Ignite Privacy Policy

We collect, use, and store various types of personal data about you, which we have categorised as follows:

• Identity Data: Includes your first name, last name, and username.
• Contact Data: Includes your email address, telephone number, and social media handles.
• Profile Data: Includes your username, password, interests, preferences, and any feedback or survey responses you provide.
• Innovation Data: Includes the business ideas, business plans, commercial information, and related intellectual property you voluntarily submit to the Platform for analysis and support.
• Usage Data: Includes information about how you navigate and interact with our Platform, such as the features you use and the time you spend on them.
• Technical Data: Includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, login data, browser type and version, time zone, operating system, and other technical information about the device you use to access the Platform.
• Marketing and Communications Data: Includes your preferences for receiving marketing materials from us and your communication preferences.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data (e.g., data about race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, health, or sexual orientation) or any data about criminal convictions.

We collect personal data in the following ways:

• Directly from You: When you create an account, build your profile, submit your Innovation Data, or communicate with us, you provide us with your Identity, Contact, Profile, and Innovation Data.
• From Your University (Our Partner Institution): To create your account and give you access to the Platform, your university or higher education institution ("Partner Institution") provides us with your basic Identity and Contact Data (such as your name and university email address).
• Automatically: As you use the Platform, we automatically collect Technical and Usage Data using cookies and similar technologies. Please see Section 12 on Cookies for more information.

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. We have set out below, in a table format, a description of the main ways we use your personal data and the lawful bases we rely on to do so.

A fundamental feature of the Ignite service is the use of AI to analyse your Innovation Data and the sharing of this data with your Partner Institution. By using the Platform, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Your Innovation Data will be processed by our proprietary and third-party AI tools to provide feedback and recommendations.
• Your Identity, Contact, and Innovation Data will be made accessible to designated staff at your Partner Institution to help them provide you with effective support and opportunities.

This processing is essential for us to deliver the services as described and is performed on the lawful basis of Performance of a Contract.

UK data protection law places restrictions on the use of solely automated decision-making that has a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals. While our AI tools analyse your data to provide feedback, suggestions, and insights, they do not make automated decisions about you that would have a legal or significant impact. The AI provides support and analysis; key opportunities and support decisions involve human oversight from staff at your Partner Institution or our team.

We may need to share your personal data with the following parties:

• Your Partner Institution: To facilitate the support services central to the Ignite platform. Once shared, your Partner Institution becomes a Data Controller for their use of your data, and their own privacy policy will apply.
• Service Providers: Third-party companies that provide essential services to us, such as cloud hosting, IT support, and AI analytics services. These providers act as Data Processors and are bound by strict contractual agreements to keep your data safe and only use it on our instructions.
• Professional Advisers: Including our lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers, where necessary for professional services.
• Regulatory Authorities: HM Revenue & Customs, the ICO, and other authorities where we are required by law to do so.

We primarily store and process your data within the United Kingdom (UK). However, some of our third-party service providers may be based outside the UK. When we transfer your personal data outside the UK, we ensure it receives a similar level of protection by implementing at least one of the following safeguards:

• Transferring it to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK Government.
• Using specific contracts approved for use in the UK which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK (known as Standard Contractual Clauses or the International Data Transfer Agreement).

We have implemented robust and appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, accessed, altered, or disclosed in an unauthorised way. Access to your personal data is limited to employees, agents, and third parties who have a legitimate business need to know.

We will only retain your personal data for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• Account Data: We will retain your personal data for as long as your account is active.
• Post-Closure: After your account is closed, we may retain some information for a period of up to 6 years to comply with legal obligations (e.g., for tax and accounting purposes).
• Anonymised Data: We may anonymise your data (so it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely.

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

1. The right to be informed: To be provided with clear, transparent, and easily understandable information about how we use your information and your rights.
2. The right of access: To request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
3. The right to rectification: To have inaccurate personal data corrected or completed if it is incomplete.
4. The right to erasure: To request the deletion of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep using it (also known as the "right to be forgotten").
5. The right to restrict processing: To block or suppress further use of your personal data in certain circumstances.
6. The right to data portability: To obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services.
7. The right to object: To object to certain types of processing, such as direct marketing.
8. Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: You have rights regarding decisions made without human involvement.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) using the details in Section 14.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

• Website: www.ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Our Platform uses cookies to distinguish you from other users. This helps us provide you with a good experience and allows us to improve our site.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. We use the following types:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: These are essential for the operation of our Platform.
• Analytical/Performance Cookies: These allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and see how they move around our Platform.
• Functionality Cookies: These are used to recognise you when you return to our Platform, enabling us to personalise content for you.

For any non-essential cookies, we will ask for your consent before placing them on your device. You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you block all cookies (including essential ones), you may not be able to access all or parts of our Platform.

We keep this privacy policy under regular review. Any changes will be posted on this page, and where appropriate, you will be notified by email. This policy was last updated on the date shown at the top of this document.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, or if you wish to exercise any of your legal rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO).