Privacy policy

This privacy policy (“Policy”) describes how Website Operator (“Website Operator”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, protects and uses the personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) you (“User”, “you” or “your”) may provide on the vedicglobal.org website and any of its products or services (collectively, “Website” or “Services”).

It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update this information. This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.

Automatic collection of information

When you visit the Website our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. This data may include information such as your device’s IP address, browser type and version, operating system type and version, language preferences or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Website, pages of our Website that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Website, access times and dates, and other statistics.

Information collected automatically is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding Website usage. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular user of the system.

Collection of personal information

You can visit the Website without telling us who you are or revealing any information by which someone could identify you as a specific, identifiable individual. If, however, you wish to use some of the Website’s features, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (for example, your name and e-mail address). We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us when you create an account, publish content, or fill any online forms on the Website. When required, this information may include the following:

Personal details such as name, country of residence, etc.
Contact information such as email address, address, etc.
Any other materials you willingly submit to us such as articles, images, feedback, etc.

You can choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the Website’s features. Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us.

Use and processing of collected information

In order to make our Website and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Some of the information we collect is directly from you via our Website. However, we may also collect Personal Information about you from other sources. Any of the information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes:

Create and manage user accounts
Send administrative information
Respond to inquiries and offer support
Request user feedback
Improve user experience
Administer prize draws and competitions
Enforce terms and conditions and policies
Protect from abuse and malicious users
Respond to legal requests and prevent harm
Run and operate our Website and Services

Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with our Website, where you are located in the world and if one of the following applies: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; this, however, does not apply, whenever the processing of Personal Information is subject to California Consumer Privacy Act or European data protection law; (ii) provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (iii) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party.

Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing (by opting out), without having to rely on consent or any other of the following legal bases below. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Managing information

You are able to delete certain Personal Information we have about you. The Personal Information you can delete may change as the Website or Services change. When you delete Personal Information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised Personal Information in our records for the duration necessary to comply with our obligations to our affiliates and partners, and for the purposes described below. If you would like to delete your Personal Information or permanently delete your account, you can do so on the settings page of your account on the Website or simply by contacting us.

Disclosure of information

Depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any service you have requested, we may share your information with your consent with our trusted third parties that work with us, any other affiliates and subsidiaries we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Website and Services available to you. We do not share Personal Information with unaffiliated third parties. These service providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. We may share your Personal Information for these purposes only with third parties whose privacy policies are consistent with ours or who agree to abide by our policies with respect to Personal Information. These third parties are given Personal Information they need only in order to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose Personal Information for their own marketing or other purposes.

We will disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

Retention of information

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.

Transfer of information

Depending on your location, data transfers may involve transferring and storing your information in a country other than your own. You are entitled to learn about the legal basis of information transfers to a country outside the European Union or to any international organization governed by public international law or set up by two or more countries, such as the UN, and about the security measures taken by us to safeguard your information. If any such transfer takes place, you can find out more by checking the relevant sections of this Privacy Policy or inquire with us using the information provided in the contact section.

The rights of users

You may exercise certain rights regarding your information processed by us. In particular, you have the right to do the following: (i) you have the right to withdraw consent where you have previously given your consent to the processing of your information; (ii) you have the right to object to the processing of your information if the processing is carried out on a legal basis other than consent; (iii) you have the right to learn if information is being processed by us, obtain disclosure regarding certain aspects of the processing and obtain a copy of the information undergoing processing; (iv) you have the right to verify the accuracy of your information and ask for it to be updated or corrected; (v) you have the right, under certain circumstances, to restrict the processing of your information, in which case, we will not process your information for any purpose other than storing it; (vi) you have the right, under certain circumstances, to obtain the erasure of your Personal Information from us; (vii) you have the right to receive your information in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and, if technically feasible, to have it transmitted to another controller without any hindrance. This provision is applicable provided that your information is processed by automated means and that the processing is based on your consent, on a contract which you are part of or on pre-contractual obligations thereof.

The right to object to processing

Where Personal Information is processed for the public interest, in the exercise of an official authority vested in us or for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us, you may object to such processing by providing a ground related to your particular situation to justify the objection.

Data protection rights under GDPR

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. Website Operator aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Information. If you wish to be informed what Personal Information 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:

You have the right to request access to your Personal Information that we store and have the ability to access your Personal Information.
You have the right to request that we correct any Personal Information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request us to complete the Personal Information you believe is incomplete.
You have the right to request the erase your Personal Information under certain conditions of this Privacy Policy.
You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Information.
You have the right to seek restrictions on the processing of your Personal Information. When you restrict the processing of your Personal Information, we may store it but will not process it further.
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.
You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where Website Operator relied on your consent to process your Personal Information.

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

California privacy rights

In addition to the rights as explained in this Privacy Policy, California residents who provide Personal Information (as defined in the statute) to obtain products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the Personal Information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of Personal Information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in the current year will receive information about the prior year). To obtain this information please contact us.

How to exercise these rights

Any requests to exercise your rights can be directed to Website Operator through the contact details provided in this document. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. Your request must provide sufficient information that allows us to verify that you are the person you are claiming to be or that you are the authorized representative of such person. You must include sufficient details to allow us to properly understand the request and respond to it. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information unless we first verify your identity or authority to make such a request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you.

Privacy of children

We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not submit any Personal Information through our Website or Service. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce this Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through our Website or Service without their permission. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 has provided Personal Information to us through our Website or Service, please contact us. You must also be at least 16 years of age to consent to the processing of your Personal Information in your country (in some countries we may allow your parent or guardian to do so on your behalf).

Cookies

The Website uses “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for statistical purposes to operate our Website and Services. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the features of the Website and Services. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit internetcookies.org

Do Not Track signals

Some browsers incorporate a Do Not Track feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Tracking is not the same as using or collecting information in connection with a website. For these purposes, tracking refers to collecting personally identifiable information from consumers who use or visit a website or online service as they move across different websites over time. How browsers communicate the Do Not Track signal is not yet uniform. As a result, this Website is not yet set up to interpret or respond to Do Not Track signals communicated by your browser. Even so, as described in more detail throughout this Policy, we limit our use and collection of your personal information.

Email marketing

We offer electronic newsletters to which you may voluntarily subscribe at any time. We are committed to keeping your e-mail address confidential and will not disclose your email address to any third parties except as allowed in the information use and processing section or for the purposes of utilizing a third party provider to send such emails. We will maintain the information sent via e-mail in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all e-mails sent from us will clearly state who the e-mail is from and provide clear information on how to contact the sender. You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or by contacting us. However, you will continue to receive essential transactional emails.

Links to other websites

Our Website contains links to other websites that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites or third parties. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our Website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that may collect Personal Information.

Information security

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in its control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed. Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and our Website cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.

Data breach

In the event we become aware that the security of the Website has been compromised or users Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the user as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will post a notice on the Website.

Changes and amendments

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in our discretion and will notify you of any material changes to the way in which we treat Personal Information. When changes are made, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We may also provide notice to you in other ways in our discretion, such as through contact information you have provided. Any updated version of this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website or Services after the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, we will not, without your consent, use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By using the Website or its Services you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to use or access the Website and its Services.

Additional

Australian Privacy Principles The Privacy Ac 1988 introduced 10 National Privacy Principles to the Australian community. They were replaced by 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in 2014. The APPs apply by law to government and to large businesses. They do not apply to Vedic Global or to Vedic Centres because we do not meet the threshold requirements.

A copy of the APPs can be found here:

https://www.oaic.gov.au/individuals/privacy-fact-sheets/general/privacy-fact-sheet17australian-privacy-principles

Vedic Global endeavours to comply with the APPs, and urges each Vedic Centre to do so even though they do not apply to us presently.

Note that committing to complying with the APPs and not doing so, is an offence. Hence our cautious note about endeavouring.

Vedic Global Policy

The personal information that we collect about you is collected in order to provide information services to you which in turn, allow the co-ordination of meetings, classes, fundraising activities community service and events/programs conducted by Vedic Centres.

We may:

Share the information with various Vedic Global entities and other Vedic Centres in Australia and overseas;
Disclose the information to outside parties in the course of undertaking Vedic Global and Centre activities and programs; and
Use the information with your consent or as otherwise required by law.

We will not sell or trade your personal information in any case.

We will not disclose or share your personal information to any organisation other than as set out above.

You may access and modify your information at any time. If you are unable to do so, you may request your Centre or Vedic Global to modify it.

If any of the information we hold is incorrect, inaccurate or out-of-date and you wish it to be updated, you may do so or ask us to do so, by email to team@vedicglobal.org

You have the option of not providing certain information requested by Vedic Global. However, you should note that this may prevent the Vedic Global from effectively providing membership information services to you and managing its various activities and programs.

Recommended Vedic Centre Policy

Each Centre is a separate entity for privacy purposes, and each Centre should have a privacy policy.

The following model is recommended:

Vedic Global is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. Our privacy policy, and our giving effect to it, is intended to be in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles. The personal information that we collect about you is collected in order to provide information services to you which in turn, allow the co-ordination of meetings, classes, fundraising activities, community service and events/programs conducted by us.

We may:

Share the information with Vedic Global entities and other Vedic Centres in Australia and overseas;
Disclose the information to outside parties in the course of undertaking Vedic Global activities and programs; and
Use the information with your consent or as otherwise required by law.

We will not sell or trade your personal information.

We will not disclose or share your personal information to any organisation other than as set out above.

You may access and modify your information at any time by asking us to change.

If any of the information we hold is incorrect, inaccurate or out-of-date and you wish it to be updated, you may ask us to do so

You have the option of not providing certain information requested by us. However, you should note that this may prevent us from effectively providing membership information services to you and managing its various activities and programs.

Photographs

What should you collect?

You should only collect images of identifiable individuals if it is reasonably necessary for one of the Centre’s functions or activities. Consent is not required to collect images of identifiable individuals unless the image records sensitive information about the individual. However, you must take reasonable steps to make sure that the individual is aware of the following:

Who you are and how they contact you.
How, when and from where the images are being taken.
If the collection of the image is required or authorised by law.
What you are taking an image for.
If there are any consequences for them if you do not collect the image.
Any other organisation or people with whom you usually share personal information.
How they can get access to it later.
Whether you are likely to send the images overseas.

Appropriate notification:

An example: The Vedic Centre of XYZ is taking photographs at today’s/tonight’s function/activity.

The photographs will be used internally at Vedic Global, on the Vedic Global’s website, and on the Vedic Global’s Facebook page.

If you do not want to have your photograph taken please tell the photographer.

If you subsequently see a photograph on the Vedic Global’s website or Facebook page that includes you and it is of concern, please contact the Vedic Global/Centre on team@vedicglobal.org so your concern can be addressed.

Contacting us

If you would like to contact us to understand more about this Policy or wish to contact us concerning any matter relating to individual rights and your Personal Information, you may do so via the contact form or send an email to team@vedicglobal.org

This document was last updated on July 19, 2020