Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

This website (the "website" or "site") is provided by the Smart Card Alliance (“Alliance”), DBA Secure Technology Alliance and U.S. Payments Forum, as a public service to our users. Please carefully review the following terms that govern your use of the website. Please note that your use of the site constitutes your unconditional agreement to follow and be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to them, do not use the website, provide any materials to the site, or download any materials from it.

The information and materials available on this web site ("Information") is provided solely for convenience and does not constitute legal or technical advice. All representations or warranties, express or implied, are expressly disclaimed, including without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose and all warranties regarding accuracy, completeness, adequacy, results, title, and non-infringement. All Information is limited to the scenarios, stakeholders and other matters specified, and should be considered in light of applicable laws, regulations, industry rules and requirements, facts, circumstances, and other relevant factors. None of the Information should be interpreted or construed to require or promote the establishment of any solution, practice, configuration, rule, requirement, or specification inconsistent with applicable legal requirements, any of which requirements may change over time. The Alliance assumes no responsibility to support, maintain or update the Information, regardless of any such change. Use of or reliance on the Information is at the user's sole risk, and users are strongly encouraged to consult with their respective payment networks, acquirers, processors, vendors, and appropriately qualified technical and legal experts prior to all implementation decisions.

Trademarks

EMV is a trademark, and in some countries a registered trademark, of EMVCo LLC. U.S. Payments Forum is using the EMV mark under a license from EMVCo, but otherwise it is not affiliated or associated with EMVCo, and the content of the site is not endorsed by EMVCo.

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is very important to the Alliance. Our core commitment regarding your privacy is taken seriously and treated with sensitivity, including our commitment to never sell your data to third-party vendors. Much of your use of the Alliance site can be done anonymously. To view most of the content provided, you don't need to tell us who you are or provide any information about yourself. There are places that are restricted for access by members only. There are other places where we need information from you so we can give you what you are requesting or allow you to participate at a greater level. You can easily identify these places, because you are asked for information, or to log in, which means we use information you previously provided in exchange for issuing your log in codes. All others who are not affiliated with a member organization are referred to as "visitors" hereafter.

This Privacy Policy explains how we use information you provide to us, and how you can choose to change your preferences regarding your personal information with the Alliance. If you feel that the Alliance is not abiding by its posted privacy policy, you should contact us by email at info@securetechalliance.org.

HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION

We may collect information that you voluntarily provide to us through the course of business or queries through:

Applying for membership
Paying or renewing membership dues
Signing up to receive our newsletters
Signing up to receive our news digests
Registering for an event, webinar, conference, or presentation
Responding to an email sent from us
Sending an email to us
Participating in a members-only working group
Registering for a training course, exam, or re-recertification
Applying for training programs
Otherwise engaging with us electronically for business purposes

We may collect the following information for inclusion in our database:

Your name
Your company affiliation
Your email address
Your membership level
Your title (if available)
Your business/work postal address (if available)
Your home postal address (if available)
Your work, mobile/cell, and/or home phone numbers (if available)
Your work and/or home fax number (if available)

WEB SITES

The Alliance maintains numerous web sites. Several of these sites contain a members-only area, which requires you to establish and enter a unique username and password that only you know. You may change and re-set your log-in name and password at any time through the members-only sites through a self-service process.

INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

Occasionally, we may automatically collect certain personal information you voluntarily enter into one of our websites through the use of cookies, which are small data files stored on your hard drive, external hard drive, cloud storage or through a USB device. Through tracking, we may also gather aggregate information, which refers to information your computer automatically provides to us, and which cannot be tied back to you as a specific individual.

How We Use Cookies

We use cookies on member-protected sections of our web sites to keep you logged in, so you don't need to re-input your username and password each time you visit one of our sites. Third-party analytics companies may use our cookies for anonymous tracking of users throughout the sites. These analytics allow us to determine where on the sites members enter and depart.

How We Use Tracking Technologies

Tracking provides us with data about visits to the Alliance and its affiliated websites, including number of visitors and visits, geo-location data, length of time spent on the site and pages clicked. The tracking analytics are used for business purposes, are not tied to a user's identity, and do not collect an individual's identity information.

Why We Track

We use service providers to present us with numbers and percentages to let us know about website behavior
Our service providers present us with email open rates and bounces that allow us to determine how effective our email campaigns are as they relate to event registration, newsletter delivery, and if newsletters have been received and opened.

We may a/so obtain information from other sources and combine that with information we collect directly from you.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We may use information about you for various purposes, such as:

Sending you marketing information about our events
Inviting you to participate in seminars, calls, calls for papers or speaking engagements
Responding to your comments and questions
Assisting with log-in help for our web sites
Processing transactions such as membership and/or renewal dues, event registration fees, advertising fees, training and/or certification exam fees
Improving our web sites with regard to content
Monitoring and analyzing web site features, usage, and activities
Delivering Alliance newsletters per member benefit or per subscription request
Delivering daily news digests per member benefit
Sending confirmation emails regarding event registration
Providing project and other information for working groups you have requested to join
Delivering press releases, member news, administrative messages, security alerts or other email communications that may impact you professionally, or benefit you
Informing you of special promotions or upcoming industry events that may be of interest
Providing you with information about education opportunities

Sharing

We may share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person. E-mail is used to provide customer service, to provide requested information such as newsletters and articles, and to announce new Alliance programs, services, and events. Occasionally, at the discretion of the Alliance, we will offer third parties the opportunity to share announcements and other information to our members and customers. The Alliance does not sell its lists to third parties in part or as a whole.

Member E-Mail List Use

Organizations that join the Alliance are required to submit additional information about the company and individuals in order for the organization to deliver the member services the Alliance provides. That information is securely managed by the Alliance and other contracted service providers. The Alliance allows its members to manage their own personal information for the password-protected members-only web site, which is available to other members only, but not to outside third parties. Because the Alliance is a member-based organization where members interact via email, it is understood that the sharing of certain information (such as member name and company, email address, phone number) is part of doing business.

Please note that any information you disclose through our email lists becomes information that other members may collect, circulate, or use. Because we cannot and do not control the acts of others, you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose information about yourself or others in forums such as these. The Alliance does not guarantee that the actions of other members may result in information being given out to a third party. Members can request that their contact information be deleted from the members-only database by sending an email topinfo@securetechalliance.org.

Member organizations who submit individual contact information will be automatically subscribed to the newsletter and receive other Alliance email announcements. Other visitors, whether or not they are also members of the Alliance, may be able to subscribe to receive this information as well. If a visitor wishes to subscribe to our electronic newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and email address.

Choice / Opt-out

Members and visitors who no longer wish to receive our newsletter or announcements from the Alliance or our partners may opt-out of receiving these communications by clicking on the URL contained in the email. Also, they can send an email opt out request to info@securetechalliance.org.

Financial Transactions

The Alliance maintains a secure online registration site for member meetings and other events. These payment transactions are processed with safeguards for our customers' personal and financial information according to strict standards of security and confidentiality. The Alliance is in compliance with a third-party privacy and security testing requirement.

INFORMATION STORAGE

The Alliance uses a contracted third-party association management organization to collect and manage membership data on our behalf. Member data is also stored on cloud servers, individual computers, mobile devices, and with service providers we have business relationships with, as well as cloud-based back-up storage companies.

YOUR OPTIONS

Cookies. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Web sites.
Event Marketing and Promotional. You may remove yourself from receiving event marketing and promotional emails from the Alliance by following the instructions in those emails ("unsubscribe") or by contacting us. These promotional emails include event announcements, event recaps, event registration, sponsorship and exhibit information at events, event price discounts, events updates, registration information and event discounts.
Member Communications. You may remove yourself from receiving various newsletters from the Alliance by following the instructions in those emails ("unsubscribe") or by contacting us. You may remove yourself from receiving the Daily Industry News produced by the Alliance by following the instructions in those emails ("unsubscribe") or by contacting us.
Web access. If you utilize our web site(s) using your unique log in name and password, you may contact us to request that we update, correct, or delete information about you, but note that we may retain certain information about you as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Other options. There may be other options for managing your data under new GDPR guidelines that are not listed here. The Alliance will make every effort to comply with these other options upon

Please note: Unsubscribe requests will not apply to membership related business communications.

GDPR Compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. The GDPR aims primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.

Opting-In for EU Members and Non-Members

If a contact is located within the European Union, or is a citizen of a European Union country, and you grant us consent to use your personal information as described in this Privacy Document, we will continue our email communications with you.

If you do not want your personal information collected and used by the Alliance, do not attempt to log in to our web sites or request permission to receive newsletters or promotional material.

If you are already in our database and are receiving communications from the Alliance, and you have not received an Opt-In request to continue receiving communications, you may contact us at info@securetechalliance.org, and request having your email and other personal data deleted.

If you have any questions about our Privacy Document, please let us know.

Notification of Changes

The Alliance reserves the right to change our privacy policy at any time. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on our website, so our members, customers and visitors are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.

This privacy policy was established and adopted on January 11, 2017.