Privacy notice

19 October 2026

Introduction and purpose

The English Sports Council (Sport England) is a non-departmental public body tasked by law with increasing participation in sport and physical activity in England. In January 2021 Sport England launched its 10-year strategy called Uniting the Movement (the Strategy) to support more people to be active and tackle the inequalities experienced by people and communities that have traditionally been left behind.

The Activity Check-In is a research study commissioned by Sport England and carried out by Thinks Insight & Strategy (Thinks) to help us better understand key topics relating to participation in sport and physical activity.  

The findings will be used to support decisions that will make us more effective at tackling inequalities and unlocking the advantage of sport and physical activity for everyone. A key part of the Activity Check-In study is getting people from different backgrounds and communities to take part in pieces of research on specific topics.

During a research project, we will process personal data relating to you in several different ways and for different reasons. Under UK GDPR law, whenever your personal data is being processed you must be told what personal data will be processed, who will process it, how they will do so and the responsibilities they have to you and to the law. 

This privacy notice will help you understand how Sport England and Thinks use and protect your personal data across the research projects being carried out.

About us

Sport England (ICO registration number ZA208476) is the owner of the project and as such is designated the “Data Controller” of the personal data held about you. Sport England will process the data you provide for this project in accordance with this privacy notice and its general privacy statement.

Thinks Insight & Strategy (ICO registration number Z3224021) has been commissioned by Sport England to deliver qualitative research for the Activity Check-In and as such is the “Data Processor” of the personal data held about you. Thinks will process the data you provide for this project in accordance with this privacy notice and its general privacy statement.

If you have any concerns, wish to exercise your rights or find out more information we can be contacted as follows:

Sport England: [email protected]
Thinks Insight & Strategy: [email protected]

What does the research cover and what activities may be involved?

This privacy notice covers adults (aged 18+) and young people (aged 16 or 17) who can make their own decisions about taking part in research.

Children (aged 5-15 years) may also be asked to take part in a piece of research and have their data processed. As such, children will be provided with a simplified privacy notice when they are asked to take part. This simplified notice is also available below.

For research involving children, a consent notice will need to be signed by the relevant parent or guardian. This will be based off the information provided in this privacy notice for adults.

If you take part in a piece of research for the Activity Check-In, you may be invited to participate in one or more of the following:

• focus groups 
• interviews
• ethnographic research (e.g. diaries, observation, or in-setting activities)
• workshops
• case studies
• online research communities or forums.

Taking part in any research is entirely voluntary.

Your rights

You have the following rights over any data we hold about you:

• Your right of access – you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
• Your right to rectification – you have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate.
• You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

These rights are not absolute, and we may be unable to uphold all or some of these rights. For example, where any of your personal data is included in content that is published and in the public domain. 

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. 

If you make a request, Sport England, Thinks Insight & Strategy as data processors will have one calendar month to comply with your request. 

Sport England can be contacted at [email protected]  
Thinks Insight & Strategy can be contacted at [email protected]

If you are not happy with how we have handled your personal data or dealt with your request, please use the Sport England Complaints Procedure, which you can find via this link and scrolling down the page.

Your personal data and lawful basis for processing

Only personal data needed for the research project will be collected from you. 

Personal data

We collect and process information participants share with us, based on what’s needed to complete a research project. This may include, but not be limited to, information such as:

• basic personal details (e.g. name, contact details, address/location)
• demographic information (e.g. age, gender, occupation)
• audio, video, or written recordings of sessions (with your knowledge)
• information about your participation in sport and physical activity.

Sport England’s lawful basis for processing your personal data is public task.

Special category data

Sport England and Thinks Insight Strategy may also collect and process the following special category data:

• Race
• Ethnicity
• Religious or philosophical belief
• Disability or health condition
• Sexual orientation. 

Please note: your race, ethnicity, disability and other health details will be processed when images, video, or audio recordings are made of you or shared by you.

Sport England’s additional lawful basis for processing your special category data is your explicit consent. Thinks process data for contractual obligation and under explicit consent.

Providing your explicit consent

You will have the opportunity to provide explicit consent after you have been given clear written information about the research project you’ve been invited to take part in and how your special category data will be used. This will happen before you are asked to share such data. 

Your consent will be captured and recorded by Thinks Insight & Strategy (or authorised third parties) at two points. First, when you are invited to take part in a piece of research, and second, before the start of any research activity where your data will be captured and processed. 

Without your consent, these parties cannot process this kind of data.

Purposes for processing your personal data

Your personal and special category data will be processed for the following purposes:

• to recruit you to participate in the research and check for eligibility
• to communicate with you about the research and to gain your consent
• to respond to any queries
• to pay incentives for taking part in research activities (where appropriate)
• to conduct data analysis and produce key research findings
• to produce written and audio-visual reports, summaries, and case studies
• to publish research reports, summaries, and case studies on Sport England or other stakeholder social or traditional media platforms
• to share learning, data, and insight generated from across Activity Check-in research
• to contact you for feedback, post project reviews, follow-up actions, or other matters related to your participation in Activity Check-in research
• to re-contact you about taking part in future pieces of Activity Check-in research
• to share with approved suppliers, representative, or agents
• to comply with any regulatory or legal obligations.

When taking part in research activities, such as focus groups, depth interviews, workshops, online communities, or being observed/joined by researchers in your community or everyday settings, data may be collected through research tools such as worksheets, feedback forms, or other written activities or tasks you complete. 

We may also process your data through audio-recording, photography, or videorecording where this is relevant to the research. You will always be made aware of what is being captured before a research activity begins, how this information will be used, and be provided with a suitable consent form where you will be able to record your explicit consent for any recording and the stated use of your image or other intellectual property rights.

Thinks will engage trusted partners to support with the delivery of research projects. These third parties are authorised data sub processors. These include providers such as Zoom, Microsoft and Recollective Inc whose platforms are used to communicate with you and compile relevant information. Thinks will also use fieldwork agencies to assist with the research project. Thinks regularly review suppliers for data security compliance to ensure your data is safe and track where it is held.

Where your data will be processed

Data will be processed and stored primarily in UK, EEA/EU data centres.

Some sub-processors may transfer data to US based servers. In these cases, relevant safeguards will be in place and aligned to legislation to ensure it is lawfully and safely processed.

You can receive a copy of the Processors used for a specific piece of Activity Check-in research by emailing [email protected]

As part of Thinks’ commitment to the security of your information, Thinks has regular internal audits as part of its information security and periodic self-assessment to verify that it continues to follow UK and EU regulations. Thinks is ISO27001 certified and Cyber Essentials Plus accredited. Cyber Essentials Plus is a recognised government-backed cyber security certification scheme designed to protect against cyber-attacks.

Keeping and deleting your information

As Processor, Thinks will keep information of your participation in any research project for a maximum of 6 months following completion of the project, after which it will be destroyed. This includes any raw personal and special category data collected during the project. 

If you give permission to be re-contacted about further Activity Check-in research for Sport England, relevant information will be stored by Thinks for the duration of the contract, after which it will be deleted no later than 60 days following the contract end date.

Authorised suppliers will only store your data during the contract period after which it will be deleted, and no later than 60 days following the contract end date.

Sport England and your data

Sport England will only receive and store your personal data (incl. any special category data) when it is present in any materials or reports (e.g. case studies, videos, images, or audio clips etc.) that have been created to communicate findings from a research project. This may not be a requirement for every research project, and your data will not be used for this purpose without your explicit consent. Any personal data collected for this purpose that isn’t used will be deleted immediately and won’t be shared by Thinks as Data Processor. 

In these instances, Sport England will retain your personal data in reports or materials for a maximum of 5 years after they have been created, after which they will be destroyed. Thinks will also transfer corresponding consent records to Sport England following completion of the project. 

Any personal data transferred to Sport England will be stored securely within Sport England’s IT environment, or in our trusted third-party hosting providers’ secure systems and in accordance with the contracts we have in place. All personal and special category data held by Sport England in these circumstances will be deleted after 5 years. 

Personal data processed to provide case study material, videos, images, or audio which are published on web platforms with your consent will not be capable of complete deletion. This is due to them being in the public domain, meaning they may be accessed or downloaded prior to any request for deletion being received.

Consent

You can also modify or withdraw your consent at any time. However, you should be aware that depending on the nature of the processing (e.g. where any of your personal data is included in content that is published online and in the public domain) it may be impossible to stop processing. For example, Sport England will not be able to account for any downloads of materials made prior to your withdrawal of consent to processing.

Data protection complaints

You have the right to complain about how we use your personal data. 

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data or dealt with your request, please use the Sport England Complaints Procedure, which you can find via this link. If you do complain to us, we will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, investigate it fairly and promptly, and write to you with our response.

If you do not believe we have handled your complaint fairly you have the right to the UK Information Commission (IC), formally the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact them via this link.

Under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the IC typically requires you to have completed our internal complaints process, before they will investigate.