Privacy Policy

Website Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce (“Grand Rapids Chamber”, “we”, “us” or “our”), collects, uses and shares personal information collected through this website. We value your privacy, and we will not share your personal information with third parties except as described in this Policy without your consent.

BY USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THE TERMS OF THE POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE OR PROVIDE US WITH YOUR INFORMATION.

What this Policy Covers

This Policy applies to our collection, use and sharing of your personal information (a) when you visit our website at https://www.grandrapids.org/ and its related sites (the “Site”), (b) receive our communications or participate in our online or offline activities or events, (c) fill out a membership application, and (d) that we obtain from third parties such as social media companies, database vendors, content publishers, and suppliers. This Policy does not apply to any other information or websites not owned or operated by us or information collected by us by other means.

Personal Information We Collect

Information You Give Us. Personal information you may provide through the Site or otherwise communicate to us includes:

Contact information. We collect information about you when you provide contact information to us via email or through the Site, including as a result of creating an account, or registering for a program or event. This information may include your first and last name, email address, mailing address, phone number.
Payment information. We collect your payment information, such as credit card or bank account number, when you register for a program or event or pay for your membership or other service offerings. Sensitive personal information. We collect information that may be considered sensitive, such as your county of citizenship, race, gender, or sexual orientation in connection with certain programs and events, but it will always be optional to provide this information.
Correspondence. We may collect personal information you provide when you request information, respond to surveys, or otherwise correspond with us.
Other information. We may collect other information from you that is not specifically listed here. We may use such information in accordance with this Policy.

Information Automatically Collected. Our servers and third party service providers may automatically record cookie information in connection with your use of the Site, which includes information such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, device and browser type, operating system, DNS, the pages or features of the Site that you browsed and the time spent on those pages or features, the frequency with which you use the Site, the links that you click on or use, and other statistics. We use this information to gain a better understanding of the users of our Site, to improve our Site, and to improve our services. We collect this information in server logs and by using cookies and similar tracking technologies. See our Cookie Policy, below, for more information.

Photographs, Videos and other Recordings. We may capture your name, image, voice, or likeness when you attend our program and events via picture, video, or other recordings.

Information We Get From Others. We may obtain additional information about you from third party sources, such as service providers, vendors, social media sites, and advertising agencies to provide you with more relevant information about our services. This information may include your contact information or cookie information.

Sensitive Personal Information. We may collect some sensitive personal information such as information related to racial or ethnic origin, gender, and sexual orientation through the Site as a result of your participation in certain programs and events. It is optional for you to provide this information. In collecting this sensitive personal information, we respect individual privacy, protect against unauthorized access to or use of information, and comply with all laws and government regulations in the collection, use, storage, display, distribution and disposal of such information. Authorized uses of sensitive information within our organization are limited to uses which are necessary to: a) meet our legal and regulatory requirements; or b) facilitate access to services, transactions, facilities and information.

How We Use Your Personal Information

This section of our Policy describes the different purposes for which we may use the personal information we collect about you.

To Provide our Services and Communicate With You. We use your contact information, payment information and other personal information to:

provide you with our Products/Services;
register you for events, programs, and contests; and
to respond to your requests, questions, comments, and feedback.

To Improve our Site. We use your cookie information to:

provide, maintain and improve the Site;
better understand your needs and interests, and personalize your experience with the Site; and
perform website analytics and database management services.

To Promote Our Services. We may use your feedback, testimonials, and program and event recordings on our website and other media to promote the Grand Rapids Chamber and our services. By providing us with feedback or attending our events and programs, unless otherwise agreed by us, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, unrestricted, worldwide, royalty-free, and transferrable license, right, and permission to use, copy, and publicly display, and distribute your name, image, personal information, and likeness, as photographed, videotaped, or otherwise recorded, and to use, copy, publicly display, distribute, modify, and create derivative works of the same, in each case for the purpose of advertising or promotion of the Grand Rapids Chamber and its services or for any other purpose, in any form or media, without compensation.

To Send You Marketing Communications. We may use your contact information to send you newsletters, promotions or other marketing communications, but you may opt out of receiving them as described in the Your Choices section below.

To Create and Maintain Your Account. In order to utilize certain services provided through the Site, you may create an account using certain personal information, including your name, email address, and phone number. You have choices about the information included in your account. You do not have to provide additional information in your account; however, additional information may help you get more from our services. It is your choice whether to include sensitive information in your account and to make that information public. Please do not add personal information to your profile that you would not want to be publicly available.

To Personalize This Site and Advertise To You. We may use your cookie information to personalize your Site experience and communications and to manage and serve ads you see on the Site or on third party sites. See our Cookie Policy, below, for more information.

For Compliance, Fraud Prevention and Safety. We may use some or all of your personal information as we believe appropriate to: (a) investigate or prevent violation of the law or your agreements with us; (b) protect our, your or others’ rights, safety or property (including by prosecuting and defending legal claims); (c) protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity; (d) comply with applicable laws, lawful requests and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities; and (e) where permitted by law in connection with a legal investigation. For example, we may share information with law enforcement to reduce the risk of fraud or if someone uses or attempts to use our site for illegal reasons.

With Your Consent. In some cases we may ask for your consent to collect, use or share your personal information.

How We Share your Personal Information

This section of our Policy describes the categories of personal information we share with third parties and the types of third parties with whom we share that information.

We do not sell your personal information; however We may share your personal information with third parties for a number of reasons. For example, we may use third parties to help us design and operate the Site, provide services to support the Site, help us analyze our data, process your credit card information, or send information on our behalf about services and events in which you may be interested. Unless otherwise indicated at the time we collect your information, if we allow third parties to access the personal information we collect, we will have contractual provisions or other appropriate protections in place to ensure such access is for limited purposes and in compliance with this Policy. Specifically, we share your personal information with the following categories of third parties:

Related and Affiliated Organizations. We may share all of the personal information we collect about you with our affiliates and related organizations for use consistent with this Policy.

Service Providers and Business Partners. We may share your personal information with third party companies and individuals as needed for them to provide us with services that help us with our business activities and to promote our services to you. This information may include your contact information, payment information, and cookie information. We may also share your contact information and cookie information with our business partners who offer a service to you jointly with us.

Compliance, Fraud Prevention and Safety. We may disclose some or all of the personal information we have collected about you as we believe appropriate to government or law enforcement officials or private parties for the purposes described above under the section “For Compliance, Fraud Prevention and Safety.”

Business Transfers. We may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of our business or assets, including all of the personal information we have collected about you, in connection with a business deal (or potential business deal) such as a merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, or in the event of bankruptcy.

Your Choices

This section of our Policy describes your choices with respect to the personal information you provide and the communications you may receive.

Opt Out of Communications. You may opt out of marketing-related emails and other communications by changing the communication preferences in your account settings or by following the opt-out prompt in the email. If you are having trouble opting out of communications, please contact us using the contact information provided at the end of this Policy. Please allow up to 10 business days for us to process your opt-out request.

Consequences of Not Providing Personal Information. You are not required to provide all personal information identified in this Policy to use our Site or to interact with us offline, but certain functionality will not be available if you do not provide personal information. For example, if you do not provide personal information, we may not be able to respond to your request, perform a transaction with you, or provide you with marketing that we believe you would find valuable.

Cookie Policy

This section of our Policy describes how we and our business partners may collect and store information about you and your use of the Site through cookies and other tracking technologies.

What are Cookies? Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies set by the website are called “first party cookies.” Cookies set by parties other than the website are called “third party cookies.” Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality, such as advertising or website analytics, to be provided on or through the website. The parties that set these third party cookies can recognize your computer or device both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites and/or mobile apps.

What Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies do We Use? We use several different kinds of cookies on this Site, including strictly necessary cookies, which are cookies that are necessary for the Site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems; performance cookies, which allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our Site; and functional cookies, which enable the Site to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. Cookies are not the only way to track visitors to a website. We may use similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons (sometimes called “tracking pixels” or “clear gifs”). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enable us to recognize when someone has visited our Sites. These technologies often depend on cookies to function properly, and so disabling cookies may impair their functioning. If you sign up to receive our e-mails, we will also use cookies in conjunction with these emails. When your browser downloads any graphic content in the e-mail, we will also place a cookie on your computer that will tell us if you come to our website at a later date.

Third-Party Cookies. In addition to our own cookies, we collaborate with various third-party service providers who also use cookies to help us optimize our website and to help us understand more about the visitors to our website.

Google Services. We use Google Analytics to help us gather statistical information about the visitors to our Site and how they use the Site. This information is collected via cookies and other identifiers that we and third parties place on our site. We and our third party partners may use this information to gain a better understanding of the users of our Site, to improve our Site, and to improve our services. However, we will not associate this data with your personally identifiable data unless required to do so to cooperate with law enforcement activity or other governmental request or to comply with law. To understand how Google Analytics collects and processes data, including through the use of cookies and other technologies, please visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies#how-google-uses-cookies (opens in new window). To opt out of the Google Analytics, we encourage you to check out Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs (opens in new window) for the web.

How Can You Disable Cookies and Other Tracking Technology? Depending on the type of browser and device that you use, you may have the ability to control the type of information that these tools use. To do this, follow the instructions in your browser settings. Many browsers accept cookies by default until you change your settings. For more information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your computer or mobile device and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org (opens in new window) and www.youronlinechoices.com (opens in new window). Some Internet browsers also may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com (opens in new window).

Other Important Privacy Information

Third Party Sites and Services. The Site may contain links to other websites and services operated by third parties. These links are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control third party websites, applications or services, and we are not responsible for their actions. Other websites and services follow different rules regarding their collection, use and sharing of your personal information. We encourage you to read their privacy policies to learn more.

Security. The security of your personal information is important to us. We take a number of organizational, technical and physical measures that are designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information.

International Data Use and Cross-Border Transfers. We are located in the United States and have affiliates and service providers in other countries, and your personal information may be collected, used and stored in the United States or other locations outside of your home country. Privacy laws in the locations where we handle your personal information may not be as protective as the privacy laws in your home country. However, we will handle your personal information in accordance with this Policy regardless of where your personal information is kept. Regarding transfers from the European Economic Area, Switzerland or United Kingdom to the United States, we rely on the derogations for transfers which are necessary to perform the transaction with you. Where required by law, you may request a copy of the suitable mechanisms we have in place by contacting us as detailed below. If you reside in other non-US jurisdictions, your use of the Site or provision of any personal information constitutes your consent for the transfer of such data to the United States for the purposes identified in this Policy. If you have questions about cross-border transfers, please contact us as detailed at the end of this Policy.

Verifying, Changing, and Deleting Your Information. If you have created an account through our Site, you can access, review and manage many changes yourself via your account, including updating your profile information and changing your communication preferences. If the information you are seeking is not available within your account, you can contact us as detailed below and ask us to change, update or fix your information in certain cases, particularly if it is inaccurate. You can also request that we erase or delete all or some of your personal information or otherwise object to, limit, or restrict the use of such information (if we have no legal right or legitimate business interest in retaining such information).

Children. The Site is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 13, nor do we knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, you should not attempt to use the Site or send any information about yourself to us.

Changes to this Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time. If we make changes to this Policy, we will post them on the Site and indicate the effective date of the change. If we make material changes to this Policy we will notify you by email or through the Site.