Donegal Bay Conservation Trust ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data openly and responsibly. This policy explains what information we collect through our website, why we collect it, how we use it, and the rights you have under data protection law.

We are the data controller responsible for your personal data. For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Acts, you can contact us at any time at info@donegalbaytrust.ie.

Donegal Bay Conservation Trust
Company No. 812494

The information we collect

We only collect the personal data we need to run our website and stay in touch with people who want to hear from us. This includes:

• Mailing list details. If you sign up to our newsletter, we collect your email address and, where you provide it, your name.
• Contact details. If you email us or fill in a contact form, we collect the information you choose to share, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message.
• Website usage data. When you visit our site, we automatically collect limited technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device, and how you move through the pages. This is collected through cookies and analytics tools, described below.

Donation details. If you choose to make a donation through our website, your payment is processed securely by a third-party payment provider. We do not collect or store your full card or bank details. We may receive and keep a record of your name, email address, donation amount, and the date of your donation, so that we can acknowledge it and keep accurate financial records.

How we use your information and our legal basis

Under GDPR we must have a lawful basis for using your personal data. We rely on the following:

• Consent. We send newsletters and updates only to people who have actively signed up. You give your consent when you sign-up and submit your details. You can withdraw this consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us directly.
• Legitimate interests. We use limited website analytics to understand how our site is used and to improve it. We keep this to what is necessary and balance it against your privacy.
• Legal obligation. In some cases we may need to process or retain information to comply with the law.

We will never sell your personal data, and we will not share it for third-party marketing.

Cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies, which are small text files stored on your device. Some are essential for the site to work. Others help us understand how visitors use the site.

• Squarespace. Our website is built and hosted on Squarespace, which sets cookies necessary for the site to function and collects basic usage statistics on our behalf.
• Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to measure how people find and use our site. This uses cookies to collect information such as pages visited and time spent on the site. The data is aggregated and helps us improve our content.

When you first visit our site you will see a cookie banner. You can accept or decline non-essential cookies, and you can change your browser settings at any time to block or delete cookies.

Embedded content

Some pages include content embedded from other websites, such as videos from YouTube or Vimeo. These embedded services may collect data about you, set their own cookies, and track your interaction with that content, in the same way as if you had visited their website directly. We do not control this data collection. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of YouTube (Google) and Vimeo to understand how they use your data.

Who we share your data with

We share your data only with the service providers that help us run our website and mailing list:

• Squarespace, which hosts our website and provides our mailing list tool, Squarespace Email Campaigns.
• Google, which provides our website analytics.

These providers act on our instructions and are bound by their own data protection obligations.

Transfers outside the European Economic Area

Some of our service providers, including Squarespace and Google, are based in the United States and may process your data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where this happens, your data is protected by appropriate safeguards recognised under GDPR, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep your data

We keep your personal data only for as long as we need it:

• Mailing list data is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you, after which we delete it.
• Contact and enquiry data is kept only as long as needed to deal with your query and for a reasonable period afterwards.
• Analytics data is retained in line with the settings of our analytics provider.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Ask us to delete your data.
• Object to or restrict how we use your data.
• Withdraw your consent to marketing at any time.
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@donegalbaytrust.ie. We will respond within one month.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish supervisory authority, the Data Protection Commission (www.dataprotection.ie).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date at the top of this page. Any significant changes will be made clear on our website.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or about how we use your personal data, please contact us at info@donegalbaytrust.ie.