Effective Date: January 10, 2020

This privacy policy sets out how 500 Women Scientists (500WS from herein) collects, uses and stores personal data, including via its website. References to “we” or "us" are to 500WS.

We collect information that helps us make informed decisions about the resources we provide and manage, fundraise more efficiently, and give you the best possible experience on our website and from our communications.

If you have any questions please contact us using the details below.

When do we collect information?

We collect information:

  • When you give it to us directly

  • When you give it to us indirectly

  • When you give it to us via social media

  • When you use our websites or apps

DIRECTLY

You may give us personal information when you: use our site, donate, sign up for one of our resources or events, communicate with us, request a speaker, sign up for email newsletters, or leave a comment on one of our blogs or social media feeds.

INDIRECTLY

We may obtain your personal information via an external fundraising platform when you have donated to us via DonorBox, Kindful, PayPal, Stripe, or another online tool and you have given your consent to process the donation. Please check their privacy policies when you give them your information.

SOCIAL MEDIA

We may obtain information about you from your social media accounts or services when you choose to interact with us, for example when you log in to leave a comment on a social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Please check your settings and the privacy policies of the social media sites you use for more information.

In some cases, we hold publicly available information from social media platforms (such as social media handles or number of followers) on our systems. Should we want to reach out to a particular social media handle, we would be able to do so using the contact information provided publicly.

OUR WEBSITES AND APPS 

We use “cookies” to help us improve the performance of our website and campaigns.

Find out more on our cookies policy.

Similarly, if you receive an email from 500WS, the email platform used collects information on (i) who opened the email and (ii) what content was clicked. This allows us to determine which topics are popular and better tailor our communications in the future. The data is aggregated and not for personal identification.

What information do we collect?

If you sign up for our Gage or Orca applications, we will usually collect your:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Profile picture

  • City, state/province, country

  • Field or discipline

  • Personal or professional keywords

  • If you identify as coming from an underrepresented minority group or groups

  • What your interests are (e.g., outreach, speak to a journalist, join a panel)

If you contact us through our website contact form or directly email us, we usually collect your:

  • Name

  • Email address

When you donate to 500WS using an online platform, you may be asked to provide:

  • Your financial information (which are handled by payment processors used by DonorBox and Kindful, our digital donor platforms).

  • The address associated with the donation

We may also record:

  • When you leave a comment on our website, we may also collect any information you provide to us in your comments or voluntary feedback forms.

When you sign up for a survey:

  • Information about how you use our applications

How do we use the information?

In general, we use data to:

  • Send you updates and other communications purposes

  • Feature you in our Gage application when you sign up to be featured

  • Answer your enquiries 

  • Process and acknowledge your donations to 500WS activities (through our digital donor platform) 

  • Keep a record of your engagement with us

  • Understand how we can improve our services and information

  • Analyze Gage and Orca application activity, both its members and users

Depending on the reasons you are providing the data to us for, we may additionally use it to:

INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR ONLINE FORMS AND FEEDBACK

We will use your personal information to respond to your questions or requests.

ANSWERS TO SURVEYS 

We use surveys to understand who uses our applications like Gage and Orca and who visits our websites. This helps us create a better platform and make our website easier to use.

Applications (Gage and Orca) members may receive survey links by email.  

INFORMATION RELATED TO DONATIONS

We use a third party platform to process your donations. The third party platform stores your information to process and keep a record of your donation. 

DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS

We use direct communication to let you know what 500WS is doing and how your support makes a difference. We will always respect your preferences and endeavor to send you information that you might find interesting, in the format you prefer.

The types of communications that you can expect to receive from us include:

  • Monthly updates on 500WS activities and initiatives

  • Surveys to assess if we are meeting your needs

For e-mail communication, you can update your preferences anytime or opt out by using the unsubscribe link in the footer of each email. You may also e-mail us at info@500womenscientists.org to opt out at any time. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

We may repost or share your posts on social media if it relates to 500WS and our work.

We may also respond to questions, queries, or comments left on our social media channels. We may use information found on your profile to help us answer these. Please check your social media account preferences if you want to change the information you make public.

Our websites use “sharing buttons” which share our web pages to social media platforms. Please be aware that when you use these buttons, social media platforms may track these shares through your accounts.

Who has access to the personal information about you?

TRAINED STAFF

The information we hold about you is only accessible by trained staff, volunteers, and contractors. We regularly review who has access to the information and do comprehensive checks on any contractors before we work with them. 

VENDORS

We use other companies to help us manage and store personal data, and to carry out certain activities on our behalf.  Our main vendors are listed below, but we may enlist the services of others from time to time:

  • AWS – provides cloud hosting for our Gage and Orca applications

  • Mailchimp – email updates, sharing information

  • Google GSuite – documents, spreadsheets, forms 

  • Squarespace – hosts the main 500WS website

  • Donorbox and Kindful – processes electronic donations

  • PayPal – processes electronic donations and sales

  • Google Analytics – captures basic analytics information about database access

OTHER

We may be required to disclose your personal information to the government or to third parties pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, court orders, subpoenas and similar requests, or when we otherwise believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate in connection with any activity that violates the law or may expose us to liability.

How do we keep the information about you safe?

We use appropriate technical and organizational measures and precautions in order to protect your information and to prevent the loss, misuse, or alteration of your personal data.

While we work to keep the information about you safe, we cannot guarantee its security. 

How long do we keep the information?

We retain the information about you only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which the data was collected, except where necessary to meet our legal obligations or in order to establish, exercise, or defend potential legal claims, or to pursue other legitimate interests.

If you request to receive no further contact from us, we'll we will keep some basic information about you on our suppression list in order to avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future.

How can I access my information In the GAGE platform and change it?

If you have created a profile in the Gage or Orca applications, you may update your profile information or eliminate it from the directory by logging into your profile.

In all other cases, please contact us at info@500womenscientists.org to make changes. However, please note that you have access to your personal information in both Gage and Orca applications and you can make changes anytime. 

Residents of the European Economic Area (EEA)

Under EU data protection law, we are required to provide the following additional disclosures:

IDENTITY OF THE CONTROLLER

500WS acts as the controller of your personal data under EU law and is responsible for its processing.

LAWFUL BASIS

Under EU law, organizations must have a “lawful basis” to collect, use, and share personal data. The law allows for six ways to process personal data (and additional requirements apply for special categories of personal information). Three of these are relevant to the types of processing that 500WS carries out.

This includes information that is processed on the basis of:

  • A person’s consent (e.g., to send you direct marketing by e-mail);

  • Processing that is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (e.g., to comply with our obligations as a not-for-profit to report fundraising); and 

  • Our legitimate interests (i.e., when the processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of the organization using the data or for a third party, as long as the use is fair and any potential adverse impact to the rights of the individual concerned are justified).

Consent: Where your consent is the basis for our processing of personal data, you may decline to give consent, or withdraw it at any time.

Legal obligation: We process under legal obligation where necessary in order to comply with a legal obligation imposed by EU or Member State law.

Legitimate interest: Under EU law, personal data may be legally collected and used if necessary in order to advance our legitimate interest or the legitimate interest of a third party.

Our legitimate interests include:

  • Charity Governance; including delivery of our charitable purposes, statutory and financial reporting, and other regulatory compliance purposes;

  • Administration and operational management; including responding to solicited enquires, providing information and services, research, events management, the administration of volunteers, and employment and recruitment requirements. 

  • Fundraising and Campaigning; including administering campaigns and donations. 

If you disagree with the use of your personal information by us on the basis of a legitimate interest, please get in touch with us using the details below.

DATA TRANSFERS

Transfers to unaffiliated parties: We do comprehensive checks on any vendors that may have access to your personal information before we work with them. We adhere to a contract that governs how your personal data is accessed and managed.

International transfers: We do transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including to the US. You may request a copy of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or other relevant international transfer documentation by contacting us using the contact details below.

RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS

Under EU and Member State data protection laws, data subjects have the following rights in relation to their personal data:

  • Right to request details about the personal data that we process, and obtain a copy of the data that we hold about them 

  • Correct or update their personal data subject to the above

  • Port personal data that the data subject has provided to us, in machine readable format, to another supplier

  • Erase the data that we hold about them in some cases

  • Restrict or object to its processing in some cases

  • Object to processing: 

    • Based on grounds relating to the individual’s particular situation, where the processing is based on legitimate interest, and

    • Where personal data is being processed for direct marketing purposes

These rights are not absolute and are subject to various conditions under applicable data protection and privacy legislation. In some cases, the exercise of these rights (for example, erasure, objection, restriction or the withholding or withdrawing of consent to processing) may make it impossible for us to provide services to you.

If you wish to assert your rights please address the relevant request to:

By email: info@500womenscientists.org

Data subjects also have the right to submit a complaint concerning our processing to the appropriate EU supervisory authority. 

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We change this Privacy Notice when we need to. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information, we will make this clear on our websites or by contacting you directly.

Use of directory information by third parties

If you sign up in our Gage platform, your directory information will be displayed in our directory and available to the public. Other individuals will have access to it. For example, a journalist can see your email, discipline, or website and save those details for their own records. In the same way, you will be able to access information publicly posted in our directory. 

We ask individuals that access personal information through our directory to use it responsibly and respectfully, but 500WS does not have control over their actions. Accordingly, please be aware that if you post your information in our directory we will not be able to restrict how third parties may choose to use your information.

How to contact us

This privacy notice was prepared to be as comprehensive as possible, but it does not include an exhaustive list of every aspect of our collection and use of personal information. However, we would be happy to provide any further information or explanation about our practices.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know by contacting us at info@500womenscientists.org.

500 Women Scientists is on its way to becoming a powerful organization representing the voices of tens of thousands of women scientists all over the globe. With your gift we can pay for the vital infrastructure we need. Plus, your donations help keep 500WS resources free and open, one less barrier to women in science.