Ad Astra Research Institute, NFP (“Ad Astra,” “we,” “us,” “our”) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal data we hold about you. If you have questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Notice or our processing of personal data, please see the bottom of this Privacy Notice for information about how to contact us.

This Privacy Notice explains our practices with respect to personal data we collect and process about you. This includes information we collect through, or in association with, our websites with home pages located at https://www.adastrari.org/ and https://www.adastrasummit.org/, any apps that we may provide, our services that we may offer from time to time via our websites and/or related apps, our related social media sites (such as LinkedIn and X), or otherwise through your interactions with us (the website, apps, services, and social media pages, collectively, the “Services”).

Please review the following to understand how we process and safeguard personal data about you. By using any of our Services, whether by visiting our website or otherwise, and/or by voluntarily providing personal data to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understand the practices contained in this Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice may be revised from time to time, so please ensure that you check this Privacy Notice periodically to remain fully informed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household (“personal data”). In addition, we may collect data that is not identifiable to you or otherwise associated with you, such as aggregated data, and is not personal data. To the extent this data is stored or associated with personal data, it will be treated as personal data; otherwise, the data is not subject to this notice.

a. How We Use Your Personal Data

We collect and process your personal data as part of our business operations, which include:

Marketing our services to you, including sending you messages about the services we offer;
Communicating with you by e-mail about our services, the Ad Astra Summit on Education, and information tailored to your requests or inquiries;
Organizing the Ad Astra Summit on Education, including by sending you a conference invitation or newsletter, creating name tags, verifying attendees, etc;
Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity;
Debugging to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
Undertaking internal research for technological development and improving the platform experience;
Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of the services or devices owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by us, and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the services or devices owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by us;
Complying with applicable laws, regulations, rules, and requests of relevant law enforcement and/or other governmental agencies, or for other purposes, as permitted or required by law; and
As necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, and safety of our users, us, and other third parties.

b. How We Obtain Your Personal Data

We collect a variety of personal data from and about you through the Services, including:

Directly from you. When you provide it to us directly whether online, by e-mail, phone, or in-person;
Automatically or indirectly from you. For example, through logging and analytics tools, and as a result of your use of and access to the Services;
From our Service Providers. For example, any payment processing provider we may use and other service providers we engage; and
From Third Parties. For example, ad networks, such as DoubleClick, to serve advertisements across the Internet. These advertisers use cookies, pixel tags, and other tracking technologies to collect information about your online activity and provide online behavioral advertising.

You have choices about certain information we collect. When you are asked to provide information, you may decline to do so; but if you choose not to provide information that is necessary to provide any aspect of our Services, you may not be able to use those Services. In addition, as noted below in the section captioned “Your Choices” it is possible to change your browser settings to block the automatic collection of certain information.

Finally, we may collect data that is not identifiable to you or otherwise associated with you, such as aggregated data, and is not personal data.

Information You Share With Us. We collect personal data (including, but not limited to, e-mail address, first and last name, and any other information you may optionally provide) from you when you voluntarily provide it to us, including through interacting with us on our website or when you contact us with questions or comments, such as:

Joining our mailing list;
Registering for an event;
Applying for a scholarship;
Submitting information for an academic journal;
Submitting a donation;
When you inquire about becoming a volunteer or an employee with our organization or respond to a request for volunteers or employment;
When you send us e-mails or participate in our social media communications;
When you contact us with questions, requests, or complaints, we may collect personal data sufficient to answer your questions, address your requests, and/or handle your complaints, as applicable.

Information Collected Automatically. When you browse our website or communicate with us through the Services, we utilize commonly used logging and analytics tools (such as Wix Analytics), and as a result of your use of and access to the Services, or through your interactions with us on social media.

Information Obtained From our Service Providers. For example, our payment processing provider and other service providers we engage. We collect your personal data from third parties, including our payment processors, Clover and Wix Payments (both of which collect name, mailing/billing address, e-mail address, credit card or bank account, and phone number information).

Information Obtained From Third Parties. We receive personal data from third parties that we have engaged to provide services to us, as well as from third parties that provide web analytics and usage information to us such as Wix Analytics.

In addition, if you choose to interact with us or our partners on social media by posting to our pages, tagging us (or using certain hashtags or other identifiers) in posts, or participating in activities, we may collect certain information from the social media account you use to interact with us, including the name associated with the account, the account handle, recent activity, the content of any posts in which we are tagged, and other information that may be contained on your social media profile to allow us to respond to the posts and understand and engage with our audience.

c. Who We Share Your Personal Data With

We may share personal data with the following categories of third parties:

Third parties when you ask us to do so or you otherwise authorize us to do so for purposes of program implementation and improvement;

Our service providers for business purposes, including payment processors, website hosting, data analysis, e-mail delivery services, and other vendors we engage to allow them to provide services to us or to you on our behalf and to assist in carrying out your requests;

Our partners, prospective partners, and service providers in order to provide us and/or our affiliates and partners with information about the use of the Services, levels of engagement with the Services, and to allow us to enter into new business relationships; and

Government agencies or regulations when permitted or required to do so by law; in response to a request from a law enforcement agency or authority or any regulatory authority; and/or to protect the integrity of the Services or our interests, rights, property, or safety, and/or that of our users and others.

3. Your Rights Regarding Personal Data

You have certain rights regarding the collection and processing of personal data. You may exercise these rights, to the extent they apply to you, by contacting us at the information provided at the end of this Privacy Notice, or by following instructions provided in this Privacy Notice or in communications sent to you.

a. Accessing, Modifying, Rectifying, and Correcting Collected Personal Data

We strive to maintain the accuracy of any personal data collected from you, and will try to respond promptly to update our records when you tell us the information in our records is inaccurate. However, we must rely upon you to ensure that the information you provide to us is complete, accurate, and up-to-date, and to inform us of any changes. Please review all of your information carefully before submitting it to us.

Depending on the laws that apply to you, you may obtain from us certain personal data in our records. If you wish to access, review, or make any changes to personal data you have provided to us through the Services, please contact us at the information provided at the end of this Privacy Notice. We reserve the right to deny access as permitted or required by applicable law.

4. Your Choices

You have choices about certain information we collect about you, how we communicate with you, and how we process certain personal data. When you are asked to provide information, you may decline to do so; but if you choose not to provide information that is necessary to provide some of our Services, you may not be able to use those Services. In addition, it is possible to change your browser settings to block the automatic collection of certain information.

a. Communications Opt-Out. You may opt out of receiving marketing or other communications from us at any time by e-mailing us at info@adastri.org, or by filling out our online contact form located at https://www.adastrari.org/contact. Note that if you do business with us in the future, you may not, subject to applicable law, opt out of certain automated notifications, such as order or subscription confirmations, based on business transactions (e.g., e-commerce).

b. Cookies, Web Tracking, and Advertising. You may opt out of certain tracking technologies through your device’s or browser’s cookie and/or advertising settings (including by blocking, deleting, or restricting cookies, or resetting your device’s applicable advertising ID). Consult your device and/or browser documentation for more information about how to do this.

5. Retaining Personal Data

We retain personal data to the extent we deem necessary to carry out the processing activities described above, including, but not limited to, compliance with applicable laws, regulations, rules and requests of relevant law enforcement and/or other governmental agencies, and to the extent we reasonably deem necessary to protect our and our partners’ rights, property, or safety, and the rights, property, and safety of our users and other third parties.

6. Protecting Personal Data

We use reasonable and appropriate physical, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to promote the security of our systems and protect the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and resilience of personal data. We use Google cloud files and use password protection and two-step verification. In addition, we use role based access and privilege access management.

However, no method of safeguarding information is completely secure. While we use measures designed to protect personal data, we cannot guarantee that our safeguards will be effective or sufficient. In addition, you should be aware that Internet data transmission is not always secure, and we cannot warrant that information you transmit utilizing the Services is or will be secure.

7. Other Important Information About Personal Data and the Services

a. Collection of Personal Data from Children. Children under 18 years of age are not permitted to use the Services, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 18. By using the Services, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older.

b. Third-Party Websites and Services. As a convenience, we may reference or provide links to third-party websites and services, including those of unaffiliated third parties, our affiliates, service providers, and third parties with which we do business. When you access these third-party services, you leave our Services, and we are not responsible for, and do not control, the content, security, or privacy practices employed by any third-party websites and services. You access these third-party services at your own risk. This Privacy Notice does not apply to any third-party services; please refer to the Privacy Notices or policies for such third-party services for information about how they collect, use, and process personal data.

c. Business Transfer. We may, in the future, sell or otherwise transfer some or all of our business, operations or assets to a third party, whether by merger, acquisition or otherwise. Personal data we obtain from or about you via the Services may be disclosed to any potential or actual third-party acquirers and may be among those assets transferred.

d. Do Not Track. We do not currently process or comply with any web browser’s “do not track” signal or similar mechanisms.

e. International Use. Your personal data will be stored and processed in the United States. If you are using the Services from outside the United States, by your use of the Services you acknowledge that we will transfer your data to, and store your personal data in, the United States, which may have different data protection rules than in your country, and personal data may become accessible as permitted by law in the United States, including to law enforcement and/or national security authorities in the United States.

8. Modifications and Updates to this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice replaces all previous disclosures we may have provided to you about our information practices with respect to the Services. We reserve the right, at any time, to modify, alter, and/or update this Privacy Notice, and any such modifications, alterations, or updates will be effective upon our posting of the revised Privacy Notice. Any updates to this Privacy Notice will be effective upon our posting of the revised Privacy Notice. Your continued use of the Services following our posting of any revised Privacy Notice will constitute your acknowledgement of the amended Privacy Notice. Your continued use of the Services following our posting of any revised Privacy Notice will constitute your acknowledgement of the amended Privacy Notice.

9. Applicability of this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice is subject to any agreements that govern your use of the Services. This Privacy Notice applies regardless of the means used to access or provide information through the Services.

This Privacy Notice does not apply to information from or about you collected by any third-party services, applications, or advertisements associated with, or websites linked from, the Services. The collection or receipt of your information by such third parties is subject to their own privacy policies, statements, and practices, and under no circumstances are we responsible or liable for any third party’s compliance therewith.

10. Additional Information and Assistance

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Notice and/or how we process personal data, please contact us at:

Cengiz Karatas, Board Secretary and Treasurer

Ad Astra Research Institute, NFP

karatas@adastrari.org

For more information about how users with disabilities can access this Privacy Notice in an alternative format, please contact us.

Overview

Personal Data We Collect

How We Use Your Personal Data

How We Obtain Your Personal Data

Who We Share Your Personal Data With

Your Rights Regarding Personal Data

Accessing, Modifying, Rectifying, and Correcting Collected Personal Data

Your Choices

Communications Opt-Out

Cookies, Web Tracking, and Advertising

Retaining Personal Data

Protecting Personal Data

Other Important Information About Personal Data and the Services

Collection of Personal Data from Children

Third-Party Websites and Services

Business Transfer

Do Not Track

International Use

Modifications and Updates to this Privacy Notice

Applicability of this Privacy Notice

Additional Information and Assistance

Ad Astra Research Institute

Privacy Notice

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1. Overview