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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

MCS Foundation – registered name MCS Charitable Foundation (“MCS”; “we”; “us”; “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information at all times.

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (the “GDPR”), this privacy notice sets out how we use your personal information and also sets out your legal rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you.

We are the Data Controllers (for the purposes of the GDPR) in respect of the personal information which we hold about you. As data controllers, we are responsible for determining how we use the personal information which we hold about you.

This Privacy Notice applies to trustees; individuals representing organisations which have applied for grants or bursaries; other service providers of MCS; and any other individuals or organisations associated with MCS. It sets out: (i) how we use your information; and (ii) the new rights you have in relation to your information.


Information we hold about you

To enable us to operate our business and comply with our legal obligations, it is necessary for us to hold and process personal information about our customers and shareholders. This may include the following information:

  • Name

  • Title

  • Address (residential and/or business)

  • Telephone number

  • Email address (personal and/or business)


How we use your information

We may use information about you in order to communicate with you about developments within the foundation or to track interactions you have made from us over a period of time.

Any plans to make public the names of individual grant applicants would be agreed between the parties in advance.


Our legal basis for using your information

In most cases, we will process your information on the legal basis that it is necessary to (i) carry out our functions; (ii) assess whether to award a grant or not; (iii) to track the delivery and impact of the project for which the grant has been awarded; and (iv) ensure the effective day-to-day operation of MCS.

We will also process your information where it is necessary to do so in order for us to comply with any applicable laws or legislation.


How long we will retain your information

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

The information about you will be retained by us for the following periods:

  1. For trustees, personal data will be retained by us for a period of five (5) years following the end of the calendar year in which the relevant trustee ceased to be a trustee of MCS;

  2. For successful grant applicants, personal data will be retained by us for a period of five (5) years following completion of the project;

  3. For unsuccessful grant applicants, personal data will be retained by us for a period of one (1) year following the date on which the applicant has been notified of his/her unsuccessful grant application; and

  4. For other service providers, personal data will be retained for a period of up to five (5) years following the end of the calendar year in which the relevant service provider ceases to provide services to MCS.

  5. Information about key stakeholders and industry contacts will be retained for a period of up to five (5) years after the last contact.


Third parties with whom we share your information

We may need to share your information with third parties who act on our behalf or provide services to us. Your information will be kept secure at all times and will only be shared with such third parties when necessary. Your information may be disclosed to the following third parties:

  1. Professional advisers (including legal advisers and accountants), insurers, auditors and financial organisations; or

  2. The UK Government or any other public authorities or regulatory authorities if we are obliged to do so by any applicable laws;


Sources of information about you

We may collect information about you directly from you. In addition, we may also collect information about you from: other third parties (examples above) providing services in connection with the administration and management of MCS. We may also collect information about you from: HMRC and other public authorities.

If your personal details change at any time, please inform us as soon as possible to ensure that all information held about you remains accurate and up to date.


International data transfers

Please note there will be no instances where personal data will be transferred or stored outside the European Economic Area.


Your rights in relation your information

Under the GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your information which we respect and aim to uphold in everything we do. These include the following:

  1. you can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you and a description of how we use that information;

  2. if you believe any information we hold on you may be inaccurate or incomplete, and you are unable to correct this information yourself, you can require us to rectify these inaccuracies;

  3. you can require us to erase your information in certain limited circumstances;

  4. where we process your information using automated means on the basis of your consent or to perform the agreement, you can request that we supply such information to another party;

  5. you can require us to restrict our use of your information or object to how it is used in certain limited circumstances; and

  6. where we process your information on the basis of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to us processing your information in certain circumstances.


How to contact us

If you have any questions about how we use your personal information or you wish to contact us about your rights or if you have any complaints about our use of your information, please contact us at info@mcsfoundation.org.uk or Suite F40, Innovation Centre, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Keckwick Lane, Cheshire, WA4 4FS.

We will do our best to answer any question and resolve any complaint to your satisfaction. However, if you feel that we have not resolved your complaint, please note that you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Please note that this Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time. Any updates will be notified to you in writing.