Privacy policy, cookies and your data

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading research charity dedicated to making life-changing breakthroughs in dementia research.

Our registered charity numbers are 1077089 in England and Wales, and SC042474 in Scotland. Alzheimer’s Research Trading Limited (registered company number 03880026) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alzheimer’s Research UK which trades on our behalf. When we use the word ‘we’ or ‘us’ in this policy, it means both the charity and its subsidiary.

We strive for the highest possible standards in our fundraising, are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and are committed to complying with its Fundraising Promise.

ARUK is the data controller of any personal data that we collect about you. We are committed to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal data safe. If you have any questions about this policy, or about our use of your personal data, please email the enquiries team as stated above.

As part of our commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), we may also ask for optional information about your ethnicity where you choose to provide this. This information is collected only with your explicit consent (under Article 9(2)(a) UK GDPR) and is used to help us understand who we reach, identify gaps in representation, and ensure our programmes are inclusive and reflective of the communities we aim to serve. Participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw your consent at any time. If you withdraw your consent, we will stop processing this data and delete it unless we are required to retain it for legal reasons. Where possible, we analyse this data in aggregated or anonymised form so individuals are not identifiable.

This information is not used to make decisions about you individually or to target you for fundraising or marketing. Providing this information is entirely optional and will not affect your ability to engage with ARUK or receive our services.

Information we obtain about you directly

This covers information that you have chosen to tell us directly yourself. When you contact us to donate, request information or support us in any other way, we may process the following types of personal information about you:

• Contact Data: Name, contact details (e.g. address, landline and mobile number, email address).

Interactions Data: Information about your interactions with Alzheimer’s Research UK. This could include your donation history; your responses to our communications; information you’ve shared with us about why you have supported us; events, meetings and fundraising activities you’ve taken part in or shown an interest in; volunteering you’ve done to help us; and gifts you’ve made in honour of others on our website. Please also be assured that we never store full payment card details under any circumstances.

• Identity Data: Your country of residence and date of birth.
• Preferences Data: Any preferences about your interests and how you like to be contacted.

• Health Data: We do not usually ask you for sensitive or ‘special category’ personal data such as details of any disabilities that you have, your religion or belief and your sexual orientation unless there is a clear reason for us to do so. However, we may need to ask for sensitive information about your health, for example, if you are participating in an event. You may also wish to share information about your health if you decide to speak out about your experience of dementia. If you do, we will always treat it sensitively and ask you on every occasion if you are still willing to share it further in the form of case studies or media interviews.

Dementia Research Infoline: Any sensitive information shared through the Dementia Research Infoline will be treated confidentially as outlined in Section 9 of this Privacy Notice.

Diversity Monitoring Data (Special Category Data):

With your explicit consent, we may collect information relating to your ethnicity for the purpose of monitoring and improving our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) work. This information is collected voluntarily from individuals and is entirely optional, and you may withdraw your consent at any time.

If you choose to provide this information, it may be collected by telephone using a standardised script that ensures your consent is informed and recorded. The data will be stored securely in a restricted‑access area of our Salesforce system, accessible only to authorised staff.

Information you give to us indirectly

This covers information that you do not share with us directly but that is shared with us by other organisations with your permission. This might happen if you have used independent fundraising platforms or if you have set up an online tribute page in memory of a loved one.  This could include any of the types of personal data detailed above. We will only receive your information from these companies if you have given permission for them to share it with us.

We may also record and share information that you have shared with us publicly on social media (e.g. Facebook or X). This could include any of the types of personal data detailed above. We may on occasion use your email address to communicate with you via social media sites, where you have provided us with that address.

We may ask your permission to review third party data about you through social channels, for example, your X or Facebook feeds, to get to know you better and to provide more effective personalisation. Some of our services enable you to sign-in via a third-party service, such as Facebook. If you choose to sign-in via a third party app, you will be presented with a dialogue box which will ask your permission to allow Alzheimer's Research UK to access your personal information (e.g. your full name, date of birth, email address and any other information you have made publicly accessible). Please note that any information that is not required by the service you have opted to use will not be retained.

• Tracking Data: We may collect your internet protocol (IP) address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, device ID and other technology on the devices you use to access our website.

If you have provided consent for another organisation to share your personal information with us, but you no longer wish to hear from us, you can change your mind at any time. Just contact us using the information at the top of the page.

Information about you obtained from third parties 

This covers information that has been shared with us about you by someone else, for example from a friend who wants to send you a gift or donate in your name. This could include any of the types of personal data detailed above.

• Donor Profile Data: We may also collect personal information about you from service providers, the press, search engines, social media (e.g. LinkedIn), and reputable public data sources (e.g. Companies House, BoardEx, the Charity Commission, Land Registry).  Personal data we may collect via these channels may include your job title, directorships, contact information, demographic data (including estimated income and property value), date and size of previous donations to other charities, details of philanthropic activities you engage in, etc. We may use this information to build a profile of you (i.e. your interests, preferences, demographics and level of potential donations) to enable us to tailor fundraising efforts and communications based on your circumstances and interests, and how likely you are to support Alzheimer’s Research UK’s work. This helps us understand our supporters better and helps us make appropriate requests for support or gifts to supporters who might be able and willing to give more than they already do and ensures that we are making the best use of our resources.

We may combine information we have obtained about you from these third-party sources with other information that we hold about you for this purpose and the purposes described in Section 3 below.

We will only use the personal data we collect where we have a lawful basis to do so which might be because you have provided consent; it is necessary for the entry into or performance of a contract; it is necessary to achieve our legitimate interests; we have a legal obligation to do so; or the use is in your or another's vital interests.

• Provide you with the information, service or product you have asked for - we may use your Contact Data, Interactions Data, Identity Data, Preferences Data and Donor Profile Data because it is in our legitimate interests to make sure we can provide you with the relevant information, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
• Administer any donation you have given us, support your fundraising and process Gift Aid - we may use your Contact Data, Interactions Data, Identity Data, Preferences Data and Donor Profile Data because it is in our legitimate interests to further our charitable aims, or to take steps to process your donation in accordance with our terms (fulfilling our contract with you).
• Build a detailed picture of your interests and preferences - so that we can tailor our services, communications and financial asks to suit you, and let you know about the latest research and how your support makes a difference, as well as ways you can get involved and help fund our life-changing work. We may use your Contact Data, Interactions Data, Identity Data, Preferences Data and Donor Profile Data because it is in our legitimate interests to further our charitable aims by seeking to ensure our communications are relevant and effective. With your consent, we may use your Health Data to send you relevant information. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the details above.
• Understand how you use and interact with our products and services (e.g. our website) - to enable us to make improvements, help diagnose problems with our website and server, administer our website, and update our website, we may use your Tracking Data because it is in our legitimate interests to improve our services and website functionality. For more information about our use of cookies, and when we rely on your consent for processing, please see our Cookie Policy below.
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements and protect against fraud - we may use your Contact Data, Interactions Data, Identity Data and Donor Profile Data to meet our legal obligations, or because it is in our legitimate interests to protect against fraud.
• In rare cases, such as where you are participating in an event and suffer a medical emergency - we may share your Health Data for the protection of your vital interests.

• To send you marketing and fundraising communications about Alzheimer’s Research UK, our research, and ways you can support our charitable purposes - we may use your Contact Data, Interactions Data, Identity Data, Preferences Data, Donor Profile Data and Health Data.

We will only send you marketing communications where we are permitted to do so under data protection and electronic communications laws. Depending on how and when we collected your contact details, this may be because:

• you have given us your consent to receive marketing communications; or

• we rely on our legitimate interests to further our charitable purposes, where you have expressed an interest in, engaged with, or supported our work, and you were given a clear opportunity to opt out.

This approach is consistent with the recent changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, which allow us to contact you with marketing where the requirements above are met.

We will always ask for your consent before using your Health Data in connection with marketing communications.

Where we rely on legitimate interests for marketing, we ensure that our communications are proportionate, relevant to our charitable aims, and within your reasonable expectations. You will always be provided with a simple way to opt out of receiving marketing communications at the point your details are collected and in every marketing message we send.

You can change your marketing preferences at any time using the contact details at the top of this notice or by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring — Special Category Data (Explicit Consent):

Where you choose to provide it, we may use information relating to your ethnicity to help us understand who we reach through our programmes, identify gaps in representation, and ensure our activities are inclusive and reflective of the communities we aim to serve. We rely on your explicit consent to process this information for EDI monitoring purposes, and you may withdraw your consent at any time.

This processing is voluntary and does not affect your ability to engage with ARUK. Any ethnicity data provided will be collected using a standardised script (where collected by telephone), stored securely in a restricted‑access Salesforce environment, and used only for the purposes outlined here.

We do not swap, sell, or rent your personal data to anyone.

As part of our day-to-day work, we may engage service providers who operate on our behalf. In these circumstances, they will only have access to the personal data they need to fulfil that service and will only use that information for the purposes for which they have been instructed by us. Examples of service providers include a printer who is personalising the communications we send to you or a payment provider who processes donations for us.

If we are asked to share your personal data with other organisations that aren’t our service providers, we will only do so if:  we have your consent; we have a legal obligation to do so; it is in our legitimate interests, such as to enforce any agreements we have with you, to investigate any complaints, because we need to protect the rights, property and safety of Alzheimer’s Research UK and its supporters, or we merge or link with another charity.

Ethnicity data collected for our diversity‑monitoring work is not shared with any external organisations. This information is accessed only by authorised Alzheimer’s Research UK staff with a legitimate need and is stored in a restricted‑access Salesforce environment.

Your personal data will be stored in the UK. However, there may be rare occasions when your information is transferred outside the UK to areas with less strict data protection laws compared with those in the UK. Examples include (but are not limited to) where we:

• use international suppliers (including cloud hosting, storage, or software providers);
• work with overseas collaborators (including universities or research institutions);
• take part in international research data sharing;
• engage with fundraising partners, volunteers, or event organisers outside the UK;
• carry out marketing and communications activities;
• run events or conferences;
• rely on outsourced IT support and maintenance; or
• work with our professional advisers.

If this does happen, we take legally required steps to make sure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data and privacy rights. If you would like to understand more about these safeguards, please contact us using the details at the top of the page.

Any ethnicity data you choose to provide for diversity monitoring is stored securely in a restricted‑access area of our Salesforce system, accessible only to authorised Alzheimer’s Research UK staff with a legitimate business need, and is not transferred outside the UK or shared with external organisations.

Without your support we simply would not exist and because of this we value every interaction we experience with you.  We believe it is important to remember our history together especially if you get back in touch with us or leave us a gift in your Will.

However, as with all relationships, we know that things can change, and we understand that you may choose to have a break from supporting Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Therefore, if we do not hear from you at all after three years, we will stop marketing to you and will treat your data in accordance with our data retention policy which may mean deleting or archiving it.

Any ethnicity data you choose to provide for our diversity‑monitoring work is reviewed annually to determine whether it is still required for our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) purposes. If the data is no longer needed, or if you withdraw your explicit consent, it will be securely deleted from our systems.

We talk to you on your terms. To exercise any of these rights, or to change or update the information we hold about you, please contact our Supporter Care team using the details at the top of the page.

You may have the right to request access to, or deletion of, personal data we hold about you. You may also be able to restrict how we use your information, to object to processing, and to withdraw your consent to our processing. You may also in certain circumstances have the right to request we transfer your personal data to another provider (the right of data portability). Please contact us if you would like to exercise any of these rights and we will assess your request on a case-by-case basis in line with data protection law.

If you have a complaint about how we use your personal data, please contact us. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

This is the Cookie Policy for Alzheimer’s Research UK, accessible from https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org

What Are Cookies?
As is common practice with all professional websites this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored however this may downgrade or ‘break’ certain elements of this site’s functionality.

For more general information on cookies see the Wikipedia article on HTTP Cookies.

How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for a variety of reasons detailed below. Unfortunately, in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case, they are used to provide a service that you use.

Disabling Cookies
You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this and many other websites that you visit. Disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of this site. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.
You can learn how to manage cookies on your web browser by following the Browser Cookies Guide.

The Cookies We Set

• Email newsletters related cookies
  This site offers newsletter or email subscription services and cookies may be used to remember if you are already registered and whether to show certain notifications which might only be valid to subscribed/unsubscribed users.
• Orders processing and donation related cookies
  This site offers e-commerce or payment facilities, and some cookies are essential to ensure that your order or donation is remembered between pages so that we can process it properly.
• Forms related cookies
  When you submit data to us through a form such as those found on our event registration pages, contact pages or download forms, cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.
• Third Party Cookies
  In some exceptional cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.
  • This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solutions on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.

For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see the official Google Analytics page.

• • From time to time, we test new features and make subtle changes to the way that the site is delivered. When we are still testing new features, these cookies may be used to ensure that you receive a consistent experience whilst on the site whilst ensuring we understand which optimisations our users appreciate the most.
  • The Google AdSense service we use to serve advertising uses a DoubleClick cookie to serve more relevant ads across the web and limit the number of times that a given ad is shown to you.

For more information on Google AdSense and Analytics see the official Google Privacy & Terms site.We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. For these to work the following social media sites including; X, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram, will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.

Any information provided to the Dementia Research Infoline will be treated confidentially, in accordance with Data Protection Law and this Privacy Notice.

Every enquiry to the Infoline will be logged using an anonymous call logging system. This allows us to track the volume and nature of enquiries to help us make the service as effective as possible.

Personal data provided to the Dementia Research Infoline will only be used to help us deal with your enquiry. If you do not provide us with your consent to do this, we may not be able to answer your query. All data collected for this purpose is destroyed within a maximum of six months from collection.

Any information that is provided to Infoline staff during registration into Join Dementia Research is dealt with in accordance with the Privacy Notice outlined on the Join Dementia Research website.

We may ask you whether you would like to be kept up to date with our work and how you can financially support us and allow you to opt-in to a range of communications from Alzheimer’s Research UK. If you do, we will process your information as outlined in the sections above.

To achieve our bold ambitions, it is vital that we involve people affected by dementia in our work, to ensure we meet the needs of everyone affected by dementia. Our Lived Experience Involvement Group is made up of people with lived experience of dementia who help to shape projects and initiatives and grow the charity’s impact.

If you consent to join the Group, you will be asked to share information about your experience of dementia during onboarding. This information helps us involve you in projects of interest and relevance to your experience. Personal health information shared with us is treated sensitively and kept in accordance with our data retention policy.

When invited to take part in involvement activities, you can accept or decline on a case-by-case basis. Activities can include surveys, focus groups, interviews, reviewing materials and taking part in events. If you change your mind about being in the Group, you can pause or stop your role by contacting us at involve@alzheimersresearchuk.org

A Place to Remember provides a virtual space for you to remember a loved one. On the website we will therefore publicly display a Google image of the co-ordinates you provide, your message and the name of the loved one you have entered alongside a photograph if you have chosen to upload one. We rely on your consent to do this, which you can withdraw at any time by contacting us using the details at the top of this policy.

We will also keep a record of the co-ordinates you provide, the name of your loved one and your name, address, and a record of your gift if you have chosen to give one as part of our internal database. This information will be subject to our internal data procedures as outlined throughout this notice.

Download our statement that explains how Alzheimer’s Research UK Research Team handles personal data about our grant applications and the rights that applicants have under data protection law. In this Notice, we refer to this type of information as “Applicant Data.”

This statement applies to applications submitted via FlexiGrant. It also applies to applications submitted via other means, such as by post and email.

https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/GDPR-Research-Team-Nov-2018.pdf

Learn more about who we are, how you can contact us and how we process personal data in our Privacy Policy.