Privacy policy

1. Information we collect

We collect personal information through the following interactions:

• Registration data: When you sign up as a WLU member, we collect your full legal name, national ID or passport number, date of birth, gender, primary and secondary phone numbers, email address, residential district and region, village or sub-county, and next-of-kin name and contact.
• Transaction data: When you contribute through the 10K Project or make any payment to WLU, we record the transaction reference number, payment amount, payment method (MTN Mobile Money or Airtel Money), transaction date and time, and your member identifier.
• Communication data: When you fill out our contact form, send us an email, or subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your name, email address, subject matter, and the content of your message.
• Usage data: We may collect anonymised and aggregated information about how visitors navigate and interact with our website — including pages visited, time spent, device type, browser, and referral source — to improve the user experience. This data does not personally identify you.
• Member portal activity: When you log in to the member dashboard, we log session timestamps, profile edits, password changes, and transaction history for security, compliance, and service improvement purposes.
• Programme participation data: If you participate in specific WLU programmes — such as the WLU Hospital initiative, Satellite City, or community outreach events — we may collect relevant programme-specific information such as location, participation date, and health or household data where applicable and consented to.

We only collect information that is necessary and proportionate to the purpose for which it is collected. We do not collect sensitive data such as ethnic origin, political opinion, or religious belief unless it is directly relevant to a specific programme and you have given explicit consent.

2. How we use your information

WLU uses personal information strictly for the following purposes:

• To process your membership registration and create and manage your member account and portal access.
• To record and verify your contributions, participation in the 10K Project, and engagement with WLU programmes.
• To send you important membership updates, transaction receipts, programme reports, and official WLU communications.
• To respond to enquiries, complaints, or data access requests submitted through any of our channels.
• To fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations under Ugandan law, including financial reporting, auditing, and compliance requirements.
• To improve the quality of our website, digital services, and communications using anonymised and aggregated usage data.
• To detect and prevent fraud, account misuse, or security incidents within our systems.
• To analyse aggregate membership trends and programme outcomes for internal planning and donor reporting (using anonymised data only).

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for commercial marketing purposes under any circumstances.

3. Sharing of information

WLU treats your personal information with strict confidentiality. We may share your data only in the following limited and specific circumstances:

• Technology and payment service providers: We work with trusted third-party providers (including mobile money payment processors and cloud hosting providers) who assist us in delivering our digital systems. These providers are contractually bound to handle your data only as instructed by WLU and in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
• Legal obligations: We may disclose personal information when required by Ugandan law, a valid court order, a government authority, or law enforcement agency acting within their legal mandate.
• Internal WLU operations: Authorised WLU staff and leadership may access relevant member data strictly for the purposes of programme administration, membership management, financial reporting, and organisational governance.
• Auditors and regulators: Our financial and compliance auditors may review transaction records and member data as part of formal audit processes. All auditors are bound by professional confidentiality obligations.
• With your explicit consent: In any circumstance not described above, WLU will only share your personal data with your express, informed, and written consent.

4. Data security

The security of your personal information is a priority for WLU. We employ the following technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, disclosure, or misuse:

• All data transmitted between your browser and our website is secured using HTTPS encryption (TLS).
• Member passwords are stored using strong one-way cryptographic hashing — WLU staff cannot view your password.
• Role-based access controls ensure that only authorised personnel can access specific categories of member data.
• Multi-factor authentication is available for the member portal to protect against unauthorised logins.
• Regular system monitoring, vulnerability assessments, and security reviews are conducted to identify and address risks proactively.
• Member data is stored on secured servers with restricted physical and digital access.

While WLU takes every reasonable precaution to protect your data, no system is entirely immune to all security risks. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights or freedoms, WLU will notify affected members without undue delay and in accordance with our legal obligations.

We strongly encourage members to use strong, unique passwords and to report any suspicious activity on their accounts immediately.

5. Data retention

WLU retains personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by Ugandan law. Our general retention guidelines are as follows:

• Active member records: Retained for the full duration of your active membership.
• Inactive or terminated member records: Retained for up to 7 years after membership ends, for audit, financial reporting, dispute resolution, and legal compliance purposes.
• Transaction records: Retained for a minimum of 7 years in accordance with Uganda's financial record-keeping requirements.
• Contact and communication records: Retained for up to 2 years from the date of last communication, unless an ongoing matter requires a longer retention period.
• Website usage data (anonymised): May be retained indefinitely as it cannot be used to identify you.

When personal data is no longer needed and has passed its required retention period, it is securely deleted or anonymised. You may request early deletion of your data by contacting us, subject to any legal obligations that require us to retain certain records.

6. Cookies and website tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve performance and understand how visitors interact with our content. Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for the website and member portal to function correctly, including session management and security features. These cannot be disabled without affecting core functionality.
• Analytics cookies (anonymised): Used to understand how visitors navigate the site — such as which pages are most visited and how long users stay. This data is collected in aggregate and does not identify individual users.
• Functional cookies: Used to remember your preferences, such as language or login state, to improve your experience on repeat visits.

We do not use cookies for commercial advertising, cross-site tracking, or to sell your data to third-party ad networks.

You can control or disable cookies at any time through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of some features of the WLU website or member portal.

7. Children's data

WLU membership is open to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect or process personal data from children under the age of 18 through our website or membership registration system.

In the context of certain community programmes — such as healthcare initiatives or educational outreach — WLU may collect data relating to children as part of programme delivery. In such cases:

• Explicit written consent is obtained from a parent or legal guardian before any data about a child is collected.
• Children's data is collected only to the extent necessary for the specific programme purpose and is handled with heightened care and security.
• Children's data is never shared beyond what is required for the programme and is not used for any marketing or communications purpose.

If you believe that a child's data has been collected without appropriate consent, please contact us immediately at withloveuganda@gmail.com and we will take prompt action to address it.

8. Your rights

Under Uganda's Data Protection and Privacy Act (2019) and applicable international privacy principles, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right of access: You may request a copy of the personal data WLU holds about you at any time.
• Right to correction: You may request that inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information about you be corrected.
• Right to deletion: You may request that we delete your personal data, subject to any legal obligations that require us to retain certain records.
• Right to opt out: You may unsubscribe from non-essential communications such as newsletters or marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us directly.
• Right to restrict processing: In certain circumstances, you may request that we limit how we use your data while a concern is being reviewed.
• Right to raise a complaint: If you believe your data has been handled in a manner inconsistent with this policy or applicable law, you may raise a formal complaint with WLU or lodge a complaint with Uganda's Personal Data Protection Office.

To exercise any of these rights, submit a written request to withloveuganda@gmail.com or call +256 393 225 462. We will acknowledge your request within 5 working days and aim to respond in full within 30 days.

9. Changes to this policy

WLU may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as our services grow, technology evolves, or legal requirements change. When material changes are made, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.
• Notify registered members of significant changes via the member portal dashboard or by email.

Your continued use of WLU services after an updated policy is published constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how your data is being protected.

10. Contact us

For any privacy-related enquiries, data access requests, correction requests, or concerns about how your information is handled, please reach out to the WLU team directly. We take every privacy enquiry seriously and will respond promptly.