About

This privacy policy applies to information we collect (our “Collection Places”):

• When you visit any of our websites (each a “Website”) or mobile applications (each an “App”) where this policy (or a link to this policy) is posted (including their applicable integrated third party platforms);
• On other platforms we use to facilitate our management of the services we provide to you (e.g. conference registration sites);
• In connection with our meetings, conferences, webinars, coffee talks and other educational and networking opportunities;
• In email, text, other electronic messages or by telephone or other communications between you and us and (if you are a member) between you and other members through the Website; and

When you use any of our Services (as defined in Section 2 below). If you have questions or concerns regarding this policy, we welcome you to contact us at info@appliedclientnetwork.org.

1. Acknowledgement of this Privacy Statement

By using or accessing any of our Collection Places, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.  If you do not agree with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, you are hereby instructed not to access or use information provided by the Website or App, to submit information to the Website or App, use our Services or to engage in any transactions through the Website or App.

2. Personal Information You Provide Voluntarily

We collect personal information at our Collection Places that include, but is not limited to, name, telephone number, email address, employer, professional title, date of birth, home or business and mailing address, gender, details regarding your entity and business, your job title, username and password, company contacts for corporate members, photographs, and education. 

The personal information you are asked to provide (including whether its provision is mandatory or not) is needed so that we may facilitate your access, purchase, use and/or participation in our service offerings, such as (collectively “Services”):

• Membership;
• Conferences & Events;
• Educational programs;
• Online forums;
• Certification/accreditation activities;
• Volunteer opportunities;  
• Products for sale;
• Career services;
• Surveys; and
• Any other services and products that are updates or extensions to our Services or relate to other member benefits.

If you choose not to provide us with your personal information, you may not be able to enjoy certain components of our Services.

Additionally, we will also collect personal information when:

• You request us to contact you via mail, e-mail, or telephone to provide information, updates, or promotions about our Services;
• We enter into sponsorship, exhibitor, partnership, affiliation, advertisement and other agreement.

We will provide you with the choice and means for limiting the use and disclosure of your personal information before we use or disclose the information for a purpose that is materially different than the purpose described below.

At other times, we may collect information that cannot be used to identify you.  For example, we may aggregate non-personal information about you and other customers who visit our Websites. Aggregated information will not contain any information that can be linked directly back to you.

For those Website users located outside the United States including the European Economic Area, we advise you that your information may at times be accessible by individuals who are located worldwide or other geopolitical regions have not been determined to provide the same level of data protection as in your country, province, territory or geopolitical region. By providing us with your personal information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this privacy policy, including the transfer of your information across international boundaries to jurisdictions anywhere in the world as permitted by local law.

3. Personal Information We Collect Automatically

In addition to the Collection Places, we may use any number of tools to collect information about you, your computer access points, and the web browser that you use to connect to our Website. For example, cookies are tiny text files that we place on your computer’s hard drive when you visit our Website. We may use cookies to personalize your interactions with our Websites. You do not have to accept our cookies and you may set your browser to restrict their use and you may delete them after they have been placed on your hard drive.  If you do not accept or delete our cookies, some areas of our Website may take more time to work, or may not function properly.  Please refer to your Web browser’s or operating system’s website or “Help” section for more information on how to delete and/or disable your browser or operating system from receiving cookies or controlling your tracking preferences.

Our system may not respond to Do Not Track requests or headers from some or all browsers. To learn more about the use of cookies or other technologies to deliver more relevant advertising and to know your choices about not having this information used by certain service providers, please click here and here . On your mobile device, you may also adjust your privacy and advertising settings to control whether you want to receive more relevant advertising.

Certain parts of our Websites and/or Apps may also include advertisements from third parties. You can opt-out of being targeted by certain third-party ad-servers and our served ads online using the National Advertising Initiative’s opt-out tool, the About Ads opt-out tool, or on TRUSTe’s site.

This Privacy Policy does not cover the collection methods or use of the information collected by Third-Party Ad-Servers, and we are not responsible for cookies or other tracking technology in third-party ads. We encourage you to review the privacy policies or statements of these third-party advertising companies to learn more about their use of cookies and other technologies. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by third-party advertisers, please visit http://www.networkadvertising.org and http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.

Under the laws of various EU countries, cookies may be served, as long as individuals have provided their consent, having been given clear and comprehensive information, in particular about the purposes for which their personal data will be processed. In at least the above-referenced countries, effective consent may be provided by using browser settings, as long as you take positive action. Before using our Website, you are advised to check your current browser settings to ensure that the settings reflect your consent for us to place cookies on your devices.

We may also collect additional information from your web browser each time you visit our Website. We may collect information about the pages that you visit and the time spent on each web page or area of the Website, the promotions or advertisements that you click on, and other actions that you take while using our Website. This information may include your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, the type of browser, the time that your browser was used to access our Website, and the referring website’s address. We may also use tools such Google Analytics.

We may also collect information that cannot be used to identify you.  For example, we may aggregate non-personal information about you and other individuals who visit our Website. Aggregated information will not contain any information that can be linked directly back to you.

Our Service Providers (defined below) may also use other standard web-based technologies to analyze your movements while accessing our Websites.  The technologies include web “beacons,” “pixel tags,” and “clear gifs.” These technologies help us ascertain the effectiveness of our product and service campaigns and marketing programs, allow us to customize the services offered on or through our Website, and help determine the best use for Website content, and product and service offerings. Some of this information, including the IP address, may be stored on our Internet service provider’s server logs, and may be available for extended periods of time.

4. Choice

We will offer you the opportunity to choose (opt out) whether your personal information is: (a) to be disclosed to a third party and that third party intends to use the personal information for a purpose that is materially different from the purpose for which the personal information was originally collected; or (b) We intend the personal information to be used for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorized by you or permitted pursuant to this Privacy Policy. 

5. Our Use of Your Personal Information

Applied Client Network may use the information we collect from and about you for any of the following purposes::

• Provide information about our Services and sponsors, exhibitors, advertisers, and other affiliate partnerships;
• Fulfill your member benefits;
• Facilitate your attendance/participation at our conferences and events (both in person and virtual);
• Track your attendance at conferences and trade shows (including exhibitor spaces);
• Prepare invoices and process payments;
• Respond to any of your questions or requests or other communications you send to us;
• Carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contract entered between you and us;
• Fulfill any other purpose for which you provide information to us;
• Present our Website effectively to you; or
• Perform any other legitimate purpose reasonably consistent with your membership or affiliated partnership. 
• We may also your information with our sponsors, exhibitors, affiliated organizations, subsidiaries, business partners and service providers to offer products or services which we believe may be valuable or useful to you. They may use a pixel tag or other similar technology to collect anonymous information about your visits to the Websites, and they may use that information to target advertisements for our products and Services.
• To send you messages about our newsletters, offers, promotional announcements, and consumer surveys. Occasionally, we may send you special offers and promotional information via email or postal mail using the shipping address provided.
• To send you marketing communications that we believe may interest you.
• To personalize your experience of the Services and Websites by presenting products and offers tailored to you.
• Aggregated and nonaggregated data analysis to detect, monitor, and prevent fraud or to perform processing or data auditing.
• Aggregated and nonaggregated data analysis to enhance services.
• Aggregated analytics for developing new products; enhancing, improving, or modifying our Services or Websites; identifying usage trends; determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns; and operating and expanding our business activities.
• Data analysis using geo-fencing, cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to keep track of what users view, how long they spend on different pages, and how they arrived on a particular page (for example, through a search query, link from another property, or bookmark).
• To send administrative information to you—for example, information regarding your membership status; the Services and Websites; and any changes to our terms, conditions, or policies.
• As we believe to be necessary or appropriate: (a) under applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (b) to comply with legal processes; (c) to respond to requests from public and governmental authorities, including public and governmental authorities outside your country of residence; (d) to enforce our terms and conditions; (e) to protect our operations; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property and/or that of you or others; and (g) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages we may sustain.
• Otherwise to comply with all applicable law.
• Payment processing, contract management, website administration, web-forum administration.
• The information we collect in connection with our online forums and communities is used to provide an interactive experience. We use this information to facilitate participation in these online forums and communities and, from time to time, to offer you products, programs, or services. If you choose to submit content (for instance, through discussion or comments in the community pages, online forums, or communities), we may publish your name, screen name, and other information you have provided to us. You hereby consent to this publication and use.
• Other. As otherwise described to you at the point of data collection.
• Additionally, if you use any of the Websites or Apps to connect with third-party services you authorize us to use information from and about you, on your behalf, to interact with these third-party services based on your requests.

Additional uses of your non-personal and personal information will allow us to tailor our Services specific to your needs, to help organize and manage our relationship with you or your business, to conduct business, to provide you with support, and to perform functions that are described to you at the time of collection.

In general, we will use the personal information we collect from you only for the purposes described in this privacy policy or for purposes that we explain to you at the time we collect your personal information. However, we may also use your personal information for other purposes that are not incompatible with the purposes we have disclosed to you (such as archiving purposes in the public interest, research purposes, or statistical purposes) if and where this is permitted by applicable data protection laws.

6. Our Disclosure of Your Personal Information to Third Parties

We may share your personal information with the following categories of recipients:

• Third party service providers (“Service Providers”) who provide (without limitation) administrative/operational services; data processing; membership services; marketing & communication services; meeting management services; website hosting services;  membership database services; credit card processing; conference registration; conference mobile applications; ; conference/event hotels and venues; or who otherwise process personal information for purposes that are described in this privacy policy or notified to you when we collect your personal information;
• Other Applied Client Network members may receive certain items of your personal information as part of a membership directory or through collaboration portals. In addition, if you sign up to attend a member meeting or other Applied Client Network-sponsored event, all other Applied Client Network members who sign up for the event will be notified of your intended attendance at the event and may be given your full name, address, company name, and email address. We are not responsible for other members use or misuse of your personal information; and 
• Affiliates and partners, such as exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers, may receive membership lists or event attendance lists that include your full name, address, company name, and email address. We are similarly not responsible for the use or misuse of your personal information by our affiliated partners. 
• Social Networks. By you on message boards, chats, profile pages and blogs, and other services to which you are able to post information and materials (including, without limitation, community pages and our social media pages). Any information you post or disclose through these services will become public information and may be available to users of the Services or Websites and to the general public. We urge you to be very careful when deciding to disclose your personal data, or any other information, on the Services or Websites. We share your personal information with various social media and networking platforms and websites (such as Facebook, Google and LinkedIn) and other providers for use in connection with retargeting platforms and services (such as Facebook’s Custom Audience tool, Google AdWords and others) that deliver advertisements to our users, customers, students, and test-takers (collectively, “customers”). Specifically, we may share personal information it collects with from its customers (such as email addresses and phone numbers) with Facebook and others to make its advertisements and offerings more responsive to its customers interests and to those of other similar or like-minded individuals. We may share your email address and phone number with Facebook (or other providers) for the purpose of creating “Custom Audiences” (where targeted interest-based ads are displayed to people using Facebook who are our customers), and “Lookalike Audiences” (where targeted ads are sent to people on Facebook who have similar characteristics to people on our Custom Audience list). This tool (and others like it) allow us to personalize its ads based on your interactions with us. Third parties, including Facebook, may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our Website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide us measurement services and target ads.
• Interest-Based Advertising. With companies with which we may partner whose products or services we believe will interest our users. Either we or our partners occasionally send promotional announcements to particular customers. We may use a vendor to carry out our mailings. We do not automatically include our users in any particular marketing promotion; instead, we use a variety of factors, including user activity at the Website or a customer’s attainment of a certain certificate or designation, to determine the appropriate audience (for example, the personal data of top scorers may be shared with other organizations). We may share your personal data (name, email, etc.) with other organizations, including other nonprofit organizations, whose products or services we believe will interest our users, and they may reach out to you regarding their services, products, or initiatives.
• Mailing Providers. If you correspond with us via email, the postal service, or another form of communication, we may retain such correspondence and the information contained therein and use such to respond to your inquiry and/or notify you of our conferences, news, or related opportunities. Importantly, email and postal address information is never sold, given, or otherwise shared or disclosed to third parties except as set forth herein. If you do not wish to receive such notifications, you may express your preference to not be so contacted by sending a letter or by calling or emailing us at the contact information below, informing us of your preference.
• Contemplated or Actual Sale. With a third-party in the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets, or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). We may sell or purchase assets during the normal course of our business. If another entity acquires us or any of our assets, information we have collected about you may be transferred to such entity. In addition, if any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding is brought by or against us, such information may be considered an asset of ours and may be sold or transferred to third parties. Should such a sale or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to try to require that the transferee use personal information provided through the Services in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.
• Legal Compliance. As we believe to be necessary or appropriate: (a) under applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (b) to comply with legal processes; (c) to respond to requests from public and governmental authorities, including public and governmental authorities outside your country of residence; (d) to enforce our terms and conditions; (e) to protect our operations; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property and/or that of you or others; (g) to provide information to law enforcement or regulatory agencies or in connection with an investigation on matters related to public safety, as permitted by law, or otherwise as required by law; and (h) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages we may sustain.
• Membership Directory. We make member information available through our member directory using this Website. In addition, we may incorporate information members provide into hard copies of a membership directory that may be provided to members. You may opt out of having your information included in this directory. Please refer to “How You May Access and Change the Information that ACN Collects”

We may also disclose your personal information as is necessary to: (a) comply with a subpoena or court order; (b) cooperate with law enforcement or other government agencies; (c) establish or exercise our legal rights; (d) protect the property or safety of our company and employees, contractors, vendors, suppliers, and customers; (e) defend against legal claims; (f) help with internal and external investigations; or (g) as otherwise required by law or permitted by law. We may disclose your information in connection with the sale or merger of Applied Client Network or any transaction that involves the sale or assignment of some or all of our assets.

7. Data Storage and Security
Your personal information may be stored on servers in the United States and is subject to the laws of the United States, where the data protection and other laws may differ from those of other countries. Your personal information may be disclosed in response to inquiries or requests from government authorities or to respond to judicial process in the countries in which we operate.

 

We make reasonable efforts to ensure that our Service Providers have implemented physical, electronic, and procedural security measures to assist with safeguarding your personal information, and to help protect against unauthorized access and disclosure. Notwithstanding our efforts, the Internet has inherent security risks.  We cannot promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information, personal searches, and other communications will always remain secure. You should take care with regard to how you handle and disclose your personal information or any username or password that you are required to use to access all of our Collection Places.

We will not keep your personal information longer than necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.  We will securely destroy or erase personal information from our systems when it is no longer required to accomplish the purpose for which it was collected. We also will endeavor to ensure the deletion and destruction of personal information stored and maintained by third parties. We may, however, retain some personal information in order to comply with applicable laws, regulations, rules and court orders.

8. Children and Data Collection
Our Website content is not directed toward children who are under the age of 16.  We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.  If we or our Service Providers become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, we will use reasonable efforts to remove such information from the files of the applicable Website or App and our databases.  If you have questions about personal information that may have been submitted by a child, please email us at info@appliedclientnetwork.org.

9. How You May Access and Change the Information that ACN Collects

The first time that you provide us with registration information through our Website, you may be offered the opportunity to subscribe to and receive additional information about our products and services. Each commercial e-mail that we send to you will offer you the opportunity to opt-out of continuing to receive such messages.  We may take up to 10 business days to process your opt-out requests. In some instances, we may have already shared your information with one of our authorized third parties before you changed your information preferences, and you may briefly continue to receive e-mail even after you have opted out. FTC e-mail compliance guidance allows us to send you transactional and relationship e-mail without offering you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving those types of e-mail.

For those Website users located in the European Union, we are required by law to advise you that your personal information may, at times, be accessible by individuals who are located worldwide including in countries that the European Commission has not determined provide the same level of data protection as in your country. By providing us with your personal information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with our privacy policy, including the transfer of your personal information across international boundaries to jurisdictions anywhere in the world as permitted by local law, including, without limitation the United States.

In some cases, the United States may not be deemed to have data privacy laws that afford an equal level of protection for your personal information as those laws legislated at the direction of the European Union, however, please be assured that we will continue to adhere to the principles stated in this privacy policy and in applicable laws in connection with any personal information. We will endeavor to preserve the integrity, confidentiality, and security of personal information and afford such personal information an adequate level of protection.

Access, Correction, Portability, and Deletion. Depending on where you reside, you may have the right to (1) request to know more about and access your personal data, (2) request deletion of your personal data, (3) request to transfer your personal data to a designated third-party (“data portability”) and (3) request correction of inaccurate personal data.

You can make these requests at any time by emailing us at info@appliedclientnetwork.org or calling us at  800.383.2952. You can also access, correct, or delete certain information stored within your online account at any time by logging into your account and navigating to the “My Profile” page. After submitting your request, please monitor your email for a follow-up communication from us. We may be required to verify your request by asking you to provide additional information related to your recent interactions with us, such as your name and email.

If we deny your request, you may appeal our decision by contacting us at info@appliedclientnetwork.org . If you have concerns about the results of an appeal, you may contact the attorney general or other regulatory authority in the state or country where you reside.

10. Rooms/Forums/Message Boards/News Groups

Any information you may disclose on our Websites or Apps, in blogs, in our communities (or other digital forums), on message boards, in chat rooms, creating community profiles or on other public areas on a Website, App, digital forum, or other third-party website that the Website or App may link to, becomes public information. When you use these features, you should be aware that any information you submit, including your name, location, and email address, may be publicly available to others. Please exercise caution when disclosing personal information in these public areas. We reserve the right to remove any posting or content in a posting at our sole discretion. We are not responsible for any information you choose to submit through these interactive features, and we strongly discourage you from disclosing any sensitive personal data (such as health or credit card information) through these features. If you use these features, your personal data may remain on the Website, App, or digital forum even after you cease use.

11. Webinar Use Disclaimer

Only Authorized Users (as defined in the ACN Course Webinar End-User License Agreement) are permitted to view or access ACN Course Webinars. Only those individuals that have (i) purchased a single use license are authorized to view Webinars.

Webinars MAY NOT, under any circumstances, be viewed in a group setting, shared with any unauthorized party or viewed without a license. Violators will be subject to the legal consequences of unauthorized use.

ACN Course Webinars may not be downloaded, reproduced, retransmitted, distributed, by sale or otherwise, edited, or otherwise used for any purpose without the express prior written permission of ACN.

Webinars presented by Applied Client Network (“ACN”) are intended for educational and informational purposes only. These Webinars were developed by ACN and its members and volunteers as a resource to insurance professionals and is intended to serve as a guide to understanding the specific topic(s) addressed. ACN is not undertaking to render specific advice. The information included in these Webinars may be based solely on the personal recommendations and experience of the presenter(s). ACN does not “approve” or “endorse” any specific products, methods, practices, or sources of information referenced in the Webinar.

You must rely solely on your own professional judgment to determine what practices, methods and techniques, whether included in the Webinars or not, are appropriate for you. State law varies; accordingly, none of the information contained in the Webinars should be relied on as a substitute for the laws of the particular state in which you practice or the specific policies established by your firm.

By using or relying on the information presented in the Webinars, you expressly assume all risk of loss, harm or injury resulting from the use or misuse of such information. ACN makes no guarantee, representation or warranty, express or implied, at law or in equity, and expressly disclaims any and all such guarantees, representation or warranties whatsoever, as to the validity, accuracy or sufficiency of any of the information presented in the Webinar. Neither ACN (including, without limitation, its officers, employees, and members) nor any individual presenters is responsible for any injuries, claims, losses or damages that you (or any third party) may incur arising, directly or indirectly, out of your use of any information presented in the Webinars.

12. Enforcement

We use a self-assessment approach to assure agreement to and compliance with this Privacy Policy and periodically verify that the policy is accurate, comprehensive for the information intended to be covered, prominently displayed, completely implemented and accessible and in conformity with the EU privacy principles. We encourage interested persons to raise any concerns using the contact information provided and we will investigate and attempt to resolve any complaints or disputes regarding the use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the principles.

If a complaint or dispute cannot be resolved through our internal process, we agree to dispute resolution using (an independent resourced mechanism) as a third party resolution provider.

13. General Information and Privacy Support Contact

Because of the changing nature of privacy laws, user needs, and our business, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, remove, or otherwise revises portions of this Privacy Policy at any time. If changes are made, we will put a notice on the Website or App, and if it is a material change, we will notify you directly (for example, via email). You can determine when this Privacy Policy was last revised by referring to the date on which it took effect, as indicated above. Your continued use of our Services, the Website or App following the posting of changes to these terms means you accept these changes.

QUESTIONS

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or our efforts to protect your personal privacy, or if you require additional information about our privacy commitment, please contact us at info@appliedclientnetwork.org or call us at 800.383.2952.

Effective as of August 1, 2024