In order to ensure both your privacy and the privacy of all sponsored children, we are now only sharing the first names of sponsors and the preferred names of sponsored children with each other.

We understand that you may feel comfortable sharing your surname with your sponsored child, but not all supporters feel the same way. As data privacy is an issue of increasing importance in many places in the world, Compassion needs to take a global view of these concerns.

Sponsored children knowing their supporters’ full names can have implications for the child’s protection as well. It’s a risk that your full name could fall into the wrong hands and a third party could contact you, claiming to speak for your sponsored child, and ask for money or other support directly. Removing your surname essentially removes this risk.

In the same way, your sponsored child will also only use their first or preferred name when writing to you.