not apply where it is necessary for us to continue to use the data for a lawful reason). If you would like to make any requests relating to your data, please contact us using the contact details above. Requests will be dealt with within 1 calendar month. If we have collected and processed your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal data conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent. You have the right to opt-out of the marketing communications we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by contacting us using the contact details above. You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority.
To find out more about your rights relating to your personal data please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public. The ICO is the independent authority in the UK that oversees data protection regulation and upholds information rights.
Your Rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
- Your right to be informed: When collecting personal information, the Charity will provide to the data subject free of charge, a Privacy Policy written in clear and plain language which is concise, transparent, intelligible, and easily accessible.
- Your rights of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
- Your right to correct or rectify – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Your right to withdraw consent:- Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal information for certain activities, you may withdraw all or part of your consent at any time and we will cease to carry out that particular activity unless we consider that there is an alternative lawful basis to justify our continued processing of your data for this purpose, in which case we will inform you of this condition.
- Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
Keeping us informed: It is important for us and for you that we store the correct information about you. You can contact us if you need your information updated.
We will respond to your access to requests within one month (extendable by two months for complex requests).
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we use your data, please contact us first at info@afrikindness.org.
You also have the right to complain to the ICO:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://ico.org.uk
Changes
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. The most recent version will always be published on our website.