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Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 2026

At Breast Cancer Ireland, we are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, securely and transparently.

The trust placed in us by our supporters, donors, fundraisers, patients, researchers, partners and the wider public is extremely important to us. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, who we may share it with and the rights you have in relation to your personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected through the Breast Cancer Ireland website and through your interactions with Breast Cancer Ireland, including when you donate, fundraise, register for an event or challenge, book an Education & Awareness session, sign up to receive communications or otherwise contact or support us.

1. Who We Are

Breast Cancer Ireland is a registered Irish charity committed to transforming the landscape of breast cancer through pioneering research, education and awareness.

For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR") and the Data Protection Act 2018, Breast Cancer Ireland is the data controller in respect of personal data for which we determine the purposes and means of processing.

Breast Cancer Ireland Registered Charity Number: 20078577 Registered Address: Lower Ground Floor, 77 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2, D02 DH22 Email: info@breastcancerireland.com Telephone: 01-5160331

2. What Personal Information We May Collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with Breast Cancer Ireland.

It may include:

  • your name, postal address, email address and telephone number;
  • your date of birth or age, where relevant;
  • information you provide when making a donation;
  • details of donations and your history of supporting Breast Cancer Ireland;
  • information relating to fundraising activities, events and challenges in which you participate;
  • event registration information, including emergency contact details where appropriate;
  • information provided when booking or attending an Education & Awareness session;
  • information provided when purchasing merchandise or interacting with our fundraising activities;
  • your communication and marketing preferences;
  • correspondence and communications with us;
  • information you provide when making a corporate partnership, sponsorship, volunteering, fundraising, legacy or other enquiry;
  • photographs, video or testimonials where you have agreed to their use;
  • technical information relating to your use of our website, such as IP address, browser type, device information and cookie or analytics information; and
  • any other information you choose to provide to us.

We will only collect personal information that is relevant and necessary for the purpose for which it is being collected.

3. Special Category Personal Data

In some circumstances, people may choose to share information with us relating to their health, including information about a breast cancer diagnosis or treatment.

Health information is regarded as special category personal data under GDPR and receives additional protection.

We will only process special category personal data where we have an appropriate lawful basis and an additional legal condition permitting us to do so. Where appropriate, this may include your explicit consent.

We ask that you do not provide medical or health information to us unless it is necessary for the particular interaction or service.

4. How We Collect Your Information

We may collect personal information directly from you when you:

  • visit or use our website;
  • make a donation;
  • register for or participate in a Breast Cancer Ireland event or fundraising challenge;
  • create or support an online fundraising page;
  • sign up to receive emails or other communications;
  • contact us by telephone, email, website form or social media;
  • book an Education & Awareness session;
  • fundraise on our behalf;
  • purchase merchandise;
  • volunteer or act as an ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland;
  • enter a competition, raffle or promotion;
  • enquire about leaving a gift to Breast Cancer Ireland in your Will;
  • engage with us as a corporate partner or prospective partner; or
  • otherwise interact with Breast Cancer Ireland.

We may also receive personal information from third parties, including fundraising and event platforms, payment providers, social media platforms and other organisations where you have authorised them to share information with us or where another lawful basis permits the sharing.

Where information is obtained from another source, we will handle it in accordance with applicable data protection law.

5. Why We Use Your Personal Information

We may use your personal information to:

Process donations and fundraising income To process and administer donations, maintain appropriate financial records, issue acknowledgements or receipts and manage our relationship with our supporters.

Manage fundraising events and challenges To register participants, communicate important event information, administer fundraising activities and provide appropriate supporter care.

Provide Education & Awareness programmes To manage enquiries and bookings for our free Education & Awareness sessions and communicate with organisations and individuals in relation to those sessions.

Communicate with our supporters To respond to enquiries, provide information you have requested and keep you informed about your interaction with Breast Cancer Ireland.

Fundraising and marketing Where permitted by law, to tell you about our research, impact, campaigns, fundraising appeals, events and ways you can support our work.

Corporate partnerships and sponsorship To manage existing relationships and respond to enquiries from businesses and organisations interested in supporting Breast Cancer Ireland.

Legacy fundraising To respond to enquiries relating to gifts in Wills and administer legacy gifts left to Breast Cancer Ireland.

Improve our website and services To understand how people use our website and digital services, improve functionality and user experience and measure the effectiveness of our communications and campaigns.

Meet our legal and regulatory obligations To maintain appropriate financial, governance and regulatory records and comply with obligations applicable to Breast Cancer Ireland as a registered charity.

Protect Breast Cancer Ireland and our supporters Where necessary, to prevent fraud, protect our systems and information and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

6. Our Lawful Bases for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

Consent – where you have given us clear permission to use your information for a particular purpose.

Contract – where processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Legal obligation – where we are required to process information to comply with Irish or EU law.

Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for Breast Cancer Ireland's legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the nature of the information, the purpose of the processing, the reasonable expectations of the individual and the potential impact on their privacy.

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

7. Donations and Payment Information

When you make a donation or payment through our website or one of our fundraising platforms, payment information may be processed securely by our payment or fundraising service providers.

Breast Cancer Ireland does not retain full payment card details unless specifically required and permitted under applicable payment-security standards.

We may retain information relating to your donation, such as your name, contact details, donation amount, date and payment status, for financial administration, donor stewardship, regulatory and accounting purposes.

8. Fundraising and Event Platforms

Breast Cancer Ireland works with specialist service providers to operate aspects of our fundraising, event registration, supporter communications, payment processing and digital activities.

Where these organisations process personal data on our behalf, we require appropriate contractual and data-protection safeguards to be in place.

In some circumstances, another organisation may act as an independent data controller. Where this occurs, its own privacy policy will also apply to its processing of your information.

9. Marketing Communications

We would love to keep you informed about the impact of your support, the research you help make possible, our Education & Awareness work, upcoming events, fundraising opportunities and other ways to support Breast Cancer Ireland.

We will only send electronic direct marketing communications where we have an appropriate lawful basis to do so.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails by clicking the unsubscribe link contained in our emails or by contacting us directly.

Unsubscribing from marketing communications will not prevent us from contacting you where necessary to administer a donation, event registration or other transaction or where we are otherwise required or permitted to contact you.

10. Cookies and Website Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are strictly necessary for the website to operate correctly. Other cookies may help us understand how visitors use our website, measure the effectiveness of campaigns, improve the website or support advertising and communications.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies will not be placed on your device unless you have provided your consent.

You can accept, reject or manage non-essential cookies through our cookie consent tool and can change your preferences at any time.

Further information about the individual cookies and technologies used on our website, including their purpose and duration, is available in our Cookie Policy.

11. Social Media

Breast Cancer Ireland uses social media platforms to communicate with supporters and the public.

If you interact with us through a social media platform, that platform may process information about you in accordance with its own privacy policy.

We may also use social media and digital advertising services to promote Breast Cancer Ireland campaigns. Where cookies or similar technologies are used for advertising or tracking purposes, we will obtain consent where required by law.

12. Who We Share Your Information With

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information where necessary with trusted organisations that provide services to Breast Cancer Ireland, including:

  • website and technology providers;
  • fundraising and event-registration platforms;
  • payment processors;
  • email and communications providers;
  • fulfilment, printing and mailing providers;
  • professional advisers, auditors and insurers;
  • IT and cybersecurity providers;
  • research, analytics and digital service providers; and
  • regulatory, governmental or law-enforcement bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We only share the information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

Where a supplier processes personal information on our behalf, we require it to protect that information and process it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable data-protection legislation.

13. International Transfers

Some of the organisations and technology providers we use may process or store personal information outside the European Economic Area ("EEA").

Where personal information is transferred outside the EEA, Breast Cancer Ireland will ensure that an appropriate legal mechanism and safeguards are in place as required by GDPR.

These may include a European Commission adequacy decision, approved Standard Contractual Clauses or another legally recognised transfer mechanism.

You may contact us if you would like further information about the safeguards applicable to international transfers of your personal information.

14. How Long We Keep Your Information

We will not retain personal information for longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

Retention periods vary depending on the nature of the information, why it was collected and any legal, accounting, taxation, regulatory or operational requirements that apply.

When determining an appropriate retention period, we consider:

  • the purpose for which the information was collected;
  • our legal and regulatory obligations;
  • financial and audit requirements;
  • the nature and sensitivity of the information;
  • the relationship we have with you; and
  • whether the information may be required to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

When personal information is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise or otherwise dispose of it in accordance with our data-retention procedures.

15. How We Protect Your Information

Breast Cancer Ireland takes the security of personal information seriously.

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

Access to personal information is limited to employees, contractors and service providers who require it for legitimate purposes and who are subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations.

While no internet-based service can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we regularly review the measures we use to protect personal information.

16. Children's Personal Data

Some Breast Cancer Ireland activities and Education & Awareness initiatives may involve children and young people.

We recognise that children's personal data requires particular protection. Where we collect personal information relating to children, we will take appropriate measures to ensure the processing is lawful, fair and transparent and, where required, obtain consent from a parent or guardian.

We will not knowingly use children's personal information for inappropriate marketing purposes.

17. Photographs, Videos and Patient or Ambassador Stories

From time to time, Breast Cancer Ireland may use photographs, videos, testimonials or personal stories to raise awareness of breast cancer and demonstrate the impact of our work.

Where appropriate, we will explain how this material will be used and obtain the necessary permissions or consent before publication.

Where a story contains health information or other special category personal data, we will apply the additional protections required by data-protection law.

18. Your Data Protection Rights

Subject to certain conditions and exemptions under data-protection law, you may have the right to:

  • access the personal information we hold about you;
  • correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • request the deletion of your personal information;
  • request the restriction of processing;
  • object to certain processing, including direct marketing;
  • receive certain personal information in a portable format;
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on your consent; and
  • object to certain decisions based solely on automated processing, where applicable.

You will not normally be charged for exercising your data-protection rights.

We may need to ask you for information to confirm your identity before responding to a request in order to protect your information from unauthorised disclosure.

To exercise your rights, please contact:

Data Protection Breast Cancer Ireland Email: info@breastcancerireland.com Address: Lower Ground Floor, 77 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2, D02 DH22

19. Right to Complain

If you have concerns about how Breast Cancer Ireland has handled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to make a complaint to Ireland's supervisory authority:

Data Protection Commission 6 Pembroke Row Dublin 2 D02 X963 Ireland

Further information is available at www.dataprotection.ie (opens in a new tab).

20. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.

Breast Cancer Ireland is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external website before providing personal information.

21. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our activities, services, technology, legal requirements or data-protection practices.

The most recent version will always be available on our website and the date of the latest update will be displayed at the top of this page.

22. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how Breast Cancer Ireland uses your personal information or your data-protection rights, please contact us:

Breast Cancer Ireland Lower Ground Floor, 77 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2, D02 DH22 Email: info@breastcancerireland.com Telephone: 01-5160331

Our commitment to you

The generosity and trust of our supporters make our work possible. We are committed to treating your personal information with the same care, integrity and transparency that we bring to every aspect of our work.

Together, we are funding life-changing research, educating communities and helping to rewrite the future of breast cancer.

Be the generation that ends breast cancer.