Confidentiality Statement

At Voices for Animal Welfare (VfAW), we take the confidentiality of the information you share with us seriously.

This statement explains, in plain language, how we treat the content of your messages, applications, and exchanges with us, in addition to what is described in our Privacy & Cookies Policy.

1. Scope of Confidentiality

This statement applies to information that you share with us through:

• contact forms and e-mails;
• application forms for volunteering, internships, or collaborations;
• registrations for events, workshops, or programmes;
• any other direct communication with VfAW in connection with our activities.

It does not cover public actions you take on third-party platforms (for example, public comments on social media) or information that is clearly intended to be public.

2. How We Treat Your Information

Information that you send to us is:

• Accessible only to members of the VfAW team who need it to process your request, application, or participation;
• Used solely for the purposes for which you provided it (for example, responding to your question, evaluating your application, organising your participation in a project, or managing our partnership);
• Not shared with unrelated third parties for commercial purposes.

We may share certain information with trusted service providers (for example, email platforms, hosting providers, online meeting tools) strictly when necessary to carry out our work. In these cases, we ensure that appropriate confidentiality and data protection obligations are in place.

3. Exceptions

As with any organisation, there are limited situations where we may be required to disclose information you shared with us, for example:

• where we are required to do so by law, regulation, or court order;
• where disclosure is necessary to protect the vital interests, safety, or rights of a person (human or animal);
• where disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

In such cases, we will only share what is strictly necessary and, where possible, inform you of the disclosure.

4. Relationship with Legal Advice

VfAW is a non-profit organisation working in the field of animal welfare and animal law advocacy. Even though our work may involve legal research, analysis, or training:

• information provided on this website or via general contact forms is for information and educational purposes only;
• it does not constitute formal legal advice;
• sending a message through this website does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and VfAW or any member of its team.

If you need individual legal advice for a specific situation, we encourage you to contact a qualified lawyer or legal service in your country.

5. Security and Data Protection

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the confidentiality and security of the information you share with us, in line with applicable data protection laws (including the GDPR).

For more details on:

• what personal data we collect;
• on what legal bases;
• how long we keep it;
• with whom it may be shared;
• and what rights you have (access, rectification, deletion, etc.),

please refer to our dedicated policy:

▶ Privacy & Cookies Policy

6. Questions

If you have any questions about this Confidentiality Statement or about how we handle your information, you can contact us at:

We will do our best to respond as clearly and promptly as possible.