PRIVACY POLICY
Privacy Policy
Last modified: May 15, 2023
The GC Collective and our affiliates or subsidiaries ("we", "us", "our", and similar expressions) value your privacy and we want you to understand how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you visit www.thegcollective.com and any of its sub-domains (our "Website"), use our services, sign up for an account with us (an "Account"), use our software platform (the "Platform") (the foregoing collectively, the "Services"), and otherwise interact with us. By using our Website or any of our Services, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
What is personal information?
"Personal information" is generally any information about an identified or identifiable individual, which includes information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a natural person.What personal information do we collect about you and how do we collect it?
There are several types of information we collect about you:Information you give to us. We collect information that you give us directly when we ask for it. While the categories of personal information we collect directly from you will change over time and will depend on the circumstances of our request, they may include the following:
Contact data and account profile data. We collect personal information you give us directly when you create an Account, activate a subscription, purchase our Services, or upload data to the Platform. For example, when you create an Account or place an order for Services with us you will give us information like your email address, first and last name, payment information, and your username and password. You may also provide us with other optional information as part of your Account profile, such as avatars or profile images, other contact information, and links to social network profiles you have (including when used for authentication purposes).
Data in contracts and other legal agreements. We may also collect information directly from you for contractual or legal reasons. For example, we may ask you to select your jurisdiction when you sign up for Services.
Information to verify your identity. We collect information to verify your identity, which may include your name, date of birth, government issued identification numbers (e.g., driver’s license number, passport number, or other government-issued identification details), and similar information to verify your identity.
Communications. We may collect personal information you include in your communications with us, such as information you include in SMS (text) messages, form submissions on the Website, communication means in the Services, and other electronic messages between you and us (collectively, "Electronic Messages"), or by phone or mail.
Marketing preferences, surveys, contests, or promotions. We collect information you include in your marketing preferences with us or that you provide as part of a survey, contest, or promotion that we run and in which you participate.
Social and community content. We receive content you post on our social media pages and the public areas of our Website (e.g., if you post a comment on an article we feature on the Website).
Business and financial information. We may receive information from you about your profession, employment, salary, tax details (e.g., if we need to apply tax to your purchase of Services), details about your business or employer, or other business and financial information when you use our Services.
Payment processing information. If you have made a purchase through us, or if you make a financial transaction using our Services, we or any third-party payment processors we use will collect information about the purchase or transaction. This includes billing details, credit card information, account, and authentication information.
Information you upload. We collect personal information about you when you upload it to the Platform or otherwise give it to us when we provide our Services to you. This includes information we collect when you complete a transaction with us.
Information about you that we get from other sources. We may receive personal information about you from other third parties where you have provided consent or where we are permitted by applicable law to receive the information. We protect and process the personal information we receive from third parties as described in this Privacy Policy, consistent with any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the information. Our third-party sources may vary over time and depend upon how you use the Services. For example, we receive information from:
Other customers and users of our Services. Our Services connect our customers with other people and businesses. This means others may input personal information about you to our Services. For example, another customer of our Services may share your contact details to the Platform. Another example is when an Account administrator includes personal information about authorized users, such as names and email addresses, to allow those users to access and use the Services with that Account.
Service providers. We use a variety of third-party service providers to help us deliver our Services and these service providers may give us information about you. For example, we may get information from our marketing service providers to support our marketing initiatives, improve our Services, and better monitor, manage, and measure our ad campaigns, such as details about when our service provider shows you one of our ads on or via its advertising platform. We may hire research firms that help us understand our market and where allowed under applicable laws, these researches may provide us with personal information.
Business partners. We may also collect information about you from our business partners that assist us with providing our Services, developing our business, and understanding our market. For example, our Website uses communication, sign up, and form integrations provided by third-parties who may collect personal information from you and then share it with us as intended by those features and functionalities.
Supplemental information and identity verification providers. We also collect personal information about you from third-party service providers that assist us with verifying your identity. Our Services may also use single sign-on integrations through other platforms and providers (e.g., signing in through a social media account), which includes information sharing between us and the single sign-on provider.
Linked third-party services. If you choose to integrate a third-party service with your Account, we may receive information from that third-party service according to your settings with that third-party.
Risk management, cybersecurity & anti-fraud providers. We may receive personal information from third parties that help us assess risks associated with our offerings, including to help combat fraud and illegal activity and to help protect your personal information.
Joint offering partners. We may offer co-branded services or experiences or engage in joint-marketing activities with others, including through our conferences or live events.
3. Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically collect personal information about you, such as:
Information from your use of the Website and Services. We collect personal information about you when you use our Website and Services. This includes information like your Internet protocol (IP) address, your geographic location, the website you visited before coming to our Website, your browser type and settings, log data, your device information (for example, if you're using a tablet, mobile phone, or desktop computer and the operating system), the date and time when you visited the Website, information about your browser configuration and plug-ins, your language preferences, and other unique identifiers.
Usage information. We may collect information about your use of our Services, such as the pages you viewed, the services and features you used or interacted with, your browser type, and details about any links or communications with which you interacted.
Communication interaction data. We or our third-party service providers may collect information from email providers, communication providers, and social networks, such as your interactions with our email, text, or other communications (e.g., whether you open or forward emails).
Information from cookies and other tracking technologies. We collect information about you through cookies and similar tracking technologies to provide and support our Website and the Services.
4. Sensitive personal information. Our Services may ask you to input sensitive personal information, for example when we request, and you choose to provide salary and other employment compensation information. The sensitive personal information will be identified at the time we request it from you.
3. How and when do we use your information?
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information, for several purposes:
Consent. We use your personal information when you have consented to the use of it in a particular way. When you consent, you can change your mind at any time. We will normally let you know when information is required, and the consequences of failing to provide it or withdrawing your consent. If you do not provide personal information when requested, you may not be able to use our Services if that information is necessary to provide you with the Service or if we are legally required to collect it.
To make our Website and Services available to you. We use your personal information to provide your Account and our Website and Services to you and to respond to your requests.
To fulfill the purposes for which you provided the information to us. We use your personal information when you give it to us for a specific purpose or for reasons that were described when it was collected, such as providing Services to you, or any other purpose for which you provide it, including for any other reason described in this Privacy Policy.
To determine your eligibility. We may use your personal information to evaluate your eligibility for marketing offers, products, and services. Sometimes this may involve deciding whether you are approved for our Services.
To connect you with others. We may use your personal information in connection with our Services to connect you with other people and businesses in the way intended by our Platform.
To process payments. We use your personal information to process payments through our Website and Services.
To communicate with you and verify your identity. We use your personal information to communicate with you, including to send you Electronic Messages and other communications about the Services and your relationship with us. We also may use your personal information to verify your identity. If we are interacting with you in person, such as when you attend our offices, events, or the location of others that are providing a venue on our behalf, we may use your personal information for security purposes, such as creating a visitor or attendee log.
To market and promote our business to you. We use your personal information to market our Website, Services, and business to you, including through surveys and promotions. We may use your information to send you tailored marketing communications about products, services, offers, programs, and promotions of ours and those of our partners and measure the success of those campaigns.
To customize your experience. We use your personal information to provide you with customized services. For example, we use your location information to determine your language preferences or display accurate date and time information. We also use cookies and similar technologies for this purpose, such as remembering your preferences.
To make our Website and Services secure. We use your personal information to keep our Website and our Services secure, such as when we use your personal information to verify your identity and access credentials.
To manage our third-party relationships. We use your personal information to manage our vendor, service provider, and partner relationships.
To enforce our rights and to meet our obligations and the law. We use your personal information to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights under contracts and our terms of service, for billing matters, or to comply with legal requirements. We may also use your personal information to protect our and others' interests, rights, and property where we have a legitimate interest in doing so. We use your personal information to comply with applicable legal requirements, such as tax and other government regulations, contracts, and law enforcement requests.
Notices about our relationship with you. We will also use your personal information to give you notices about your relationship with us.
User reporting. When you report any concern of non-compliance, unethical conduct, or other allege
4. How do we share your personal information?
In addition to other scenarios we have discussed in this Privacy Policy, we may share your personal information in the following ways:
For certain product features. We may use third party integration services to enable you to use certain product features. If you choose to use those features, you acknowledge and agree that you are also bound by the third party’s privacy policy. You may manage your data by visiting the third party’s security settings page or by contacting the third party. When you use these third party integrations, you consent to us sharing your personal information with the owner or operator of the third party integration.
Affiliates and subsidiaries. We share personal information with our affiliates and subsidiaries when it is reasonably necessary or desirable, such as to help provide services to you or analyze and improve the services we or they provide, or for other purposes that we identify at the time we collect the personal information from you.
Business partners. We may share personal information with our business partners. For example, we may share your personal information when our Website, Services, or other assets are integrated with the services of other parties, but only when you have been informed or would otherwise expect such sharing. Some of our services, such as events we may run in collaboration with other businesses or through sponsorships, are offered to you through collaborations with other companies.
Service providers. We share personal information with our service providers that perform services on our behalf. For example, we may use third parties to manage our advertisements on other sites, send marketing and other communications on our behalf, to complete purchase and order requests, or to assist with data storage and processing. We use a variety of service providers in connection with the Website and Services. We only share your personal information when you have been informed or would otherwise expect such sharing, such as for verification of authenticity, to provide our Services to you, to follow up on your inquiries, or as disclosed at the time the information is collected.
Process payments. We transmit your personal information via an encrypted connection to our payment processor.
Following the law or protecting rights and interests. We disclose your personal information if we determine that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with the law, protect our or others' rights, property, or interests, or to prevent fraud or abuse. In particular, we may disclose your personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, such as to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. The laws regarding how this personal information may be used will vary by jurisdiction.
Business transfers. If we are involved in a reorganization, merger, acquisition, or sale of some or all of our assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that deal or the negotiation of contemplated deals.
For legal reasons. We may share your personal information with third parties for legal reasons without your consent, and as permitted by law, including: when we reasonably believe disclosure is required in order to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other applicable law, regulation or legal process; to protect our, our customers’, and others’ rights, property, or safety; to enforce, remedy, or apply our terms of service or other agreements; to detect or prevent fraud, cybersecurity attacks, or illegal activity; for debt collection; and with regulatory agencies, including government tax agencies, as required by laws applicable to us or protect our customers, users, or as required for risk control programs.
5. Your rights and choices.
Rights to access, update, change, or delete personal information. Where applicable law requires (and subject to any relevant exceptions under law), you may have the right to access, update, change, or delete your personal information. You can request to access, update, delete, or change your personal information directly in your Account where we make that functionality available or by contacting us at info@thegccollective.com to request the required changes. You can exercise your other rights (including deleting your Account) by contacting us at the same email address. Please note that we may need to verify your identity in connection with your requests. If we are unable to verify your identity or request, we may not, in accordance with applicable law, be able to fulfill your request. Please note that, for technical reasons, there is likely to be a delay in deleting your personal information from our systems when you ask us to delete it. When we delete your personal information, it will no longer be retrievable. Please ensure you have exported or otherwise saved your personal information before you ask us to delete it.
Withdrawal of consent. If we rely on consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information, you have the right to withdraw it at any time and free of charge. When you do so, this will not affect the lawfulness of the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information before your withdrawal of consent. If you wish to withdraw consent, please contact info@thegccollective.com. Please note that if you withdraw consent, certain features of the Service or your Account may not have full functionality because certain features rely on your personal information to work as intended.
Data processing and portability. Some jurisdictions’ laws may give you the right to restrict or object to the processing of your personal information or to exercise a right to data portability. If such rights apply to you, you may exercise them by contacting our Privacy Officer or following the instructions in your Account (where we make instructions available).
Commercial electronic messages. Like many other companies, we may ask you to sign up to receive emails and other Electronic Messages from us. If you no longer wish to receive those messages, you can opt-out by following the unsubscribe link in the messages or by contacting us.
Complaints. You may have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority, subject to applicable law.
6. Please use caution when posting on the public areas or features of our Website and Services.
You may be able to post or make public communications on certain areas of our Website or Services, such as comments and questions fields, discussion forums, in-Platform communication functions, and other public discussion mechanisms. These kinds of communications are made at your own risk. Although we may monitor or even control these types of public posts, we are under no obligation to do so. We also cannot control the actions of other users of the Website or Services, including how they will use your public posts and any personal information you include in them. We cannot and do not guarantee that unauthorized persons will not view your public posts or respect your privacy.
7. Where we may store and process your information.
We are based out of Canada, but we may process, store, and transfer personal information in Canada or elsewhere. For example, we could use third-party service providers, such as managed hosting providers, credit card processors, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and technology partners to provide the necessary software, networking, infrastructure, and other services that we use to operate the Website and Services. These third-party providers may process or store personal information on servers outside of Canada.
Locations other than Canada may have different privacy laws, which may be more or less protective. If we move personal information to a location other than Canada, the governments, courts, law enforcement, or regulatory agencies of that country may have access to your personal information through their laws. In addition to Canada, your personal information may be collected, used, disclosed, or stored for any purpose stated in this Privacy Policy in the United States.
8. How do we keep your personal information secure?
We follow industry standards on information security management to safeguard sensitive information, such as financial information, intellectual property, and any other personal information entrusted to us. Our information security systems apply to people, processes, and information technology systems on a risk management basis. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is completely secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information.
9. How long do we keep your personal information?
In general, we keep your personal information throughout your relationship with us. Once you terminate your relationship with us, we will continue to store archived copies of your personal information for legitimate business purposes in accordance with applicable laws, like defending or enforcing a contractual claim, for audit purposes, to resolve disputes, and to comply with the law. We will continue to store anonymous or anonymized information, such as website visits, without identifiers, to improve our Website and Services. There may be occasions where we are unable to fully delete, anonymize, or de-identify your personal information due to technical, legal, regulatory compliance, or other operational reasons. Where this is the case, we will take reasonable measures to securely isolate your personal information from any further processing until such time as we are able to delete, anonymize, or de-identify it.
10. Children and privacy.
Our Website and its features and the Services are not meant for children under 13 years of age. If you are under 13 years old, please do not give us your personal information. If you are the parent or guardian of someone under 13 years of age, please do not give us personal information of that person.
11. How to contact us about privacy questions.
If you have a question or a concern about our Privacy Policy or your personal information, please get in touch with us. Our Privacy Officer can be reached at info@thegccollective.com.
12. Changes to our Privacy Policy.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect, for example, changes to our privacy practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will give you notice of such changes by posting the revised policy on our Website, and where appropriate, by other means. By continuing to use the Website or the Services after these changes are posted, you agree to the revised policy.