The American Council on Renewable Energy (“ACORE,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy.  This privacy policy (“Policy”) applies to information we collect when you access the ACORE website and other websites or online services that link to this Policy and are operated by ACORE (collectively, the “Sites”).


Collection of Information

We may collect the following kinds of information when you use the Sites:

Information you provide directly to us.

      • Contact Information, including name, email address, phone number, professional title, employer, and city.
      • Sign-In Information, including username and password.
      • Profile Information, including your interests, professional information, and employment.
      • Correspondence you send to us.

Information we collect automatically. We collect internet, electronic activity, and other information automatically from the devices and browsers that you use, including:

      • The domain name of the internet service you use. This does not tell us who you are individually.
      • The general location of your internet connection (city, state, country). This information does not tell us specifically where you are located.
      • The estimated age range of website visitors. This information is collected in aggregate and is not associated with any individual website visitor.
      • The date and time of your visit and which pages on our site you visited.
      • The operating system, web browser you use, and type of device you use.
      • The address of the previous web site you visited, if you linked to us from another site.
      • Information about your interactions with e-mail messages, such as the links clicked on and whether the messages were opened or forwarded.
      • Information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies.
      • Standard server log information.

We may also collect information about you from third-party sources.  For example, we may receive information about you from third-party social media services when you choose to interact or connect with them through the Sites.  We may also receive information about you when you register for our events using third-party websites.  In addition, if you donate using our online form, our payment processor will also collect your credit card number or other payment information. Please note that information collected by these payment processors is subject to their own privacy policy.

 

Use of Information

We generally use the information that we collect about you to:

      • Display content, sponsor information, and information about ACORE that you may be interested in.
      • Fulfill your requests for services and information.
      • Analyze use of the Sites to understand and improve our service offerings, such as determining which pages are most popular, which browsers are most used, how long users spend on the Sites, and which websites they come from.
      • Otherwise support the internal operations of the Sites.
      • Prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities.
      • For any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect the information or pursuant to your consent.
      • We may aggregate your information with information about other users so that it no longer identifies and cannot reasonably be used to identify an individual person.

 

Disclosure of Information

We may share information that is collected from you in the following circumstances:

      • Authorized third-party service providers. We may share information with our third-party service providers to help us fulfill requests and perform various functions necessary to fully provide and improve the Sites, including usage analytics, data processing, marketing, and account management.
      • Partner organizations. We may share your email address with other organizations that are co-sponsors or co-presenters of an ACORE event or are engaging in a joint renewable energy educational campaign.
      • Business transfers. We may share information in connection with a substantial business transaction, such as the sale of the Sites, a merger, consolidation, asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.
      • Legal purposes. We may disclose information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, law enforcement requests, legal claims or government inquiries, and to protect and defend the rights, interests, property, safety, and security of ACORE or the public.
      • With your consent. We otherwise may share your information with your consent.

 

Use of Cookies, Web Beacons, and Other Technologies

We may use cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies to collect information about your use of the Sites.  Cookies are small bits of information that are stored by a computer’s web browser.  Web beacons are very small images or small pieces of data embedded in images, also known as “pixel tags,” “GIFs,” or “clear GIFs,” that can recognize cookies, the time and date a page is viewed, a description of the page where the pixel tag is placed, and similar information from a computer or device.

We use these technologies, for example, to help us recognize your browser as a previous user and save and remember any preferences that may have been set; to help us customize the content shown while you use the Sites; to provide you with content customized to your interests and to understand whether users read e-mail messages and click on links contained within those messages so that we can deliver relevant content; and to help measure and research the effectiveness of our Sites, features, and other communications.

You may be able to refuse or disable cookies by adjusting your web browser settings.  Because each web browser is different, please consult the instructions provided by your web browser (typically in the “help” section).  Please note that you may need to take additional steps to refuse or disable some technologies.  If you choose to refuse, disable, or delete these technologies, some of the functionality of our Sites may no longer be available to you.

Some web browsers may transmit “do-not-track” signals to websites the user visits, although web browsers incorporate and activate this functionality in different ways, and it is not always clear whether users intend for these signals to be transmitted.  Consequently, we currently do not take action in response to these signals.

By using the Sites, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies.

 

Protection of Information

We have adopted reasonable technical, administrative, and physical procedures to help protect your information from loss, misuse, and alteration. Please note that no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  Although we take measures to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

 

Third-Party Sites, Content, and External Links

You may access third-party content through the Sites and navigate to third-party sites and services from links on the Sites.  Whether the third-party content appears within our Sites (such as in an embedded video player), or you leave our Sites to view the content on another website, the third party is in control of and independently produces, maintains, and monitors the content and third-party sites.  You should review the privacy policies of these third-party sites for their policies and practices regarding the collection and use of your information as their policies may differ from ours.  We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of third parties.

 

International Transfers

Information collected through the Sites may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which we or our service providers maintain facilities.  We may transfer information that we collect about you, including personal information, across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions, some of which may not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction.  By using the Sites and providing us with information directly or indirectly, you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. or to any other country in which our service providers maintain facilities for processing by us in accordance with this Policy.

 

Changes To This Policy

ACORE reserves the right to change or update this Policy at any time. We will post the changes to our Policy on this page, so that visitors can always be aware of them. We recommend that you review the Policy each time you visit the Sites to stay informed of our privacy practices.

 

Questions About This Policy

If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at info@acore.org.