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Privacy Policy

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (“ISSF”) and its affiliates want you to be familiar with how we “process” (i.e., collect, store, use and disclose your information, for what purposes we may share such information, and your rights and choices with regard to controlling your personal information.

Please review our Terms of Service, which governs your use of the Service.  Any capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy shall have the meaning ascribed in the Terms of Service.

Effective as of June 2020

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of and access to (a) https://www.iss-foundation.org/ and all corresponding domains, subdomains, web pages and websites associated therewith (the “Site”) and (b) any other information, content, technology, databases, applications, features, functionality and services offered by the ISSF, including without limitation Vessel Information ((a) and (b) are collectively referred to herein as the “Service”) and apply to you whether you are accessing the Service as a user, vessel owner or otherwise.  This Privacy Policy will remain in full force and effect, even if your use of the Service or any particular feature offered in connection therewith terminates, expires or is deactivated or suspended for any reason. We will either rely on our legitimate interest or our need to perform under a contract to process your information or you will be asked to affirmatively consent to our processing of your information, all in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access and/or use the Service or any features, activities, products or services offered through or in connection therewith.

  1. Information We Collect

We collect some personal information that relate to your use of the Service. The information and data we may process depends on your interaction with us. The key types of information that we may process include:

  • Additional Features Information: We may process the personal information that you choose to provide to us when you elect to participate in optional Site-features or the Service. For example, if you sign up to receive newsletters, information about the ISSF, International Seafood Sustainability Association (“ISSA”) or the fishing industry, reports or other communications regarding the Service, we may process your name and email address in order to provide the additional features or the Service. We may also collect and process personal information, including your name and email address, from publicly available sources, such as public policy and advocacy meetings related to fisheries management and/or events hosted by ISSF.
  • Vessel Information: You may register your vessel and participate in sustainability efforts by submitting an application to join the ISSF ProActive Vessel Register (“PVR”). If you apply, you will be required to submit ownership and contact information about the applicant vessel, including the primary contact’s name, address, phone number, email address and position or title, the vessel owner and vessel information (g., vessel name, flag state, regions of activity, validation or registration information, and type) (collectively, “Vessel Information”). If you submit Vessel Information, such information may become available to the public.  We may also receive personal information from other third parties, like our independent auditors who review vessel applications.
  1. How and Why We May Use Your Information

We may process your personal information (depending on your interaction with us) for a variety of reasons that are permitted under data protection laws and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, which may include the purposes described below. If we use your information for purposes other than those mentioned below, we will notify you of these purposes before using your information and obtain your consent where necessary. The legal bases outlined below are the legal bases upon which we will rely to process the personal data of end users located in the European Union (“EU”).

  • To fulfill our contractual obligations under an existing agreement with you or in anticipation of entering into an agreement with you, including:
    • To provide you with services you have requested; and
    • To enforce your legal rights under an agreement.
  • To meet and fulfill our legitimate business interests, including:
    • To facilitate science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of global tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting tuna ecosystem health;
    • To communicate with you about our sustainability and research efforts and your affiliation with the ISSF or ISSA;
    • To provide you with newsletters, information about the ISSF, ISSA or the fishing industry, and reports or other communications regarding the Service, which you may opt out of any time by following the steps in Section 4 of this Privacy Policy;
    • To provide you with information about services similar to the Service;
    • To prevent fraud and abuse on and unauthorized access to the Service; and
    • To determine which features and functionality of the Service users like best to help us operate, enhance and improve the Service.
  • To comply with our regulatory and legal obligations or to enforce our legal rights, including:
    • To protect, enforce, or defend the legal rights, privacy, safety, or property of the ISSF and our affiliates and our respective employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements and our Terms of Service);
    • To protect the safety, privacy and security of users of the Service or the public;
    • To comply with the law or legal process, and/or respond to requests from public and government authorities; and
    • To report data breaches or unauthorized access to the Service.
  • With your consent:
    • To provide you with mailings, newsletters and notices that you have asked to receive.

                  *You can withdraw your consent at any time by following the steps in Section 4 in this Privacy Policy.

  1. How We May Share Your Information

We will not share your personal information with others except in the following circumstances:

  • Our Affiliated Organizations: We may disclose your personal information to our affiliated organizations, including the ISSA (http://iss-association.org/), in connection with your interaction with the Service, the vessel registration process and in order to provide you with services and communications related to our sustainability and research efforts. We may allow our affiliated organizations to use your personal information in furtherance of these efforts.
  • Independent Auditors: We may provide independent auditors with your Vessel Information to enable them to evaluate your vessel and its attributes, determine if your vessel adequately implements the PVR measure and conduct regular audits.
  • Publicly via the PVR: We may share and disclose certain Vessel Information in public or private databases, like the PVR, administered by the ISSF. Some of this information will be made public upon your disclosure or uploading of such information.  If your vessel application is approved, your vessel will be publicly identified as an active participant in meaningful sustainability efforts and listed on the Site. 
  • Service Providers: We may retain other companies to help us operate certain aspects of our business, including the hosting of the Site and the Service, operation of our technology infrastructure, maintenance of newsletter lists and fulfilling your requests for certain services. We carefully select these third-party service providers and provide them with the least amount of information necessary to enable them to fulfill the services.
  • Corporate Transactions or Events: We may disclose your personal information in connection with a merger, sale of substantially all of our assets, transfer, corporate reorganization or other disposition of our business.
  • Pursuant to Law, Rule or Regulation: We may share or disclose your information with other parties as we deem necessary or appropriate under applicable law, rule or regulation.
  • To Fulfill Your Requests: If you elect to use certain features or functions, including, accessing research reports related to our sustainability efforts, we may use your personal information to fulfill your request.
  • With Your Consent: If we do not process your personal information in accordance with our legitimate interest or based on a contractual obligation we have with you, we may share or disclose your personal information if you provide us with your affirmative consent.
  1. User Choice and Access

We strive to provide you with as many choices as possible to access, review, correct, update, suppress or otherwise limit our use of the information you have provided or asked a third party to provide to us, including:

  • Vessel Information: If you provided Vessel Information in connection with your use of the Service, you may have the ability to update, delete and correct your information. You may be able to  update, delete and/or correct your Vessel Information via the Service and/or by emailing us at [email protected].
  • Contact Information: If you provided contact information in connection with your use of the Service, you may have the ability to update, delete and correct your contact information. To update, delete and/or correct your contact information please email us at [email protected]

We will try to comply with your request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable, but no later than within the timeframe required under applicable law.

If you are an EU citizen or reside in the EU, you may have certain rights with respect to the personal information you provided to us. To the extent permitted by applicable data protection laws, you may:

  • Access or modify your personal information;
  • Object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to the processing of your personal information if the legal ground we are relying on is our legitimate interest or in the public interest;
  • Request that your personal information be corrected if such personal information proves inaccurate or incomplete, be erased if it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was processed, you have withdrawn consent to, or object to, the processing of such personal information and we meet no other legitimate basis for such processing or it has been unlawfully processed;
  • Restrict the processing of your personal information if you contest its accuracy or the lawfulness of our processing, we no longer need it but you need it for a legal claim or you have objected to its processing and await verification of our legitimate grounds for processing it;
  • Ask to stop receiving our marketing communications. If you opt out of marketing emails, you will continue to receive messages from us about your relationship with us where permitted by law;
  • Under certain circumstances, have your personal information transferred to another company;
  • Withdraw any consents that you have previously provided to allow us to process your personal information; or
  • Lodge a complaint to the relevant data protection authority.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights please email your data subject request to us at  [email protected]. Please note that some requests may require you to verify your identity.

  1. Security

While no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure from intrusion, we maintain and have implemented security policies and measures to protect the personal information that we collect, use and/or store, which are consistent with applicable privacy and security laws. While we are dedicated to securing your personal information, our systems and the Service, you are responsible for verifying that the personal information we maintain about you is accurate and current.

  1. Data Retention

We access, retain, store and use personal information for the least amount of time necessary pursuant to our relationship with you (e.g., to provide you with or access to the Service), in accordance with our data retention policies and applicable law. We do not collect more personal information than is necessary to fulfill our obligations to you or at law or for purposes stated in this Privacy Policy.

  1. Your California Privacy Rights

If you are a resident of the State of California, we provide you with information above on how to exercise your choice options such as your right to opt-out or opt-in for use of your personal information by third parties for marketing purposes. Therefore, pursuant to the California Civil Code, we are not required to maintain or disclose a list of the third parties that received your personal information for marketing purposes during the preceding year. If you are a California resident and wish to request information about how to exercise your third party disclosure choices or other rights afforded under the law of the State of California, please contact us at [email protected], or reach out to us by postal mail to the address set forth in Section 10 below. All requests must be labeled “Your California Privacy Rights” in the topic line or on the envelope or post card. For all requests, please clearly state that the request is related to “Your California Privacy Rights,” include your name, street address, city, state, zip code and e-mail address (your street address is optional if you wish to receive a response to your request via email) and indicate your preference on how our response to your request should be sent (email or postal mail). We will not accept requests via the telephone or by fax. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly or that do not have complete information.

  1. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time, we may modify this Privacy Policy to reflect industry initiatives, third party requirements or changes in the law, technology, our information collection and use practices or the features and functionality of the Service, and such modifications shall be effective upon uploading. When we change this Privacy Policy, we will notify you of any material changes as required by law. Please check back periodically for updates.

  1. International Visitors

We and some of our affiliates, partners, servers, vendors and service providers may not be located in your jurisdiction and may also be located outside of the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Further, the Service is hosted in and managed from the United States of America (“U.S.”). If you visit the Service from a location outside the U.S., please be advised that any information you provide may be processed in and/or transferred to or from the U.S. or other jurisdictions, where privacy protections may not be as comprehensive as those in your jurisdiction. If you are an EU citizen or resident in the EU, we will transfer your personal information to the U.S. in accordance with EU data protection law requirements by using standard contractual clauses that have been approved by the European Commission or other appropriate means.

Please note that such transfers may also be necessary in order to perform our obligations under a contract with you, to fulfill a request made by you, to meet a legal or regulatory obligation and/or through obtaining you express consent. If you make transactions with parties outside the European Economic Area or Switzerland, we may be required to transfer your personal information with those parties in order to provide the requested Service to you. If you wish to gain more information about such transfers, please email us at  [email protected].

  1. Contact Us

Although we urge you to contact us to find a solution for every concern you may have, you always have the right to lodge a complaint with your competent data protection authority. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: [email protected]

Mail:

International Seafood Sustainability Foundation
Attention: Mary Sestric
655 15th Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005

This Privacy Policy was last modified on the date indicated above and is effective immediately.

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