Privacy Policy

ALGAE BIOMASS ORGANIZATION
WEB SITE PRIVACY POLICY

 

ABO Privacy Policy

Last Updated: January 2019

This Privacy Policy explains how Algae Biomass Organization (“ABO”, “we”, “our” and “us”) may collect, use, and disclose information we obtain through our website at https://algaebiomass.org/ (the “Site”), as well as information we use for membership management, technical support, and product development purposes. This Privacy Policy is incorporated by this reference into the Algae Biomass Organization Terms of Use located here (“TOU”).

1. Information We Collect

For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. We obtain Personal Information relating to you from various sources described below.

We collect Personal Information when you voluntarily submit this information through the Site or via other means when you become our member or register for our events. We also collect Personal Information, such as usage statistics, by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies as you use the Site.

Where applicable, we indicate whether and why you must provide us with your Personal Information, as well as the consequences of failing to do so.  If you do not provide Personal Information when requested, you may not be able to benefit from our services if that information is necessary to provide you with them or if we are legally required to collect the information. We obtain Personal Information relating to you from various sources described below.

Personal Information Provided by You

Membership Information. If you apply for membership via the Site, we ask you to provide us with Membership Information, such as your choice of membership type,  personal or professional contact details, information about your organization and industry, and to create login credentials. We need this information to process your membership application.

You may also choose to provide us with additional voluntary information.

Event Registration Information. If you register to an event organized by us, such as the Algae Biomass Summit, we collect your contact details and you may choose to provide us with information related to your payment, emergency contact details and dietary restrictions. If you decide to make accommodation reservations through us we may also process information related to the reservation, such as arrival and departure dates along with possible documentation proving that you are eligible to get discount, such as government or student ID. If you are a speaker at one of our events, we may collect certain information about you and share it with the other event participants, including your name, affiliations, and bio, if you have provided one.

Business Contact Information. We may receive your professional contact details if you are an employee or otherwise associated with our organizational members, partners, and vendors. Professional contact details may include first and last name, email address, phone number, title and department, and other Personal Information relevant to, and necessary for us to manage a particular relationship.

Communication Information. If you contact us directly or submit Personal Information through the Site (e.g., to ask a question via our online contact form), we may collect your name, email address, phone, company, job title, postal address, the content, the solution of your interest, date and time of your message and any attachments thereto, and other Personal Information you may directly provide to us. Without this information we may not be able to answer your question or process your request.

Payment processing. When you make payments to us, we may learn details about the payment method you used, such as your bank account or credit card information. We need this information to process your payment, and to comply with tax and accounting rules.

Information Collected via Automated Means

The Site collects and stores Personal Information that is generated automatically as you use it, including your preferences and anonymous usage statistics. Our Site may use “cookies”, which are small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters stored on your device, as well as similar technologies (such as “clear gifs” or “web beacons”) to personalize your online experience and improve our services.

Cookies. When you visit the Site, we and our third-party service providers receive and record information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, and from cookies and similar technology. We use both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie disappears after you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site. Please review your web browser’s “Help” file to learn the proper way to modify your cookie settings. Please note that if you delete, or choose not to accept, cookies, you may not be able to utilize the features of the Site to their fullest potential.

Personal Information Collected via Third Parties

Third Party Advertising Companies. We also implement third-party content or advertising on the Site that may use clear gifs or other forms of web beacons, which allow the third-party content provider to read and write cookies to your browser in connection with your viewing of the third party content on the Site.

Third party advertising companies may also provide us with data collection, reporting, ad-response measurement, analytical information, and assist with delivery of relevant marketing messages and advertisements. Some of our Advertisers may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative or the Digital Advertising Alliance, or for users in the EU, the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Choice Page (http://www.youronlinechoices.eu). Please visit these organizations’ opt-out pages to learn about how you may opt out of receiving web-based personalized ads from member companies. Please visit your device’s settings or install the AppChoices app to learn more about how you may opt out of receiving personalized ads in mobile apps.

Social Sign-on. We may collect Personal Information about you when you sign in via third party services (such as Facebook and Google).

 

Other Third Parties. We may also obtain Personal Information about you from other third parties, such as YourMembership, Constant Contact and others..

 

Publicly Accessible Sources. We may collect information about you, including [Complete public sources] from publicly accessible sources, such as [Complete types of data].

2. How We Use the Personal Information We Collect

We use Personal Information we collect on the Site in a variety of ways in providing services and operating our organization, including the following:

• Providing Our Members with Services. We provide our members with access to the proprietary ABO membership directory and access to ABO’s members-only website with reports, presentations and other resources as well as ABO technical standards. We also offer our members a right to participate in on-going ABO educational activities. Our members have the chance to participate in volunteering by, for example, taking part in ABO committees. We may use your contact information to communicate with you about your membership.

 

• Providing Our Members with Benefits and Discounts. We provide our members with discounts to many of our events and services. We process Personal Information to keep track on admitted discounts and benefits.

 

• Organizing Events and Webinars. We organize events and webinars. Some of the events are only available to our members. We process Personal Information to register you for the event, make necessary accommodations, to manage possible rights to discounts and to communicate with you.

 

• Facilitating and Improving Our Site. To operate, maintain, enhance and provide all features of the Site, to provide services and information that you request, to respond to comments and questions and otherwise to provide support to users.

• Analytics and Site Improvement. To understand and analyze the usage trends and preferences of our users, to improve the Site, and to develop new services, features and functionality.

• Tailored User Experience. To (i) personalize our Site, such as remembering your Personal Information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit at the Site; (iii) monitor and analyze the effectiveness of our services; (iv) monitor aggregate site usage metrics such as total number of visitors and pages viewed; and (v) track your entries, submissions, and status in any promotions or other activities on the Site.

• Communicating with You. We may use your email address or other Personal Information (i) to contact you for administrative purposes such as customer service or technical-support, (ii) to send communications, including our newsletter and updates on promotions and events including webinars offered by us and by third parties we work with.

• Aggregate Data. We may de-identify and aggregate Personal Information collected through the Site and use it for any lawful purpose.

 

• Legal. We may use your Personal Information to defend our legal rights, to comply with our legal obligations and internal policies.

 

If you are located in the European Economic Area, we only process your Personal Information based on a valid legal ground, including:

 

• Consent. You have consented to the use of your Personal Information, for example to send email marketing communications or to collect information via cookies and similar technologies.

 

• Contract. We need your Personal Information to provide you with all the perks related to the ABO membership such as our services and benefits. We process your Personal Information on the basis of a contract in order to enable your membership registration and in order to respond to your inquiries.

 

• Legal Obligation. We have legal obligations to use your Personal Information, for example for compliance with tax law and for bookkeeping obligations.

 

• Legitimate Interest. We have a legitimate interest in using your Personal Information. In particular, we have a legitimate interest in using your Personal Information for data aggregation, internal analytics purposes, and otherwise to improve the performance of our services and Site. We only rely on our legitimate interests to process your Personal Information when these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

 

3. How We May Disclose Information

We may share Personal Information with third parties in the following circumstances:

• Third-Party Service Provider We work with third party service providers to provide the Site, application development, hosting, maintenance, and other services for us or for compliance with various reporting obligations. These third parties may have access to or process your Personal Information as part of providing those services for us. Generally, we limit the Personal Information provided to these service providers to what is reasonably necessary for them to perform their functions.

 

• Social Networking and Other Websites. The Site may allow you to share information, including Personal Information, with social networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, by posting information to these websites through links available on the Site. We do not share your Personal Information with these social networking sites unless you have authorized us to do so. The use of your Personal Information by any social networking websites will be governed by their privacy policies, and you may be able to modify your privacy settings on their websites.

 

• Legal. We reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to (i) take precautions against liability, (ii) protect ourselves or others from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses or activity, (iii) investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations, (iv) protect the security or integrity of the Site and any facilities or equipment used to make the Site available, (v) protect our property or other legal rights (including, but not limited to, enforcement of our agreements), or the rights, property, or safety of others and (vi) to comply with state and federal laws, in response to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena or warrant, or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies.

 

• Mergers and Other Reorganizations. Information about our users, including Personal Information, may be disclosed and otherwise transferred to an acquirer, or successor or assignee as part of any merger, acquisition, debt financing, sale of assets, or similar transaction, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets.

 

4. How Long We Retain Personal Information

We take measures to delete or de-identify Personal Information when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we are required by law to keep this Personal Information for a longer period. When determining the retention period, we take into account various criteria, such as the type of services provided to you, the nature and length of our relationship with you, possible re-enrolment with our services, the impact on the services we provide to you if we delete some Personal Information from or about you, and mandatory retention periods provided by law and the statute of limitations.

5. Transfer of Your Personal Information Outside the European Economic Area

ABO is an organization based in the United States and all processing and storing of Personal Information is performed in the United States. If you choose to use the Site, become a member of ABO or otherwise connect or interact with ABO from regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from the United States law, then please note that you are transferring your Personal Information outside of those regions to the United States for storage and processing, which does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction. When we transfer your Personal Information to the United States, we take steps to comply with applicable data protection law.  

If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), we will comply with applicable data protection law when transferring your Personal Information to the United States. As the United States is not covered by an EU Commission adequacy decision as a country providing adequate protection of Personal Information, we obtain your consent before any transfer of your Personal Information outside of the EEA. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. As ABO cannot provide you with ABO services without transferring your Personal Information to the United States, withdrawal would cease your membership and prevent you from registering to events organized by ABO.

6. Your Rights and Choices

Opt-Out & Unsubscribe. We respect your privacy and give you an opportunity to opt out of receiving announcements of certain information. If you receive commercial email such as our newsletter from us, you may unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions contained within the email. You may also opt out from receiving commercial email from us, and any other promotional communications that we may send to you from time to time, by sending your request to us by email at info@algaebiomass.org.

Please be aware that if you opt out of receiving commercial email, it may take up to ten business days for us to process your request, and you may receive communications from us that you have opted out from during that period. Additionally, even after you opt out from receiving the newsletter from us, you may continue to receive administrative messages from us regarding the ABO services and membership.

Your European Privacy Rights. If you are located in the EEA, you may have additional rights described below.  You may exercise these rights by contacting us as indicated in the “Contact Information” section below. Please note that there may be exceptions and limitations to each of these rights.

• You have a right to request access to and receive information about the Personal Information we maintain about you, update and correct inaccuracies in your Personal Information, restrict or object to the processing of your Personal Information, have the information anonymized or deleted, as appropriate, or exercise your right to data portability to easily transfer your Personal Information to another company. In addition, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, including in your country of residence, place of work or where an incident took place. If you wish to access or amend any other Personal Information we hold about you, you may contact us at info@algaebiomass.org. Please note that while any changes you make will be reflected in active user databases instantly or within a reasonable period of time, we may retain all information you submit for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, satisfaction of legal obligations, or where we otherwise reasonably believe that we have a legitimate reason to do so.

• You have the right to withdraw any consent you previously provided to us regarding the processing of your Personal Information, at any time and free of charge. We will apply your preferences going forward and this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent withdrawal.

7. Data Security

We take steps to ensure that your Personal Information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Unfortunately, the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us. We do not accept liability for unintentional access, use or disclosure.

8. Third-Party Services 

The Site may contain features or links to web sites and services provided by third parties. Any Personal Information you provide on third-party sites or services is provided directly to the operators of such services and is subject to those operators’ policies, if any, governing privacy and security, even if accessed through the Site. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of third-party sites or services to which links or access are provided through the Site. We encourage you to learn about third parties’ privacy and security policies before providing them with Personal Information.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our Site is a general audience site not directed to children under the age of thirteen (13), and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of thirteen, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use the Site.

We will take steps to delete it if we learn we have collected Personal Information from children under 13. If you learn that your child has provided us with Personal Information without your consent, then you may alert us at info@algaebiomass.org. If we learn that we have collected any Personal Information from children under 13, then we will promptly take steps to delete such information and terminate the child’s account.

10. Changes and Updates to this Policy

Please revisit this page periodically to stay aware of any changes to this Policy, which we may update from time to time. If we modify this Policy, we will make it available through the Site, and indicate the date of the latest revision. If we materially change the ways in which we use or share Personal Information previously collected from you through the Site, we will notify you through the Site, through our services, by email, or other communication. Your continued use of the Site and our services after the revised Privacy Policy has become effective indicates that you have read, understood and agreed to the current version of this Privacy Policy.

From time to time, we may desire to use Personal Information for purposes not previously disclosed in our Privacy Policy. If our practices change regarding previously collected Personal Information in a way that would be materially less restrictive than what is stated in the version of this Privacy Policy in effect at the time we collected the Personal Information, then we will provide you with notice and, if applicable, obtain consent to any such uses as may be required by law.

11. Contact Information

Unless otherwise indicated in this Privacy Policy, ABO is the “data controller” and responsible for the processing of your Personal Information. Please contact us with any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, your Personal Information, and our privacy practices by email at info@algaebiomass.org or by post at:

Algae Biomass Organization

125 St. Paul Street

P.O. Box 369

Preston, MN  55965-0369

USA