Privacy policy

Last updated 2026-09-29

This page explains how personal data is used on this website. If you take part in the Digital Kaleidoscope study, the study's own participant information and data protection notice explain how your research data is used.

Who we are

Digital Kaleidoscope is a research project at Imperial College London, which is the data controller for personal data collected through this website. Our contact: kaleidoscope@imperial.ac.uk. Imperial's Data Protection Officer: Robert J Scott (dpo@imperial.ac.uk).

Data we collect

  • When you visit: we don't keep logs of the pages you visit. Our server briefly uses your IP address to limit repeated sign-in attempts, and doesn't store it.
  • When you sign in: the phone number you enter. To check that it is yours, we ask you to send us a short code by WhatsApp from that number. We use the sender's number and the code to sign you in. We don't keep the message itself. While you sign in, the number and code are held in a protected form for up to 10 minutes.
  • WhatsApp: messages you send to our WhatsApp number pass through Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, and Meta's own privacy policy applies to your use of WhatsApp.
  • If you join the study: what we collect for research is in the data protection notice.

Why we use it

  • Running and securing this website: our public task as a university, and our legitimate interests.
  • Signing you in and contacting you about the study: taking part in the study.

Who we share it with

Under no circumstances do we sell personal data. We share it only with the two services necessary to run this site, under contract: Meta Platforms (WhatsApp messaging) and Microsoft (database hosting in the UK).

Where it is stored and for how long

Sign-in codes are deleted within 10 minutes. How long study data is kept is in the data protection notice.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your data, or withdraw your agreement. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

How to delete your data

To ask us to delete personal data we hold about you, including your phone number and any WhatsApp messages you sent us, email kaleidoscope@imperial.ac.uk from an address of your choice, giving the phone number concerned. We may ask you to confirm the number is yours by sending us a WhatsApp message. We will reply within two weeks.

If you are taking part in the study, use Request deletion on your dashboard for your study data.