Privacy Statement

Introduction

At South East Business & Innovation Centre CLG T/A Propelor BIC [“Propelor”] we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the individuals, entrepreneurs, and organisations we serve. As an innovation centre dedicated to supporting emerging ideas and fostering sustainable growth, we recognise the importance of maintaining the trust you place in us when sharing your personal, business, and intellectual information. This Privacy Statement outlines how we collect, use, store, and safeguard your data in a transparent and responsible manner.
In this Privacy Statement we refer to personal data, which is defined as information concerning or relating to a living person (a natural person who hereafter will be called the Data Subject). Data Protection Laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) seek to protect and enhance the rights of data subjects.
Propelor website is for use by people who are 16 years and over only.

This statement does not cover every aspect of our data protection practices, as specific policies may apply in certain environments. If we collect data via a contact form, we may provide a separate privacy notice at that time. Any consent given or information shared in that context applies specifically to that activity and supplements this Statement.

1. 1. Whose data do we Process.
      • All users of our Website Propelor BIC and social media pages;
      • Employee and contractors (including applicants for employment);
      • Business contacts and suppliers;
      • All clients, service users or prospective clients of Propelor.

1. 1. Categories of Personal Data and how we use it.
      This section of the Privacy Statement sets out the type of personal data collected by Propelor, the purposes for which such personal data is collected and processed and the lawful justifications for such processing in the context of our Website. We may collect, use, store and transfer various kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

• Identity Data including first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, and gender, your role within your organisation. You may also share your image through videography or if you attend a Propelor sponsored event.
• Contact Data including email address, business email address, telephone number and postal address.
• Technical Data including internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, cookies, chosen language, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
• Profile Data including your interests, preferences, social media account and any feedback you provide.
• Usage Data including information about how you use our website and services.
• Marketing and Communications Data including your preferences in receiving marketing from us and any third parties and your preferences for communication.

You may be asked, when you engage with us, or at other times, for personal data about yourself, as listed above. Please note that you are under no obligation to provide this information, however if you fail to provide such data as required, we may not be able to provide you with services requested.

3. 3. How we obtain your information.
      We use different methods to collect data from and about you through the following:

Direct interactions;
You may give us your Identity and Contact Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by email or via social media. This includes personal data you provide when you:

• submit a contact form;
• book a consultation;
• request a Propelor service;
• make use of our secure dedicated office space or attend our premises;
• send us a message via LinkedIn;
• subscribe to our newsletter;
• request marketing to be sent to you;
• provide feedback via a survey or email;
• apply for a job with Propelor;
• attend events where we are represented or which we have arranged.

4. 4. What Personal Data does Propelor collects and use online.

We collect various types of Personal Data when a person uses our website or our social media sites. The following are examples of Personal Data collected by Propelor:

• We may collect your personal data from Contact Forms; this enables us to deal with your request in a timely manner.

• When you visit our Web Site, we automatically log your IP address (the unique address which identifies your computer on the internet) which is automatically recognised by our web server. We may use IP addresses to help us administer our website and to collect broad demographic information for aggregate use. We do not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information. Please note that we use Google ReCAPTCHA as a security measure.

• As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. Our website also uses cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, social plugins, tracking pixels, etc. These are small pieces of information stored by your internet browser that collect data such as your browser type, your operating system, web pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, advertisements viewed, and other click stream data. The purpose of these cookies is to help us tailor our websites to your needs and to remember certain choices you have made so you do not have to re-enter them. Cookies also enable us to identify traffic to our website including pages visited, visitor numbers and traffic paths taken. We do not deploy unnecessary cookies, such as analytics, marketing, targeting, or profiling cookies without your consent. Please see our cookie policy for further information Cookie Policy – Propelor BIC

• Our website includes links to third party websites, plugins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy statement of every website you visit.

• Social media pages contain content such as messages a, videos and/or photographs, which are posted on social media pages where we have a presence and which may be made publicly available and may be used in connection with the operation and promotion of our social media pages, services, and our website. If posted content is deemed to be in breach of this Privacy Statement or the policies operated by such websites or social media platforms, such content may be removed by or at the request of Propelor or the operators of those social media websites. If such inappropriate content is posted to a social media page that is under our control, you can report it at the following address hello@propelorbic.ie and we will endeavour to ensure that appropriate action is taken in accordance with our policy’s and those of the relevant social media platforms. Propelor provides for easy connection to our Social Media sites via the inclusion of “buttons” for X and LinkedIn on our website or where we direct you to videos displayed via our website. We are aware that we may be deemed a “joint controller” with these social media agencies.

5. 5. The Purpose and Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data.

At Propelor we collect and process your personal data described above for a variety of purposes. As required by data protection laws, below is a brief summary of these purposes and the lawful justifications that support them:

The performance of a contract or entering into one;
We may process your personal data in order to enter into a contract with you or to provide you with a service which you have requested from us.

To comply with our legal obligations;
We are required to process your personal data to comply with certain legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. For example, we are required to obtain certain business records in accordance with company and revenue law which may include your personal information.

For our legitimate business interests;
We may use your personal data for the purpose of conducting activities that are in our legitimate interests (or those of a third party). Where we process your personal data for our legitimate interests, we ensure that there is a fair balance between our legitimate interest and your fundamental rights and freedoms. We may use legitimate interest as the lawful purpose to promote the services offered by Propelor to you as a client and service user.

We may use your personal data to manage our everyday business needs, including accounting, internal reporting needs, market research and to progress and respond to legal claims. We will also process your data to ensure appropriate IT security and to prevent fraud, to monitor and audit any claims. Our legitimate interest is the effective and secure management of our business.

You have the right to object any of the above processing scenarios by contacting us on hello@propelorbic.ie or via the additional contact details provided below.

With your consent;
If you use our website and consent to the use of cookies that are not strictly necessary. You can withdraw your consent at any time through the Cookie Preference Centre which is located on the right-hand corner of our website.
Consent may be required for other purposes, such as digital marketing communications or where we may process your image from promotional purposes. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us via the below contact details.

To protect your vital interests;
We will, in certain circumstances, use your personal data to protect your vital interests or those of another.

Purpose	Description	Lawful Basis
Provision of our Services	Personal data will be collected where you are a prospective or current client and will be  processed to meet the service or support you have requested.	Necessary for the performance of a contract or entering into one. The processing is in our legitimate interest.
Marketing to Prospective and Existing Clients	When you sign up to our newsletter your personal data will be processed. If you are a client, you will be presented with marketing communications that you would reasonably expect.	The processing is in our legitimate interest. You have not objected to the processing. You have consented to marketing communications.
Client Support	Interactions with our staff and officers, which includes your personal details.   Notes of your calls with our staff are recorded on our database.	This processing is necessary for the performance of a contract. We use this information for the purpose of identity verification and to assist the relevant queries. We may also keep a record of your interactions with us, to monitor and train our staff in our legitimate interests.
To understand our Customer Base	Name and contact details, and role within your organisation.	We may use your personal information on an aggregate basis for market research purposes to understand our client base. We rely on legitimate interest to understand our clients.
Imagery and video content	We may process your personal data (Image and Voice) for the purpose of promoting Propelor BIC and for sharing your business story.	Where you have consented to such processing.
Safety Incidents at Events or Onsite in the Incubation Centre	We keep incident safety reports as is our legal obligation. When using our incubation centre and availing of WIFI services or accessing our printers .We may process your device, connection time & duration and I.P .	The processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which we are subject. The processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (in providing a service to you and ensuring our networks security.
Legal Obligation	We may use your personal data such as name and contact details to comply with the numerous legal obligations we adhere to.	We may use your personal information to comply with various legal obligations to which we are subject including: Health & Safety Obligations Revenue and Tax Laws Provision of information to support funding.
Website Security	Your internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access any website operated by us.	To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, and hosting of data). The processing is necessary for our legitimate interests such as running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security and to prevent fraud. The processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
Supporting our Business & Operational Needs	We will process your personal data to support the administration of our everyday business needs.	Processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests.

6.     Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools.

Propelor BIC uses a number of AI-assisted tools to support the delivery of our services and the efficient operation of our business. This section explains how those tools interact with personal data and the safeguards we have in place.

Tools in use.

Propelor BIC currently uses the following AI tools, each approved for specific purposes:

Claude for Teams (Anthropic) — our primary AI tool, used to support client-facing and internal work. Anthropic processes data as a data processor on our behalf under a Data Processing Agreement. Claude for Teams is operated under Anthropic’ s enterprise terms, which include a commitment that customer data is not used to train AI models.

Microsoft Copilot — used within the Microsoft 365 environment for internal productivity tasks. Data is processed within Microsoft’s enterprise data boundary and is subject to Microsoft’s Data Protection Addendum.

NotebookLM (Google) — approved for research and document summarisation purposes. Staff must not upload confidential client documents or personal data to this tool.

AI tools embedded in standard applications — including tools such as Grammarly, scheduling assistants, and similar utilities, approved for general use. Auto-complete or suggestion features must not be used on text containing confidential or personal information.

What personal data may be involved.

In the course of using these tools, limited personal data may be processed, including names, email addresses, contact details, and business information such as company names, sectors, and programme-related materials. We do not use AI tools to process sensitive personal data (special categories under GDPR Article 9).

Legal basis for processing.

Where AI tools process personal data relating to clients, the legal basis is our legitimate interests in delivering our services efficiently and effectively (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)), balanced against appropriate safeguards. Where processing relates to staff, the legal basis is the performance of an employment contract and compliance with our legal obligations (Article 6(1)(b) and (c)).

Data processor arrangements.

AI tool providers who process personal data on our behalf are engaged as data processors under written agreements that meet the requirements of GDPR Article 28. Propelor BIC remains the data controller in all cases. Staff may not introduce new AI tools that process personal data without prior approval from the designated data protection lead.

Your rights.

If you have questions about how AI tools are used in relation to your personal data or wish to exercise any of your rights under GDPR, please contact us at hello@propelorbic.ie.

7. Your Information and Third-Party Disclosure.

Support Agencies;

To ensure you receive the support that you require Propelor may in certain cases share your personal data with the Local Enterprise Office (“LEO”), Enterprise Ireland (“EI”) and other agencies. These agencies will be data controllers, and we suggest that you review their Privacy Statements independently.

Third Party Service Providers;

We disclose personal data to third parties in certain instances. For example, we use third party service providers for the processing of personal data for a number of purposes, including, security service providers, consultant advisors, IT service providers, data storage providers, marketing companies, insurance providers and organisations that provide administrative services. These service providers are subject to a contractual obligation to only process personal data for purposes for which it was obtained and for the fulfilment of the services.

We will not provide your personal data to third parties or partners for direct marketing or promotional purposes unless you have consented to disclosing your personal data for such purposes. If you opts-out from receiving communications from third parties or partners, we will no longer share your contact details with our partners or third parties. However, you will still need to directly opt-out from communications from the partners to whom we have already given your information.

In certain circumstances we will disclose personal data to other external third parties such as professional advisors as necessary in the context of the performance of their services. Such recipients may include external legal advisors, auditors, pension and tax advisors, and other professional advisors. Disclosure of such data will take place for a variety of reasons including to ensure that we meet tax and other statutory  or audit obligations. We may also disclose personal data to insurance providers in connection with legal claims and prospective legal claims or proceedings.

Potential Sale or Merger;

If we sell or transfer any part of our business or integrate it with another organisation, your personal data may be disclosed to our advisers and to prospective purchasers or joint venture partners and their advisers. If this occurs, the new owners of the business will only be permitted to use your personal data in the same or comparable way as set out in this data protection statement.

Garda Síochána, Government or Quasi-Government Bodies, Courts, and Tribunals;

We may share your personal data with these organisations and bodies, where required to do so by law.

Links to Third Party Sites;

Please note that this Privacy Statement applies only to this website and not to the websites of other companies or organisations to which we provide links. Any third-party websites are viewed at your own risk.

8.     Transfers outside the European Economic Area.

We may transfer, store, or process your personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area. Where the laws of such countries do not afford an equivalent level of protection of personal data as the laws of Ireland, we take specific steps in accordance with data protection law to protect your personal data, and we will use one of these following safeguards:

• • Transfer  to a non-EEA country with privacy laws that give the same protection as the EEA.

• • Put in place a contract (in a form that is approved by the European Commission) with the recipient of the personal information. This means that they must protect it to the same standards as the EEA.

• • Transfers to organisations that are part of an EU Framework that sets privacy standards for data sent between countries. These frameworks make sure those standards are similar to what is used within the EEA.

9.     Data Storage.

The majority of Personal Data processed by Propelor is stored in Europe. Propelor may process personal data outside the EEA via third parties identified in the privacy statement. By using our site or submitting information through our contact form you accept that your data may be processed outside the EEA in limited circumstances and with adequate measures in place.

10.     Retention Policy.

Propelor will process personal data during the duration of the business relationship and will continue to store only the personal data needed in accordance with our Data Retention Policy. The majority of personal data is retained for a period of seven years after the end of the business relationship.

11.     Your rights as a data subject.

In certain circumstances, you have the following rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data: To enforce your rights please email or contact us via the information provided below.

Right to access Personal Data held by Propelor.

• • Any individual has a right to make an access request under data protection law for a copy of their Personal Data held by us.  We may ask for further identification details to confirm your identity before the relevant information is provided.

• • It should be noted that there may be specific exemptions relating to accessing Personal Data. If we utilise any of the exceptions, we will provide you with details and our justification for their use.

Other data protection rights

• • Rectification of inaccurate personal data;

• • Erasure of personal data (also known as the “right to be forgotten”);

• • Restriction of processing of persona data;

• • Right to data portability;

• • Right to object to processing of personal data.

Please be aware that under data protection law, these rights are available only in certain circumstances.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact by us using the contact details below.

Should you make a right of access request we will endeavour to respond to you within a month. If we are unable to deal with your request within a month, we may extend this period by a further period of two months, and we will explain why. Please provide as much detail as possible to enable us to respond to your request and to locate relevant personal data about you.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint to the Data Protection Commission. For further information please use the contact details below.

Propelor BIC

Unit 1b, IDA Industrial Estate,

Cork Road

Waterford

Ireland

X91 DT38

Telephone 051 356 300

Email: hello@propelorbic.ie

Data Protection Commission

21 Fitzwilliam Square South

Dublin 2

D02 RD28

Webform: Data Protection Commission

12.     Changes to this Privacy Statement & Governing Laws.

This Privacy Statement was deemed effective on the 11^th May 2026. We will update this data protection statement from time to time; updates will be made available on our website Propelor BIC and we would ask that you check regularly.