Privacy Notice
This privacy notice explains how Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Research (“we”, “us” or “the Centre”) collects, uses, stores and shares personal information.
It also explains your rights under UK data protection law.
Contact details
Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Research
Greencoat House
259 Stratford Road
Sparkhill
Birmingham
B11 1QS
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)121 667 6266
Email: info@ibnrushdcentre.org
What information we collect, use and why
The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with the Centre.
Courses and educational content
Where you register for or access one of our courses or related educational activities, we may collect:
- your name;
- email address;
- age; and
- telephone number, where required.
We use this information to administer registrations, provide access to courses or educational content, communicate with participants and manage our educational activities.
Some of our courses or online content may be accessed by people under the age of 18. Where we collect personal information from or about children and young people, we aim to provide privacy information in a way that is clear and appropriate for their age.
Enquiries, complaints and correspondence
If you contact us with an enquiry, complaint or other matter, we may collect:
- your name;
- contact details;
- the content of your correspondence;
- relevant information you provide to us; and
- records relating to the enquiry, complaint or previous correspondence.
We use this information to respond to you, investigate and resolve complaints and maintain appropriate records.
Donations and Gift Aid
If you make a donation, arrange fundraising or claim Gift Aid through us, we may collect:
- your name and contact details;
- address;
- payment or banking information;
- donation history;
- taxpayer information required for Gift Aid purposes; and
- information relating to gifts in wills, where applicable.
We use this information to process and administer donations, maintain financial records, administer Gift Aid, meet our legal and regulatory obligations and communicate with donors where appropriate.
Newsletters and communications
If you subscribe to our newsletter or other marketing communications, we may collect:
- your name;
- email address;
- communication preferences; and
- records of your consent.
We use this information to send you newsletters, updates and other communications that you have requested.
We use Mailchimp to help manage and distribute our email newsletters.
Where we rely on your consent for marketing communications, you can withdraw your consent at any time. You can unsubscribe using the unsubscribe link included in our marketing emails or contact us using the details above.
Website and analytics information
When you use our website, we may automatically collect certain technical information. This may include:
- IP address;
- information about your device or browser;
- website usage information;
- pages visited and interactions with our website; and
- cookie and similar technology information.
We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our website and to improve our website and online content.
Further information about the cookies and similar technologies used on our website should be provided through our cookie information or cookie consent mechanism.
Employees, volunteers and applicants
If you apply to work or volunteer with us, or become an employee or volunteer, we may collect information such as:
- your name and contact details;
- employment and volunteering history;
- application information;
- references;
- education and qualifications;
- right-to-work information, where applicable; and
- information required to administer your employment or volunteering relationship with us.
We use this information to manage recruitment, employees and volunteers and to meet our legal and administrative obligations.
We do not routinely collect criminal-conviction information or carry out DBS checks on volunteers.
Legal and regulatory requirements
We may collect and use personal information where necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, tax or other obligations that apply to the Centre.
The information involved will depend on the particular obligation.
Special category personal information
Special category information includes particularly sensitive personal information, such as information about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, health, political opinions or certain other protected categories.
We do not routinely ask course participants, newsletter subscribers or donors to provide information about their ethnicity, religious beliefs or other special category information.
If special category information is provided to us or needs to be processed in a particular situation, we will only process it where we have an appropriate lawful basis and an additional condition permitting the processing of special category information under data protection law.
Lawful bases and your data protection rights
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to collect and use personal information.
The lawful basis we rely on depends on why we are using your information.
These may include:
Consent – where you have given us permission to use your information for a particular purpose. For example, we may rely on consent to send marketing emails or newsletters. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
Contract – where processing your information is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you.
Legal obligation – where we need to use your information to comply with a legal obligation.
Legitimate interests – where using personal information is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of another person, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. This may include appropriate organisational administration, responding to enquiries and complaints, maintaining our services and protecting the Centre’s legitimate interests.
Where applicable, we may also process personal information where this is necessary for safeguarding, responding to emergencies, preventing or detecting crime, or making appropriate disclosures to public authorities, where permitted by data protection law.
The applicable lawful basis will depend on the processing activity.
Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis we rely upon, you may have the following rights:
- Right of access – you can ask us for copies of your personal information.
- Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct personal information that is inaccurate or complete information that is incomplete.
- Right to erasure – in certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal information.
- Right to restriction of processing – in certain circumstances, you can ask us to restrict how we use your information.
- Right to object to processing – in certain circumstances, you can object to our processing of your personal information.
- Right to data portability – in certain circumstances, you can ask us to transfer information you provided to us to you or another organisation.
- Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
Not all rights apply in every circumstance.
If you make a valid data protection rights request, we will respond without undue delay and normally within one month, subject to any applicable legal exceptions or extensions.
To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details at the beginning of this notice.
Where we get personal information from
We may obtain personal information:
- directly from you;
- from charities and voluntary-sector organisations;
- from regulatory or public authorities where appropriate;
- from publicly available sources; and
- from suppliers and service providers where appropriate.
Organisations and systems we use
We use third-party organisations and technology providers to help operate the Centre.
These include:
- Microsoft 365, which we use for organisational administration, email and related productivity services;
- Mailchimp, which we use to manage and distribute newsletters and related email communications; and
- Google Analytics, which we use to understand how people use our website.
These providers may process personal information on our behalf in connection with the services they provide.
Where we use service providers to process personal information on our behalf, we take appropriate steps to ensure that personal information is handled in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.
Some technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where we transfer personal information internationally, we will ensure an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism or other protection required by UK data protection law is in place.
How long we keep personal information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet any applicable legal, regulatory, accounting, tax, safeguarding or reporting requirements.
The appropriate retention period depends on the type of information, why we hold it and any legal or regulatory requirements that apply.
Information that is no longer required will be securely deleted, anonymised or otherwise disposed of appropriately.
We are reviewing and documenting our detailed retention periods for the different categories of personal information we hold.
Who we share personal information with
Where necessary and appropriate, we may share personal information with:
- organisations involved in safeguarding where disclosure is necessary;
- relevant regulatory or public authorities;
- organisations with which we are legally required to share information;
- professional advisers where appropriate; and
- suppliers and service providers that help us operate the Centre and its systems.
We share personal information only where there is an appropriate reason and lawful basis.
How to complain
If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first:
Email: info@ibnrushdcentre.org
Telephone: +44 (0)121 667 6266
Post: Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Research, Greencoat House, 259 Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 1QS, United Kingdom
If you remain unhappy with how we have used your personal information after raising your concern with us, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk
Changes to this privacy notice
We may update this privacy notice from time to time to reflect changes to how we process personal information or changes in applicable law and guidance.
Last updated: August 2026