PRIVACY POLICY

Last updated April 02, 2024

This privacy notice for American Orchid Society, Inc. (doing business as American Orchid Society) ("we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your information when you use our services ("Services"), such as when you:

Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at theaos@aos.org.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. Learn more about personal information you disclose to us below.

Do we process any sensitive personal information? We may process sensitive personal information when necessary with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Learn more about sensitive information we process below.

Do we receive any information from third parties? We do not receive any information from third parties.

How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. Learn more about how we process your information below.

In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties. Learn more about when and with whom we share your personal information below.

How do we keep your information safe? We have organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Learn more about how we keep your information safe below.

What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information. Learn more about your privacy rights below.

How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by submitting a data subject access request, or by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Want to learn more about what we do with any information we collect? Please see our full Privacy Policy below.

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.

Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:

Sensitive Information. When necessary, with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law, we process the following categories of sensitive information:

Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number, and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Aurhorize.net, Stripe and PayPal. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://usa.visa.com/legal/privacy-policy.html, https://stripe.com/privacy and https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/privacy/privacyhub.

Social Media Login Data. We may provide you with the option to register with us using your existing social media account details, like your Facebook, Twitter, or other social media account. If you choose to register in this way, we will collect the information described in the section called "HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?" below.

All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Information automatically collected

In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

The information we collect includes:

2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.

We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including:

3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e., legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into or fulfill our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfill our legitimate business interests.

If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information:

If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you.

We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e., express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e., implied consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time.

In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example:

4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

In Short: We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following third parties.

We may need to share your personal information in the following situations:

5. WHAT IS OUR STANCE ON THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES?

In Short: We are not responsible for the safety of any information that you share with third parties that we may link to or who advertise on our Services, but are not affiliated with, our Services.

The Services may link to third-party websites, online services, or mobile applications and/or contain advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us and which may link to other websites, services, or applications. Accordingly, we do not make any guarantee regarding any such third parties, and we will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the use of such third-party websites, services, or applications. The inclusion of a link towards a third-party website, service, or application does not imply an endorsement by us. We cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of data you provide to any third parties. Any data collected by third parties is not covered by this privacy notice. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other websites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the Services. You should review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to respond to your questions.

6. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.

We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice.

7. HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?

In Short: If you choose to register or log in to our Services using a social media account, we may have access to certain information about you.

Our Services offer you the ability to register and log in using your third-party social media account details (like your Facebook or Twitter logins). Where you choose to do this, we will receive certain profile information about you from your social media provider. The profile information we receive may vary depending on the social media provider concerned, but will often include your name, email address, friends list, and profile picture, as well as other information you choose to make public on such a social media platform.

We will use the information we receive only for the purposes that are described in this privacy notice or that are otherwise made clear to you on the relevant Services. Please note that we do not control, and are not responsible for, other uses of your personal information by your third-party social media provider. We recommend that you review their privacy notice to understand how they collect, use, and share your personal information, and how you can set your privacy preferences on their sites and apps.

8. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than   sixty (60) months past the termination of the user's account. 

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

9. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.

We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.

10. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.

We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Services. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at theaos@aos.org.

11. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.

In some regions (like the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; (iv) if applicable, to data portability; and (v) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below.

We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data protection authority or UK data protection authority.

If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below.

However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

Opting out of marketing and promotional communications: You can unsubscribe from our marketing and promotional communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send, or by contacting us using the details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below. You will then be removed from the marketing lists. However, we may still communicate with you — for example, to send you service-related messages that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes.

Account Information

If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our legal terms and/or comply with applicable legal requirements.

Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services. You may also opt out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Services.

If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at theaos@aos.org.

12. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.

13. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.

What categories of personal information do we collect?

We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months:

CategoryExamplesCollectedA. IdentifiersContact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account name
YES

B. Personal information as defined in the California Customer Records statute

Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial information

YES

C. Protected classification characteristics under state or federal law

Gender and date of birth

NO

D. Commercial information

Transaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information

NO

E. Biometric information

Fingerprints and voiceprints

NO

F. Internet or other similar network activity

Browsing history, search history, online behavior, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisements

NO

G. Geolocation data

Device location

NO

H. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information

Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities

NO

I. Professional or employment-related information

Business contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level or job title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us

NO

J. Education Information

Student records and directory information

NO

K. Inferences drawn from collected personal information

Inferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics

NO

L. Sensitive personal InformationAccount login information and debit or credit card numbers
YES

We will use and retain the collected personal information as needed to provide the Services or for:

Category L information may be used, or disclosed to a service provider or contractor, for additional, specified purposes. You have the right to limit the use or disclosure of your sensitive personal information.

We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:

How do we use and share your personal information?

Learn about how we use your personal information in the section, "HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?"

Will your information be shared with anyone else?

We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Learn more about how we disclose personal information to in the section ,"WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?"

We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be "selling" of your personal information.

We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. We will not sell or share personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.

California Residents

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.

If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Services, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g., backups, etc.).

CCPA Privacy Notice

This section applies only to California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you have the rights listed below.

The California Code of Regulations defines a "residents" as:

(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and

(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose

All other individuals are defined as "non-residents."

If this definition of "resident" applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.

Your rights with respect to your personal data

Right to request deletion of the data — Request to delete

You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.

Right to be informed — Request to know

Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:

In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.

Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights

We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.

Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information

If the business collects any of the following:

you have the right to direct that business to limit its use of your sensitive personal information to that use which is necessary to perform the Services.

Once a business receives your request, they are no longer allowed to use or disclose your sensitive personal information for any other purpose unless you provide consent for the use or disclosure of sensitive personal information for additional purposes.

Please note that sensitive personal information that is collected or processed without the purpose of inferring characteristics about a consumer is not covered by this right, as well as the publicly available information.

To exercise your right to limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal information, please email theaos@aos.org or submit a data subject access request.

Verification process

Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g., phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate.

We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.

Other privacy rights

To exercise these rights, you can contact us by submitting a data subject access request, by email at theaos@aos.org, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.

Colorado Residents

This section applies only to Colorado residents. Under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.

To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email theaos@aos.org or submit a data subject access request.

If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at theaos@aos.org. Within forty-five (45) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.

Connecticut Residents

This section applies only to Connecticut residents. Under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.

To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email theaos@aos.org or submit a data subject access request.

If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at theaos@aos.org. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.

Utah Residents

This section applies only to Utah residents. Under the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.

To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email theaos@aos.org or submit a data subject access request.

Virginia Residents

Under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA):

"Consumer" means a natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth acting only in an individual or household context. It does not include a natural person acting in a commercial or employment context.

"Personal data" means any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person. "Personal data" does not include de-identified data or publicly available information.

"Sale of personal data" means the exchange of personal data for monetary consideration.

If this definition of "consumer" applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal data.

Your rights with respect to your personal data

Exercise your rights provided under the Virginia VCDPA

You may contact us by email at theaos@aos.org or submit a data subject access request.

If you are using an authorized agent to exercise your rights, we may deny a request if the authorized agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf.

Verification process

We may request that you provide additional information reasonably necessary to verify you and your consumer's request. If you submit the request through an authorized agent, we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity before processing your request.

Upon receiving your request, we will respond without undue delay, but in all cases, within forty-five (45) days of receipt. The response period may be extended once by forty-five (45) additional days when reasonably necessary. We will inform you of any such extension within the initial 45-day response period, together with the reason for the extension.

Right to appeal

If we decline to take action regarding your request, we will inform you of our decision and reasoning behind it. If you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at theaos@aos.org. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If your appeal is denied, you may contact the Attorney General to submit a complaint.

14. DO OTHER REGIONS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: You may have additional rights based on the country you reside in.

Australia and New Zealand

We collect and process your personal information under the obligations and conditions set by Australia's Privacy Act 1988 and New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act).

This privacy notice satisfies the notice requirements defined in both Privacy Acts, in particular: what personal information we collect from you, from which sources, for which purposes, and other recipients of your personal information.

If you do not wish to provide the personal information necessary to fulfill their applicable purpose, it may affect our ability to provide our services, in particular:

At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?"

If you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you have the right to submit a complaint about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a breach of New Zealand's Privacy Principles to the Office of New Zealand Privacy Commissioner.

Republic of South Africa

At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?"

If you are unsatisfied with the manner in which we address any complaint with regard to our processing of personal information, you can contact the office of the regulator, the details of which are:

The Information Regulator (South Africa)

General enquiries: enquiries@inforegulator.org.za

Complaints (complete POPIA/PAIA form 5): PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za & POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

15. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

16. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at theaos@aos.org or contact us by post at:

American Orchid Society
PO Box 565477
Miami, FL 33256-5477
United States

17. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?

Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please fill out and submit a data subject access request.