Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Cystitis & Overactive Bladder (COB) Foundation ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website cobfoundation.org.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

We may collect information you voluntarily provide when you:

• Fill out our contact form or feedback forms
• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Become a member or make a donation
• Participate in surveys or questionnaires

This information may include your name, email address, postal address, phone number, and any other information you choose to provide.

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain information including:

• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website
• IP address (anonymised)
• Device type and screen resolution

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your enquiries and provide support
• Send newsletters and updates (with your consent)
• Process memberships and donations
• Improve our website and services
• Analyse website usage patterns
• Display relevant advertisements
• Comply with legal obligations

Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to improve your browsing experience and help us understand how the site is used. We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for basic site functionality such as remembering your theme preference (light/dark mode) and cookie consent choice.
• Analytics cookies: Used by Google Analytics to collect anonymised data about how visitors use our site (see Google Analytics section below).
• Advertising cookies: Used by Google AdSense to serve relevant advertisements (see Google AdSense section below).

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies may affect your experience on our website. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to help us understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymised information such as the number of visitors, the pages they visit, and the time spent on each page.

We have enabled IP anonymisation, which means your IP address is truncated before being stored by Google. The data collected by Google Analytics is processed in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense, an advertising service provided by Google LLC, to display advertisements on our website. Google AdSense uses cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other websites on the internet.

Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your browsing patterns. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.

For more information about how Google uses data from sites that use its services, please visit How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

Form Submissions (Formspree)

Our contact and feedback forms are processed through Formspree, a third-party form handling service. When you submit a form on our website, the information you provide (such as your name, email address, and message) is transmitted to and stored by Formspree.

Formspree processes this data in accordance with their Privacy Policy. We use this data solely to respond to your enquiry or feedback. Form submissions are not used for marketing purposes unless you have separately opted in to receive communications from us.

Third-Party Services

Our website uses the following third-party services that may collect or process data:

• Google Analytics: Website usage analytics (see above)
• Google AdSense: Advertisement display (see above)
• Formspree: Form submission processing (see above)
• Google Fonts: Web font delivery — Google may log your IP address when fonts are loaded. See Google Fonts Privacy.
• Vercel: Website hosting and content delivery

Each of these services has their own privacy policy governing how they handle your data. We encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to third parties except:

• To the service providers listed above who assist in operating our website
• When required by law or to protect our rights
• With your explicit consent

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our website. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

Your Rights

Under applicable data protection legislation, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Rectify inaccurate personal data
• Request erasure of your personal data
• Restrict processing of your personal data
• Data portability
• Object to processing
• Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise these rights, please contact us at info@cobfoundation.org.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

COB Foundation
Kings Court, 17 School Road
Birmingham B28 8JG
Email: info@cobfoundation.org
Phone: 0121 702 0820