Last Updated: October 4th, 2022
Rise is a program that finds talented people who need opportunity and supports them as they work toward solving humanity’s most pressing problems. This Privacy Notice describes how we “process” (i.e. collect, use, and share) personal information in connection with our services, websites, platforms, tools, data, content, programs, and events (collectively, “Services”). We also describe your privacy rights and choices; how we transfer, retain, and protect data; and other aspects of our privacy program.
This notice is aimed at Rise applicants, Finalists and Global Winners; their parents, caretakers and guardians; the staff and selectors of Rise; and other contacts and partners who may interact with us and our website.
Rise is an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, who are joint controllers of Rise data. For more information, please view the privacy notices of each joint controller available on their websites (or, if you are an employee, as may have already been made available to you).
For a more detailed explanation of how our joint controller relationship works, who bears responsibility for what, and to whom requests concerning your personal information should be directed, see the “How to Contact Us” section below.
Information We Obtain
This section describes the information we obtain when you interact with us, the Services, or other parties who share information with us.
Information Collected Through Automated Means
Summary: We use technologies such as cookies and web beacons to collect information about how people interact with our Services. More info.
Information Collected from Rise Applicants
Summary: When you apply to Rise, we collect your contact details, qualifications and intellectual interests, and basic information about your personal and family background and financial means.
Information Collected from Rise Finalists and Global Winners
Summary: If you are selected as a Rise Finalist or Global Winner, we collect more detailed information about your identity, qualifications, and personal and family background and financial means.
Information Collected from Parents, Guardians, or Caretakers
Summary: If you are the parent, guardian, or caretaker of a Rise Finalist or Global Winner, we collect from you the information described below.
Information Collected From Rise Staff and Selectors
Summary: If you work with Rise in a professional capacity, we collect your basic contact and professional information, plus any information you report under our Safeguarding Policy.
Information Collected from Rise Partners and Other Third Parties
Summary: We collect information from Rise Partner organizations, schools and candidate references, and vendors who provide background checks as part of our Safeguarding Policy.
We may also collect information about any of the above persons from third parties, or from publicly available sources, as well as directly from the individuals concerned.
How We Use Information
Why We Use Information (Reasons)
We use information for different reasons, depending on the context and the type and sensitivity of the information.
Legitimate Interests” refers to things we do to provide, improve, and promote the Services, protect you and others, or provide benefits to broader society.
How We Use Information (Purposes)
We use information for the following purposes:
We also may use information in other ways for which we will provide information when and if such uses arise.
No Automated Decision-Making
We do not use solely automated means when making selections or to make any other decisions that may have a legal or other significant effect on you. All of our selection decisions require substantive human input.
Third-Party Analytics and Research
We use the third-party analytics services listed here to measure the effectiveness of our promotion of the Rise Services on those platforms. The information we obtain through the Rise Services may be disclosed to or collected directly by these services.
We also use third-party research services such as Qualtrics to provide surveys and questionnaires relevant to the Services. To learn more about Qualtrics, please visit https://www.qualtrics.com. If you choose to participate in a survey or other research, we will present additional information about data collection and any research vendors or partners when you opt in.
Interest-Based Advertising
You may see our ads on other websites because we use third-party ad services. Through such ad services, we can tailor our messaging to people, considering demographic data, the target audience’s inferred interests, and browsing context. These services track people’s online activities over time and across multiple websites by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of cookies, web server logs, web beacons, and other similar technologies. The ad services use this information to show ads that may be tailored to their users’ individual interests. The information these services may collect includes data about your visits to websites that serve our advertisements, such as the pages or ads you view and the actions you take on the websites. This data collection takes place both on the Services and on third-party websites that participate in these ad services. We may share cookie data and identifiers such as email addresses with third-party ad services to serve ads promoting Rise. This also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
To learn how to opt out of interest-based advertising in the U.S., please visit www.aboutads.info/choices, http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices, and http://preferences-mgr.truste.com. In the European Union, to learn more please visit www.youronlinechoices.eu or in the UK https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk. In Canada, please visit: http://youradchoices.ca/choices. Additional information may be available in your country of residence.
Information Sharing
We share the personal information we obtain as follows:
Please contact us as specified in the "How To Contact Us” section of this Privacy Notice if you would like to obtain more information about the third parties with whom we may share personal information.
In the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, reorganization, divestiture, dissolution or liquidation), we may transfer personal information we have about you, but only for uses consistent with this notice. This may include in the event that the joint controller arrangement between Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust were to change or come to an end.
Your Rights and Choices
We offer you certain choices in connection with the personal information we process about you. To update your preferences, limit the communications you receive from us, or submit a request, please contact us as indicated in the “How To Contact Us” section of this Privacy Notice. You can unsubscribe from our marketing mailing lists by following the “Unsubscribe” link in our emails or contacting us as specified in the “How To Contact Us” section below. We will apply your preferences going forward.
Depending on where you live, you may have the rights provided below, some of which may apply generally, and some of which apply only in certain circumstances, as set forth in the laws of your country or region.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us as indicated in the "How To Contact Us" section below. You also may lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country of residence, if your country has one.
Data Transfers
We may transfer your personal information to recipients in other countries that have different data protection laws. When we do so, we will protect that information as described in this Privacy Notice and will comply with applicable legal requirements, providing adequate protection for the transfer.
If we transfer personal information from your country to a country that has not been recognized by your country as providing an adequate level of data protection, we will use appropriate contractual terms with the recipients to safeguard the information. Further information about our data transfer safeguards may be obtained by contacting us as indicated in the “How To Contact Us” section below.
Data Retention
Unless otherwise noted, we will retain your personal information for the duration of our relationship, plus a reasonable period to comply with the applicable statute of limitation periods, records retention requirements, and as needed during the pendency of any legal claims or lawful requests or investigations. Please note that in the case of safeguarding information, this may require long periods of retention for claims and compliance. We also retain some information for longer periods of time to support and inform our research activities.
If we obtain sensitive information subject to storage limitations (such as national identification numbers), we will delete the information when it is no longer needed and the retention period required by law or regulation expires.
Security
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use. Further information about our data security safeguards may be obtained by contacting us as indicated in the “How To Contact Us” section below.
Children's Privacy
The Services are not intended for individuals under 13 years of age. Applicants must be at least 15 years old and have parental consent to apply; individuals between the ages of 13 and 14 who express interest will have limited access to the Services. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.
Other Online Services and Third-Party Features
For your convenience and information, we may provide links to other online services, and may include third-party features such as apps, tools, communication platforms or communities, widgets and plugins. The privacy practices of the relevant third parties, including details on the information they may collect about you, is subject to the privacy statements of these parties, which we strongly suggest you review. These third-party services or features are not owned or controlled by us and we are not responsible for their information practices.
Updates to Our Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated periodically for clarity or to reflect changes in law or our practices. We indicate at the top of this Privacy Notice when it was most recently updated. We encourage you to check this page frequently to review any changes. If we make changes, we will notify you via the change log below. In some cases, we may provide additional notice such as a statement on our homepage or an email. Your further use of the Services after a change to our Privacy Notice will be subject to the updated notice.
Change Log
- November 2, 2020: Privacy Notice first published
- November 12, 2020: Minor formatting changes
- November 29, 2020: Minor formatting and wording changes
- October 18, 2021: Provided additional information about our purposes and reasons for processing
- September 25, 2022: New format adopted for ease of reading, including use of tables and emojis; more granular information about sources of information, and purposes and reasons for processing; information about joint controller relationship
- October 4, 2022: Moved some information collected from Finalists, Winners and Parents to information collected from all Applicants; changed category names “Residential Summit” to “Travel” and “Medical Information” to “Health Information” to account for all contemplated scenarios.
How to Contact Us
The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation and the Rhodes Trust are jointly responsible for processing personal information as described in this Privacy Notice. For more information, please contact us as indicated below.
If you have any questions, requests or comments about this Privacy Notice or to exercise your rights, please email us at privacy@risefortheworld.org.
You may write to The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation at 555 Bryant Street #374, Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA. You may write to the Rhodes Trust at Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG, United Kingdom.
Appendix
Information We Obtain
Beacons
Web beacons, also known as Internet tags, pixel tags or clear GIFs may be used on web pages and emails to check whether a user has accessed certain content
Server Logs
Information logged by web servers
Contact Information
Full name, email address, telephone number, WhatsApp, login ID and encrypted password
Location
Current country of residence, city, state, postal code
Demographic Information
Date of birth, gender identity, primary language, nationality (country of citizenship)
Academic Information
Interests, education details, school information, academic performance, awards, achievements, and test information
Parent Information
Level of education, profession, email address, home ownership status, other home information
Attribution
Person or organization that told you about Rise, relationships with other relevant organizations and initiatives
Discord Community
Applicants have the option of joining the Rise Discord server. If you join our Discord server, we will see your Discord ID and public posts, as well as any engagement and interaction data that Discord makes available. For more information, see https://discord.com/privacy.
Application Materials
Written and video responses to application prompts, quizzes, and games, project plans and summaries, personal statements, essays, peer review feedback from other Rise applicants
Surveys and Research
Responses to surveys, feedback forms, and interviews
Comms and Other Info
Information or communications you send us (e.g. via our “Contact Us” channels) or share on our social media channels, information about your whereabouts, verification of or corrections to information. This may include information about your health or disability if you contact us to request an accommodation.
Safeguarding Information
Pursuant to the Rise Safeguarding Policy, Rise Designated Safeguarding Leads may learn of and be required to report the details and relevant victims or perpetrators of actual or suspected abuse or neglect of minors and vulnerable adults; this information can come from or may concern anyone who is aware of or suspects mistreatment, including Rise applicants, Rise Staff, or other responsible adults
Biographical Information
Biographical summaries, headshot, social media handles, preferred pronouns
*We have no plans to collect information revealing racial or ethnic origin, religion, or sexual orientation (unless you specifically choose to share this with us), but if our plans change, we will obtain your explicit consent to collect and process that information for specified purposes via a notice and checkbox or the like at the time of collection
Postal Address
Postal address
School Details
School name, address, email, phone number, contact person, tuition fees, scholarships received, universities and fields of study of interest
Languages
Languages spoken, English language proficiency
Family Information
Parent/guardian information (name(s), relationship, email address, phone number, languages spoken and proficiency, employment status), relationship to applicant, who you live with, household wealth percentile
Identity Documents
E.g. passport, national identity card, driver’s license, birth certificate
Qualifications
Responses to questions and essay prompts about the Rise traits and other qualifications, summaries and evidence of Rise Project and other achievements (e.g. websites, articles, photos, videos, apps, transcripts, certificates, letters), writing samples, activities, career interests
Audiovisual Recordings
Videos and photos you submit or that are captured at Rise events
Health Information
Health history, significant surgeries and conditions, disabilities, allergies, vaccination status, current health status (e.g. COVID-19), mental health, dietary restrictions, required medications, medical restrictions and information necessary for making any reasonable adjustments to accommodate your needs safely.
Financial Support
Information requested to complete the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile, sources and amounts of financial aid, facts and circumstances of financial need or hardship, education and living expenses and other financial needs, information about grants, scholarships and fellowships received, bank account (if we need to make a deposit), receipts or purchase details (for reimbursements or to verify valid use of benefit funds)
Travel
Travel documents (e.g. passport) for international travel, COVID-19 exposures or infections, consent forms, dietary preferences, incidental information collected during the trip
Occupation and Income
Occupation, employer and job title, income range
Employment Information
Employer, job title, work-related communications, work product, attendance and absence, grievance and disciplinary information, and professional fees, salary, or payroll information
Evaluations and Inferences
Evaluations and observations about Rise applicants, inferences derived from other information we obtain
Referrals
Names and email addresses of prospective Rise applicants
Background Checks
We use third-party vendor HireRight to run background checks on all adults that interact with minors in connection with Rise; HireRight collects information necessary to run a background check directly from the individual and does not share any of that data with us; HireRight will notify us if a background check reveals any criminal history or other matter of concern
Schools and References
Grades, transcripts, letters of recommendation, information provided by references (and information about those individuals such as their contact information)
Automated technologies are used to obtain information about the equipment, browsing actions, and usage patterns of users of our Services. This information includes IP address, device identifiers, device and browser characteristics, language preferences, referring/exit pages, clickstream data, and dates and times of access. We may also use your IP address to estimate your rough location.
You can manage how your device and browser share certain data by adjusting the privacy settings they provide. The Services are not designed to respond to “do not track” signals from browsers, but you can change your cookie settings on our website. Please note, however, that without cookies you may not be able to use all of the features of the Services.
“Rise Staff” includes employees and contractors of Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust, as well as volunteers and Rise partner organization staff who work with Rise.
Why We Use Information (Reasons)
Consent
We ask in advance for your consent to process certain information for specified purposes. Your consent is always optional and can be withdrawn. If you withdraw your consent for any purpose, we will restrict our processing accordingly and will only process the relevant data as required by law or to maintain or defend legal claims. Please be aware that we will not always be relying on your consent and we may have other lawful reasons to use your data.
Contract
We process your information as necessary for the performance of a contract you have entered into with us, such as the Terms of Use, a content license, or an event or filming release.
Legal Obligations
We process information to comply with legal, tax, and compliance obligations or lawful requests for information from a court or government authority.
Protection from Harm
We process information where necessary to protect an individual from serious physical harm or injury. This includes the need to act to protect someone’s vital interests, child protection / safeguarding, and other functions designed to protect the public from serious harm.
Legitimate Interests
We process information for our and others’ (including your) legitimate interests, such as commercial interests, individual interests or broader societal benefits. Our legitimate interests are described in the “How We Use Data” table below.
How We Use Information (Purposes)
Purpose:
Provide the Services
Reason:
Contract
- Identify you
- Establish and manage your account
- Determine your eligibility
- Communicate with you and respond to your communications about Services you’ve requested such as your application
- Review applications and manage the selection process
- Administer benefits, provide support, run events
- Administer international travel, identity verification, and age verification
- Provide requested content, information, programming, and resources
- Provide requested service and support
- Enable connections you request between the Services and third party communication platforms or services
- Enforce the Rules, Terms of Use, and other agreements
Purpose:
Provide the Services
Reason:
Legitimate Interests
- Build, develop, and optimize the Services
- Inform program design and craft program support based on demographic information and other aspects such as household size, income, family information, and language proficiency
- Obtain input from academic and subject matter experts
- Maintain health and safety at in-person events
- Provide reasonable accommodations (where not required by law)
- Help build representative cohorts and eliminate biases based on geography, gender, and other unique attributes
- Provide relevant and personalized content, benefits, support, and experiences
- Verify the accuracy and legitimacy of information and documentation provided to us
- Perform data analytics, accounting, auditing and other internal functions
- Coordinate with partner organizations to track referrals, provide support and programming, and share information about other opportunities
- Obtain services to operate and manage the Services, such as web and database hosting, IT support, operations, communication services, research tools, and data analytics
Purpose:
Ad Targeting and Measurement
Reason:
Consent, Legitimate Interests
- Deliver ads promoting the Services
- Target ads to relevant audiences
- Measure the effectiveness and performance of ads
Note, we rely on your consent to the extent these activities use cookies and other tracking technologies or require sharing your personal data (such as an email address) with a third party for the purposes of targeting or measuring ads; for all other purposes, we rely on legitimate interests
Purpose:
Marketing
Reason:
Consent, Legitimate Interests
Send direct marketing, such as emails and other electronic communications promoting or providing information about goods and services (not including things you’ve specifically requested, such as information regarding your application), and providing news and information about opportunities and events from us or our partners.
Distributing other forms of marketing (e.g. news, events, alerts) within the Services, via social media posts or other non-direct messaging features, sending marketing to ‘corporate’ subscribers (i.e. to their business email address), or performing market research and customer relationship management.
Note, we rely on your consent for sending most forms of direct electronic marketing, while we rely on legitimate interests for the other forms of marketing which we undertake. You may still object to uses based on legitimate interests if you wish.
Purpose:
Usage and Interactions
Reason:
Consent
- Remember your information so you do not have to re-enter it
- Track and understand your usage and interactions
- Measure usability and effectiveness
- Manage and enhance our Services
Purpose:
Safety and Security
Reason:
Legitimate Interests, Vital Interests, Protection from Harm
- Maintain and enhance the safety and security of the Services
- Verify and secure your transactions or submissions
- Protect against and prevent fraud, misuse, unauthorized transactions, claims, and other liabilities
- Protect individuals from serious harm, neglect, harassment, or abuse
Purpose:
Research
Reason:
Legitimate Interests
- Perform internal analytics on the information we collect and infer
- Offer surveys and interviews to collect information and feedback
- Conduct and support research, analysis, and publication on topics relevant to the Services
- Collaborate with researchers and academics
Purpose:
Improve the Services
Reason:
Legitimate Interests
- Evaluate and improve the Services
- Perform debugging to identify, prevent, and repair errors that impair or may impair the Services
- Verify or maintain quality of service
- Develop new programs and services
Purpose:
Compliance and Claims
Reason:
Legal Obligations*
* (including in respect of employment law, public health and child protection)
- Comply with applicable laws and regulations (including Office of Foreign Assets Control)
- Comply with applicable tax withholding or reporting obligations
- Provide reasonable accommodations (where required by law)
- Maintain or defend legal claims
- Respond to valid requests for information from courts, litigants, and governmental or official agencies and organizations
- Safeguard children and vulnerable adults, and comply with any mandatory reporting requirements
Information Sharing
Affiliates
Affiliates and related entities of Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust
Service Providers
Entities and individuals that perform services on our behalf, such as web and database hosting, IT support, communication services, research tools, marketing or advertising, data analytics, reviewing applications and other assistance in the selection process, and operations or other help providing the Services.
Many of our service providers are located in the United States. We do not authorize service providers to use or disclose information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements
Other Participants
Information you share in public-facing areas of the Services, community features, or at events will be visible to anyone with access to those public spaces (virtual or physical).
Partner Organizations
Organizations in local countries who refer candidates to us, provide programming and support, and offer their own programs and opportunities.
Academic Institutions
We share information as needed to manage the provision or delivery of scholarships or other benefits offered to selected fellowship recipients. We also share student and parent details with academic references when we reach out to verify the information provided by students.
Third-Party Platforms
Third-party communication or social media platforms who provide community features or serve advertisements promoting Rise.
Researchers and Academics
Authorized researchers who perform statistical or scientific research and analysis.
Legal
We may disclose personal information (1) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena); (2) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities, or where a referral to any appropriate local authority is required by law; (3) to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; (4) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical or other harm or financial loss; (5) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity; or (6) as directed by your legal or authorized representative, where applicable.
Your Rights and Choices
Access
Access personal information we process about you and obtain information about our processing
Rectification
Correct inaccurate information or supplement incomplete information
Erasure
Erase personal information, when, for instance, it is no longer needed or where you have withdrawn your consent and there is no other reason for the processing
Restrict Processing
Limit our processing of your information, for instance, where we no longer need it but you do not want it to be erased because it is needed in connection with a legal claim
Object
Object to processing for direct marketing purposes, or to processing based on “legitimate interests” (explained above) unless we have compelling reasons to continue processing or where it is needed in connection with a legal claim
Withdraw Consent
Withdraw consent you’ve previously given, without penalty – please note that (unless we have a clear and lawful need to continue processing that data, for example protection from harm) we will have to cease carrying out the purposes for which you originally consented to processing, which may affect our ability to provide certain aspects of the Services to you
Portability
Request that we provide you a copy of personal information you have provided us – in some countries, this right is only provided by law where the processing is based on consent or is carried out by automated means
Social Media and Public Sources
Information about you in your public social media, news media, and publications