Privacy Policy

AION SYNAPSE FOUNDATION (hereinafter, "the Foundation" or "we"), registered under number 13790 with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), United Arab Emirates, is the controller responsible for the processing of personal data collected through the SYNAPSE Ideathon 1.0 programme website.

Official contact details:

• Legal name: Aion Synapse Foundation
• DIFC registration: 13790
• Operating licence: OL13790
• Registered address: Dubai International Financial Centre, The Gate, Level 14, P.O. Box 74777, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Operating address: Premises/Floor No IH-00-01-02-OF-01, Level 2, Innovation One Building, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Email: grants​[at]​aionsynapse.org

We collect personal information that you provide directly when browsing our website, registering, completing the application form, or contacting us. This information may include:

• Identification data: full name, nationality, country of residence, identity document or passport.
• Contact data: email address, phone number, postal address.
• Academic and professional data: affiliated institution, academic degree, research area, curriculum vitae, and letters of endorsement.
• Project data: title, summary, objectives, budget, timeline, and supporting documents.
• Financial data: banking information, collected only from selected beneficiaries and through secure channels.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, operating system, device, cookies, and site browsing history.

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• Managing your registration and application to the SYNAPSE Ideathon 1.0 programme.
• Evaluating submitted proposals and selecting beneficiaries.
• Communicating with you throughout the call process.
• Processing payments corresponding to the micro-grants awarded.
• Complying with legal, tax, regulatory, and audit obligations.
• Producing statistics and impact reports for the programme.
• Sending you information about the programme, results, and future calls, provided you have previously authorised such communications.

The processing of your personal data is based on:

• Your free, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent, given by accepting this Privacy Policy and the form's consent checkboxes.
• The performance of the pre-contractual or contractual relationship arising from your participation in the programme.
• Compliance with legal obligations applicable in the DIFC and the United Arab Emirates.
• The Foundation's legitimate interest in ensuring the security, integrity, and proper operation of the programme.

The Foundation is headquartered at the Dubai International Financial Centre, United Arab Emirates. Personal data collected from participants located in Latin America, Central America, Mexico, and the United States will be transferred to and stored on our virtual private servers (VPS), managed by our infrastructure provider Antimaniak (headquartered in the European Union / Germany to ensure GDPR-compatible security standards).

To ensure the protection of your data during these international transfers, we implement the following safeguards:

• Standard contractual clauses or equivalent adequacy mechanisms for protection.
• Technical and organisational security measures (TLS encryption in transit and AES encryption at rest).
• Express and informed consent of the data subject for the international transfer, obtained through the form's third consent checkbox.

We may share your personal data with processors and third parties who provide services essential to the operation of the programme:

• Antimaniak: infrastructure and VPS hosting provider.
• Google Analytics: website traffic and behaviour analysis (subject to your cookie consent).
• LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram: management of social media presence and interactions (subject to your cookie consent).
• Programme evaluators and mentors: independent experts subject to strict confidentiality agreements.
• Competent authorities: where a legal or regulatory obligation applicable in the DIFC so requires.

The Foundation adopts appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or destruction, including:

• Use of HTTPS/TLS security protocols across the entire website.
• Storage on secure VPS servers with restricted access controls.
• Encryption of sensitive data in transit and at rest.
• Multi-factor authentication for administrative access to the platform.
• Confidentiality and data protection agreements signed with all staff and third parties.
• Contingency procedures and plans for rapid response to security incidents.
• Security warning: the Foundation will never request banking information, passwords, payments, or sensitive data through unofficial emails or insecure channels.

In accordance with the DIFC Data Protection Law and applicable Latin American regulations (such as ARCO rights), you have the right to exercise the following actions regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: know what data we process and obtain a copy of it.
• Right of rectification: request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right of erasure: request the deletion of your data when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.
• Right to object: object to the processing of your data for specific purposes.
• Right to restrict processing: request the temporary suspension of processing under specific circumstances.
• Right to data portability: receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Right to withdraw consent: withdraw consent given at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• To exercise your rights, send a formal written request to grants​[at]​aionsynapse.org with the subject "Exercise of data protection rights", including your full name, country of residence, and an official document proving your identity.

We will retain your personal data for the time strictly necessary to fulfil the purposes described:

• For the full duration of the call, evaluation, and formalisation of grants.
• For up to 2 years after the official closure of the programme, for legal audit purposes, impact reporting, and sending institutional communications about future calls (provided consent has been given).
• Financial and banking data collected from winners will be securely deleted once payments are completed and the legal period for tax justifications has elapsed.

The Foundation may update this Privacy Policy at any time. Any material change will be published at this same URL and the new effective date will be indicated at the top. Where applicable regulations require it, we will notify you directly or request new express consent.

If you have questions, doubts, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we process your personal data, please contact us at:

Aion Synapse Foundation — Email: grants​[at]​aionsynapse.org — Address: Premises/Floor No IH-00-01-02-OF-01, Level 2, Innovation One Building, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.