Last updated: 12 August 2026

The Heads of Educational Development Group (“HEDG”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share personal information when you use our website, contact us, or interact with our members’ area. Under UK data protection law, the organisation that decides how and why personal data is used is the data controller.

1. Who we are

Heads of Educational Development Group (HEDG)
Woburn House
20–24 Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9HF
United Kingdom

Email: info@hedg.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7380 6769

HEDG is a registered charity, number 1181610.

2. The personal data we collect

We may collect and process personal data that you provide directly to us, including when you contact us by email, phone, or through the website contact form. This may include your name, contact number, email address, the nature of your enquiry, and the content of your message.

If you have an account for the HEDG website or members’ area, we may collect information needed to create and manage that account. This may include your username, email address, first name, last name, password and related account administration information.

Members may also provide information for their member profile, such as their institution, job title, profile photograph, biographical information and other professional information made available through the members’ area.

We may also collect technical information when you use the website, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, and cookie or similar technology data where this is necessary for website operation, security and performance.

3. HEDG members’ area and BuddyPress

HEDG uses BuddyPress within WordPress to provide member profiles and the HEDG members’ directory.

Information that you add to your BuddyPress profile may be displayed to other users of the HEDG members’ area. Members should therefore only add professional or personal information that they are comfortable sharing with other HEDG members.

BuddyPress profile information may include your name, institution, job title, profile photograph, biographical information and other profile information that you choose to provide or that is added as part of administering your HEDG membership.

Members can manage and update their own account and profile information through their account settings. Members are also able to delete their own website account through the account settings provided within the members’ area.

If you delete your account, profile information associated with that website account will be removed where appropriate. HEDG may retain limited information separately where this is necessary to meet legal, financial, governance, security or legitimate record-keeping requirements.

HEDG does not currently enable BuddyPress private/direct messaging or friend requests. The members’ area is therefore not used to facilitate private messages or friend connections between members.

4. How we use your personal data

We may use your personal data to:

• respond to enquiries and provide information about HEDG;
• create, administer and maintain website accounts;
• provide access to the HEDG members’ area;
• operate the HEDG member directory and member profiles;
• allow members to manage their own profile and account;
• manage relationships with members, prospective members, partners and contacts;
• send important service or administrative communications;
• maintain the security and operation of the website;
• prevent misuse, unauthorised access or fraudulent activity; and
• keep records and comply with legal, regulatory, accounting or governance obligations.

5. Lawful bases for processing

Depending on the reason we are using your information, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

• Legitimate interests – for the ordinary administration of HEDG, responding to enquiries, operating and securing the website, maintaining the members’ directory and managing member access, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
• Contract – where processing is necessary to take steps at your request or to provide membership-related services or website account access.
• Consent – where you have given clear permission, for example in relation to optional communications or non-essential cookies.
• Legal obligation – where we need to keep, use or disclose information to comply with legal, charity, taxation, regulatory or other statutory requirements.

6. Who we share personal data with

We may share personal data only where necessary and proportionate with:

• authorised HEDG officers, committee members, staff or volunteers who need the information for administration;
• website hosting, IT support, email, security, website plugin, form and similar service providers acting on our instructions;
• professional advisers such as legal, accounting or audit providers; and
• regulators, law enforcement agencies, courts or other authorities where disclosure is required by law.

We do not sell personal data.

Where third parties process personal data on our behalf, we take appropriate steps to ensure that personal information is handled securely and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

7. International transfers

Some service providers may process personal data outside the United Kingdom. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is protected in accordance with UK data protection law, including through applicable adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards where required.

8. External websites and third-party services

The HEDG website may contain links to external websites and third-party services, including platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter/X and Eventbrite.

If you follow a link to an external website or service, that organisation’s own privacy policy and terms will apply. HEDG is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites.

9. Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember preferences, maintain website security and understand how the site is used.

Some cookies are necessary for the operation of the website, including functionality associated with user accounts and logged-in sessions. Where cookies or similar technologies are not strictly necessary, they will only be used where the appropriate consent has been obtained.

Please see our Cookie Policy and cookie settings for further information about the cookies used on the HEDG website.

10. How long we keep personal data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, regulatory, security and record-keeping requirements.

Our general retention approach is:

• Contact enquiries: normally retained for up to 12 months after the enquiry has been resolved, unless there is a reason to retain the correspondence for longer.
• Members’ area account and BuddyPress profile data: retained while the account remains active. Members may delete their own account. Limited associated records may be retained after account closure where required for legal, governance, security or administrative purposes.
• Governance, financial and audit records: retained for the period required by applicable legal, regulatory and accounting requirements.
• Technical and security logs: retained for as long as reasonably necessary for website security, troubleshooting and system administration.
• Cookie information: retained in accordance with the durations described in our Cookie Policy and cookie settings.

11. How we protect personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

Access to administrative areas of the website and personal data is restricted to authorised individuals and service providers who require access for legitimate administrative or technical purposes.

12. Your account and profile choices

If you have a HEDG members’ area account, you can manage and update your profile information through your account settings.

You can also delete your own account using the account deletion option available within the members’ area. If you experience difficulty accessing, editing or deleting your account, please contact info@hedg.ac.uk.

Deleting your website account does not necessarily require HEDG to delete information that we are required or permitted to retain separately for legal, governance, financial, security or record-keeping purposes.

13. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which your information is being processed, you may have the right to:

• be informed about how your personal data is used;
• request access to the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances;
• ask us to restrict how we use your personal data in certain circumstances;
• object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;
• request portability of your personal data where applicable; and
• withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis for processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@hedg.ac.uk. We will respond in accordance with applicable data protection law.

14. Complaints

If you have concerns about how HEDG handles your personal data, please contact us first at info@hedg.ac.uk and we will try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, members’ area, services, organisational practices or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on this page with an updated revision date.