PRIVACY POLICY

The Association of Pro Bono Counsel (“The Association of Pro Bono Counsel,” “APBCo,” “our”, “us” or “we”) provides this Privacy Policy (“Policy”) to inform you of our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Data APBCo receives from users of our website, accessible at https://apbco.org (the “Site”) and its members. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time, so please check it periodically for updates.

As used in this Privacy Policy, the terms “using” and “processing” information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and handling information in any way, including, but not limited to, using, evaluating, collecting, modifying, deleting, combining, storing, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our members within the United States or internationally.

LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING PERSONAL DATA

We may use Personal Data for our legitimate business interests that include running our business, as well as engaging and developing great talent. Our processing of Personal Data collected from our Site is based primarily on this justification. However, some uses of Personal Data may be necessary to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements. 

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE

Information Collected Directly From You

When you submit an application with us to become a Member or elect to receive emails or other communications from APBCo, we will ask you for information about you that can be used to contact or identify you. “Personal Data” as used in this Policy, is any information that relates to a living natural person and includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, post address, and credit card or other billing information.

Our primary goals in collecting information are to (i) provide and improve our Site and Services, including, but not limited to, the services, features, and content contained therein; (ii) administer your use of the Site and Services and your membership with us, should you have one; and (iii) enable you and other users to access, enjoy and easily navigate the Site and Services.

We will collect and process the following data about you:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Site.  This includes information provided when subscribing to our services (for example to receive information from us), posting material, or requesting further information. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our site.
  • If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
  • We may also ask you to complete surveys that we use for research purposes, although you do not have to respond to them.
  • Technical details of your visits to our site including, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, and the resources that you access. This may or may not include Personal Data.

We obtain information from you in three ways:

  • either by you directly submitting your personal information,
  • by the automatic collection of information about you as you use our Site,
  • or from third parties.

Even though we can automatically process Personal Data, we will not use solely automated means of processing your Personal Data in such a way to have any significantly adverse impact to you.

Please note that information which cannot reasonably be related to you is not considered Personal Data and is not subject to this Policy. Only information which can be connected to you is subject to this Policy.

Information Collected Automatically

IP ADDRESSES AND COOKIES

When you visit the Site, whether as a user or a Member, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website (“Log Data”).  This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before visiting our Site, pages of our Site that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Site, access times and dates, and other statistics. We use this information to (i) monitor and analyze use of the Site and the Service and for the Site’s technical administration; (ii) increase our Site’s functionality, accessibility, and user-friendliness; and (iii) improve and better tailor it to our users’ needs.

APBCo may store some information on your computer when you access the Site. This information is commonly known as a “cookie” and once recorded is not accessible by any other company. A cookie is a piece of data that our Site automatically transfers to the hard drive of your PC or mobile device when your browser accesses our Site. Some cookies and similar technologies will maintain Personal Data. Some do not.  

We use Cookies in order to better understand how the Site is being accessed and used and Cookies also help us to determine if the Site is being delivered efficiently. In addition, Cookies allow us to enhance your online experience by customizing your use of the Site and eliminating the need for you to reenter data every time you visit the Site. The use of Cookies is an industry standard and is used by most major websites to provide the visitor with tailored information. Should you wish to block these Cookies in the first instance or erase them from your computer after they have been recorded, please consult your computer manual. If you block or erase these Cookies you may limit the functionality available to you on the Site.  Unless you have adjusted your browser settings so that the browser refuses cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our Site.

APBCo may also track user behavior on the Site.  This information is used to enhance APBCo’s ability to provide the best experience possible to users, and is not provided to third parties for commercial or other purposes.

We occasionally carry out market research.  A third party might help us to do this and they may send a cookie or web beacon. These technologies will not be used to collect Personal Data that will be used by third parties except as specified in this Policy.

USES OF INFORMATION

We use Personal Data held about you in the following ways:

  • To ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer. 
  • To provide you with the information, products, and services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you.
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Site.
  • To notify you about changes to what we do.
  • To protect the integrity of our Site, our services, and our reputation.
  • To prosecute or defend legal claims.
  • To protect other users of our Site, and to ensure no unlawful or unethical activity occurs through our systems.

We may also use your Personal Data, or permit selected third parties to use your Personal Data, to provide you with information about services which may be of interest to you and we or they may contact you about these by post or telephone.

If you do not want us to use your Personal Data in this way, or to pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes, please indicate your choice on the relevant box on the form when we collect your Personal Data. Alternatively, you can opt-out of certain communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications or by sending an unsubscribe request from the e-mail address at which you are receiving the messages to [email protected].

INFORMATION STORAGE, SHARING, AND DISCLOSURE

APBCo is a global organization. As a result, the data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, any of our locations; which may be inside or outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”).  Our primary servers are in the United States of America.  Data may also be processed by staff around the world working for us. These staff maybe engaged in, among other things, the fulfillment of your information requests, or the provision of support services. If you submit your Personal Data, we will request that you agree to this transfer, storing, or processing. If we do not request your consent to such processing outside the EEA, we will implement suitable safeguards such as data transfer agreements using the standard contractual clauses as developed and approved by the European Commission. We will store Personal Data we collect about you as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it or where there is a legal obligation – laws or regulation that may set a minimum period for which we have to keep your personal data.

APBCo will not knowingly sell or distribute Personal Data to third parties for their marketing purposes.  To the extent APBCo uses third parties to provide specific services or information to you, those third parties are only allowed to use your Personal Data to provide such services.  

We may disclose your Personal Data to third parties:

  • In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your Personal Data to the prospective seller or buyer of the business or assets.
  • If APBCo, or substantially all of its assets, are acquired by a third party, in which case Personal Data held will be one of the transferred assets. Similarly, your personal information may be passed on to a successor in interest in the event of a reconstruction, liquidation, or administration.
  • If we are under a duty to disclose or share your Personal Data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of APBCo, our members, employees, or others. 
  • We also use demographic information to tailor the Site to the interests of our visitors.
  • You may have accessed our Site through a hyperlink from the website of a third party such as Google. If so, your personal details, including behavioral patterns, are shared between us and that third party in accordance with our relationship with them.
  • APBCo may share collected Log Data with affiliates, contractors, and other third parties.


YOUR CHOICES

You can ask us not to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes. You may opt out at any time even if you have previously given your consent, although it will take a short while for the changes in your preferences to become effective. You can ask us not to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes by indicating your choice on the forms we use to collect your Personal Data.  

Additionally, should you feel that Personal Data isn’t being processed in accordance with this Policy, you may object to such processing. We will respond to such requests within a reasonable time. You can also exercise these rights at any time by contacting us via email at [email protected].

YOUR RIGHTS 

In some countries you may have the right to exercise a number of legal rights in relation to the restricting the processing of your Personal Data that we hold about you and you can exercise your rights by contacting us using the details set out below.

These rights include: obtaining and accessing information regarding the processing of your personal information, requesting that we erase your personal information in certain circumstances, objecting to, and requesting that we restrict, our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, lodging a complaint with the relevant data protection authority, if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us. We can, on request, tell you which data protection authority is relevant to the processing of your personal information. You can exercise those rights by e-mailing [email protected].

Please note that whilst you may exercise these rights, there may be circumstances where we are legally entitled to refuse a request to exercise your rights. 

CHANGING OR DELETING YOUR INFORMATION

All Members may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Data in their Accounts by visiting the “My Profile” section of the Site, or by contacting us at [email protected].  

If you would like to close or delete your Account, please contact us at [email protected].  However, we may continue to display your Member Content in situations in which it implicates or affects other users, and we may also retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

SECURITY

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal Data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.  Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.  Unfortunately, data transmission over the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be secure nor is any security system completely secure.  Although we make efforts to protect your personal Data, APBCo does not guarantee the security of any information you transmit to APBCo or provide online; any transmission is at your own risk.  Once we have received your information, we will use our own procedures and security measures to try to prevent unauthorized access.

LINKS

Our Site contains links to other websites, online services or applications (each a “Third Party Website”). The fact that we link to a Third Party Website is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. We do not exercise control over Third Party Websites. Such Third Party Websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit Personal Data from you. Other websites and online services may also follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the Personal Data you submit to them. Any links to Third Party Websites are provided to you for convenience purposes only, and you access them at your own risk.  We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of any Third Party Websites you visit.

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

APBCo may, in its sole discretion and at any time, modify this Privacy Policy, in whole or in part. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on the Site. Unless otherwise provided, the new and/or revised terms of this Privacy Policy will take effect immediately upon posting on the Site.  You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes.

CONTACTING US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected] or at Privacy Matters, The Association of Pro Bono Counsel, P.O. Box 1752, New York, New York 10019-1752.