Privacy Policy

Effective date: XXXX

Introduction

This privacy policy describes how the Global Research and Technology Development (GRTD) website collects, uses, and discloses your information when you use our website, https://212-71-248-78.ip.linodeusercontent.com. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is the data controller for the GRTD website. The platform is managed by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), who act as the data processor on behalf of the FCDO.  This privacy policy describes how your information is collected, used, and shared when you visit the GRTD website (currently in beta testing).

Data controller

For more detailed information on FCDO’s role and responsibilities as a data controller, please visit FCDO as a data controller: privacy notice – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Legal basis for processing under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The GRTD website follows the requirements set out in the UK GDPR. The processing of your personal data by the GRTD website is based on specific legal grounds, which are as follows:

1. Consent: We process the personal data you provide us voluntarily, such as your name, email address, organisation and contact details, based on your explicit consent. Consent is obtained when you subscribe to our mailing list, contact us through the website, apply for grants, etc. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, which will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before such withdrawal.
2. Legitimate Interest: We may also process certain data under the legal basis of our legitimate interests. This applies to data collected automatically when you visit our website, such as usage data and information from cookies or other tracking technologies. The purpose of collecting this data is to improve the user experience, maintain and secure the platform, analyse usage trends, and ensure the continuous optimisation of our services. The processing of such data is necessary to further our legitimate interest in providing a user-friendly, effective, and secure website. Our processing based on legitimate interests is carried out after carefully balancing our legitimate interests against your rights and interests to ensure minimal impact on your privacy, and you have the right to object to processing.

How and why we collect data

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to improve our services to you.

• Personal information: This may include your name, email address, organization, job title, etc. We only collect this information when you voluntarily provide it to us, such as when you subscribe to a newsletter, contact us, or provide website feedback. We will seek your explicit consent to contact you for marketing purposes.
• Usage data: We may collect information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit, the time you spend on those pages, and the links you click.
• Cookies[AP7] and other tracking technologies: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activity on the website. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your device when you visit a website. They can be used to remember your preferences, track your browsing activity, and targeted advertising.  
• Grant application and grant holder data: We collect data if you are applying for or have been awarded funding through the RCC. This includes applications received through SmartSimple, our grant management system. This may include personal information such as your name, job title, career history, salary, contact information, etc. It may also include information about your current employer. We need this information to set up an account for you, receive and process applications, administer and manage your funding award and to evaluate and analyze our grant portfolio.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• To send you marketing and promotional communications (with your consent)
• To personalize your experience on the website
• To improve the website and our services
• To comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• To manage your account on our grant management system
• To process applications and manage awards
• To evaluate and analyze our overall portfolio

Sharing your information

We may share your information with third-party service providers who help us operate the Website and provide services such as collect analytics (Google analytics), administer our grant management system (SmartSimple) and managing mailing lists (Mailchimp).

We may need to share your information submitting through a funding application with

• Our funding partners for joint programmes, competitions and opportunities
• Our government partners at FCDO, who provide our core funding
• Expert reviewers, assessors and other steering committee or panel members
• Limited information will be publicly available in case you successfully secure an award

We will only share your information with these third parties for the purposes described in this privacy policy. We may also disclose your information if required by law or to protect our rights or the rights of others. If your data is transferred outside of the European Economic Area, we ensure that appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent protective measures, are in place to guarantee your privacy rights.

Data retention

We will retain your information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes described in this privacy policy. We will then delete your information or keep it in a form that does not identify you. We only retain data that is strictly necessary to fulfil our purposes, in line with the principle of data minimization.  

Your rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• The right to access your personal information
• The right to rectify any inaccuracies in your personal information  
• The right to request the deletion of your personal information
• The right to restrict the processing of your personal information  
• The right to object to the processing of your personal information
• The right to data portability  

To exercise these rights, please contact us directly at XXXX. Users also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority if they are unhappy with how their data has been handled.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on the website. You are advised to review this privacy policy periodically for any changes.  

Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at XXXXX