Privacy Policy
The Echo Project (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and what your rights are.
1. Who we are
The Echo Project is an independent documentary archive based in Ayrshire, Scotland, run by Bryan Shaw. For any privacy query, contact bryan@theechoproject.co.uk.
2. What we collect
When you nominate a story, get in touch, or sign up for updates, we collect what you give us directly, typically your name, email address, and details of the story you’re sharing. Nominations submitted through the contact form are stored securely within this website so we can review and manage them, alongside being emailed to us.
If you take part in a film, or allow filming at your location, you sign a paper release form in person. Nothing is signed or submitted through this website. The signed form records your name, your signature, the date you signed, and the details of the filming. It is our record of your consent, and it is the reason we hold it.
We also hold the footage itself, and a private contributor record: your contact details, a note of which forms you have signed and when, and, where you are the main contributor, a note of when you saw the finished film and what you said about it.
3. How we use it
- To respond to nominations and enquiries
- To arrange and coordinate filming with contributors and location owners
- To send updates to anyone who has opted in, such as new films or screenings
- To keep an accurate record of consent for published films, as required by our release forms
We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.
4. Legal basis
We process your data on the basis of your consent (for nominations, updates, and appearing on camera) and, where you are a contributor, to perform our agreement with you as set out in your signed release form. Where we retain records of consent and withdrawal, we do so on the basis of our legitimate interest in being able to demonstrate what was agreed and that we honoured it.
5. How we store signed release forms
Signed release forms are not stored on this website, and nothing is signed or submitted through it.
The signed paper original is kept in secure physical storage. A scanned copy is kept on encrypted storage that only Bryan Shaw can access, along with an encrypted backup copy, so that a lost or failed drive cannot destroy the record of what you agreed to. Signed forms are not uploaded to this website, to any public folder, or to any third party cloud service.
The 14-day window in which you can withdraw runs from the date you write on the form when you sign it. That date is the only thing it depends on.
6. How long we keep it
Contact and nomination details are kept only as long as needed to review, respond, or follow up, and you can ask us to delete a nomination at any time.
Signed release forms and contributor records are retained for as long as the related film remains published, as our record of consent. If you withdraw within the 14-day window described in your release form, we keep the record that you signed and that you withdrew, because we need to be able to show that you withdrew and that we acted on it. The footage of you is dealt with in line with that withdrawal: nothing that identifies you is used, and nothing personal you discussed is used. Non-identifying material, such as hands, tools, or textures, may be retained as general footage, as described in your release form.
7. Newsletter
If you subscribe to updates, we collect your email address for that purpose only. Signups use double opt-in: you receive a confirmation email and are only added to the list once you click the link in it. Our newsletter runs on MailPoet, and subscriber details are stored securely within this website. Emails are delivered through the MailPoet Sending Service, operated by MailPoet’s parent company Automattic, which processes your email address in order to deliver our emails and applies appropriate safeguards where that involves a transfer outside the UK. Your details are never sold or shared for marketing, and every email we send includes an unsubscribe link that removes you immediately. You can also ask us to delete your details at any time at bryan@theechoproject.co.uk.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask to see what personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, subject to our need to retain consent records for published films. You can also object to or restrict our processing of your data. Contact bryan@theechoproject.co.uk to exercise any of these rights, or complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how we’ve handled your data.
9. Cookies
This site uses only essential functionality required for it to work and does not use tracking or advertising cookies. Films are played through YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player, which does not set cookies unless you choose to play a video; once you press play, YouTube may set its own cookies under its own privacy policy. The Story Map is built with Leaflet, an open source mapping library, and displays map imagery served by CARTO, drawn from OpenStreetMap data. CARTO’s servers receive your device’s IP address when the map is displayed, under CARTO’s own privacy policy. Neither is used to track you.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date below shows when it was last revised.
Last updated: July 2026.