Privacy Notice

UNHCR's privacy notice

This privacy notice explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data when you visit this website. By visiting the website, you are accepting the provisions set out in this privacy notice.

This privacy notice is intended for users of UNHCR global, regional, country and donation websites. We have other privacy notices for UNHCR Help websites and associated sites that provide information to refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless and internally displaced people; inter-agency websites; and other specific purposes.

Through this website you may reach or be directed to other websites related to UNHCR, such as those of our national partners who fundraise on our behalf. These sites have their own privacy notices, which may vary slightly from this one.

1. Who are we?

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR"), also known as UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. Together with partners and communities, UNHCR works to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. UNHCR also strives to secure lasting solutions.

2. Background on our legal framework

UNHCR enjoys a special legal status in accordance with the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946. This convention grants UNHCR and other UN agencies the privileges and immunities necessary to perform our functions independently and without interference.

UNHCR processes personal data in accordance with our data protection framework, which is set out in our General Policy on Personal Data Protection and Privacy. It aims to protect the dignity and fundamental rights of data subjects (individuals whose data is being collected, stored, or used). It is aligned with the UN Principles on Personal Data Protection and Privacy.

3. What data are we collecting?

3.1. Information you give us

When you undertake certain actions on our website, such as donating, signing up to email lists, or filling in a form to register your interest in our activities or to apply for a job, you knowingly provide us with personal information about you, such as your name, email address, postal address and other information.

For this category of data (which is information you provide to us directly), the responsibility for deciding how your personal data is used, and for ensuring that it is protected, sits with the UNHCR office/entity that manages the specific global, regional, country or donation site that you are visiting.

UNHCR will only use your personal data for the specific reason(s) that you provided it to us.

Through the use of personal data such as your email address, we can target messages for you on social media platforms and identify other people on the Internet who are most likely to support UNHCR work and help refugees. This may require uploading an encrypted list of email addresses to social media platforms. This data is not stored or reused by such service providers and is only held for the duration of the matching process. If you would not like your data to be used in this way, please fill out our contact form.

3.2. Information we collect automatically

Aside from the personal information that you provide to us for a specific purpose, the UNHCR website also collects anonymous information about your browsing behaviour when you visit our website, through the use of cookies. This helps us to maintain and improve the UNHCR website.

For this category of data, the responsibility for deciding how your personal data is used, and for ensuring that it is protected, sits with the UNHCR Division of External Relations (DER).

Read our detailed cookie notice for further information.

4. Who will have access to your data?

Your data will be accessed only by authorized personnel within UNHCR and by its partners involved directly in providing services to UNHCR. All UNHCR partners are bound by strict confidentiality agreements and adhere to the same high standards of data protection and privacy as UNHCR.

We may share your personal information with:

• our agents or service providers including digital advertising agencies or social media companies that perform services on our behalf for the purpose of sending you communications on UNHCR's activities, performing direct marketing or completing a donation transaction that you initiate;
• our national partners who help us raise money for forcibly displaced and stateless people.

With these fundraising partners we also share anonymized data gathered through cookies when you visit our website, in order for them to offer customized content to their audience. In no case will any sensitive financial information be shared.

5. How long do we keep your data?

For the personal data that you provide to us directly, your data is kept for only as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected them for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or archiving requirements. Your data may be deleted upon your request or if you have been inactive for a specified timeframe. The retention period will depend on the specific purpose of the activity.

Should you unsubscribe to any email lists, our policy is to retain a minimum amount of information about you after you have unsubscribed, solely to ensure that we have a record of your decision.

For data that we collect automatically, our retention period is 5 years. This is so we can compare and analyze usage and activity across our websites.

6. What are your rights?

As a data subject, you have specific rights regarding how we process your data, including where a third party processes data on our behalf. These rights are based on UNHCR's overarching data protection framework.

Right to deletion — further details

Please be aware that there may be legitimate grounds for retaining your data for a longer period, such as for archiving (administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value), statistical or scientific research purposes, for accountability of UNHCR's actions, or when necessary for the long-term provision of protection, assistance, and solutions for forcibly displaced and stateless people. Your data may also be deleted upon your request or if you have been inactive for a specified timeframe.

How to exercise your rights

UNHCR is committed to ensuring that processes are in place for you to exercise your data subject rights. Please use this form to exercise your rights. The output will be communicated to you in writing via electronic mail.

7. Updates to this privacy notice

We will revise or update this privacy notice if our practices change. We encourage you to visit this section of the website regularly in order to keep up to date with any changes. Changes to the notice will apply from the date they are posted on our site and will not apply retroactively.

This privacy notice was last updated on 14 April 2026.