Privacy
Policy

Forge the Team Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”) is the data controller responsible for your personal data. We are registered in England and Wales and are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you have any questions about how we handle your personal data, or to exercise any of your rights, please contact our Data Protection contact at privacy@forgetheteam.com.

We collect the following categories of personal data when you use the Platform:

• Identity data — your name, username, and profile photo
• Contact data — your email address
• Profile data — your professional roles (founder, investor, etc.), interests, bio, and links you choose to share
• Content data — videos, comments, messages, and other content you post
• Usage data — how you interact with the Platform, including posts viewed, likes, follows, and session activity
• Technical data — your IP address, device type, operating system, and browser information

We do not collect payment or financial data. The Platform is free to use and we do not process any payment card or banking information.

We do not collect special category data (such as health, biometric, racial, or political data) and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under the age of 18.

We use your personal data to:

• Create and manage your account and profile
• Deliver the Platform and personalise your experience
• Enable you to connect and communicate with other members
• Send you service-related notifications (e.g. account verification, policy updates)
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, spam, and security incidents
• Monitor and improve Platform performance and user experience
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations

We do not use your data to serve third-party advertising. We do not sell your personal data to any third party.

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract — processing necessary to provide you with the Platform under our Terms & Conditions
• Legitimate Interests — for analytics, security, and improving the Platform, where our interests are not overridden by your rights
• Legal Obligation — where processing is required by law
• Consent — for optional communications (e.g. notifications), which you can withdraw at any time in your account settings

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it in the following limited circumstances:

• Other users — your public profile, role tags, and posted content are visible to other registered members as part of the Platform’s core functionality
• Service providers — third-party companies that help us operate the Platform (e.g. cloud hosting, email delivery, analytics), all of whom are bound by data processing agreements and may not use your data for their own purposes
• Legal authorities — where required to comply with a court order, legal process, or regulatory obligation, or to protect the safety of our users
• Business transfers — in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of the business, your data may transfer to the successor entity

We retain your personal data for as long as your account remains active or as needed to provide you with the Platform. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it by law (for example, to comply with tax or fraud prevention obligations) or where it is necessary to resolve a dispute.

Certain anonymised or aggregated data that cannot identify you may be retained indefinitely for analytics and service improvement purposes.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Erasure — ask us to delete your data (“right to be forgotten”)
• Restriction — ask us to limit how we process your data in certain circumstances
• Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@forgetheteam.com. We will respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — strictly necessary for the Platform to function (e.g. keeping you logged in)
• Analytics cookies — help us understand how users interact with the Platform so we can improve it (requires your consent)
• Preference cookies — remember your settings and personalisation choices

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser or device settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect your ability to use the Platform.

Some of our service providers are based outside the UK and European Economic Area (EEA). Where we transfer your data internationally, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR requirements, such as UK Adequacy Regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the ICO.

Forge the Team is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe that a child has provided us with their personal data, please contact us at privacy@forgetheteam.com and we will take immediate steps to delete it.

We take the security of your personal data seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for keeping your account password secure and for notifying us immediately if you believe your account has been compromised.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal obligations. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email or via an in-app notification at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The effective date at the top of this page will always show when the policy was last updated.