Last Updated: 04 February 2024

Patchwork Hub Limited (trading as Patchwork Hub) (“we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are a limited company established in England, with company number 12192577 and with a registered address at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ  and for the purpose of applicable data protection laws, we are the data controller. 

This privacy policy sets out the basis on which we will process any personal data or usage information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, in connection with your use of our website at patchworkhub.org (our “Website”) and in connection with the recruitment services we provide to you (together, the “Services”). 

Please read this privacy policy carefully so that you understand your rights in relation to your personal data, and how we will collect, use and process your personal data. This privacy policy supplements any other privacy-related notices and policies we may provide to you from time to time, and is not intended to override them. If you do not agree with this privacy policy in general or any part of it, you should not access the Website, use our Services or otherwise provide your information to us.  

We change our privacy policy from time to time. Updates to our privacy policy will apply only to information collected after the date of the change. We will note on our Website when our privacy policy has been updated. Please check the Website regularly for notices of changes to our privacy policy.

1. The information we collect

Information you give to us

You may provide some or all of the following personal data to us by creating an account with us, setting up a profile in order to use our Services or contacting us via our Website “contact us” page:

• personal data of candidates that will be available to registered employers on the Website: including your first name, last name, public biography and photo, email address and any personal data that you include in your job applications; 
• personal data of registered employers that will be available on the Website: company profile information provided during the registration process, which may include information relating to individual business contacts (name and email address);     
• personal data of users (candidates and employers) that will be available to us: first name, last name, public biography and photo; date of birth, gender, address, email address, phone number (if provided), or any other details provided during the registration process and/or profile completion; and
• any other information that you choose to send to us, including any request for further Services, general correspondence, reports of a problem with the Website or the Services.
  
  

This information is required to enable us to fulfil our contract with you. If you do not provide this information, we will not be able to provide you with our Services.

Information we collect automatically

When you visit our Website and use our Services we automatically collect the information sent to us by your computer, mobile phone or other device. This information includes: your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and Website navigation.

2. How do we use your information?

We process your personal data in order to perform our contract with you, such as:

• provide you with our Services, other content and Website functionality (including the Website messenger functionality); 
• authenticate your identity when you use the Website to access the Services; and
• register and maintain your account with us.
  
  

We obtain your consent to process your personal data for the following reasons:

• sign you up for our newsletters or alerts; 
• personalise our Services for you; and
• if you opted into marketing, to communicate with you about our Services, marketing, surveys, promotions, events and other news and information we think will be of interest to you.
  
  

In order to be responsive to you, to provide effective Services to you, and to maintain our business relationship, as a matter of our legitimate interests, we will use your personal data to:

• administer the Website and Services, and for internal operations, in order to conduct troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey analysis;
• to provide confirmations, notifications and feedback requests;
• maintain the safety and security of our users, the Website, our Services, and business; 
• send you announcements in relation to security, privacy or administrative-related communications e.g. in respect of a change to any of our legal terms and conditions to which you are subject (these communications are not marketing orientated, and we do not rely on consent, so you may not opt-out);
• personalize our Website and our Services to ensure content is presented in the most effective manner for you and your device; 
• if you call any of the service telephone numbers we provide, we may record your call for training and quality control purposes; and
• improve and develop our Service.
  
  

We will use some or all of the above information to comply with any applicable legal obligations, to enforce any applicable terms and conditions and/ or terms of service, and to protect or defend the Services, our rights, the rights of our users, or others. 

Any user statistics that we collect and subsequently provide to our service providers regarding usage of the Services are provided in anonymised and aggregated form, primarily to aid the technical administration of the Website, to better understand how the Site is functioning and to draw conclusions upon demographic information.

3. Cookies

We use cookies and other similar technologies to collect information about your browsing activities over time and across different websites following your use of our Services. Cookies allow us to      recognize and count the number of users and to see how users move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve our Services and the way our website works. You can find more information about cookies and how to manage them [here]. 

4. How we share your information

We do not use or share your personal data with others except as described in this privacy policy. In certain circumstances, we will share your information with third parties with your consent, as necessary, or as otherwise required or permitted by law. Specifically, we share your personal data:

• With services providers and vendors. Such third parties include: website development, maintenance services and payment providers (such as Stripe and Paypal). These service providers assist us with many different functions and tasks, such as maintaining the platform and functionality and in order to process donations.
• When you request us to share certain information with third parties, with consent or to perform a contract with you. With your permission or upon your discretion, we will disclose your personal data to relevant third parties, for example, if you are a candidate we will share your personal data with employers on the Website.
• With professional advisors, in our legitimate interests or as required by law. As necessary, we will share your personal data with professional advisors functioning as service providers such as auditors, law firms, or accounting firms.
• For legal and security reasons and to protect our Services and business, in our legitimate interests or as required by law. We will share your personal data with regulators, law enforcement agencies, public authorities, or any other relevant organisations: (i) in response to a legal obligation; (ii) if we have determined that it is necessary to share your personal data to comply with applicable law or any obligations thereunder, including cooperation with law enforcement, judicial orders, and regulatory inquiries; (iii) to protect the interests of, and ensure the safety and security, of us, our users, a third party or the public; (iv) to exercise or defend legal claims; and (v) to enforce our terms and conditions, other applicable terms of service, or other agreements.
• In connection with an asset sale or purchase, a share sale, purchase or merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction or re-organisation, in our legitimate interests. We will share your personal data with a prospective buyer, seller, new owner, or other relevant third party as necessary while negotiating or in relation to a change of corporate control such as a restructuring, merger, or sale of our assets.
  
  

5. Where we store your information

The personal data that we collect from you will be transferred to, and stored at/processed in countries outside the European Economic Area  (“EEA”) and the United Kingdom (“UK”). Your personal data is also processed by staff operating outside the EEA and the UK who work for us or one of our third party service providers or partners. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

For any transfers of data outside the EEA or the UK, the data transfer will be under the European Commission’s model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries (i.e., the standard contractual clauses) (the “Model Clauses”), or any equivalent contracts issued by the relevant competent authority of the UK, as relevant, unless the data transfer is to a country that has been determined by the European Commission or the relevant UK authorities, as applicable, to provide an adequate level of protection for individuals’ rights and freedoms for their personal data. Please contact [email protected] for further information. 

6. How long do we store your personal data?

We will retain your personal data as follows:

• your account data for as long as you keep your account open or as needed to provide you with our Services;
• if you contact us, we will keep your data for 24 months after you contact us; 
• your technical usage information for 24 months; and
• data on your use of our Website and our Services is retained for 12 months.
  
  

We will also retain and use your personal data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our terms and conditions, other applicable terms of service, and our policies. If you stop using our Services or if you delete your account with us, we will store your information in an aggregated and anonymised format; we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

7. Security

Although we do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted through the Website, over email or conversations; any transmission is at your own risk.

8. Your rights

If you are located in the EEA or the UK, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data:

• Access: you have the right to access personal data we hold about you, how we use it, and who we share it with.
• Portability: you have the right to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to request that we transfer it to a third party, in certain circumstances and with certain exceptions.
• Correction: you have the right to correct any of your personal data we hold that is inaccurate.
• Erasure: in certain circumstances, you have the right to delete the personal data we hold about you. Patchwork Hub reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delete your personal data if your account is inactive for twelve (12) months or more.
• Restriction of processing to storage only: you have the right to require us to stop processing the personal data we hold about you, other than for storage purposes, in certain circumstances.
• Objection: you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data.
• Objection to marketing: Where you do not wish to be sent future marketing communications, we will give you the opportunity to unsubscribe in every electronic marketing mail communication that is sent to you. Alternatively, you can contact us by sending an email to [email protected] with “UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST” in the subject line.
• Withdrawal of consent: where we rely on consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time by emailing us at [email protected].
  
  

Please note that a number of these rights only apply in certain circumstances, and all of these rights may be limited by law. For example, where fulfilling your request would adversely affect other individuals or our trade secrets or intellectual property, where there are overriding public interests or where we are required by law to retain your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, you can contact [email protected]. We will respond to requests to exercise these rights without undue delay and at least within one month (though this may be extended by a further two months in certain circumstances).

9. Third Party websites

Our Website may contain links to other online platforms, plug-ins or other applications operated by third parties. We do not control such other sites or applications, and are not responsible for their content, their privacy policies, or their use of your information. Information you provide on public or semi-public venues, including information you share on third-party social networking platforms, may also be viewable by other users of the Website and/or users of those third-party online platforms without limitation as to its use by us or by a third party. Our inclusion of such links does not, by itself, imply any endorsement of the content on such platforms or of their owners or operators except as disclosed on the Website. We expressly disclaim any and all liability for the actions of third parties, including but without limitation to actions relating to the use and/or disclosure of personal data by third parties. Any information submitted by you directly to these third parties is subject to that third party’s privacy policy.

10. Complaints or queries

If you have complaints about how we process your Personal Data, please contact our Data Protection Officer at [email protected] and we will respond to your request as soon as possible.

If you think we have infringed data protection laws, you can file a claim with the data protection supervisory authority in the EEA country in which you live or work or where you think we have infringed data protection laws, or with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, as applicable to you. 

11. How to contact us

We welcome your questions, comments, and concerns about this privacy policy or your personal data. Please send us any feedback by completing our Feedback form, by clicking here. You can also contact our Data Protection Officer at [email protected].