Website Privacy Policy

Policy last updated 31/01/2025

Introduction

This policy applies to your use of our website at www.alike.org.uk (website) and for our use of your personal data in all circumstances other than when using our app.

We have a separate privacy policy applying to your use of our app which can be read here.

This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. The website is not intended for children (persons under 18) and we do not knowingly collect data relating to anyone aged under 18. Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. This policy should be read together with any other privacy policy including our app privacy policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.

This policy also explains your rights in relation to your information and how to contact us or the relevant regulator in the event you have a complaint. Our collection, storage, use and sharing of your information is regulated by law, including under 

The website and our services do not intend to target the EEA.

This policy is provided in a layered format so you can click through to the specific areas set out below. Please also use the Glossary to understand the meaning of some of the terms used in this privacy policy.

Important information and who we are
Alike is a CIO registered with the UK Charities Commission with charity number 1181848 and is the controller and is responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as "we", "us" or "our" in this policy).

How to contact us
You can contact us by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you, to exercise a right under data protection law or to make a complaint. We have appointed a data privacy manager. 

Our contact details are:

  • Full name of legal entity: Alike

  • Data Privacy Manager

  • Email address: privacy@alike.org.uk

  • Postal address: Alike, Soho Works, 180 the Strand, London. WC2R 1EA.

Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes
We keep our privacy policy under regular review.

This version was last updated on the date at the top of this policy. It may change and if it does, these changes will be posted on this page and, where appropriate (for example, when significant changes are made), changes will be notified to you, for example via the App or by other means, such as email. The new policy may be displayed on-screen and you may be required to read and accept the changes to continue your use of the App or the Services.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during our relationship with you.

Third party links

This privacy policy relates to use of our website only (and not anybody else’s).

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit

Please note that these websites and any services that may be accessible through them have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies or for any personal data that may be collected through these websites or services, such as Contact Data. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites or use these services.

The data we collect about you

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you as follows:

  • Identity Data e.g, your name, gender and date of birth

  • Contact Data e.g. your postal address, email address and telephone number

  • Transaction Data.

  • Financial Data

  • Technical Data

  • Device Data.

  • Log Data

  • Content Data.

  • Profile Data.

  • Usage Data.

  • Marketing and Communications Data.

  • Details of any information, feedback or other matters you give us by phone, email, post or via social media

  • Your activities on and use of, our website

  • Your professional online presence e.g. Linkedin profile

  • Information about the services we provide you

  • Your contact history, purchase history and saved items

  • Information about how you use our website and technology systems

  • Your responses to surveys, competitions and promotions

  • Your personal and professional interests

  • Special Category Data which may include information about your health such as information about the type and stage of cancer you may have and your treatment.

  • Identity and account data you input into the website such as your accountant details (e.g. username and password and login details) and your replies to security questions

  • Data you store online with us when using the website 

  • Other data the website collects automatically when you use it such as your activities on, and use of the website which reveal your preferences, interests or manner of use of the website and the times of use.

You must provide information to use our website and its services unless we tell you that you have a choice. 

Sometimes you can choose if you want to give us your information and let us use it. Where that is the case we will tell you and give you the choice before you give the information to us. We will also tell you whether declining to share information will have any effect on your use of our website or our services.

We explain these categories of data here.

We also collect, use and share aggregated data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. aggregated data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific feature or page of our website. However, if we combine or connect aggregated data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

We also collect Special Category Data about you. Mainly this will be about your health but it may include other data such as your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions. We may also  collect  information about criminal convictions and offences.

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

How is your personal data collected?

We will collect and process the following data about you:

Information you give us. This is information you give us about you by filling in forms on the website or by corresponding with us (for example, by email or chat). It includes information you provide when you register on our website, details of your marketing and communications preferences, information provided when you enter a competition, promotion or survey, and when you report a problem or request support for our website, our app or any other services. If you contact us, we will keep a record of that correspondence. This may also include telephone calls, emails and post. It may also include information we collect from you as a result of any monitoring which may take place. We may monitor (which may include recording) certain interactions between us in order to comply with any legal obligations, to detect fraud or criminal activity as well as for training purposes.

  • Information we collect about you and your device. Each time you use our website we will automatically collect personal data including Device and Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, history,  and patterns, Content and Usage Data. We collect this data using cookies and other similar technologies. Please see our cookie policy [LINK] for further details.

  • Information we receive from other sources including third parties and publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:

    • Device Data and Technical Data from the following parties:

analytics providers such as Google and Apple based outside the EU

search information providers such as Google based inside and outside the EU.

  • Identity and Contact Data from social media services as part of our customer verification and anti-fraud measures

    • Information from other users of the website or our app or third parties if we receive any complaints about you (for example of harassment or sending inappropriate messages)

  • Identity and Contact Data, and other forms of personal data from publicly available sources such as internet searches and social media; and

  • Log in authentication for assisting in authenticating you such as Apple  or Google login.

  • Information obtained from social media or other internet searches.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website and to remember your preferences. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you use our website and also allows us to improve our website. For detail information on the cookies we use, the purposes for which we use them and how you can exercise your choices regarding our use of your cookies, see our cookie policy.

How we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to do so. Most commonly we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • Where you have consented before the processing. We will usually only ask for your consent to process Special Category Data (such as health data). Without your consent, in some circumstances, we may not be able to provide you with and you may not be able to benefit from some of our services. Where you provide Special Category Data about a third party, we may ask you to confirm that the third party has provided his or her consent for you to act on their behalf.

  • When we process data you provide to us based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time and to port that data you provide to us. 

  • Where we need to perform a contract we are about to enter or have entered with you.

  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

  • Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

  • Where we need to use your personal information to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights, for example when we are faced with any legal claim or where we want to pursue any legal claims ourselves

Click here to find out more about the types of lawful basis that we will rely on to process your personal data.

We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes. We will not share any of your health or other Special Category Data with third party without your consent.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We have set out below, in a table format, a description of the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.

Purpose/activity

Type of data

Lawful basis for processing relied upon under the UK GDPR

To install the App and register you as a new App user and to help verify your identity.

Identity Contact Device

Special Category

Location Data

Your consent (Article 6 (1) (a))

Performance of a contract with you (Article 6 (1)(b))

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations (Article 6 (1)(c)).

For our legitimate interests (to minimise the risk of account or identity theft or fraud that could be damaging to either of us or a third party) (Article 6 (1)(f))

To managing our relationship with you including your use of the App, notifying you of changes to the App or our terms or policies or changes to any of our Services. To enabling us to send you push notifications, know your location and access data on your device such as photographs, as well as providing the Services and/or the functionalities of the App to you. 


The above will be undertaken via the App, but in certain circumstances we will contact you directly by email, post or telephone using the contact information you have provided to us.

Identity Contact Profile

Marketing and Communications

Special Category

Log Data

Device Data

Content Data

Usage Data

Location Data

Messages

Your consent (Article 6 (1) (a))

Performance of a contract with you (Article 6 (1)(b))

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep records updated and to analyse how stakeholders use our products/ Services, to manage the Services and App, to notify you of security concerns and issues and deal with complaints from others) (Article 6 (1)(f))

Necessary to comply with legal obligations (to inform you of any changes to our terms and conditions) (Article 6 (1)(c)).

To enable you to participate in a prize draw, competition or complete a survey

Identity

Contact

Device

Profile

Marketing Communications

Special Category

Your consent (Article 6 (1) (a))

Performance of a contract with you (Article 6 (1)(b))

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to analyse how customers use our Services and to develop and improve them and the App) (Article 6 (1)(f))

We will use survey information for  the  purposes  described when we collect the data (although we may use anonymised data from the survey in order to undertake research and trends)

If you have consented to us contacting you in relation to a survey, we may do so (Article 6 (1) (a)).

For prizes and competitions, we may contact you in connection with the administration of those competitions.

To administer and protect our organisation and this App including troubleshooting, data analysis and system testing. 

All categories of data

Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our organisation, provision of administration and IT services, network and app security) and to safeguard our users, to test and upgrade our App, Services and processes (Article 6 (1)(f))

Your consent where this is required by law (Article 6 (1) (a))

To comply without our legal and regulatory obligations (Article 6 (1)(c))

We may also use your information to ensure the security of systems and data to a standard that goes beyond our legal obligations, and in those cases our reasons are for our legitimate interests, ie to protect systems and data and to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for you and/or us. (Article 6 (1)(f))

To deliver content and advertisements to you

To make recommendations to you about goods or services which may interest you

To measure and analyse the effectiveness of the advertising we serve you

Identity

Contact

Device

Content

Profile

Usage

Marketing Communications

Location


Your consent activities (Article 6 (1) (a)) for marketing

To enable our staff to provide helpline services and other support

To provide customer services

Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control. 

Identity

Contact

Device

Content

Profile

Usage

Marketing Communications

Location

Special Category

Messages

Your consent (Article 6 (1) (a))

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our Services and App and grow our organisation) (Article 6 (1)(f))

For research and analytical purposes to help improve our App and Services

All categories of data

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our Services and App and grow our organisation) (Article 6 (1)(f))

Consent for Special Category Data, Location Data and other data where your consent is required to process this data for this purpose (Article 6 (1) (a))

To enforce legal rights or defend or undertake legal proceedings

 All categories of data

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations (Article 6 (1)(c))

In other cases, for our legitimate interests, ie to protect our business, interests and rights (Article 6 (1)(f))

 Updating and enhancing records of App users

 All categories of data

Depending on the circumstances:

—to perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (Article 6 (1)(b))

—to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations (Article 6 (1)(c))..

—where neither of the above apply, for our legitimate interests, eg making sure that we can keep in touch with our App users about the Services  (Article 6 (1)(f))

 Disclosures and other activities necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, eg to record and demonstrate evidence of your consent to our use of your information where relevant

 All categories of data

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations (Article 6 (1)(c))..

Fundraising and donations and to transact with you whether paid or unpaid

Identity

Contact

Transaction

Financial

Consent (Article 6 (1) (a))

Our legitimate interest in raising funds for our organization (Article 6 (1)(f))

Contract (Article 6 (1)(b))

If, in any of the items listed in the table above, you have provided consent you may withdraw it at any time by (i) contacting us (see the “How to contact us” section above) or, if your consent was gathered by the separate cookies tool on our website, by going to [include appropriate link]. In either case, withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of our use of your personal data in reliance on that consent before it was withdrawn.

How and why we use your personal data—Special category personal data

Certain personal data we collect is treated as Special Category Data to which additional protections apply under data protection law. Special Category Data we process regarding you  will include  information about your health, diagnosis, and current status.

Where we process such Special Category Data, we will also ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, and will mainly do so with your consent in accordance with Articles 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR. 

Disclosures of your personal data

We may disclose your personal data to third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal or regulatory obligation or request, if you have consented to this, to protect our rights and property and the rights, safety and property of others (provided we comply with data protection law).

We may also transfer your personal data to a third party we have appointed to provide services to us on our instructions which we refer to as External Third Parties as set out in the glossary.

We may transfer your data in connection with a potential transfer of part or all of our organisation. In such circumstances we may share information with prospective purchasers (for example as part of a controlled due diligence exercise). Alternatively, we may seek to acquire another organisation or merge with them. If a change happens to our organisation, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.

If we reorganise our business as we may need to transfer information about you to another member of our group so that we can continue to provide our services to you.

Marketing

We will use your information to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone or post) about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services.

We have a legitimate interest in using your information for marketing purposes (see “How we use your personal data” section above). This means we do not need your consent to send you marketing information. If we change our marketing approach in the future so that consent is needed, we will ask for this separately and clearly.

You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:

  • contacting us (see “How to contact us” above)

  • using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails or ‘STOP’ number in texts.

We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you ask us to provide further products or services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

We will always treat your information with the utmost respect and never sell or share it with other organisations for marketing purposes.

International Transfers

Countries outside the UK have differing data protection laws, some of which may provide lower levels of protection of privacy.

It is sometimes necessary for us to transfer your information to countries outside the UK. In those cases, we will comply with applicable UK laws designed to ensure the privacy of your information.

We will transfer your information from the UK to (i) Posthog Inc (a product analytics platform that helps us track and analyse user interactions within the App to improve performance and user experience) to their servers in Germany (ii)  Monday CRM (for managing email communications with product updates and marketing about us) to their servers in Germany (iii)  Typeform (for submitting any user feedback) to their servers  in the USA

Under data protection laws, we can only transfer your information to a country outside the UK where:

  • the UK government has decided the particular country ensures an adequate level of protection of your information (known as an ‘adequacy regulation’) further to Article 45 of the UK GDPR

  • there are appropriate safeguards in place, together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for you, or

  • a specific exception applies under relevant data protection law

We transfer your information outside the UK to the following countries based on adequacy regulations: Germany. 

In the event we cannot or choose not to continue to rely on either of those mechanisms at any time, we will not transfer your information outside the UK unless we can do so on the basis of an alternative mechanism or exception provided by UK data protection law. 

Any changes to the destinations to which we send your information or in the transfer mechanisms we use to transfer your information internationally will be notified to you in accordance with the section on ‘Changes to the privacy policy’ above.

If you would like further information about data transferred outside the UK, please contact us  (see ‘How to contact us’ above).

Data security

All information you provide to us is stored on secure cloud servers. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our app, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way.

We will collect and store personal data on your Device using application data caches and browser web storage (including HTML5) and other technology.

Certain services include social networking, chat room, messaging or forum features. Ensure when using these features that you do not submit any personal data that you do not want to be seen, collected or used by other users.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator when we are legally required to do so.

Your legal rights

You generally have the following rights, which you can usually access free of charge (please click on the links below to find out more about these rights):

  • [Request access to your personal data.]

  • [Request correction of your personal data.]

  • [Request erasure of your personal data.]

  • [Object to processing of your personal data.]

  • [Request restriction of processing your personal data.]

  • [Request transfer or your personal data.]

  • [Right to withdraw consent.]

  • [Right to not be subject to decisions without human involvement]

You also have the right to ask us not to continue to process your personal data for marketing purposes (see “Marketing” section above).

You can exercise any of these rights at any time by contacting us (see “How to contact us” section above). 

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they do and do not apply, please contact us (see “How to contact us”’ section above). You may also find it helpful to refer to the guidance from the UK’s Information Commissioner on your rights under the UK GDPR.

Glossary 

Lawful basis means in accordance with Article 6(1) of the UK GDPR, primarily consent (Article 6 (1) (a) of the UK GDPR), for the  performance of a contract (Article 6 (1) (b) of the UK GDPR), to comply with a legal obligation ((Article 6 (1) (c) of the UK GDPR), or for the purposes of our legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) of the UK GDPR).

Consent means processing your personal data where you have signified your agreement by a statement or clear opt-in to processing for a specific purpose. Consent will only be valid if it is a freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of what you want. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us (see “How to contact us” section above).

Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our organisation to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us (see “How to contact us” section above)..

Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract. Your usage of the website and us making it available to you is a contract between us

Comply with a legal obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.

Your legal rights in more detail

You have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

  • Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

  • Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

  • Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

  • Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:

  1. if you want us to establish the data's accuracy;

  2. where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it;

  3. where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or

  4. you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

    • Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

    • Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

    • Not to be subject to decisions without human involvement. The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. We do not make any such decisions based on data collected by our app.

Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns about our use of your information (see “How to contact us” ’ section above). We hope we will be able to resolve any issues you may have.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner. 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted using the details at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or telephone: 0303 123 1113.

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

Description of categories of personal data

  • Identity Data: first name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth, gender, other biographical information you provide, your photographs.

  • Contact Data: addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers.

  • Financial Data: bank account and payment card details.

  • Transaction Data: includes details about payments to and from you and details of donations.

  • Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website. Where you use a mobile device to access the website, this includes Device Data.

  • Device Data: includes the type of mobile or other device you use, a unique device identifier (for example, your Device's IMEI number, the MAC address of the Device's wireless network interface, or the mobile phone number used by the Device), mobile network information, your device operating system, the type of mobile browser you use, and time zone setting.

  • Content Data: includes information stored on your Device, including friends' lists, login information, photos, videos or other digital content.

  • Profile Data: includes your username and password, posts, body, purchase history, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.

  • Usage Data: includes details of your use of   the website  including, but not limited to, waves, messaging, reported posts, traffic data and other communication data, and the resources that you access.

  • Log Information details of your use of the website.

  • Marketing and Communications Data: includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

  • Special Category Data includes information about your health, diagnosis, current status, but it may include other data such as your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions.

Do you need extra help?
If you would like this policy in another format (for example audio, large print, braille) please contact us (see “How to contact us” section above).