Privacy policy - short version

At Oxfam, we rely on the generosity and support of private individuals like you to carry out our vital work to tackle poverty. That is why we want to be completely transparent about why we need the personal details we request when you support us and how we will use them.

When you give us your personal details – for example, when you make a donation, sign a petition, volunteer or campaign with us, sign up to receive email updates, to Gift Aid the donations you give to our shops, or register for an event – you may receive follow up information from us directly relevant to this activity, including how your support is helping.

If you have provided us with consent to use your details for marketing purposes, then we may also contact you about our projects, fundraising activities and appeals, and other ways to support us. We may also send you occasional marketing letters or make a marketing call where we think this is likely to be of interest, and if you purchase items from the Oxfam on-line shop we may send you emails about other relevant offers. We provide easy ways to stop our marketing, and you can opt out at any time.

You, our supporters, really are the life-blood of Oxfam. We always act on your instructions and we aim to put you in control of your relationship with us. Our aim is to communicate with you in a way that makes you want to stay involved with us for as long as possible, as you see the value and impact of your support.

Please be assured that you will not receive offers from other companies or organisations as a result of giving your details to us.

We may need to share limited information with our service providers who help us to prepare and send you our communications or process your donations and other responses. However, we do not allow these organisations to use your data for their own purposes and take care to ensure that they keep your data secure, and delete it when it is no longer needed.

If at any time you wish to stop or change how we communicate with you, or update the information we hold, please do get in touch, using one of the following options:

You can opt out of SMS communications by texting NOINFO to 70066. (This is charged at your standard text rate).

You can opt out of our emails by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our messages.

There are minimum levels of information we need to obtain for different purposes - such as donating money or signing up to Gift Aid. We always ask for your name and title so we know how to talk to you. We may need to confirm transactions you make on the Oxfam GB website by sending you an email, which is why this field is sometimes mandatory. We will separately seek your permission to use this for our wider marketing communications.

We may ask for your house number and postcode so that we hold a valid postal address for you. We might need this information for the following reasons:

  • To set up Direct Debits and one-off card payments
  • To claim Gift Aid
  • To deliver items to you (items you have purchased or event materials for example)
  • If you have agreed to receive post from us, or we believe you may wish to hear from us in this way, we will also use your postcode and address to send you relevant information.

In order to ensure that the data we hold about you is accurate and up to date, we may occasionally use information sources that are in the public domain to verify your details, such as your postal address.

We may use your email address and phone number to match to your account on Facebook or other social media sites in order to show you Oxfam content while you are using these services. We will only do this where you have opted in to our marketing emails or phone calls, and your personal data is kept secure at all times. We may also use your email address and phone number to link to Facebook or other social media sites in order to identify other users of these sites whom we believe would be interested in Oxfam, and we may then show them Oxfam content.

Information on how to stop this use of your data is given in our Privacy Policy.

You have a range of rights in respect of your data, including:

  • Access to the personal data we hold about you (a 'Subject Access Request').
  • Correction of your personal data if incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
  • To ask us to remove your personal data from our systems (the "Right to be Forgotten").
  • To stop direct marketing from us.
  • For us to no longer process your data automatically to decide whether particular marketing activities are likely to be of interest.

You can contact us to request to exercise these rights at any time, see How to stop or change how we communicate with you for details of how to get in touch.

When you leave Oxfam, Oxfam may process your data to respond to requests for employment references. In addition, OGB participates in the Inter-Agency Scheme for the Disclosure of Safeguarding-related Misconduct in Recruitment Process within the Humanitarian and Development Sector ('Scheme'). Where you apply for employment with another member of the Scheme, they will request a statement from Oxfam disclosing whether you have been found to have committed misconduct (in the form of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse or sexual harassment) while employed at Oxfam. Oxfam will respond to these requests in line with the rules of the Scheme.

More details about the Scheme are available on the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response website.

Find out more about Oxfam's assessment of the privacy impacts of participation in the Scheme.

Oxfam also uses cookies. Cookies are small text files on your device (computer, smart phone etc). They are made by your web browser when you visit a website. Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website's server. They improve your experience of using a website, for example, by remembering your preference settings and by measuring your use of a website to ensure that it meets your needs. Cookies can also be used to show you relevant Oxfam content on social media services such as Facebook - these are known as 'retargeting' or 'advertising' cookies. For information on the types of cookies we use, how we use them and how you can control your cookie preferences, see Oxfam's cookie policy.

Please read our Full Privacy Policy for full details on how we handle and protect your data.

Thank you for supporting Oxfam.

Updated: 19 August 2021