Last Updated: January 2022
This Privacy Policy applies to the way in which The Economic Development Corporation and our affiliates (“we” and “us”) might interact with you—from telephone calls to email exchanges to the use of howtostartabusiness.org. In this Privacy Policy we go over the exact types of user and client data that we collect, what we do with it, and how we collect it.
If you have any difficulty reading or using this Privacy Policy because of a disability, we’re happy to provide any assistance you may need.
By using our website, you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Except as explained in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose personal information to any companies not part of Economic Development Corporation or its parent, subsidiaries or related entities. We may provide some personal information to certain service providers and other third parties, but in no event will we sell your personal information as part of a customer list or similar transaction for unrelated parties to independently market to you.
Our website is not intended for use by children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
This site is intended for use in the United States of America. We attempt to protect the personal information of all users of our site and we attempt to comply with local data protection laws to the extent they apply to our services and website, but our site is targeted to United States citizens and our policies are directed at compliance with those laws.
At The Economic Development Corporation, it is sometimes important for us to collect user and client information. Below you will find a list of how (and from whom) we collect our clients’ and users’ information.
We strive to personalize your user experience at howtostartabusiness.org, and this involves collecting some information. We may also use this information in the following ways:
In order to personalize your online experience, our website employs the use of “cookies.” A cookie is a text file that is placed on your device by a web server. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. If you register an account with us, a cookie allows us to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This facilitates the process of recalling your personal information so that when you return to our website, the information you previously provided can be easily retrieved. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can typically modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you want to.
We also employ a technology called web beacons or “clear gifs” that help us track referrals from our partners and affiliates and better manage content on our website. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track online movements of web users.
Our partners and affiliates may use cookies and web beacons to collect information about your activities on our site. The use of tracing technologies by our service providers, technology providers or other third parties is not covered by our Privacy Policy.
Except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose personal information to any companies not part of The Economic Development Corporation or its parent, subsidiaries or related entities. Although, as discussed below, we may provide some personal information to certain service providers and other third parties, in no event will we sell your personal information as part of a customer list or similar transaction for unrelated parties to independently market to you.
We collect various categories of information. These may include:
One of our primary goals at The Economic Development Corporation is to keep our users’ and clients’ personal information protected and secure. In general, personal information collected by the site is stored in operating environments that are not available to the public, and our security procedures mean that we may occasionally request proof of identity before we disclose your personal information to you. In certain telephone and in person transactions, we may ask for certain client identifiers or other information to verify your identity before conducting the transactions you have requested.
Please understand that while we try our best to safeguard your personal information once we receive it, no transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We periodically review our security procedures to consider appropriate technology and methods to secure information.
At a minimum, we will retain your information for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We may maintain some or all of this information in our archives even after it has been removed from the site.
We do not, and will not, sell your information to third parties.
California law allows California residents to submit a verifiable request for us to provide them with certain information including: i) specific pieces and categories of personal information that we have collected about them; ii) the categories of sources for that information; iii) the business or commercial purposes for collecting their information; and iv) the categories of third parties with which their information is shared.
California residents also have the right to submit a request for deletion of their information under certain circumstances. This is not an absolute right, and we may decline to delete information when retention is allowed by law, for example, when we have an on-going business relationship with the person, we have a continued need to use the information, or we need to retain the information in order to comply with a legal obligation.
If you exercise your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, we will not provide discriminatory treatment to you.
After you submit the request, you will be asked to verify your email address and you may also be asked to provide additional information in order to verify your identity. We will attempt to verify your identity by asking for information that matches the information that we have previously collected about you. Where this is not possible, we may request that you submit additional documentation for verification. Please note that, in accordance with California law, we will not be able to satisfy your request until we have verified your identity.
You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. In order to designate an authorized agent to make a request, you must provide us with your written permission for the agent to make the request on your behalf, or provide us with a signed power of attorney. We will also need to verify valid government issued identification for both you and the agent.
If you are located outside of the United States of America, you should be aware that your personal information will be transferred to the United States of America, the laws of which may differ from the laws of your country. If you are located in a country outside of the United States of America and voluntarily submit personal information to us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this Privacy Policy and to the transfer of that information to, and/or storage or processing of that information in, the United States of America and you understand that your information may be available to government authorities under lawful orders and laws applicable there. Byusing this website, you consent to the transfer of information to countries outside of your country of residence, including the United States, which may have different data protection rules than those of your country.