Privacy Policy – Hospitality Finance Network
Last updated: 19/11/2025
1. Who We Are
This Privacy Policy explains how [Hospitality Finance Network] (“HFP Net”, “we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal data when you use:
- Our website: hospitalityfinancenetwork.com
- Our LinkedIn page and other official social channels
- Any other online services or tools we operate for the HFP Net community
Data controller:
Hospitality Finance Network
Email: data@hospitalityfinancenetwork.com
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us at:
privacy@hospitalityfinancenetwork.com
2. Scope of This Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to:
- Members who create accounts or profiles
- Visitors to the website who browse without creating an account
- Job seekers using the Career Hub
- Employers / recruiters posting roles
- Partners, vendors, and contributors who interact with us
By using our website or services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
3. What Personal Data We Collect
The type of data we collect depends on how you interact with us.
3.1 Data You Provide Directly
Account & Profile Data
When you create an account or join the community, we may collect:
- Name
- Email address
- Password (stored in encrypted form)
- Country/region
- Current job title/role
- Employer / type of property (optional)
- LinkedIn profile URL (optional)
- Profile picture (optional)
- Short bio or professional summary (optional)
Community Participation
When you participate in the community, we process:
- Posts, comments, messages, and other content you create
- Topics and areas you choose to follow or engage with
- Files or documents you upload (e.g. templates, guides) – you must ensure you have the right to share these and that they do not contain confidential or sensitive information without permission
Career Hub – Job Seekers
If you apply for or show interest in roles via our Career Hub, you may provide:
- CV/Resume
- Cover letters or professional summaries
- Work history, education, and skills
- Salary expectations (if voluntarily provided)
- Other information you choose to include in applications or messages to recruiters
Career Hub – Employers / Recruiters
When you post a job or create an employer profile, we may collect:
- Your name and contact details
- Company name and company description
- Job posting details (role, location, salary range if provided)
- Any other information you voluntarily include in job posts or messages
Contact & Support
When you contact us (via forms, email, or social media), we may collect:
- Your name and contact details
- The content of your message and any attachments
3.2 Data We Collect Automatically
When you visit our website or use our services, we may automatically collect:
- IP address
- Browser type, device type, operating system
- Referring pages/URLs
- Pages visited, time spent, and click paths
- Approximate location based on IP (country/city level)
- Log files, error logs, and usage analytics
This is typically collected via cookies, analytics tools, and server logs. See Section 8 for more on cookies.
3.3 Data from Third Parties
We may receive information about you from:
- LinkedIn or other social networks if you follow or interact with our official pages, or if you choose to log in/connect via a social account (where available)
- Analytics and marketing tools (e.g. Google Analytics) – mostly aggregated, non-identifiable usage data
- Recruiters, employers or other members who refer you, mention you in job-related content, or share your public professional profile (in line with applicable law)
We will only use this information as permitted by law and in line with this Privacy Policy.
4. How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
4.1 To Provide and Operate Our Services
- Create and manage your user account
- Allow you to log in, post, comment, and participate in the community
- Publish and manage articles, resources, and community content
- Operate the Career Hub (posting, viewing, and applying for jobs)
- Facilitate communication between job seekers and employers (where allowed)
- Provide customer support and respond to your queries
4.2 To Communicate With You
- Send you service-related emails, such as account confirmation, password reset, and important notifications about the platform
- Send you community updates, newsletters, or announcements if you opted in
- Inform you of new articles, events, webinars, or jobs relevant to hospitality finance
- Contact you regarding changes to our terms, guidelines, or privacy policy
You can opt out of non-essential marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link or contacting us.
4.3 To Improve Our Services
- Analyse how members and visitors use the website
- Understand which topics are most valuable to the community
- Improve site performance, content structure, and user experience
- Develop new features or services based on aggregated usage patterns
Where possible, we use aggregated or anonymised data for analytics.
4.4 To Maintain Security and Prevent Misuse
- Protect our website and services against abuse, spam, fraud, and unauthorised access
- Enforce our Community Guidelines, Terms of Use, and other policies
- Investigate and respond to reports of inappropriate content or behaviour
4.5 To Comply With Legal Obligations
We may process and retain certain data as required by law, such as:
- Record-keeping and accounting obligations
- Responding to lawful requests from public authorities
- Managing legal claims or disputes
5. Legal Bases for Processing (If/Where GDPR Applies)
If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, or similar jurisdictions, we rely on the following legal bases to process your personal data:
- Performance of a contract – e.g. where processing is necessary to provide the services you sign up for.
- Legitimate interests – e.g. to operate, secure, and improve the community, communicate with you about relevant content, and prevent misuse, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights.
- Consent – e.g. for sending marketing emails or using certain non-essential cookies, where required by law.
- Legal obligations – e.g. where we must keep certain records for tax, compliance, or regulatory reasons.
You can withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent (this does not affect processing prior to withdrawal).
6. How We Share Your Personal Data
We do not sell your personal data.
We may share your data in the following situations:
6.1 With Other Members
- Your profile information, posts, and comments may be visible to other members and visitors, depending on your settings and the platform design.
- If you post jobs or apply for roles, relevant information you choose to provide will be visible to other users involved in that process (e.g. employers, job seekers).
Please be mindful that any information you choose to make public in the community can be seen, copied, or shared by others.
6.2 With Service Providers
We may use third-party providers to help us run the community and website, for example:
- Website hosting and infrastructure providers
- Email delivery and newsletter tools
- Analytics providers
- Customer support and ticketing tools
- Payment providers (if we later introduce paid features)
These providers are only allowed to process your data on our behalf, under our instructions, and must protect it appropriately.
6.3 With Employers / Recruiters
If you use the Career Hub to apply for jobs or express interest, we may:
- Share your application details and relevant profile information with the employer or recruiter who posted that role
- Allow employers/recruiters to contact you using the details you provided for job-related purposes
We are not responsible for how employers/recruiters independently handle your data once they receive it. They act as independent data controllers and should provide their own privacy notices.
6.4 For Legal Reasons
We may disclose your information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to:
- Comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal processes
- Respond to lawful requests from government authorities
- Enforce our terms, community guidelines, or agreements
- Protect the rights, property, or safety of HFP Net, our members, or the public
6.5 Business Transfers
If we undergo a reorganisation, merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will ensure that the receiving party is bound by similar privacy obligations.
7. International Data Transfers
Because this is a global community, your data may be stored or processed in countries outside your own, including countries that may have different data protection laws.
Where required by law (e.g. under GDPR), we will take appropriate measures to ensure your personal data is protected, such as:
- Using Standard Contractual Clauses or similar contractual safeguards
- Working with providers in jurisdictions that provide an adequate level of protection
- Implementing technical and organisational measures to secure the data
8. Cookies & Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Enable basic site functionality (e.g. login, session management)
- Remember your preferences (e.g. language, cookie choices)
- Analyse site usage and performance (e.g. Google Analytics or similar tools)
- Improve content relevance and user experience
Types of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies – required for the site to function and cannot be switched off.
- Performance/analytics cookies – help us understand how visitors use the site.
- Functionality cookies – remember your settings and preferences.
- Marketing cookies (if used in the future) – help track effectiveness of campaigns and content.
Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies. You can manage your preferences via:
- Our cookie banner or settings, where provided
- Your browser settings (blocking or deleting cookies)
Please note: disabling certain cookies may impact your experience on the site.
9. Data Retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including:
- As long as you have an active account
- For the duration needed to provide you services and operate the community
- For as long as needed to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements
When we no longer need your data:
- We will delete or anonymise it, or
- Where deletion is not possible (for technical or legal reasons), we will securely store and isolate it from further use.
You may request deletion of your account or certain data (see Section 10), but please note:
- Some content (e.g. posts, comments) may remain in anonymised or aggregated form
- We may need to retain some records for legal or audit reasons
10. Your Rights
Depending on your location and applicable laws, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Deletion: Request deletion of your data in certain circumstances (e.g. when it’s no longer needed, or if you withdraw consent).
- Restriction: Ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain cases.
- Portability: Request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (where technically feasible and legally applicable).
- Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
- Withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at:
privacy@hospitalityfinancenetwork.com
We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond within the time period required by applicable law.
If you are in the EEA, UK, or similar jurisdiction, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
11. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, such as:
- Secure hosting environments
- Encryption where appropriate (e.g. passwords, some data in transit)
- Access controls and role-based access for staff/admins
- Regular monitoring of systems and logs
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to minimise risks.
You can help by:
- Using a strong, unique password
- Keeping your login details confidential
- Logging out after using shared devices
- Informing us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access to your account
12. Children’s Privacy
Our services are not intended for children under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.
If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child without appropriate consent or legal basis, we will take steps to delete it.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at privacy@hospitalityfinancenetwork.com.
13. Third-Party Websites & Links
Our website and community may contain links to third-party websites, tools, or services (e.g. LinkedIn, job boards, training providers).
We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third parties. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal data.
14. Your Responsibilities as a Member
As part of this professional community, you also have responsibilities:
- Do not upload or share personal data about others without their consent or a clear lawful basis.
- Do not share confidential or proprietary information belonging to your employer, colleagues, guests, or third parties without permission.
- Respect other members’ privacy and follow our Community Guidelines.
Violations may lead to content removal, account suspension, or other actions as described in our Terms and Community Guidelines.
15. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect:
- Changes in our services or features
- Legal or regulatory developments
- Feedback from the community
When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the “Last updated” date at the top
- Notify you through the website, email, or other reasonable means
Continued use of our services after changes are posted means you accept the updated policy.
16. How to Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at:
Hospitality Finance Network
Email: privacy@hospitalityfinancenetwork.com