Privacy Notice

Last updated: October 2026

Who we are

This website is run by Black Curators Collective CIC ("BCC", "we", "us"), a community interest company registered in England and Wales (company number 13304774). BCC publishes under the imprint Soul Choice Editions and produces the journal Voice ≠ Speech. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), BCC is the controller of personal information collected through this website and through our membership, programmes, publishing and consultancy.

This notice applies to you if you visit this website, contact us, subscribe to updates, buy from our shop or make a donation. It also applies if you are involved in our work: as a current or former member, an applicant to or participant in one of our programmes, an author, peer reviewer or Editorial Board member of Voice ≠ Speech, or a partner, commissioner, consultancy client or supplier. Where our members work in employed or governance roles at other organisations, those organisations' own privacy notices apply to that work.

We are committed to respecting your privacy. This notice explains what personal information we collect, why, on what lawful basis, who it may be shared with, how long it is kept, and what your rights are.

Personal information we collect

Depending on how we interact, we may collect:

  • Contact details: your name, email address, telephone number and postal address, where you provide them.

  • Correspondence: the content of emails, contact-form messages, letters and other communications between us.

  • Membership information: your name, region, professional background, biography and photograph, and how you would like to be listed. We publish members' and alumni names and photographs on our website only with their agreement.

  • Programme and application information: applications for bursaries, residencies, open calls and commissions, including statements, CVs, portfolios and references, and the decisions made about them.

  • Editorial information: submissions to Voice ≠ Speech, correspondence about them, peer review reports, editorial decisions, and contributors' names, affiliations and biographies for publication.

  • Orders and donations: your name, email address, billing details, what you bought or gave and, if you choose, how you would like to be named on our Supporters page. Payments are processed by Squarespace's payment providers. We receive confirmation of payment but never your full card details.

  • Business and payment information: invoicing details, fees, transactions and records needed for contracts and accounting.

  • Subscription information: your email address and preferences if you sign up to hear about new issues, calls for submissions and other news.

  • Access requirements: where you share them with us so that an event, meeting, programme or collaboration can be organised appropriately. We treat this information with particular care, use it only for the purpose you shared it, and delete it when it is no longer needed.

  • Website usage information: technical data such as your IP address, browser type, device information and pages visited, collected through Squarespace Analytics if you accept analytics cookies.

  • Photographs, video and audio: documentation of events, programmes and broadcasts, where you have taken part and been informed, or where you have provided material to us.

We do not carry out credit checks or identity or anti-money-laundering screening, and we do not use automated decision-making or profiling.

Special category information

BCC is a collective for Black women and non-binary curators. Being a member, or applying to one of our member programmes, can therefore reveal your racial or ethnic origin and your gender identity. Racial and ethnic origin is special category information under UK data protection law, and we treat gender identity with the same care. We process this information on the basis of the explicit consent you give when you join or apply, and we ask before publishing anything about you.

We do not routinely collect other special category information, such as information about health, religious belief, sexual orientation or political opinions. Where you choose to share it, for example access requirements that relate to disability or health, we process it with your explicit consent and keep it only as long as needed. Equal opportunities monitoring questions are always optional. Answers are kept separately from applications and reported to funders only in anonymised, aggregate form.

Where your information comes from

Most of the personal information we hold comes directly from you. We may also receive information about you from:

  • a member, colleague or organisation who introduces, nominates or refers you;

  • your employer or the organisation you represent, in connection with a project or commission;

  • Editorial Board members and peer reviewers, in reports on a submission;

  • publicly available professional sources, where relevant to work we are doing together.

How and why we use your personal information

Responding to enquiries and correspondence. Lawful basis: legitimate interests (running the collective and responding to the people who contact us).

Running the membership and our programmes, bursaries and residencies, including assessing applications. Lawful basis: performance of a contract where we have an agreement with you; legitimate interests (running a collective and selecting fairly); explicit consent for special category information.

Publishing Voice ≠ Speech: handling submissions, peer review, editing, and publishing contributors' work and names. Lawful basis: our agreement with you as a contributor, and legitimate interests (running a scholarly journal). Once published, a work and its author details form part of the permanent scholarly record.

Processing orders and donations. Lawful basis: performance of a contract for orders; legitimate interests for donations; consent for being named on our Supporters page.

Entering into and performing contracts for commissions, projects and consultancy. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you or the organisation you represent.

Organising events, meetings and programmes, including meeting access requirements. Lawful basis: legitimate interests; explicit consent for special category information.

Sending news and updates you have subscribed to. Lawful basis: consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

Keeping accounting, tax and company records. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

Reporting to funders. Lawful basis: legitimate interests. We report in anonymised form wherever possible.

Maintaining and improving this website. Lawful basis: consent for analytics cookies; legitimate interests for keeping the site working and secure.

Documenting and promoting our work. Lawful basis: consent, or legitimate interests where documentation was made openly at a public event.

Safeguarding. Where we have a concern about the safety of a child or an adult at risk, we may share information with statutory services without consent, as set out in our Safeguarding Policy. Lawful basis: legal obligation, vital interests, or the safeguarding condition in the Data Protection Act 2018.

Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. Lawful basis: legitimate interests; legal obligation.

Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us or by using the unsubscribe link in any mailing. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that took place before you withdrew it.

Who we share your personal information with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing. We may share personal information with:

  • Service providers. This website, including its contact forms, shop, mailing list and analytics, is hosted on Squarespace. Information you submit through it is stored by Squarespace and delivered to us. We also use email and cloud storage providers to run the collective. These providers process information on our instructions under contractual safeguards.

  • Editorial Board members and peer reviewers. Submissions to Voice ≠ Speech are shared with the editors and reviewers handling them, under our peer review and recusal protocol, and are treated as confidential.

  • Archives and repositories. Published issues of Voice ≠ Speech, including contributors' names and biographies, are deposited on Zenodo and with the British Library under legal deposit. Only published material is deposited.

  • Project partners and host organisations, where you are involved in a project and sharing is necessary to deliver it.

  • Funders, in anonymised or aggregate form, or by name where you are part of a funded project and have been told this will happen.

  • Professional advisers, such as an accountant, legal adviser or insurer, where necessary.

  • Regulators, law enforcement, statutory services or public authorities, where we are legally required to, or where our Safeguarding Policy applies.

International transfers

Squarespace is based in the United States, and information collected through this website may be stored on servers outside the UK, including in the US. These transfers are protected by safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, as set out in Squarespace's data protection terms. Squarespace's privacy policy is at squarespace.com/privacy. Zenodo is operated by CERN in Switzerland, which the UK recognises as providing adequate protection for personal data.

How long we keep personal information

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, and then for as long as any legal requirement or potential claim applies. In general:

  • Enquiries and general correspondence: up to 2 years after our last contact.

  • Membership records: for as long as you are a member. If you agree, your name stays on our alumni list after you leave. Other membership records are deleted within 2 years.

  • Applications: successful applications are kept as part of project records. Unsuccessful applications are deleted 12 months after the decision.

  • Voice ≠ Speech: published works and contributor details are kept permanently as part of the scholarly record. Unpublished submissions and peer review reports are kept for 2 years after the final decision.

  • Orders, donations, contracts and business records: 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to, in line with HMRC and company law requirements.

  • Supporters page: until you ask us to remove your name.

  • Mailing list: until you unsubscribe.

  • Access requirements: for the duration of the event or project they relate to, unless you ask us to keep them for future work together.

  • Safeguarding records: as set out in our Safeguarding Policy.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include password protection, secure hosting, and limiting access to the people at BCC who need it for their role. No system is entirely secure, but we take the security of your information seriously.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

  • be informed about how your personal information is used (which is the purpose of this notice);

  • access the personal information we hold about you;

  • have inaccurate information corrected;

  • have your information erased in certain circumstances;

  • restrict processing in certain circumstances;

  • object to processing, including an absolute right to object to direct marketing;

  • data portability in certain circumstances;

  • not be subject to solely automated decision-making (which we do not use).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. More information is available from the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/for-the-public. If you are unhappy with how your information has been handled, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the ICO.

Cookies

This website is built on Squarespace, which sets a small number of cookies. Non-essential cookies are only placed if you accept them through the cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time using the Cookie Preferences button on this site, or through your browser settings.

Essential cookies keep the site working and secure. They manage your session, protect forms and checkout against fraudulent submissions, and remember your cookie choice. They cannot be switched off.

Analytics cookies help us understand how the site is used and whether anything is broken. This information is collected in aggregate and does not directly identify you. Squarespace's analytics cookies typically last up to two years, and they are only set if you accept them.

Cookies set by embedded content. Some pages include content hosted elsewhere, such as the audio players on our Listen page. Those providers may set their own cookies when the content loads or plays, under their own policies.

Squarespace publishes a full list of the cookies it uses at squarespace.com/cookie-policy. If you would like to know exactly what is set on a particular page, ask us.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. When we make a material change, we will update the date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, give reasonable notice where we can.

Contacting us

For any question, request or complaint about the personal information we hold, email info@blackcuratorscollective.org.