Raising The Village (RTV) is an international development organization and a registered charity on a mission to end ultra-poverty in last-mile communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. To reach this goal, RTV operates at the intersection of community-driven development and advanced data analytics to remove barriers like food security, poor health, inadequate water and sanitation access, and gender equality challenges that hinder communities’ ability to generate diverse and sustainable incomes. 

During the course of our work, projects, activities, and communications, RTV collects data from partner communities through various digital platforms and applications. This privacy policy describes how RTV collects, uses and discloses personal information. RTV does not share or sell any personal identifiable information with any external party including funders, local and federal governments, or any unauthorized staff member. The aggregated analysis is shared to inform decisions and activities with relevant stakeholders.

Raising The Village is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals in our partner communities whose data and information is collected in the course of our work, and to conducting its affairs in accordance with applicable law, values, and local and international standards. The organization is dedicated to upholding the respect and dignity of our stakeholders through the respect of their privacy, including what personal data we collect, where we send it, and how it is used and stored.

The purpose of this privacy policy is to share our organization’s rules and guidelines for privacy and protection of personal data of partner communities collected through RTV’s cloud hosted web and mobile applications and surveys.

This policy is based on and adapted from RTV’s Cyber Security, Privacy, and Data Collection and Protection Policies in place.

• No data or information collection activity will take place without the voluntary informed consent of the participating communities, who reserve the right to withdraw consent at any stage. Our data collectors are fully trained at every stage of the collection process to duly inform the communities of their rights, the intended use of data, and its protection. 
• Data and information collected is only used for the purpose it was intended for, based on a transparent assessment. In case of a change in context for the use of data, our data collectors are required to re-obtain consent.
• Data collection activities do not involve minors and respondents will either be a household head or spouse. In cases where it is essential, our collectors will obtain voluntary consent from parents or guardians based on the context and cultural expectations of the communities. 
• All data collection will be in accordance with the country’s data and privacy laws and regulations and suited to the local cultural context.
• All data will be collected using reviewed and approved RTV standard data collection tools at every point of service or engagement with partner communities.
• RTV will never put community or staff safety at risk as a result of its data activities.
• RTV has identified key data points essential for program monitoring and informing program decisions and does not collect any information not essential or justifiable.
•  RTV takes all responsible measures to ensure that our data activities have no adverse consequence for our communities including but not limited to physical, psychological, or political consequences.
• User permissions and rights are established within the organization with dedicated staff authorized to have access to personal data. 
• All data collectors and trained community members utilize RTV devices and platforms for data collection and input to ensure data security and enter into confidentiality agreements with RTV for protecting data privacy. 
• RTV makes the best efforts to segregate personal identifiable information from the rest of the data to ensure privacy. 

What information is collected?

Raising the Village collects the following personal information from its partner communities through various applications:

• Location at parish, village, household and individual levels. 
• Contact details and demographic profile of program participants and their household members
• Social and economic indicators including program-specific output, outcome, and behavioural indicators
• Leadership and operations of group activities
• Attendance in training activities
• Loan payment reports from VSLA leaders/Champions (community leaders)
• Images and videos to support and validate information and communicate impact through various channels

RTV applications and our third party providers use cookies, log files, pixel tags, local storage objects, and other similar technologies to automatically collect information about the activities, such as searches, page views, date and time of visit and form submissions, and other information about the use of the platforms.

How is information collected?

Community participants, RTV staff, and trained data collectors in charge of collecting use forms through RTV’s in-house developed and/or third party survey tools on the applications to collect data through RTV mobile devices or laptops/computers. Additionally, this data may be imported to third party tools for processing and analysis. 

Why is information collected?

Quality and timely data are not only important for the measurement of our impact and evaluation of the quality of programs, but also vital for enabling Raising The Village and communities to make informed and empowered decisions about eradicating ultra-poverty in accountable and sustainable ways. RTV ensures that the data and information collected is only used for the purpose it was intended for. In order to prioritize community safety, RTV will never put stakeholders at risk as a result of its data activities. This includes privacy and data protection protocols that are re-assessed and updated to ensure that they remain current and relevant. 

Some of the key uses of the information collected include: 

• To provide demographic information on household and group compositions 
• To evaluate the benefits of program interventions on the community throughout the course of the project. In some cases, data collection continues for up to 60 months after the completion of the project to understand the sustainability of impact. 
• Project follow up and progress tracking through the course of a project.
• To inform stakeholders of overall project performance. 

Who is this information shared with?

• The information is shared with RTV partner communities and stakeholders in order to inform them about the project performance. No personal identifiable information is shared with any external party including funders, local and federal governments, or any unauthorized staff member. The aggregated analysis is shared to inform decisions and activities. 
• Information is imported to third party tools for processing and analysis.
• Impact data (aggregate and anonymized) is published annually through RTV’s various communication channels. 

RTV maintains appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect the information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction, and alteration in accordance with its Cyber Security and Data Protection Policies in place.

RTV’s web and mobile based application implements the following systems security plan aligning with data security processes within the organization, this includes:

• Authentication: to ensure only authorized users have access to the system
• Authorization: to compare the users’ identity to the list of authorized users and begin verification
• Encryption: to ensure that traffic containing sensitive data flows between the end-user and the cloud in cloud-based applications is secure
• Logging: to assist in preventative and corrective security access processes 
• Security Testing: to ensure the effectiveness of security controls

• Data is collected using standard data collection tools at every point. All data collected is kept together in respective repositories and sorted in order to ease access of information.

• All authorized staff members involved in storing, accessing, or analyzing data adhere to strict data security measures. 

• RTV takes all responsible measures to store high-risk data securely by working with several third-party applications to capture, process, analyze, and present data within and outside the organization. All desktops and cloud software RTV uses are acquired through legal means and follow the respective license agreements, which not only keep our operations in compliance with license agreements, but also provides the best protection from IT security threats. The objective of acknowledging and understanding RTV software partners security protocols is to enable a safe working environment that guarantees data protection for all users
• All digital data that is composed, transmitted and/or received by RTV computer systems is considered to belong to RTV. It is therefore subject to disclosure for legal reasons or to other appropriate third parties.

Within RTV’s cloud hosted web and mobile applications and our third party providers cookies, log files, pixel ads, local storage objects, and other similar tracking technologies are utilized to collect information.

We use cookies to track users’ activity on the applications to ensure the functionality of the interface and content. Based on users’ behavior on our platforms, such as their searches, page views, date and time of visit and form submissions, and other information, RTV is able to learn more about the use of the platforms by authorized staff, contractors, and community partners.

• RTV only retains data for a period of time that is necessary and for specified purposes. Data is archived when the project phase ends and kept for future reference or until data no longer serves its purpose it should be deleted.
• Data retained that includes personal information is discarded at an appropriate time, when we no longer require the information. Examples of this include: incorrect personal information or if an individual withdrawals consent of their data. 
• Prior to deleting any data collected in regards to the application, RTV’s Planning, Evaluation, and Learning team is consulted and notified of the reasoning. 
• By enabling data retention periods at RTV, the organization is mitigating potential security breaches or associated risks. 

RTV is committed to collecting, processing, and storing data in accordance with its responsibilities under all current and applicable local and international legislative compliance acts and industry governance compliance programs and best practices. 

RTV has detailed policies and protocols in place including 1) Data Privacy and Protection Policy 2) Data and Cyber Security Policy and Protocols ; and 3) Data Collection and Management Protocols. These policies guide the collection, processing, and storage of all personal and confidential data in manual and electronic records kept by Raising The Village and are reviewed and updated regularly. 

For more information about those policies, please reach out to [email protected].

Raising the Village (RTV) retains the right to update the terms and conditions of its Privacy policies from time to time. Users are asked to read the policy carefully when accessing any of RTV’s applications. In addition, users will be bound to new terms and conditions even if this policy is not re-visited and read by the user. All changes to this policy will be posted on the website, with the current version superseding and replacing all previous versions of the policy.

RTV’s detailed Data Privacy and Protection Policy was last updated on July 1, 2022 and this abridged version was published on the website on November 4, 2022.