1. INTRODUCTION

Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd (charity registration no. 1094478 and registered company no. 4432166), is committed to protecting your privacy and security. This statement explains how and why we use your personal data, to ensure you remain informed and in control of your information.  

We know that there’s a lot of information here but we want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how Sand Dams Worldwide uses your data.

This Privacy Statement applies to anyone that Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd comes into contact with, including but not exclusively: supporters, volunteers, staff, the general public, professional contacts.

You can decide not to receive communications or change how we contact you at any time. If you wish to do so, please contact Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd using the details below.

We will never sell your personal data, and will only ever share it with organisations we work with where necessary and if its privacy and security are guaranteed.

Questions?

Any questions you have in relation to this policy or how we use your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer Judith Eaton, using the details below:

Data Protection Officer Judith Eaton

Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd

7-14 Great Dover Street

London

SE1 4YR

Email: [email protected] 

You can also reach us on +44 (0)7596 225 677 or leave us a message on +44 (0)20 3096 7861 

This policy includes:

  • Our lawful basis for collecting data
  • What information we collect
  • How we use information
  • Data Retention
  • Disclosing and sharing data
  • What we mean by ‘marketing’
  • Building profiles of supporters and targeting communications
  • How we protect data
  • Where we store data
  • Keeping you in control
  • Cookies and links to other sites
  • Changes to this privacy statement

2. ABOUT US

In this statement wherever you see the words ‘Sand Dams Worldwide, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ it refers to Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd and any other wholly owned subsidiary companies.

3. OUR LAWFUL BASIS FOR PROCESSING DATA

The legitimate interest of our beneficiaries is our lawful basis for processing all data from supporters and the general public.

This means that when we are sending you an update or appeal in the post, we will always ensure that the legitimate interest of our beneficiaries is weighed up against your right to privacy. Where there is any doubt, your right to privacy is our top priority.

What this means in practice is that we will reduce the frequency of our appeal letters and newsletters to you if we haven’t heard from you in a while. We will always give you the opportunity to opt out of communications.

Sand Dams Worldwide asks its supporters to “opt-in” for marketing communications by email and SMS. That means that we won’t contact you using these channels unless you have given us expressed permission to do so.

You can decide not to receive communications or change how we contact you at any time. If you wish to do so please contact [email protected], writing to Judith Eaton, Head of Finance and Operations, Sand Dams Worldwide, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YR or telephoning 020 3096 7861 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm).

4. WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Personal data you provide

We collect data you provide to us in the course of our usual operations. This includes information you give when donating or communicating with us. For example:

  • personal details (name, date of birth, email, address, telephone etc) when you become a supporter or potential supporter;
  • financial information (bank account details and whether donations are gift-aided. Please see section 8 for more information on payment security); and
  • details of your interests and preferences (such as particular programmes, regions or other aspects of our work that you have said you are particularly interested in, the ways you support us).
  • Medical and next of kin information when you register to volunteer with us or attend an expedition or programme visit when this is necessary.

Information created by your involvement with Sand Dams Worldwide

Your activities and involvement with Sand Dams Worldwide will result in personal data being created. This could include details of how you’ve helped us by volunteering or being involved with our campaigns and activities.

If you decide to donate to us then we will keep records of when, how and how much you give to a particular cause.

Information we generate

We conduct research and analysis on the information we hold, which can in turn generate personal data. For example, by analysing your interests and involvement with our work we may be able to build a profile which helps us decide which of our communications are likely to interest you. Section 9 contains more information about how we use information for profiling and targeted communications.

Information from third parties

We sometimes receive personal data about individuals from third parties. For example, if we are partnering with another organisation (e.g. you provide your information to another charity we’re collaborating with on a conservation project). We might also obtain data to contact potential new supporters from other sources such as list brokers.

As explained in Section 8, we may use third parties to help us conduct research and analysis on personal data (and this can result in new personal data being created).

Your information may be shared with us by independent third parties when you have indicated that wish to support Sand Dams Worldwide with your consent (for example, Justgiving or Virgin Money Giving). You should check their Privacy Notice when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.

We may collect information from social media where you have given us permission to do so, or if you post on one of our social media pages.

Sensitive personal data

We do not normally collect or store sensitive personal data (such as information relating to health, beliefs or political affiliation) about supporters and members. However there are some situations where this will occur (e.g. if you volunteer or work with us or if you go on a programme visit or expedition). If this does occur, we’ll take extra care to ensure your privacy rights are protected.

Accidents or incidents

If an accident or incident occurs on our property, at one of our events or involving one of our staff (including volunteers) then we’ll keep a record of this (which may include personal data and sensitive personal data). We may also be required to share this with the appropriate statutory bodies.

Volunteers

If you are a volunteer then we may collect extra information about you (e.g. references, criminal records checks, details of emergency contacts, medical conditions etc.). This information will be retained for legal reasons, to protect us and you (including in the event of an insurance or legal claim) and for safeguarding purposes.

5. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We only ever use your personal data with your consent, or where it is necessary in order to:

  • enter into, or perform, a contract with you;
  • comply with a legal duty;
  • protect your vital interests;
  • for our own (or a third party’s) lawful interests, provided your rights don’t override these.

In any event, we’ll only use your information for the purpose or purposes it was collected for (or else for closely related purposes):

Marketing

We use personal data to communicate with people, to promote our work and to help with fundraising. This includes keeping you up to date with our news, updates, appeals and fundraising information. For further information on this please see Section 7.

Administration

We use personal data for administrative purposes (i.e. to carry on our charitable work). This includes:

  • receiving donations (e.g. one-off gifts, direct debits or gift-aid instructions);
  • maintaining databases of our volunteers, members and supporters;
  • helping us respect your choices and preferences (e.g. if you ask not to receive specific or marketing material, we’ll keep a record of this).

Internal data analysis

We carry out analysis of the data from our supporters, donors and volunteers, to determine the success of campaigns and appeals, better understand behaviour and responses and identify patterns and trends. This helps inform our work and makes Sand Dams Worldwide a stronger and more effective organisation. Understanding our supporters, their interests and what they care about also helps us provide a better experience (e.g. through more relevant communications).

Anonymised data

We may aggregate and anonymise personal data so that it can no longer be linked to any particular person. This information can be used for a variety of purposes, such as recruiting new supporters, or to identify trends or patterns within our existing supporter base. This information helps inform our actions and improve our campaigns, products/services and materials.

6. DATA RETENTION

We retain your data indefinitely on our database, unless you request us to permanently delete your details. This enables us to ensure that we can continue to respect your communication preferences.

If we haven’t heard anything from you in five years, we will only contact you with the most urgent fundraising appeals at a maximum of once a year only. We may also view your data in analysis projects.

7. DISCLOSING AND SHARING DATA

We will never sell your personal data. We may share personal data with subcontractors or suppliers who provide us with services. However, these activities will be carried out under a contract which imposes strict requirements on our supplier to keep your information confidential and secure.

Occasionally, where we partner with other organisations, we may also share information with them (for example, if you register to attend an event being jointly organised by us and another charity). We’ll only share information when necessary and for the purposes that you have provided the data to us.

8. MARKETING

What does ‘marketing’ mean?

Marketing does not just mean offering things for sale, but also includes news and information about:

  • our charity, campaigns and providing people in drylands with clean water;
  • volunteering opportunities and how you can help people transform their lives with sand dams;
  • appeals and fundraising;
  • our events and activities;
  • leaving a legacy;
  • taking part in overseas projects.

When you receive a communication, we may collect information about how you respond to or interact with that communication, and this may affect how we communicate with you in future.

Newsletters

We send newsletters out to supporters (unless you specifically ask us not to) and you can choose to unsubscribe from fundraising communications and still receive newsletters. However, please be aware that newsletters do include fundraising information.

Fundraising

We rely on donations from others to continue supporting people in drylands to transform their lives with clean water. From time to time, we will contact supporters and the general public with fundraising material and communications. This might be about an appeal or to suggest ways you can raise funds (e.g. a sponsored event or activity, or even buying a product if Sand Dams Worldwide will receive some of the proceeds).

You can, of course, unsubscribe from fundraising communications at any time.

We may use third parties to carry out fundraising on our behalf. For example, we may use a third party to call supporters (who have agreed to be contacted by phone) about campaigns or fundraising.

9. BUILDING PROFILES OF SUPPORTERS AND TARGETING COMMUNICATIONS

This section explains how and why we use personal data to build profiles which enable us to understand our members and supporters, improve our relationship with them, and provide a better supporter experience.

Analysis and grouping

We use profiling techniques to ensure communications are relevant and timely, and to provide an improved experience for our supporters. Profiling also allows us to target our resources effectively, which donors consistently tell us is a key priority for them. We do this because it allows us to understand the background of the people who support us and helps us to make appropriate requests to supporters about areas of our work that may interest them.

The profiling we carry out includes analysing our supporters to determine common characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including behaviour (e.g. previous responses) or demographic information (e.g. age, location or affluence). In doing this, we may use additional information from third party sources when it is available.

By grouping people together on the basis of common characteristics, we can ensure each group is provided with communications, products, and information which are most relevant to them.

10. YOUNG PEOPLE

Data

When we collect and manage information from young people (under the age of 18) we aim to manage it in a way which is appropriate for the age of the child.

We won’t use young people’s personal data for marketing purposes and we won’t profile it.

Parental permission: If your child is under 18 then we will seek permission from you as their parent or guardian for them to be included in any photographs to be used by Sand Dams Worldwide for marketing purposes.

Information for parents

We take great care to protect and respect the rights of individuals in relation to their personal data, especially in the case of children. If your child is under 18, we’ll only use his or her personal data with your consent.

11. HOW WE PROTECT DATA

We employ a variety of physical and technical measures to keep your data safe and to prevent unauthorised access to, or use or disclosure of your personal information.

Your data is held on a local server within the server room in The Foundry building. Access to this room is restricted and logged for security purposes. We are in the process of migrating our CRM system to a cloud-based system.

Payment security

All electronic forms that request financial data will use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to encrypt the data between your browser and our servers.

If you use a credit or debit card to make a donation, we facilitate your donation via Third Party Providers (for example CAF, JustGiving and Stripe) and we do not store any credit or debit card information. We will not request pin numbers or bank security information. The relevant details will be transferred securely using SSL in order to process the payment.

Of course, we cannot guarantee the security of your home computer or the internet, and any online communications (e.g. information provided by email or our website) are at the user’s own risk.

CCTV

Our premises, The Foundry, has CCTV and you may be recorded when you visit. CCTV is there to help provide security and to protect both you, us and the other tenants in the Foundry. CCTV will only be viewed when necessary (e.g. for security reasons or to detect or prevent crime)

The Foundry complies with the Information Commissioner’s Office CCTV Code of Practice, and we put up notices so you know when CCTV is in use.

12. WHERE WE STORE INFORMATION

Sand Dams Worldwide’s offices are based in the UK and we store our data within the European Union. Some organisations which provide services to us may transfer personal data outside of the EEA, however these transfers will be subject to adequate data protections.

13. KEEPING YOU IN CONTROL

We want to ensure you remain in control of your personal data. Part of this is making sure you understand your legal rights, which are as follows:

  • the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data; and
  • the right to access your personal data and supplementary information that we hold (information will be provided in a commonly used electronic format); and
  • the right to have inaccurate data rectified, or completed if it is incomplete; and
  • the right to have your data erased; and
  • the right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data; and
  • the right to object to your data being used for direct marketing or other processing based on legitimate interest, including profiling.

If you would like further information on your rights or wish to exercise them, please write to Judith Eaton, Head of Finance and Operations at Sand Dams Worldwide Ltd, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YR, or telephone +44 (0)7596 225 677 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm).

Complaints

You can complain to Sand Dams Worldwide directly by contacting our Data Protection Officer using the details set out above. If you wish to make a complaint (including a complaint about fundraising activity) which does not directly relate to your data protection and privacy rights, you can do so via [email protected] or phone the office on 020 3752 5780.

If you are not happy with our response, or you believe that your data protection or privacy rights have been infringed, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates and enforces data protection law in the UK. Details of how to do this can be found at www.ico.org.uk

14. COOKIES AND LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Cookies

Our website uses local storage (such as cookies) to provide you with the best possible experience and to allow you to make use of certain functionality (such as being able to shop online). For more information check our Cookies Policy.

Links to other sites

Our website contains some hyperlinks to other websites. We are not responsible for the content or functionality of any of those external websites (but please let us know if a link is not working).

If an external website requests personal information from you (e.g. in connection with an order for goods or services), the information you provide will not be covered by Sand Dams Worldwide's Privacy Statement. We suggest you read the privacy statement of any website before providing any personal information.

Social Media Sites

We operate a number of social media pages (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram). Although this statement covers how we will use any data collected from those pages, it does not cover how the providers of social media websites will use your information. Please ensure you read the privacy statement of the social media website before sharing data and make use of the privacy settings and reporting mechanisms to control how your data is used.

15. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

We’ll amend this Privacy Statement from time to time to ensure it remains up-to-date and accurately reflects how and why we use your personal data. The current version of our Privacy Statement will always be posted on our website.

This Privacy Statement was last updated on Monday 21 March 2022.