Privacy Policy

UNHCR is committed to protecting individual privacy and securing the personal information made available by users of UNHCR websites (that is, all sites within the “unhcr.org” domain and UNHCR country sites , “UNHCR website”) as well as UNHCR web pages on other sites (such as official UNHCR profiles on social networks).

This privacy policy describes what information is made available to UNHCR and third parties when you visit unhcr.org or official UNHCR web pages on other sites, and how UNHCR uses and stores that information. Any information voluntarily disclosed to UNHCR by users of UNHCR website is held with the utmost care and security and will not be used in ways other than as set forth in this privacy policy.

What does UNHCR do with the information you provide

Providing information is your choice. When you undertake certain actions on our website, such as donating, signing up for our email newsletter, or filling in a form to register your interest in our activities, you knowingly provide us with personal information about you, such as your name, email address, postal address and other information.

In this event, UNHCR will store this information securely, and will not share, rent or sell it to any other organization for their marketing purposes. However, we reserve the right to share this information with our procured service providers for the purpose of carrying out communications and marketing activity on behalf of UNHCR, or of completing a donation transaction that you initiate.

You will only be contacted by UNHCR for purposes related to the work of UNHCR and you can request to have your name removed from our mailing list at any time (see below how to opt out).

Through the use of data such as your email address, we can target messages for you on social media platforms and identify other people on the Internet who are most likely to support UNHCR work and help refugees. This may require uploading an encrypted list of email addresses to social media platforms of service providers such as Facebook. This data is not stored or reused by such service providers and is only held for the duration of the matching process. If you would not like your data to be used in this way, please let us know by writing to donors@unhcr.org.

Additionally, if you upload content to a UNHCR website or an official UNHCR social media account, we will be able to see certain information, for example in the EXIF data supplied when you submit photographs, we can see which type of camera you used, the time/date stamp, and location if that is available. This information might be used to perform verification checks, but will not be shared beyond the UNHCR social media team based in Geneva.

Opting out

Users who provide an email address and/or donate via UNHCR website and opt in to receive email communication from UNHCR may receive UNHCR e-newsletter and other email updates. We occasionally also communicate via direct mail, phone and SMS.  Each email sent by UNHCR includes an option to remove your address from the mailing list and you may also opt out by sending an email to donors@unhcr.org.

Cookies

Aside from the personal information that you disclose to us for a specific purpose, UNHCR also collects anonymous information about your browsing behaviour when you visit our website, through the use of cookies. By using UNHCR website, you agree that we can place the types of cookies set out below on your computer, mobile phone or handheld device.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small data files made up of letters and numbers placed onto your computer or other mobile devices when you access UNHCR website.  UNHCR uses cookies to collect information about you to the extent necessary to ensure its website functionality and performance as well as for the purpose of targeting its audience and tailoring the content offered to the public both on its website and elsewhere.  We send cookies when you visit unhcr.org, respond to online surveys or polls, or request information. Accepting the cookies used on UNHCR website does not give us access to your personally identifiable information, but we can use the cookies to identify your computer. Encrypted information gathered from cookies is used to understand the performance of our website, improve your experience while using it, and to remind you of our work and how you can support us after you have left UNHCR website in a relevant manner. However, this information is anonymous and based on behaviour rather than on personally distinguishable features.

Disabling cookies

If you do not wish to have cookies installed on your computer or mobile device, you can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether to accept it. You can also set your browser to turn off cookies. If you do so, however, some areas of UNHCR website may not function properly.

How cookies are used on UNHCR website

UNHCR wishes to be transparent with users about how cookies are used, so that you are clear on how your privacy is protected when using UNHCR website.

We use cookies for the following reasons:

  1. To improve your experience on our website – Cookies enable us to ensure that we are providing you content that is relevant to your interests while deprioritising content that is not relevant to you. For example, cookies can tell us if you have shown interest in learning about a specific emergency or campaign, so we could ensure that the next time you visit UNHCR website, information about this emergency or campaign is prioritised over other content. In the same way, cookies can tell us if, for instance, you have filled in a UNHCR form or signed a petition, so that we don’t present this to you the next time you visit our website. Cookies can also provide us with an understanding about other factors relating to your visit that can help us to enhance your website experience, such as: which part of the world you are visiting from, if you came to the site because of an email or social media post we sent you, or whether your website browser supports the different technologies used on UNHCR website.
  2. To understand how UNHCR website and other communication efforts are performing – Cookies help to provide us with anonymous statistics that tell us about how many users visit our website, where they came from and how they interact with it. This information is very useful for us to be able to see which pages and content on UNHCR website is most popular so that we can modify it accordingly. Data gathered through cookies can also help us understand how our other activities, such as social media content and emails affect the use of UNHCR website.
  3. To improve the relevance of UNHCR campaign and marketing messages displayed to you after you leave our website – Cookies can help us to ensure that you receive personalised advertising