Privacy Policy

Young Dreamers Society (“YDS”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and safeguard your data when you interact with our website, programmes, and services.

1. Who we are

Young Dreamers Society is a community interest organisation registered in England and Wales. Our registered address is available on request. You can contact our Data Officer at privacy@youngdreamerssociety.org.

2. What information we collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Identity data: full name, age range, nationality.
• Contact data: email address, phone number, city/country of residence.
• Application data: answers you submit as part of an Academy, Network, or Conference application.
• Usage data: pages visited, time on site, browser type — collected through anonymised analytics.
• Communications: messages you send us via contact forms or email.

3. How we use your information

We use your personal data to:

• Process and respond to applications for our programmes.
• Send you relevant communications you have opted into.
• Improve our website and services through anonymised analytics.
• Comply with our safeguarding obligations.
• Meet legal and regulatory requirements.

4. Legal basis for processing

We process your data on the basis of your consent (which you can withdraw at any time), or where processing is necessary to fulfil a contract with you, comply with a legal obligation, or pursue our legitimate interests.

5. Data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your data with carefully selected third-party service providers (such as email platforms, analytics tools, or payment processors) who are contractually required to process your data only on our instructions and in accordance with applicable data protection law.

6. Data retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes set out in this policy, or as required by law. Application data is held for up to 3 years. You may request deletion of your data at any time.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Object to or restrict certain processing activities.
• Withdraw consent at any time.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

8. Cookies

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on our website or contacting you directly. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

10. Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at privacy@youngdreamerssociety.org.