PRIVACY POLICY
The Institute for Global Asset and Risk Management (“INGARM”) is an online educational and information resource for business, finance and investment professionals, regulators, and the judiciary. The INGARM web site includes but is not limited to, articles, videos, blogs, newsletters, original research and other information that the Institute believes to be of value to the user. INGARM’s Privacy Policy is designed to assist you in understanding how we collect and use the personal information you provide to us on www.ingarm.org and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our web site.
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Similar to other web sites, the INGARM web site utilizes a standard technology called “cookies” and web server logs to collect information on how our site is used. A cookie is a very small text document that often includes an anonymous unique identifier. When you visit a web site, that site’s computer asks your computer for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies.
This technology allows us to determine the number of people visiting our web site and to assess which parts of the site are most popular so that we can gather feedback in order to improve the INGARM web site and better serve our members and users. Information gathered through cookies may include, but is not limited to, the date and time of visits, the pages viewed and time spent on our web site. Personally identifiable information is not stored in these cookies.
The INGARM web site also collects personal information on an individual basis that you knowingly choose to disclose and provide when becoming a member or when registering for certain services, e-mail newsletters and alerts, or purchase education courses or other material through our site. This data collection can include such personally identifiable information as name, profession, company name, address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card information. You may also provide additional comments via email on how you see INGARM servicing your needs and interests. If you choose to correspond with us through e-mail, we may retain the content of your e-mail messages together with your e-mail address and our responses.
Other organizations linked from our web site may collect information about you when you visit their sites, including through the use of cookies that originate from their web sites. INGARM cannot control this collection of information. You should contact these companies directly if you have any questions about their use of the information they collect.
BLOGS
If you use blogs on the INGARM web site, any personally identifiable information you submit may be read, collected or used by other users in this forum. INGARM is not responsible for personally identifiable information you choose to submit in the blogs. INGARM reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any posts that violate its Terms of Use Agreement or are otherwise considered inappropriate in content or tone and to block the user from submitting any future posts.
USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Generally, INGARM uses personal information for purposes of administering and expanding its business activities, providing customer service, and making available other services to our members and prospective members. We occasionally also use the information we collect to notify you about important changes to our web site, and/or new services or vendors you may find valuable. We may retain your personal information for administrative, billing, reporting and analytic purposes. We will not share or sell your information unless you affirmatively opt in to such information sharing. You have the opportunity to opt in or opt out of these specific types of communications at any time by contacting us at info@ingarm.org.
From time to time, we may need to send critical service updates from the web site. You may not opt out of receiving these critical service updates as long as you remain a member. If you wish to change your preferences for receiving communications from our web site, please contact us to change your preferences at info@ingarm.org. You may review and update the personal information you have provided to us by contacting us at info@ingarm.org or by sending correspondence to: INGARM, 29 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002.
SHARING INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES
INGARM uses third parties to perform credit card processing and e-mail services on its web site. INGARM will share billing and e-mail information, as necessary, with the third party to provide that service. These third parties are prohibited from using your personally identifiable information for any other purpose, including their own marketing purposes.
INGARM also may enter into alliances, partnerships and other business arrangements with third parties who will be given access to personal information (including, but not limited to, your e-mail address) for the purpose of providing you information regarding services that may be of interest to you and that you have opted in to receive. INGARM will not share or sell your information unless you affirmatively opt in to such information sharing.
In the event of a change of ownership or control, merger or dissolution, INGARM may transfer e-mail and visitor information as part of that transaction. You will be notified via e-mail of any resulting change in ownership or control of your personal information.
SECURITY OF INFORMATION TRANSMISSIONS
INGARM follows generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. When you enter sensitive information, such as credit card data, the information is encrypted using SSL encryption. Any pages with forms that collect sensitive information on our web site will utilize this technology. However, no method of transmission over the Internet and no method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
E-mail is not recognized as a secure medium of communication. For this reason, we request that you do not send private or sensitive information to us by e-mail. If you have any questions about security on our Web site please contact us at info@ingarm.org.
OTHER DISCLOSURES
INGARM may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or subpoena, or if we believe that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the law or comply with legal process served on us; (b) protect and defend our rights and property, our site, the users of our site and/or our partners or affiliated parties, if any; or (c) act under circumstances to protect the safety of users of our site, ourselves or third parties.
THIRD-PARTY WEB SITES AND SERVICES
As a convenience to our users, this web site contains links to sites or services created and maintained by other organizations. INGARM is not responsible for the practices employed by web sites linked to or from our web site, nor are we responsible for the information or content contained therein. Links to other web sites are provided solely as pointers to information on topics that may be useful to the users of our web site. Should you use a link to go from our web site to another web site, our Privacy Policy is no longer in effect. Your activities and interaction on any other web site, including web sites that have a link on our web site, is subject to that web site’s own rules and policies. Please review those privacy rules and policies before proceeding.
YOUR CONSENT
By using our web site, you consent to our collection, use and retention of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. If we make material changes to our privacy practices, we will post those changes on our web site to keep you informed of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances we may disclose it.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT
This privacy statement may occasionally be updated to reflect changes in our services. If there are material changes to this statement or in how INGARM will use your personal information, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes prior to implementing the change or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how INGARM is protecting your information.