Privacy Policy

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

At Financing Sharia Enterprise, we are committed to protecting your personal information. When you use our services, we may ask for personal details to verify your identity and to provide you with the support you need.

To deliver these services, we must process and store your personal information. In some cases, we may need to share it with our partners for processing, both within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

By providing your information, you consent to this processing and to the transfer of data as described in this policy.

2. Data Protection

Financing Sharia Enterprise is registered and operates in compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR).

We use appropriate security measures to store and protect your personal information from unauthorized access. We also require our partners to adhere to the same security standards.

While we take every precaution, it’s important to remember that no online platform is completely secure. We are not responsible for unauthorized use, distribution, damage, or destruction of your personal data, except where required by the Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR).

All your personal details are handled with the utmost confidentiality.

Types of Data We Collect

• Information from your browser/computer: We use tools like Google Analytics to understand website traffic, such as page views and the types of devices used. This data is not linked to your personal identity and is used only to help us monitor website performance and trends.
• Information you send via email: If you contact us by email with a question or to report a problem, we will keep your personal information to address your inquiry. We will not share this data with any third parties.
• Online forms: On our online forms, we ask for details like your address, phone number, and email. This information is used solely to contact you and discuss how we can support you.
• Online loan form: When you apply for a loan, we collect information such as your address, email, and financial details to assess your eligibility and conduct a credit check. This data is used exclusively for processing your loan application and will be shared with the lender. All loan documents are stored securely on our server. For non-proceeding applications, all documentation, including credit check information, is destroyed after 3 months.

Data Security

• Data Encryption: Our website uses an SSL certificate, which creates an encrypted connection between your browser and our server. This ensures that any personal information you enter on our site is protected during transfer.
• Protection against cyber-attacks: We use a firewall on our web server to inspect incoming traffic and block malicious attacks. We also use third-party companies to conduct penetration testing to check for and resolve any vulnerabilities in our system.

3. Scope of This Policy

This policy applies to data you provide to us through the Internet, SMS, in person, or via email.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Deliver our services, including business advice and finance.
• Communicate with you and respond to your inquiries.
• Verify your identity.
• Assess your eligibility for our finance programs, including obtaining a credit reference.
• Provide you with personalized marketing and communications if you have opted in.
• Collect feedback to improve our services.
• Monitor website usage to enhance our services.
• Manage our interactions with you and fulfill our contractual obligations.
• Comply with legal obligations or public authority investigations.
• Test and upgrade our systems to improve service delivery.
• Use certain types of personal information, like gender and ethnicity, for contractual reporting and to monitor equal opportunities.

5. The Lawful Basis for Processing Your Information

We may collect, hold, and process your personal data based on a legitimate interest where it is necessary to run our business and provide our services. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Sending you information about your loan.
• Providing details of benefits available under your loan agreement.
• Protecting the safety and well-being of our customers and employees.
• Promoting and advertising our services.
• Handling customer queries and complaints.
• Preventing and investigating crime, fraud, or anti-social behavior.
• Fulfilling our duties to customers and stakeholders.

We will not share your personal details with any third party, including sponsors or advertisers, without your consent. To provide our services, we will need to share your data with our funders and service providers. We may provide anonymous, aggregate statistics to third parties, but this data will not contain any information that could identify you.

6. International Data Transfers

Please note that some countries outside the EEA may not have the same level of data protection. However, we always require our partners to follow the same strict security procedures that we use. By submitting your personal information, you consent to such transfers.

7. Use of Cookies

Our website uses cookies. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website. They help us identify you as a registered user and understand which parts of our website are most popular.

You are not required to accept cookies and can adjust your browser settings to prevent them from being stored.

8. Third-Party Links and Advertising

Our website may contain links to third-party sites over which we have no control. Advertisements on our site may also be posted by third parties who have their own privacy policies. When you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy. This policy only covers the use of cookies and personal data by Financing Sharia Enterprise.

9. Data Retention

Below is a table outlining how long we keep personal data collected for different purposes:

Type of Personal Data	Retention Period
E-newsletter Sign-up	Until the person unsubscribes.
Contact Us Form Enquiries	6 months from the date of the inquiry if support was not given.
Funded Applicants – Loans	Loan accounts are reviewed regularly and destroyed 6 years after the loan has been repaid.
Funded Applicants – ERDF Grants	Please refer to the ERDF Privacy Policy.
Funded Business Support	2 years after the end date of the relevant program you received support under.