Privacy Policy

Last updated: 27 July 2026

1. Who We Are

Veteran Force is a Community Interest Company (CIC) registered in the United Kingdom. We provide grant funding for UK veterans, their families, and veteran organisations. For data protection purposes, Veteran Force is the data controller.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect the following personal data when you use our platform:

  • Account information: Name, email address, and password (hashed)
  • Grant applications: Full name, email, phone number, service branch, service number, organisation details, grant category, amount requested, and social value assessment
  • Ambassador applications: Full name, email, phone, region, service details, motivation, and availability
  • Contact form submissions: Name, email, subject, and message content
  • Digital signatures: Signature data for grant agreements
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, and usage data collected automatically

3. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following legal bases (UK GDPR Article 6):

  • Consent: When you submit a grant or ambassador application, you consent to the processing of your data for that purpose
  • Contractual necessity: To fulfil grant agreements and manage your account
  • Legitimate interest: To improve our services, prevent fraud, and ensure security of the platform
  • Legal obligation: To comply with financial reporting and regulatory requirements applicable to CICs

4. How We Use Your Data

  • To process and assess grant and ambassador applications
  • To communicate with you about your application status
  • To generate and manage grant agreements
  • To produce anonymised reports on our social impact
  • To send transactional emails related to your account and applications
  • To maintain security and prevent abuse of the platform

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with:

  • Service providers: Cloud hosting, email delivery, and database services that process data on our behalf under appropriate safeguards
  • Regulatory bodies: If required by law or to comply with CIC reporting obligations
  • Funders: Anonymised and aggregated data may be shared in funding reports — individual personal data is never shared without your explicit consent

6. Data Retention

  • Account data: Retained while your account is active and for 12 months after deletion
  • Grant applications: Retained for 7 years to meet financial record-keeping obligations
  • Contact form submissions: Retained for 12 months
  • Audit logs: Retained for 7 years for compliance purposes

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

  • Right of access: Request a copy of your personal data
  • Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Right to erasure: Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
  • Right to restrict processing: Request limitation of how we use your data
  • Right to data portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format
  • Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interest
  • Right to withdraw consent: Withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via our Contact page.

8. Cookies

We use essential cookies required for the site to function (authentication session). We will request your consent before setting any non-essential cookies such as analytics. You can manage your cookie preferences using the cookie banner displayed on your first visit.

9. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption in transit (TLS), row-level database security, role-based access control, and audit logging of administrative actions.

10. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on our website. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.