Open Government Jamaica seeks to encourage members of civil society to collaborate with government representatives on developing commitments for open government reform. This website provides a few ways to facilitate citizen participation in this effort. In order to provide this facilitation, and improve the quality of user experience with the site and the broader Open Government Jamaica programme, the SlashRoots Foundation will sometimes use information provided by you. This Policy demonstrates the SlashRoots Foundation’s commitment to protecting your privacy as you interact with the programme and the site. In some cases, if you do not want SlashRoots to collect or use your information in a particular way, then we will give you the opportunity to say so.
Application of This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected by the SlashRoots Foundation. The Policy applies only to the SlashRoots Foundation. It does not apply to any other company or organisation, including those whose digital services have links to SlashRoots Foundation content or services. Third party services which have links to SlashRoots Foundation content or services will govern the use of personal information you submit to them, which may also be collected by cookies when you visit or use them. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third party digital services.
This Policy will be reviewed regularly, and may be updated from time to time.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
Purpose
The SlashRoots Foundation collects personal information because:
You have provided it to us, for instance if you contact the SlashRoots Foundation to make comments, complain or ask questions, or have interacted with one of our digital services, for instance by participating in forums.
We need it to provide a service that you have requested, for instance by subscribing to email notifications.
We would like to improve our services, for instance through the collection and analysis of statistical and research data.
Method
Broadly, there are two types of information or data we collect when you use a digital service:
Information that you specifically give us.
For example, you may provide information about yourself when you are filling in a form. This type of information may include your name, email address and age. The information that you give us may be:
Personal information that is required in some instances, where you must provide personal information if you wish to use a particular service or participate in an activity.
Personal information that is optional, where you may choose to provide some personal information which is not required but is directly related to the SlashRoots Foundation’s functions or activities. Usually this type of information will enable the SlashRoots Foundation to improve or broaden the services we can offer you. If you choose not to provide this optional information, we would still be able to offer you the service, but perhaps with fewer options than if you had provided the optional information.
Permissions. Sometimes you will be asked to confirm that you agree to a particular activity. For example, you may need to expressly agree to the terms and conditions of service.
You may be able to make changes to the information you provided us (for example, if you change your email address) or withdraw the permission you gave us for a particular service. We will make it clear how you do that.
Data we collect that tracks your activity.
The SlashRoots Foundation automatically gathers information to monitor the use of its digital services, like the numbers and frequency of visitors to this website. This information helps us improve our services by learning what our Users use and don’t use. It can also help us identify if there are any problems with our services that need fixing. Most of the data we collect is aggregated, and this information is effectively anonymous to us.
In some cases we may collect data that can be linked to you individually. For example, when you log in to the Open Government Jamaica site as a registered user, we may store records of information such as the comments you make, the pages you viewed or links you click on. As well as helping to improve our services, we may use this data to provide recommendations that you might find helpful based on your activity. In some cases, a digital profile may be formed based on your activity. We do this in order to improve your experience or to improve our ability to provide a service.
Though surveys usually collect aggregate data, we will make it clear to you if any survey information is being collected in a way that could personally identify you.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Disclosure of Personal Information to Third Parties
The SlashRoots Foundation may disclose your personal information to third parties for the following purposes:
To provide the service you wish to use;
For research purposes relating to the performance, quality, maintenance and improvement of services and products;
To customise and promote services which may be of interest to you;
To provide technical support for you to use the services;
If permitted or required by law; or
Otherwise with your consent.
The SlashRoots Foundation is assisted by a variety of third parties, for instance, technology service providers, to deliver the services offered. These third parties may change from time to time.
Under no circumstances will the SlashRoots Foundation sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.
Information that You Disclose Publicly
The SlashRoots Foundation provides content and services on a platform with interactive features that you can contribute to. When using digital services, we suggest that you use your discretion and exercise caution when providing your personal information. For instance, if you “share” information that you have posted on this website using a social media tool, it is likely that you will be sharing your personal information. The SlashRoots Foundation has a limited capacity to protect personal information that you choose to share in this way.
Note that whenever you post personal information in publicly accessible places, such as chat rooms or message boards, this information becomes available to anyone with access to the internet. This information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information (such as your contact details) online, you may receive unwanted messages from other parties in return. Therefore, we recommend that you refrain from posting any information that you do not want seen in these public areas.
Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any personal information. Be responsible whenever you are online or use a digital service.
Information That is Disclosed via Other Platforms or Services
Some SlashRoots Foundation services may be integrated with external services, including social media networks. This may mean that information, for instance about your interests and activities, is tracked or pulled from other places (such as Facebook). If you are signed in to a SlashRoots Foundation service which is integrated with other media tools, this information may be available to others depending on the privacy settings you have in place on other platforms.
The number and nature of social media platforms is changing rapidly, and the way in which information is shared between them is becoming increasingly complex. To help you manage and protect your personal information, SlashRoots Foundation will ask you to opt-in before making your personal information available through an integrated service. You may also opt-out of your participation in most of the SlashRoots Foundation’s digital services. Information about how to opt-out will be provided in the particular service. However, you should be aware that the SlashRoots Foundation may continue to store personal information provided by you prior to you opting-out.
Your ability to opt-out of a third party tool or platform will depend on the conditions governing your agreement with that third party.
Accessing Your Personal Information
You have the right to request access to personal information that is held by the SlashRoots Foundation about you. Requests for access will be dealt with by the SlashRoots Foundation in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.
You also have the right to request the correction of any of your personal information that the SlashRoots Foundation holds. The SlashRoots Foundation will take reasonable steps to make appropriate corrections to personal information so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
Use of Your Personal Information to Contact You
We may use information that we know about your preferences and interests to tell you about other SlashRoots programmes and services when you are online. We may know about your preferences and interests because you have provided that information, for instance via a social media platform, or because we have inferred this based on your browsing history, or other data related to your behaviour on digital services.
Protection of Your Personal Information
The SlashRoots Foundation will take all reasonable and practicable steps to ensure that your personal information is properly protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. At the same time, we are committed to providing innovative and interactive experiences, and to being available to audiences on multiple platforms. Some of those platforms are not operated or controlled by the SlashRoots Foundation, and our ability to protect your personal information is limited.
We encourage you to be vigilant about the protection of your own personal information when using third party digital services (such as social media platforms). As far as reasonably practicable, we will make sure that our relationships with those third parties include appropriate protection of your privacy.
Danielle Andrade
Danielle Andrade-Goffe is a Jamaican Attorney-at-Law and partner in the law firm Goffe Law with extensive experience in environmental law. Her areas of practice include environmental policy, litigation, advocacy, legislative drafting and environmental law education.
From 2015 to 2022, she served as an Elected Representative of the Public for the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters for Latin America and the Caribbean (The Escazú Agreement).
Ms. Andrade-Goffe was previously Legal Director of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), a non-profit, environmental, non-governmental organisation, a post she held for nine years and is now a Board Member. During her time as Legal Director, she managed JET’s law and advocacy Programme.
She obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies and was called to the Bar in Jamaica in 2005. In 2009 she was the recipient of a British Chevening scholarship and completed a master’s degree in environmental law from Queen Mary, University of London in the United Kingdom.
Dahvia Hylton
Dahvia Hylton is an educator and an activist. She currently serves as the co-lead for theResearch, Advocacy and Policy Development Committee within the Jamaica Climate ChangeYouth Council. She has been a staunch advocate for environmental protection and the rightsof women and children for over five years, applying an intersectional approach to theseissues.
Matthew McNaughton
Matthew McNaughton is a digital development practitioner from Kingston, Jamaica. He co-founded the SlashRoots Foundation, a social impact organisation that uses digital practices to improve the design and delivery of public services and development programs in the Caribbean. He is also the Director for Inclusion, Safeguards, and Civil Society Engagement at Co-Develop, a nonprofit fund that supports countries implementing safe and inclusive digital public infrastructure.
Throughout his career, Matthew has led, supported, and scaled multiple international initiatives and national programmes across the Caribbean and Africa. Before Co-Develop, he worked as the Global Technology For Development Specialist at UNICEF. There, oversaw a digital messaging ecosystem that delivered more than 490 million messages annually, connecting children, mothers, and caregivers with life-saving information and public services. He played a leadership role in UNICEF's use of digital platforms during its COVID-19 pandemic response, helping Governments launch more than 50 new message programmes in 6 months. In a previous role at the World Bank, Matthew led multiple open government and citizen feedback programmes in Nigeria. These engagements ranged from the Edo State Open Government Initiative, Africa’s first subnational open government program, to the ICT for Social Accountability programme, a novel approach to incorporating real-time citizen feedback via mobile phones to improve healthcare quality.
In 2024, Matthew was appointed by the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology to a working group for the Universal Safeguards for Digital Public Infrastructure effort. He serves on multiple boards, including Jamaica’s Open Government Partnership Multi-Stakeholder Forum, the Caribbean Open Institute, the Code For All Initiative, and the steering committee of the Civil Society Digital ID Coalition.
Matthew held the Edward S. Mason and Ash Democracy Fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he earned his Master in Public Administration and earned a B.A in Philosophy from the College of Wooster.
