PRIVACY POLICY

 We Take Data Privacy Seriously

Introduction

This Privacy Policy is designed to inform users of TechConnect, (a division of ATI) and its affiliated sites: smartcitiesconnect.orgsmartcitiesconnect.comtechconnect.orgnsti.orgtechconnectventures.com (hereby referred to as TechConnect) on how TechConnect collects, uses, shares and protects users' personal identifying information provided to or collected by TechConnect. It also describes visitors' rights to be informed and to control their data.

TechConnect takes all reasonable steps to protect user privacy consistent with the guidelines set forth in this Privacy Policy and with all applicable rules and regulations, including those under U.S. laws and the EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

What Information Do We Collect

When you visit or interact with our sites, services or messaging, we or our authorized service providers may use cookies and similar technologies to help provide you with a 1) better, faster, and safer experience and 2) access to valuable or relevant information. The information is gathered in several ways: (1) forms, (2) your active on-site activity during your visit, and (3) automated collection of web utilization data, including:

Personal information from forms you fill out when you register with TechConnect or use our Services. This includes personal identifying information such as your name, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, corporate employer (if applicable), purchasing plans, credit card information and job-related information.

On-site activity you conduct while using and interacting with our content. TechConnect collects data about how you use our services, including videos viewed, content links clicked, pdf materials downloaded, and interaction with forms and question boxes. This allows us to provide you with more relevant product offerings, a better experience on our sites and to collect, analyze and improve the performance of our Services.

Surveys. TechConnect aggregates the results of any online or email surveys. The form may ask you to confirm your name, employer, interests and plans to purchase (if any).

Cookies and Web utilization data. Our site also collects additional information when delivering our Services to you to ensure necessary and optimal performance. These collection methods may not be as obvious to you, so we want to detail those and how they work.  In specific, our servers automatically capture and save the following web utilization data from visitors:

Your unique Internet Protocol (IP) address;

The name of your unique Internet service provider;

The kind of browser or computer you use;

The number of links you click within the sites;

The date and time of your visit;

The web page from which you arrived at our sites;

The pages you viewed on the sites;

The items you download from our site and

Certain searches/queries that you conducted via our sites.

Information about devices accessing the Services, including type of device, what OS (operating system) is used, device settings, unique device identifiers and error data.

At times, some of this data collected might be capable of and be used to approximate your location.

For more information on our use of cookies please view our Cookies Use policy here or contact privacy@TechConnect.org.

How We Use Your Information

TechConnect strongly believe in both minimizing the data we collect and limiting its use and purpose to only data

(1) where we have been given permission,

(2) necessary to deliver valuable information services or

(3) as might be required or permitted for legal compliance or other lawful purposes.

Much of the data collected is aggregated or is statistical data about how individuals use our services -- and is not linked to any personal data. We also collect data which can be personal data (or is linked or linkable to personal data). Here is a list of other ways we use your personal information:

To optimize the operation and performance of our Services for web and mobile users.

To contact you via email or postal mail to offer you special promotions, poll your opinions through surveys or questionnaires and inform you about our Services, as authorized by applicable law.

To monitor and improve the information security of our web and mobile site.

To deliver targeted marketing, service updates, and promotional offers based on your preferences. To measure the value and performance of our content and email outreach

To measure user value of content available on our site

How We Protect Your Data

Data Security
TechConnect takes the security of the personal data we collect seriously, and we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us. TechConnect has implemented a series of technical and administrative measures which are generally accepted by the industry to protect the personal information in its possession.

Any sections of the site or platform that collect sensitive personal information use industry-standard secure socket layer (TLS/SSL) encryption. To take advantage of TLS, your browser must support up-to-date encryption protection, as found in the latest versions of most common browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari.

Data Retention

Your information will be stored for only as long as necessary for the purposes set out above. This period will vary depending on your interactions with us.

How We Share Your Information

Third-Party Sites. For the convenience of our users, we offer direct links to third party websites. If you click such a link you will leave the TechConnect site and be redirected to that third party's website. At that time, you will be subject to the third-party company's policies. Please note, when you leave the TechConnect site the "look and feel" you see in your browser will change. Additionally, the URL will change from the TechConnect URL to the URL string of the third party.

Trusted Third-Party Sponsors. TechConnect produces several third-party sponsored events, where a large library of content (video, PDFs, links and articles) is available from third parties. In return for granting users free access to this content, we may ask you to provide Personally Identifying Information (via an online form and cookies). Data collected during the registration process and the actual event may be shared with those Sponsors and others as is governed by our policy and the third party's privacy policy and may be used by the Sponsor for follow-up purposes.
Website analytics. We use multiple web analytics tools provided by service partners such as Google Analytics, to collect information about how you interact with our website or mobile applications, including what pages you visit, what site you visited prior to visiting our website, how much time you spend on each page, what operating system and web browser you use and network and IP information. We use the information provided by these tools to improve our Services. These tools place persistent cookies in your browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit our website.

Service Providers. TechConnect uses a trusted Service Provider to deliver this communication. We may disclose your Personal Information to providers that perform web, email, registration and operational functions necessary to day-to-day business operations.

Legally Required Sharing. We may disclose information about you (i) if we believe in good faith that we are required to do so by law or legal process, (ii) to law enforcement authorities or other government officials, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual fraudulent or illegal activity.

Business Transfers. We reserve the right to transfer Personal Information to a purchaser or successor entity in the event of a sale or any other corporate transaction involving some or all of our business.

Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy, TechConnect will not disclose any personally identifiable information to any third parties, unless we are required to do so by law, regulation or court order. TechConnect, nor its parent company, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, does not bear any responsibility for any actions or policies of such third parties. We use your information to deliver emails on topics of interest to users who have accessed our services.

Execute Your Information Rights

GDPR

EU Citizens – Exercise your data rights under EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and other applicable laws by contacting privacy@TechConnect.org.  

Opt-Out Right

TechConnect operates on the basis that users can access TechConnect content and register for an event in return for having user information provided to a sponsor. TechConnect will only use your information for those purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as subsequently authorized by you.

You can avoid having your information and clickstream data disclosed to sponsors in several ways:

Do not provide us with your personal information.

Do not sign up or register for TechConnect content/events (or request access).

Click the 'unsubscribe link at the end of any email message you receive from TechConnect.

Email us at postmaster@TechConnect.org we will remove you from future email communications

Other Notes on Rights

For users in the European Economic Area ("EEA") - You can request that we send you the Personal Information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, enabling you to transfer such information to another data controller (privacy@TechConnect.org). The access and correction provisions of this Privacy Policy only apply to personal information collected from you through our website.

Your Privacy Rights Under California Law - Residents of California who have provided Personal Information to us have the right to request from us a list of the third parties with whom we have shared certain Personal Information, as defined under California Civil Code Section 1798.90(e) during the preceding year for third party direct marketing purposes. We will respond to one request per California resident per calendar year, in accordance with California Civil Code Section 1798.83. To submit such request, contact us by mail at privacy@TechConnect.org. Please allow 30 days for a response.

Requirements to Protect Children's Privacy - We do not intend for our websites or online services to be used by anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we may have collected information about a child, please contact at privacy@TechConnect.org

Our Right to Update Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a new or revised statement. This Privacy Policy is effective as of June 5, 2018.

Contact Us
Mailing Address

TechConnect is a division of ATI

TechConnect division of ATI
315 Sigma Dr
Summerville, SC 29486

Privacy Inquiries

Data privacy is important to us.

If you have questions or issues, please refer email us at: privacy@TechConnect.org.

Unsubscribe / Opt-Out

We only want send emails to those who find our offerings useful.

To request to Opt-Out of any future mailing from TechConnect contact postmaster@TechConnect.org or use our opt out links.

GDPR Requests (EU Citizens)

For EU residents we support the GDPR.

For GDPR Data Subject Request, please contact privacy@TechConnect.org