Privacy Policy for The Searchlights Project

We believe transparency is as fundamental to building trust as the candid conversations we have with Africa’s boldest founders, so here is exactly how our team handles your data. This policy applies to all interactions with The Searchlights Project website and our interview series featuring African entrepreneurs.

Information We Collect

We gather only what is necessary to bring you closer to the stories of Africa’s most innovative founders. When you engage with our venture capital interview content or subscribe to stay updated on the African startup ecosystem, we collect specific personal data to facilitate that connection.

Voluntary submissions via newsletter sign-ups

When you subscribe to receive our latest interviews with African entrepreneurs, we collect your name and email address. This information is provided entirely at your discretion and is used solely to deliver our newsletter to your inbox. We do not purchase email lists or harvest data from third parties, and every email we send includes a clear unsubscribe link.

Correspondence and interview pitch data

If you submit questions for featured founders, pitch an entrepreneur for our interview series, or contact our editorial team directly, we collect your name, email address, and any additional information you choose to share in your message. We retain this correspondence to respond to your inquiry and to improve our editorial process.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Like most modern blogs, The Searchlights Project uses cookies to ensure smooth browsing and to understand how our readership engages with our venture capital interview pieces. These small text files help us deliver a better experience to our United Kingdom audience and beyond.

Strictly necessary cookies for site performance

Our website deploys essential cookies that enable core functionality such as page navigation, secure areas, and form submissions. Without these cookies, the site simply would not work as expected, and they do not gather any information about you that could be used for marketing or tracking purposes.

Analytics and preference cookies

We use preference cookies to remember your choices, such as language settings or whether you have acknowledged our cookie notice. Additionally, our analytics cookies help us measure how visitors interact with our content about the African startup ecosystem, allowing us to refine topics and improve readability for our UK-based audience.

Analytics and Performance Monitoring

Understanding which interviews resonate most with our readers helps us shape future conversations with Africa’s boldest founders. We rely on Google Analytics to provide anonymised insights into visitor behaviour across our blog.

Anonymised IP address collection

Our Google Analytics implementation uses IP anonymisation, meaning your full IP address is never stored or processed. Google truncates the address before any analysis occurs, ensuring that the data we review cannot be traced back to an individual user. This approach aligns with our commitment to respecting reader privacy while still gathering useful aggregate metrics.

Monitoring popular interview topics

We review anonymised data on which venture capital interview pieces attract the most readership, how long visitors spend with specific founder stories, and which regions show the strongest interest in our content. This helps our team commission interviews that genuinely serve the curiosity of our community.

Third-Party Services and Embedded Content

Our articles occasionally feature embedded media that enriches the storytelling experience. These elements operate under their own privacy frameworks and may collect data independently of The Searchlights Project.

Embedded podcast and video players

When we include podcast episodes via Spotify or video interviews hosted on YouTube, these platforms may set their own cookies, track engagement, or collect viewing data according to their respective privacy policies. Clicking play on an embedded Spotify player or YouTube video triggers the same data collection that would occur if you visited those platforms directly. We encourage you to review Spotify’s privacy policy and YouTube’s privacy policy for full details on how they handle your information.

Social media sharing plugins

Our interview pages include social sharing buttons that allow you to share stories about African entrepreneurs with your network. These plugins may collect your IP address, browser information, and sharing activity. Data handling is governed by the privacy policies of each respective social media platform.

Your Rights Under UK GDPR

As a UK-based blog governed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018, we fully recognise and uphold your data protection rights. Our team is committed to responding to any request you make regarding your personal information.

Right to access and data portability

You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. Upon receiving your request, our team will provide a structured, machine-readable export of your information within one month. This includes any newsletter subscription details or correspondence history linked to your email address.

Right to rectification and erasure

If the information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it without undue delay. You also have the right to request that we erase your personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing. Our team will comply unless legal obligations require us to retain certain records.

How to withdraw consent

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, such as sending our newsletter, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can also contact us directly to request removal from our mailing list.

Data Retention and Security

We hold personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy. Our team implements appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard your information against unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure.

Retention periods for mailing lists

Newsletter subscriber data is retained until you choose to unsubscribe. Once you opt out, your details are promptly removed from our active mailing list. Correspondence data related to interview pitches or reader questions is kept for a reasonable period to allow follow-up and editorial reference, after which it is securely deleted.

Security protocols and breach procedures

We employ standard security measures including encrypted data transmission, secure server infrastructure, and restricted internal access to personal data. While no online transmission is ever 100% secure, our team continuously reviews and updates our protocols. In the unlikely event of a data breach, we will notify affected individuals and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contacting Our Team

Our editorial team operates remotely but adheres strictly to the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR requirements. We welcome your questions, data requests, and feedback regarding this privacy policy.

How to submit a data request

To exercise any of your data protection rights, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Privacy Request.” Include a brief description of your request and the email address associated with your subscription or correspondence. Our team will acknowledge your message within 48 hours and aim to resolve your request within the statutory timeframe.

Lodging a complaint with the ICO

If you believe our handling of your personal data violates UK data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you escalate the matter. The ICO can be contacted through their official website for guidance on submitting complaints.

We treat your privacy with the same integrity and respect we give to the African entrepreneurs who trust us to share their venture journeys. Every interview we publish, every newsletter we send, and every interaction we have with our readers is grounded in the belief that trust is earned through consistent, transparent action. Thank you for being part of The Searchlights Project community.