Effective Date: 2 August, 2023

This Privacy Policy applies to avafoundation.org (the “website”), which is managed by AVA Foundation (“us”, “we”, “our”), a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

This policy describes how we collect, use, and disclose information that we obtain about visitors to the website and the services available through the website.

1. Information We Collect

Personal information is collected by us from you directly, from third parties, and automatically through your use of the website. Information about you may be combined with other information about you that has been automatically collected. “Personal information” means any information that is about you.

We are the Data Controller for data collected through the website. If you are in the EU or the UK, the lawful basis when we process your personal information for the provision of our services is pursuant to a contract, and the lawful basis when we process your personal information for marketing is consent.

Most areas of the website may be accessed and used without the provision of any personal information. There may be certain areas of the website that can only be used by you in the event that you provide us with personal information.

We may collect the following information from you (or someone acting on your behalf) if you choose to submit it:

  • Contact information (e.g., name, email address, phone number);
  • Demographic information (e.g., age, gender, location); and
  • Details of the services we have provided to you or that you have enquired about.

We also automatically collect information through your use of the website using cookies and other technologies. This includes your usage data, including your IP address, browser type, pages visited, web logs, operating system, settings and system configurations.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • Services: to provide information on the website, to respond to your enquiries, to communicate with you about your use of our services (including via email), and for similar customer support purposes.
  • Marketing: where you consent, we may provide you with news, information and updates we think may interest you, as well as other marketing communications, provided that you have not opted out of receiving such communications.
  • Personalisation: to better understand how users access and use the website and services, we may analyse your use of the website, respond to user desires and preferences, and conduct other research and analytical activities.
  • Protecting Rights and Interests: to protect our rights and interests as well as the rights and interests of our customers, users of the website, and any other person.

3. Marketing

If you opt in to receiving marketing communication from us, we may provide you with news, information and updates we think may interest you. 

You may always opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time. You also have the right at any time to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes.

If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, you may opt out of receiving marketing communications by clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ at the footer of any marketing email.

4. Disclosure of Information

We disclose your information to any service providers or other parties who perform functions on our behalf. All service providers are required to keep your personal data safe and process the information pursuant to a data processing agreement. If the service provider is located outside of the UK or the EU, we put in place measures to ensure that your information has the same level of protection.

We may also disclose your information, including personal information, if we are acquired by or merged with another company, if we sell or transfer a business unit or assets to another company, as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, or as part of a similar business transfer. Further, we may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

5. Storage & Security of Personal Information

Your personal information is securely stored behind protected networks. Only a limited number of authorised individuals with special access rights can access it, and these individuals are obligated to maintain strict confidentiality. Your personal information is stored in compliance with relevant laws and for the appropriate statutory limitation period. Note that we do not use vulnerability scanning or any form of scanning on your data.

To maintain the safety of your personal information, a comprehensive set of measures is used, including physical, administrative, and technical safeguards. We take reasonable precautions to protect your data from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access. However, despite our best efforts, the inherent risks of the internet can affect the security of data transmission. Factors like hardware or software failures or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control can also impact data security. As a result, we cannot guarantee absolute security for your personal information. Nevertheless, we prioritise the protection of your data and strive to uphold the highest security standards within our control.

6. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies to track your use of the website and evaluate the use of the website. A cookie is a text file that a website transfers to your computer’s hard drive for record-keeping purposes. We use these in a range of ways, including:

  • To understand how you use the website;
  • To recognise you on the website and remember your previously selected preferences; 
  • To help us improve the website, performance, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies to perform their services; and
  • To collect information about your visit to the website, including the content you viewed, the links you followed, and information about your browser, device, and IP address.

Most browsers have an option that enables you to disable cookies. Consult the help section of the toolbar of your browser, which should tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to receive notifications when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether.

7. Your Choices

We take steps to ensure the personal information that we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you wish to modify your personal information, please contact us at [email protected]. We will give you access to the personal information we hold about you upon your request within one month. If any personal information we hold about you is out of date or inaccurate, we encourage you to ask us to correct it by contacting us.

If you are a registered user, we may send periodic informational emails to you. You may opt out of such communications at any time by following the opt-out instructions contained in the email. Please note that it may take up to five business days for us to process opt-out requests.

If you opt out of receiving marketing emails, we will still send you emails about your account or any services you have requested or received from us, provided that you have not opted-out of receiving such emails.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access your personal data and request a copy;
  • Rectify inaccuracies in your personal data;
  • Erase your personal data in certain circumstances;
  • Object to the processing of your personal data;
  • Restrict the processing of your personal data;
  • Withdraw your consent, if processing is based on consent;
  • Request the portability of your data by transferring the personal information that we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions; and
  • Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

We will respond to you within one month of your request. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].

9. Children

The website is not targeted to children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. If we discover that the personal information of a child under 13 years of age is in the system without parental consent, such personal information will be immediately from our systems.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy aspects of the website or services, or want to make a complaint about an interference with your privacy by us, please contact us at [email protected]. We will endeavour to respond to your enquiry as soon as possible, but in all cases within one month.

You may also contact your local data protection authority to lodge a complaint.

EU residents: locate your Data Protection Authority here.

UK residents: contact the Information Commissioner’s Office here.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be periodically updated, and new versions will be posted on this page. Please check back regularly for updates.