WBENC PRIVACY POLICY

To demonstrate our commitment to the privacy of your personal information, we have developed this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), which discloses our privacy practices for the personal information we collect through our website at www.wbenc.org and the related pages (our “Website”).

This Policy was last updated on September 1, 2021.

BY USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU AGREE AND CONSENT TO OUR USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POLICY.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH AND CONSENT TO OUR USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO US THROUGH THIS WEBSITE.

This policy informs you about:

What personal information we collect;

How we use your personal information and what information we disclose;

What choices you have regarding collection, use and disclosure of your personal information;

How to correct, update, or delete your personal information;

What kind of security procedures we use to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information under our control; and

How this policy may be amended.

“Personal information” is information that would allow someone to identify or contact you, including, for example, your full name, postal address, telephone number, facsimile number, company name and/or title, IP Address, and email address. Personal information does not include publicly available information from government records or deidentified or aggregated information that, by itself, does not permit the identification of any one individual.

1. What Information Is Collected.

Directly from you. Users may browse through the informational portion of our Website without providing us with any personal information other than the information we collect automatically. However, if you request information or materials from us or sign-up for or attend one of our events, we may ask for your contact information, such as your name, email address, company name and your title, postal address, phone number, and financial account information if a service or program requires a form of payment. In addition, we may collect personal information from you when you send us emails or submit other forms of information directly to us, for example when you become a member or seek certification for your organization, which process is governed by our privacy policy posted on WBENCLink.

For example, in some cases for certification, we may collect additional personal information such as your passport, birth certificate, driver’s license, naturalization papers, or green card; if your business is less than three years old, your personal federal tax returns (you may black out all social security numbers and dependent names); personal information that may be included on business debt instruments, equipment rental and purchase agreements, or real estate leases; personal information relating to investment by owners, which may include cancelled checks; personal information relating to each employee, including their name, title/position, hours worked, compensation, gross earnings, Social Security earnings, Medicare earnings, other income (i.e., rent, royalties, prize winning) and federal and state taxes withheld; and any personal information contained on agreements between the company and other individuals or third parties.

If you are interested in applying for a position at WBENC, you may provide us with personal information when you contact us through our HR email address. Any information we collect regarding your job application will be used for us to assess your qualifications for a position at WBENC. We may also collect personal information from you at other points on our Website that state that personal information is being collected.

To receive some WBENC information, you may subscribe to receive information via a subscription form. This form will request certain personal information about the Website user and will be compiled into a profile. Such information may include at least the following: your name, email address, and company name.

Information we collect automatically. In addition, as you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about you. For example, we may use a feature of your browser called a “cookie” to identify you while you are using the Website. Cookies are small pieces of information stored on your hard drive, not on our Website. Cookies make your Internet experience quicker and more convenient. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our Website may not work properly if you do (see How you can control cookies below). We may also use cookies for other purposes, including enhancements to, for example, the registration system. We also use third-party services, such as Google Analytics, that use tracking technologies when you visit our Website which may collect your Internet Protocol (or IP) address, and browsing habits (such as pages viewed and other clickstream data), which we use to help us analyze traffic on the Website, to optimize site navigation, to make recommendations to you, and to help design our Website in order to make your experience more efficient.

How you can control cookies. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. However, if you prefer not to store cookies on your device, you can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, set your browser to refuse cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser, delete cookies after visiting our site, or browse our site using your browser’s anonymous usage setting. However, if you don’t accept cookies, this may prevent our Website or services from working properly. For instructions, check your browser’s help file or technical instructions.

2. How We Use Your Information and what information we disclose.

We use the personal information collected through this Website to administer and deliver our services and programs. In connection with the delivery of our services and programs, we may share your personal information with third-party partners or vendors who help deliver or administer the services and programs. In these cases, our partners and vendors are only permitted to use the information in connection with the delivery or administration of these services and programs.

We may also use the personal information collected through the Website to provide you with information or newsletters related to our services and programs, and to promote our services and programs to you or your company as listed in your profile. This may include sending you information and promotions via email, postal mail, or telephone calls. However, for information that we have collected through your voluntary participation in an online customer survey to obtain your suggestions or comments about WBENC’s services or programs, we use such information only for the purpose for which it was collected. We will not use such survey information for direct marketing or disclosure to other companies.

We also use personal information on an aggregated basis for a variety of purposes, including operating and enhancing our Website and our services and programs, internal marketing research, and management reporting. We reserve the right to use and disclose this aggregated information to third parties for any purpose. Aggregate information will not identify any one specific individual.

We may also share your information, through our automatic data collection practices, with online platforms such as, for example, Google Analytics, to provide us with marketing analytical services.

We may also share your information with another nonprofit organization in the event WBENC is transferred to another organization. This may occur prior to the consummation of such transaction. Additionally, we may share your information to: (a) satisfy applicable law, regulations, legal process or valid governmental request; (b) enforce the terms of use applicable to our services, (c) detect, prevent or mitigate fraud or security or technical issues; or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of our organization, our members or the public as required or permitted by law.

3. Controlling the Collection, Use and Distribution of Your Information.

You can control the content of the personal information we collect from you by following the instructions stated below in Section 4. In addition, if you do not want to receive marketing materials or communications from us or, subject to Section 4, do not want your contact information disclosed to third parties apart from the delivery or administration of our services and programs, you can opt-out by contacting us at wbenccustsvc@wbenc.org.

Please note that if you provide any information on your own or directly to third parties who may be linked to, or otherwise connected with our Website, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of your personal information. We encourage you to investigate and ask questions before disclosing information to third parties. You should review the privacy policy of any site linked to our Website prior to providing any information on or to that site. This Policy applies only to this Website and does not apply to any third-party site that may link to or be linked from this Website.

4. Correcting, Updating and Deleting Your Personal Information.

You can access, update, or delete your personal information by contacting us at support@wbenc.org.

However, for verification and security purposes, before we allow you to access, update, or delete your personal information through any means, you may be asked to provide to us certain personal information.

If you choose to delete any of your personal information that is maintained by us, it will not be used by us or disclosed to third parties in the future in the ordinary course of business. However, even if you delete or change some personal information in our registration database, it may still be stored on other databases (including those kept for archival purposes) and we will modify such databases in accordance with any applicable law. Also, because we need to have certain of your personal information in order to deliver our services and programs, you may not be able to receive such services or programs if you delete such personal information.

5. Our Security Procedures.
We have established, and we work to maintain, reasonable security procedures to protect the confidentiality, security and integrity of your personal information. We use encryption as necessary when transmitting sensitive information, Secure Socket Layers, and firewalls, and we implement off-line efforts to further protect this information, including limiting employee access to personal information on a need to know basis and updating our employees regarding our security practices and privacy policies. However, please recognize that “perfect security” does not exist on the Internet. As a result, while we have taken steps to protect your information, we cannot ensure the security of our Website or any information you provide to us.

This Website is maintained in the United States of America. By using this Website, you authorize and agree to your personal information being sent to and stored in the U.S.A. and used in accordance with this Policy.

6. Changes to this Policy.
We may amend or change this Policy at any time without any prior notice to you. We will post any revisions to this policy on this Website so that users are aware of these changes. Any user of this Website who provides any personal information after changes to this Policy are posted will be deemed to have accepted the revised Policy. We have the discretion to update this privacy policy at any time. If we decide to make changes, we will post the updated policy on our Website so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and the circumstances on how we disclose it. The date this Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page and in Section 7. You are responsible for ensuring that we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and the Policy to check for any changes. Your continued use of our Website following the posting of changes constitutes acceptance of such changes. Where required by applicable data protection laws, we will also seek your consent to any material changes that affect how we use your information.

7. Effective Date
This Privacy Policy is effective and was last updated on September 1, 2021.

We hope this Privacy Policy helps you understand our policy procedures regarding your personal information that you provide us through this Website.

If you have any questions, you may contact us at wbenccustsvc@wbenc.org or through our mailing address WBENC, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, Attention: Ann Bowman.