Privacy Policy

Global Scenes Reports ("GSR", "we", "us" or "our") is operated by D.O. Abiodun, and a network of investigative journalists around the globe. Registered as a sole proprietor in Austria, a network of journalists led by D.O. Abiodun are the controllers responsible for the processing described in this policy, unless another organisation is identified as independently responsible.

GSR is an independent international news organisation. Editorial coordination is based in 1130 Vienna, Austria, and our reporting serves a worldwide audience.

• Privacy enquiries and rights requests: talk@gscreports.com
• General editorial correspondence: office@gscreports.com
• Website: www.gscreports.com

Postal correspondence:

The Manchester address is a correspondence address. It does not identify a separate company, UK establishment or appointed UK data-protection representative.

Please use "Privacy request" as your email subject. Our privacy contact is not a designation of a statutory Data Protection Officer.

This policy explains how GSR handles personal information relating to its website, subscriptions and news alerts, correspondence, interviews, recordings, broadcasts, discussions, events, journalistic research, public contributions, recruitment and business administration.

We apply the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable Austrian law to processing within their scope. UK, Nigerian and other data-protection laws apply where their respective conditions are met. Journalism may be subject to specific rules reconciling privacy with freedom of expression and information.

Independent platforms, publishers and other organisations may have separate responsibilities and privacy notices. Where GSR itself determines the purposes and means of processing, using an external platform does not remove our responsibilities.

Reading this policy or using our website does not, by itself, constitute consent to all processing or international transfers.

Depending on your interaction with GSR, we process relevant information from the following categories:

• Contact and correspondence: names, email addresses, organisations, professional roles, contact details, messages, attachments and records of our response.
• Subscriptions and alerts: email addresses, preferences, consent records, subscription status and unsubscribe information.
• Interviews and events: participant information, scheduling details, statements, photographs, audio and video recordings.
• Public contributions: display names, comments, submissions and moderation records.
• Journalistic material: information about sources, interviewees and persons mentioned in reporting, including public records, documents, statements, images and verification notes.
• Recruitment and professional relationships: applications, qualifications, work history, references, contractual correspondence and relevant payment or accounting information.
• Technical and security information: IP addresses, browser and device details, access times, requested pages, error records and security signals generated through use of our services.

Sources include individuals, authorised representatives, contributors, correspondents, public authorities, public records, publications, public events, publicly accessible online sources and relevant service providers.

Public availability does not remove privacy protections. Pseudonymised information remains personal information where a person can still be identified. We treat information as anonymous only where individuals are no longer identifiable under the applicable legal standard.

Please send only information relevant to your enquiry. Contact us before sending unnecessary identity documents, sensitive evidence or confidential source material.

We identify the appropriate lawful basis for each activity. Under the EU GDPR, our principal bases are consent, contract or requested pre-contractual steps, legal obligations and legitimate interests.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess necessity and balance those interests against individuals' rights, reasonable expectations and potential harm.

Consent can be withdrawn without affecting processing lawfully undertaken before withdrawal. Withdrawal does not prevent genuinely separate processing supported by another applicable basis, such as retention of a record required by law.

Special-category information, including health information and political opinions, requires an additional applicable condition or journalistic provision. Criminal allegations and conviction records are subject to separate safeguards. Public interest alone does not automatically authorise every use.

Where UK, Nigerian or another jurisdiction's law applies, we assess the relevant local requirements. An EU lawful basis or journalistic provision does not automatically satisfy every other legal regime.

We assess accuracy, relevance, necessity, privacy, public interest and foreseeable consequences when collecting and publishing personal information.

Contacting GSR does not give blanket permission to publish everything supplied. Material submitted for reporting, on-the-record interviews and official responses may be quoted, summarised or published where lawful and editorially justified. We assess private contact details and unrelated personal information separately.

Please discuss confidentiality before submitting sensitive material. Ordinary email and website forms cannot guarantee absolute security or anonymity.

Access to source-identifying information is restricted according to editorial need, confidentiality arrangements and applicable law. A request for personal information does not automatically require disclosure of confidential sources.

We assess correction, removal and archive requests individually, considering accuracy, privacy, freedom of expression, public interest and applicable law. Journalistic protections do not automatically extend to marketing, subscriptions, recruitment or unrelated administration.

We provide information about recording and intended publication arrangements when organising interviews or events. Content may be broadcast live, recorded, edited, archived or distributed through GSR and relevant third-party channels.

Participants should avoid unnecessary disclosure of private information about themselves or others during public discussions. Contributions intended for public display may be accessible worldwide and copied or redistributed by others.

We may moderate or remove material involving abuse, threats, unlawful disclosures or breaches of participation rules. Removal from a GSR-controlled page does not necessarily remove independently retained copies.

Our website uses technologies needed to provide its functions. Where consent is legally required, non-essential cookies and tracking technologies are activated only after consent. Declining optional tracking does not itself prevent access to ordinary website content.

You can use available cookie controls and browser settings to manage preferences. You may also contact us for assistance with withdrawing consent. Browser controls supplement, rather than replace, any consent mechanism required on our website.

Our contact page identifies Google reCAPTCHA as a spam-prevention service. It may process technical and interaction information to distinguish legitimate use from automated abuse. Its processing is subject to the relevant configuration, lawful basis and applicable consent requirements. Further information is available in Google's Privacy Policy.

Embedded video, social-media material and other external features may transmit information to their providers when loaded. Providers may process that information independently under their own notices. Applicable consent requirements also apply to these features.

For information about the providers, technologies and durations relevant to a particular website feature, contact talk@gscreports.com. Additional information may be provided with the feature or its consent controls.

Where necessary and lawful, recipients may include:

• authorised GSR personnel and contributing journalists;
• website, hosting, cloud-storage, email, newsletter, form and communications providers;
• security, anti-spam, analytics and cookie-management providers;
• assessed transcription, translation and AI-assisted service providers;
• professional advisers, insurers, payment and accounting providers;
• interview, event, publishing and distribution partners; and
• authorities or other recipients where disclosure is legally required or otherwise justified.

We limit access according to purpose and need. Providers acting as processors on our behalf are subject to appropriate contractual requirements concerning instructions, confidentiality, security, assistance and deletion or return of information.

Some platforms, publishers and professional advisers act as independent controllers. Their role depends on the actual processing arrangement.

Public disclosure through journalism is separately assessed; providing information privately to GSR does not make all of it public.

GSR may use AI-assisted tools for transcription, translation, research support and drafting. We limit information supplied to what is necessary and apply appropriate human review.

We do not submit confidential source material, unpublished sensitive evidence or private correspondence to external AI services without assessing the purpose, legal basis, provider terms, confidentiality, security, retention, training use and international transfers.

AI-generated output is not proof of an allegation. Outputs concerning identifiable individuals require particular scrutiny.

We do not use this policy as blanket permission for solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects. Any introduction of such processing requires a specific legal assessment, appropriate information and applicable safeguards.

GSR's international activities and service providers may involve processing outside the country where information was collected.

Where the EU GDPR applies, a restricted transfer outside the European Economic Area requires an applicable Chapter V basis. This may be an adequacy decision covering the recipient, appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses, or a permitted derogation in the circumstances allowed by law.

Where the UK GDPR applies, the relevant UK transfer requirements apply separately, including applicable adequacy arrangements, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum where appropriate, or a permitted exception. Transfers subject to Nigerian law are assessed under that law's applicable transfer requirements.

The mechanism depends on the recipient, destination and activity. We assess supplementary measures where required. Website use alone is not consent to international transfers.

You may request details of the destinations and safeguards relevant to your information, and a copy of applicable safeguards, by contacting talk@gscreports.com. Lawful redactions may protect confidential or security-sensitive information.

The table below identifies the active services used to operate this website, their purposes, the countries or regions where processing may occur, and the applicable transfer arrangement where a restricted transfer is involved. This supplements the general descriptions in sections 7–10.

Where a provider's configuration or transfer arrangement changes, we update this table. You may request a copy of applicable safeguards by contacting talk@gscreports.com.

Services marked as subject to consent requirements are not activated until consent is given where required by applicable law. Declining optional services does not prevent access to ordinary website content.

We retain information only for a justified purpose. Our usual periods and criteria are:

These are purpose-dependent periods, not an entitlement to keep every record for the maximum time. Longer retention requires a documented reason, such as a preservation obligation, unresolved dispute or continuing editorial justification.

Backups expire according to the relevant backup cycle and remain subject to appropriate access restrictions. When continued retention is no longer justified, we delete or appropriately anonymise information.

We use technical and organisational measures proportionate to the information and risks, including access controls, confidentiality arrangements, minimisation, secure configuration, backups and security management.

No system is completely secure. Where an incident affects personal information, we assess and document it, take appropriate remedial action and notify regulators or affected individuals where required.

Report privacy or security concerns to talk@gscreports.com. Please do not send passwords or access credentials.

Depending on applicable law and the circumstances, you may have rights to:

• obtain information about processing and access your personal information;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request erasure or restriction;
• receive portable information where the relevant conditions apply;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• withdraw consent;
• object to direct marketing at any time; and
• obtain applicable safeguards concerning automated decisions.

Email talk@gscreports.com, using "Privacy request" as the subject, or write to our correspondence address in section 1. We may seek proportionate information to verify identity or clarify the request.

Under the EU GDPR, we respond without undue delay and normally within one month. A permitted extension of up to two additional months may apply to complex or numerous requests; we explain the extension within the initial month. Other applicable laws may provide different rules.

Requests are generally free. A fee or refusal is considered only where the applicable law permits it, with an explanation.

Rights may be limited by applicable journalistic provisions, source protection, other individuals' rights, legal obligations or legal claims. We assess restrictions individually and explain them as far as law allows. Retaining a news archive does not automatically override every privacy request.

You can unsubscribe through the available facility or by contacting us. Sending an enquiry, supplying an official response or applying for work does not itself subscribe you to marketing.

Providing information is generally voluntary. Without information necessary to answer an enquiry, supply a requested service or assess an application, we may be unable to complete that activity. Mandatory fields should be identified when information is requested.

Our journalism may concern children and vulnerable individuals. We consider necessity, safeguarding, identification risks, privacy and public interest before publication.

Where a service relies on a child's consent, we apply the relevant age and parental-authorisation requirements. Reporting on children is not treated as permission to collect unrelated information about them.

Please contact us promptly if you believe GSR has collected or published a child's information inappropriately.

You may complain directly to GSR at talk@gscreports.com. Please describe the processing concerned and the outcome you seek. We investigate and respond within applicable time limits.

You do not have to complain to GSR before contacting a competent supervisory authority where the law permits a direct complaint.

The competent authority and available remedies depend on the processing and applicable law. Under the EU GDPR, you may generally complain to the authority in your habitual residence, place of work or the place of an alleged infringement. Particular rules may apply to journalism.

We update this policy when relevant activities, practices or legal requirements change. The revision date appears at the beginning. Material changes are communicated where required.

Service-specific information may accompany forms, subscriptions, recruitment, interviews, events and other activities. Where additional information or consent is legally required, changing this policy alone does not replace it.