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Venture Hub Privacy Policy

Venture Hub by Cardano Foundation Privacy Policy

Cardano Foundation (referred to as the “Foundation”, “We”, “Our” or “Us”) is committed to the protection of your Personal Data and takes the matter of protecting your privacy as high priority. This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information collected through the application process of the Venture Hub by Cardano Foundation on the website https://cardanofoundation.org/venture-hub on which it is accessible (collectively, the "Venture Hub"). With this Privacy Policy, We inform you about how we collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process personal data. This is not necessarily an exhaustive description; other privacy notices and policies, individual notices, or information may apply to specific matters.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully.

Data controller and contact details

The controller of the data processing described in this Privacy Policy is Cardano Foundation, unless we inform you otherwise in certain cases. You can notify Us of any data protection-related concerns using the following contact details:

Cardano Foundation
Dammstrasse 16
6300 Zug
gdpr@cardanofoundation.org

Types of Data Collected

When participating in the Venture Hub, the Foundation may ask you to provide certain information that can be used to identify or contact you, including information belonging to the founders, employees or other representatives of the applicant company (“Personal Data”). The types of Personal Data that We collect from you may include, but is not limited to:

  • Identity Data, such as name, date and country of birth, age or age range, photo/ avatar, CV/resume and work achievements, and other similar information;
  • Contact Information: such as name, personal and business address, email address, phone number;
  • Inference Data: Data such as your preferences for receiving marketing communications and details about how you engage with them, as well as information relating to your demographics and interests;
  • Device / Network Data: Information regarding your interaction with the Venture Hub. This includes technical information (e.g., IP Address, MAC Address, SSIDs, etc.), online user ID, device characteristics (such as browser/OS version), web server logs, browser plug-ins, your time zone application logs and language settings, cookie data, usage data. It also includes practical information and information about how you interact with Us.

How we collect your Personal Data

You may give Us personal information when you apply for the Venture Hub or otherwise submit information through other communications with Us. For example:

  • We may collect Identity Data and Contact Information when you create a profile on Our website or register for an event;
  • We may collect Device/Network Data when you access and use Our website. Some of this data is necessary for Us to run Our website or to respond to your requests. Other data is a huge help to Us in providing you with better services and maintaining a well-run organisation;
  • We may collect data when you send Us any sort of message (text, email, post), or ring Us on the phone;
  • We may collect information about you from third parties, from publicly available sources such as employment- and business-orientated social networking services (such as LinkedIn) and career fairs, and other channels including Our support.
  • We may collect data under any other contractual agreement or arrangement.;

Use of Personal Data

We may use your Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • to assess your application for the Venture Hub;
  • in connection with marketing communications, to send you updates, newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials, including communications that may be targeted to you based on your personal information, as permitted by law;
  • for business development purposes such as statistical and marketing analysis, systems testing, maintenance and development, customer surveys or to help Us in any future dealings with you, for example by identifying your requirements and preference; for all other purposes ancillary to any of the purposes stated above ("Ancillary Purposes");
  • if you are admitted to the Venture Hub, to manage your participation in the program and comply with any duties with other contractual parties and authorities in this respect;
  • based on your consent: if you have given us consent to process your personal data for certain purposes, we process your personal data within the scope of and based on this consent, unless we have another legal basis and we require such a basis. Consent given can be revoked at any time, but this has no effect on data processing that has already taken place.
    (collectively, "Purposes")

Data Security and Transfer

While no system is absolutely secure, We use reasonable technical and organisational precautions to protect your data and to respect your privacy.

We employ measures like encryption, secure physical storage, limited access zones, confidentiality agreements, and routine assessments for timely data deletion to safeguard your information.

Personal Data may be transferred to, and stored at a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA“) where there are appropriate safeguards in place pursuant to Article 46 of the GDPR. This data might be handled by Our staff or Our suppliers outside the EEA for various tasks, including service provision. By providing your personal data, you consent to such transfers, storage, or processing.

Retention

The Foundation will hold onto your Personal Data only as long as needed based on the reasons outlined in this Privacy Policy.

We will store and utilize your Personal Data as long as it's required to meet legal obligations, address disagreements, and uphold Our legal agreements and policies. Additionally, We will keep usage data for Our internal analysis purposes. Typically, usage data is kept for a shorter duration unless it aids in enhancing product security or functionality, or when legal requirements necessitate longer retention.

Data Disclosure

We will not trade or sell your Personal Data to third parties.

Your Personal Data will only be disclosed or transferred to third parties appointed or authorised by the Foundation for the fulfilment of the Purposes described herein, in accordance with GDPR principles such as consent, contractual necessity, legal obligation, vital interests, public task, and legitimate interests. This may include third party processors, such as:

  • Data warehouses;
  • IT service providers;
  • Data analytics and/or marketing agencies;
  • Third party service providers, tools or plugins that enable a better user experience, such as social media plugins or online marketing tools;
  • Auditors.

We shall take practical steps to ensure that their employees, officers, agents, consultants, contractors and such other third parties mentioned above who are involved in the collection or processing of your Personal Data will observe and adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

The Foundation may disclose your Personal Data in good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary for one of the following reasons: complying with a legal obligation or audit; protecting and defending the rights or property of the Foundation; preventing or investigating possible wrongdoing in connection with the Venture Hub; protecting the personal safety of users or the public; protecting against legal liability; or responding to legal bodies as permitted or required by law such as in compliance with a warrant or subpoena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; and/or responding to regulatory authorities.

In addition to the above, your Personal Data may also be disclosed or transferred to Our affiliates and subsidiaries.

Your Rights

If you want to know what Personal Data the Foundation holds about you or wish for it to be deleted, please reach out to Us at gdpr@cardanofoundation.org.

In certain circumstances, you possess these data protection rights:

  • Access: You can ask for details about your personal data We have.
  • Rectification: If the data is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request corrections.
  • Objection: You can contest the use of your data for specific reasons; for instance, using the unsubscribe option in our emails.
  • Restriction: You can ask Us to limit the processing of your data.
  • Data Portability: Request a copy of your data from Us in a standard, machine-readable format.
  • Withdraw Consent: Should We process data based on your consent, you can retract it anytime.

Please understand We might ask you to confirm your identity before acting on these requests. If unsatisfied with how We handle your data, you can report to your local Data Protection Authority in the EU or EEA.

Changes

We may revise or update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

Any modifications will be reflected on this page. We'll notify you of updates either through email or a notable alert, while also adjusting the "effective date" at this Policy's beginning. Regularly reviewing this Policy ensures you stay informed of any alterations, which take effect once displayed on this page.

Data Privacy Contact

For further inquiries or requests in relation to Our handling of your Personal Data or this Privacy Policy please contact Us at gdpr@cardanofoundation.org.

By submitting your application to the Venture Hub, you confirm that your Personal Data therein is accurate and up-to-date. Further, you confirm that you have read and understood this privacy notice and you are aware that by submitting your application you consent for us to process your Personal Data to review and assess your application (in the event we rely on a consent) or to do the same in order to take steps to manage your participation in the Venture Hub.