Last Updated: June 15, 2026
Ananda Sangam (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal data when you visit our website (https://anandasangam.com), engage with our community projects (including Sacred Circle, Seva Kitchen, The Bhoomi Project, and Prana Trails), attend our events, or support our charitable work.
We operate in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For the purpose of these regulations, Ananda Sangam is the “Data Controller.”
1. The Information We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you:
- Identity Data: First name, last name, and title.
- Contact Data: Email address, telephone number, and billing/postal address.
- Financial Data: Bank account and payment card details (processed securely via third-party processors), as well as Gift Aid status.
- Participation Data: Information regarding your attendance at our community events, workshops, programs, or volunteer sign-ups.
- Technical & Usage Data: Your IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types, operating system and platform, and details of how you use our website.
2. How We Collect Your Data
We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including:
- Direct Interactions: You give us your Identity, Contact, and Financial data by filling in forms on our website (such as our “Join Us” or “Contact Us” forms), registering for events, subscribing to our updates, or making a donation.
- Automated Technologies: As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical and Usage Data via cookies and server logs.
- Third Parties: We may receive data about you from third-party platforms, such as event ticketing platforms or donation processors operating securely on our behalf.
3. How and Why We Use Your Personal Data
Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following bases depending on the activity:
| Purpose / Activity | Type of Data | Lawful Basis for Processing |
| To register you as a new supporter, volunteer, or event attendee | Identity & Contact | Performance of a contract or taking steps to enter into one. |
| To process donations, manage Gift Aid claims, and maintain financial records | Identity, Contact, & Financial | Legal obligation (HMRC reporting) and Legitimate interests (to process your donation efficiently). |
| To send you newsletters, updates about our projects, or event invitations via email | Identity & Contact | Consent (which you can withdraw at any time). |
| To administer and protect our website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, and security) | Technical & Usage | Legitimate interests (running our charity, provision of administration, and network security). |
4. Cookies and Automated Tracking
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users. This helps us provide you with a functional browsing experience and allows us to improve our site.
- Necessary Cookies: Required for basic technical site operation (e.g., managing user login states).
- Functional/Analytics Cookies: Help us recognize returning visitors, track page views, and screen display preferences.
- You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
5. Media and Embedded Content
- User-Uploaded Media: If you upload images or media directly to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included, as other visitors can potentially extract this data.
- Embedded Third-Party Content: Pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, maps, or interactive frames). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These external sites may collect data about you, use cookies, or embed additional third-party tracking.
6. Data Sharing and Third-Party Disclosures
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We only share your data with trusted third parties and service providers who assist us in running our charity, including:
- Email Marketing & Communications: We use EmailOctopus to securely store your contact details and deliver our newsletters, event announcements, and community updates. Every marketing email includes an instant “unsubscribe” link.
- Payment & Donation Processors: Third-party financial platforms used to securely process donations.
- HMRC: To process statutory Gift Aid claims where you have given us explicit permission to do so.
- IT & Web Specialists: Providers who support our website hosting, security, and cloud storage infrastructure.
- Legal Authorities: If required by law, regulation, or a government regulator (such as the Charity Commission or Information Commissioner’s Office).
7. Data Security and International Transfers
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, altered, disclosed, or accessed in an unauthorized way.
Some of our external service providers (such as EmailOctopus) may process or store data on secure servers located outside the UK. Whenever your personal data is transferred out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by verifying that appropriate legal safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs), are active with the provider.
8. Data Retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or statutory reporting requirements.
- Financial Records: By UK tax law, we must keep basic information about our donors and financial transactions for a minimum of 6 years after the tax year they were made for HMRC audit purposes.
- Mailing Lists: We retain your email details on EmailOctopus until you choose to unsubscribe or withdraw your consent.
- Website Comments: If you leave a comment on our website, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely to streamline future moderation.
9. Your Legal Rights
Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: The right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction: The right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): The right to request that we delete your data, subject to certain legal exceptions (e.g., if we are legally required to keep financial or HMRC audit records).
- Restriction or Objection: The right to object to or restrict our processing of your data under specific circumstances.
- Data Portability: The right to request the transfer of your data to another organization.
- Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on consent to send you updates via email, you can withdraw it at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link or emailing us directly.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.
10. Contact Details and Complaints
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or if you wish to make a request regarding your data, please contact us at:
- Email Address: info@anandasangam.com
- Website Contact Page: https://www.anandasangam.com/contact-us/
You also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please reach out to us first.