Privacy

AIChE is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy

AIChE is dedicated to treating information about you with care and respect. This policy has been designed to help you understand what information we collect, how we use it and the choices you have regarding its use.

Information we collect and use

AIChE collects and uses personal information in the process of serving its members, customers and the broader chemical engineering community. We continually strive to reduce the information we collect to the minimum necessary in order for us to meet our mission and your needs in a safe, secure manner. Here are some of the types of information we collect:

Information you provide voluntarily

• Account information, which may include name, username and password, photo and bio, contact information, demographic information, preferences, and other information that you may provide in the context of specific products, such as conferences or membership. We use such information:
  • To interact with you.
  • To administer and sustain services (for example, to determine your membership grade or to remind you to renew your membership.)
  • To invite you to participate in activities such as polls, surveys and volunteer opportunities; or to enable others to connect with you.
  • To enable social networking, for example by participating in a discussion or volunteer opportunity.
  • To include your information in an online profile and directories to enable people to find and connect with each other.
  • To inform you, via email and other channels, of AIChE products and services that may be of interest to you, including conferences, education, publications and membership. 
• Payment data that you provide when you purchase a product or service, such as your credit card number. We use this information to process your payment. We employ the industry best practices such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) to process payments.
• Information you voluntarily submit in polls and surveys (for example, the CEP Salary Survey) and other forms. In polls and surveys we use your responses only in aggregate to fulfil the survey’s goals, without individually identifying you. In other forms we use your information in line with the form’s objective.
• Information posted by you when you engage in Social Networking and Social Media activities, such as information you post on AIChE blogs, discussion forums, and our social media channels. We moderate some channels and we have administrative technical access to all information.

Information collected automatically

Our systems automatically collect usage and activity data, including your device or IP address, operating system, browser type, location information, how you arrived on our website, webpages you viewed, links you clicked on the our website, keywords you searched for, links you clicked in emails we send, and so on. None of this data is collected in a manner that identifies you individually. We use this data only in aggregate, to measure the use and effectiveness of our product and services and improve their quality. Some technologies we use, such as cookies, may allow third parties to learn about you. Please see AIChE cookie policy for further information.

Information we obtain from other trusted sources

We may obtain information about you from other sources, such as members who refer you, your employer or educational institution who might have registered you for a course, our partners (for example, in relation to co-sponsored conferences), or public or third party databases (such as D&B Hoovers).

Does AIChE share the information it receives?

AIChE does not sell or rent your information to third parties. Your information may be shared only in the following contexts:

Public Information

Certain information may be publicly accessible, subject to privacy controls available to you. In such cases, public portions of your information may be found and displayed by third party search engines when someone searches for you.

• When you are a volunteer leader, receive an award, present at an AIChE event, author a paper, etc., we may publish information such as your name, photo, bio, affiliation so that others may learn about you. If you are a volunteer leader, your email address may be listed on our website so that others may contact you.
• We use some information you provide to enable social networking features. We display your online profile and make it searchable via online directories so that others may learn about you and so that you may connect with others. You can control the visibility of your profile data that is visible to others by adjusting your privacy settings at the following link: https://www.aiche.org/profile/privacy.
• We operate online communities, including social media platforms, to facilitate communication between individuals for the exchange of technical or non-technical information. Information you post in discussion forums or online communities is available to anyone with access to these areas, some of which may be public.

Information shared with 3rd parties

• Vendors. We partner with third party companies to offer products and services designed to meet the needs of AIChE members (for example news, insurance, etc.) and to perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, fundraising, conference registration, marketing, and conducting surveys. Such companies will have access to your data; however, they are prohibited from using your personal information for purposes other than those requested by us.
• Volunteers. Select information pertinent to AIChE’s activities may be made available to non-staff volunteer leaders who are officers of AIChE’s entities for the purpose of conducting AIChE business.
• Employers/Institutions. When you are registered for AIChE products or services by your employer or institution, we may share your name, contact information and other relevant information such as attendance status and course score with the employer or institution.
• Sponsors. When you register for certain events & products that are sponsored by third parties, for example, sponsored webinars or sponsored whitepapers, we share certain elements of your contact and employment information, depending on the event or product sponsored, with the sponsors who may wish to contact you regarding special promotions or discounts.
• Cookies. We use third party platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google for advertising. While we do not share your personal data with these platforms, they use cookies and other similar technologies that may enable them to learn more about you. To learn more about how we use cookies, please see AIChE cookie policy.
• Other. We may share your information with third parties to comply with legal process or in other cases if we believe, in good faith, that disclosure is required by law.
• The above excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

How secure is your information?

The security, integrity and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. We maintain and implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use and modification. AIChE uses secure servers and encrypted data transmission to protect submissions of your credit card information. We periodically review our security procedures to evaluate their continued effectiveness. Please be aware that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to accomplish the purposes for which it was collected (or as otherwise set forth in this Policy).

You always have the right to request us to delete your record entirely (see below).

Other

(A) Children

AIChE does not knowingly solicit data from, or about children under 16, without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s). If you believe that we may have any information from, or about a child under age 16, please contact us and we will delete that information.

(B) Links to other websites

AIChE’s websites contain links to other websites administered by other organizations. This policy applies only to AIChE.org websites. AIChE is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites, even if you access them using links from our website.

(C) Transfer of information to other countries

As a global organization, AIChE may engage in international activities. In connection with the management of these activities, AIChE may need to transfer certain information to authorized systems, companies or individuals in countries other than your own. By using our services, the websites, apps, or otherwise providing us with your personal data, you agree to the transfer of your personal data subject to this policy.

(D) California privacy rights

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to privacy@aiche.org with "Request for California Privacy Information" in the subject line.

(E) European Union privacy rights

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so in relation to individuals within the European Union we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation, which applies across the European Union and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.

How and why we use your personal information

Under the GDPR, we can only use your personal information if we have a proper reason for doing so, e.g.:

• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
• for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
• where you have given consent. 

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.

Your rights as a data subject under GDPR

You have the right to obtain from AIChE confirmation as to whether or not we hold personal information concerning you in our databases. You have the right to access any personal information that we hold on you (with certain restrictions) and, in addition, the rights below:

• Access: The right to be provided with a copy of your personal information (the right of access).
• Rectification: The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal information.
• To be forgotten: The right to require us to delete your personal information—in certain situations.
• Restriction of processing: The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal information—in certain circumstances, e.g. if you contest the accuracy of the data.
• Data portability: The right to receive the personal information you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations.
• To object: The right to object: —at any time to your personal information being processed for direct marketing (including profiling); —in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information, e.g. processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests.
• Not to be subject to automated decision-making: The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

If you are an individual protected by the GDPR, to request information about, or to avail yourself of these rights, please send an email to privacy@aiche.org with "GDPR Request" in the subject line. In the email please describe, with specificity, the GDPR right you are requesting assistance with. Please note additional information may be requested prior to the initiation of a request and that AIChE reserves the right to charge a fee with respect to certain requests. Upon AIChE’s completion of the review of your request, you will be notified if your request has been granted, denied, or if exemptions apply.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

As AIChE and its products and services change over the course of time, we may update this policy to reflect changes to our information practices. We reserve the right to amend the policy at any time, for any reason and will do so by posting a new version online. Your continued use of our websites, apps, and/or continued provision of personal data to us will be subject to the terms of the then-current policy.

Contact us

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent by email to privacy@aiche.org or visit https://www.aiche.org/contact for other ways to contact us.

Date of last revision: June 14, 2022