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FBU
Privacy Policy

Effective date: 23/06/2025
This Privacy Policy explains how Finance and Business Union (“FBU”, “we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, and protects personal data across our website, membership, events, the FBU Investment Banking Academy (“the Academy”), and our recruitment placement service for firms. It applies to students and members, Academy applicants, event attendees, job-seeking candidates, corporate contacts, and anyone who visits our website.
We are committed to handling your data fairly and transparently, in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

1. Who we are

FBU is the data controller responsible for your personal data.
  • Organisation: London Finance and Business Union CIC
  • Registered address: 25 Cirrus Drive, Reading, RG2 9FL
  • Contact: aadi@thefbu.co.uk
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, contact us using the details above.

2. Information we collect

The data we collect depends on how you interact with FBU:
  • Members and applicants full name, email, phone number, university, course, year of study, and your answers on any sign-up or application form.
  • Academy applicants and participants application content (personal statement, CV/résumé, links such as LinkedIn), pitch decks and other submitted materials, and audio/video recordings of pitch sessions delivered over Zoom or similar platforms, including transcripts generated from them.
  • Event attendees booking details, dietary or access requirements where relevant, and photos or video taken at events.
  • Candidates put forward through our recruitment service CV, application history, interview notes, and feedback shared with partner firms during a recruitment process.
  • Corporate contacts and partner firms name, job title, company, and contact details of individuals we deal with at partner organisations.
  • Communications messages you send us by email, WhatsApp, or our website forms, and records of our replies.
We do not ask you to provide special category data (e.g. health information, religion) unless it’s strictly necessary (for example, access requirements at an event). Please avoid including this in free-text answers otherwise.

3. How we use your information

We use your data to:
  • Process membership sign-ups and Academy applications, including shortlisting and selection.
  • Communicate with you about your application, membership, events, or the Academy.
  • Organise and run events, socials, and the Academy programme, including groups, sessions, and feedback.
  • Provide structured feedback on Academy pitch performance, including through AI-assisted, rubric-based assessment of recordings and transcripts (see Section 5).
  • Operate our recruitment placement service — putting forward candidates to partner firms and managing that process through to first-round interviews.
  • Maintain records for internal administration, reporting, and quality improvement.
  • Where you separately opt in, feature your testimonial, outcome, or quotes on our website or social media.
  • Send you updates about FBU events, opportunities, or the Academy, where you've opted in (you can opt out at any time).
  • Comply with our legal obligations and protect FBU's legitimate interests (e.g. preventing fraud, enforcing our Terms of Service).
Our legal bases for this processing are: performance of a contract or steps towards one (e.g. assessing applications, running the recruitment service); your consent (e.g. testimonials, marketing communications); and our legitimate interests in running effective membership, events, and selection processes, balanced against your rights and interests.

4. Who we share your information with

We may share your data with:
  • FBU staff, committee members, and volunteers who need access to run our membership, events, Academy, and recruitment service.
  • Partner firms, where you're a candidate put forward through our recruitment service, or where you separately consent to your details being shared (e.g. shortlisted Academy participants).
  • Service providers who process data on our behalf, such as our website host, CRM, email and WhatsApp/Meta Cloud API providers, video conferencing (e.g. Zoom), and AI transcription/scoring tools.
  • Regulators or authorities, where required by law.
We do not sell your personal data.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers (e.g. AI tools or messaging platforms) may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, we take steps to ensure your data is protected to a standard that is not materially lower than under the UK GDPR, including through standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.

6. How long we keep your information

  • Membership and applicant data is typically kept for 3 years after your last interaction with FBU, then deleted or anonymised.
  • Unsuccessful Academy or recruitment candidates' data is typically kept for 12 months in case a similar opportunity arises.
  • Pitch recordings are normally retained only as long as needed to provide feedback, then deleted, unless you separately consent to longer retention (e.g. for testimonials).
  • We may keep some records longer where required for legal, accounting, or audit purposes.

7. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
  • Access the personal data we hold about you.
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Ask us to delete your data, in certain circumstances.
  • Restrict or object to certain processing.
  • Receive your data in a portable format.
  • Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.
To exercise these rights, contact us using the details in Section 1.

8. How to complain

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, you can complain to us directly — we’ll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and aim to resolve it without undue delay. You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk), at any time.

9. Cookies

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies for essential site functionality and, where you consent, for analytics. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or any cookie banner shown on our site.

10. Children and age requirements

FBU’s activities are intended for university students. If you are under 18, you may still take part, but we encourage you to discuss this with a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including restricted access and secure storage. No system is completely secure, but we take steps to minimise risk.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We’ll post the updated version with a new “last updated” date, and where changes are significant, we’ll let you know directly.
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