PRIVACY STATEMENT FOR THE PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS COUNCIL

The Personal Care Products Council (“PCPC”, or “we”, or “us”) is committed to safeguarding the privacy and security of our members and those who visit our sites or online properties. This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) applies to our websites (maintained by or on behalf of PCPC), mobile applications and other online services, such as newsletters, that link to this Privacy Policy (“Site(s)”). The Privacy Policy describes how PCPC collects, uses and shares personal information gathered via our Sites, any related or successor sites, and any mobile versions of these sites. We refer to our Site visitors as users (“users” or “you”). In order to maintain effective privacy practices, PCPC retains the right to update the Privacy Policy without notice. By accessing our Sites, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy governs the website with the URL of www.personalcarecouncil.org and informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Sites and the choices you have associated with that data. The Privacy Policy only covers information collected through our Sites and via direct communications between you and PCPC. It does not cover any information collected at any other website, application, or other communication methods such as when you call us, write us, or in any other manner.

TYPES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect, use and store two types of information from our users: information you give us (provided by the user) and information anonymously collected upon a user’s use of our Sites.

Information Voluntary Provided by the User
Users may voluntarily provide PCPC with non-personal and personally identifiable information in order to purchase products or services, register for an event, send us an email, respond to a survey and submit certain forms (“Voluntary Provided Information”). When you submit Voluntary Provided Information, you could provide your name, organization, mailing address, email address, telephone number, and/or credit card information in order to complete the transaction. You could also choose to provide certain personal information to us, when you sign up to receive email alerts and/or newsletters. If you enter a contest or sign up for a promotion, you could provide your name, email address, or other contact information. At times, you may be asked to voluntarily provide demographic information such as address, age range, gender, occupation, interests, or hobbies.

Information Anonymously Collected
When you access one of the PCPC’s Sites, some information such as your domain name, the date and time you accessed our Site, the Internet address of the website that linked you to our Site, and the operating system, demographic, and region of the user may be automatically collected by PCPC and third-party vendors. Information anonymously collected is not personally identifiable. PCPC uses this information solely for internal purposes

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

PCPC uses the information it collects from you in a variety of ways including to respond to your contact inquiries, to process membership application, to process your purchase transaction, and/or to communicate with you about news, events, products, or services that may be of interest to you. We analyze the information we collect about you to improve the content of our Sites to address your preferences, to attract new users, and to track user trends and patterns on the Internet so that we may inform users of information that may be of interest to them and, in some instances, to properly credit third-parties that have referred you to the Site. Stored information is also used to pre-populate information fields for purchases, contests, or promotions.

HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

PCPC shares individually identifiable information, such as any name and email address you provide us as described in this Privacy Policy, or with your express permission. PCPC may provide your personal information to service providers or contractors to perform functions on its behalf, such as, but not limited to, companies or individuals hired to: communicate news, deliver PCPC’s promotional materials via e-mail and direct mail, operating and marketing PCPC events, promote PCPC social media presence and activities, develop, enhance, market, or provide any PCPC’s products or services, process credit card payments, assist PCPC with sending communications, and performing other marketing and support functions. All third-party operational service providers used by PCPC are required to comply with the Privacy Policy. We do not sell your contact information to third-parties.

Google Analytics
PCPC is currently using Google Analytics to collect non-personally identifiable information automatically when users visit our Sites in order to improve our services. For more information regarding Google Analytics, see Google’s privacy policy. We also use Google Analytics Advertising to track aggregated visitor data, which also does not include any personal information. Demographic information may be shared in an aggregate, non-identifying form with third-parties interested in knowing what type of audience the Site is attracting. PCPC and its advertisers and marketing partners use this information to ensure that ads, offers, and promotions are relevant and of value to you. Advertisers who contract directly with us are required to represent that they comply with the Privacy Policy with respect to information collected through ads displayed on any of our Sites.

Information Shared to Third-Parties
To the extent permitted by law, and in order to investigate, or take action regarding suspected, or actual unlawful activities including but not limited to fraud, and to comply with other legal processes, PCPC may disclose any personal information which we hold on you to government authorities or third-parties pursuant to a legal request or subpoena. Also, if otherwise required by law, individually identifiable information may be disclosed to a third-party.

Information Shared Due to Merger or Acquisition
In the event that PCPC merges with another organization or transfers or sells substantially all of its assets to a third-party, all collected information stored on our server would be included in the merger, transfer, or sale.

HOW YOU MAY UNSUBSCRIBE OR OPT-OUT

If you register at a Site to become a member, you will have the ability through your account page to update or change information collected about you. You may also unsubscribe from our email lists or prevent future disclosure of your information to third-parties for marketing purposes by sending us an email or, if there is a link to unsubscribe on the relevant Site, by following the link to unsubscribe and the corresponding instructions. Please be aware that it may take a few days for your change to take effect. For Google Analytics, users can opt-out of the Google Analytics features through Google’s Ad Settings.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, AND SERVICES

Our Sites may contain links to other websites or online services that are operated and maintained by third-parties and that are not under the control of or maintained by PCPC. These third-parties may collect or receive certain information about you, including through the use of cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. These entities may collect this information over time and combined with information collected from different websites and online services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to such third-party content or external websites or web pages that you access through links from our Sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of such third-party websites or services.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

PCPC takes the security of personally identifiable information very seriously. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of personal information, we use appropriate industry standard procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information. All transmissions of personal information are through firewalls and secure computer servers, which also run authentication and Secure Sockets Layer software data encryption software to encrypt all personal information including your name, address, and credit card number to protect it from being read as the information travels over the Internet. Access to registered users´ accounts is password protected.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

PCPC is committed to the protection of children’s online privacy. In general, our Sites do not direct its activities to, or market products appropriate for, children under the age of 13. It is the policy of PCPC to refrain from knowingly collecting personally identifiable information from children under 13. If future Site activity is directed at children under 13, PCPC will comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

COOKIES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY

To better serve our users, we use technology to track the actions of new and returning visitors while our Sites. These small files are commonly referred to as “cookies.” Our cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information. We use cookies in order to provide you with more relevant content and promotional materials, on and off the website, and help us understand your interests and improve our services. We may use your IP address or an anonymous identifier as well as certain information from your browser, together with other data about your visits to our Sites and other sites, to gather analytical information. Please note that traffic and usage data collected through Google Analytics is subject to Google’s privacy policy. By continuing to browse our sites, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER DATA PROTECTION LAWS

You have various rights under the data protections laws, which can be exercised by contacting us. If you are located within the European Union, you have a number of rights in relation to how we process your personal information. These rights include:

• The right to access personal information we may hold about you.
• The right to object to specific types of processing, which includes processing for direct marketing. If you ask us to stop handling your personal information on this basis, we will stop.
• The right to have your data erased in certain situations such as where the data is no longer required for the purpose for which it is collected, you withdraw consent, or the information is being processed unlawfully.
• The right to require PCPC to rectify inaccuracies in personal data held about you.
• The right to receive your personal information in a structured, standard machine-readable format. This right only applies to your personal information we are handling because you consented to us using it or because there is a contract in place between us.
• The right to lodge a complaint. If you feel that our processing of your personal data infringes on data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state where you habitually reside, your place of work, or the location of the alleged infringement.

If you are located outside of the European Union, you may have rights under privacy laws in the jurisdiction where you live. We would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the supervisory authority. If you have any issue or complaint with how we handle your personal information, please contact us in the first instance.

Transfer of Data
Our Sites are operated in the United States. If you are located in another jurisdiction, please know that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using our Sites and providing us with information, you consent to this transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the United States. It is important to note that the privacy laws in the United States may not be as comprehensive as those in other countries. Our service providers use appropriate safeguards to transfer your personal data to the United States.

Data Retention
PCPC will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of fulfilling any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

Under California law, if you are a resident of California, you may request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third-parties for marketing purposes. To make such a request, please write to:

The Personal Care Products Council
555 13th Street, NW, Suite 300 West
Washington, DC 20004, USA
ATTN: CA Privacy

We reserve our right not to respond to requests not submitted to the above address.

CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time and such updates will be available for users to review on PCPC’s webpage. If you continue to visit our Site(s) after those changes are in effect, you agree to the revised policy. If the changes are significant, we may provide more prominent notice or get your consent on the new policy.

QUESTIONS ABOUT PRIVACY

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us at [email protected] or mail us at:

The Personal Care Products Council
555 13th Street, NW, Suite 300 West
Washington, DC 20004, USA

GOVERNING LAW

Your access to and use of this Site is governed by and will be construed in accordance with the law of the District of Columbia without regard to principles of conflicts of laws.