Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 August 2026

1. Personal information we collect

2. Where we get information from

Most information comes directly from you. We may also receive information from another SponsorNI user where they apply to you, message you, report content or enter a transaction with you; from Stripe in connection with payments and connected accounts; from your device/browser; and from public sources where reasonably necessary to verify an organisation or investigate misuse.

3. Why we use personal information and our lawful bases

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include operating and improving SponsorNI, preventing fraud, securing the service, moderating content, resolving disputes and understanding how the marketplace is used. We consider the impact on individuals before relying on this basis.

4. Stripe and payment processing

SponsorNI uses Stripe for Checkout, payment processing and Stripe Connect payouts. When you enter card, bank, identity or connected-account information directly into Stripe, Stripe processes that information under its own terms and privacy notice. SponsorNI receives the identifiers and status information needed to operate the transaction and payout flow.

For sponsor seekers, SponsorNI may instruct Stripe to create or link a connected account, provide onboarding/account-management access, retrieve account and requirement status, initiate transfers, and process payment-related reversals or refunds where appropriate. This activity is described further in our Terms & Conditions.

You can read Stripe’s Privacy Policy and the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.

5. What is public and what is private

Public Sponsor Seeker and Sponsor profiles, public opportunities, public images, social links and other information deliberately published to a public profile may be visible to anyone and may be indexed by search engines.

Private messages, contracts and deal files are not intended to be publicly accessible. They may be accessible to the authorised participants and to authorised SponsorNI administrators where reasonably necessary for support, security, moderation, payment protection, a payment issue, a dispute or investigation of suspected misuse such as moving an introduced sponsorship off-platform to avoid platform fees.

Completed partnerships may be shown as SponsorNI success stories using information already public on the relevant profile/opportunity. We will not treat a private message or private file as public merely because a deal has completed.

6. Who we share information with

We may share personal information with:

• Stripe for payments, Connect onboarding, transfers, refunds, disputes, fraud prevention and compliance;
• the other party to a sponsorship where information is necessary to apply, negotiate, contract, communicate or complete the deal;
• hosting, email, security, backup and technical service providers that help us run SponsorNI;
• analytics or communications providers where those services are enabled and their use is lawful;
• professional advisers, insurers, banks and auditors where reasonably necessary;
• regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts, tax authorities or other public authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We do not sell personal information.

7. International transfers

Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we use an applicable lawful mechanism, which may include UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses, or another mechanism permitted by law.

8. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, tax, accounting, fraud-prevention and dispute requirements.

• Account/profile information is normally kept while the account is active and for a reasonable period after closure where needed to deal with support, fraud, safety or legal issues.
• Marketplace transaction, payment and associated financial records may be retained for up to six years after the relevant financial period, or longer where required for a tax enquiry, dispute or legal claim.
• Deal messages, contracts and evidence may be retained for a period consistent with the transaction and any reasonably foreseeable dispute or legal claim.
• Security, report and moderation data is retained for as long as reasonably necessary to protect users, prevent repeat abuse and establish or defend legal claims.
• Information that is no longer required is deleted or anonymised where appropriate.

9. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights to request access to your personal information, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, or to object to certain processing. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing.

Some rights are subject to exemptions and do not require us to delete information that we must keep for a legal obligation, payment record, fraud-prevention purpose or legal claim.

To exercise a right, email info@sponsorni.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

10. Data-protection complaints

You can raise a data-protection complaint by emailing info@sponsorni.co.uk with the subject Data protection complaint, or through the SponsorNI contact form. We will acknowledge a data-protection complaint within 30 days and investigate and communicate the outcome without undue delay.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Details are available at ico.org.uk.

11. Children

SponsorNI accounts and financial transactions are for adults aged 18 or over. A child or young athlete/team member may be the subject of a sponsorship, but an authorised adult or organisation must manage the account. Users should not publish unnecessary sensitive information about children and must have an appropriate legal basis and authority for any personal information about a child that they upload.

12. Automated recommendations

SponsorNI may automatically rank or recommend opportunities using profile preferences, categories, areas, budgets or marketplace activity. These recommendations help discovery; they do not make a legal or similarly significant decision for you. Sponsors and sponsor seekers decide whether to apply, accept, reject or enter a sponsorship.

13. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal information, including access controls and secure payment processing through Stripe. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, so users should also use strong passwords and protect access to their own accounts and email.

14. Cookies and similar technologies

Our use of cookies and similar technologies is explained in the Cookie Policy. Where consent is required for a non-essential technology, we will seek that consent before using it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when SponsorNI features, service providers or legal requirements change. The current version will be published here with the date of the latest update.

16. Contact us

Core Connective Ventures Ltd trading as SponsorNI
Company number NI694467
Unit 951, Moat House Business Centre, 54 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, Antrim, BT5 5AD
Email: info@sponsorni.co.uk