1. Objective
Concerns regarding personal data and its privacy hold an important place in organisational practices. Current Conservation treats the subject of data privacy with seriousness and this policy endeavours to protect the personal data of individuals and organisations collected in the course of Current Conservation’s operations. The policy also lays down guidelines on how such data needs to be treated with care, respect and confidentiality in the course of Current Conservation’s operations.
2. Scope
This policy is restricted to personal data obtained by Current Conservation staff authorised to do so, in the course of Current Conservation’s operations to facilitate such data collection and storage. Persons from whom such data might be collected include staff, consultants, research affiliates, adjuncts, advisors, interns and volunteers. It also includes personal information collected from partner organisations, community members and donors, including personal information collected by projects working with communities. Such data might be obtained from staff, visitors to Current Conservation’s field stations and offices. Such information includes personal information contained in contracts, on forms (online and hard-copy), subscription forms, workshop registration lists, on websites, e-mail communications etc, and may be disclosed wittingly or unwittingly by persons. No third parties may access personal information held by the organisation without having first entered into a confidentiality agreement after a discussion with the Director and the HR Dept.
3. Why is personal data collected at Current Conservation?
Current Conservation’s operations require collection of personal data for multiple reasons including:
a. the organised and systematic execution of its mandate;
b. to fulfil legal obligations;
c. to keep internal records of donors and supporters as part of fund raising activities;
d. to communicate information about Current Conservation’s achievements and its activities to members of the wider public who are interested in our work;
e. to fulfil contractual obligations of grantors, donors or partners;
f. to systematically perform certain charitable environmental preservation-related actions such as conducting trainings, workshops, meetings and networking actions;
4. Steps to ensure data privacy
Current Conservation is committed to making sure all personal information is held safely, as per prevailing data protection laws. Current Conservation staff collecting such information must ensure the following:
a. When collecting personal data from individuals, Current Conservation staff must make clear to them which data is being collected, is necessary and for what purpose it is being used.
b. Should recipients wish to unsubscribe from email lists, e-groups, newsletters and other communication material sent via email or post by Current Conservation staff, the latter is obliged to remove them from such lists.
c. Persons interacting with Current Conservation in any of the above-mentioned capacities (see 2. Scope) can request a copy of the personal info maintained at Current Conservation by contacting us at the email address provided in the contact us section on our website.
d. Current Conservation staff shall not trade or sell personal information with any organisations or companies.
e. Staff collecting any personal data shall be responsible for carefully storing such data on secure computers, portable storage devices (such as pen drives and hard disks) or cloud platforms and shall ensure that such data does not lie unprotected and open for all to view.
5. Donor data and its privacy at Current Conservation
Current Conservation may collect personal information from individual and organisational donors and grantors for the purposes of processing payments and communicating with them about Current Conservation as well as conducting the fundraising and related operations. This ‘donor data’ may include name, amount donated, address, telephone number, donor comments, e-mail address, signature, photographs, PAN number, passport information and any other personal information provided to us by the said donor. For donations by check, donor data also includes the data visible on the check.
a. Current Conservation will not release or make use of any donor information (individual or organisations) for any other purpose without the consent of the said donor.
b. Current Conservation offers donors the option to be recognised anonymously.
c. Current Conservation shall not track, collect or distribute personal information entered by those who visit our websites without their permission.
d. Donors can request Current Conservation to make reasonable efforts to delete certain personal information, unless we are legally mandated to maintain such records.
e. Current Conservation’s staff will need to consult the Chief Editor before sharing the personal e-mail addresses or phone numbers of any of our donors. Such sharing may take place after permission has been obtained from the donor.
f. Donor data may be shared with government agencies only if legally mandated by prevailing Indian laws.
6. Information collected by third party Payment Processors and Other Service Providers Payment processors allow donors to give electronically using a payment services account, a credit card, or any other payment method. These processors collect certain information from donors. It is the donor’s responsibility to consult their privacy policies to determine their practices before using their services. Current Conservation does not accept liability for practices of such service providers.
7. Cookies
Current Conservation’s websites and social media platforms collect cookies only through third party sites such as WordPress, Facebook, etc. to enable greater functionality. For example, if any of our content embeds photos and video content from websites such as YouTube or Facebook, such sites may set a cookie when visitors click on such content. The Current Conservation website hosts embedded ‘share’ buttons which allow visitors of the site to share content from the website using social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. These sites may also deploy cookies when users log into their services. Current Conservation does not control the dissemination of these cookies and takes no liability for actions resulting from the same.