Privacy Policy

Freerice is an initiative of the World Food Programme (WFP), an international organization within the United Nations system. It is committed to the privacy of individuals in accordance with its own rules and regulations, including on personal data protection. WFP acts as the controller of all personal data collected in accordance with this Privacy Policy, and can be contacted as set out below in Section 16.

1. Scope of Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process, and disclose your information, including personal information, in conjunction with your access to and use of the Freerice websites and/or use of our Freerice application (the "User").

Our website and/or the app are referred to as the "Service". By using this Service, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in order to provide and improve our Service, to administer your use of the Service and to enable you to enjoy and easily navigate our Service.

When you use the Service or engage in certain activities, requesting services or information, or contacting us directly, we may ask you to provide some or all of the following types of information:

  • Using the web service: If you use the Service without an Account, you do not enter personal information (please see below for information which is collected automatically). If you create an email-based Account, we will request your username and email address.
  • Communications with us: We may collect personal information from you such as email address, first and last name when you choose to request information about our Service, request to receive customer or technical support, or otherwise communicate with us directly or through Third Parties.
  • User-generated content: You can customize and create certain content such as group names.
  • In addition to the information you choose to provide to us, we and our service providers also use standard technologies to automatically collect certain additional information. If you are above the age of 18, we automatically record certain information about how you use our Service. This may include information such as a User's Internet Protocol (IP) address, cookie identifiers, Advertiser ID, and other device identifiers that are automatically assigned to your computer or device when you access the Internet, operating system, country, languages and locales, hardware type, the pages or features of our Service to which you browsed and the time spent on those pages or features, the links on our Services that you clicked on and other statistics. We use such data to administer the Service and we analyze (and may engage third parties to analyze) such data to improve, customize and enhance our Service by expanding features and functionality and tailoring them to individuals' needs and preferences. If you are below the age of 18, these collectors are disabled.

3. Information from Other Sources

We may receive information about you from third parties. For example, if you access our Services through an application of a third party, such as a Social Networking Service ("SNS"), we may collect such information about you from that third-party application that you have made public via your privacy settings therein. Information we collect through third-party applications may include your name, your SNS user identification number, your SNS user name, profile picture and your email address.

We will never post anything to a SNS without your permission.

4. How We Use Your Information

No third-party advertisements are shown to any age group. The third-party tools we use include Sentry, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager.

For users above the age of 18, we acquire, hold, use, and process personal information for a variety of business purposes, including:

  • To provide, personalize, and improve your experience with the Service, for example by providing customized, personalized, or localized content, recommendations, and features related to the Service on or outside of the Service.
  • To ensure the technical functionality of the Service, develop new features and services, and analyze your use of the Service, including your interaction with the products and services that are made available, linked to, or offered through the Service.
  • To communicate with you for Service-related or research purposes, including via emails, notifications, or other messages, which you agree to receive.
  • To communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, for marketing and promotional purposes via emails, notifications, or other messages, consistent with any permissions you may have communicated to us. You can opt out of receiving marketing-related communications as described in the section "User Access and Control."
  • To enable and promote the Service and other relevant services or products, either within or outside the Service, including features and content of the Service and products and services made available through the Service.

5. Sharing Personal Information with Third Parties

We use technical service providers to operate the technical infrastructure required to provide the Service. This includes hosting, storing, managing, and maintaining the application, its content, and the data we process.

6. Cookies, Third-Party Software Development Kits and Tracking

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the User's device containing information about the device. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while using the Service. By setting a cookie, Freerice will remember the User the next time they visit the Service. The User is always free to decline our cookies if their browser permits, although this may limit certain features of the Service and require the User to re-enter information more frequently.

We use third-party tools and software development kits (SDKs) to enhance the functionality and analytics of our Service. These include:

  • Google Analytics (GA): GA helps us analyze website usage patterns, such as page views and session durations, without linking data to individual users. Google anonymizes IP addresses within the EU or the EEA before transmitting them to the USA, ensuring compliance with data protection standards.
  • Google Tag Manager (GTM): GTM assists in managing tracking tags and monitoring website interactions to optimize the user experience.
  • Sentry: Sentry is an error-monitoring platform used to identify and resolve technical issues in real-time, improving the stability and functionality of the Service.

For users under 18, tracking is entirely disabled, and only essential operational data may be processed to maintain the functionality of the Service.

For additional information on Google’s data practices or to opt out of analytics tracking, you may install the opt-out browser add-on provided by Google at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

7. User Access and Control of Personally Identifiable Information

If you would like to access, review, correct, update, suppress, transfer (right to data portability), delete or otherwise limit our use of your personal information we have collected, you may contact us using the mechanisms provided below. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

You may opt out of certain uses or disclosures of your personal information, such as for marketing communications or analytics tracking, where applicable.

If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from us on a going-forward basis, you may opt out of receiving such communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email when they are sent to you.

9. Data Retention

We retain data only for as long as necessary to fulfill legitimate business purposes, comply with legal requirements, or enforce our policies. When no longer required, data is securely deleted or anonymized.

10. Children

The Service is directed to a mixed audience, including children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. More information on the services disabled for users under 18 can be found in Sections 4, 5, and 6.

11. Security

To protect your personal data from unauthorized access and abuse we have implemented technical and organizational security measures. We check these security measures regularly and adapt them, as necessary, to the state of technological progress. Our infrastructure uses HTTPS encryption to ensure secure communication between your browser or smartphone and our servers. Additionally, we implement robust organizational and technical measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, or misuse.

12. Location of Storage

Please note that the World Food Programme is an international organization, and your personal information may be processed in jurisdictions outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) or your local region. We implement safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent measures, to ensure your data is protected regardless of location, in line with applicable data protection standards.

13. Notification of Changes

This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Any updates will be posted within the Service, and the "Last Updated" date at the bottom of the policy will be revised accordingly. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about how we collect, use, and protect your information.

14. Disclaimer – Links to other Sites

The Service contains hypertext links and some banner promotions to other services. The World Food Programme assumes no responsibility for those services including the privacy practices or the content of such web sites.
If you encounter any inappropriate or concerning content, please notify us immediately at WFP.Freerice@wfp.org so we can review and address it promptly.

15. Privileges and Immunities

Nothing in or relating to this privacy policy or this Service shall be deemed a waiver of any of the privileges and immunities of the WFP under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact us at:

World Food Programme
Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68
00148 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39–06–65131
Fax: +39–06–6590632
E-mail: WFP.Freerice@wfp.org

Last modified: 25 November 2024