Privacy Policy
The short version
We collect only what we need, we use it only for the purpose you’d expect, we never sell it, and you can ask us to delete it at any time. That’s the heart of it. The rest of this page explains the detail.
Who we are
The Cairn Compass CIC is a Community Interest Company registered in Scotland. We support women-led businesses across Scotland through community programmes, structured learning, and peer connection.
You can reach us at: connect@cairncompass.org.uk
What information we collect
We collect personal information only when you choose to share it with us – for example, when you sign up to our waiting list, contact us, or join a programme. The information we may collect includes:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your location (where you choose to share it – for example, to help us understand our geographic reach)
- Any information you include when you contact us directly
We do not collect sensitive personal data. We do not collect payment information directly – if payment processing is introduced in future, it will be handled by a dedicated, secure third-party provider.
Why we collect it and what we use it for
We use your information only for the purpose you’d reasonably expect when you share it:
- To send you information about the Growth Circle, our programmes, and our events — if you’ve asked us to
- To respond to your enquiries and questions
- To manage your participation in our programmes and community
- To understand who our community is and how we can serve them better — using aggregated, anonymised data only
We will never use your information to send you marketing you haven’t asked for. We will never share or sell your data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
The legal basis for processing your data
Under UK GDPR — which applies in Scotland — we process your personal data on the following bases:
- Consent – where you have actively signed up to hear from us or joined a programme
- Legitimate interests – where we have a genuine organisational reason to hold your information, such as managing a programme you’re participating in, and that reason doesn’t override your rights
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. If you do, we will stop processing your data for that purpose – though this won’t affect anything we’ve already done on the basis of your earlier consent.
How long we keep your information
We keep your information for as long as is necessary for the purpose it was collected. In practice:
- Waiting list information – until the Growth Circle has launched and you’ve had the opportunity to join or opt out
- Programme participant information – for the duration of your participation and up to two years afterwards, for impact reporting purposes
- General enquiry information – for up to one year after your last contact with us
If you ask us to delete your information, we will do so promptly – unless we are required by law to retain it.
Third-party services we use
We use a small number of trusted third-party services to run our website and community. These may process your data on our behalf:
- WordPress / Kadence WP – our website platform
- Circle.so – our community platform (when the Growth Circle launches)
Each of these services has its own privacy policy. We choose services that take data protection seriously, but we encourage you to review their policies if you’d like to understand how they handle your data.
We do not use your data for advertising purposes and we do not allow third-party advertising on our platforms.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct any information that is inaccurate
- Ask us to delete your information
- Object to or restrict how we process your information
- Withdraw your consent at any time
To exercise any of these rights, simply email us at connect@cairncompass.org.uk. We will respond within 30 days.
If you are unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the UK’s data protection regulator – at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time as our organisation grows and our services develop. When we do, we’ll update the date at the top of this page. If any changes are significant, we’ll let our community know directly.
Governing law
This policy is governed by the laws of Scotland. Any disputes relating to this policy will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.
Questions
If you have any questions about this policy or about how we handle your data, please get in touch: connect@cairncompass.org.uk
We’re a small team and we’ll always do our best to respond promptly and honestly.