Privacy Policy

Bridge to Bangladesh is a community platform connecting the global Bangladeshi diaspora with local organisations, facilitated by Oxfam in Bangladesh. References to “we”, “us”, or “our” in this policy refer to the Bridge to Bangladesh platform and, where applicable, Oxfam in Bangladesh as the facilitating organisation.

We are committed to handling your personal data responsibly and in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK GDPR and Bangladesh's Digital Security Act where relevant.

We collect information you provide directly when you register, complete your profile, contribute content, or contact us. This includes:

• Identity data: full name, professional title, sector, and country of residence.
• Contact data: email address and, optionally, phone number.
• Profile data: biography, expertise areas, Knowledge Circle memberships, and profile photo.
• Content data: articles, stories, comments, event registrations, and mentorship communications you submit.
• Usage data: pages visited, features used, login timestamps, and device/browser information collected automatically.

We do not collect sensitive categories of personal data (such as health, ethnicity, or political opinions) unless you voluntarily include them in your public profile or content.

We use your personal data only for the purposes described below. Our legal basis for processing is shown in brackets:

• To create and manage your account and verify your identity. (Contract)
• To match you with relevant Knowledge Circles, events, and mentorship opportunities. (Legitimate interest)
• To display your public profile in the Member Directory, if you opt in. (Consent)
• To send you notifications about activity in your circles, events you have joined, and platform updates. (Contract / Legitimate interest)
• To measure platform usage and improve features through aggregated analytics when you opt in via our cookie banner or cookie preferences. (Consent)
• To comply with legal obligations including safeguarding and fraud prevention. (Legal obligation)

We do not sell your personal data to third parties, and we do not use it for automated profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

We share your data only where necessary:

• Oxfam Bangladesh, as the platform facilitator, for governance, safeguarding, and impact reporting purposes.
• Trusted technology service providers (cloud hosting, email delivery, analytics) operating under strict data processing agreements.
• Partner organisations, only when you explicitly choose to connect with them through the platform.
• Law enforcement or regulatory bodies where we are legally required to disclose.

We require all third parties to implement appropriate security measures and prohibit them from using your data for their own purposes.

Your name, sector, country, and a brief bio are visible to other registered members in the Directory by default. You can adjust what information is public — or opt out of the Directory entirely — in your account Privacy Settings at any time.

We encourage you to review your privacy settings when you register and whenever you update your profile.

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 90 days, except where we are required to keep records for legal or safeguarding purposes.

Anonymised, aggregated data (such as impact statistics) may be retained indefinitely for research and reporting.

We implement industry-standard security measures including encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS), hashed credential storage, access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute protection of data transmitted over the internet.

If you become aware of any security vulnerability or suspected breach, please contact us immediately.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”) where no legal basis for retention applies.
• Restriction: ask us to pause processing your data in certain circumstances.
• Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.

You can download a copy of your personal data from Settings → Privacy → Download your data. You can deactivate or permanently delete your account from Settings → Danger Zone. To withdraw analytics consent, use Settings → Privacy → Cookie preferences or the controls in the Cookies section below. For any other requests, contact us through our Contact page. We will respond within 30 days.

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate Bridge to Bangladesh. Essential cookies are required for authentication and security — for example, keeping you signed in. These always run and cannot be switched off without breaking login.

With your consent, we load Google Tag Manager (GTM) to collect aggregated usage analytics so we can improve the platform. We do not use advertising cookies or sell data to ad networks. Analytics is optional and only loads after you choose Accept analytics on our cookie banner or in your cookie preferences.

Your analytics choice is stored in your browser as local storage under the key btb_analytics_consent (values: granted or denied). It is kept until you change it or clear site data. Essential session cookies are managed by the platform and expire when you sign out or after a security timeout.

• Essential: authentication and session security (always active).
• Analytics (optional): Google Tag Manager — page views and feature usage, only if you opt in.

You can change your analytics preference at any time using the controls below or in Settings → Privacy → Cookie preferences. If you previously accepted analytics and switch to Essential only, we reload the page so tracking scripts stop. Disabling essential cookies in your browser will prevent you from logging in.

Bridge to Bangladesh is not intended for use by anyone under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that a child has registered, we will promptly close their account and delete their data.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and notify members through the platform. Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about how we handle your personal data, please contact us through our Contact page. We aim to respond within 5 working days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority in your country.