Privacy Policy

Welcome to Umeed Limited ("Umeed", "we", "us", or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at umeed.hk (the "Site") and use our services. We are committed to protecting your personal data and your right to privacy in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of Hong Kong ("PDPO").

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using our Site and services, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

1 · Information we collect

We collect information about you in various ways depending on how you interact with our Site and services.

Personal data you provide

We collect personal data that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Contact us: name, email address, and message content when you use our contact form.
• Apply as a contributor: full name, email address, WhatsApp number, current status, organisation/university, language proficiencies, contribution interests, availability, motivation statement, LinkedIn profile, and digital-literacy self-assessment.
• Subscribe to updates: email address and communication preferences.

Automatically collected data

When you access our Site, we automatically collect certain information:

• Device information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type.
• Usage data: pages visited, time spent on pages, access times, referring website addresses.
• Security data: reCAPTCHA verification scores and form-submission timing for spam prevention.

2 · Contributor application data

When you apply to become a community contributor through our Contributor Application Form, we collect the following personal information:

• Identity information: full name.
• Contact information: email address, WhatsApp number (optional).
• Professional information: current status (student/professional/volunteer), university or organisation name, LinkedIn profile (optional).
• Skills & preferences: language proficiencies, areas of contribution interest, hours available per week, digital-literacy level.
• Motivation: your written statement about why you want to contribute.

Purpose of collection

We collect this information to evaluate your application, match you with appropriate volunteer opportunities based on your skills and availability, contact you regarding your application status and relevant opportunities, coordinate community activities and events, and maintain records of our contributor network.

Legal basis for processing

• Consent: by submitting the application form, you explicitly consent to the collection and processing of your personal data for the purposes stated.
• Legitimate interest: to manage our volunteer network and community programmes effectively.

3 · How we use your information

• Service delivery — to provide, operate, and maintain our services and respond to your inquiries.
• Application processing — to evaluate and process contributor applications.
• Communication — to send you updates about your application, relevant opportunities, and important notices.
• Security — to detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and security issues.
• Improvement — to analyse usage patterns and improve our Site and services.
• Legal compliance — to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.

We will not use your personal data for purposes other than those stated without obtaining your prior consent.

4 · Data sharing and disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

Service providers

We may share your data with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our Site and services:

• Email services: Gmail/Google Workspace for sending application notifications.
• Security services: Google reCAPTCHA for spam and bot prevention.
• Hosting services: Vercel for website hosting.

These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

Legal requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or government agency).

Protection of rights

We may disclose your information to protect the rights, property, or safety of Umeed Limited, our users, or others.

5 · Data security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction:

• Encryption: all data transmitted via HTTPS/TLS encryption.
• Rate limiting: protection against spam and abuse.
• Access controls: limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.

Important: while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

6 · Data retention

• Contact form submissions — retained for 2 years or until the inquiry is resolved.
• Contributor applications — retained for 3 years from the date of submission, or for the duration of your active contribution, whichever is longer.
• Automatically collected data — retained for up to 12 months for analytics purposes.

After the retention period, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised. You may request earlier deletion of your data by contacting us (see Section 7).

7 · Your rights under the PDPO

Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of Hong Kong, you have the following rights:

• Right of access: you have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Right of correction: you have the right to request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to withdraw consent: you may withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal data at any time.
• Right to erasure: you may request deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal obligations.
• Right to object: you may object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@umeed.hk. We will respond to your request within 40 days as required by the PDPO. We may charge a reasonable fee for processing data-access requests.

8 · Cookies

Cookies are small files a website leaves in your browser. Our banner lets you decide what we may use, category by category. Here is what each one means, and which we actually use today.

• Essential — used, and cannot be turned off. These keep the site working and keep our forms safe from automated abuse. Turning them off would stop the contact and contributor forms working at all, so there is no switch for them. Your cookie choice itself is remembered here too.
• Functional — used. These remember choices you have already made, such as your language, so we do not ask you the same thing twice. They stay in your browser.
• Analytics — not used. We do not measure or record how you move around the site. The choice is offered so your answer is already on file if that ever changes.
• Marketing — not used. We do not run advertising or tracking pixels, and we do not follow you to other websites.

Two Google services are involved: reCAPTCHA, which is what protects the forms, and Google Fonts, which loads the typefaces you are reading. Google receives your IP address when these load.

Your cookie choices

The banner appears on your first visit and records an answer for each category separately. You can change your mind at any time through the Cookie preferences link at the bottom of every page. Your choice stays in your own browser: it is never sent to us, and it is not used to identify you.

If we ever add a category, we will ask you again rather than assume your earlier answer covers it. You can also clear your choice through your browser settings.

9 · Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on this page, updating the "Last updated" date above, and sending you an email notification for significant changes (if you have provided your email).

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of our Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

10 · Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Data Controller: UMEED LIMITED, Unit C, 4/F, 760 Cheung Sha Wan Rd, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong.
Email: contact@umeed.hk (subject line: Privacy Inquiry).

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong.