Privacy Policy

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Ember is a not-for-profit energy think tank set up in 2008. We are strongly committed to protecting personal data and are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with our obligations under data protection legislation. We comply with the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018 and related laws.

This Privacy Statement explains what information Ember collects about you and how it will be used.

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable living person. This Privacy Statement applies to personal data provided to us, both by individuals themselves or by others. Ember will respect any personal data you share with us, or that we get from other organisations and keep it safe. We may use personal data provided to us for any of the purposes described in this Privacy Statement or as otherwise stated at the point of collection.

If you have any queries regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at [email protected].

Where and how we collect your information

We collect information in the following ways:

2.1 Information you give us

Any information you provide to us through our website ember-energy.org or other communication channels. This includes:

• signing up to our mailing list
• sending us a message through the Contact form
• registering for an event (virtual or in-person)
• emailing us
• applying for a job
• contacting us on social media

2.2 Information that our website and other systems collect about you

2.2.1 Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors are using and engaging with our website and apps (we do not collect data on the specific usage of the dashboard). This allows us to make improvements to our web services and your online experience.

The Google Analytics tracking tool uses a number of cookies to collect information and report website usage statistics and does so without personally identifying individual visitors to Google or Ember. The information generated by the cookie about your use of Ember’s website will be transmitted and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

For more information about Google’s privacy policy in regards to Google Analytics, please see www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html

Ember will not merge personally-identifiable information with anonymous information gathered from these analytics systems unless there is prior notice and affirmative consent via opt-in from the user. When using any of these tracking tools Ember does not identify users or facilitate the merging of personally identifiable information with non-personally identifiable information collected.

If you wish to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking please visit and install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

2.2.2 Cookies

We use cookies to enhance your experience. Cookies mean that the Ember website will remember your IP address and username for twelve months.

When you are accessing our website, your device may provide us with information about your IP address, the type of device you’re using, what operating system you’re using and may report any details of a website crash. Your device manufacturer or operating system provider will be able to provide you with more details about the information your device makes available to websites.

2.2.3 Emails

If you exchange emails or other electronic communications with Ember employees these will be saved on our email platforms and may be logged on our secure database.

2.2.4 Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

What information do we collect and how do we use it?

3.1 Direct communication

We will contact you by email if you actively consented to this or if we believe there is a legitimate interest in contacting you. By consenting to Ember emails or opting in to email communications, you grant us permission to securely store your email and send you email communications. At any stage you may choose to opt out of such communications.

3.2 Third parties

Ember will not sell your data. We will not share your data for marketing purposes. However, in some circumstances we may need to share your details with a third party for processing.

Personal data held by us may be transferred to:

• third party organisations that provide applications, data processing or IT services
• third party organisations that otherwise provide goods, services or information

We may disclose information to service providers who host our website or other IT systems or otherwise process information on our behalf, and these may involve transferring information to countries outside of the EEA, but in such cases we will ensure that our arrangements are governed by agreements to ensure that your personal information is protected.

3.3 Enhancing your experience

We may use profiling and screening techniques to ensure that the communications we send you are relevant to you. This allows us to provide an improved experience for our contacts. When building a profile of our network we may analyse geographic and demographic information, to better understand your interests so we can contact you with relevant messages. An example of this would be looking at your location so we can share information about relevant events in your area. You can opt out of your data being used in this way by emailing [email protected].

3.4 Your choice

You always have a choice as to whether and how you want to receive communications about our work, products and services and ways you can get involved. If you do not want us to use your contact details to contact you in the future you can opt out of this when we collect your details or at a later time.

If you ever want to change your contact preferences, or opt out of communications, you can do this at any time by emailing [email protected].

Alternatively, you can opt out of our email marketing at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email from us; and if you choose not to be contacted by us we will never send you personalised marketing communications, but we will keep your details on a ‘suppression list’ to ensure you aren’t contacted.

3.5 Legal basis for processing your personal data

In some circumstances we will collect and process your personal information.

Ember will always ensure that we have a legal basis for collecting and using your personal information. The legal basis that we rely on will depend on the circumstances, but will fall into one of the following:

1) Where you have provided consent to allow us to use your data in a certain way;

2) Where is is necessary for us to process your data to comply with a legal obligation

3) Where it is in our legitimate interest to contact you in order to either raise funds or achieve our objectives. Where we rely on a legitimate interest to use your information, we will always ensure that this is done in a way so as not to be intrusive and respects your rights.

4) Where it is necessary for us to process your data in order to carry out the performance of a contract with you.

3.6 Retention

We will retain your information for no longer than 2 years after our most recent communication with you, after which it will be deleted or anonymised unless we have a legal obligation to retain it for a longer period.

3.7 Jobs, internships and volunteering application data

If you apply to work or volunteer or to be an intern at Ember, we will use the information you supply us with to process your application and to monitor recruitment statistics. We use an Applicant Tracking System called Workable to process all applications, which are held securely in accordance with our privacy policy for recruitment.

If you are unsuccessful in your application we will not keep your information for more than 12 months.

How do we keep your personal information secure?

We always ensure that we have the necessary controls in place to protect the personal data you provide us with. We carry out regular audits of who has access to data and to confirm it is being managed appropriately.

Your right to your personal information

Under the GDPR you have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. You also have the right to request that we rectify any inaccurate information, or erase any personal information we hold where we have no compelling reason to continue processing this data.

If you wish to request this information, please contact [email protected]. We will then send you a form you will need to complete and send back to us by email. We will also require you to provide two forms of identification. Once we have received your information request and your identification we will respond within one month.

Updates to this Privacy Statement

We may make changes to this Privacy Statement. If we do make significant changes to the way we collect and process your personal information we will make this clear on the Ember website, or by contacting you directly.

This Privacy Statement was last updated on 16th October 2024.

Raising queries or concerns

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about data protection at Ember, please contact us at [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us for any reason then you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office via ico.org.uk.