ISB v3.1 Privacy Policy

Contact Email: info@istandbeside.life

Charity Registered in England and Wales number 1217230

1. Who we are

I Stand Beside (ISB, we, us or our) is a small charity based in England and Wales.
We are the controller of the personal data covered by this policy.

2. What this policy covers

This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal data when you:

use our website, https://www.istandbeside.life
use our platform, https://platform.istandbeside.life
contact us by email or forms
create a member account or take part in ISB activities

This policy does not apply to third-party websites or services that we do not control.

3. The personal data we collect

Depending on how you engage with us, we may collect:

your username
your first name and second name, if you choose to provide them
your email address
your password and login-related information
your age band, if you choose to provide it
your chosen being and profile information
profile images and other content you upload
text you upload to your profile or page, for example “about me”, “why I chose this being”, and similar fields
optional location information, at whatever level of detail you choose to provide
messages, forms and enquiries you send us
technical information such as IP address, browser or device information, cookies, and security logs
information included in complaints, reports or safeguarding concerns
payment or donation information, if payments or donations are enabled

Some of these fields are optional. In particular, first name, second name, age band, uploaded images, profile text and location information may be provided by you but are not required in all cases.

Age band is optional and is not intended to be public. Location information is optional, is not intended to be public, and is used only to help generate bespoke member-page content before being deleted.

We do not currently ask for postal address as part of platform signup.

We do not generally ask for sensitive personal data through ordinary website or platform use. Please do not share unnecessary sensitive personal data in public posts, profiles or forms.

4. How we collect personal data

We collect personal data:

directly from you, for example when you create an account, fill in a form, upload content, contact us, or sign up for updates
automatically, for example through cookies, consent tools, and security logs when you use our website or platform
from third parties where relevant, for example service providers, partner organisations, or people making a report or complaint

5. How we use personal data

We use personal data to:

create and manage member accounts
run our website, platform and activities
respond to enquiries and communicate with members and supporters
send newsletters or updates where lawful
generate bespoke member pages using optional location information where provided
help moderate uploaded text and images and reduce unlawful, harmful or inappropriate content on the platform
keep the website and platform secure
investigate misuse, complaints, reports or safeguarding concerns
keep basic records for administration, legal, financial or regulatory purposes
improve the website, platform and user experience

6. Our lawful bases

We use personal data on one or more of these lawful bases:

contract, where we need the data to provide membership, platform access or related services
legitimate interests, where we need the data to run ISB, keep our systems secure, and manage ordinary administration, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights
consent, where the law requires it, for example for certain cookies or optional email updates
legal obligation, where we must use or keep data to comply with the law
vital interests or other relevant legal conditions in rare cases, for example some safeguarding situations

7. User content and public information

If you upload content to the platform, some of that content may be visible to other users or to the public depending on the feature. Age band and location information are not intended to be public.

Please do not post addresses, phone numbers, or other personal information that you would not want to be public.

Uploaded images are intended to have metadata stripped before use. You should still avoid sharing images or text that reveal more than you want to make public.

Uploaded text and images may also be checked using automated moderation tools to help identify unlawful, harmful or inappropriate content.

8. Who we share personal data with

We may share personal data where necessary with:

hosting and infrastructure providers
email delivery providers
website security providers
membership or mailing-list tools
cookie consent or consent-management tools
automated moderation providers for uploaded text or images
payment providers, if payments are enabled
professional advisers, insurers, regulators, courts or law enforcement where required or justified
partner organisations where a joint activity makes this necessary and lawful

At the date of this draft, our current providers may include:

IONOS for UK hosting or infrastructure
SendLayer for email delivery
Wordfence for website security
RegistrationMagic for membership or membership-related emails
Complianz for cookie consent management
Google reCAPTCHA for captcha or anti-spam checks on forms, if enabled
SightEngine for automated moderation of uploaded text and images, if enabled

We do not sell personal data or share it with third parties for their own direct marketing.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for website and platform functions, security, and consent management.

We currently use Complianz as our cookie consent tool. Public forms may also use Google reCAPTCHA or similar anti-spam checks.

Some cookies are necessary for the site to work properly. Others may require your consent.

10. International transfers

Our IONOS hosting is in the UK. Some other service providers may process personal data outside the UK or EEA.

Where this happens, we aim to ensure that appropriate legal safeguards are in place.

11. How long we keep personal data

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, including legal, accounting, safeguarding, security and administrative reasons.

As a basic rule:

account data is kept while your account remains active, and for a reasonable period afterwards where needed for legal, safeguarding or administrative reasons
optional location data is used to help generate bespoke member pages and is then deleted
emails, forms, reports and related records are kept for as long as reasonably necessary for the matter they relate to
if a member deletes their membership, we aim to delete their account data and member content from live systems, except that news items or similar published material that already featured that member may remain unless specifically requested and practically removable
we will do our best to remove such published material on request, but we cannot guarantee removal of copies that have already been shared elsewhere
some data may remain in backups or system logs for a limited time after deletion from live systems, including where hosting backups cycle out over time rather than being deleted instantly

12. Your rights

Depending on the law and the circumstances, you may have rights to:

access your personal data
ask us to correct inaccurate data
ask us to delete data in some circumstances
ask us to restrict processing in some circumstances
object to certain processing
withdraw consent where we rely on consent
complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

To exercise your rights, contact info@istandbeside.life.

13. Security

We aim to use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data.

These may include HTTPS, restricted administrator access, two-factor authentication for privileged accounts, metadata stripping on uploaded images, website security tools, and automated moderation tools for uploaded text and images.

No website or online service can ever be guaranteed completely secure, but we work to reduce risk and improve our security over time.

14. Complaints

Please contact us first at info@istandbeside.life if you have a privacy concern.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Where changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to notify users.