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Privacy Policy

AAEP PRIVACY AND COOKIE POLICY NOTICE

 

INTRODUCTION

This Privacy and Cookie Policy Notice explains how the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), including the AAEP Foundation, collects and processes your Personal Data. Each time you use our website properties, apps, and other systems and services this policy will apply. This Notice is applicable to all Site visitors, registered users, and all other users of our services. This information is required so we can provide the services and member benefits that you require as part of your AAEP membership.

“Personal Data” is any information that enables us to identify you, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as your name, identification number, location data, online identifier or one or more factors.

By visiting www.aaep.org or related properties, (together the “Site”), you acknowledge that you have read and understood the processes and policies referred to in this Notice.

 

WHO WE ARE

For the purposes of this policy and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the “GDPR”), the Data Controller is the American Association of Equine Practitioners located on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park, at 4033 Iron Works Parkway Lexington, KY 40511.

Our Information Technology Director, Kevin Hinchman, is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this Notice for the purposes of the GDPR.

 

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions or concerns about this Notice, please contact us by phone at 859-233-0147, by sending an email to privacy@aaep.org or by mail to 4033 Iron Works Parkway Lexington, KY. 40511.


CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY

All cancellations and refund requests must be submitted in writing to Kristin Walker at kwalker@aaep.org

 

HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL DATA

PERSONAL DATA THAT YOU GIVE US

We may collect and process the following Personal Data:

  • Contact information, which you provide when corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you participate in discussion boards or other social media functions on our Site and when you report a problem with our Site. The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address, phone number, financial information and/or credit card information.
  • Membership information, about your membership including your name, contact details such as address, phone number and email address (business or personal), age, job title, government identification numbers (e.g. social security number, passport number etc.), year of admission and any other information related to your membership. Membership information may be provided by you during the registration process, or by your employer on your behalf.
  • Due payment information, including financial information such as credit/debit card and account numbers used to register or renew your membership.
  • Purchase information, relating to purchases made by members and non-members of AAEP merchandise and event participation, books, reports, webinars, conferences, journals or newsletter subscriptions either in-person or via our Site. Purchase information will include financial information as well as information concerning the content and time of the purchase.
  • Disciplinary information, relating to ethics/disciplinary programs in which complaints against members are adjudicated, with the result being possible suspension/expulsion from membership. This may include extensive information about a member's business or professional activities, including employment information, and similar information relating to other individuals involved in the investigation, though would usually not include financial information.
  • Certification information, relating to certification programs, in which members are granted certification if they meet specified educational/employment experience requirements and/or pass an exam. This may include extensive information about the experience/performance of those certified or accredited. Where the certification concerns an institutions or businesses, this may include similar information identifying employees and other members of staff including volunteers.
  • Other information, relating to volunteer interests, mentorships, scientific papers and abstracts, industry demographics, job postings, email addresses and community listserv participation.

 

PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU

Regarding each of your visits to the Site we will automatically collect the following information:

  • Technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer or device to the Internet, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform;
  • Information about your visit, including pages you viewed or searched for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page, and any phone number used to call our customer service number; and
  • Location information

 

PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT FROM OTHERS

We may receive information about you from partner websites including websites related to event registration, and other AAEP service and application providers. We will obtain your consent before contacting you if required by the law of the country in which you are located.

NON-PERSONAL DATA

We collect information that is sent to us automatically by your web browser and we may use this information to generate aggregate statistics about visitors to our Site, including, without limitation:

  • IP addresses
  • Browser type and plug-in details
  • Device type (e.g., desktop, laptop, tablet, phone, etc.)
  • Operating system
  • Local time zone

We may use non-Personal Data for various business purposes such as providing customer service, fraud prevention, market research, and improving our Site. Please check your web browser if you want to learn what information your browser sends or how to change your settings.

 

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We will only process your Personal Data, including sharing it with third parties, so that you can access your member benefits and other services and features of AAEP membership, where (1) you have provided your consent which can be withdrawn at any time, (2) the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, (3) we are required by law, (4) processing is required to protect your vital interests or those of another person, or (5) processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate commercial interests, except where such interests are overridden by your rights and interests.

PERSONAL DATA THAT YOU GIVE US

We may use Personal Data that you provide directly to us for the following purposes:

  • to carry out our obligations arising from your membership, or any other contract entered into between you and the AAEP and to provide you with the information, products and membership services that you request from us;
  • to organize events that you have purchased or registered for, and to provide you with information, and other materials, relating to the content of the event, the speakers, sponsors and other attendees;
  • to provide our newsletter, apps and other publications, provided you have given your consent;
  • to respond to your questions and provide related membership services;
  • to provide you with information about other events, products and services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased, provided you have not opted-out of receiving that information;
  • to provide you with pertinent and relevant AAEP related communications.
  • to provide you, or permit selected third parties to provide you, with information about events, products or services we feel may interest you, provided you have given your consent;
  • to notify you about changes to our membership service; and
  • to ensure that content from our Site is presented most effectively for you and your computer.

 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

We will use Personal Data that we have collected about your use of our Site:

  • to administer our Site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes;

to improve our Site to ensure that content is presented most effectively for you and your computer;

  • as part of our efforts to keep our Site safe and secure;
  • to measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you; and
  • to make suggestions and recommendations to you and other users of our Site about goods or services that may interest you or them.

 

PERSONAL DATA WE RECEIVE FROM OTHER SOURCES

We will combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined Personal Data for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).

 

WHEN WE SHARE AND WHO CAN ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We may share your Personal Data for the purposes described in this Notice with:

  • a member of our group
  • partners, suppliers and sub-contractors, for the performance of obligations arising from your membership, or any other contract we enter into with them or you or to provide you with the information, products and membership services that you request from us
  • analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimization of our Site
  • trusted third-party companies and individuals to help us provide, analyze, and improve the Site and our membership services (including but not limited to data storage, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and payment processing)

We will only transfer your Personal Data to trusted third-parties who provide sufficient guarantees in respect of the technical and organizational security measures governing the processing to be carried out and who can demonstrate a commitment to compliance with those measures.

 

YOUR PERSONAL DATA

Individual members, student chapters, educational partners, alliance partners, advertisers, sponsors and exhibitors may mail you communications if you opted in. You can opt out of various communications using the member communication preferences under your member profile or via privacy@aaep.org.

 

SECURITY

Although we use security measures to help protect your Personal Data against loss, misuse or unauthorized disclosure, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to us over the internet. We take great care and pay ongoing attention to protecting your data and our systems. We have multiple layers of security and provide our staff with IT security training

All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers.

Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology.

 

TRANSFER OF PERSONAL DATA OUTSIDE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (“EEA”) AND INTERNATIONAL USERS

We are headquartered in the United States. Your Personal Data may be accessed by us or transferred to us in the United States or to our affiliates, partners, merchants, or service providers who are located worldwide. If you are visiting our Site from outside the United States, be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where our servers are located, and our central database is operated. By using our Service, you consent to any transfer of this information.

 

HOW LONG WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We will store your Personal Data, in a form which permits us to identify you, for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which the Personal Data is processed. We may retain and use your Personal Data as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements and rights, or if it is not technically reasonably feasible to remove it. Consistent with these requirements, we will try to delete your Personal Data quickly upon request.

RETENTION

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our Site. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you service, contact us at privacy@aaep.org. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We maintain one or more databases to store your Personal Data and may keep such information indefinitely. If you request your data be deleted, we will take every measure to ensure it’s done in a timely fashion.

 

WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The Personal Data that you provide to us is generally stored on servers located in the United States. If you are in another jurisdiction, you should be aware that once your Personal Data is submitted through our Site, it will be transferred to our servers in the United States and that the United States currently does not have uniform data protection laws in place

 

COOKIES AND DO NOT TRACK POLICY

 

HOW AAEP USES COOKIES:

The aaep.org website and related websites (the “Site”) use cookies to provide you a safer, customized, and efficient experience.

When you first access the Site from certain jurisdictions, you will receive a message advising you that cookies and similar technologies are in use. By clicking “accept”, closing the message, or continuing to browse the Site, you signify that you understand and agree to the use of these technologies, as described in this Cookie Policy.

You do not have to accept cookies and consent can be withdrawn at any time (see How to Control Cookies, below). You can change your browser settings to refuse or restrict cookies, and you may delete them after they have been placed on your device at any time. If you do not accept or delete our cookies, some areas of the Site that you access may take more time to work or may not function properly.

 

WHAT ARE COOKIES:

Cookies are small amounts of information that we may store on your local computer or mobile device when you visit the Site. When you visit the Site again, the cookies allow us to recognize your browser. Cookies may store your preferences and other information but cannot read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. 

Cookies set by a website owner (in this case, AAEP) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable us to provide third party features or functionality through the Site (i.e. advertising, social media functions and analytics).

 

HOW TO CONTROL COOKIES:

You can delete cookies on your computer at any time by checking the delete cookies option in your browser of choice. Please note that after you delete your cookies, you may be asked to login again on many websites where you may have stored a login cookie. And, on the aaep.org and other related sites, you may be prompted to accept our privacy policy again.

Please follow the links below to helpful information for the most popular browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorerhttps://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies

Google Chromehttps://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Mozilla Firefoxhttps://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences

Apple Safarihttps://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411?locale=en_US

In addition, you can exercise advertising cookie choices by visiting:

 

AAEP.ORG COOKIES:

Cookies make the use of the Site easier by, among other things, saving your preferences. We may also use cookies to deliver content tailored to your interests. Our cookies may enable us to relate your use of the Site to personal information that you previously provided.

The information that we collect with cookies allows us to statistically analyze usage of the Site, and to improve and customize our content and other offerings. However, we only disclose information collected with cookies to third parties on an aggregated basis without the use of any information that personally identifies you.

We’ve listed specific cookies you’ll receive on the aaep.org and other related sites by category to give you details about the cookies we’re using and their role in your site usage experience.

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES:

These are cookies that are required for the operation of the Site. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our websites, use a shopping cart or make use of e-billing. These cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the Site and therefore cannot be refused.

 

ANALYTICS AND PERFORMANCE COOKIES:

aaep.org uses tracking cookies through Google Analytics, these cookies are designed to deliver information that is of most interest to you during your visit and beyond.

The Google Analytics cookie allows us to track, in aggregate, but in no personally identifiable way and without using personal data, traffic patterns on the site so we can optimize our web development and content efforts to better meet your needs. 

Google Analytics track includes (but is not limited to):

  • Pages visited, and number of pages visited per session
  • Device type, operating system, and browser type and version
  • Referring website or URL
  • Site search keywords 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA COOKIES:

These cookies allow us to integrate social media functions into the Site and may also be used for advertising purposes.

 

WEB BEACONS

As well as cookies, we use other technologies to recognize and track visitors to the Site. A web beacon (also known as a “tracking pixel” or “clear GIF”) is a clear graphic image (typically a one-pixel tag) that is delivered through a web browser or HTML e-mail, typically in conjunction with a cookie.

Web beacons allows us, for example, to monitor how users move from one page within our websites to another, to track access to our communications, to understand whether users have come to our websites from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to measure how ads have been viewed and to improve site performance.

 

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Our Sites are not directed to children under the age of 13, if you are not 13 years or older, do not use our Site. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If we learn that Personal Data of persons less than 13 years-of-age has been collected through our Site, we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child or a minor under the age of 13 has posted, submitted or otherwise communicated Personal Data to our Site without your consent, then you may alert us at privacy@aaep.org so that we may take appropriate action to remove the minor's Personal Data from our systems.

 

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES AND SERVICES

Our Sites may contain links to third party websites, applications and services not operated by us. These links are provided as a service and do not imply any endorsement by us of the activities or content of these sites, applications or services nor any association with their operators. Company is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of any third party including websites or services directly linked to our Service. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site that you link from our Service.

 

YOUR RIGHTS

 

CORRECTION AND REMOVAL AND OPTING OUT

If any of the information that we have about you is incorrect, or you wish to have information (including Personal Data) removed from our records, you may do so by visiting your AAEP member profile at https://membership.aaep.org/imisprod, or contacting us at privacy@aaep.org. Additionally, if you prefer not to receive marketing messages from us, please let us know by clicking on the unsubscribe link within any marketing message that you receive, by visiting your member profile preferences page, or by sending a message to us at privacy@aaep.org

 

YOUR EUROPEAN RIGHTS

FOR EUROPEAN RESIDENTS ONLY. You have the right to ask us not to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your Personal Data) if we intend to use your Personal Data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your Personal Data. You can also exercise the right by contacting us at privacy@aaep.org

Under European data protection law, in certain circumstances, you have the right to:

Request access to your Personal Data. You may have the right to request access to any Personal Data we hold about you as well as related information, including the purposes for processing the Personal Data, the recipients or categories of recipients with whom the Personal Data has been shared, where possible, the period for which the Personal Data will be stored, the source of the Personal Data, and the existence of any automated decision making.

Request correction of your Personal Data. You may have the right to obtain without undue delay the rectification of any inaccurate Personal Data we hold about you.

Request erasure of your Personal Data. You may have the right to request that Personal Data held about you is deleted.

Object to processing of your Personal Data. You may have the right to prevent or restrict processing of your Personal Data.

Request restriction of processing your Personal Data Request transfer of your Personal Data.You may have the right to request transfer of Personal Data directly to a third party where this is technically feasible.

Withdraw your consent

In addition, where you believe that AAEP has not complied with its obligations under this Notice or European law, you have the right to make a complaint to an EU Data Protection Authority, such as the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us at privacy@aaep.org

 

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

Any changes we make to this Notice in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notification sent to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to this Notice.