Privacy Notice

Last updated: 14 May 2026

Introduction

This Privacy notice explains how the Global Research and Technology Development (GRTD) website collects, uses, shares and protects your information when you visit the Global Research and Technology Development (GRTD) website.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is the data controller for personal data processed through the GRTD website. This means FCDO determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) manages the GRTD website on behalf of FCDO and acts as a data processor, processing personal data under FCDO’s instructions.

Data controller

For more detailed information on FCDO’s role and responsibilities as a data controller, please visit FCDO as a data controller: privacy notice or contact the FCDO Data Protection Officer: data.protection@fcdo.gov.uk.

If you have questions about how personal data is handled through the GRTD website, you can contact us at: enquiries.grtd@fcdo.gov.uk.

Legal basis for processing under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The GRTD website follows the requirements set out in the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We rely on different lawful bases depending on the purpose for which we process your data. These lawful bases may include:

Consent: We may process personal data based on your consent where you voluntarily choose to provide it for optional purposes, such as subscribing to a mailing list, receiving promotional communications, applying for grants or agreeing to non-essential cookies.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.
Public task: We may process personal data where this is necessary for FCDO’s public functions, including the administration, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of FCDO-funded research and development activity.
Legal obligation: We may process personal data where this is necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, audit, financial reporting, fraud prevention, transparency or public accountability requirements.
Contract or steps before entering a contract: We may process personal data where this is necessary to assess, enter, administer or manage a funding agreement, grant agreement or related arrangement.
Legitimate Interest: Where applicable, we may process certain data for limited operational purposes that are not part of FCDO’s public tasks, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include limited processing to help maintain and secure the platform, analyse usage trends, improve user experience and optimise website services.

Special category data

Where we process special category data, such as equality, diversity and inclusion information, safeguarding information, or other sensitive information, we will identify an appropriate additional condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR and explain this at the point of collection where required.

How and why we collect data

We collect different types of information for the purposes described in this Privacy notice, including operating the website, responding to enquiries, managing communications, administering funding opportunities, processing grant applications, managing awards, meeting legal and audit obligations, and improving our services.

Personal information: This may include your name, email address, organisation, job title, contact details, enquiry details, feedback and any other information you voluntarily provide when you subscribe to a newsletter, contact us, submit a form, provide website feedback or otherwise communicate with us. We will seek your consent before sending promotional communications where consent is required.
Usage data: We may collect information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit, the time you spend on those pages, the links you click, browser type, device information, approximate location and technical logs.
Cookies and other tracking technologies: We may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your use of the website. Cookies are small data files stored on your device when you visit a website. They may be used to make the website work, remember your preferences, understand how the website is used, improve the service, support forms and mailing list functionality, and help keep the website secure.
Grant application and grant holder data: We collect personal data if you apply for funding, are named in a funding application, review an application, or have been awarded funding through GRTD, RCC or a related funding opportunity. This may include applications received through SmartSimple or other grant management systems. This may include your name, contact details, organisation, role, employment history, CV, qualifications, salary or costing information, project role, declarations of interest, due diligence information, references, assessment comments, reviewer scores, award decisions, grant agreement information, payment information, reporting information, and monitoring and evaluation information.

Where required for a specific programme, we may also collect equality, diversity and inclusion information, safeguarding information, or other special category data. Where we process special category data, we will identify an appropriate UK GDPR Article 9 condition and explain this at the point of collection where required.

We need this information to set up and manage accounts, receive and process applications, assess eligibility, administer and manage funding awards, undertake due diligence, support review and decision-making processes, evaluate and analyse our grant portfolio, meet reporting requirements, and comply with legal, regulatory, audit and public accountability obligations.

How we use your information

We may use the information we collect for purposes including:

operating, maintaining and securing the website.
responding to enquiries, contact form submissions, and feedback.
sending newsletters, updates or promotional communications.
managing mailing lists and communication preferences.
personalising your experience on the website where appropriate.
understanding and improving how the website is used.
managing accounts on grant management systems.
receiving, assessing and processing funding applications.
managing funding awards, grant agreements, reporting and payments.
conducting due diligence, conflict-of-interest checks, audit and assurance.
managing peer review, assessment panels and decision-making processes.
publishing limited information about successful awards.
evaluating and analysing programmes, portfolios and impact.
complying with legal, regulatory, transparency, audit, financial and public accountability requirements.
Protecting our rights, systems, users and services.

Sharing your information

We may share your information with third-party service providers who help us operate the website and provide related services, including website hosting, website maintenance, analytics (such as GA4, Microsoft Clarity), mailing lists (such as Mailchimp), forms, security and grant management systems (such as Smart Simple).

These providers may act as processors or, in limited circumstances, as independent controllers depending on the service and the processing activity.

Data collected and stored using Smart Simple will be subject to Smart Simple’s applicable privacy and security terms, where relevant. These should be read alongside this Privacy notice.

We may need to share information submitted through a funding application with

funding partners for joint programmes, competitions and opportunities.
FCDO, as data controller and core funder.
government partners where relevant.
delivery partners and programme partners.
expert reviewers, assessors, referees, steering committee members, advisory group members or panel members.
auditors, evaluators, due diligence providers, legal advisers and professional advisers.
regulators, public authorities, law enforcement bodies or courts where required or permitted by law.
limited information about an award if your application is successful, which may include the name of the lead organisation, project title, project summary, award amount, funding call, project location, project dates, names of project leads or partners, and other information required for transparency, reporting and public accountability.

We will only share personal data where there is a lawful basis to do so and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

International transfers

Some third-party service providers may process personal data outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy notice, including legal, regulatory, audit, financial, reporting and public accountability requirements.

We will then delete your personal data, anonymise it, or keep it in a form that does not identify you, unless we are required or permitted to retain it for longer, in line with the principle of data minimisation.

Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

Access to personal data is limited to those who need it for the purposes described in this Privacy notice.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect personal data in line with applicable data protection requirements.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis for processing, you may have the right to:

access your personal data.
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
ask us to delete your personal data.
ask us to restrict processing of your personal data.
receive a copy of your personal data in a portable format.
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
object to direct promotional communications.

These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every case.

To exercise your rights, please contact us directly at: enquiries.grtd@fcdo.gov.uk.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern.

Changes to this privacy notice

We may update this Privacy notice from time to time. Updated versions will be published on this page and will take effect from the date of publication.

You are advised to review this privacy notice periodically for any changes.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy notice or how personal data is handled on the GRTD website, please contact us at enquiries.grtd@fcdo.gov.uk