Privacy & Cookie Policy
Last updated: August 2026
About this policy
Hope For Podencos UK (“HFP”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a charity registered in England and Wales (charity number 1212896).
Our registered address is:
31 Dewhurst Road
Cheshunt
Waltham Cross
Hertfordshire
EN8 9PG
United Kingdom
This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit our website, contact us, apply to adopt or foster a dog, ask us for help rehoming a dog, make a donation, sponsor a dog or kennel, enter a raffle or competition, attend or support an event, purchase from our shop, volunteer with us, subscribe to our emails or otherwise interact with HFP.
We only collect and use personal information where we have a lawful reason to do so.
Information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with HFP and may include:
your name, address, email address and telephone number;
information you provide in adoption, foster or rehoming applications and enquiries;
information relevant to assessing the suitability of a home for one of our dogs, including the ages of people and children living in the household, details of existing pets, your home environment and your experience with dogs;
records of our communications with you, including emails, WhatsApp messages and social media communications;
information relating to an adoption or foster placement, including home-check information, contracts, transport arrangements and ongoing support;
donation, sponsorship, raffle, competition, event, order and payment information;
Gift Aid information where applicable;
photographs, videos, testimonials and updates where you have agreed that we may use them;
information relating to volunteering with HFP;
newsletter and communication preferences; and
technical information about your use of our website, such as IP address, browser/device information and website activity where applicable.
We do not ask adoption or foster applicants to provide medical information or the names of children in their household. Please avoid including unnecessary personal information, particularly medical information or information identifying children, in free-text fields or correspondence with us.
If you voluntarily provide information beyond what we have requested, we will only use it where it is relevant and appropriate for the purpose for which you contacted us.
How we collect your information
We may collect information directly from you when you:
complete a form on our website;
contact us by email, telephone, WhatsApp or social media;
apply to adopt or foster a dog;
contact us about rehoming a dog;
make a donation or sponsorship payment;
purchase something from our shop;
enter a raffle or competition;
participate in or support an HFP event or fundraiser;
subscribe to our emails;
volunteer or enquire about volunteering; or
otherwise communicate or interact with HFP.
We may also receive limited information from payment providers and other service providers used to complete a transaction or provide a service to you.
Publicly available information
When assessing an adoption or foster application, we may review information that an applicant has made publicly available on social media.
We do this where relevant to help us establish that an application is genuine, verify relevant information supplied to us, assess compatibility with our animal-welfare and positive-training requirements and identify potential welfare or safeguarding concerns, including potential links to illegal or irresponsible breeding.
We only seek to consider publicly available information that is relevant to the application, the welfare of our dogs or the integrity of our adoption and fostering process.
How and why we use your information
We may use personal information to:
assess and administer adoption and foster applications;
assess and respond to requests for help rehoming dogs;
carry out home checks and suitability assessments;
arrange adoption, fostering, transport and microchip transfers;
provide post-adoption and foster support;
maintain appropriate records about dogs and their placement history;
process donations and administer Gift Aid;
administer sponsorships and provide sponsorship updates;
administer raffles and competitions, including contacting winners;
administer events and fundraising activities;
process shop orders, payments, deliveries, returns and customer enquiries;
respond to general enquiries;
manage volunteers;
send newsletters and marketing communications where permitted;
maintain records of communication preferences;
protect the welfare of dogs in our care and safeguard HFP's adoption and fostering processes;
prevent or investigate suspected fraud, misuse or other inappropriate activity;
operate, secure, analyse and improve our website and services;
measure the effectiveness of our communications and advertising where you have permitted the relevant technologies; and
comply with our legal, regulatory, financial and charitable obligations.
Our lawful bases
Depending on the activity, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
Contract or steps before entering into a contract – where processing is necessary to deal with an order, adoption, foster arrangement, sponsorship or another agreement with you.
Legal obligation – where we need to process information to comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, Gift Aid or other statutory requirements.
Legitimate interests – where processing is reasonably necessary for HFP's legitimate charitable and operational interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights. These interests may include animal welfare, assessing adoption and foster suitability, maintaining appropriate placement histories, providing ongoing support, preventing misuse of our processes, administering the charity and improving our services.
Consent – where we ask for your consent, including for certain marketing communications, use of photographs or testimonials and optional website tracking technologies. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
Adoption, fostering and rehoming
HFP has an ongoing responsibility for the welfare and placement history of dogs that we rehome or place in foster care.
Relevant HFP trustees and volunteers may access applicant and placement information where they need it to assess an application, carry out a home check, arrange a placement, provide support or fulfil HFP's welfare responsibilities.
Home checks are normally carried out by HFP trustees or volunteers by video call.
Our rescue partners may be consulted about a potential home or match, but applicant information shared with rescue partners is anonymised so that the applicant is not identified.
Where a dog is being transported, we may provide the pet transport provider with the information reasonably necessary to arrange and complete the journey, such as the adopter's or fosterer's name, delivery address and contact details. The transport provider used may vary depending on the journey. Information may be provided by email, WhatsApp or other appropriate communication methods.
We provide the information required to transfer a dog's microchip registration, including the adopter's email address and/or mobile number, to Microchip Central. This enables the dog's microchip record to be transferred to and maintained in the adopter's details.
Donations and Gift Aid
When you make a donation, we process the information necessary to receive and administer your donation and maintain appropriate financial records.
Where you make a Gift Aid declaration, we collect and retain the information required to administer Gift Aid and may provide relevant information to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as required.
Making a donation does not by itself mean that you have agreed to receive unrelated marketing communications from HFP.
Sponsorships
If you sponsor a dog or kennel through our website, we use your information to administer the sponsorship and payment and to provide the updates or communications that form part of your sponsorship.
Sponsorship updates are service communications connected with your sponsorship. They are separate from our general newsletter and marketing communications.
Raffles and competitions
If you enter an HFP raffle or competition, we use your information to administer your entry, process any applicable payment, operate the raffle or competition and contact winners.
Specific rules applying to individual raffles or competitions are set out in the relevant separate terms and conditions.
Entering a raffle or competition does not by itself mean that you have agreed to receive unrelated marketing communications from HFP.
Events and fundraising
We may attend, organise or participate in events where we sell merchandise, accept donations or carry out fundraising activities.
Where you make a payment through our website in connection with an event, your information is processed in the same way as other relevant website transactions.
At physical events, card and other electronic payments may be processed using PayPal point-of-sale services.
Where you participate in an HFP fundraising activity or event, we may also use information reasonably necessary to administer your participation and communicate important information about the activity.
Shop purchases
Our online shop is operated through our website.
We use the information provided when you place an order to process payment, fulfil and dispatch your order, deal with returns or queries and maintain appropriate financial and transaction records.
HFP fulfils its own merchandise orders. We may provide the information necessary to deliver your order to postal or delivery services such as Royal Mail.
We do not receive or store complete payment-card details where these are processed directly by our payment providers.
Payments
Online payments may be processed through payment providers including Stripe and PayPal.
In-person electronic payments at events may also be processed using PayPal point-of-sale services.
These providers process payment information in accordance with their own privacy arrangements. HFP receives the information reasonably necessary to identify and administer the relevant transaction but does not receive complete payment-card information where this is processed directly by the payment provider.
Marketing and communications
If you subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise agree to receive marketing communications, we may send you news about HFP, our dogs, fundraising, campaigns, events and ways to support our work.
Our email marketing is currently provided through Squarespace.
You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting us.
Unsubscribing from general marketing will not necessarily stop essential communications relating to an adoption or foster application or placement, shop order, sponsorship, raffle or competition entry, donation, event or another active relationship with HFP.
We may retain limited information about an opt-out so that we can respect your request and avoid inadvertently adding you back to marketing communications.
We do not upload our supporter, adopter, donor or customer email lists to Meta/Facebook Custom Audiences for advertising.
Photographs, videos and success stories
We may share photographs, videos, testimonials, adoption updates and success stories to support our charitable work, including education, awareness, fundraising and rehoming activities.
Where an individual is identifiable and their personal information is being used, we obtain appropriate permission before using it for these purposes.
Who we share information with
We do not sell personal information.
Where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, personal information may be accessed by or shared with:
HFP trustees and volunteers who need the information for their role;
Squarespace and other website, email and technology service providers;
payment providers such as Stripe and PayPal;
postal and delivery providers such as Royal Mail;
pet transport providers where necessary to arrange and complete a dog's journey;
Microchip Central where necessary to transfer and maintain a dog's microchip registration;
professional advisers and service providers acting on our behalf;
HMRC where required for Gift Aid, tax or accounting purposes;
regulators, law-enforcement bodies or other authorities where required by law; and
other organisations where sharing is reasonably necessary to protect animal welfare, protect an individual or comply with a legal obligation.
We also use third-party systems to help us operate the charity, including services for email, document storage, charity administration and communications. Access to personal information is limited according to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.
How we store and protect information
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
Personal information may be held within systems used by HFP for website administration, email, communications, document storage and charity administration.
Access to systems containing personal information is limited to HFP trustees, volunteers and service providers who require it for their role or to provide a service to us.
No method of transmitting or storing information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore regularly consider the systems and practices we use to protect personal information.
International processing and transfers
Some of the technology and service providers we use may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take appropriate steps to ensure that a lawful transfer mechanism or safeguard applies as required by UK data-protection law. This may include transfers to countries covered by UK adequacy regulations or the use of appropriate contractual safeguards.
Our rescue partners outside the UK normally receive anonymised information about applicants rather than personal information.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as it remains reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, our continuing animal-welfare responsibilities, our legitimate operational needs or applicable legal requirements.
Adoption and foster records
People may apply to adopt or foster from HFP again in the future, sometimes after a significant period of time. We may therefore retain a limited core record of previous adoption and foster applications and their outcomes where this remains relevant to a future application, animal welfare, safeguarding or the integrity of our adoption and fostering process.
For successful adoptions, we may retain the core adoption, contractual and placement history throughout the dog's lifetime and for an appropriate period afterwards. This enables us to maintain an appropriate history for the dog and fulfil continuing welfare, support and contractual responsibilities.
For approved fosterers, we may retain a core foster record while the fostering relationship with HFP remains relevant, including periods between individual foster placements.
Where an application raises material welfare, safeguarding, dishonesty, illegal or irresponsible breeding or similar concerns, we may retain a limited factual record where reasonably necessary to protect dogs and inform any future application.
We do not need to retain every supporting document or communication simply because a core record is retained. Supporting information is reviewed and may be deleted or anonymised when it is no longer reasonably necessary.
Financial and other records
We retain financial, transaction, donation and Gift Aid records for the periods required by applicable accounting, tax and charity requirements.
Marketing information is retained while you remain subscribed. Where you opt out, we may retain the minimum information necessary to record and respect that preference.
Other personal information is reviewed and deleted or anonymised when it is no longer reasonably required for the purpose for which it was collected.
Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which we use your information, you may have the right to:
ask for a copy of personal information we hold about you;
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
ask us to delete personal information in certain circumstances;
ask us to restrict how we use your information;
object to certain uses of your information;
receive certain information in a portable format;
withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent; and
object at any time to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.
These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every circumstance. For example, we may need to retain certain information to meet a legal obligation or where we have another lawful reason to retain it.
To exercise your rights or ask a question about our use of your personal information, contact:
Email: hopeforpodencos@gmail.com
Post:
Hope For Podencos UK
31 Dewhurst Road
Cheshunt
Waltham Cross
Hertfordshire
EN8 9PG
United Kingdom
If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Cookies and Similar Technologies
What are cookies and similar technologies?
Our website uses cookies and other storage and access technologies.
Cookies are small files stored on your computer, phone or other device. Similar technologies can include tracking pixels, scripts, tags and browser storage.
These technologies can be used to make a website function, remember preferences, understand how people use a website and measure advertising.
Technologies we use
Necessary
Necessary technologies are required for our website to function properly and may support features such as security, shopping baskets, payments and remembering your cookie preferences.
Because they are necessary to provide the website or a service you request, they cannot always be switched off through our cookie controls.
Performance and Analytics
Performance and analytics technologies help us understand how visitors find and use our website, which pages are visited and how the website performs.
We use Squarespace's website services and Google Analytics for website measurement and analytics.
We also use Google Tag Manager to help manage technologies and tags deployed on our website. The privacy requirements applying to an individual tag depend on the purpose and function of that technology.
Advertising
With your permission, advertising technologies may be used to understand the effectiveness of our advertising and how people interact with our website following an advertisement.
We currently use the Meta Pixel for advertising measurement and related advertising purposes.
If we introduce additional advertising technologies in the future, we will update our practices and this information where required.
Your cookie choices
When you first visit our website, our cookie controls allow you to:
Accept all optional technologies;
Decline all optional technologies; or
Manage cookies and choose which optional categories you wish to allow.
Necessary technologies remain enabled where they are required for the website or services you request.
Optional analytics, advertising and tracking technologies are used in accordance with the choices you make through our cookie controls.
You can change or withdraw your choices using the cookie preference controls available on our website.
You can also control cookies through your browser, although blocking necessary cookies may affect how parts of the website function.
Simply continuing to use our website does not constitute consent to optional cookies or similar technologies.
Third-party website technologies
Some technologies on our website are provided by third parties, including Squarespace, Google and Meta.
Where these technologies involve personal information, those providers may process information in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable data-protection arrangements.
Following links from our website to external websites or social-media platforms may also result in those third parties processing information about you. HFP does not control the privacy practices of external websites.
Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy & Cookies Policy when our activities, services, systems, legal obligations or use of website technologies change.
The date at the top of this page shows when the policy was last updated.
Where a change materially affects how we use personal information or requires fresh consent, we will take appropriate steps to inform affected individuals or obtain that consent.