Effective date: 2 September 2026

The Impact Network ("we", "our", "us") respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It covers our website, our applicant and partner portals, and the messages you exchange with us.

Who we are

The Impact Network is a not-for-profit initiative supporting independent local conservation and community NGOs. We operate the booking and support platform at impact-network.org.uk on their behalf. Where you book onto a placement, the local NGO running that placement is a joint controller of the information needed to deliver it.

Information we collect

• Details you give us — your name, email address, phone number, and the information you enter when you apply for or book a placement, make an enquiry, or sign up to our newsletter.
• Placement information — details relevant to your placement that you choose to provide, which may include emergency-contact and health or dietary information where it is needed for your safety and care. You choose what to share, and we ask only for what a placement genuinely requires.
• Documents you upload — such as a passport photo page, where a placement requires it.
• Account and sign-in information — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google to identify your account. We never receive your Google password.
• Payment information — payments are processed by our payment providers (see below). We receive confirmation that a payment succeeded or failed and the amount, but we do not store your full card or bank details.
• Technical data — basic, privacy-preserving analytics about how the website is used. We do not store raw IP addresses beyond a short period, and analytics respect your cookie choices.

How we use your information

• To manage your application, booking, and placement, and to arrange your 1:1 call.
• To let you sign in to your portal and track your application, upload documents, and manage payments.
• To respond to enquiries and provide support.
• To send you information about your application or placement, and — only if you have opted in — occasional updates.
• To keep you safe and to meet our legal, safeguarding, and financial obligations.

We will never sell your personal data.

Sharing your information

We share information only where it is needed:

• The local NGO running your placement, so they can prepare for and deliver it.
• Service providers who operate the platform on our behalf — including Google (Workspace and sign-in), our hosting provider, and our video-call provider (Google Meet / Zoom) — under agreements that require them to protect your data.
• Payment providers — Stripe and GoCardless — to take payments securely.
• Booking partners (travel organisations) only where you have booked through them, and only the information needed to manage that booking.
• Authorities where required by law, or to protect someone's safety in an emergency.

Data security

We protect your information with encryption in transit, access controls, and secure storage. Sensitive documents are accessible only to the staff and NGO managing your placement. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data.

Data retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes above, or as required by law. Application and placement records are kept for the duration of your involvement and a reasonable period afterwards; raw technical identifiers such as IP addresses are removed within days.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the information we hold about you, to correct or update it, to request its deletion, and to withdraw consent to marketing at any time. To exercise any of these, contact us at support@impact-network.org.uk.

Third-party services

Our website and communications may link to third-party services, which have their own privacy policies. Signing in with Google is governed additionally by Google's own Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. We are not responsible for the practices of services we do not operate.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when it was last revised.

Contact

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Email support@impact-network.org.uk.