International Student Conferences, Inc.
I. Purpose
The purpose of this document is to establish a policy for handling personal identifying information of the applicants, participants, alumni, employees, and contacts of International Student Conferences, Inc. (ISC) to protect those individuals’ rights without hindering ISC’s business. Furthermore, this policy exists to inform these individuals of their rights with respect to this information.
II. Procedure
- Collection and Retention:
ISC routinely collects and retains individuals’ personal identifying information, provided by them or a designated third party such as a university or college, as a part of its normal operations. ISC collects such data and information for the sole purpose of conducting its normal operations and only retains this information as long as required for those operations or as required by law.
Information collected may include, but is not limited to, name, employer or organizational affiliation, job title, email and street addresses, and telephone numbers for recruiters and other professional contacts of the organization; the above information, legal residence, and giving history from members and other donors; and emergency contact information, dietary restrictions, academic transcripts, and special needs information for applicants and current program participants.
ISC may also, with the express permission of the individual, conduct an investigative background check or have a third party conduct such a background check in line with legal requirements and industry best practices.
- Disclosure and Transfer:
ISC does not sell, rent, or lease personal information to third parties. In certain instances, ISC will supply personal information to outside organizations and third parties as agents of ISC conducting business on ISC’s behalf. Except as outlined below, ISC will require advance consent from individuals before using or sharing sensitive personal information for purposes other than those for which this information was originally supplied to ISC.
ISC may provide personal identifying information without prior consent to obtain payment for ISC services and programs; to establish or protect ISC’s legal, intellectual, or property rights; to enforce or apply contractual agreements to which ISC is a party; to comply with subpoenas, court orders, or other laws and regulations; or to inform a relevant government agency if ISC has a reasonable belief that an emergency presenting a threat of death or serious injury requires disclosure of such information to such an agency without delay.
ISC will ensure that all its agents, contractors, and other third parties to which it transfers personal information comply with the terms of this policy, the U.S. Department of Commerce Safe Harbor requirements, or equivalent restrictions to safeguard the integrity of personal information.
- Access and Correction:
Individuals have a right to access the information stored by ISC in order to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate or out-of-date information, unless presenting or altering that information would compromise the integrity of others’ information, or require undue expense on the part of ISC or its agents. Individuals seeking to exercise this right can contact ISC by mail at 1015 15th ST NW, STE 600, Washington, DC 20005 (USA), by telephone at (202) 992-6691 or by e-mail at info@iscdc.org.
- Integrity:
ISC makes reasonable and good-faith effort to ensure the information in its possession is reliable, accurate, complete, and current, and takes reasonable precautions, in light of industry best practices, against data theft, loss, misuse, or unauthorized access, alteration or destruction. These efforts comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
- Alumni Directory:
ISC may make available to its program alumni a website that includes among its content and features an Alumni Directory. This Directory and identifying personal information contained within it will be entirely opt-in at the discretion of the individual, and maintained separately from data collections used by ISC in its normal operations. This information will be available to anyone with valid login credentials for the alumni website, and it shall be the individual’s responsibility with respect to accuracy and completeness.
- Compliance:
ISC will promptly investigate all violations of this policy and take appropriate action to resolve the issue, as well as effectively sanctioning the violating party or parties, if any. In the case of employees such sanctions may include disciplinary action, up-to and including termination. In the case of third-party agents and contractors, sanctions may include termination of the contract or agreement and of the business relationship. In all cases, disciplinary or contractual sanctions are exclusive of civil or criminal penalties for wrongdoing as assessed by the court system.
- Changes to This Policy:
ISC reserves the right to alter this agreement. If ISC makes any changes of substance to this policy, a notice to this effect that outlines the changes will be placed prominently on ISC’s website.
III. Records
ISC will record all requests for access and emendation under this policy, as well as all investigations of possible violations, along with detailed reports of actions taken in consequence. These records will be kept and maintained for a minimum of five years, or as provided by ISC’s other relevant policies for document retention, or as required by applicable law.