The Global Alliance for the Future of Food (“Global Alliance”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a network of philanthropic foundations working to transform global food systems. The Global Alliance respects confidentiality and the privacy of its online visitors. This Notice explains when and why we collect personal information from you (including when you use our website www.futureoffood.org and our other materials), and how we use and store it. 

If you have any questions regarding your personal information or its use, please contact the Global Alliance via e-mail at privacy@futureoffood.org.

Who we are
The Global Alliance is a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working together and with others to transform global food systems now and for future generations. We believe in the urgency of transforming global food systems, and in the power of partnership to effect positive change. Food systems reform requires new and better solutions at all scales through a systems-level approach and deep collaboration among philanthropy, researchers, grassroots movements, the private sector, farmers and food systems workers, Indigenous Peoples, government, and policymakers.

Global Alliance is a project of Meridian Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States. Meridian Institute builds understanding, guides collaboration, and drives action to address our world’s complex challenges. Meridian is a mission-driven non-profit that has helped clients and partners develop and implement solutions to complicated, often controversial problems—big and small, global and local—for over two decades.

What personal information do we collect?
Personal information is information which directly or indirectly identifies you as an individual. It does not include information where the identity of the individual has been fully and effectively removed (anonymous data).  

We may collect the following personal information from you:  

  • Your name; 
  • Contact details including your address, phone number and e-mail address; 
  • Professional Information, including the organization you work for and your role title; 
  • Details of your location; 
  • Details of how you have engaged with us, such as which events, projects and activities you have taken part in or expressed an interest in; and 
  • If you enter into a financial contract with us or make a voluntary contribution to the Global Alliance, we will obtain the financial information necessary to process any payments made (such as your payment card details and billing address).

If you contact us, for example, to provide your feedback, we may keep a record of that feedback and correspondence, as well as your name and contact details. 

When you access our website, we also collect information about your computer, including, where available, your IP address, operating system and browser type. We do this for system administration purposes, including analyzing trends and gathering broad demographic information for aggregate use so that we can improve the site and deliver customized, personalized content.

We also use anonymized data to understand how visitors to our websites are using the site. 

Sensitive Personal Information
Under data protection legislation, certain personal information is considered more ‘sensitive’ (e.g. information relating to race, religion, political affiliation and health). This is also known as ‘special category data’. We do not typically collect special category data. 

How do we collect information about you?
We obtain information about you when you:

  • Enter into a contract with us, 
  • Take part in the Global Alliance work/activities, 
  • Correspond with us to express an interest in the work of the Global Alliance, 
  • Visit our website or register to receive information from us such as our newsletter; or 
  • Are in contact with a Global Alliance secretariat team member via email or at an event.

We may collect personal information about you from third parties, such as where you told a third party that you are happy to share your data, or when you are otherwise introduced by a third party.

How is your information used and stored and how long is it retained?
We may use your information to:

  • Carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into with you;
  • Make you aware of potential collaboration opportunities or activities that might be appropriate to your interests and location including networks or events;
  • Seek your views or comments on the activities or outputs that Global Alliance members/organizations or we undertake;
  • Send you communications that you have requested or subscribed to (e.g., newsletter);
  • process a grant or job application;
  • Help us improve engagement; 
  • Process any voluntary contributions you make to us; 
  • Allow you to use our website.

The Global Alliance will not keep your personal information for any purpose longer than is necessary and will only retain the information that is necessary to undertake the purpose identified above. We are also required to retain certain information as required by law or for as long as is reasonably necessary to meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, or enforce our terms and conditions.

After the expiration of the appropriate retention period, the relevant information is routinely deleted, as long as it is no longer necessary for the fulfilment of a contract, the initiation of a contract or to protect or defend our position or that of a third party. If you have any questions about our retention periods, please contact us at privacy@futureoffood.org. 

What is our lawful basis?
We will only use personal information when the law allows us to (i.e., where we have a ‘lawful basis). Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

  • Contract: We collect personal information when you enter into a contract with the legal entity The Global Alliance for the Future of Food and it is necessary to collect your personal information for the performance of that contract.
  • Legitimate Interest: We use personal information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override our own. For example, we have a legitimate interest in responding to enquiries about the Global Alliance and our work, and in providing our services. 
  • Consent: We collect and process personal information where you have given consent for us to do so, including receiving the Global Alliance newsletter, other email marketing or other communications about topics and events which we think might interest you.

You may unsubscribe from our email communications by following the instructions in any email that we send you, or you can withdraw your consent and request us to remove your personal information at any time by emailing us at privacy@futureoffood.org. 

We do not carry out any automated decision-making using personal information which produces legal effects or otherwise significantly affects individuals. 

Who will your information be shared with?
The Global Alliance will never share/sell your information to third parties for marketing purposes or for any reasons other than those described in this Notice.

We may share your information, from time to time, with organizations that are involved in collaborative projects that you have expressed interest in. We will have data protection agreements in place with these organizations to ensure that they cannot use your data for other purposes without your agreement. In some cases, those who fund our work require as part of the funding agreement, that we report back to them providing details of those people and organizations who have been involved in the projects that they have funded.

We may also share your personal information: 

  • Third-party data processors to assist with our work. These providers include, for example, MailChimp, Zoho CRM, and Google Analytics. Where we engage third parties to process personal information on our behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions, are under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of data.
  • With your consent or as otherwise disclosed at the time of data collection or sharing.

International Data Transfers
Please be aware that the personal information we collect may be transferred to and maintained on servers or databases located outside your state, province, country or jurisdiction, where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your location. In particular, if you are based outside of the United States, please be advised that we process and store personal information in the United States.

Your rights
Data protection laws give you a number of rights with respect to how organizations process your personal information.

  • Right to Access: You have the right to request access to a copy of your personal information held and processed by the Global Alliance. 
  • Right to Rectification: You have the right to request the Global Alliance to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
  • Right to Erasure (to be Forgotten): You have the right to request the Global Alliance to erase your personal information from its systems and records.
  • Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request the Global Alliance to stop or restrict the processing of your personal information. This could be for example, if your personal information is no longer necessary for purpose of processing.
  • Right to Data Portability: under certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we port personal information about you that you have provided to us or to a third party.
  • Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information, where the Global Alliance relies upon Legitimate Interest as the lawful basis for processing.

To exercise these rights, please contact us via the “Contact Us” section below. Please be aware that we may be unable to provide these rights to you under certain circumstances, for example, if we are legally prevented from doing so, or can rely on exemptions. 

Additionally, you have the right to lodge a complaint against us, which you can do by contacting the supervisory authority in your country of residence. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. In the EU you can find your relevant supervisory authority here. 

How do we protect your data?
The Global Alliance has implemented stringent Information Security and Personal Data Protection Policies. Employees and Associates who come into contact with your personal information have obligations to adhere to these policies and are regularly trained in security and privacy best practices.

We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures in order to protect data, computing devices and the network from accidental/malicious activities or theft. Where appropriate, we encrypt our data and devices and confidential information is securely destroyed when no longer required.

Use of cookies

Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience while using the site. Cookies are pieces of information that some websites transfer to the computer or device that is browsing that website and are used for record-keeping purposes at many websites. 

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. Visit www.aboutcookies.org or use the guidance below:

  • Establish the type and version of the web browser you use to access the internet
  • For PCs: Click on ‘Help’ at the top of your browser window and select the ‘About’ option.
  • For Macs: Click on the Apple menu and select the ‘About’ option.

How to manage cookies on popular browsers:

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer’s website.

Links to other websites
Our website contains links to other organizations’ information and websites. The Global Alliance is not responsible for the information or activities of other organizations, even if accessed via the Global Alliance website. It is recommended that you check the privacy policy or notice of websites you visit that are linked through the Global Alliance website.

Website recording
The Global Alliance maintains a statistical record of website usage and traffic and uses tools (Google Analytics) to help improve engagement and user experiences on our website. We use anonymized data to understand how visitors to our website are using the site, including what content they are looking for, what countries they are visiting, what language they use and what device they are using to view our website. This information enables us to ensure our website supports the adoption of integrated reporting internationally. No personal information is collected during this process.

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Changes to this Privacy Notice
We keep this Notice under regular review, and it may be periodically updated. 

Updates to this Notice will be posted on this page – please check back from time to time. If there are significant changes to this Notice, we will use reasonable efforts to contact you directly to inform you through the appropriate means. This Notice was last updated on 09 October 2024.

Contact us
If you have further questions about this Notice or the way in which we handle your personal information, please contact us at privacy@futureoffood.org.