Privacy Policy

Introduction

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. It works with people to put bold solutions into action – helping them triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. We are also committed to respecting and protecting the privacy rights of our donors, supporters, and visitors to our website, and to being transparent about what we do with your data. The following information details how Mercy Corps Netherlands collects, protects, manages and uses the data we receive.

How do we obtain your personal information?

Mercy Corps Netherlands collects information in the following ways:

When you give it to us directly

You may give us your information when you are acting as a representative of a company who is supporting or working with Mercy Corps Netherlands, respond to a communication from us, or sign up for an event. Some of the ways we receive this information include: on a secure form on our website, when you contact us by post or email, speaking to you in person, when you provide information to us via our Twitter account.

When you give permission for a third party to share it with us

Your information may be shared with us by third parties if you have given them permission to do so. These include places where you have opted in to receive further contact from Mercy Corps Netherlands. We will only contact you further if you have given your consent for this to happen.

When providing your information to us via these channels, you should check the privacy policy and settings of these companies to understand how they will use and share for processing any information you have provided to them.

What information do we collect?

Personal information is any information that can be used to identify you. For example, this can include your name, address, telephone number, personal or work email address, date of birth, bank details, and credit or debit card details. We only collect personal information that is relevant to the type of interaction you have with Mercy Corps Netherlands.

How do we use your information?

How we use your information largely depends on the reason you have provided it to us. We may use your information in the following ways:

To keep a record of your relationship with Mercy Corps Netherlands and for internal purposes, such as administration and accounting.
To look into complaints or legal issues.
To give you information you have asked for
To understand your needs and wishes in order to give you the best possible personalised service.
To carry out analysis and research which helps us understand how we are doing and improve our communications with you.

How long do we keep your information?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity.

We will generally treat any consent that you give us as lasting no more than 36 months (3 years) from the date you give your consent, or from the date of your last interaction you have with us.

If at any time you withdraw your consent or change your preferences, your wishes will be acted on immediately and will take effect within the timescales laid out below.

Who do we share your information with?

Mercy Corps Netherlands will only use your information within our organisation for the purposes for which it was provided and for our own planning and analysis. We will not, under any circumstances, sell your personal data to any third party, and will only share data with our suppliers for the purposes described below. You will not receive marketing from any other companies, charities or organisations as a result of giving your details to us.

No data we hold about you is retained by any third party after it has been used for the purposes advised by Mercy Corps Netherlands and all personal data belonging to us is erased by a third party following the termination of a supplier contract.

Accessing and updating your personal information

If you let us know about any changes to your personal circumstances, we will always comply with your wishes. Our service levels for different types of communication are:

Email – 48 hours from the receipt of your request
Mail – 28 days from the receipt of your request. Due to the production timescales for our postal communications, it can often take longer for this type of change to take effect. In most cases we would expect the change to be effective much more quickly and will do our best to stop any further communications within this period, where we can.

Sometimes we may have to contact you about something that is not related to fundraising or marketing. For example, if you have a direct debit with us, we are required to let you know about any changes to your direct debit. Opting out of postal communications will not stop this type of communication unless you cancel your direct debit. If you have any concerns about this type of contact, please get in touch with us.

Cookies, web beacons and similar technologies

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of information in the form of a very small text file that is placed in an internet user's local storage, e.g., a user’s hard drive. It is generated by a webpage server, which is the computer that operates a website. The information the cookie contains is set by the server and it can be used by that server whenever the user visits the site.

Mercy Corps uses cookies for the essential running of its websites and web applications, as well as for marketing and advertising purposes. Use of cookies for these purposes is described on our Cookies page. To learn more about the EU cookie law, click here.

When you enter our website, you are prompted to accept or decline cookies, but are not prevented from navigating the site without doing either. If you accept, a suite of cookies is placed on your machine. If you decline, only cookies necessary to the operation of our website are set.

Contact us

You are in control of your personal data and you have the right to request access to the information we hold about you. If wish to request this, or if you have any questions about this policy statement or about how we use your data, you can do this by contacting us:

By post:
Mercy Corps Netherlands
Fluwelen Burgwal 58, The Hague Humanity Hub
2511CJ, The Hague,
The Netherlands

By email: mce-dataprotection@mercycorps.org

Information Data Protection Authority

If we have been unable to deal appropriately with your question or complaint you have a right to refer the matter to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Their contact details are:

By post:
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
Postbus 93374
2509 AJ DEN HAAG

Telephone: 070-8888 500

More information about the DPA and about how to make a complaint, or ask a general question about data protection, is available on their website.