World Science Scholars, a program of the World Science Foundation, d/b/a World Science Festival (hereinafter referred to as “World Science Scholars,” “us,” “we,” “our,” or “Company”) has created this Privacy Policy to apply to all users and clients of this website, www.worldsciencescholars.com and all digital assets contained or offered therein (collectively, our “Services”). This Privacy Policy describes, among other things, the types of information we collect from users when you use our Services, how we use it, and how you can access your information.
This Privacy Policy is integrated into our Terms & Conditions of Use (“Terms & Conditions”). By using the Services and providing us with personal Information (defined below), you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy referenced below and to the updates to these policies posted here from time to time. If you are based outside of the United States, in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK, this Privacy Policy serves as notice of how we process your Personal Data (defined below) for which we are a Controller. If we require your consent, we will request it formally, in adherence to applicable data protection laws.
To make sure you stay informed of all changes, you should check these policies periodically. Updates will be referenced by the “Last Updated” date shown above.
- INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We may collect the following types of personal data about you which are described in more detail below: (A) information you provide to us, (B) information we may automatically collect, and (C) information we may receive from third parties. All of the information listed in (A)-(C) above, are detailed below, and hereinafter referred to as “Information.”
- Information You Provide Us:
In using our Services, you may provide us with Information, including, without limitation:
- Contact information such as name, email address, postal address, and telephone number(s);
- Demographic information such as gender, ethnicity, and age range;
- Academic history/background;
- Account information and log in credentials, including unique identifiers such as username and password;
- Payment and transaction information including credit or bank card information;
- Communications and opinions in courses and online discussion forums offered through the Services;
- Additional information as otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.
- Information We May Automatically Collect About You:
Our Services may automatically collect certain Information about you. We use this Information to help us design our Services to better suit our users’ needs. This Information may include:
- IP address, which is the number associated with the service through which you access the Internet, like your ISP (Internet service provider);
- Date and time of your visit or use of our Services;
- Domain server from which you are using our Services;
- Type of computer, web browsers, search engine used, operating system, or platform you use;
- Data identifying the web pages you visited prior to and after visiting our website or use of our Services; and
- Your movement and activity within the website, which is aggregated with other information.
- Cookies & Technologies Used to Collect Information About You
We collect the above Information directly and through the use of third parties. We collect this Information by using certain technologies, such as cookies, web beacons, and other technologies. Third-party service providers, advertisers, and/or partners may also view, edit, or set their own cookies or place web beacons. The use of these technologies by such third parties is subject to their own privacy policies and is not covered by this Privacy Policy, except as required by law. To learn more about Cookies and the Tracking Technologies we use on Services, please see our Cookie Policy.
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- Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Services. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our website.
- Flash Cookies. We may use local shared objects, also known as Flash cookies, to store your preferences such as volume control or display content based upon what you view on our site to personalize your visit. Third parties, with whom we partner to provide certain features or to display advertising based upon your browsing activity, use Flash cookies to collect and store information. Flash cookies are different from browser cookies because of the amount of, type of, and how data is stored. Cookie management tools provided by your browser will not remove Flash cookies.
- Web Beacons. Website pages may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages and for other related statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain content and verifying system and server integrity). We also use these technical methods to analyze the traffic patterns, such as the frequency with which our users visit various parts of the Services. These technical methods may involve the transmission of Information either directly to us or to a third party authorized by us to collect Information on our behalf. Our Services may use retargeting pixels from Google, Facebook, and other ad networks. We may also use web beacons in HTML emails that we send to determine whether the recipients have opened those emails and/or clicked on links in those emails.
- Analytics. Analytics are tools we use, such as Google Analytics, to help provide us with information about traffic to our website and use of our Services, which Google may share with other services and websites who use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. Learn more about Google’s Privacy Policy here: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US. You can opt-out of having your activity on our Services made available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out add-on for your web browser by visiting: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout for your web browser.
- Mobile Application Technologies. If you access our website and Services through a mobile device, we may automatically collect information about your device, your phone number, and your physical location.
- Information We May Receive from Third Parties
We may collect additional Information about you from third-party websites, social media platforms, such as, but not limited, to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube (“Social Media Platforms”), and/or sources providing publicly-available information (e.g., from the U.S. Postal Service) to help us provide services to you, help prevent fraud, and for marketing and advertising purposes.
Information we may access about you, with your consent, may include, but is not limited to, your basic Social Media Platform information, your location data, your list of contacts, friends or followers and certain information about your activities on the Social Media Platform. Please keep in mind that when you provide Information to us on a third-party website or platform (for example, via our applications), the Information you provide may be separately collected by the third-party website or the Social Media Platform.
The Information we collect is covered by this Privacy Policy, and the Information the third-party website or Social Media Platform collects is subject to the third-party website or platform’s privacy practices. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our sites or applications and to read the privacy policies of other sites that may collect your Information.
- HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
- Use and Purpose of Processing Your Information
We use and process your Information for things that may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- To process your registration for a course or courses;
- To process your registration when you sign up for one of our mailing lists;
- To provide you with the Services, and related products, promotions, newsletters, and information you request;
- To track attendance, progress, and course completion;
- To respond to your inquiries and provide you with requested information and other communications, including by email;
- For general or targeted marketing and advertising purposes, including sending you promotional material or special offers on our behalf or on behalf of our marketing partners and/or their respective affiliates and subsidiaries and other third parties, provided that you have not already opted-out of receiving such communications;
- To fulfill contracts we have with you;
- To manage, improve and foster relationships with third-party service providers, including vendors, suppliers, and parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and business partners;
- Maintain, improve, customize, or administer the Services, perform business analyses, or other internal purposes to improve the quality of our business, the Services, resolve technical problems, or improve security or develop other products and services;
- Comply with our Terms & Conditions;
- Analytics for business purposes and business intelligence;
- Comply with any applicable laws and regulations and respond to lawful requests; and/or
- For any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your Information and/or pursuant to your consent.
- Sharing Your Information
We may disclose anonymized aggregated information about our users, that does not identify any individual, without any restriction.
We may share your Information as set forth in the Privacy Policy and in the following circumstances:
- Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your Information with third-party service providers or data processors that perform certain functions or services on our behalf (such as to host the Services, store or manage the data, perform analyses, process credit card payments, provide customer service, or send communications for us). These third-party service providers will process this data only for purposes specified by World Science Scholars and will be bound by contract to meeting World Science Scholars’s obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation under applicable law.
- Academic Environment. We may share your Information, attendance, performance, or other metrics with relevant instructors, program evaluators and/or potential donors, teaching assistants, and/or other individuals assisting in the creation and moderation of courses and other programs related to World Science Scholars. These people will be required to maintain the confidentiality and security of your Information.
- Disclosure of Information for Legal and Administrative Reasons. We may disclose your Information without notice: (i) when required by law or to comply with a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or other legal process; (ii) to cooperate or undertake an internal or external investigation or audit; (iii) to comply with
