Last Updated: March 19, 2020
The www.advancedconsciousness.org, www.myconsciousness.app websites, including all of its features and content (“Website”) is a service made available by Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, Inc.
How This Privacy Policy Applies
Your privacy is very important to us, and in order to best protect your information, we have adopted this privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”), which applies to any and all information each visitor or user of the Website (each, a “User”, “you” or “your”) submit to us in connection with your access to and/or use of the Website. This Privacy Policy describes the information we collect from you through the Website, how we use that information, and our legal basis for doing so. It also covers whether and how that information may be shared and your rights and choices regarding the information you provide to us. It also covers whether and how that information may be shared and your rights and choices regarding the information you provide to us. Capitalized words not defined in this Privacy Policy are defined in our Terms of and Conditions of Use (“Terms of Use”).
By using the Website, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy (including new versions of this Privacy Policy when and as they go into effect), and the Terms of Use, which governs this Privacy Policy and contains all disclaimers of warranties and limitation of liabilities.
What Information We Collect and Receive
In order for you to use our Websites and Mobile Applications, we need to collect and process certain information, which depending on how you use the Websites and Mobile Applications, may include:
• Information you provide by using the Website and Mobile Applications, such as by posting User Content in the Interactive Areas (as such terms are defined in the Terms of Use), and completing forms on the Website and within the Mobile Applications, such as your first and last name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and/or responses to surveys and prompts. We may ask for this information if you subscribe to our newsletter, complete surveys, use our Mobile Application to log experiences, or contact us;
• Details of any requests or transactions you make through the Website. We may offer products for sale through the Website and partner with Shopify for payment processing and the credit card and other payment information you submit is collected and used by them in accordance with its privacy policy available at https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy. We would not store your payment information apart from the last four digits of your credit card or bank account (as applicable), expiration date, and country, which we require for tax compliance, government regulatory, and security purposes;
• Information about your activity on and interaction with Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, the type of device or browser you use to access the Website, and your actions on the Website;
• Information about the ways people visit and interact with our Website in the form of web traffic analytics. You can opt out of being included in Google Analytics [here]. For more information about our use of data analytics to protect and improve our Website, see Cookies and How We Utilize Them below; and
• Communications you send to us, such as when you request support, send us comments or questions, or report a problem to us.
We also collect and maintain aggregated, anonymized, or pseudonymized information to protect the safety and security of our Website, improve our Website, or comply with legal obligations.
You may decline to provide us with some or all of your information. However, this will limit your ability to use our Website.
Types of Cookies We Utilize
We use the following types of cookies and other technologies:
• Security: We secure the Website with cookies that facilitate security features and allow us to detect activity that might violate our rules and Terms of Use, such as unauthorized access or activity.
• Localization: Some cookies help us provide localized experiences, such as displaying the Website in the local language.
• Site Features and Services: Certain cookies provide greater functionality to the Website and help us deliver our products and services.
• Performance: We use performance cookies to help us route traffic between servers and understand how the Website is performing so we can provide users with the best experience possible.
• Analytics and Research: Cookies and other technologies also help us to understand, improve, and research features and content on the Website, such as by using Google Analytics, which you can opt out of [here].
• Marketing and Online Behavioral Advertising: Cookies help us deliver targeted advertisements on social media platforms based on your activity on the Website and to track the performance of those ads. In some cases, our partners may use cookies to provide us with information about your interactions with their services. Those third-party cookies would be subject to such third-party service’s privacy policies. The Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising program provides consumers with the ability to opt-out of having their online behavior recorded and used for advertising purposes. To opt out of having your online behavior collected for advertising purposes, click [here].
Limiting or Blocking Cookies and Our Do Not Track Policy
Your browser may give you the ability to control cookies, which may depend on the type of cookie, and browsers can be set to reject browser cookies. However, blocking or deleting cookies may prevent you from using most of the Website.
Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. If you block cookies, certain features on the Website may not work. If you block or reject cookies, not all of the tracking described here will stop.
Note that certain options you select are browser- and device-specific.
How We Use the Information We Collect
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
To protect our Website;
To enable us to provide you with our Website, and to improve and promote our Website and services;
To contact you and customize your experience on the Website; and
To track and analyze use of the Website and our services so that we can improve how Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies is performing and provide our users with the best experience possible.
To calculate personalized metrics surrounding your experience with the Mobile Application.
To conduct analyses on anonymized responses for academic proceedings.
European Union Users
European Union data protection law requires a “lawful basis” for collecting and retaining personal information from citizens or residents of the European Economic Area. Our lawful bases include:
• Consent: In certain cases, you have affirmatively provided us with your consent to collect your personal data for a specific purpose, such as providing your email address when you sign up for our newsletter.
• Contract: We may need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligation to deliver the Website, such as fulfilling subscriptions or transactions.
• Legal Obligations: Sometimes the law requires us to collect and use your data, such as applicable tax laws may require us to retain records of payments made through the Website.
• Legitimate Interests: This is a technical term that means we have a good and fair reason to use your data and we do so in ways which do not harm your interests and rights, such as to pursue our legitimate interests in a way that might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and that does not materially impact your rights, freedom, or interests. For example, we use identity, device, and location information to prevent fraud and abuse and to keep the Website secure, may also send you promotional communications about our Website and services subject to your right to opt out, analyze how users interact with our Website so we can understand better what elements do or do not work well, which allows us to improve and develop the quality of the online experience we offer all our users.
How We Share the Information We Collect
Information that May be Publicly Accessible
If you post User Content in Interactive Areas, other Users will be able to view such User Content, along with your name and email address that you provide in posting the User Content to the Interactive Areas. Do not post to Interactive Areas any information, including, without limitation, personal information, that you do not want to be publicly accessible.
Additionally, personal information in your Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies Member profile is shared or otherwise viewable by other Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies Members unless you specifically choose the option within your account for your profile to be anonymous. Bear in mind that if you wish to remain anonymous, you may not be able to take advantage of some of the functionality of the Website.
Information We Never Share Publicly
The following personal information is never publicly displayed or revealed to other Users (unless you post it in the Interactive Areas or share it in your public Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies Member profile):
• Your name;
• The date you register for any services we provide through the Website, such as our newsletter/mailing list;
• Your email address, IP address, mailing address, or phone number;
• Any other identity verification information or documentation;
• Any payment information you provide; and
• Communications you send to us.
• Your responses to surveys using the Mobile Application.
Information We Share with Trusted Third-Party Service Providers
We may share certain information pertaining to you with certain trusted third-party service providers to help us provide, improve, promote, or protect the Website, such as when we partner with payment processors or use services to help us manage our ads on other websites. When we share data with third-party services to help us deliver the Website and our services, we require that those service providers use your information only for the purposes we have authorized and protect your personal information at least to the same standards we do. We may also share information that is aggregated and anonymized in a way that it does not directly identify you. We may also share anonymized survey responses with researchers at accredited academic research institutions.
Information We Share to Protect Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies and Comply with the Law
We reserve the right to disclose information we collect from or about you when we believe that doing so is reasonably necessary to comply with the law or law enforcement, to prevent fraud or abuse, or to protect Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies’ legal rights, property, or the safety of Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies its users, or others. You hereby authorize us, to share or disclose your personal information, including, without limitation, any content, records, or electronic communications of any kind, when we determine, in our sole discretion, that the disclosure of such information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against you if:
• You are or may be violating the Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy;
• You are interfering with the rights or property of Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies or a third party;
• You are violating any applicable law, rule, or regulation;
• Necessary or required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation; and/or
• Requested by governmental authorities in the event of any investigation, act of terrorism, or instance of local, regional, or national emergency.
In the event that Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies is acquired by or merged with a third-party entity, or sells all or substantially all of its assets, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information and content we have collected from our users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors’ rights generally, we may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used.
Links to Other Websites and Services
Our Websites and Mobile Applications may include links to other websites or services whose privacy practices may differ from Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies’ privacy practices as described in this Privacy Policy. When you click or otherwise use a link to an external website or service, the privacy policy and data processing disclosures for that website or service govern.
Data Retention
We will retain the information we collect from or about you as long as necessary to provide you with the Website or our services, or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy, and to the extent set out in this Privacy Policy and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and protect Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies’ legal rights. Additionally, we may retain indefinitely any aggregated, anonymized, or pseudonymized information which we may collect and maintain.
Cross-Border Data Transfers
Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies is based in the United States so your information will be collected and processed in the United States, which has its own laws governing data protection and access to it, including by the government. If you reside outside of the United States, be advised that the rules that protect your personal information under United States federal, state, and local law may differ from those of your home country.
Children’s Privacy
The privacy of children is of the utmost importance, and we are committed to complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This Website does not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under the age of 13. If we ever discover that we have inadvertently collected personal information from children under the age of 13, we will delete it as soon as possible. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe that we have collected personal information from your child under the age of 13, please email us at info@advancedconsciousness.org, and we will take steps to delete such personal information as soon as possible.
Accessing Your Information
Users residing in certain countries, including citizens or residents of the European Economic Area, are afforded certain rights regarding their personal information. Except where an exception or exemption applies, these rights include the ability to access, correct, and request deletion of such user’s personal information. Even after you request we delete your personal information, we may retain certain information as required by law or as necessary for our legitimate business purposes.
Email Notifications
We want to communicate with you only if you want to hear from us. We will send you email relating to your transactions with us. You may also elect to receive certain marketing email communications, in accordance with your preferences, and from which you may opt out at any time by adjusting your notification settings. We will also send you service-related announcements when and as necessary. We try to keep emails to a minimum and give you the ability to opt in to any marketing communications we send.
We maintain a strict “no-spam” policy. We will not use false or misleading subjects or email addresses, identify the message as an advertisement in a reasonable way, include the physical address of our business, monitor our third-party email marketing services for compliance, honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly, and allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email. If you are having problems unsubscribing please contact us at info@advancedconsciousness.org by forwarding the newsletter, if applicable, and including the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line and we will use reasonable efforts to remove you within seven (7) business days. Please note that we will not process any unsubscribe requests submitted as direct replies to any newsletter.
Security
We take security seriously, and the security of your personal data is important to us. We follow industry-standard practices to protect the data we collect and maintain, including using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt information as it travels over the Internet. No method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
The www.myconsciousness.app and affiliated mobile application uses Google’s Firebase login authentication, leveraging Google’s high security for authentication (https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy). The www.myconsciousness.app and affiliated mobile also uses Amazon Web Services for the encryption of data at rest and in transit while also leveraging IAM profiles to limit individuals with access to data (https://aws.amazon.com/rds/features/security/)
Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may change the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time. Whenever we make a material change, we will post on the Website or send you an email. The effective date of the most recent version of this Privacy Policy will appear at the top of this page. New versions of this Privacy Policy will never apply retroactively.
Contact
Questions or comments about this Privacy Policy should be sent by email to info@advancedconsciousness.org