1. Introduction and general terms

Alfanar works to strengthen grassroots organisations in the Arab world that serve the region’s most vulnerable citizens. Alfanar depends on the generosity of our supporters and are therefore committed to protecting any personal information we obtain about you, whether you are just visiting our website or are a financial supporter, shopper, volunteer or campaigner.  This Privacy Policy sets out how we obtain, use and protect any personal information you provide to us, whether online, via phone, text, email, in letters or in other correspondence. All mentions of Alfanar in this document refer to both Alfanar and its affiliates.

This privacy policy explains the following:

• what information Alfanar may collect about you
• how Alfanar will use information we collect about you
• when Alfanar may use your details to contact you
• whether Alfanar will disclose your details to anyone else
• your choices regarding the personal information you provide to us; the use of cookies on the Alfanar website and how you can exercise your choices in relation to those cookies

Alfanar is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Alfanar website contains hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. These third party websites have their own privacy policies, including policies on their use of cookies, and we urge you to review them. They will govern the use of personal information you submit or which is collected by cookies whilst visiting these websites. We cannot accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.

2. What information will Alfanar collect about me?

When you contact Alfanar to make a donation or sign up to any of Alfanar’s activities or online content, such as newsletters, competitions, or message boards, or you telephone, email, write to or text Alfanar, or engage with Alfanar via social media channels, we may receive and retain personal information about you. This can consist of information such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone or mobile number, bank account details to process donations and whether or not you are a tax payer so that we can claim Gift Aid.

By submitting your details, you enable Alfanar (and where applicable any sub-contractors we may use) to raise funds and to provide you with the goods, services, information, activities or online content you select.

We do not usually collect "sensitive personal data" about our supporters, e.g. health status, unless there is a clear reason for doing so - such as participation in a marathon or similar fundraising event or where we need this to ensure that we provide appropriate facilities or support to enable you to participate in an event.  Clear notices will be provided on applications for such events so that it is clear what information we need and why we need it.

If you are simply browsing our website as an anonymous visitor, Alfanar may still collect certain information from you, such as your IP addresses (an IP address is a number that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet).

Alfanar also uses cookies.  Cookies are small text files on your device.  They are made by your web browser when you visit a website. Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website's server.  They improve your experience of using a website, for example, by remembering your preference settings and by measuring your use of a website to ensure that it meets your needs.  See Section  below for more detail on how we use cookies and how you can control your cookie preferences.

3. How will Alfanar use the information you collect about me?

Alfanar will use your personal information for a number of purposes including the following:

• in relation to any correspondence you have entered into with us whether by letter, email, text, social media, message board or any other means;
• for "service administration purposes", which means that Alfanar may contact you for reasons related to donations you have made or the activity or online content you have signed up for;
• for internal record keeping;
• to fulfil sales contracts you have entered into with Alfanar;
• to contact you about any content you provide;
• to invite you to participate in surveys or research about Alfanar or our work (participation is always voluntary);
• for marketing purposes where you have specifically agreed to this (see below);
• to provide you with information about our activities or online content you have agreed to receive;
• to personalise the way Alfanar content is presented to you; 
• to use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to block disruptive use, to establish the number of visits from different countries;
• to analyse and improve the activities and content offered by the Alfanar website to provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience. We may also use and disclose information in the aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes. 

Your data may also be available to our website provider to enable us and them to deliver their service to us, carry out analysis and research on demographics, interests and behaviour of our users and supporters to help us gain a better understanding of them to enable us to improve our services. This may include connecting data we receive from you on the website to data available from other sources. Your personally identifiable data will only be used where it is necessary for the analysis required, and where your interests for privacy are not deemed to outweigh their legitimate interests in developing new services for us. In the case of this activity, the following will apply:

• Your data will be made available to our website provider
• The data that may be available to them include any of the data we collect as described in section 3 above.
• Our website provider will not transfer your data to any other third party, or transfer your data outside of the EEA.
• They will store your data for a maximum of 15 years

4. Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?

Alfanar will only contact you for marketing purposes by email or other electronic means if you have agreed to be contacted for these purposes or where you have made a donation by text and have not opted out from receiving further information.  Where you have provided your postal address we may send you direct mail about our work unless you have told us that you do not wish to receive such information.

If you wish to contact us either to obtain information about our work or to stop us sending you such information please email us at [email protected], call +44 (0)20 7608 8145 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) with the details. You may also opt out of marketing emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email from Alfanar.

5. Will Alfanar share my personal information with anyone else?

We will only use your information within Alfanar for the purposes for which it was obtained, unless you have explicitly agreed that we may share your information with another organisation. Sometimes Alfanar contracts third parties to process your information on our behalf.  We require these third parties to comply strictly with our instructions and data protection laws.

We will keep your information confidential except where disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example to government bodies for tax purposes or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime, subject to such bodies providing us with a relevant request in writing).

6. Offensive or inappropriate content placed on the Alfanar website

If you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content to or anywhere on the Alfanar website or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on any Alfanar service, we may use your personal information to stop such behaviour.

Where Alfanar reasonably believes that you are or may be in breach of any of the laws of England and Wales (e.g. because content you have posted may be defamatory), we may use your personal information to inform relevant third parties such as your employer, internet provider or law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.

7. How long will Alfanar keep my personal information?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, eg we will keep a record of donations for at least seven years.  If you request us not to send you marketing information we will keep a record of your contact details and appropriate information to enable us to comply with your request not to be contacted by us.

Where you contribute material to us, e.g. user-generated content or in response to a particular campaign we will generally only keep your content for as long as is reasonably required for the purpose(s) for which it was submitted unless otherwise stated at the point of generation.

It is Alfanar's policy to retain supporter data that includes a gift to the charity for a maximum of fifteen (15) years after the date of the last gift. Where the supporter has provided a Gift Aid Declaration, their record will be retained for six (6) years. Alfanar endeavours to ensure that all personal data held is accurate. All personal records are stored electronically on a secure, password-protected Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and in line with legal obligations. Alfanar therefore, on a regular basis, reviews all data, whether held electronically or on paper, to decide whether to destroy or delete any data once the purpose for which that data was collected is no longer relevant. We only engage in direct marketing where we have obtained consent to contact supporters.

8.  What is Alfanar’s policy on allowing me to update, correct, or delete my personal information?

The accuracy of your information is important to us. We are working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that Alfanar maintains about you. In the meantime, if you change email address or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, you can let us know:

• through our website or 
• email us at [email protected] with the details.

Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. (we require you to prove your identity with two pieces of approved identification).

9. Cookies Policy - information Alfanar collects from your computer or mobile device

a. What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files on your device.  They are made by your web-browser when you visit a website.  Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website's server.  Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user's device.  You can find more information about cookies at: www.allaboutcookies.org and www.youronlinechoices.eu. For a video about cookies visit  http://www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/data-on-the-web/cookies

Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improving the user experience.

They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.

b. Why does Alfanar use cookies?

Like many websites, Alfanar uses cookies in order to provide you with a more personalised web service.

Cookies help us identify which bits of our website people are using, and help us do work on those sections of the website to improve the user experience.  We also use cookies to help show content on our site which is relevant to you and your interests, for example if on a previous visit you went to our pages about emergencies, festivals or events, we might find this out from your cookie and show you other information on our website related to emergencies, festivals or events on subsequent visits.

Information supplied in cookies also allows us to measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns for Alfanar. This enables us to ensure any money we spend on digital marketing gives us a good return on investment.

10. Changes to Alfanar’s Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time so you may wish to check it each time you submit personal information to Alfanar. The date of the most recent revisions will appear on this page. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use the Alfanar website to submit personal information to Alfanar.  If material changes are made to the Privacy Policy we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on the website.