Privacy policy 

Last updates August 25, 2023

This privacy policy for Research-Aid Networks (“we,” “us,” or “our”), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share  (“process”) your information when you use our services (“Services”), such as when you:

– Visit our website at www.researchaidnetworks.org, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice.
– Engage with us in other related way, including signing up to receive our newsletter, making a donation, or other marketing or events.

Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices,  please do not use our services. If you still have questions or concerns,  please contact us at mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

Summary of key points

This summary provides key points from our privacy policy.

What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with us and the services, the choices you make, and the features you use.

Do we process any sensitive personal information? We do not process sensitive personal information.

Some third party services we use, such as Mailchimp and PayPal Giving Fund, do process sensitive information. However, we do not have access this personal information beyond names and email addresses (and in the case of donations: donation amount). 

Do we receive any information from third parties? We receive information from third parties like Mailchimp, GoFundMe and PayPal Giving Fund.

Why do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. 

In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties.

How do we keep your information safe? We have organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. 

What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you  have certain rights regarding your personal information.

How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by contacting mail@researchaidnetworks.org. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws. 

1. What information do we collect?

Personal information you disclose to us.

In short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and services, when you participate in activities on the services, or otherwise when you contact us.

Personal information provided by you. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:

– Names
– Email addresses

Sensitive information. We do not process sensitive information.

Information automatically collected

In short: Some information is collected automatically when you visit our website or use our services.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name, precise location or contact information) but may include usage information, browser data, operating system, language preferences,  referring URLs, country, imprecise location, information about how and when you use our services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

The information we collect included:

– Log and usage data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our services and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called “crash dumps”), and hardware settings).

Location data. We collect location data such as information about your device’s location (default region and country-level metadata), which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the services. You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information by disabling your location setting on your device.

2. Why do we process your information?

In short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.

We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our services, including:

– To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may process your information to provide you with the requested service.

– To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may process your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the requested service.

– To send marketing and promotional communications. We may process your voluntarily provided information to send the Research-Aid Networks newsletter through Mailchimp.com.

– To be able to receive donations. We may process your information to be able to receive donations through our GoFundMe.com campaigns and the PayPal Giving Fund.

3. What legal bases do we rely on to process your information?

In short: We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e., legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into, to protect your rights, or to fulfill our legitimate business interests.

If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information:

– Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e., consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us through mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

– Legal obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

4. When and with whom do we share your personal information?

In short: We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following third parties.

We may need to share your personal information in the following situations:

Business transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

5. Do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?

In short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.

We, or the services we use, may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Policy.

6. Is your information transferred internationally?

In short: We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own.

Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing our services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed by us in our facilities and by those third parties with whom we may share your personal information, in the United States, and other countries.

If you are a resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK), then these countries may not necessarily have data protection laws or other similar laws as comprehensive as those in your country. However, we will take all necessary measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and applicable law.

European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses:

We have implemented measures to protect your personal information, including by using the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers of personal information between our group companies and between us and our third-party providers. These clauses require all recipients to protect all personal information that they process originating from the EEA or UK in accordance with European data protection laws and regulations. Our Standard Contractual Clauses can be provided upon request. We have implemented similar appropriate safeguards with our third-party service providers and partners and further details can be provided upon request.

7. How long do we keep your information?

In short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stores in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

8. How do we keep your information safe?

In short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.

We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission or personal information to and from our services is at your own risk.

9. Do we collect information from minors?

We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.

10. What are your privacy rights?

In short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or request us to delete your information at any time.

In some regions (like the EEA, UK, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by sending an email to mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data  protection authority or UK data protection authority.

If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by at mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds  other than consent.

Opting out of marketing and promotional communications: You can unsubscribe from our marketing and promotional communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send. You will be removed from the marketing lists.

Cooking and similar technologies: Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our services.

If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

11. Controls for do-not-track features

Most web browsers and some  mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a do-not-track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy policy.

12. Do California residents have specific privacy rights?

In short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information. 

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine the light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us at mail@researchaidnetworks.org.

CCPA Privacy Notice

The  California Code of Regulations defines a “resident” as:
(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and
(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside of the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose

All other individuals are defined as “non-residents.”

If this definition of “resident” applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.

What categories of personal information do we collect?

We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve months:

Category	Type	Collected
A. Identifiers	Contact details, such as real name, alias, email address	YES
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records Statute	Name, contact information (email)	YES

We will use and retain the collected personal information as needed to provide the services or for:

Category A – As long as the user wants to receive our newsletter

Category B – As long as the user wants to receive our newsletter

We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in context of:

– Participation in customer surveys or contests; and

– Facilitation in the delivery of our services and to respond to your inquiries

– Making a donation to Research-Aid Networks through GoFundMe.com or PayPal Giving Fund

How do we use and share your personal information?

More information about our data collection and sharing practices can be found in this privacy notice.

If you are using an authorized agent to exercise your right to opt out we may deny a request if the authorized agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf.

Will your information be shared with anyone else?

We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Each service provider is a for-profit entity that processes the information on our behalf, following the same strict privacy protection obligations mandated by the CCPA.

We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be “selling” of your personal information.

We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve months. 

Your rights with respect to your personal data

Right to request deletion of the data – Request to delete

You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.

Right to be informed – request to know

Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:

– Whether we collect and use your personal information;
– The categories of personal information that we collect;
– The purposes for which the collected personal information is used;
– Whether we sell or share personal information to third parties;
– The categories of personal information that we sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;
– The categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose; 
– The business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information; and
– The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.

Right to non-discrimination for the exercise of a consumer’s privacy rights

We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.

Right to limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal information

We do not process consumer’s sensitive personal information.

Verification process

Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require  us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g., email) that you have previously provided to us. 

We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purpose of verification. We will delete provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.

Other privacy rights

– You may object to the processing of your personal information. 
– You may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the information. 
– You can designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA.
– You may request to opt out from future selling or sharing of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving an opt-out request, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than fifteen days from the date of the request submission.

To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at mail@researchaidnetworks.org. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.

13. Do Virginia residents have specific privacy rights?

In short: Yes, if you are a resident of Virginia, you may be granted specific rights regarding access to and use of your personal information. 

Virginia CDPA Privacy notice

Under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA):

“Consumer” means a natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth acting only in an individual or household context. It does not include a natural person acting in a commercial or employment context.

“Personal data” means any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person. “Personal data” does not include de-identified data or publicly available information.

“Sale of personal data” means the exchange of personal data for monetary consideration.

If this definition “consumer” applies to you,  we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal data.

The information we collect, use, and disclose about you will vary depending on how you interact with us and our services.

Your rights with respect to your personal data:
– Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
– Right to access your personal data
– Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data
– Right to request deletion of your personal data
– Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
– Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (“Profiling”)

We have not sold any personal data to third parties for business or commercial purposes. We will not sell personal data in the future belonging to website visitors or newsletter subscribers. 

Exercise your rights provided under the Virginia CDPA

More information about our data collection, sharing practices, requests for deleting of collected data and the verification process for doing so can be found elsewhere in this privacy policy.

14. Do we make updates to this notice?

In short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. We encourage you  to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. 

15. How can you contact us about this notice?

If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at mail@researchaidnetworks.org or contact us by post at:

Research-Aid Networks
444 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1200
Chicago, IL 60611
United States