Privacy Policy

This website — indiascolonialstory.org — is a public-awareness campaign microsite initiated by the Museum of British Colonialism (MBC). This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we store and share it, and the rights you have over your information.

We take a minimalist approach. We only collect what we actually need, we never sell your data, and we do not run advertising or re-marketing on this website.

1. Who we are

This website is owned and managed by the Museum of British Colonialism (MBC), a volunteer-led UK–Kenya initiative that documents British colonialism and its legacies.

For any question about this Privacy Policy or your personal information, write to petition@indiascolonialstory.org.

2. What information we collect

a. When you support the petition

• Full name — shown nowhere publicly in a way that identifies you individually; used only to count your support.
• Email address — used only to prevent duplicate signatures and to let you withdraw your support if you ask us to.
• Consent flag + timestamp — the fact that you ticked the “I support this petition” box, and the date/time you did so.

b. When you use the Contact form

• Name, email, phone, organisation (optional), who you are, what you are interested in, and your message.
• These details are stored so we can respond to you and, where appropriate, follow up on your request.

c. Technical information

• Basic server logs — IP address, browser, referrer, pages visited — are collected by the hosting infrastructure for security and reliability. These are retained for a short rolling window and are not used to build a profile of you.

We do not collect special-category personal data (political opinions, religion, health, etc.) beyond the inherent act of your public support for this petition.

3. Why we collect this information

• Petition: to count public support and to represent that support — in aggregate — to the Government of India, the public, and the press.
• Contact form: to reply to you and act on your request.
• Server logs: to keep the site running, secure, and available.

4. Where your information is stored and who sees it

Your data is stored in a secure managed database. It is accessible only to a small number of volunteers and staff who are directly involved in running the campaign and this website, under confidentiality obligations.

Contact-form submissions are also emailed to the campaign inbox via the website’s email service, which processes the email only to deliver it.

Petition supporter data is not shared with any political party, advertiser, data broker, or marketing service. We will never sell, rent, or trade your information.

5. Public use of petition data

When we represent the petition publicly — in letters to the Government, press releases, media coverage, speeches at events — we only ever share aggregate figures (total number of supporters) and never your individual name or email. If, in the future, we wish to publish a visible supporters’ wall or similar feature, we will first ask for your explicit, separate consent and give you a way to decline.

6. Cookies and tracking

This website uses only essential, functional cookies required for the site to work. Signing the petition does not store anything on your device. If Google Analytics is switched on for this site, it sets its own cookies to count visits.

We do not use advertising cookies, cross-site tracking, or third-party analytics that build a profile of you.

7. How long we keep your information

• Petition supporter records: for as long as the petition and its reporting remain active, and for a reasonable period after, as a record of the campaign.
• Contact form submissions: for the time needed to respond to you and to document the enquiry, typically up to 24 months.
• Server logs: short, rolling retention by the hosting provider.

You can ask us to delete your personal data at any time, in line with the rights listed below.

8. Your rights

Regardless of where you live, we will honour the following rights:

• Withdraw your support — ask us to remove your name from the petition count at any time.
• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to correct any inaccurate data.
• Erasure — ask us to delete your personal data (subject to any legal obligations to retain certain records).
• Objection — object to any processing you consider unnecessary.

To exercise any of these rights, write to petition@indiascolonialstory.org from the email address you used, or describe your request in enough detail for us to identify your record. We aim to respond within 30 days.

9. Children

This site is not directed at children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect data in transit (HTTPS) and at rest (access-controlled database). No system is 100% secure, but we treat your information as if it were our own and do not retain anything we don’t need.

11. Third-party links

This site may link to third-party pages — press articles, YouTube videos, partner websites. We do not control how those third parties handle your information, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to their services. Please review their own policies.

12. Changes to this policy

If we materially change this Privacy Policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify supporters by email.

13. Contact us

Questions, concerns, or data requests? Please write to petition@indiascolonialstory.org or use our Contact form.