PRIVACY POLICY
ATTENTION: PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE. USING THIS WEBSITE INDICATES THAT YOU ACCEPT THIS PRIVACY POLICY.
Our Commitment to Privacy
Worldwide Branding, Inc. ("Worldwide Branding") recognizes and respects the importance of protecting individuals’ privacy and values the confidence of its customers. This Privacy Policy is applicable to the http://www.worldwidebranding.com (the “Website”) and any affiliated site that may be operated by or for Worldwide Branding. It explains how we collect information from users of the Website and how we use such information. Your continued use of the Website and our services constitutes your acceptance of this Privacy Policy. Please also read our Terms and Conditions, which govern the basic operation of the Website.
Collection of your Personal information
While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data"). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:
• Email address
• First name and last name
• Phone number
• Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City
• Cookies and Usage Data
• IP address
Generally, you browse our Website anonymously. However, in some circumstances, we may request you to provide personally identifiable information. Although, your response to such a request is completely voluntary, there are areas of our Website that require this information such as the Basic Listing Page, Online Application for Worldwide Branding and the Nomination Ballot which functions may not be available to those individuals who elect not to provide the information requested.
When you visit the Website, we may collect certain data that does not tell us specifically who you are. This is "Non-Personally Identifiable Information." It includes things like your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, and the last domain you visited before coming to the Website or the domain you go to when you leave. It also includes various statistical data regarding your use of the Website such as which pages you visit, how long you stay on them, and what you click. We collect some Non-Personally Identifiable Information through "cookies." Cookies and web tags also let us learn how people use our Website, which in turn helps us improve our Website for you to use. We reserve the right to use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer the Website. Your IP address may be used to gather broad and specific demographic information as well as for validation purposes. We may use "cookies" to recognize you as you use or return to our Website. This is done so that we can provide a continuous and more personalized experience for you. A cookie is a small text file that a website or e-mail may save to your browser and store on your hard drive. Cookies are text files that we place in your computer's browser to store your preferences. To find out more about cookies, please visit www.cookiecentral.com. Even in the case where a user rejects a cookie, he or she may still use the Website. We may also use web beacons. Web beacons allow us to know if a certain page was visited, an email was opened, or if ad banners on our Website and other sites were effective. Web beacons utilize certain tracking software to capture your domain name address (the address of your Internet service provider) for purposes of tracking statistics at our Website. The capture of your domain name is a common practice among websites for measuring the number of hits, pages visited, and length of user session. We use this information to measure the effectiveness of the applicable Website offerings in order to service you better.
We also may collect information that can be used to identify you ("Personally Identifiable Information"). This might include your name, email address, mailing address, telephone number or credit card number. We only collect Personally Identifiable Information when you specifically provide it to us. This might happen, for example, when you register for a user account, log on with your user name and password, order a publication or service, participate in a promotional offer or submit content to the Website. We may use Personally Identifiable Information to offer you products and services from Worldwide Branding, to enhance your experience at the Website, and, if applicable, to enhance your experience as a subscriber to Worldwide Branding products and services.
Use of Personal Information
Worldwide Branding uses the collected data for various purposes:
• To provide and maintain our Service
• To notify you about changes to our Service
• To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so
• To provide customer support
• To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Service
• To monitor the usage of our Service
• To detect, prevent and address technical issues
• To provide you with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information
Worldwide Branding may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) can be transferred to the third party
In addition, Worldwide Branding may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. Worldwide Branding keeps track of the Web sites and pages our customers visit within Worldwide Branding in order to determine what Worldwide Branding services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Worldwide Branding to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.
Worldwide Branding will disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Worldwide Branding or the website; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Worldwide Branding; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Worldwide Branding, or the public.
Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data Under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) effective May 25, 2018
If you are from the European Economic Area (EEA), Worldwide Branding legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Data we collect and the specific context in which we collect it.
Retention of Data
Worldwide Branding will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies. Also, as professional biographers, the information being collected will be retained for the purposes of constructing the most complete biographical history for our listees.
Worldwide Branding will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.
Transfer of Data
Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to - and maintained on - computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.
If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.
Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Worldwide Branding will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.
Disclosure of Your Information to Third Parties
Legal Requirements
Worldwide Branding may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:
• To comply with a legal obligation
• To protect and defend the rights or property of Worldwide Branding
• To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
• To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public
• To protect against legal liability
"Do Not Track" Signals
We do not support Do Not Track ("DNT"). Do Not Track is a preference you can set in your web browser to inform websites that you do not want to be tracked.
You can enable or disable Do Not Track by visiting the Preferences or Settings page of your web browser.
Your Data Protection Rights Under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) effective May 25, 2018
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. Worldwide Branding aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.
If you wish to be informed what Personal Data we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.
In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:
• The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update or request deletion of your Personal Data directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.
• The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.
• The right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data.
• The right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.
• The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable and commonly used format.
• The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where Worldwide Branding relied on your consent to process your personal information.
Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.
You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Dissemination of Your Information
We use information about how you interact with our Website in order to personalize it for you, to keep both you safe from harm, and to improve the Website and our services. We use your information to provide requested services and to support core business functions such as: (i) fulfilling your requests for services and communicating with you about those requests; (ii) confirming registration at the Website and servicing your account; (iii) providing customer service and alerting you to the services we provide; (iv) helping us improve and customize our service offerings, Website, and advertising; (v) sending you information about our services; (vi) protecting the security or integrity of our Website and our business; and (vii) analyzing and underwriting your requests for our services. To accomplish these purposes, we may combine personal and non-personal information we collect online with offline information, including information from third parties. We may also share Personally Identifiable Information with third parties, who may contact you to offer products and services. At any time, you can contact Worldwide Branding by sending an email to info@worldwidebranding.com (or call 1 (833) 715-4900) to request that we not share your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties.
We may employ other people or firms ("Outside Contractors") to provide services and products, such as credit card processing, fraud screening, order fulfillment and shipment, and website hosting or development. Outside Contractors may sometimes have access to Personally Identifiable Information to the extent necessary to do their work for us, however, we require Outside Contractors to protect the privacy of your Personally Identifiable Information. We also require them not to use or disclose your Personally Identifiable Information for any purpose other than providing us with products or services for which we contracted.
We may share your personal data with third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.
We may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to third parties in connection with a corporate transaction where all or a portion of our business (including our associated customer lists) is sold or transferred. We also may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information if disclosure is required by law or as part of a lawsuit or government investigation or proceeding. You may also submit information about yourself for inclusion in our directories (a "Biographical Submission"). Our use of Biographical Submissions is not governed by this Privacy Policy. Please see our Terms and Conditions instead.
Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.
These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
Analytics
We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.
You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.
For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 Compliance
Moreover, you hereby consent to disclosure of any record or communication to any third party when we, in our sole discretion, determine the disclosure to be appropriate including, without limitation, sharing your e-mail address with other third parties for suppression purposes in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, as amended from time to time. We also reserve the right to release current or past user or borrower and personally identifiable information in situations where we believe in good faith that the law requires it, or that the sharing is necessary to protect the safety, property, or other rights of Worldwide Branding, our borrowers, our employees, contractors, or any other person. We may also share Personally Identifiable Information with third parties, who may contact you to offer products and services. At any time, you can contact Worldwide Branding by sending an email to info@worldwidebranding.com (or call 1 (833) 715-4900) to request that we not share your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties.
You may at any time opt out of receiving communications from Worldwide Branding or third parties by contacting our Information Privacy Manager at the address below. Please note that if you decide to opt out of receiving promotional information or other communications, your change in preference will only affect future contacts; if the information already has been provided to third parties, they may continue to use it. Even if you choose to opt out, we may continue to contact you as necessary regarding any request you have made for services or products from Worldwide Branding or changes to this Privacy Policy.
Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule
We may share aggregate and statistical data that does not identify you personally. We may do this for research and marketing purposes, for instance to describe our services to prospective partners or advertisers, and for other lawful purposes. You agree that by submitting your e-mail address at the Website you may receive email marketing from us and our third party advertisers. In addition, you agree that such act constitutes a purchase, an inquiry and/or an application for purposes of the Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR ยง310 et seq. (the "ATSR"). With respect to the ATSR, and notwithstanding that your telephone number may be listed on the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call List, we or our designee retain the right and you hereby expressly authorize us and/or our designee to contact you via telemarketing in accordance with the terms of the ATSR. Moreover, by registering with, or requesting information from us or another third party advertiser at or through the Website, such action shall constitute a purchase, an inquiry and/or an application with the respective affiliated third party advertiser for purposes of their compliance with the ATSR and you may be contacted via e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, direct mail and/or telemarketing by such third party advertiser in accordance with the terms of the ATSR.
How We Use and Share Financial Information
As set forth hereinabove, we do not collect social security information. However, to the extent applicable, for purposes of compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. 6802 (the "GLB Act"), the California Financial Information Privacy Act ("CFIPA") and the Vermont Consumer Protection Act, 8 V.S.A. 10202 ("VCPA"), we will not share nonpublic personally identifiable financial information with our affiliates or non-affiliates without providing borrowers with an annual Privacy Notice explaining that we will be sharing this nonpublic personally identifiable information with our affiliates or non-affiliates and, for purposes of the GLB Act, providing borrowers with the opportunity to opt-out from such disclosures.
For purposes of compliance with the GLB Act, the CFIPA and the VCPA, this Privacy Policy shall serve as both your initial customer relationship and annual Privacy Notice as defined under the GLB Act, CFIPA and VCPA, respectively. If you would like to opt-out from the disclosure of your personal information to any third party for marketing purposes, please email us at info@worldwidebranding.com.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to share personally identifiable financial information in accordance with the terms of the GLB Act, for California State residents only, the CFIPA and, for Vermont State residents only, the VCPA. The nonpublic personal information of California State residents shall not be shared by us with third parties unless: (i) we have obtained a fully executed consent acknowledgement from the applicable California resident; or (ii) the California resident already has a relationship with a nonaffiliated financial institution pursuant to, and as defined under, the CFIPA. If you are a resident of the State of California and would like to opt-out from the disclosure of your personal information to any third party for marketing purposes, please email us at info@worldwidebranding.com. However, where California residents opt-out from permitting their personal information to be shared with third party marketing partners, such individuals may still receive selected offers directly from us, in accordance with the law. Notwithstanding the foregoing and despite the fact that we do not collect Social Security information, we nevertheless hereby agree not to share the Social Security Number of California State residents with third parties without first obtaining their consent to do so pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the CFIPA. California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits visitors to our Website, who are California residents, to request certain information regarding its disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send us an e-mail or write us at the address below.
Again, to the extent applicable, for purposes of compliance with the VCPA, we will not share nonpublic personal financial information (as defined in the VCPA) with third parties without providing Vermont State residents with an annual notice explaining that we will be sharing this nonpublic personal information with non-affiliated third parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the nonpublic personal financial information of Vermont State residents shall not be shared by us with nonaffiliated third-parties unless: (i) we have obtained authorization from the applicable Vermont resident; provided, however, that such authorization must be in written form, or where the applicable Vermont resident agrees, electronic form; (ii) the disclosure is made to third-parties for the sole purpose of processing transactions or other related processes on our behalf; and/or (iii) the disclosure is made to third-parties that market our own services to our borrowers.
Third Party Links
When you connect to the Website through third party websites, those websites might share information about you with us. Those third party websites may show information about you to us, however the sharing of this information is determined by their privacy policies. While we currently do not advertise on the Website, we do not endorse, nor are we responsible for the accuracy of, the privacy policies and/or terms and conditions of any third party advertisers that may advertise at the Website. The entities that may advertise and/or place banner ads at our Website including, but not limited to, these third party advertisers, are independent third parties and are not affiliated with us. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Website and to read the privacy policies of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us or on our Website.
Data Security
Securing your information is a company priority. When our registration/application process requests that you provide us with sensitive information and when we store and transmit such sensitive information, that information is encrypted and is protected with SSL encryption software. While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user information off-line. However, no method of security is 100% effective and we cannot be responsible for the actions of those who may gain unauthorized access to your personal information. Worldwide Branding makes no warranties, express, implied or otherwise as to the ultimate effectiveness of these reasonable and appropriate safeguards. All collected information is stored in a technically and physically secure environment. Access to this information is strictly limited, and not accessible to the public. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example an account representative) are granted access to personal information. Our employees are dedicated to ensuring the security and privacy of all user information. Employees not adhering to our firm policies are subject to disciplinary action. In compliance with applicable federal and state laws, we shall notify you and any applicable regulatory agencies in the event that we learn of an information security breach with respect to your personal information. You will be notified via e-mail in the event of such a breach. Please be advised that notice may be delayed in order to address the needs of law enforcement, determine the scope of network damage, and to engage in remedial measures. Your account information is protected by the password you use to access your online account. Please keep this password confidential. If your browser is capable of SSL (and most are), your account information will be protected during transport across the Internet. We comply with industry standard requirements. These standards require safeguards for handling and securing borrower information. These include using secure networks; encryption or other protection of cardholder data; physical and technical access controls; monitors and tests of security systems; and information security policies.
Minors
We are committed to protecting the online privacy of minors. In order to protect children's personal information, and to meet the standards of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 18 on the Website.
Security of your Personal Information
Worldwide Branding secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Worldwide Branding secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change or update this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a notice at the Website explaining that we are changing our Privacy Policy. If the manner in which we use personal information changes, we will notify our users by posting the changes on the Website and sending out an e-mail or mail notification to our impacted customers notifying them of the changes, and providing them with the opportunity to opt-out of the provisions relating to the transfer of their personal information. Other than where the user opts-out, and other than where affirmative consent is required for California residents and Vermont residents, the user's continued use of our Website and/or continued receipt of our e-mails constitutes an affirmative acknowledgement and acceptance by the user of the modified Privacy Policy.
Should you wish to opt-out of our privacy policy at any time, please email us at info@worldwidebranding.com.
Electronic Signatures and Electronic Records
By submitting your information and agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you understand and affirm that you are agreeing to be bound by the Privacy Policy and all other agreements and terms and conditions found on the Website by using your electronic signature and that your electronic signature is as legally binding as a physical signature on paper. Furthermore, you are agreeing that you will use an electronic signature to accept electronic records regarding our services and/or offered by our Website, including, but not limited to, this Privacy Policy. You further agree and consent: (i) to receive surveys, agreements, and other information that may be provided or otherwise available to you electronically. Included in those agreements, surveys and other information may be disclosures required by federal, state, and local laws and regulations, where allowed by such laws; (ii) to be bound by the terms and conditions of the agreements, applications, and other information provided to you by us electronically; (iii) to use and receive electronic records and electronic signatures in conducting business with us, including agreeing to the terms of the Privacy Policy; (iv) that to electronically receive agreements, applications, and other information, you will need a compatible operating system, web browser, and email application, and you will need access to a printer or the ability to download information to keep copies of such documents for my records. The operating systems, web browsers, and email applications identified herein are compatible. You furthermore understand that you are indicating that you have the capability to access the agreements, surveys, and other information and download or prints copies for your records; (v) for customer service or technical assistance regarding electronic records or electronic signatures, you may contact us by email at info@worldwidebranding.com; (vi) you may obtain a paper copy of the agreements, applications, and other information at any time by contacting us by email at info@worldwidebranding.com. We will not charge a fee for any paper copy.
Contact Us
You may contact Worldwide Branding regarding our privacy practices in the following ways:
• By email: info@worldwidebranding.com
• By phone number: 1 (833) 715-4900
