Privacy Policy

HiTech Buddies, (“Company”, “us”, “we”, or “our”) operates this website (the “Site”). “Service” means the Site operated by Company. This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data. We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions.

Definitions

Capitalized terms used in this Privacy Policy and not so defined, shall have the following meanings:

  • “Personal Data” means data about a living individual who can be identified from those data (or from those and other information either in our possession or likely to come into our possession).
  • “Usage Data” means data collected automatically either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).
  • “Cookies” are small pieces of data stored on your device (computer or mobile device).
  • “Data Controller” means the natural or legal person who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal information are, or are to be, processed. For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, we are a Data Controller of your Personal Data.
  • “Data Processors” (or “Service Providers”) means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Data Controller. We may use the services of various Service Providers in order to process your data more effectively.
  • “Data Subject” (or “User”) means any living individual who is using our Service and is the subject of Personal Data.

Information Collection and Use

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Data”). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Phone number
  • Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City
  • Cookies and Usage Data
  • Your LinkedIn Profile
  • Your visit to our website
  • If you downloaded any marketing materials from our site

We may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send or by contacting us.

Information You Affirmatively Provide

When you fill out a form on our Site, sign up for communications from us, or ask us to contact you, we collect the information you provide and use it for the specified purpose for which you provided it, and potentially for other expected, related purposes. To the extent that we are required to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") and/or the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the "HITECH Act"), any protected health information ("PHI") you submit or provide to us directly will be treated in compliance with privacy and security standards set forth in HIPAA and/or the HITECH Act, or regulations thereunder, as applicable.

Social Media Platforms, Websites and User-Generated or Provided Content

You agree that any information or content that you post, upload, provide, contribute, or submit for publication (each a "Submission") to our Site or any social media application or channel (including our business or other branded pages contained on any social media platform such as Facebook or Twitter) or third-party website, including any images, review or rating content about our business or any contribution you make to any forum, message board or discussion group we may make available, is done at your own risk and without any expectation of privacy, and you acknowledge that such information may be seen by or shared with others. We cannot control the actions of other users of any social media platform or website and we are therefore not responsible for any content or Submissions contained on such sites and platforms. By visiting any of our pages that are contained on a social media platform or website, you are representing and warranting to us that you have reviewed the applicable privacy policy and terms of use of such platform or website and that you will abide by all such provisions contained therein. Additionally, in the event that we offer a message board, review capability, or any other interactive or social-type feature or other feature permitting content submission on a website administered directly by us, please be aware that these areas may allow you to publicly post, and share with other users. Certain messages, content, images or other information (e.g., stories, pictures. ingredients, tips, etc.). Although we may take certain precautions to protect those who use these areas of our Site(s), we encourage you to be wary of giving out any Personally Identifiable Information in such public forums. Any information you post or submit can be collected and used by people you do not know. We cannot guarantee the privacy and safety of these areas and are therefore not responsible for any information you choose to post. You agree not to post any content that violates the privacy rights of anyone else, or that is otherwise unlawful, offensive, obscene or vulgar, threatening, defamatory, hateful, promotes illegal activity or violates the rights of a third party, including without limitation copyright, trademark, or publicity rights. Your use of these features is fully at your own risk. In addition, any operational suggestions that you send us, such as your questions, feedback, ideas, or other creative material ("Feedback") belongs to us and will not be treated as confidential. You acknowledge and agree that we may use, reproduce, adapt, distribute, display, disclose, or create derivative works from Feedback without acknowledgement or compensation to you.

Certain "Site Traffic Information" such as the type of operating system, computer modem, device ID and Internet browser you are using, the date and time you access our Site, the number of times you visit our Site, the particular pages you view, and the length of your visits to our Site. We may use this Site Traffic Information to improve our Site and user experience, and we may share this information with third parties if we choose to disclose anonymized Site Traffic Information for marketing or commercial purposes.

Revising Your Information

If you use our products, services, or Site then you have voluntarily consented to our practices and procedures regarding your information as described in this privacy policy, any applicable Terms and Conditions of Use for our Site, and other written documentation that may be provided to you regarding our products, services, or Site. If you do not want us to use your information as described herein, or if you would like to modify your information in our records or remove your information from our databases for marketing purposes, then please contact our Customer Service at the address and/or phone number provided on our Site. Without the use of your information. However, we may not be able to provide you the products, services, or information you request. We will promptly respond to your information revision requests, but may retain copies of such information as necessary for us to comply with governmental orders, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, enforce any agreement you have entered into with us and as otherwise reasonably necessary for our business purposes.

We may also share it with third party service providers, vendors and agents who facilitate us with website management, technical support, data analysis and hosting. We make sure that they also abide by data protection policies like we do.

Usage Data

We may also collect Usage Data that your browser sends whenever you visit our Service or when you access the Service by or through a mobile device. This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address (e.g., IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. When you access the Service by or through a mobile device, this Usage Data may include information such as the type of mobile device you use, your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

Location Data

We may use and store information about your location if you give us permission to do so (“Location Data”). We use this data to provide features of our Service, to improve and customize our Service. You can enable or disable location services when you use our Service at any time, through your device settings.

Tracking Cookies Data

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

Examples of Cookies we use:

  • Session Cookies – We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.
  • Preference Cookies – We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
  • Security Cookies – We use Security Cookies for security purposes.
  • Advertising Cookies – Advertising Cookies are used to serve you with advertisements that may be relevant to you and your interests.

Use of Data

Company uses the collected data for various purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service;
  • To notify you about changes to our Service;
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so;
  • To provide customer support;
  • To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Service;
  • To monitor the usage of our Service;
  • To detect, prevent and address technical issues; and
  • To provide you with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services, and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information.

Retention of Data

Company will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies. Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. After 1 year and 120 days, your Personal Data will be subject to encryption and stored in backup copies only. The said 120-day period is required to delete the Personal Data completely due to the specifics of the backup copy operations.

Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Customer Software and Data

Customer software and data has a 1-year retention policy as well. After 1 year and 120 days, customer software source code, data and passwords will be subject to encryption and stored in backup copies only. The said 120-day period is required to delete the software and/or data completely due to the specifics of the backup copy operations.

Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to, and maintained on, computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer. Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Data

Business Transaction

If Company is involved in a merger, acquisition, consolidation, or asset sale, or is (or parts of Company is) otherwise transferred by operation of law or otherwise, your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Disclosure for Law Enforcement

Under certain circumstances, Company may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or a government agency).

Legal Requirements

Company may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • To comply with a legal obligation;
  • To protect and defend the rights or property of Company;
  • To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service;
  • To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public; or
  • To protect against legal liability.

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

“Do Not Track” Signals

We do not support “Do Not Track.” Do Not Track is a preference you can set in your web browser to inform websites that you do not want to be tracked. You can enable or disable Do Not Track by visiting the Preferences or Settings page of your web browser.

Your Data Protection Rights under GDPR

If you are a resident of the EEA, you have certain data protection rights. Company aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data. If you wish to be informed what Personal Data we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

  • The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update or request deletion of your Personal Data directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.
  • The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • The right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data.
  • The right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.
  • The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable, and commonly used format.
  • The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where Company relied on your consent to process your personal information.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the EEA.

Customer Communication

We communicate with our clients through a variety of mediums: email, phone, skype, whatsapp and slack are examples. We keep all our communications private and secure. We are not responsible the security of any of these third-party providers. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of any third-party provider.

Promotional E-mails

We may send you emails with promotional offers if you provide us with your email. If you would no longer like to receive e-mailed special event information, sales notifications, or other messages from us, please send an e-mail to our Webmaster or follow the “Unsubscribe” instructions on such e-mails. Your e-mail address will be removed from our marketing list. Please allow us a reasonable period of time in order to satisfy your request, as some promotions may already be in process. We will never sell, rent or lease any of your information to any third party.

Service Providers

We may employ third party Service Providers to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used. These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Company uses remarketing services to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited our Service. We and our third-party vendors use cookies to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past visits to our Service.

Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data under General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)

If you are from the European Economic Area (“EEA”), Company legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Data we collect and the specific context in which we collect it.

Company may process your Personal Data because:

  • We need to perform a contract with you;
  • You have given us permission to do so;
  • The processing is in our legitimate interests and it is not overridden by your rights;
  • For payment processing purposes; or
  • To comply with the law

Your California Privacy Rights

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 Personally Identifiable Information, such as name, e-mail 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 Customer Service at the e-mail address and/or telephone number provided on our Site or write to us (with a reference to California Privacy Disclosure Information) at the address listed on our Site. We will endeavor to respond to such requests for information access within 30 days following receipt at the e-mail or mailing address stated above. If we receive your request at a different e-mail or mailing address, we will respond within a reasonable period of time, but not to exceed 150 days from the date received. Please note that we are only required to respond to each customer once per calendar year.

Children’s Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 18 (“Children”). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

By email: info@hitechbuddies.com