Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

fortecho.com websites (collectively "fortecho.com" in this document) refer to sites hosted on the fortecho.com, isis.com, fortecho-lite.com, and other related domains and subdomains thereof.

This privacy policy describes how fortecho.com uses and protects any information that you give us. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. If you provide us with personal information through fortecho.com, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Website Visitors

Like most website operators, fortecho.com collects non-personally identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request.

fortecho.com's purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how visitors use its website. From time to time, fortecho.com may release non-personally identifying information in the aggregate, for example by publishing reports on trends in website usage.

fortecho.com also collects potentially personally identifying information such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. fortecho.com does not use IP addresses to identify visitors and does not disclose such information except under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses personally identifying information, as described below.

Gathering of Personally-Identifying Information

Certain visitors to fortecho.com choose to interact with the website in ways that require personally identifying information to be collected. The amount and type of information gathered depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, visitors who use contact forms are asked to provide a name and email address.

In each case, fortecho.com collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfil the purpose of the visitor's interaction with the website. fortecho.com does not disclose personally identifying information other than as described below. Visitors may refuse to supply personally identifying information, although doing so may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.

All information collected on fortecho.com is handled in accordance with GDPR legislation.

Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information

fortecho.com discloses potentially personally identifying and personally identifying information only to project administrators, employees, contractors and affiliated organisations that:

• Need the information to process it on fortecho.com's behalf or to provide services available through the website.
• Have agreed not to disclose it to others.

Some employees, contractors and affiliated organisations may be located outside your home country. By using fortecho.com, you consent to the transfer of such information to them.

fortecho.com will not rent or sell potentially personally identifying or personally identifying information to anyone.

Other than to project administrators, employees, contractors and affiliated organisations, fortecho.com discloses potentially personally identifying and personally identifying information only when:

• Required to do so by law.
• You give permission for your information to be shared.
• fortecho.com believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of fortecho.com, third parties, or the public.

If you are a registered user of a fortecho.com website and have supplied your email address, fortecho.com may occasionally send you emails to tell you about new features, request feedback, or provide updates about fortecho.com and its products. We primarily use our blog to communicate this type of information and therefore expect such emails to be infrequent.

If you send us a request, for example through a support email or feedback mechanism, we reserve the right to publish it to help clarify or respond to your request or to support other users.

fortecho.com takes all reasonable measures necessary to protect against unauthorised access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally identifying and personally identifying information.

Use of Personal Information

We use the information you provide to:

• Register for an account.
• Attend our events.
• Receive newsletters.
• Use certain other services.

We will not sell or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.

We may send email marketing communications that may be of interest to you from time to time. If you have consented to marketing communications, you may opt out at any time.

You have the right to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to receive marketing emails, please click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

Legal Grounds for Processing Personal Information

We rely on one or more of the following legal bases for processing:

• Our legitimate interests in the effective delivery of information and services to you.
• Your explicit consent.
• Compliance with legal obligations.

Access to Data

You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you.

If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please contact us by phone on +44 20 7736 3330 or by email at info@fortecho.com.

Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the programmes that support fortecho.com.

We keep contact information, such as mailing list information, until a user unsubscribes or requests that the information be deleted from our live systems. If you unsubscribe from a mailing list, we may retain limited information to ensure your request is honoured.

fortecho.com will not delete personal data from logs or records necessary for the operation, development or archival purposes of the project.

Fortecho attendee data is retained for three years to help track and foster community growth. Non-essential registration data is then automatically deleted. Attendee names and email addresses are retained indefinitely to preserve the ability to respond to code of conduct reports.

Banking and financial data collected as part of a reimbursement request is deleted seven days after the request is marked as paid. This retention period allows organisers to avoid re-entering banking details if a payment fails or is marked as paid in error.

Invoices and receipts relating to Fortecho expenses are retained for seven years following the close of the relevant calendar year's audit, in accordance with instructions from our financial consultants.

Where deletion is requested or otherwise required, we will anonymise data and remove information from publicly accessible sites where possible. Information may be retained where deletion would damage essential systems or records required for the operation, development or archival purposes of the project.

If you would like to request deletion of your account and associated data, please contact us by phone on +44 20 7736 3330 or by email at info@fortecho.com.

Rights in Relation to Your Information

You may have certain rights under data protection law in relation to the personal information we hold about you. These may include the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to update or correct personal information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Request deletion of personal information held in our live systems, or restrict the way in which we use it.
• Object to our processing of your personal information.
• Withdraw your consent where processing is based solely on consent.

If you would like to exercise these rights or understand whether they apply to you, please follow the instructions at the end of this privacy statement.

Third Party Links

Our website may contain links to websites provided by third parties that are not under our control.

If you follow a link and provide information to a third-party website, please be aware that we are not responsible for the information provided to that third party.

This privacy policy applies only to the websites listed at the beginning of this document. When visiting other websites, even through links posted on fortecho.com, you should read their own privacy policies.

Aggregated Statistics

fortecho.com may collect statistics about the behaviour of visitors to its websites. For example, fortecho.com may disclose how many times a particular version of Fortecho was downloaded.

However, fortecho.com does not disclose personally identifying information except as described in this policy.

Cookies

Information about how you use our website is collected automatically through cookies. Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information.

This information is used to track website usage and compile statistical reports on website activity.

Please see our Cookie Policy for more information about the cookies collected on fortecho.com.

Privacy Policy Changes

Most changes to this privacy policy are likely to be minor. However, fortecho.com may change this policy from time to time at its sole discretion.

Visitors are encouraged to check this page regularly for updates. Your continued use of the website following any changes to this privacy policy constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you, please contact us by email at info@fortecho.com.