Last Updated: July 30, 2021

This Privacy Policy describes how the Valve Manufacturers Association of America (“VMA,” “we,” or “us”) collects, uses, and shares information about you obtained through www.vma.org (“VMA Site”), www.valvemagazine.com (“VALVE Magazine site”), www.vma.org/valveforum, www.vma.org/marketoutlook, www.vma.org/valvebasics , and any online service (e.g., website or mobile app) that posts a link to this Privacy Policy (together, the “Services,” and each individually, a “Service”). It describes how we may collect, use, and disclose such information that we obtain through the Service; the choices you have regarding our use of your information; how we safeguard the information we collect; and how to contact us regarding our privacy practices.

By accessing or otherwise using the Service, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure practices and other activities as described in this Privacy Policy.

International Users

If you are visiting the Service from outside the United States, please be aware that we are based in the United States and U.S. law governs the information we collect. If you are accessing the Service from outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect will be transferred to, processed, and stored on our servers in the United States. The data protection laws and regulations applicable to your personal data transferred to the United States may be different from the laws in your country of residence. Your use of the Service or provision of any information constitutes your consent to the transfer to and from, processing, usage, sharing and storage of your information, including personal information, in the United States as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

We collect certain information about you that you provide to us directly through the Services. For example, we collect information when you communicate with us via e-mail, contact us using a contact form through one of our Services, apply to VMA as a member, join VMA as a member, register for an account on one of our Services, subscribe to notifications or e-newsletters, or to receive the print version of VALVE Magazine, post a comment publicly on one of our Services, make a purchase, participate in surveys, register for one of our in-person or online events, reserve a hotel room at a VMA event, apply or inquire about becoming an exhibitor, sponsor, or advertiser, apply for a job or internship, provide a nomination for an award or to work on a VMA committee, submit a scholarship application, submit an abstract for an event, speak at an event, or send a request for information.

Personal information you submit through one of the Services may include:

• your name, e-mail address, postal address(es), phone number(s), salutation, username, product and event selections, orders, payment information, employment-related information, education information, photographs, videos and other information that can be used to identify you individually (whether alone or in combination).

Additional personal information you submit through VMA may include:

• your date of birth, city of birth, passport number, health data, professional designation, spouse’s or partner’s name and spouse’s or partner’s email address, email addresses of individuals you identify to be cc’d on correspondence, social media handle, accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, attendance at event sessions, recent purchases, and membership in other organizations.

Some forms on the Services may require that you submit additional or different details about yourself or your business. You may choose not to provide personal information in those cases, but this may prevent you from being able to use those features. You may choose to voluntarily submit certain other information to us through the Services, including personal information, but you are solely responsible for your own personal information in instances where we have not collected such information or requested that you submit such information to us.

Information Collected Automatically

We and our service providers may also automatically collect certain information about you when you access or use one of the Services (“Usage Information”). Usage Information may include your IP address, device identifier, browser type, operating system characteristics, information about your use of the Service, geographic location, and data regarding network-connected hardware (e.g., computer or mobile device). Usage Information helps us learn about a user’s visits to our Services by visualizing the number and duration of visits, pages viewed, site navigation, and other statistics. We use this knowledge to enhance and customize user experience and to monitor and improve performance of the Services. We may use IP addresses to help diagnose problems and for general statistical website reporting and may link IP addresses as part of your registration for VMA events.

The methods that may be used to collect Usage Information on the Services include but is not limited log information, cookies and Other Tracking Technologies such as web beacons, embedded scripts, device recognition technologies, in-app tracking methods etc.

By continuing to use the Services, you are agreeing to the placement of Tracking Technologies by us or by our partners for purposes of analyzing your use of the Services.

Opt Out

Regular cookies may generally be disabled or removed using tools available as part of most commercial browsers, and in some instances may be blocked in the future by configuring certain browser settings.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We may also obtain information about you from other sources, including service providers and other websites, locations, platforms or services not operated by VMA (“Third-Party Services”), and combine that with information we collect about you.

Use of Information for Advertising and Analytics

We may use the personal information we collect to serve advertisements on the Services and/or Third-Party Services. Some of these ads may be tailored to your interest based on your browsing of the Services and elsewhere on the Internet (sometimes referred to as “interest-based advertising” and “online behavioral advertising”), which may include sending you an ad on a Third-Party Service after you have left the Services (i.e., “re-targeting”).

We also use Google Analytics for analytics services, and employ Google Display feature “Google Analytics Demographic and Interest Reporting.” We use these services as well as others that may use cookies and other Tracking Technologies to help us analyze Service users and how they interact with the Services. Information collected or generated by these services (e.g., your IP address and other Usage Information) may be transmitted to and stored by these service providers, who may in turn use this information for purposes such as evaluating your use of the Services, compiling statistical reports on the Services’ activity, and providing other services relating to Service activity and other Internet usage.

Opt Out

You may opt out of Google Analytics via your Ads Settings, Ads Settings for mobile apps, or via the opt-out site.

Please be aware that even if you are able to opt-out of certain kinds of targeted advertising, you will continue to receive non-targeted ads. We are not responsible for effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third parties or programs or the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise share for marketing purposes the Personal Information that we collect through the Services with third parties.

In general, we use your Personal Information to:

• Allow you to participate in the features we offer on the Services;
• Facilitate, manage, personalize, and improve your experience on the Services;
• Process your VMA membership, account registrations, subscription requests, and registrations for webinars, training courses, professional designations and other events;
• Process your registration for the VMA events, reserve and confirm your hotel accommodations for VMA events, and provide for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act;
• Enhance your experience at VMA events, including sending you notifications and communicating with you about events and sending you information on exhibitors and sponsors at any VMA event;
• Process your purchases of products, subscriptions, and services;
• Tailor our content, advertisements, and offers;
• Transact with you, respond to your emails, questions and requests, send informational notices, serve you content, and contact you if we need to obtain or provide additional information;
• Process your job applications and make employment decisions;
• Conduct research and analysis, including surveys;
• Prevent and address fraud, breach of policies or terms, and threats or harm; and
• Send you advertisements and communicate with you regarding our and third-party products, services, offers, promotions, rewards, and events we think you may be interested in.

Your Personal Information and Usage Information may be disclosed to our third-party service providers, including agents, vendors, and marketers. For example, we may use Usage Information to determine how to optimize customer service. Third-party service providers are not permitted to use personal information except insofar as necessary to provide the relevant services to us, although we may permit them to use aggregate information for other purposes.

In connection with events, your Personal Information and Usage Information may be disclosed to our event sponsors and third-party service providers, including vendors. For example, we may share personal information of event registrants and exhibitors with vendors to reserve and confirm hotel accommodations or disability accommodations or for purposes of set-up of the meeting rooms or other functions. We may also share personal information of registrants with sponsors, vendors, and exhibitors at the events for sending advertisements and communicating their products, services, and promotions.

We may disclose your personal information and Usage Information if we believe, in our sole discretion, that such disclosure is necessary and/or appropriate in the following circumstances:

• To comply with relevant laws or to respond to subpoenas or court orders served on us; to respond to requests by government agencies, in conjunction with investigation of activity that is or may be illegal or may expose us or service or content providers we work with, or you to possible legal liability; if we believe your actions are inconsistent with our terms of use, user agreements, applicable terms, or policies; To protect the rights, property, life, health, security, or safety of VMA, the Services or our users, or any third party; and Between certain of our Services for internal business purposes and marketing.

In the event of any proposed or actual transaction, such as a reorganization, partnership, or joint venture, we reserve the right to disclose any information we obtain through the Services. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and are permitted by and subject to this Privacy Policy.

Testimonials, Pictures and Videos

We display personal testimonials, pictures, and videos on our Services in addition to other endorsements. With your consent, we may post this items along with your name and other information.

Links to Third-Party Sites

The Services may contain links to Third-Party Services; these links are provided for your convenience and information. If you choose to use any of these links, you will be leaving the Services. These Third-Party Services may use their own cookies, web beacons and other Tracking Technology to independently collect information about you and may solicit personal information from you. We are not responsible for any third party’s data collection, cookies, or privacy practices, and we encourage you to review the privacy policies or notices posted on those Third-Party Services before submitting your information.

Information You Publicly Disclose and Social Features and Accounts

The Services may permit you to post or submit content publicly, for example on social media sites, event apps, networking platforms, if you respond to a blog post, or type in the chat boxes using a mobile App or online event or networking platform. If you choose to submit content containing personal information, or other content such as “likes” or “sharing” content, using VMA related hashtags, etc., to any public area of the Services, your content will be accessible by anyone, including us and is not subject to our usage or sharing limitations, or other obligations, under this Privacy Policy.

Your Choices

Option to Unsubscribe

Should you receive a promotional email from us, you may opt out of receiving additional promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of our emails. You may also contact us directly at info@vma.org to unsubscribe from a single subscription or from all subscriptions with us. Please note that even if you opt out of receiving promotional emails from us, we may continue to send you non-promotional emails, such as those relating to your account, product inquiries or event registration.

Option to Deactivate

Should you wish to deactivate your account on any of Services, you should follow the instructions on account page. You may also contact us directly at info@vma.org.

Tracking Technologies, Analytics and Interest-Based Advertising

Instructions for disabling or removing tracking technologies, to be best of our knowledge, are included in this Privacy Policy.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. For credit card information, we redirect visitors to a secure server and encrypt this information. Nevertheless, transmission via the Internet and online digital storage are not completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of your information collected through the Services.

Children’s Privacy

The Services are not intended for, nor targeted to, children under 13, and we do not knowingly or intentionally collect information from children under 13. If we learn that we have received information directly from a child who is under the age of 13, we will delete the information in accordance with applicable law.

Your California Privacy Rights

California law permits customers in California to request certain details about how their “personal information” (as defined by California Civil Code Section 1798.83) is shared with third parties and, in some cases, affiliates, for those third parties’ and affiliates’ own direct marketing purposes. Californians may request information about our compliance with this law by contacting us at info@vma.org or by postal mail sent to Valve Manufacturers Association of America, 1625 K Street NW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 20006, (Attention: Heather Rhoderick). Your inquiry must specify “California Privacy Rights Request” in the subject line of the email or the first line of the letter, and include your name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code.

Revisions

This Privacy Policy is subject to change at our discretion. We will indicate changes to this page by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of the page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy frequently to stay informed about our information practices. Your continued use of our Services indicates your consent to the Privacy Policy posted.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or information collection practices, please email us at info@vma.org or write to us at:

Valve Manufacturers Association of America

ATTN: Privacy Policy

1625 K Street, NW, Suite 325

Washington, DC 20006