Privacy Policy

This privacy policy was updated January 2021 and is effective January 25, 2021. Earlier versions of our policy are linked at the bottom of the page.

This privacy policy applies to the World Privacy Forum web site, www.worldprivacyforum.org, and to other privacy activities of the World Privacy Forum. Personal information processed at our website is processed in the United States.

This privacy policy may change from time to time in response to new laws, to changes made to the web site, or otherwise. The World Privacy Forum reserves the right to make changes to the policy, but we do not anticipate making major adjustments to the approach outlined here.

Privacy framework

We generally follow the principles set out in the OECD Fair Information Practices. These practices represent an international consensus on privacy principles for the collection and management of personal information. OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. When we update this policy, we will post a copy of the older versions of the policy. These copies are available in the Version History section located at the end of this document.

Personal data we collect

Information you provide to us

Some visitors to WPF may choose to interact with us in ways that require us to gather personal data. The amount and type of information that WPF gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, if you ask us for help with a privacy problem via email, the data you send us is likely to contain some personal information, for example, the email address or name you provided. The amount and type of information we collect from you depends on the information you may provide directly to us through sending us email, calling us, signing up for a newsletter, or making a donation. You can opt to not send us any personal data.

If you sign up for one of our mailing lists, you will be giving us your name (or pseudonym) and email address. This sign-up is voluntary. If you do not want us to collect this data, you can opt to not send us any personal data.

Please note that effective 25 May 2018, WPF requests that you do not send sensitive personal data to us through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms. We are not able to respond to queries regarding sensitive health, financial, or other situations via social media. We will respond to consumer contact requests that come in via social media by providing a way for you to contact us further.

Web logs

The WPF site is hosted at WPEngine.com. The WPF site is a WordPress-powered site that uses a variety of plug-ins and widgets to function. The WPF site has been set up to avoid tracking visitors. As such, WPF does not track IP addresses nor retain IP addresses of site visitors. WPEngine does keep a log of IP addresses for security purposes only. WPF does not have access to this data. WPEngine’s privacy policy is located at: http://wpengine.com/privacy/.

Cookies

To the best of our knowledge, WPF does not employ cookies on its pages. WPF does not run advertising on the web site, and we have taken care to avoid using cookies within Word Press. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level by clearing or blocking cookies.

How we use personal data

The World Privacy Forum makes a good faith effort to use information given to us only for the original purposes for which it was provided.

When a consumer sends in a query to us, only WPF employees, consultants, or attorneys have permission to view the queries. You can choose to not send us queries in identifiable form, or simply not send queries.

We currently use PayPal as our online donation tool. If you choose to donate online, you will share your information with PayPal. We will not receive your credit card or financial information, but we will receive the name and email address you gave to PayPal, which we will use to thank you for your donation. If you are uncomfortable using PayPal and still want to donate, you can donate through other means, for example, via check, money order, or cryptocurrency. PayPal’s privacy policy is here: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full. We don’t sell, rent, share, or use information about contributors unless we are required to by law.

We may make WPF publications, reports and other materials available via third party sites such as Apple’s iTunes, Medium, or other third party sites. If you choose to access or download our products or materials via a third party site, please review the policies of that site. If you buy something from us that way, we may receive a record of what you bought and/or how to contact you. We don’t sell, rent, share, or use information about those who buy our products unless we are required to by law.

We offer one or more newsletters via our website. We use SimpleLists for this service. SimpleLists is based in the UK and is registered with the ICO as a data controller. SimpleLists’ privacy policy is at: https://www.simplelists.com. If you have signed up for the newsletter and wish to opt out of the newsletter list, you may do so at any time. Unsubscribe links are found on each email. If for any reason you are having difficulty unsubscribing, please contact us directly for assistance. We do not sell, rent, share, or use information about subscribers for any purpose other than sending periodic news updates, unless we are required to do so by law.

Disclosure of personal data

WPF does not generally disclose personal data without the consent of the data subject other than as described in this policy. Some things are out of our control. We may disclose information you have given us when required by law, in response to a subpoena, or if served with a search warrant.

In the event of unauthorized access (example, a hack) or other wrongful activity, if appropriate, feasible, and lawful, we will make reasonable attempts (via telephone or email) tell the data provider and/or data subject about most of these disclosures.

Data retention

We may retain any personal data if we conclude that the organization needs the data for legal or tax purposes. As long as we have your personal data, we will correct or update it as promised in the Individual Participation section below.

How to access and control your personal data

Any individual who is the subject of personal information that the World Privacy Forum maintains may ask: 1) if we maintain any information about him or her; 2) to see the information that we maintain; 3) to correct, update, or delete the information.

If we deny a request, we will state a reason. If we refuse to correct, update, or delete information, the data subject may submit a concise statement of disagreement that we will retain and disseminate to others in the event that we share the disputed information.

Security

We have put in place reasonable measures and appropriate procedures for safeguarding the personal data we collect. However, we cannot guarantee that personal data we collect will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.

We follow generally accepted standards to protect the personal data submitted to us, both during transmission and after it is received.

Links to other sites

This site contains links to external sites and organizations. We provide links mostly for the convenience of our visitors. We don’t guarantee what you will find at those links, and we don’t have control over the privacy practices of other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of all web sites you visit. We think privacy policies are important even if few read them.

GDPR

WPF does not process the data of European residents. Unless you choose to contact us, donate to us, or sign up to one of our mailing lists, we will not collect your personal data. WPF does not use cookies on the WPF web site nor do we otherwise track site visitors.

If you have a question about whether WPF maintains data about you, please send a query to info@worldprivacyforum.org.

Questions, contact information

The World Privacy Forum is the data controller for this site. If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at info@worldprivacyforum.org or at +1 760-712-4281. Our office address is: 3 Monroe Parkway, #148, Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA.

Version history:

We updated the policy in January 2021 to add information about our newsletter provider and information related to how we handle newsletter subscriptions. We also updated our office address. Prior to this update, we updated the policy in May 2018 to bring the policy in line with GDPR. Generally though, we’re still trying to comply with Fair Information Practices as we promised in our original privacy policy from 2007.

The 2018-2021 version of the privacy policy is located here.
The 2013 – May 2018; version of the privacy policy is located here.
The 2009-2013 version of the privacy policy is located here.
The 2007-2009 version of the privacy policy is located here.

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