Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This privacy policy covers the Bees & Biodiversity Initiative operated by Climate Response Ireland ("we", "us", "our"). Our website is climateresponse.ie.

Climate Response Ireland is the data controller for the personal data you provide through this website. Where partner organisations (IWA Clane, Blessed John Sullivan Community Gardens, or others listed on our Donate page) collect donations independently, they are responsible for their own data handling.

2. What data we collect

When you take the Bees & Biodiversity Pledge we collect:

• First name — to personalise emails and your profile page.
• Email address — to send you an initial welcome, and optional reminders.
• Consent flags — a record that you agreed to receive updates and accepted this privacy policy, including the timestamp.
• Referral code — the code of the person who invited you, if you followed a personal link. This is used to credit them with recruitment badges. It is not shared with them.
• Talk code — if you signed up at a talk event, we record the talk code so we can measure the reach of that event.

When you log an action we record:

• Which action you completed and when.
• This is linked to your pledge record by your referral code, which is stored only in your own browser.

We do not collect your surname, address, phone number, payment details, or any special category data.

3. How we use your data

We use your data only for the following purposes:

• Sending you a welcome email with your personal referral link and next steps.
• Sending occasional action reminders if you have not logged an activity for a set number of days (you choose this threshold, or can opt out entirely).
• Displaying your badge progress on your personal share page — accessible only to someone who has your referral code.
• Aggregated, anonymised reporting on pledge numbers, actions taken, and talk performance. This data does not identify individuals.

We will never sell your data, share it with third parties for marketing, or use it for any purpose not listed here.

4. Legal basis for processing

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Irish data protection law, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) — you tick a checkbox to agree to receive updates before submitting the pledge form. You can withdraw this consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — for aggregated internal analytics about the initiative's reach. This does not involve profiling or any automated decision-making that affects you.

5. How long we keep your data

We keep your pledge record and associated action logs for as long as the Bees & Biodiversity Initiative is active, or until you ask us to delete it (see Your Rights below).

If you unsubscribe from emails, we retain a minimal record (email address only, flagged as unsubscribed) to ensure we do not accidentally email you again. We delete this record on request.

6. Where your data is stored

Your data is stored in a Microsoft Azure SQL database located in the West Europe (Netherlands) region, within the European Economic Area (EEA). No data is transferred outside the EEA.

The website itself is hosted on Azure Static Web Apps and Azure Functions, also in the West Europe region.

Microsoft Azure provides appropriate security measures including encryption at rest and in transit. We do not use any third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking tools on this site.

7. Cookies and tracking

This site does not use cookies.

We use browser localStorage to store your referral code on your own device. This is a technical necessity — without it, the "Log an Action" button would not know who is logging the action. This data never leaves your device except when you voluntarily submit an action. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser's site data for this domain.

We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other third-party tracking.

8. Your rights

Under GDPR you have the following rights regarding your personal data. To exercise any of them, contact us at the address below.

9. Children

This site is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has submitted personal data through this site, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We will not retroactively reduce your rights without obtaining fresh consent where required.

11. Contact us