Introduction
The Association of Certified Green Technology Auditors™ Global (The ACGTA™) believes in the importance of privacy of its members and visitors to The ACGTA™ sites. The ACGTA™ is also sincerely committed to each visitor's right to privacy. This privacy policy has been developed as a confirmation and representation of The ACGTA's commitment in this area.
This policy explains The ACGTA's information gathering and handling practices. Should you have any questions or concerns relating to The ACGTA's privacy policy, please address your queries to the Director of Information Security and Privacy by sending an e-mail to privacy@theACGTA.org.
User/Member Consent
By using The ACGTA's Web sites, you are signifying your acceptance of The ACGTA/s privacy policy. If you, choose to log on as a member, register for courses or events, purchase products, apply for membership or certification, or otherwise submit personally identifiable information, you are consenting to The ACGTA's use of such data in accordance with its privacy policy.
Principles of Privacy and Scope
It is the intent of The ACGTA™ to be in compliance with the principles of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act of Canada, the European Union Safe Harbour Act, the Data Protection Act of the United Kingdom, and selected legislation worldwide regarding privacy of data. If any provision of this policy is in conflict with such legislation, the provisions of this policy shall apply, except when otherwise required by law.
This policy guides how The ACGTA™ stores and uses personal information that is collected by The ACGTA™ or provided to The ACGTA, whether through our Web sites or by other methods such as an application, enrollment, registration or order form, or other means. This policy covers all of The ACGTA's Web sites. However, this policy does not cover web sites that are linked to, or linked from The ACGTA's sites. User/Membership Identification and Password
All individual ACGTA members (not corporations) are entered into the global membership database and are assigned a unique membership number and password. The membership number and password represent the only means of authenticating an individual's membership and his/her identity upon login on The ACGTA's Web site. Membership number and password are delivered to members together with basic information about membership benefits and services either directly from The ACGTA Global.
Collection and Use of Information
Even if you do nothing during your visit other than navigate an ACGTA Web site, read pages, or download information, we may automatically gather and store certain information about your visit. In order to ensure our Web sites are as useful and effective an information source as they can be, we analyze information that identifies visitors by categories such as the location of visitors (by domain, not by personal e-mail address) and browser types. We also measure, in the aggregate, indicators such as number of visits, average time spent on the sites, and pages viewed. The ACGTA™ uses these statistics to improve site content and usability; this information does not identify visitors personally.
However, when a visitor enters a membership number and password obtained by the means described above on an ACGTA Web site for the purpose of logging in to restricted pages, a "temporary cookie" is deployed. This cookie - a small text file stored temporarily on the visitor's browser - enables the Web site to "remember" this authentication information during movement from one page to another. This makes it unnecessary to log in again on each page. The cookie will expire when the visitor leaves and no personal data is retained. In addition, to help prevent unauthorized users from using your identifying information, the cookie will expire if your session is idle for approximately 20 minutes. If you have set your Internet browser to reject cookies, access may be denied to secured areas of The ACGTA's Web sites.
With the exception of specific secured pages, visitors are not required to be ACGTA members in order to gain access to The ACGTA's Web sites, although nonmembers may be required to register to receive all benefits available to users of the sites.
The ACGTA™ may use personally identifiable information you have voluntarily provided on our Web sites or by other means to notify you via e-mail or printed material of ACGTA events or other relevant products and services offered by The ACGTA™. If you are a member of an ACGTA specialty section, The ACGTA may produce a directory of such participants for networking purposes. If you do not want to receive notice of such events or be included in specialty directories, you may choose to opt out by the means detailed in the "Opting Out" section of this policy.
Personal Data Collection from ACGTA Chapters
The ACGTA collects, at a minimum, the names of ACGTA members who join The ACGTA™ Chapters worldwide and records these in the global membership database in order to issue unique membership numbers and Web site passwords. Transfer and update of data between The ACGTA™ and its chapters is allowed through an explicit consent of its members, or through adherence of The ACGTA™ to the Safe Harbour Act in Europe, Data Protection Act in the UK, or other privacy policies worldwide. The amount of personal information recorded in the database depends on the services selected by each institute or the member and the preferred method of delivery. Members who do not wish to be contacted by The ACGTA™ may choose so, while members who wish to access additional services may provide additional personal data directly on The ACGTA's Web site.
The ACGTA™ collects limited personal data from The ACGTA™ Chapters worldwide in order to provide limited membership services to individuals who belong jointly to these Chapters and to The ACGTA™. When you submit personal information to The ACGTA™ through this site, you understand and agree this information may be transferred across national boundaries and may be stored and processed in any of the countries in which The ACGTA™ and its institutes and subsidiaries maintain offices, including without limitation, the United States. Members of ACGTA™ Chapters who do not wish their personal data to be transferred should request exclusion through their chapter or through the "Opting Out" section of this policy.
In order to reduce errors in our database, authenticate our users and prevent abuse of our system, we may on occasion supplement the personal information you submit to us with information from third-party sources. For example, we may supplement your registration information with address information provided by the U.S. Postal Service to qualify your information and prevent errors in our database.
Information Disclosure to Third Parties
Should you voluntarily provide The ACGTA™ with personally identifiable information, The ACGTA™ may release that information on a selective basis to outside organizations whose products and services are of perceived benefit. These organizations include, but are not limited to: - For purchase of educational products.
- Various companies that authenticate credit cards on behalf of The ACGTA™ if you provide a credit card for the purchase of products or services.
- If you register as a certification candidate, to the examination site. Registrant's information may be released to providers of the CGTA, CCSS, CCGP, and ETGP exam preparation products, who subsequently may send you information concerning their products and services.
- The ACGTA and its chapters may solicit you for local participation or membership. In the case of ACGTA members, the ACGTA institute or chapter may publish your name in a directory or use your data to mail or e-mail local materials, unless you contact the institute or chapter and opt out of such disclosure.
- For some North American members, The ACGTA™ may provide mailing information to other organizations whose products and services are of perceived benefit. If you do not want The ACGTA to provide your personally identifiable information to third parties other than ACGTA chapters or as noted above, please see "Opting Out" section of this policy.
There are other instances in which The ACGTA™ may divulge your personal information. The ACGTA™ may provide your personal information if necessary, in The ACGTA's good faith judgment, to comply with laws or regulations of a governmental or regulatory body or in response to a valid subpoena, warrant or order or to protect the rights of The ACGTA™ or others.
User/Member Right of Access
The ACGTA is dedicated to providing reasonable access to members and others who want to review their personal information maintained by The ACGTA™ and correct any inaccuracies therein. Members may view and update their data by accessing their Member Profile, available upon logging in to www.theACGTA.org. Nonmembers may verify and/or change their data by e-mailing custserv@theACGTA.org or by writing Customer Service, The ACGTA™, 1802 N University Drive, Suite 112, Plantation, FL 33300-4115, USA. The ACGTA, however, is not responsible for verifying the continued accuracy of either member or nonmember information. Information Security
Although The ACGTA™ does not monitor the Web site, The ACGTA™ has reasonable policies in place to protect from misuse the personally identifiable information provided by its users.
Links
The ACGTA's Web sites contain "links" to other sites, including sites operated by ACGTA institutes and chapters. The ACGTA™ does not control, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, security, or even the continued availability or existence of this outside information. Opinions expressed on other sites linked from The ACGTA's Web sites are not necessarily those of The ACGTA™, nor does The ACGTA™ endorse, warrant, or guarantee products or services described or offered on those other sites. Neither is The ACGTA™ responsible for the contents of any Web sites that choose to link to The ACGTA's Web sites with or without The ACGTA's consent.
Other organizations linked to The ACGTA's Web sites may collect information about you when you view or click on these sites. The ACGTA™ cannot control this collection of information. You should contact these organizations directly if you have any questions about their use of the information they collect.
Changes to Privacy Policy
The ACGTA™ reserves the right to modify or amend this privacy policy at any time and for any reason. Nothing contained herein is intended to create a contract or agreement between The ACGTA and any other party. The users of The ACGTA's Web sites should reference this policy periodically to ensure that they have knowledge of the current provisions of The ACGTA's privacy policy.
Opting In and Opting out of the Release of Personal Information
Members in North America are entered into the global membership database and given the choice to opt-out of receiving communications from global ACGTA or their chapter. To opt out, please complete the appropriate mailing and e-mail option fields on the Member Profile form on The ACGTA's Web site, or send your request via e-mail to: custserv@theACGTA.org.
Members reported via their ACGTA institute are entered in the global membership database and given the choice to opt-in to receiving communications and additional services from global ACGTA. ACGTA chapter members will not be contacted by global ACGTA unless they opt-in either by instructing their ACGTA institute or by logging into their profile on the global ACGTA Web site and selecting to receive optional services and communications.
However, if you choose to provide The ACGTA™ with personally identifiable information by purchasing a product, registering for an event, or requesting other services, The ACGTA™ may use that information to provide you with the purchased products or services, for billing purposes, to send immediately relevant information to you, and for other purposes related to the reason you provided the information even if you opt out of the use of your information by the means detailed in this privacy policy.
Privacy-Related Inquiries and Complaints
The ACGTA takes its users' privacy concerns seriously. If you believe The ACGTA™ has not complied with this online privacy policy with respect to your personal information or you have other related inquiries or concerns, you may e-mail The ACGTA™ at privacy@theACGTA.org.
In your e-mail, please describe in as much detail as possible the nature of your inquiry or the ways in which you believe that The ACGTA™ online privacy policy has not been complied with. Please note if you provide The ACGTA™ with inconsistent privacy preferences (for example, by indicating on one occasion that third parties ma™y contact you with marketing offers and indicating on another occasion that they may not), The ACGTA™ cannot guarantee your most recent privacy preference will be honored.
Also, please note The ACGTA ™ is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of non-ACGTA Web sites to which this site or any other ACGTA Web site may link. You should review the privacy policy of such sites before using the sites. | |
