Privacy Policy

1.Data Controller

The data controller for all personal data collected through the VOADI platform is the Coalition of Africans Diaspora Ireland, operating as VOADI. Contact: [email protected].

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) at any time: dataprotection.ie · +353 57 868 4800.

2.What Data We Collect & Why

Account data

• Full name — to identify your account and personalise your experience. Legal basis: performance of contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• Email address — for account login, security notifications, and platform communications. Legal basis: performance of contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• Password — stored as a one-way hash (bcrypt). We cannot read your password. Legal basis: performance of contract.
• County of residence — to surface relevant county-specific events and resources. Legal basis: performance of contract / consent.

Optional profile data — special category

The following fields are entirely optional. They are treated as special category data under Article 9 GDPR because, in the context of this platform, they may reveal or allow inference of racial or ethnic origin.

• Nationality — to help us understand the diaspora groups using the platform and to tailor resources accordingly. Legal basis: your explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a) GDPR). You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Country of birth — same purpose and basis as nationality above.

Withdrawal of consent for these fields does not affect your right to use the platform. You may update or remove this data from your profile at any time.

Usage data

• Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited, timestamps) retained for 30 days for security and debugging purposes. Legal basis: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) — specifically, the security and integrity of the platform.
• We do not use analytics cookies or third-party tracking. We do not use Google Analytics or any equivalent service.

3.How We Use Your Data

• To operate your account and provide access to the platform.
• To display your name in connection with petitions you have signed or community content you have posted, where you have chosen to make this public.
• To send you transactional notifications (account security, platform updates). You can opt out of non-essential communications in your account settings.
• To improve the resources directory and community features, using aggregated and anonymised data about how members use the platform.
• To comply with legal obligations, including responding to valid court orders or requests from competent Irish authorities.

We will never use your data for advertising, profiling for commercial purposes, or to make automated decisions that significantly affect you.

4.Who We Share Data With

We do not sell your data. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:

• Hosting infrastructure — your data is stored on servers provided by our hosting provider. Our hosting provider processes data as a data processor under a Data Processing Agreement and may not use your data for any independent purpose.
• Payment processing — if you make a voluntary contribution, payment details are processed by our payment provider (Stripe). VOADI does not receive or store full card details. Stripe's privacy policy applies to their processing.
• Legal obligations — we may disclose data if required by a valid court order, warrant, or instruction from a competent Irish authority. We will notify you of any such disclosure where legally permitted to do so.

Our hosting infrastructure is located in the EU/EEA. No personal data is transferred outside the EEA except where necessary for payment processing (Stripe operates globally under Standard Contractual Clauses).

5.How Long We Keep Your Data

6.Your Rights

Under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights:

• Right of access (Article 15) — to receive a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification (Article 16) — to have inaccurate data corrected.
• Right to erasure (Article 17) — to have your data deleted where there is no legitimate reason to retain it.
• Right to restriction (Article 18) — to have processing restricted in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability (Article 20) — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object (Article 21) — to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to withdraw consent — for any processing based on consent, including nationality and country of birth, at any time without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these rights, contact [email protected]. We will respond within one calendar month (Article 12 GDPR). Where a request is complex, we may extend this by a further two months, notifying you of the extension within the first month.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission: dataprotection.ie.

7.Cookies

VOADI uses only essential cookies required for the platform to function (session authentication, CSRF protection). We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics cookies.

Essential cookies do not require your consent under the ePrivacy Regulations (SI 336/2011) as they are strictly necessary for the service you have requested.

8.Children

The age of digital consent in Ireland is 16 years (Data Protection Act 2018). VOADI does not knowingly collect personal data from persons under 16 without verified parental or guardian consent. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a person under 16 without consent, please contact [email protected] immediately.

9.Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy. Material changes will be notified to registered members by email at least 30 days before taking effect. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent update.