The present Privacy Policy constitutes an integral part of the Terms of Use – a legally binding agreement between you and “HYECONNECT VIRTUAL PORTAL” Foundation (registered and operating under the legislation of the Republic of Armenia) (hereafter referred to as “HyeConnect”, “We”, “Us” or “Our”). Any capitalized terms and definitions not specifically defined herein shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Terms of Use.
This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) is aimed to inform Our users (“Users”, “Your” or “You”) of Our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of any kind of information We receive from Users of the HyeConnect platform (“Platform”) or collect through course of their use of the Platform. This Policy does not apply to websites, applications or services that display or link to different privacy policies or statements. We are not responsible for the actions of third-party people or companies, the content of their sites, the use of information You provide to them, or any products or services they may offer. Any link to those sites does not anyhow imply Our sponsorship of, or affiliation with, those people or companies.
By accessing to or using the Platform, including when signing up on the Platform, You explicitly and irrevocably consent and agree to the collection, use and disclosure of information We receive from You or collect from You in relation to the access to and use of the Platform in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. Please do not access or start using the Platform (including sign-up on the Platform) if You do not agree to any part of this Privacy Policy.
HyeConnect reserves the right to update, change or modify any part of this Privacy Policy at any time, in its sole discretion, by posting changes at the following URL link: https://hyeconnect.org/termsandconditions. HyeConnect may also, but not necessarily, give You an additional notice thereof, such as an e-mail message or messaging within the Platform. If You continue to use the Platform (irrespective of Us giving you an additional notice as mentioned above) following the posting of updates, changes or modifications, You thereby explicitly and irrevocably agree to and accept the updates, changes or modifications. Except as otherwise stated, all amended terms shall automatically be effective from the day they are initially posted.
If You at any point do not agree to any portion of then-current Privacy Policy, Your license to use the Platform shall immediately terminate, and You must immediately stop using the Platform.
In general, You can view (browse) the home page of the Platform without telling Us who You are or revealing any personal information about yourself. The only information We can gather during such general browsing is from standard server logs and information automatically collected via cookies. These include Your IP (Internet Protocol) address, domain name, browser type, operating system, and information such as the web site that referred You to us, the pages you visit, and the dates/times of those visits. Please see below for more details regarding collection of information via server logs and cookies.
However, if You would like to explore the Platform any further, enjoy the benefits provided by the Platform and use the services that it offers, You will need to register on the Platform. To do this, You will need to provide Us with certain personal information which shall be used to identify your User account on the Platform, as well as ensure safe and prompt communication with You throughout Your use of the Platform and its functionalities.
Personal information, submission of which is mandatory, shall include Your full name, e-mail address (which shall be used among others for User account verification). Also, You will be required to create a password to complete Your registration on the Platform. Hereby You acknowledge, that at a certain point of time, submission of certain contact information (e.g. country, region and city) may also become mandatory for the purposes of tracking the geolocation of the Users (collectively: “Mandatory Information”) in case You create a project, event or other HyeConnect activity. Mandatory Information contained in Your User account (excluding Your password) is visible to Us. Mandatory Information contained in Your User account (excluding Your password and email) is visible to other Users on the Platform. Visibility of the information contained in the Activity page will depend on the permissions set by You or another administration of the respective Activity page.
You may also opt for submitting information that is optional, however which may positively affect Your ability to connect via the Platform and help enhance Your experience of using of the Platform. Such optional information may include, among others, any other contact details (e.g. country, region, city, street address, phone number), detailed data on Your education (e.g. years of study, faculty, profession), on Your professional experience (e.g. years of work experience, previous and current workplaces), skills and competences, hobbies and interests, extra-curriculum activities, links to social network accounts (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn) (collectively: “Optional Information”). You may opt to control the visibility of the Optional Information by choosing one of the available options: Visible to “Everyone”, “Only Connections” or “Only Me”.
Mandatory and Optional information, as well as any other personally identifiable information that might be submitted by You throughout Your use of the Platform or otherwise collected by Us shall be collectively referred to as “Personal Information”.
As a User of the Platform You may also be able to send certain Personal Information to Us or to other Users of the Platform through individual and/or group chats available on the Platform.
You may also reveal personal information (including sensitive personal information) through Your use of integrated Zoom videoconferencing (if available). Please note that in such case Your information will be processed by Zoom, and not by Us.
Besides, You can create projects, discussions, events, communities, questionnaires and polls (collectively also referred to as “Activities”) on the Platform from Your User account, in which instance You will be identified as an Activity Author. In this case, You have an option to provide Us with certain information about Your project, discussion, community, etc., including, scope and other details thereof, potentially personal information about volunteers or partners or sponsors of Your project, discussion, event or community, which may include, without limitation, names, digital photographs, e-mail addresses, contact numbers, biography, detailed data on education and professional experience (including, but not limited to work/project details, scope of work, own contribution), skills and competences, social media links. Please note that it is Your responsibility to ensure the consent of those concerned when providing Us any personal information about third parties.
You may opt also to create connections within a particular Activity on the Platform and submit certain Personal Information in relation thereto. You may also be invited to join and/or participate in a certain Activity on the Platform or invite others to join Your Activities. Such invitations shall be accepted or rejected by You in the Platform.
Via Service Features
We may collect Your information in connection with interactive features of the Platform, such as when You opt to receive notifications or other communications from Us, send messages through individual or group chat services of the Platform or post on the timelines of a particular Activity (e.g. project, discussion or community), leave comments to Us or otherwise via the Platform in relation to specific Activities or remove them.
Activity Manager may have an option to restrict Your options to post and/or comment within a particular project, community or discussion. When accepting an invitation to join an Activity or otherwise when creating one You hereby acknowledge, that other Users of that particular Activity might have a possibility to see and collect Your Personal Information, postings, comments and/or other information submitted and/or shared by You within the scope of that Activity.
You may not be able to connect with other Users via the Platform other than within the scope of a particular Activity. In other words, all Your connections and communications with other Users may be limited within the Activity you choose to create or otherwise participate in (i.e. ask to join, accept invitation, etc.).
Via Use of Interactive Links
We may collect an information about your interests and engagements based on your own activity and navigation on the social platform.
The Platform may display links (icons) to third-party websites or services. By clicking such links (icons) You will be directed to the desired website or service, while We may gather and analyze statistics of Your access via such links on aggregate basis.
Via Log files
When You access Our Platform, We collect standard information about Your computer/device, such as Your IP address, browser type and operating system version. We use this information to help diagnose any possible problem and occurrence for the better user experience and customer support, to administer the Platform, and to improve its quality. The information gathered during general browsing of the Platform is used to analyze trends and usage of the Platform and to improve its usefulness. This information may also be used to gather broad demographic information that does not personally identify You. Particularly, HyeConnect may determine Your country and other physical location (on the level of region or city) based on the information received from each connection for the purposes of enhancing the services offered to You via the Platform.
Via Cookies and AIs
The Platform uses “cookies”, which are small chunks of information that are stored by Your browser on Your device’s hard drive. The cookies are used to improve the user’s own experience on Our Platform.
The platform uses Google Analytics working along with Tag Manager that logs an information about user visits to the Platform
In general, We collect, store and use Your information to provide You with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. We do not sell any personally identifiable information volunteered on the Platform to any third party without prior consent.
We may use information collected from You in any one or more of the following ways:
Disclosure of Profile Information
You understand and acknowledge, that all or most of the information contained in Your User account and in Activity pages, including in forum chats, timelines, etc. will be publicly accessible on the Platform and visible to other Users of the Platform, unless You opt to hide Optional Information from others.
Third Party Service Providers
We may use third party companies to perform services related to the Platform. These services may include, but are not limited to, maintenance services, data storage, database management, data analysis, web analytics, hosting services, customer services and email services. They are obligated to use this information only to perform tasks on Our behalf.
Currently the Platform is deployed on a single node location in Germany, and the Cloud Services Provider is the Contabo GmbH (https://contabo.com/?show=vps). We might also use other backup and mirror servers to ensure Your smooth and secure use of the Platform. We reserve the right to enlarge the web of our potential service providers, whereby new nodes and clusters might be introduced in different geolocations, including in the EU, USA and Russia.
Third Party Tools
The Platform may also contain third party tracking tools from 3rd-Party service providers. We may use these third parties’ application programs, interfaces or software development kits in HyeConnect Platform for a better user experience which may collect and analyze the user information. While these third parties may have an access to Your Personal Information in connection with performance of services for Us, they may not use such information for any purpose other than providing their services.
Your Personal Information and other information may be accessed and monitored as necessary to provide access to or use of the Platform and may be disclosed: (i) when We have a good faith belief that We are required to disclose the information in response to a legal process (for example, a court order); (ii) to satisfy any applicable laws or regulations (iii) where We believe that the Platform is being used in the commission of an illegal activity, including to report such activity or to exchange information with other parties for the purposes of fraud prevention; (iv) when We have a good faith belief that there is an emergency that poses a threat to the health and/or safety of You, another person or the public generally; and (v) in order to protect the rights or property of HyeConnect, including to enforce Our Terms of Use.
Transfers to affiliates
As part of Our international operations, We may transfer data to other partners, sponsors or affiliates from time to time for Our legitimate operational purposes and for the purposes of ensuring proper maintenance of the Platform and the network that it intends to create for Armenian professionals throughout the world.
Change of Ownership
In the event HyeConnect undergoes a restructuring, liquidation or ownership of the Platform is transferred, We may transfer all or part of Your information, including Personal Information, along with the Platform to the successor organization or person in such transition.
Users may have the option to review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information they registered within the Platform or otherwise provided to Us. If You wish to review or change the information, We have about You, and the Platform provides You with a built-in option of doing so. Please refer to the particular section of the Terms of Use to identify the steps necessary for changing or deleting Your Personal Information. Please note that Mandatory Information can be changed or updated from time to time, however it cannot be deleted without deleting Your User account.
You may also opt to e-mail Us at the address provided herein for us to make the necessary changes, updates or deletions on Your Personal Information on Your behalf. Place “Request for Review of Information” in the subject line and include Your first name, last name and e-mail address, along with the details of your request, in the body of the e-mail.
Please note that modifying or deleting certain information (namely – Your email) may lead to Your inability to use the Platform.
Users in certain jurisdictions may have a right to access or request deletion of certain Personal Information held about themselves. Such right of access can be exercised in accordance with applicable law. Please submit corresponding requests in writing to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. Place “Request for Access or Deletion of Information” in the subject line and include Your first name, last name and e-mail address, along with the details of your request, in the body of the e-mail.
To the extent modification and deletion of Your information is concerned, We may need to retain all or some of Your information to ensure proper functioning of the Platform, including the need to maintain a proper history in relation to Activities, as well as more generally cooperation conducted via the Platform. By accepting this Privacy Policy you agree to waive your right to request deletion or modification of Your Personal Information, to the fullest extent permitted under applicable laws.
Please also note that certain records, for example those pertaining to customer service matters, may need to be retained for legal or compliance purposes. Furthermore, if You have sent or posted content on the Platform, We may not be able to delete it.
Please note that cancellation, deactivation or deletion of Your own account will result in Personal Information loss when your profile data and the created content will become unavailable to the users of the Platform (except for historically shared information that is published on a given user’s timeline, remaining generally available to all users with relevant access). Such an action may not automatically and immediately result in the deletion of Personal Information that previously was stored on the Platform.
Any information provided to Us by users of the Platform is held with the utmost care and security, and will not be used in ways other than as set forth in this Privacy Policy or in ways to which You have explicitly consented. We employ a range of techniques and security measures to protect the information maintained on the Platform from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration or destruction.
However, no website or Internet transmission is completely secure, and We cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss, or other breaches will never occur. Also, We cannot guarantee the security of Your data while it is being transmitted to the Platform (including, without limitation, when transmission occurs via messaging), and any transmission is at Your own risk. Accordingly, HyeConnect cannot be held liable if such breaches occur.
If You have any questions about this Policy or any concerns about any part of this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact Us online through the Platform or by e-mail at: [email protected] and phone: +37441201921.