Legal &
Governance
01 LEGAL STRUCTURE
Syndicate of European Heritage is a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), incorporated in Ireland on 28 November 2024 (Company Number: 776757). It is established as a not-for-profit entity and does not have a share capital or shareholders.
Any income or property of the company is applied solely towards the promotion of its stated objective: promote and ensure the welfare and safety of the Ethnic European community worldwide.
Under the Companies Act 2014 and the company’s constitution, the organization is required to operate in accordance with its stated objectives and governance rules. The CLG structure was selected to provide a transparent and legally recognized framework for a purpose-driven organization.
02 FINANCIAL PRACTICES
All funds received by the Syndicate of European Heritage CLG - whether through donations, grants, contributions, subsidiary activities, or other lawful sources - are applied in furtherance of the company’s objective.
The company operates on a not-for-profit basis. No profits or surpluses are distributed to members. Any surplus arising from activities is retained and reinvested to support the continued development of the organization and its objectives.
The organization maintains a commitment to transparency and accountability through appropriate financial governance, including oversight by the Board of Directors, maintenance of proper books and records, and compliance with applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2014.
The company may make payments for goods and services provided, including reasonable remuneration to employees, contractors, and service providers, where such payments are necessary for the operation of the organization and are proportionate to market rates. Any such payments are subject to internal governance and approval processes.
Departments operate on strictly non-profit basis. All funds allocated are used exclusively to cover operational costs and fair compensation for services rendered.
03 DONATIONS TERMS
By making a donation to the Syndicate of European Heritage CLG, contributors acknowledge that their donation is made voluntarily and without any contractual expectation of return, benefit, or control over the organization’s operations, governance, or decision-making.
All donations are applied in furtherance of the organization’s objectives, as defined in its constitution. Unless explicitly agreed in writing, donations are treated as unrestricted funds, and the organization retains full discretion in how such funds are allocated. Donations do not confer any rights of membership, ownership, or influence over the organization.
Where a contributor wishes to provide funding subject to specific conditions, purposes, or ongoing involvement, such arrangements will not be treated as standard donations. Instead, they may be considered separately as restricted funding or partnership agreements, subject to review and formal written agreement in accordance with the organization’s governance policies.
The organization reserves the right to decline or return any donation where it is not consistent with its objectives, legal obligations, or internal policies.
04 SPONSORS & STAKEHOLDERS
The Syndicate currently operates without external funding or sponsorship. This section is maintained for transparency and will be updated if formal partnerships, sponsorships, or stakeholder relationships are established.
05 PRIVACY POLICY
Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
Syndicate of European Heritage CLG (“we”, “us”, or “our”) is an Irish company limited by guarantee (company number 776757). We are the controller of personal data processed through sye-hq.org and its related pages. Our contact email is info@sye-hq.org.
2. Scope of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when you:
- visit our website;
- contact us by form or email;
- submit a join, volunteer, contributor, partner, or sponsor application;
- apply as an individual or organisation to become a signatory;
- opt into public listing in our signatory registry;
- make a donation or payment through a third-party provider;
- interact with embedded third-party content or services on our pages.
This policy does not govern third-party websites, platforms, or payment services once you leave our website or interact directly with their services.
3. Personal data we collect
3.1 Data you provide directly
Depending on how you use our website, we may collect:
Contact and enquiry data
Your name or alias, email address, subject, and message content.
Join / contributor / volunteer application data
Your full name, or alias where your form expressly allows that, email address, level of involvement, optional role or skill details, optional referral code, and your application message.
Individual signatory application data
Information such as your name, public display name where offered, contact details, time zone, relevant background, online presence, group or representative information where applicable, supporting information about your application, and your acknowledgements or consents.
Organisation signatory application data
Information such as organisation name, display name, jurisdiction, registration number, organisation type, geographic scope, authorised representative details, contact details, website and social links, summary of activities, supporting information about the application, and your acknowledgements or consents.
Public registry listing data
If you are accepted and separately opt in to public listing, we may publish limited registry information such as a public display name, organisation name, status, effective date, verification status, jurisdiction, registration number for organisations, and approved public links.
Donation and payment data
If you donate or make a payment through Stripe, GiveSendGo, or another approved provider, that provider processes your payment details directly. We may receive limited transaction metadata such as amount, currency, date, transaction ID, and payer name or email where supplied. We do not store full payment card details.
Cryptocurrency donations
If you donate using cryptocurrency, transaction data such as wallet addresses, transaction hashes, amounts, and timestamps may be visible on the relevant public blockchain. We do not publish donor identities on our website solely because a cryptocurrency donation is made.
Important: unless we specifically ask for it, do not include sensitive personal data or personal data about other people in free-text fields.
3.2 Data collected automatically
When you use our website, we and our service providers may automatically collect limited technical and usage data, such as:
- IP address;
- approximate location derived from IP;
- browser type and version;
- operating system and device type;
- referring page and pages visited;
- date, time, and duration of visits;
- security, error, and server log data.
3.3 Cookies and similar technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies for website operation, security, preference management, analytics, and embedded content. Strictly necessary cookies are used where required for the functioning and security of the site. Non-essential cookies and similar technologies are used only where required consent has been obtained through our consent tool. Irish DPC guidance flags transparency failures and invalid deployment of cookies as common website problems, and GDPR transparency obligations apply where cookies involve personal data.
4. Special-category data
Some free-text fields may allow users to submit information that reveals sensitive personal data, including data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health data, or sex life or sexual orientation. These categories receive extra protection under GDPR. We do not seek such data unless it is genuinely necessary for a clearly stated purpose. If you nevertheless choose to provide special-category data, we will only process it where both a valid Article 6 legal basis and an Article 9 condition apply. For voluntary disclosures in applications, that condition will normally be your explicit consent. You may withdraw that consent at any time, but doing so may limit our ability to assess or continue handling the relevant application.
5. How we use personal data and our legal bases
We use personal data for the following purposes:
Communications
To respond to enquiries, requests, and correspondence.
Application handling
To review and manage join, volunteer, contributor, partner, sponsor, and signatory applications, including eligibility, authenticity, and administration.
Public signatory registry
To publish limited registry details where an applicant has been accepted and has given separate consent to public listing.
Donations and financial administration
To administer donations, recognise and reconcile payments, issue confirmations or receipts where applicable, and maintain records for accounting and legal compliance.
Website operation, security, and abuse prevention
To host, maintain, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the site, prevent spam and misuse, and maintain logs.
Legal, governance, and recordkeeping purposes
To comply with applicable law, maintain internal records, protect our legal position, and respond to lawful requests.
The legal bases we rely on depend on the context:
- Legitimate interests for ordinary communications, internal administration, website security, fraud or abuse prevention, and proportionate recordkeeping;
- Steps at your request before entering an arrangement and, where applicable, performance of a contract, for handling applications, collaborations, donations, or related requests;
- Legal obligation for accounting, tax, company law, and other compliance duties;
- Consent for non-essential cookies, public registry publication, and any processing that specifically requires consent;
- Explicit consent where special-category data is processed on that basis.
We do not sell or rent personal data. We do not carry out solely automated decision-making that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects on individuals. GDPR requires a lawful basis for processing and, where special-category data is processed, an additional Article 9 condition. Valid consent must be specific, informed, freely given, and unambiguous; explicit consent requires a clear express statement.
6. Sharing of personal data
We do not sell or rent personal data. We may share personal data only where necessary with:
Technical and hosting providers
Providers that host, secure, maintain, or support our website and related systems.
Form, communications, and anti-spam providers
Providers that help us receive submissions, manage communications, and prevent spam or abuse.
Payment and donation processors
Providers such as Stripe and GiveSendGo, which process payment data under their own terms and privacy notices.
Embedded-content and third-party integration providers
Services such as X/Twitter, Google reCAPTCHA, and any similar embedded or security tools used on our website.
Storefront providers
If you access a linked storefront operated for us or on our behalf, providers such as Shopify may process transaction and contact data under their own terms.
Professional advisers
Lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurers, and other advisers where reasonably necessary.
Authorities and regulators
Where disclosure is required by law, binding court order, or other compulsory legal process.
Public users of the registry
Where you have separately opted into public signatory listing, the limited data selected for publication will be visible to visitors of the registry.
Where a provider acts as our processor, we require it to process data on our instructions and subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations.
7. International data transfers
Some of our providers may process personal data outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States or in other countries where they or their infrastructure are located. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we will rely on a lawful transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, together with supplementary measures where required. You may contact us for more information about the safeguards used for a particular transfer. EU rules require appropriate safeguards for transfers outside the EEA, and the Commission’s SCCs are one recognised mechanism for such transfers.
8. Data retention
We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, and longer only where required by law or needed to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
Our default retention periods are:
- General enquiries and contact messages: up to 12 months after the last substantive contact;
- Join / volunteer / contributor applications not accepted: up to 12 months after the decision;
- Active contributors, volunteers, or collaborators: for the duration of the relationship and up to 6 years afterward where needed for governance, legal, or recordkeeping reasons;
- Signatory applications not accepted: up to 24 months after the decision;
- Accepted signatory records: for the duration of the signatory relationship and up to 6 years afterward for governance, audit, and verification purposes;
- Public registry entries: until withdrawn, updated, or removed in accordance with our legal obligations and governance rules;
- Donation and accounting records: at least 6 years or longer where required by law;
- Security logs: typically up to 12 months unless a shorter or longer period is necessary for security or incident handling;
- Analytics or cookie-derived records: according to the settings of the relevant tool and our cookie configuration, and not longer than necessary for the stated purpose.
9. Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, disclosure, alteration, or misuse. These measures may include access controls, encryption in transit, logging, provider due diligence, and proportionate administrative safeguards. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Your rights
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
- erase your personal data in certain circumstances;
- restrict processing in certain circumstances;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- receive a portable copy of data you provided to us where the legal conditions are met;
- withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
To exercise your rights, contact info@sye-hq.org. We may need to verify your identity before responding. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission in Ireland if you believe your personal data has been processed unlawfully. GDPR transparency rules require that individuals be informed of these rights and of their right to complain to a supervisory authority.
11. Children
Our website and services are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided personal data to us without proper authorisation, contact us and we will take appropriate steps.
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, providers, or legal obligations. The latest version will appear on this page with the updated revision date. Where required, we will take appropriate steps to notify affected individuals of material changes before those changes take effect.
13. Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our handling of personal data, contact:
Syndicate of European Heritage CLG
Email: info@sye-hq.org