IrelandFellows.africa is operated by Commercium Africa Limited as a management agency supporting Ireland Fellows Programme related application processes.
This Privacy Notice explains how personal information submitted through this website and application portal is collected, used, shared, and protected.
1. Who this notice applies to
This notice applies to people who use IrelandFellows.africa, including applicants, prospective applicants, and users who create an account or submit information through the application portal.
2. Information we collect
When you use the website or application portal, we may collect information such as:
- your name, nationality, country of residence, date of birth, gender, email address, and phone number;
- education, employment, programme choices, statements, declarations, and other application details;
- links to supporting documents submitted as part of your application;
- messages, correction requests, and communications sent through the portal;
- account and authentication information used to access the portal;
- technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information, access logs, and security records.
3. How we use your information
We use your information to:
- create and manage your application record;
- receive, review, process, and administer applications;
- communicate with you about your application;
- check submitted document links where required;
- support shortlisting, review, selection, interview, award, placement, and programme administration processes;
- maintain the security and reliability of the website and application portal;
- support audit, reporting, operational, legal, and programme administration requirements.
4. Sharing of information
Information and documents submitted as part of an application may be shared with relevant parties involved in the administration, review, and delivery of the programme, including:
- Commercium Africa Limited, as the management agency supporting the application process;
- the relevant Irish Embassy or programme team;
- the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade;
- appropriate higher education institutions, reviewers, service providers, or other parties where required for application, selection, placement, award, travel, reporting, or programme administration purposes.
We do not sell applicant personal information.
5. Supporting documents and external document links
Applicants may be required to submit links to supporting documents hosted on external platforms.
Google Drive is recommended for document links. Applicants may also use OneDrive or another document hosting provider of their choice.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that each submitted document link is correct, contains the required file or files, and remains accessible during the application review process.
Submitted document links must be viewable by the programme team without requiring additional access approval, private invitation, sign-in approval, or restricted organisational access. This may require setting the file or folder to be accessible to anyone with the link.
Making a document accessible to anyone with the link does not mean it is published on this website. However, anyone who has the exact link may be able to view the file, depending on the sharing settings selected by the applicant.
Applicants should check the sharing settings of any external document hosting provider they use.
If a submitted document link is inaccessible, empty, incorrect, expired, restricted, or requires additional access approval, the applicant may be asked to correct or resubmit the link.
6. External platforms and third-party services
The website and application portal may rely on third-party services for hosting, authentication, email delivery, document access checks, storage, backups, security, analytics, and technical support.
These service providers may process limited personal information where necessary to provide their services and support the operation of the website and portal.
External document hosting providers, such as Google Drive or OneDrive, have their own privacy and security practices. Applicants are responsible for reviewing and managing the settings of any external service they use.
7. Cookies and technical information
The website and portal may use cookies or similar technologies to support login sessions, security, performance, analytics, and user experience.
Some cookies may be necessary for the portal to function properly. Other cookies or analytics tools may help us understand how the website is used and how it can be improved.
8. Data security
We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information submitted through the website and portal.
However, no online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Applicants should keep their login details confidential and should not share account access with anyone else.
Applicants are also responsible for managing the privacy and access settings of document links submitted from external platforms.
9. Retention
Application records and related information are retained for as long as necessary for application processing, programme administration, audit, reporting, legal, and operational purposes.
Records may be retained after an application cycle closes where required for programme administration, dispute handling, audit, reporting, compliance, or future reference relating to the application process.
10. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade privacy information
The Ireland Fellows Programme is funded by the Government of Ireland and operates under the auspices of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
For information about how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade handles personal data and data protection rights, please refer to the Department’s Privacy Policy:
[Insert link to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Privacy Policy]
11. Applicant responsibilities
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that:
- all information submitted through the portal is true, complete, and accurate;
- submitted application content is their own work where required;
- document links are correct and accessible;
- document links remain accessible during the review process;
- their email address and contact details are correct and checked regularly;
- their portal login details are kept secure.
12. Contact
For questions about this website, the application portal, document access, or application support, please contact:
Ireland Fellows Applications Team
13. Updates to this notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time. The latest version will be published on this website.