BioKatalyst (“we,” or “us”) wants you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose information.  This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we collect through:

• Websites currently located at https://www.biokatalyst.org/ and any other websites operated by us from which you are accessing this Privacy Policy (the “Websites”);

• Our social media pages and apps located at our WeChat account “BioKatalyst”

• ​​Online conference services

• HTML-formatted email messages that we send to you that link to this Privacy Policy or other communications with you; and

• Offline business interactions you have with us.

Collectively, we refer to the Websites, Social Media Pages, emails, and offline business interactions as the “Services.”

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PERSONAL INFORMATION

 

“Personal Information” is information that identifies you as an individual or relates to an identifiable individual.  The Services collect Personal Information, including:

• Your name

• Postal address

• Telephone number

• Email address

• If you make a donation: credit card number, expiration date and CVV; bank account number, routing number and SWIFT; and/or Venmo username

• IP address (we may also derive your approximate location from your IP address)

• Profile picture

• Social media account ID

 

Collection of Personal Information

 

We and our service providers collect Personal Information in a variety of ways, including, among others, through the Services.  

• We collect Personal Information through the Services, for example, when you sign up for one of our programs (such as a conference call).

 

We need to collect Personal Information in order to provide the requested Services to you.  If you do not provide the information requested, we may not be able to provide the Services.  If you disclose any Personal Information relating to other people to us or to our service providers in connection with the Services, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to permit us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

 

Use of Personal Information

 

We and our service providers use Personal Information for the following purposes:

• Providing the functionality of the Services and fulfilling your requests.

  • To provide the Services’ functionality to you and providing you with related customer service.

  • To respond to your inquiries and fulfill your requests, when you contact us via one of our online contact forms or otherwise, for example, when you send us questions, or when you request information about our Services.

  • To complete your donations, verify your information, and provide you with related customer service.

  • To send administrative information to you, such as changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

• Providing you with our newsletter and/or other marketing materials and facilitating social sharing.

  • To send you marketing-related emails, with information about our services and other news about our organization.

  • To facilitate social sharing functionality that you choose to use.

• Analyzing Personal Information for business reporting and providing personalized services.

  • To analyze or predict our users’ preferences in order to prepare aggregated trend reports on how our digital content is used, so we can improve our Services.

  • To better understand your interests and preferences, so that we can personalize our interactions with you and provide you with information and/or offers tailored to your interests.

  • To better understand your preferences so that we can deliver content via our Services that we believe will be relevant and interesting to you.

• Aggregating and/or anonymizing Personal Information.

  • We may aggregate and/or anonymize Personal Information so that it will no longer be considered Personal Information. We do so to generate other data for our use, which we may use and disclose for any purpose, as it no longer identifies you or any other individual.

 

• Accomplishing our business purposes.

  • For data analysis, for example, to improve the efficiency of our Services;

  • For audits, to verify that our internal processes function as intended and to address legal, regulatory, or contractual requirements;

  • For fraud and security monitoring purposes, for example, to detect and prevent cyberattacks or attempts to commit identity theft;

  • For developing new services;

  • For enhancing, improving, repairing, maintaining, or modifying our current services, as well as undertaking quality and safety assurance measures;

  • For identifying usage trends, for example, understanding which parts of our Services are of most interest to users;

  • For determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, so that we can adapt our campaigns to the needs and interests of our users; and

  • For operating and expanding our business activities, for example, understanding which parts of our Services are of most interest to our users so we can focus our energies on meeting our users’ interests.  

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Disclosure of Personal Information

 

We disclose Personal Information:

• To our third party service providers, to facilitate services they provide to us.

  • These can include providers of services such as website hosting, data analysis, donation processing, information technology and related infrastructure provision, customer service, email delivery, auditing, and other services.

• By using the Services, you may elect to disclose Personal Information.

  • On blog posts, message boards, chat, profile pages, and other services to which you are able to post information and content (including, without limitation, our Social Media Pages).  Please note that any information you post or disclose through these services will become public and may be available to other users and the general public.

 

Other Uses and Disclosures

 

We also use and disclose your Personal Information as necessary or appropriate, in particular when we have a legal obligation or legitimate interest to do so:

• To comply with applicable law and regulations.

• To cooperate with public and government authorities.

  • To respond to a request or to provide information we believe is necessary or appropriate.

• To cooperate with law enforcement.

  • For example, when we respond to law enforcement requests and orders or provide information we believe is important.

• For other legal reasons.

  • To enforce our terms and conditions; and

  • To protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, you or others.

• In connection with a sale or business transaction.

  • We have a legitimate interest in disclosing or transferring your Personal Information to a third party in the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets, or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). 

 

OTHER INFORMATION

 

“Other Information” is any information that does not reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an identifiable individual. The Services collect Other Information such as:

• Browser and device information

• App usage data

• Information collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies

• Demographic information and other information provided by you that does not reveal your specific identity

• Information that has been aggregated in a manner such that it no longer reveals your specific identity

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Collection of Other Information

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We and our service providers may collect Other Information in a variety of ways, including:  

• Your browser or device.  

  • Certain information is collected by most browsers or automatically through your device, such as your Media Access Control (MAC) address, computer type (Windows or Mac), screen resolution, operating system name and version, device manufacturer and model, language, Internet browser type and version and the name and version of the Services (such as the App) you are using.  We use this information to ensure that the Services function properly.

• Your use of the App.  

  • When you download and use the App, we and our service providers may track and collect App usage data, such as the date and time the App on your device accesses our servers and what information and files have been downloaded to the App based on your device number.

• Cookies.  

  • Cookies are pieces of information stored directly on the computer that you are using.  Cookies allow us to collect information such as browser type, time spent on the Services, pages visited, language preferences, and other traffic data.  We and our service providers use the information for security purposes, to facilitate navigation, to display information more effectively, and to personalize your experience.  We also gather statistical information about use of the Services in order to continually improve their design and functionality, understand how they are used, and assist us with resolving questions regarding them.  We do not currently respond to browser do-not-track signals.  If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, most browsers allow you to automatically decline cookies or be given the choice of declining or accepting a particular cookie (or cookies) from a particular website.  You may also wish to refer to http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/index.html. If, however, you do not accept cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of the Services.

• Pixel tags and other similar technologies.  

  • Pixel tags. Pixel tags (also known as web beacons and clear GIFs) may be used to, among other things, track the actions of users of the Services (including email recipients), measure the success of our marketing campaigns, and compile statistics about usage of the Services and response rates.  

• Adobe Flash technology (including Flash Local Shared Objects (“Flash LSOs”)) and other similar technologies.

  • We may use Flash LSOs and other technologies to, among other things, collect and store information about your use of the Services.  If you do not want Flash LSOs stored on your computer, you can adjust the settings of your Flash player to block Flash LSO storage using the tools contained in the Website Storage Settings Panel.  You can also go to the Global Storage Settings Panel and follow the instructions (which may explain, for example, how to delete existing Flash LSOs (referred to as “information”), how to prevent Flash LSOs from being placed on your computer without your being asked, and  how to block Flash LSOs that are not being delivered by the operator of the page you are on at the time).  Please note that setting the Flash Player to restrict or limit acceptance of Flash LSOs may reduce or impede the functionality of some Flash applications.

• Physical Location.  

  • We may collect the physical location of your device by, for example, using satellite, cell phone tower or WiFi signals.  We may use your device’s physical location to provide you with personalized location-based services and content.  In some instances, you may be permitted to allow or deny such uses of your device’s location, but if you do, we may not be able to provide you with the applicable personalized services and content.

 

Uses and Disclosures of Other Information

 

We may use and disclose Other Information for any purpose, except where we are required to do otherwise under applicable law.  If we are required to treat Other Information as Personal Information under applicable law, we may use and disclose it for the purposes for which we use and disclose Personal Information as detailed in this Policy.  In some instances, we may combine Other Information with Personal Information.  If we do, we will treat the combined information as Personal Information as long as it is combined.

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SECURITY

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We seek to use reasonable organizational, technical and administrative measures to protect Personal Information within our organization.  Unfortunately, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please immediately notify us in accordance with the “Contacting Us” section below.

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CHOICES AND ACCESS

 

Your choices regarding our use and disclosure of your Personal Information

We give you choices regarding our use and disclosure of your Personal Information for marketing purposes.  You may opt out from:  

• Receiving marketing-related emails from us.  If you no longer want to receive marketing related emails from us on a going-forward basis, you may opt out by: info@biokatalyst.org. 

 

We will try to comply with your request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable.  Please note that if you opt out of receiving marketing related emails from us, we may still send you important administrative messages, from which you cannot opt out.

 

RETENTION PERIOD

 

We retain Personal Information for as long as needed or permitted in light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained and consistent with applicable law.  

 

THIRD PARTY SERVICES

 

This Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible for, the privacy, information, or other practices of any third parties, including any third party operating any website or service to which the Services link (such as GoFundMe or Venmo). The inclusion of a link on the Services does not imply endorsement of the linked site or service by us or by our affiliates.

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In addition, we are not responsible for the information collection, use, disclosure, or security policies or practices of other organizations, such as WeChat, Facebook, Apple, Google or any other app developer, app provider or social media platform provider, including with respect to any Personal Information you disclose to other organizations through or in connection with our Social Media Pages.

 

USE OF SERVICES BY MINORS

 

The Services are not directed to individuals under the age of thirteen (13).

 

THIRD PARTY PAYMENT SERVICE

 

We may use a third party payment service to process donations made through the Services, such as GoFundMe and Venmo. If you wish to make a donation through the Services, your Personal Information will be collected by such third party and not by us, and will be subject to the third party’s privacy policy, rather than this Privacy Policy.  We have no control over, and are not responsible for, this third party’s collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information.

 

UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

 

The “Last Updated” legend at the top of this Privacy Policy indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised.  Any changes will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on the Services.

 

CONTACTING US

 

BioKatalyst, located at 20 Kingsbridge Rd, Piscatway, NJ 08854, United States, is the organization responsible for collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy.

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If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@biokatalyst.org. 

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Because email communications are not always secure, please do not include sensitive information in your emails to us.