Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CEDED) (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is profoundly committed to safeguarding the privacy, security, and confidentiality of the data entrusted to us. This Privacy Policy outlines our strict protocols regarding the collection, utilization, storage, protection, and management of personal information acquired through our website and related digital infrastructure under our direct administration.

Within this framework, "you" or "your" collectively refers to website visitors, grassroots community members, traditional chiefs, civil society networks, international development partners, technical researchers, institutional donors, job applicants, and general public stakeholders. By interacting with the CEDED Website, you formally consent to the data practices described in this Privacy Policy alongside our integrated Terms and Conditions of Use.

2. Definitional Scope of Personal Data

“Personal Data” refers to any digital or physical information that can directly, indirectly, or relationally identify an individual. This includes, but is not limited to:

Identification Details: Full legal name, date of birth, and gender.
Contact Information: Personal or professional email address, telephone numbers, physical location, and billing address.
Professional Profiles: Organizational affiliations, job titles, technical specialties, and institutional structures.
Recruitment Dossiers: Curricula Vitae (CVs), cover letters, academic transcripts, professional references, and associated employment verification documentation.

CEDED operates with an acute awareness of the security dynamics within the sub-national development sector in South Sudan. We treat all personal data with the highest sensitivity, ensuring that the tracking, documentation, and reporting mechanisms associated with grassroots community members, women, youth, traditional leaders, and frontline Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) are protected by rigid institutional firewalls.

3. Scope and External Exclusions

This Privacy Policy applies solely to data gathered, processed, and archived within digital systems directly owned and operated by CEDED.

While our Website provides hyperlinked access to international partner platforms, bilateral development organizations, secure third-party payment gateways, and global social media networks, these external entities operate under independent privacy regulations. CEDED maintains no administrative authority over third-party architectures and bears no legal liability for their respective data processing, security compliance, or tracking cookies.

4. Channels of Data Collection

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

CEDED collects personal information when you explicitly submit data across four key engagement streams:

Communications and Public Queries: When you utilize our standard web intake forms, media conduits, or general inquiry systems, we capture your name, active contact channels, institutional identity, and the precise contents of your message.
Fiduciary Contributions and Donations: When individuals or institutions support our programs financially, we document contact metrics, contribution value, frequency schedules, and transaction records. All critical card data or bank routing details are processed through encrypted, certified third-party transaction networks.
Partnership Coordination: When technical agencies, INGOs, or research networks submit a Partner With Us request, we collect comprehensive institutional summaries, thematic interests, and strategic documentation.
Talent Acquisition and Recruitment: When applying for vacancies, advisory consultancies, or professional fellowships, we process complete biographical, academic, and professional histories.

B. Information Automatically Collected

To preserve the cybersecurity of our platforms, track international digital reach, and optimize frontend design, our systems automatically collect technical metadata during your browsing sessions, including:

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and geographic access points.
Browser specifications, device identifiers, and operating system metrics.
Real-time website tracking metrics, including specific landing pages visited, resource download histories, and overall engagement duration.

C. Anonymized Data Aggregation

CEDED strips direct identifiers from automated technical data to formulate macro-level, anonymized statistical indices. This high-level metric compilation is utilized for institutional learning, evaluating website optimization parameters, drafting annual performance reports, and demonstrating digital outreach levels to resource partners.

5. Legitimate Purposes of Data Utilization

CEDED uses personal data exclusively for explicit, legitimate institutional operations. We strictly prohibit the reuse of data for unauthorized purposes without securing your direct consent. Your information is processed to:

Address field inquiries, route stakeholder requests, and manage media alerts.
Coordinate technical networks, manage local civil society forums, and track regional program execution.
Assess professional candidate dossiers for open employment, consultancy, or internship rosters.
Process and verify donor transactions while maintaining compliance with international fiduciary accountability audits.
Distribute programmatic breakthroughs, strategic multi-year strategies, and academic publications through our digital newsletter (subject to your explicit opt-in preference).
Protect the digital perimeter of our networks, prevent automated system spam, and counter malicious server attacks.
Generate empirical insights to feed into our state-level advocacy models and institutional rule of law platforms.

6. Data Security, Fiduciary Stewardship, and Retention

Data Protection Standards

CEDED applies comprehensive technical, administrative, and physical security measures designed to prevent unauthorized access, loss, accidental deletion, system modification, or illicit disclosure of your personal data. Internally, access to stored stakeholder directories, recruitment datasets, and donor documentation is restricted entirely to pre-screened, authorized personnel who require access to fulfill specific program metrics.

Systemic Warning: While we deploy advanced cloud firewalls and encrypted servers to safeguard your data, no digital architecture can guarantee absolute immunity from sophisticated global cyber threats. Users are expected to maintain the absolute privacy of any personal login codes, account keys, or submission confirmation parameters provided through CEDED's platforms.

Retention Limits

CEDED stores personal information exclusively for the duration necessary to satisfy the distinct operational purpose for which it was gathered, meet international financial reporting guidelines, or fulfill national civil society regulatory obligations. Once the data reaches the end of its legal retention schedule, it is securely destroyed, permanently archived under restrictive access controls, or completely anonymized in accordance with CEDED’s data asset management procedures.

CEDED maintains an absolute corporate prohibition against the sale, rental, trading, or commercial exploitation of personal data. Information is shared only under specific, highly controlled operational conditions:

Bilateral Service Providers: We securely share data with trusted cloud infrastructure providers, web analytics agencies, and payment processing platforms that support CEDED's operations. These entities are contractually mandated to enforce equivalent data protection rules and are legally barred from using your information for independent objectives.
Legal Protections and Structural Safety: We may disclose data if explicitly required to do so by valid judicial subpoenas, national regulations, or lawful government processes within the Republic of South Sudan. Disclosures may also occur if strictly necessary to protect the physical safety of CEDED personnel, grassroots beneficiaries, or human rights advocates.

As a core civil society actor, CEDED actively shares field stories, case studies, photo galleries, and multimedia documentaries to advance public advocacy and demonstrate local impact.

We maintain a strict ethical policy: no individual photograph, video interview, or localized story is published without securing prior, informed, and culturally appropriate consent from the featured community members or leaders. We exercise extreme diligence to safeguard the physical security, human dignity, and privacy of all beneficiaries, particularly within complex conflict-sensitive field environments.

9. Your Data Rights and Recourse Channels

CEDED recognizes your legal rights regarding your personal data. At any time, you maintain the technical and legal capacity to request the following:

Access: Reviewing a full copy of all personal information CEDED maintains regarding your profile.
Correction: Directing the immediate update of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal fields.
Erasure: Demanding the permanent deletion of your data from our active systems, provided it does not conflict with existing statutory financial auditing requirements.
Revocation: Instantly withdrawing your consent for digital communication tools, such as unsubscribing from institutional news feeds or event notifications.

To submit a formal data right inquiry, please communicate directly with our centralized information compliance team at info@ceded.org.

The CEDED platform integrates functional cookies to memorize interface settings, optimize page loading speeds, and understand general user traffic flow. You retain the absolute choice to modify your browser configurations to decline or block cookies; however, disabling these background systems may cause certain features of the site to become visually or technically degraded.

11. Amendments to this Privacy Policy

CEDED reserves the right to periodically alter this Privacy Policy to reflect evolving regional data regulations, updated donor compliance frameworks, or shifts in our organizational infrastructure. Any amendments will be instantly integrated into this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. We advise all stakeholders to routinely audit this document to remain fully aware of how we protect public data.

12. Corporate Contact Details

For questions, formal grievances, or specific inquiries regarding our data management practices, please contact our general secretariat:

Centre for Democracy and Development (CEDED)

Email: info@ceded.org

www.ceded.org

Head Office Operations: Rock City Residential Area, Midan Rock City, Juba, Central Equatoria State, South Sudan