Privacy Statement

Privacy Policy

The GIO website is operated by Global Industry Organizations and its members (“GIO”, “we”, “our”, and “us”). We respect and understand the importance of our users’ privacy. Please read this Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) carefully before using the GIO website and submitting your personal data. This Policy applies to the GIO website and associated services that display or provide links to this Policy.

This Policy explains how the GIO website processes your personal data, but it may not cover every possible situation. For personal data processing scenarios not covered in this Policy (if any), information about the collection of certain personal data by the GIO website may be published in a supplemental policy or in a notice provided at the time the data is collected.

This Policy describes:

1. How we collect and use your personal data

2. How we use cookies

3. How we disclose your personal data

4. How to access and amend your personal data

5. How we protect and retain your personal data

6. How we process the personal data of legal minors

7. Third-party providers and their services

8. How your personal data is transferred across borders

9. How this policy is updated

10. How to contact us

1. How we collect and use your personal data

Personal data refers to any data that, either on its own or combined with other data, can be used to identify a natural person. Such data includes your name, gender, nationality, region, company name, company address, company website, employment position, email address, phone number, and login information (account ID and password). We may collect your personal data by using technologies like cookies when you use our websites, products, or services. We will only collect and use your personal data for the purposes specified in this Policy. The following section illustrates the personal data we may collect and how we use it.

1.1 The personal data we may collect

We may require personal data, such as your name, gender, nationality, region, company name, company address, company website, employment position, email address, phone number, and login information (account ID and passwords), when you create a GIO account or contact us for support. We also collect the information you provide to us and the content of messages you send us, such as the query information you provide, or the questions or information you provide for customer service support. We may also obtain data by recording how you interact with our websites, products, or services. For example, we may use technologies like cookies or receive usage data from software running on your device.

In some cases you may be able to opt out of disclosing your personal data to the GIO website. However, not providing the GIO website with certain data may mean that we cannot provide you with certain products, services, or problem resolutions.

(1) Creating an account.

(2) Fulfilling your requested services, including providing you with the requested information (e.g., white papers) and changing your personal data, and participating in onsite or offline activities.

(3) Contacting you with your consent; sending you information about activities, developments, and outputs that may interest you; and inviting you to participate in GIO activities, market surveys, or satisfaction surveys. If you do not wish to receive these types of information, you may opt out at any time.

(4) Sending you important notices, such as notices on installing or updating operating systems or applications.

(5) Providing you with customized user experience and content.

(6) Improving our website services through internal audits, data analysis, and research.

(7) Troubleshooting error reports you’ve sent.

(8) Synchronizing, sharing, and storing the data you’ve uploaded or downloaded and the data needed to do so.

(9) Ensuring the information security of GIO and its members, and executing and improving our loss prevention and anti-fraud programs.

(10) Complying with and enforcing applicable legal requirements, industry standards, and our policies.

1.3 Collecting and using Non-PII

The GIO website may also collect and use non-personally identifiable information (Non-PII). Non-PII is data that cannot be used to identify a particular individual. For example, the GIO website will collect statistical data, such as the number of website visits. We collect this data to understand how users use our website, products, and services so that we can improve our services and better satisfy their needs. The GIO website may collect, use, process, transfer, or disclose non-PII for other purposes at its own discretion.

We will make efforts to isolate your personal data from non-PII and ensure that the two types of data are used separately. If personal data is combined with non-PII, it will still be treated as personal data when being processed.

1.4 Legal bases for collecting and using personal data

The GIO website will process your personal data following the requirements of applicable laws on an appropriate legal basis, including:

(1) Processing your personal data to fulfill the contract when responding to a service request;

(2) Processing your personal data following your consent;

(3) Processing based on the legitimate interests of GIO or a third party when we use your personal data to contact you, conduct satisfaction surveys, improve our services, execute and improve our loss prevention and anti-fraud programs, and other purposes. Legitimate interests are those that help us manage and run our business and provide our services more effectively, protect the security of our systems and GIO members, involve internal management, comply with internal policies and processes, and other legitimate interests described in this Policy;

(4) Processing your personal data as necessary to comply with and fulfill legal obligations.

2. How we use cookies

To ensure our website works correctly, we may at times save a small piece of data known as a cookie on your computer or mobile device. A cookie is a text file stored by a web server on a computer or mobile device. The content of a cookie can be retrieved or read only by the server that creates the cookie. The text in a cookie often consists of identifiers, site names, and some numbers and characters. Cookies are unique to the browsers or mobile applications you use, and enable websites to store data such as your preferences or items in your shopping cart.

Like many other websites or Internet service providers, the GIO website uses cookies to improve your user experience. Persistent cookies remain in place across multiple visits, while session cookies are deleted after each visit. Cookies allow websites to remember your preferences when it comes to things like language and font size. This makes it so that you do not have to reset your preferences every visit. Without cookies, websites would treat you like a new visitor every time you load a web page. For example, if you are redirected to another web page from a website you are already logged in to and then return to the original website, it will not recognize you and you must log in again.

We will not use cookies for any purposes not stated in this Policy. You can manage or delete cookies based on your own preferences. For details, visit aboutcookies.org. You can clear all the cookies stored on your computer, and most web browsers provide the option of blocking cookies. However, by doing so, you have to change your settings every time you visit our website. Find out how to manage cookie settings for your browser here:

3. How we disclose your personal data

Without your consent, we will not sell or disclose your personal data to a third party in any way. We may disclose your personal data to a third party when the scenarios below require.

3.1 As described in this Policy, we may share your personal data with GIO members or authorized partners since some services are provided by them.

3.2 We may also disclose your personal data to law enforcement or other government agencies when required by law, industry regulations, or following a legitimate request from a competent authority. We may also disclose your data when appropriate, for example, to apply these Terms and Conditions, when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or when it is in connection with criminal investigations.

4. How to access and amend your personal data

You should ensure that any personal data you submit to us is accurate. We will make every effort to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the personal data we hold. We will act as quickly as possible whenever personal data must be updated.

To the extent required by applicable laws, you may have the right to:

· Access your personal data;

· Request that your personal data be amended or rectified when it is inaccurate;

· Refuse or restrict our processing of your personal data; and

· Ask us to delete your personal data.

To exercise these rights, please click here to contact us. Your written request may be required for security. We may decline the request if we have reasonable grounds to believe that the request is fraudulent, infeasible, or may jeopardize the privacy of others.

Where authorized by law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time from letting the GIO website process your personal data. However, this does not retroactively apply to the legitimacy and effectiveness of your personal data being processed before you withdrew your consent, nor does it apply to any data processing based on another justification other than your consent.

5. How we protect and retain your personal data

GIO attaches great importance to the security of your personal data. We use appropriate physical, institutional, and technical measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, modification, damage, or loss. For example, we use encryption technology; we deploy a number of measures to protect your personal data from malicious attacks; we apply access controls to ensure that your personal data is accessed only by authorized personnel; we also provide security and privacy training for our employees to improve their awareness of personal data protection. We will take all reasonable steps to protect your data. However, please be aware that no security measure is perfect.

We will retain your personal data only while it is required, as stated herein, unless an extension is required or permitted by law. The data storage period may vary by scenario, product, and service. The standards GIO determines the retention period are by: however long is needed to fulfill business efforts, (e.g., providing products and services; maintaining relevant transactions and business records; controlling and improving the performance and quality of products and services; ensuring the security of systems, products, and services; handling possible user queries or complaints and locating problems); if the user agrees to a longer retention period; and if laws, contracts, or other legally binding documents have special requirements for data retention; etc. We will keep your registration information as long as your account is necessary for service provision. If you choose to deregister your account, we will stop providing you with products and services through your account and delete the related personal data, provided that deletion is not otherwise stipulated by special legal requirements.

6. How we process the personal data of legal minors

Our products, websites, and services are intended for adults. Legal minors cannot create their own user accounts without the consent of a parent or guardian. A minor’s personal data will only be collected with explicit parental consent and we will only use or disclose this data as the law permits it, or if it is necessary for the protection of the minor.

If we learn that the GIO website has collected a minor’s personal data without obtaining verifiable parental consent, we will delete the data as quickly as possible.

7. Third-party providers and their services

As part of ensuring a positive user experience, you may be sent content or links from parties other than GIO and its partners (“third parties”). GIO does not have control over such third parties, but you can choose whether to use the links, view the content, and/or use the products or services provided by third parties.

GIO has no control over the privacy and data protection policies of third parties, which are not governed by this Policy. Before submitting your personal data to third parties or through third-party content, please refer to the respective privacy protection policies of these third parties.

8. How your personal data is transferred across borders

To provide you with services, the personal data we collect may be transferred from the country/region where you use our services to the countries/regions where GIO or its affiliates, service providers, or business partners have a presence. These jurisdictions may have different or less data protection than the country/region where you use our services. In such circumstances, we will take measures to ensure that your data is processed as required by this Policy and applicable laws.

9. How this policy is updated

We reserve the right to update or modify this Policy at any time. Any changes we make to this Policy will be posted on this page. If we make substantial changes to this Policy, we will notify you through various means, such as publishing a notice on the GIO website or sending you a notice individually.

10. How to contact us

If you have any questions, please click here to contact us.

Last updated: August 2020