Privacy Policy

Institute Advancing Women’s Health (InAWH) (we, us or our) of 4753 Fernridge Lane, Mercer Island, WA 98040, USA, understands that protecting your personal information is important. We want to explain how we handle your personal information. This policy is about protecting your privacy when you visit our website, subscribe to our updates, or register for our events.

This Privacy Policy takes into account the privacy laws of the United States of America, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

If you are an individual in:

the United States of America or any of its territories, you may also have additional rights under federal or state laws. Appendix 1 outlines the details of the additional rights of individuals located in the United States of America as well as information on how we process the personal information of individuals located in the United States of America.

the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK), you may have rights under the applicable laws relating to privacy, processing and protection of personal information, including without limitation and as applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (EU GDPR), the EU GDPR as it forms part of the laws of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (collectively referenced with the EU GDPR as the GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively the EEA/UK Privacy Laws). Please look at Appendix 2 which provides further information including on these additional rights and on how we process the personal information if you are located in the EEA and UK.

If you have any objections to the terms in this policy, you should not use our services or provide us with any Personal Information.

What information do we collect?

We collect different types of personal information about you, including:
Information you provide:

Basic information: Your first name, last name, and (if you choose to provide it) your organization and job title.

Contact details: Your email address and any other contact details you choose to provide, such as phone number.

Event information: Information you provide when registering for or attending an event, such as your dietary requirements and any accessibility needs.

Professional information: If you are a clinician, researcher or scientist, your area of medical specialty or field of research.

Comments and enquiries: Any questions, comments or other information you submit through forms on our website or otherwise (for example, when you ask a question or request information).

Sensitive information (limited): We may collect limited health‑related information such as dietary requirements you choose to provide for events. We only collect, use and store this information with your consent and for the limited purpose of the relevant event and facilitating your needs, or as required by law.

Information automatically collected through our services:

Technical information: Information about your device and how you use our website (for example, IP address, browser type, pages visited), collected via cookies or similar technologies where used.

Your account: If we ever provide a login‑only area of our website, we may collect a username and password you choose to set.

Your activities: Interactions with our email communications, such as whether you open or click on emails we send via our email provider.

How do we get this information?

We collect information:

when you give it to us directly (eg: via our events or email);
when you attend one of our events
when you fill out forms on our website; and
when you interact with us over the phone, email, or in-person at an event; and
when you use our website (eg: through cookies and other similar technologies, where enabled).

Why do we collect and use your information?

We use your information to:

communicate with you and answer your questions;

manage and administer events you register for or attend, including handling dietary requirements and other logistics;
improve our website, events and communications;
research and data analytics to improve our Site and services to you;

comply with our legal obligations; and
send you updates about our work, events and activities where you have asked to receive them or where we are otherwise permitted to do so by law (you can opt out at any time).

Who do we share your information with?

We might share your information with:

our employees and contractors and/or related entities

companies that help us run our organization and website (like IT providers) (for example, cloud data storage providers, where we host our data and technology, and cloud software platforms we use including Squarespace (for website forms), Mailchimp (for email communications) and Notion (for internal databases), all of which use SOC 2 certified infrastructure);

email andmarketing companies (for example email services providers for the purposes of sending emails to users);

professional advisors (like lawyers or accountants) (for example where they provide us advice or for compliance or auditing purposes);

our existing or potential agents or business partners (excluding selling your personal information to third parties);

if we join with another organization or there is another structural change, we might need to share your information with the new entity;

third parties to collect and process data, such as analytics providers; and

courts or law enforcement if required by law.

Website analytics and cookies

We may use privacy‑respecting analytics tools to understand how people use our website (for example, which pages are most visited), so we can improve our content. These tools use small files called “cookies” or similar technologies. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that we may use for security purposes, to facilitate navigation, to display information more effectively, and to personalize your experience. We may also gather statistical information about use of our Services in order to continually improve their design and functionality, understand how they are used, and assist us with resolving questions about them. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that may be used in our Services or emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, track your actions on our Services and communications, compile statistics about the use and response rates of our Services and communications, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. You can usually control cookies through your browser settings. However, please be aware that disabling these features could affect how our website works. If we start using Google Analytics or similar third‑party tools in future, we will update this section with details and links to the relevant opt‑out mechanisms.

Where is your information stored?

We might store your information in countries other than the country in which you reside. However, we take reasonable steps to keep your data safe.

Where you are a New Zealand resident, we only share your information overseas if:

you consent after we explain the risks; or

the company or organization storing the data follows privacy rules that are comparable to New Zealand's privacy rules.

How is my information kept secure?

Personal data is stored using recognized secure data storage technologies and is stored on SOC 2 Type II certified infrastructure.

Your rights and choices

If you are a resident of Australia or New Zealand, you have the right to:

choose not to give us your information (but this might limit how you can receive updates from us or attend events);

ask if we process your information and if so to access and receive a copy the information we process about you;

ask us to correct any wrong information;

ask us to delete your information; stop receiving marketing emails from us; and

make a complaint if you're not happy with how we've handled your information.

For Australia and New Zealand residents, if you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (if you are an Australian resident), or the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner (if you are a New Zealand resident).

Do Not Track

Many web browsers, as well as some mobile operating systems and applications, offer a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting that allows you to indicate your preference not to have your online browsing activities monitored or collected. Currently, there is no universally accepted standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals. As a result, we do not respond to DNT signals or other mechanisms that may automatically communicate your preference not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is established in the future that we are required to follow, we will update this privacy notice to reflect that change.

Minors

The Site and Services are not intended for use by persons under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect or use any Personal Information from any persons under 13 years of age. If we become aware that we have unknowingly collected personal information from a child under the age of 13, we will make commercially reasonable efforts to delete such personal information from our database. If you become aware of any personal information we have collected from children under 13, please contact us at info@inawh.org.

Links to other websites

Our website might have links to other sites. We are not responsible for how they handle your information. Consequently, we strongly suggest that you review the privacy policy of every website you visit, whether or not they are linked to by our own site.

Changes to this policy

We might update this policy sometimes. We'll post any changes on our website, so please check back now and then.

Questions?

If you have any questions about your privacy, please email us at

info@inawh.org

APPENDIX 1: ADDITIONAL RIGHTS AND INFORMATION FOR INDIVIDUALS LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This Appendix 1 sets out the additional rights we give to individuals located in the United States of America, as well as information on how we process the personal information of individuals located in the United States of America.

Please read the Privacy Policy above and this Appendix carefully and contact us at the details at the end of the Privacy Policy if you have any questions.

Online Privacy of Children

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires online service providers to obtain parental consent prior to us knowingly collecting or soliciting personal information from a child under the age of 13. Our website and communications are not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 online. If you believe that we might have any information about a child under the age of 13, please contact us at the email address set out at the end of this Privacy Policy.

Your California Privacy Rights

California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us once a calendar year information about the customer information we shared with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes, including the categories of information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we have shared such information. As discussed elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we do not currently share the personal information of California residents with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. However, if you have further questions about our privacy practices and compliance with California law, please contact us at info@inawh.org.

For any questions or notices, please contact us via info@inawh.org.

APPENDIX 2: ADDITIONAL RIGHTS AND INFORMATION FOR INDIVIDUALS LOCATED IN THE EEA OR UK

If you are located in the EEA or UK, you have additional rights over your personal information (noting for individuals subject to the EEA/UK Privacy Laws laws references to “personal information” and other relevant terms throughout the Privacy Policy, including this appendix, shall be interpretted in line with the equivalent or appropriate terms under applicable law for example “personal data” and any references to information shall relate to personal information). We’ll explain your additional rights and how we handle your information in the sections below. This appendix applies in addition to our main Privacy Policy, so please read both. If you have any questions, you can contact us using the details at the end of the Privacy Policy.

What personal information is relevant?

This Appendix applies to the personal information described in the Privacy Policy above. This may include limited “special categories of personal data” under the GDPR, such as health‑related information you choose to provide (for example, dietary requirements for events)which we have referred to as senstive information in the main Privacy Policy but does not include any information about criminal convictions and offences, which we do not collect or otherwise process in relation to EEA or UK located individuals.

Purposes and legal bases for processing

We only collect and use your personal information when the law allows us to. Here's a quick summary:

We use your information for different reasons, such as managing events, communicating with you, improving our website and communications, and sending you updates if you’ve asked for them.

We have different legal reasons for using your information, including: where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (for example, running events and improving our communications), where we need to comply with legal obligations, and where you have given your consent (for example, to receive certain emails).

We've made a table that shows:

What we use your information for

Why we're allowed to use it (our legal reason)

Sometimes we might use your information for more than one reason. If you want to know more about why we're using your information in a specific way, just ask us. We're happy to explain. You can email your question to info@inawh.org.

Purposes table

If you've told us we can use your information for something, you can change your mind at any time. Just remember, we may not be able to undo anything we've already done with your information before you changed your mind.

Sometimes we use your information because it helps our organization or someone we work with. If you don't want us to use your information for these reasons, you can tell us to stop. But keep in mind, this might mean we can't send you certain communications or enable your attendance at events anymore.

We do not make any decisions regarding you solely using automated decision making (including profiling) based on your personal information where such decision produces legal effects concerning you or similarly affects you.

Data Transfers

Sometimes we need to send your information to other countries (for example, some of the servers that host our website or databases might be in a different country, or we might use an email service provider in a different country). These countries might have different privacy rules than your country. When we do this, we follow special rules to keep your information safe. This might mean:

only sending information to countries that have good privacy protection laws; and

making agreements with the companies we send your information to.

Data retention

We only keep your information for as long as we need it (unless you have asked us to delete it) and compliance with applicable law. This depends on why we collected it and if there are any laws that say we must keep it.

We might keep your information longer if someone makes a complaint or if we think there might be a legal issue. When deciding how long to keep your information, we think about factors such as what kind of information it is, why we need it and if we can do what we need to without keeping your information. Of course, we always follow what the law says we must do.

We always try to keep your information for the shortest time possible while still following the rules, respecting your data deletion requests where we can, and doing what we need to do. Our goal is to balance our needs with protecting your privacy. Please contact us if you require details of our retention periods of personal data.

Extra rights for EU and UK individuals

In addition to the rights already mentioned in the main Privacy Notice, you may have rights to:

limit how we use your information;

object to our use of your information;

direct the transfer of your information to a third party designated by you;

withdraw your consent to our processing at any time; and

object to decision based solely on automated processing where such decision produces legal effects concerning you or similarly affects you.

If you are not happy with how we are processing your information, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to the relevant Data Protection Authority based on where you are located. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the Data Protection Authority, so please contact us in the first instance using the details set out above in our Privacy Policy above.Please note these rights are not always absolute and in certain circumstance their exercise may not be possible including when personal data must be maintained to comply with applicable laws.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal information (or to exercise any other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who does not have the right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you to provide further information in relaiton to your request to speed up and improve our response.

We want to make sure you understand your rights and can use them. If you want to do any of these things, just let us know. Contact details are set out in the main Privacy Policy.