Privacy policy
Effective date:
Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how the Association of African Universities ("AAU"), acting on behalf of the Africa Climate Collaborative ("the Collaborative," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you visit or interact with africaclimatecollaborative.aau.org (the "Site"). It applies to all visitors, including prospective students, researchers, partner-institution staff, donors, media and members of the public.
This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Use, which governs your use of the Site more broadly. By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy.
Who We Are
The data controller responsible for personal information collected through the Site is the Association of African Universities, whose secretariat is based in Accra, Ghana:
Association of African Universities Secretariat Trinity Avenue, Next to NCTE, NAB and NAPBTEX, East Legon, Accra P. O. Box AN 5744, Accra-North, Ghana Digital Address: GA-452-1581
Email: africaclimatecollaborative@aau.org
Phone: +233 30 277 4495
The Africa Climate Collaborative is a pan-African initiative operated by AAU and supported by the Mastercard Foundation. AAU makes the decisions about why and how personal information collected through the Site is processed, and is therefore the data controller for the purposes of Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and, where applicable, other data protection laws.
Scope of This Policy
This policy covers the public-facing Site only. The Site is an informational resource about the Africa Climate Collaborative's mission, partner universities, workstreams, events and convenings, and related news and publications. It does not currently process payments, sell goods or services, or require visitors to register for an account.
A restricted partner portal for institutional collaborators is being introduced soon. It will let partner-institution staff create an account to access role-based restricted content - see "Account Registration and Restricted Content" below. The Site will also introduce a visitor article-submission form under the Climate Storytelling activity line - see "Climate Storytelling: Visitor Article Submissions" below.
Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of information:
- Information you provide directly - your name, email address, phone number, and the content of any message you submit through the Site's contact forms or sign-up forms.
- Usage data - information about how you use the Site, such as pages visited, time spent, referring page, browser type, device information, and IP address.
- Cookies and tracking technologies - see "Cookies and Tracking Technologies" below for what we use and why.
- Account information (once the partner portal launches) - see "Account Registration and Restricted Content" below.
- Article submissions (once the Climate Storytelling submission form is available) - see "Climate Storytelling: Visitor Article Submissions" below.
The Site offers account creation, a member login, and/ or an article-submission form, see the two sections below for what will be collected and how it will be used.
Account Registration and Restricted Content
A restricted partner portal for institutional collaborators is on the Site. It will allow authorised partner-institution staff to create an account and access role-based restricted content - for example, materials intended only for a specific partner institution, workstream, or role.
Where you register for an account, we will collect: your name, work email address, password (stored in hashed/encrypted form, never in plain text), institutional affiliation, and role or permission level. We will use this information to verify your identity, apply the correct access permissions to restricted content, and administer your account - for example, to reset a forgotten password, communicate with you about your account, or deactivate an account that is no longer needed.
Account information is retained for as long as your account remains active, and for a limited period afterward for administrative and security purposes, then deleted or anonymised. You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account information at any time - see "Your Rights" below.
Climate Storytelling: Visitor Article Submissions
As part of the Africa Climate Collaborative's Climate Storytelling activity line, the Site will introduce a submission form allowing visitors to send articles, stories, and related media for consideration and possible publication on the Site.
Where you use this form, we will collect: your name, email address, and any other contact details you choose to provide; your article text and any accompanying images, video, or other media; and any biography or institutional affiliation you include for attribution.
We will use this information to review and, where selected, edit for house style, length, or clarity, and publish your submission - including your name and any attribution details you provide - on the Site and, where relevant, across the Collaborative's other communications channels (for example, social media or a partner institution's own channels), consistent with our Terms of Use's "User Submissions and Contact Forms" section. By submitting an article, you confirm you own the content or have the right to share it, and you grant us permission to edit, publish, and attribute it as described here.
We retain submitted articles and related correspondence for as long as reasonably necessary to consider, publish, and archive published content, consistent with "Data Retention" above. If a submission is not selected for publication, we retain it only as needed to respond to you and for our internal records, and then delete it.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information described above to:
- Respond to enquiries submitted through the Site's contact and sign-up forms
- Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and its content
- Analyse how visitors use the Site so we can improve navigation, content and performance
- Protect the security of the Site and prevent fraudulent or abusive activity
- Send updates or communications about the Collaborative's work, but only where you have opted in to receive them
- Provide account access and apply role-based permissions to restricted content, once the partner portal launches
- Review, edit, and publish articles submitted through the Climate Storytelling submission form, once available
We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
Legal Basis for Processing
As AAU's secretariat is based in Ghana, our processing of personal information is designed with reference to Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843). Depending on the purpose, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases:
- Consent - for example, when you opt in to receive updates, or voluntarily submit a contact form
- Legitimate interest - for example, to operate and secure the Site, and to understand how it is used, balanced against your rights and interests
- Legal obligation - where processing is required to comply with applicable law
Visitors from other jurisdictions, including the European Union and United Kingdom (General Data Protection Regulation) and other African Union member states with their own data protection laws, may have additional rights under their local law. Where those laws apply, we intend to honour them, and the legal bases above apply equally under those frameworks. See "Your Rights" below for how to exercise your rights.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
The Site uses cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly, understand how it is used, and improve your experience. We group these into:
- Strictly necessary cookies - required for the Site's core functionality (for example, remembering your cookie preferences); these cannot be switched off.
- Analytics and performance cookies - help us understand how visitors use the Site so we can improve it.
- Marketing cookies - not currently used by the Site; if this changes, this policy and our cookie-consent mechanism will be updated accordingly.
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings at any time, though some parts of the Site may not function properly if you do.
How We Protect Your Information
We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or misuse. These include restricting access to personal information to staff who need it, and using secure hosting for the Site.
No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify Ghana's Data Protection Commission and affected individuals as required by applicable law.
Data Retention
We retain personal information submitted through the Site's forms only for 4 years to respond to your enquiry and for our internal records, and then delete or anonymise it.
Usage and analytics data is retained in aggregate or anonymised form after the period needed for the analytics purposes described above.
Sharing Your Information
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information. We may share limited information with trusted third parties who help us operate the Site and deliver our services, under confidentiality and data-processing obligations consistent with this policy. These typically include:
- Website hosting and infrastructure providers
- Email or SMTP delivery services used to route messages submitted through Site forms
- Website analytics providers
- Form-processing and security plugins used on the Site
We may also disclose information where required by law, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of AAU, the Collaborative, our partners, or others.
International Data Transfers
Some of the third-party services described above (for example, hosting, email delivery, or analytics providers) may process information outside Ghana, including in jurisdictions with different data protection standards. Where this occurs, we take steps intended to ensure your information continues to receive an appropriate level of protection, consistent with Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and, where applicable, other relevant data protection frameworks.
Your Rights
Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- Request deletion of your personal information, subject to any legal or legitimate business reason we may have to retain it
- Object to our processing of your information, including for direct marketing
- Restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances
- Request a copy of your information in a portable format, where technically feasible
- Withdraw consent at any time, where our processing relies on your consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in "How to Contact Us" below. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with Ghana's Data Protection Commission or, if you are located in the European Union or United Kingdom, with your local supervisory authority.
Children's Privacy
The Site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information through the Site, please contact us using the details below so we can remove it.
Third-Party Links
The Site contains links to third-party websites, including the Mastercard Foundation and partner-institution websites, and social media platforms. We are not responsible for, and do not control, the content or privacy practices of those third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any third-party site before providing your information to it. See also our Terms of Use's "Third-Party Links and Partner Content" section for related terms governing your use of those links.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Site's functionality (including the planned partner portal), or applicable law. The effective date at the top of this page shows when this policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
How to Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or wish to exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us at:
Association of African Universities Secretariat Trinity Avenue, Next to NCTE, NAB and NAPBTEX, East Legon, Accra P. O. Box AN 5744, Accra-North, Ghana
Email: africaclimatecollaborative@aau.org
Phone: +233 30 277 4495
If you have raised a concern with us and are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to Ghana's Data Protection Commission or, where applicable, your local data protection authority.
Relationship to Our Terms of Use
This Privacy Policy works together with our Terms of Use, which governs your broader use of the Site. In particular, see the Terms of Use's:
- "User Submissions and Contact Forms" section for how information you submit through Site forms is handled
- "Third-Party Links and Partner Content" section for the third-party links referenced above
- "Privacy and Data Protection" section, which incorporates this policy by reference
- "Governing Law and Dispute Resolution" section for the law that applies to disputes about either document
Where there is any conflict between this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use on a privacy matter, this Privacy Policy governs.