Your privacy at STAR

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how the Society of Turkic Teachers, Academics & Researchers (“STAR”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you visit our website, contact us, apply for membership or participate in our activities.

Last updated: 3 September 2026

1. Who we are

STARTURKIC CIC is a community interest company registered in England and Wales under company number 17429146. STARTURKIC CIC operates under the name STAR – Society of Turkic Teachers, Academics & Researchers.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, STARTURKIC CIC is the organisation responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

Address: 124 City Road, EC1V 2NX, London, United Kingdom
Email: info@starturkic.org
Website: www.starturkic.org

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with STAR, we may collect:

• Your name and contact details, including your email address and telephone number.
• Your city, country and postal address where provided.
• Your professional role, institution, academic interests and areas of expertise.
• Information included in a membership application, enquiry or message.
• Reference details supplied as part of a membership application.
• Records of our communications with you.
• Technical information such as your IP address, browser, device type and pages visited.

Please do not provide sensitive personal information unless it is specifically requested and necessary for your application or enquiry.

3. How we use your information

We may use personal information to:

• Receive, review and manage membership applications.
• Contact a referee where this is necessary to assess an application.
• Administer STAR membership and communicate with members.
• Respond to enquiries and requests.
• Organise events, research activities and professional collaborations.
• Maintain the security and operation of our website.
• Send newsletters or updates where you have chosen to receive them.
• Meet our legal and regulatory responsibilities.

4. Our lawful bases

We process personal information where:

• It is necessary for our legitimate interests in administering STAR, reviewing applications, supporting our community and protecting our website.
• You have given consent, including for optional newsletters or promotional communications.
• Processing is necessary to take steps at your request or provide an activity for which you have registered.
• We need to comply with a legal obligation.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us.

5. Information about referees

If you provide another person’s details as a referee, you should make them aware that their information has been given to STAR and that we may contact them in connection with your membership application.

6. Sharing your information

Personal information may be accessed by authorised STAR representatives who need it to perform their responsibilities. We may also use trusted service providers for website hosting, form processing, email delivery and technical support.

We may disclose information where required by law or to protect the rights, security and legitimate interests of STAR or other people. We do not sell personal information.

7. International transfers

STAR supports an international community. If personal information needs to be accessed or transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate lawful safeguard is in place.

8. How long we retain information

Unless a longer period is required by law, we normally retain:

• Unsuccessful or incomplete membership applications for up to 12 months.
• Member records while membership remains active and for up to 24 months afterwards.
• General enquiries and correspondence for up to 24 months.
• Technical and security records only for as long as reasonably necessary.

These periods should be reviewed if our legal, operational or regulatory requirements change.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure. However, no method of transmitting or storing information online can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

10. Cookies

Our website may use cookies that are necessary for its operation and security. If we use analytics, advertising or other non-essential cookies, we will provide appropriate information and request consent where required.

11. Your rights

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

• Request access to your personal information.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Request deletion of your information.
• Request restriction of processing.
• Object to certain types of processing.
• Request transfer of information where applicable.
• Withdraw consent at any time.

STAR does not currently use solely automated decision-making to determine membership applications.

12. Contact and complaints

To exercise your rights or ask a privacy-related question, email info@starturkic.org .

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint .

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our activities, services or legal responsibilities change. The latest version will always be published on this page with its revision date.