PRIVACY POLICY

The lawful basis for a particular activity may vary depending on the services used and your relationship with Climb Group. Where we rely on Legitimate Interests, we consider the impact on your rights and freedoms and assess that the processing is necessary, proportionate and consistent with reasonable expectations.

Further information about specific activities, retention periods, recipients and third-party providers may be given at the point of collection or on request.

In addition to cookies, Climb Group uses analytics, monitoring, attribution and diagnostic technologies to understand how our websites, applications, platforms, Events and services are used and to improve performance, functionality, security and effectiveness.

These technologies may include website and application analytics; marketing and advertising attribution; conversion tracking; session replay and user-interaction analysis; heatmaps and engagement measurement; error logging and performance monitoring; referral, affiliate and campaign attribution; UTM and link tracking; and Event and platform usage analytics.

They may operate across our websites, mobile applications, client portals, Event platforms, communications, digital services and other systems operated by or on behalf of Climb Group.

Depending on the service, they may collect device and browser information, IP address, approximate location, pages viewed, links clicked, time spent, session information, referral and campaign attribution data, and interactions with our websites, applications, emails, advertisements, Events and services.

Where required by law, non-essential analytics, advertising, behavioural analysis, affiliate attribution, session replay, heatmap and marketing tracking technologies operate only after you have given the appropriate consent through our cookie and tracking preference controls.

We implement reasonable measures to minimise unnecessary collection and may apply masking, filtering, anonymisation, pseudonymisation, exclusion rules or other controls where appropriate.

You may manage preferences at any time through the Cookie Preferences controls on our websites.

Climb Group uses artificial intelligence (“AI”), machine learning, automation tools and AI-assisted software to support customer service, administration, communications, Event management, marketing, analytics, reporting, security and other operational activities (including features that may be presented as ClimbGroup AI or equivalent product names).

These technologies may process personal data in information you provide, including correspondence, enquiries, registrations, support requests, account information, Event participation records, survey responses, website interactions, communications and other information collected through our services.

AI-assisted technologies may be used to categorise, prioritise, route, summarise and analyse enquiries and communications; assist with helpdesk, live chat, email and response generation; support Event management, networking, attendee services and operational planning; produce summaries, reports, insights and business intelligence; search and process information in systems authorised for our use; assist staff with administrative tasks; and monitor, secure and improve our services.

Where appropriate, AI systems may interact with authorised systems, databases, platforms, applications, storage, communication systems and business tools through controlled authentication, permissions, integrations, APIs, automation frameworks or similar technologies.

AI systems used by Climb Group are intended to assist our staff and operational processes. Human review, oversight, intervention or approval may be applied depending on the nature of the activity, request, decision or outcome. We do not use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals unless permitted by law and disclosed separately where required.

We take reasonable steps so that AI providers and technology suppliers implement appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. Where technically and contractually available, we configure providers not to use Climb Group customer data for foundation-model training or similar purposes, and require them to process personal data only for authorised purposes.

Some AI-assisted services are provided by third-party technology providers. Depending on the provider and service, personal data may be processed, stored, transferred, accessed, analysed or backed up in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area and other jurisdictions under the safeguards described in this Privacy Policy.

Please do not provide special category personal data (for example information relating to health, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data or criminal convictions) through AI-assisted communication channels unless that information is necessary for us to provide a requested service, fulfil a legal obligation, protect safety or comply with applicable law.

If you do not wish your information to be processed using AI systems operated by or on behalf of Climb Group, contact [email protected] to discuss whether alternative communication methods may be available. Communications may still pass through third-party platforms that use their own automated security, filtering, routing, monitoring or processing technologies outside our direct control.

Climb Group operates physical Events, virtual Events, webinars, live streams, networking platforms, websites, applications, communities, competitions, social channels and other engagement activities. References to “Events” in this Privacy Policy are not limited to in-person attendance.

Where networking, directories, introductions, sponsorship fulfilment or related Event services require it, certain personal information may be shared with other attendees, participants, exhibitors, sponsors, partners or stakeholders. Depending on the activity, this may include your name, company affiliation, job title, professional biography, profile information, contact details, networking preferences and other information you choose to provide through registration, applications, directories, Event platforms, mobile applications, meeting booking systems, websites, communities or other services. Visibility and sharing follow the controls you use on our Platforms where those controls are offered. Once contact details leave our systems to a recipient, that recipient is responsible for subsequent use under applicable law.

Sponsors, exhibitors and other Commercial Clients may, at certain Events or in sponsored zones, scan badges, QR codes or similar credentials, or receive registration or lead data for their own business purposes. Where they determine the purposes and means of subsequent processing for their own organisation (for example follow-up sales contact) they act as independent controllers. We describe such sharing at the relevant point of collection or scanning where practicable, and in any data schedule under a Client Agreement. After data is lawfully received by an independent controller, their privacy notice and practices govern later use. We may still process the same data as controller for our own Event operations, analytics and compliance.

Climb Group activities may be photographed, filmed, live streamed, recorded, screen captured or otherwise documented. Media may include your image, likeness, voice, comments, contributions, profile information, presentations, messages or participation. Content may be used in photographs, video and audio recordings, Event reports, promotional materials, social media, editorial content, live streams, training materials, archives, educational content and other marketing, reporting, promotional or commercial materials produced by or on behalf of Climb Group. Official crowd, atmosphere and wide shots of public Event spaces are a normal part of documenting and promoting large Events. Session and stage recordings and livestreams are likewise a normal part of many main Events and may later be incorporated into paid courses or media products unless Event-specific conditions state otherwise.

The lawful bases for media processing are not created merely by a person reading this Privacy Policy or by Ticket acceptance alone. In general, processing of general audience, atmosphere and wide-shot imagery, and of stage and Session production where you form part of a public professional audience or programme, relies on our legitimate interests in documenting, promoting, reporting on and commercially developing Events and content, balanced against your rights and expectations. For featured interviews, microphone stand-ups, testimonials, case studies or materials where an individual is intended to be the primary focus, we seek participation or another clear permission where required and appropriate (verbally, electronically, in writing, through recorded participation or another suitable method) and may retain evidence of that permission. For live online or hybrid Events, platform controls (for example camera or microphone off) help limit capture of your image and voice in interactive segments; programme stage streams of facilitators may continue if you remain connected for audio-only. Where we offer badge, lanyard or digital indicators requesting reduced featured photography, we use them as an operational aid without guaranteeing exclusion from all crowd or atmosphere images.

If you do not wish to appear in featured session or livestream material as an ordinary attendee, request opt-out through the helpdesk at least one calendar month before the Event where recording is intended, and we will take reasonable steps to accommodate that request operationally. Persons under eighteen (where attendance has been approved as described below) require appropriate parental or guardian permission for featured interviews. Persons who consider themselves vulnerable should notify us in advance so that reasonable arrangements can be discussed.

Speakers and Hosts are subject to the ClimbUK Speakers and Hosts Conditions (or successor schedule) as well as this Privacy Policy. Profile Content you supply for publication (biography, headshot, professional links, session titles and abstracts) is processed to operate the programme, Platforms, Packs, signage and marketing, typically under contract (your confirmed engagement) and legitimate interests. Contact details of co-Speakers or Hosts may be shared between confirmed contributors for Session coordination only; recipients must not use those details for unsolicited marketing or share them more widely without a lawful basis. By participating as a Speaker or Host you grant production and marketing licences for Recordings of your Session performance as described in those Conditions and our Terms of Service. The ordinary one-month featured opt-out pathway for attendees does not apply to Session performance capture of Speakers or Hosts except as those Conditions and this Privacy Policy expressly allow. Your data-protection rights remain unaffected. We may still operate reduced-featured photography indicators for your off-stage movement as an ordinary attendee where reasonably practicable.

Media may be captured by Climb Group, its partners, sponsors, exhibitors, media organisations, journalists, content creators, attendees and other third parties. Climb Group may receive, acquire, licence, commission or otherwise obtain copies of such content for promotional, editorial, reporting, archival or commercial purposes where rights allow. Climb Group cannot control, modify, remove or otherwise take responsibility for content independently captured, published, distributed or shared by third parties who are not acting on our behalf.

Individuals may withdraw permission for future use of identifiable featured content by contacting the relevant Event team, [email protected] for ClimbUK Events, [email protected] for other Climb Group activities, or [email protected]. Withdrawal will apply to future use where reasonably practicable. It may not be possible to remove or retract content that has already been published, distributed, licensed, broadcast, archived, shared with partners, reproduced by third parties, included within historical Event materials, or otherwise entered the public domain.

Climb Group primarily provides services to businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, Event participants and organisational representatives. Our Events are designed primarily for adults aged eighteen and over. In limited circumstances a person under eighteen may be permitted to attend only with our prior written approval and an appropriate Ticket arrangement under our Terms of Service, and then only under continuous supervision of a parent or legal guardian who remains responsible for the child’s welfare. Account registration on some Platforms may start at sixteen where law permits. We do not operate services directed at children, and we do not knowingly market to children. Where we process personal data relating to a supervised minor (including Ticket and registration details, entry records, safeguarding information, or featured media subject to parental permission), we do so only as needed for that attendance, safety, legal compliance and the media purposes described above, under contract, legitimate interests and, where required for featured media of a child, appropriate parental or guardian consent or another suitable lawful basis. Parents or guardians who book or accompany a minor should supply accurate contact data for operational and safeguarding communication.

At some Events we, the venue operator, security contractors or another contractor may operate a cloakroom, temporary bag-holding counter, left-bag room or similar Facility. Deposit is voluntary. Use of a Facility may involve processing of limited personal data such as your name, Ticket or badge reference, a claim token or tag number, contact details where you provide them for reclaim, and descriptions of deposited items needed for logistics and security. That processing is so we (or the Facility operator) can accept, hold and return items, refuse unsuitable items, and investigate disputed reclaim. Lawful bases are typically contract (where deposit forms part of a service relationship with us) and legitimate interests in Event operations, safety and property logistics. Where a Facility is operated wholly or partly by a venue or independent left-luggage provider, that operator may process data under its own privacy notice in addition to this Privacy Policy.

Items left unattended, found on the Event estate, or not collected from a Facility by the published reclaim deadline may be treated as lost property. To manage reclaim we may process descriptions of items, your Ticket or Account details, evidence of ownership you supply, correspondence about reclaim and limited internal notes. After the Event, reclaim requests are typically directed to [email protected] (or such other channel as we publish for that Event). We aim to hold ordinary non-perishable lost property only for a limited operational period (commonly up to fourteen days after the last public day of the relevant Event unless we publish a different period or safety requires otherwise), after which unclaimed items may be disposed of as described in our Terms of Service, so far as the law permits.

Devices, storage media and documents may contain personal data of you or of other people. You remain responsible for locking devices, encrypting storage, and not depositing materials that contain other people’s personal data except where strictly necessary and adequately protected. For safety, reclaim or disposal we may power a device or open packaging solely so far as reasonably needed to identify an owner or assess a security risk. Staff are not authorised to browse personal content out of curiosity. This processing relies on legitimate interests in reuniting owners with property and managing security risk, and (where applicable) legal obligation. Retention of reclaim correspondence and ownership evidence follows our operational and claims-related practices; we do not keep device contents as a standing archive once reclaim or disposal is complete, save for residual logs needed for security, fraud prevention or legal claims.

From time to time Climb Group may operate competitions, prize draws, awards programmes, grants, sponsorship initiatives or similar promotional activities.

Where you participate, we may share relevant personal data with competition sponsors, judges, delivery partners, funding partners or organisations directly involved in administering the competition.

Data shared will be limited to information reasonably required for operation, assessment, delivery, administration or fulfilment of the competition or associated benefits. This may include application materials, supporting information, contact details, eligibility information and other information reasonably required for that purpose.

Additional competition-specific terms and conditions may apply and take precedence where they conflict with this Privacy Policy on pure competition process. Sharing will be carried out in accordance with UK GDPR and other applicable data protection legislation.

We do not sell personal data to third parties under any circumstances.

We may share personal data with Event partners during and shortly after Events where relevant to your participation and the delivery of Event-related services.

We may share personal data with member organisations, sponsors, exhibitors, competition partners, service providers or other third parties where necessary to provide services, facilitate networking, administer Events, fulfil contractual obligations, comply with legal obligations, or where you have requested or consented to such sharing.

Where registration, badge, QR or lead data is shared with sponsors, exhibitors or similar Commercial Clients so that they can run their own follow-up or hospitality activities, those organisations typically act as independent controllers once they receive the data for their own purposes. We require confidentiality and purpose limitation in our commercial arrangements where appropriate, but each independent controller remains responsible for transparency to you and for the lawfulness of their later processing. Lead-generation scans and sponsored-zone sharing may also be described on site or in the Event app at the point of engagement. Processor suppliers (venue technology, cloud, email, payment and similar providers acting only on our documented instructions) remain processors as set out below and are not recharacterised as independent controllers by mere technical hosting.

We may share personal data with technology providers, cloud providers, communication platforms, analytics providers, payment processors, artificial intelligence providers, Event technology providers and other service providers acting as data processors on our behalf. These providers assist us in delivering our services and may process personal data solely for authorised purposes under appropriate contractual, confidentiality, security and data protection obligations.

We may also share anonymised, aggregated, statistical or non-identifiable information for research, reporting, analytics, marketing, operational or business purposes.

All data sharing is carried out under appropriate lawful bases and with safeguards designed to protect personal data.

The Investor Ladder Limited trading as Climb Group, ClimbGroup, Climb UK, ClimbUK, Climb Dubai, ClimbDubai and Investor Ladder

Company number: 10289755

VAT: GB335770882

Registered office: Suite 3, Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, Bicester, OX26 1TD, United Kingdom

General queries: [email protected]

Data protection: [email protected]

ClimbUK media preferences and certain media withdrawals: [email protected]