Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
United Italian Societies (“we,” “our,” “us”) is committed to protecting your personal data and ensuring its privacy and security. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), UK GDPR, and other applicable data protection laws.
By using our website uniteditaliansocieties.com and participating in our events, tutoring, mentoring, and job board programs, you consent to the collection and use of your data as described in this policy.
2. Legal Bases for Processing
We process your personal data under one or more of the following lawful bases, depending on the context:
Performance of a Contract: We process personal data where necessary to provide our services (e.g., tutoring, mentoring, job board) and fulfill our contractual obligations to you.
Legitimate Interests: We may process personal data when it is in our legitimate interests to do so, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms (e.g., to match high school students with suitable mentors or to communicate important updates).
Consent: Where required by law, we will obtain your consent (e.g., for certain marketing communications). You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us at privacy@uniteditaliansocieties.com.
Legal Obligation: We may process data to comply with relevant legal or regulatory obligations (e.g., if required by authorities).
3. Data We Collect
We collect the following types of personal data when you register for one of our services, depending on which service you are interested in:
Name
Email address
Gender
Location of residence and place of origin
Phone number
Educational background
Family background
University preferences
Firm (place of work or interest for job board services)
In certain situations, we may also collect additional information you choose to provide that helps us tailor our events, tutoring or mentoring services.
4. How We Collect Data
We collect your data via a third-party platform, Gomry (gomry.com), where you submit your information to access our tutoring, mentoring, and job board services. You may also register for events through Gomry. The information you provide is collected and stored by Gomry when you create an account and submit an application.
5. Purpose of Data Collection
We collect and process your personal data for the following purposes:
Membership: To process and manage your membership in our organisation.
Tutoring & Mentoring Services: To provide or facilitate our tutoring and mentoring services, including matching high school students with university mentors and vice versa.
Application Processing: To review and manage your application to our programs and events.
Communication: To contact you about your application, program participation, membership, or any changes to our services.
Job Board: To match you with or forward your application to a firm you have expressed interest in via our “ITAlent” job board.
Where we rely on legitimate interest or performance of a contract, we ensure the processing is necessary and proportionate to the objective pursued.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal data for five (5) years from the date you submit your application. We deem this period necessary to support ongoing mentorship relationships, membership management, and job board opportunities. After this period, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised unless further retention is required by:
A legal obligation (e.g., compliance with financial or audit requirements).
A legitimate organizational need (e.g., if you continue to use our services or if a legal claim arises).
We periodically review the need for continued storage of your personal data and will delete it or anonymise it when no longer required.
7. Who Has Access to Your Data
Access to your personal data is limited to staff members and volunteers who need it to perform their duties related to the services we provide. Your personal data will not be shared with other students or third parties, except in the following circumstances:
Tutors/Mentors: Your matched tutor or mentor will receive your email and phone number so they can provide effective guidance or tutoring.
Job Board: If you apply to a firm via our “ITAlent” platform, that firm will receive the information you provide on the specific ITAlent form.
8. Data Sharing with Third Parties
We do not share your personal data with any additional third-party organizations, except for our use of the Gomry platform to manage and store data. Gomry acts as our data processor, and we have contractual arrangements in place to ensure it processes personal data only on our instructions and in compliance with data protection laws. We require Gomry to implement industry-standard security measures to safeguard your data.
9. International Data Transfers
Depending on Gomry’s hosting arrangements or sub-processors, your data may be transferred or stored outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area (EEA). In cases where we (or our processors) transfer your data to countries that do not provide an equivalent level of data protection, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or UK International Data Transfer Agreements. If you have questions about international data transfers, please contact us at privacy@uniteditaliansocieties.com.
10. Data Security
The security of your data is of utmost importance to us. Because your data is stored on Gomry, we rely on Gomry’s security measures to protect it. Gomry applies industry-standard practices such as encryption, access controls, and regular security assessments. Additionally:
Access to your data on Gomry is restricted to nominated staff members who have been granted permission.
We regularly review our own internal processes and staff training to ensure your data is handled securely.
11. Your Rights
Under the GDPR and UK GDPR, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These include:
Right of Access: Request confirmation of whether we hold your personal data and receive a copy.
Right to Rectification: Request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to Erasure (Right to Be Forgotten): Request deletion of your data, subject to certain legal and contractual obligations.
Right to Data Portability: Obtain and reuse your data for your own purposes across different services.
Right to Object: Object to processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to Restrict Processing: Request restriction of how we process your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to Withdraw Consent: If we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, you can modify your data directly in your Gomry account or contact us at privacy@uniteditaliansocieties.com. We will respond to all requests within one month unless the request is complex, in which case we may extend the response period by up to two additional months.
Lodging a Complaint: If you have concerns about how we process your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in the EU Member State where you live or work, or where the alleged breach occurred. In the UK, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
12. Children’s Data
Where our tutoring and mentoring programs involve high school students under the age of 16 (or the relevant age of digital consent in your country), we ensure that consent is obtained from a parent or legal guardian before processing any personal data. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without appropriate consent. If you believe a child under the relevant age has provided us with personal data without parental consent, please contact us at privacy@uniteditaliansocieties.com, and we will promptly investigate and address the matter.
13. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices or applicable laws. Any changes will be posted on our website, and we encourage you to review the policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your personal data.
14. Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
Email: privacy@uniteditaliansocieties.com
Address: 38 Craven St, London WC2N 5NG
