Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Association for Corporate Growth, Inc. (“ACG”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, and shares information that you provide to us, or that we collect when you use www.acg.org, mobile websites, microsites, mobile applications, profiles on ACG social media sites and any other digital services and platforms operated or used by ACG from time to time (the “Sites” or “Services”).  In certain Sites operated overseas, the Privacy Policy displayed on those Sites, not this Privacy Policy, will govern the collection, use, and sharing of information.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

As ACG, changes its membership and benefits change from time to time, this Privacy Policy is expected to change as well. We may amend the Privacy Policy at any time. The date of the last revision to the Privacy Policy will be indicated by the "Last Revised" date at the top of this document.  Please visit this policy periodically to stay informed of any changes.

1. Collection of Personal Information.

 A. Information You Directly and Voluntarily Provide to Us.  

• Membership:  If you provide your personal information to ACG to become a member of ACG, or if you sign up to become a registered user of any website operated by ACG, you will be required to provide certain information as part of the registration process.  This information will include your first and last name, organization, title, email address, phone, professional classification, and business or home address. We also request that you voluntarily provide other information, such as your phone number, date of birth, demographic information, educational background and professional experience. Membership information is used to communicate with you, to design content and activities that we believe would be of interest to you, to deliver ACG’s goods and services, and for other purposes as disclosed at the time of collection. 
• Events and Conferences: ACG hosts events that include in-person, knowledge sharing and webinars. If you register for an ACG event and you are an ACG member, we will access the information in your member account to provide you with information and services associated with the event. If you register for one of our events and you are not an ACG member, we will collect your first and last name, email address, business or home address, phone number, title, company name, assistant’s name and contact information, professional classification, and responses to conference related questions such as dietary restrictions, and the type of business you work for or with, which we will use to provide you with information and services associated with the event.
• Publications: We offer various publications and materials through our Sites. Some of these publications and materials are publicly accessible, however, others require you to be an ACG member, or that you create an account and subscribe to receive these publications and materials. If you are not an ACG member and you create an account for this purpose, you will be required to provide certain information as part of your account registration, including your first and last name, email address, and business or home address and professional information. 
• Communications with ACG: If you communicate or correspond with us by email, through postal mail, via phone or through other forms of communication, we collect the information you provide as part of those communications.  For example, if you correspond with us through email or website forms, we collect and store the email address you use to send the applicable correspondence and use it to respond to your inquiry; to notify you of ACG conferences, publications, or other services; or to keep a record of your complaint, accommodation request, and similar purposes. 

B. Information We Automatically Collect from You.  

We automatically collect information about you when you use the Sites or our Services. For example, if you access the Sites through a computer, we will automatically collect information such as your browser type and version, computer and connection information, IP address and standard web log information.  If you access the Sites through a mobile device, we are able to identify the location of your mobile device.   You can choose not to share your location details with us by adjusting your mobile device’s location services settings.  For instructions on changing the relevant settings, please contact your service provider or device manufacturer. This information that we automatically collect from you is used to enhance the performance of ACG’s website. ACG also uses your location information (if shared with ACG) to identify the geographic locations from which our content is accessed so that we can better understand what content topics are most relevant in that region, and to ACG members generally, and to develop resources around those content topics. 

We automatically collect information from you when you use the Sites using “cookies” and other similar technologies, such as web beacons.  Cookies are small amounts of data that are stored within your computer’s Internet browser and that are accessed and recorded by the websites that you visit so that they can recognize the same browser navigating online at a later time. The cookies are not able to execute code or access other information stored on the computer.  Web beacons are transparent pixel images that are used in collecting information about website usage, email response and tracking.

Information collected by cookies when you use the Sites includes: 

• the pages you visit within the Sites; 
• the date and time of your visit to the Sites; 
• the amount of time you spend using the Sites;
• the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet; and/or
• your computer and connection information such as your browser type and version, operating system and platform.

This information is collected to enhance the site performance and end user experience. You can set your browser to reject cookies or to notify you when you are sent a cookie. To learn more about your ability to manage cookies and web beacons, please consult the privacy features in your browser.  In addition, to find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.  

C. Information Collected by Third Parties through Third-Party Links and Content. 

The Sites include links to other websites and other content from third-party businesses and can offer direct interaction with external websites, networks or platforms that are outside ACG’s control.  These third-party businesses use cookies, web beacons or other similar technology to collect information about you. ACG does not have access to or control over these third parties or the cookies, web beacons or other technology that these third parties use. We are not responsible for the security, privacy of the information collected by these third parties or the privacy practices of these third parties or the content on any third-party website.  You are encouraged to review the privacy policies of the different websites you visit and of the advertisers whose ads you choose to click while on our Sites (see Section 3 below for additional information about Online Advertising).    

D. Information Collected by Third-Party Analytics Services.  

We work with third-party analytics services to help us understand how the Sites are being used, such as tracking the frequency and duration of use of the Sites. We use Google Analytics, and web analytics services provided by Google (“Analytics Tools”) to collect information about your use of the Sites and other sites or apps over time and for non-advertising purposes. Google Analytics Tools use cookies to collect information about the content you view, what websites you visit immediately prior to and after visiting the Sites, and your system information and geographic information. The information generated by these cookies about your use of the Sites will be transmitted to and stored by Google Analytics. The information collected by Google Analytics allows us to analyze your use of the Sites. Google Analytics also transfers this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on their behalf. To refuse the use of cookies, select the appropriate settings on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you will not be able to use the full functionality of the Sites. At the moment that you cancel your ACG membership or withdraw your consent for the processing of personal information, ACG will not be able to access the personal information processed by third-party analytics. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and uses information when you use our Sites, visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout /.

E.  Information You Share on Third-Party Websites or through Social Media Services.  

The Sites include links to third-party websites and social media services where you will be able to post comments, stories, reviews or other information outside of ACG’s control. Your use of these third-party websites and social media services results in the collection or sharing of information about you by these third-party websites and social media services. ACG is not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by other websites or other services. Information collected by third parties is governed by their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and settings on the third-party websites and social media services with which you interact to make sure you understand the information that is collected, used, and shared by those third-party websites and social media services.

F.  Information You Share on the Sites.  

If you decide to share your information in the members’ only membership directory on the Sites, that information is collected and used by ACG and other users of the Sites.  The membership directory includes the following personal information: name, company, business or home address, email, phone, website, social media handles, chapter, bio, education, professional experience and demographics.  In addition, if you are an ACG member or non-member event registrant user and choose to be included on the event attendee list or participate in event networking apps, which are provided by our third-party vendors, postings you make in connection with those features will be associated with the personal information in your public member profile (which includes your name, and other optional information you choose to include). ACG shares the following personal information with third-party vendors platform and other ACG platforms: name, company, business or home address, email, phone, website, social media handles, chapter, bio, education, professional experience and demographics.  We strongly recommend that you do not post any information on the public areas of the Sites that allows strangers to identify or locate you or that you otherwise do not want to share with the public.

G.  Information You Provide to Payment Processors.   

All payments made to ACG are processed by a PCI/DSS-compliant (these are payment card industry security standards) payment processing service engaged by ACG. All information collected by these third-party providers for purposes of processing your payments is not available to us, unless you have otherwise provided this information to us in connection with your use of the Sites or our products and services. 

H.  Personal Information Provided by Third Parties.

We receive personal information about individuals from third parties. This occurs if your employer pays and registers you for membership or events however, we will only share information about you with your employer if you consent in advance to our sharing this information. Our third-party registration partners also share your personal information with ACG when you register for an event.

Where we intend to process your personal information for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was collected, we will provide you with information regarding the purpose for the processing, as well as other relevant information, prior to processing your personal information for the new purpose.

2. Online Advertising; Tracking

ACG and third-party businesses use the information collected through the Sites using cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies to help manage online advertising programs. This information enables ACG and our third-party advertising services and other third-party businesses to track the actions of users online over time and across different websites or platforms to measure statistics relating to marketing efforts, and to deliver electronic advertisements that are more relevant to individual consumers and that will improve the consumer experience. We may work with third-party advertising networks and advertisers who help deliver these ads to you and who may collect information about your browsing activity over time and across different sites in order to make this advertising more relevant. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information we or the online advertising network collects about your online activities and interests here and elsewhere over time. You may visit www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt out of this advertising on websites by companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) self-regulatory program.    ACG adheres to the DAA’s Self-Regulatory Principles in connection with this interest-based advertising activity. 

Please note that if you do choose to opt out from interest-based advertising, you will still receive advertisements, but they will not seem as relevant to you and your interests.  In addition, note that if you use a different browser or erase cookies from your browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice.

3. Use, Sharing and Retention of Personal Information

A. How We Use Your Information. 

ACG uses personal information for the purposes described at the time of collection, to provide membership benefits and other services to you, including processing of membership applications, or registering you for event or webinar programs and to otherwise process your requests or address your inquiries. ACG also uses your information, as permitted by law, to provide you with information about ACG and services or other products and services in which we believe you will be interested. If you are a member or registered user, we will email you about products and services that we believe will be of interest to you. We also use your personal information to help us understand our members’ needs and interests, to better tailor our products and services to meet your needs.

B.  How We Share Your Information with Third Parties.  

ACG shares personal information in the following circumstances: 

• Third-Party Service Providers.  We share your information with vendors or third parties who deliver or provide goods and services or otherwise act on behalf of or at the direction of ACG.  These third parties include, for example, our third-party technology providers, including our database vendors, website developers, event registration vendors, mail houses for print materials, and third-party event hosts, hotels for conference registrants, sponsors, co-sponsors and exhibitors. These third-party service providers will only have access to the information needed to perform these limited functions on our behalf. 
• Volunteers and Board Members. We share your information with our affiliates, subsidiaries and ACG volunteers and board members for purposes of conducting ACG’s internal business operations.  ACG also makes publicly available the names, titles, country and business affiliations of officers, committee members and others who have assisted with initiatives or projects.
• Other ACG Organizations. We share your information with your local ACG chapter so that they can offer membership and associated services to you pursuant to your membership in that Chapter, as well as other ACG chapters to provide information regarding their programs and initiatives. 
• ACG Events.  If you are an event attendee, speaker, or sponsor, certain items of your information will be included in the event roster, which will be publicly disclosed, and will also be shared with third-party event sponsors and exhibitors. Your information will also be shared with the conference application vendor. ACG provides conference attendee information to conference application vendors (First Name, Last Name, Company Name, Country, Work phone, Preferred Address, Fax, Username and Email address).  Pitchbook administers the conference mobile application and validates that you are an attendee before this application can be downloaded by you. Any data Pitchbook collects is deleted by Pitchbook after the event takes place. Further, by registering and attending an ACG event, you understand that ACG or third parties acting on ACG’s behalf create images, videos and/or sound recordings of you (“works”) at the event for marketing purposes. ACG or third parties acting on our behalf will adapt, reproduce, distribute, perform, make available to the public, broadcast, retransmit or sublicense the works to ACG’s affiliates. This includes all current and future media and is not restricted to time or territory. 
• Response to Subpoenas, Court Orders, Government Requests or to Protect Rights and to Comply with Our Policies. To the extent permitted by law, we will disclose your information to government authorities or third parties if: (a) required to do so by law or regulation, or in response to a subpoena or court order or any other enforceable governmental request or order; (b) we believe in our sole discretion that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect against fraud, to protect the property or other rights of us or other users, third parties or the public at large; or (c) we believe that you have abused the Sites by using them to attack other systems or to gain unauthorized access to any other system, to engage in spamming or otherwise to violate applicable laws. You should be aware that, following disclosure to any third party, your information may be accessible by others to the extent permitted or required by applicable law.
• Aggregate Information. We share your information with affiliated or unaffiliated third parties on an anonymous, aggregate basis and without restriction. While this information will not identify you personally, in some instances these third parties are able to combine this aggregate information with other data they have about you, or that they receive from third parties, in a manner that allows them to identify you personally. Where we do share your personal information with third parties, ACG takes steps to ensure that they use appropriate safeguards to protect your personal information.

C.  Information for Visitors Located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or Switzerland.

Legal Basis for The Processing of Personal Information from EEA Residents 

For visitors to our Sites and users of our Services from the EEA or Switzerland, we may process your personal information as follows: 

(i) Whenever we require your consent for the processing of your personal information (e.g., to provide you with information about our products and services). 
(ii) If the processing of your personal information is necessary for the performance of a contract (for example, to deliver the services) between you and ACG or for taking any pre-contractual steps upon your request. If this data is not processed, ACG will not be able to execute the contract with you. 
(iii) Where the processing is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation (for example, to comply with legal obligations regarding employee data). 
(iv) And where the processing is necessary for the purposes of ACG’s legitimate interests (for example, to detect fraud or for direct marketing).

Transferring Personal Information from the EEA to the U.S.:

ACG has its headquarters in the U.S. Information we collect from you may be transferred to and maintained on servers or databases located outside your state, province, country, or other jurisdiction, where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your location. If you are located outside of the U.S., please be advised that we process and store personal information in the U.S.  ACG collects and transfers to the U.S. personal information only: with your explicit consent or to perform a contract with you, and in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms. 

Data Subject Rights 

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and other countries’ privacy laws provide certain rights for data subjects (these are persons that can be identified). 

You have a right to access the personal information ACG may have about you.

You also have a right to request information about: the purpose of the processing; the categories of personal information concerned; who else outside ACG might have received the data from ACG; what the source of the information was (if you did not provide it directly to ACG); where the personal information is stored and how long it will be stored. 

You have a right to correct (rectify) the record of your personal information maintained by ACG. You have a right to request that ACG erase your personal information or to restrict or block processing it. 

Under certain circumstances, you have a right to receive personal information about you that we store and transmit to another without hindrance from us, including requesting that we provide your personal information directly to another, i.e., a right to data portability. 

Where we previously obtained your consent, you may withdraw your consent for the processing of personal information or the further processing of personal information by ACG at any time.  

In many countries (including EEA countries), you have a right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate data protection authority in your country of residence if you have concerns about how ACG processes your personal information. When technically feasible, ACG will—at your request—provide your personal information to you or transmit it directly to another controller. 

To exercise these rights, contact our “Data Protection Officer” using the contact information in the “Contact Us” section of this privacy policy.   

Please be aware that ACG may be unable to afford these rights to you under certain circumstances, such as if we are legally prevented from doing so.

We do not use automatic decision-making (i.e., making decisions solely by automated means without any human involvement) or profiling (i.e., automated processing of personal information to evaluate certain aspects of an individual). 

D.  Security of Your Information.

ACG uses physical, technical and administrative measures to safeguard personal information you provide through the Sites or in connection with ACG’s products and services.  Please be aware that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, ACG cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit on or through the Sites and you do so at your own risk.

E.  Data Storage and Retention. 

Your personal information is stored by ACG on its servers, and on the servers of the database management services ACG engages, located in the U.S. and other countries. ACG retains data for the duration of the customer’s or member’s business relationship with ACG and otherwise as required under applicable law. Personal information will be kept for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which your personal information is processed. We will retain your personal information as long as you are an ACG member or require our services so that we can provide these services to you, or as permitted by law. 

If you are located in the EEA, when you cancel your ACG membership or withdraw your consent for the processing of your personal information, all your personal information received and stored are erased if no longer needed by us. Unless we are required to retain this personal information by law or to comply with our regulatory obligations. In such a case, we will only keep this personal information for as long as necessary. 

4. Special Information for California Residents.

Under California Law, California residents have the right to request in writing from businesses with whom they have an established business relationship, (a) a list of the categories of personal information, such as name, email and mailing address and the type of services provided to the customer, that a business has disclosed to third parties (including affiliates that are separate legal entities) during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes and (b) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To request the above information, please contact us through our contact form or email at privacy@acg.org.

5. How to Contact ACG and Modify Your Information or Preferences.

Questions regarding this Privacy Policy should be directed to ACG’s data privacy resource: privacy@acg.org. If you would like to modify the types of marketing email messages you receive from ACG, you may do so by following the instructions within the body of any email message that you receive from us. 

If you wish to opt-out of receiving communications from us, please follow the instructions contained in an applicable communication you receive from us or email privacy@acg.org and submit a request.

If you do not wish to have your information included in an attendee list or to receive information from sponsors, co-sponsors and/or exhibitors, you can express your preferences when you register for events or contact ACG directly at privacy@acg.org.

To help us keep your personal information up to date, or to request access to the personal information ACG maintains about you, you may contact us at. Or, if you are a registered user of one of our Sites, you may go online to your personal profile and update your information in that area.

6. Children.

ACG is a professional membership association and the Sites are not directed to children under the age of 16. ACG does not knowingly collect personally identifiable data from persons under the age of 16. If you are a parent of a child under 16, and you believe that your child has provided us with information about him or herself, please contact us at privacy@acg.org. 

7. Contact Us.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact Jason Friske in his role as data controller, at: 

Jason Friske
Senior Director, Operations
Association for Corporate Growth
227 W. Monroe Street
Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60606
312-957-4284
privacy@acg.org