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Privacy policy

This website belongs to Nesta - you can find our full details below. Nesta comprises a group of companies which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The main Nesta entity – Nesta, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091 – is the controller of, and responsible for, most personal data collected by Nesta, including on this website.  

This privacy policy explains how Nesta uses personal information we collect via this site. We are committed to protecting your privacy and we take all reasonable precautions to safeguard personal information. This website contains links to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

1. What kind of information do we collect?

Feedback and surveys: We may also ask you for feedback or to complete surveys.

Online activity: When you use our website, we obtain information about the device from which you accessed it, your visits and use of the website including your IP address, location, browser type and version, referrer and activity. We record your activity and preferences when visiting the site through the use of cookies (see "Cookies", below). You can always update your preferences and control your own data.

2. What do we do with information we collect and what is our legal basis for this?

Your personal information will be used for the purposes listed in the table below. We will only use your personal data where we have a lawful basis for doing so.

However you choose to engage with or support Nesta, we may retain your information for our own legitimate business interests for statistical analysis purposes, in order to review, develop and improve our business activities. In this situation, we will limit any personal information to the minimum necessary to do so, and will always put in place appropriate technical and administrative safeguards, including, where possible, anonymising or minimising the personal information retained.

Purpose

Lawful basis

To do business with our clients, suppliers and partners (as well as prospective clients, suppliers and partners).

Legitimate interest in contacting our clients, prospective clients, partners and suppliers, and retaining records of our contacts. Compliance with a legal obligation. To perform our obligations in accordance with any contract that we may have with a client, partner or supplier.

To improve our work and activities.

Consent. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Legitimate interest in improving our work and activities.

To carry out analysis and research to improve our publications, events and activities.

Legitimate interest (improving our services).

To resolve queries and complaints.

Legitimate interest (resolving a query or complaint raised by or involving a data subject). Compliance with a legal obligation.

To monitor the website and keep it secure. For more information, see "Cookies" below.

Legitimate interest (monitoring and improving the performance of the site and its security, and to help us understand more about our customer's interests and preferences and to inform our marketing strategy).

Some cookies and a pseudo-anonymous statistics token may be used for remarketing purposes to customise our website to you and your preferences. For more information, see "Cookies" below.

Consent. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

To establish, defend or enforce legal claims or regulatory investigations.

Legitimate interest (protecting the commercial and legal interests of Nesta).

3. How long will we keep your information for?

General principle: We will only keep any personal information that you provide to us for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which you gave us the information. We will securely delete information when it is no longer needed for that purpose, as explained in more detail below.

Statistics token: This token is collected as part of the information we collect about your online activity (explained above). This data is fully anonymised after 1 day.

Consent: We keep records of consent, and any withdrawal of consent, on your device for a period of one year.

Processing for statistical analysis purposes: This type of processing will only be undertaken whilst we retain your personal information in line with the principles explained above.

4. Who else has access to your information?

We may share your information with our partners and companies who help us to operate this site. Some of these organisations may process your information in countries outside the UK, where data protection laws are not the same as in the UK. Rest assured that we will always ensure any transfer of your personal data for which we are responsible is subject to appropriate security measures to safeguard your personal data. Where transfers are necessary to countries where data protection has not yet been declared to be adequate, we rely on GDPR Article 49(1)(c) (as enacted into British law) for these transfers. Full details of these organisations, confirmation of where they would process your personal information, and details of the steps we have taken to safeguard your personal data will be provided as part of the online data collection process.

We may disclose your personal information to law enforcement or regulatory agencies if we are required to do so by law (in which case our legal basis for doing this is for compliance with a legal obligation), or to protect or defend ourselves or others against illegal or harmful activities (in which case, our legal basis for doing this is the pursuit of these legitimate interests).

5. Cookies

This site uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide some useful information to site owners. Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through browser settings.

This site uses a variety of types of cookies. Some are strictly necessary to enable you to move around the site or to provide certain basic features, such as logging into secure areas.

The site also uses performance cookies which collect information about how you use the site, such as how you are referred to it and how long you stay on certain pages. This information is aggregated and therefore anonymous and is used to improve the performance of the site. If you want, you can find out more and opt out of these cookies via our consent preferences page. Please note that some of the features of the site may not work if you choose to block cookies. 

6. Security

We take steps to protect your personal information and follow procedures designed to minimise unauthorised access or disclosure of your information. If you have a password for an account on this site, please keep this safe and do not share it with anyone else. You should also not allow anyone else to log in using your details. You are responsible for all activity on your account and must contact us immediately if you are aware of any unauthorised use of your password or other security breach.

In the event that whilst using our site(s) you become aware of any potential vulnerabilities, please let us know. Please see our vulnerability disclosure policy for guidance on how to report a vulnerability.

7. Contacting us, exercising your rights and complaints

If you wish to know what information we hold about you, or wish to exercise any of your other rights as detailed above, then please email us using DPO@nesta.org.uk or write to us at 58 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DS UK and provide enough information to identify yourself (e.g. name and address or any registration details)..

If our information is incorrect or out of date, please provide us with enough information to allow us to update it. If you want us to delete, restrict or stop using any information we hold about you, please specifically confirm the reasons why you are asking this.

If you have a complaint about this policy, how we are using your personal information or how we handle your request to exercise your rights, please see our Complaints Policy which explains how you can make a complaint and how your complaint will be managed by us.

If you are unhappy with how any data rights request or complaint has been dealt with you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner:

  • on the ICO website;

  • by mail at Wycliff House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF; or

  • by calling the helpline on 0303 123 1113.

This contact information for the Information Commissioner's Office is correct as at the time this privacy policy is published.

We would be grateful, however, if you could first provide us with the opportunity to investigate and respond to your complaint directly in line with the process set out in our Complaints Policy.

8. Changes to the privacy policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes that relate to information we already hold about you, where practicable. You should check this policy occasionally to ensure you are aware of the most recent version that will apply each time you access this website.

Nesta, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091.

Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833.

Registered office: 58 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DS

Email: information@nesta.org.uk

Dated: November 2026