Privacy policy.
Thank you for visiting Rowland Institute for Advancement’s website which is owned and maintained by Rowland Institute for Advancement Limited a company registered in Hong Kong and subject to the laws of Hong Kong SAR. We respect your privacy and want you to understand the ways in which we collect and use information provided online.
This Internet Privacy Policy applies to www.rowland.institute, www.rowland.education, and other websites or mobile applications that link to these websites (the “Online Services”). It does not apply to other websites or mobile applications that may be referenced on our websites or mobile applications. Such services are governed by the privacy policies appearing on those sites and applications. Depending upon your relationship with us, you may receive other privacy notices from us providing additional detail about our privacy practices.
How We Collect Personal and Non-Personal Information through the Online Services
We collect two kinds of information through the Online Services: non-personal information and personal information.
The non-personal information we collect includes: the visitor’s browser type, device type, and operating system; area(s) of the Online Services visited; date and time of access; host or Internet service provider (ISP) information; and identity of the referring site (any site from which the visitor accessed the Online Services).
We also collect personal information that can identify a visitor or user, including but not limited to name, address or other contact information, your preferences, your ratings of our Online Services or other information about your work and educational history that you choose to provide to us, but only when you voluntarily provide it.
Children’s Privacy
We do not seek or knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13, and we request that children do not provide information through the Online Services.
How We Use Your Information
We may use the information we collect through the Online Services for a number of purposes including:
to provide you with our products and services;
to provide you with the information and documents you request;
to provide you with information about the Online Services or required notices;
to improve the services, we provide and the usefulness of the Online Services;
to customize your experience when using the Online Services;
to comply with applicable laws;
to perform research; and
to prevent and detect fraud, infringement and other potential misuse.
We also may anonymize, combine or aggregate any of the information we collect through the Online Services or elsewhere for any of these purposes or for analyzing usage statistics and trends.
If you provide us with personal information, we will not sell, license, transmit or disclose this information unless: (1) you expressly authorize us to do so; (2) it is necessary to allow our contractors or agents to provide services for us; (3) it is necessary to provide our products or services to you; (4) in connection with a merger, consolidation, acquisition, divestiture or other corporate restructuring of all or part of our business; or (5) it is otherwise required or permitted by law.
How We Collect, Use and Protect Personal Identity Numbers
We may collect Personal Identity Numbers (“PINs”) in the course of our business. We strive to protect the confidentiality and security of PINs in our possession, custody or control by: (i) limiting access to PINs and (ii) maintaining reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect against the loss, misuse or unlawful disclosure of PINs.
How We Use “Cookies” and Other Data Collection Tools
Cookies. We may place electronic “cookies” in the browser files of your computer or mobile device when you access our website. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer or mobile device to enable our systems to recognize your browser and to tailor the information on our websites to your interests. For example, if you previously visited our website and accessed your account information or inquired about particular services over the website, cookies enable us to present information tailored to your account and/or those particular interests the next time you visit the website. Moreover, we or our third-party service providers may place cookies on your computer or mobile device that can be matched to other personal information we maintain about you to pre-populate certain online forms for your convenience. We also use cookies to analyze visitors’ use of our websites. This analysis helps us better understand which areas of our sites are most useful and popular so we can plan improvements and updates accordingly.
Why are cookies important for the use of our websites?
We use cookies to improve the functionality of this website and to track information about how the website is used in order to continually improve it and personalize it to user preferences. In particular:
Cookies enable an individually tailored use of the websites. Some functions on our websites cannot be used without cookies, i.e. logging in or changing settings. Cookies need to be enabled for optimal use of the website.
We are unable to monitor visitor numbers for our website without cookies. Security and fraud risks on our site increase without this information, which is something we wish to avoid.
Cookies allow us to check how users access and navigate our site. This is very important in order to make the website better and more user friendly. Please note that cookies can only read the identification number created by the random generator on your computer and can only retrieve information that is directly related to our website.
Types of Cookies
Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies. This website uses both persistent and session cookies.
A persistent cookie consists of a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, which allows us to collect and analyze (on an anonymous basis) traffic and use of this website, monitor the system and improve operating performance, for example, store your preferences to enhance your subsequent visits. It will not be automatically deleted when the browser is closed but is stored by the browser and will remain valid until its set expiration date (unless deleted by the user before the expiration date).
A session cookie is essential to ensure the correct functioning of this website and is used to manage registration/login and access to reserved features. It is stored temporarily during a browsing session and will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
It is also important to be aware that some cookies (which are generally session cookies) are what is known as strictly necessary. Strictly necessary cookies enable you to move around the website and use features which you have explicitly requested. You can disable other forms of cookie while allowing strictly necessary cookies - see “Your Cookies Choices” below.
Clear GIFs, pixel tags, and other technologies. In addition to cookies, we may also use other means of passively collecting non-personally identifiable data about your use of our web sites, such as through the use of “clear GIFs” (small pieces of data that may be embedded in images on our web sites that enable us to track your usage of our web sites) and analyzing “click stream” data (the virtual trail you leave behind while browsing the Internet and viewing our web sites). We use clear GIFs and click stream data to gather data about your visit to our web sites and in connection with emails to track response rates. The data may include information about your device, such as your IP address, but does not identify you by name. Blocking cookies will prevent clear GIFs from tracking your activity, and also prevent us from collecting certain other information, such as your IP address; but we still obtain a record of a visit. In addition to the information we collect from cookies, from clear GIFs, through the analysis of click stream data, and any other means we may employ to collect non-personally identifiable information about you or your visits to our web sites, we may also obtain anonymous information which you provide to us online -- for example, when you use our tools and calculators.
Your Cookie Choices
You can enable or disable cookies by adjusting your browser settings. This allows you to reject the placement of all cookies (except strictly necessary cookies). You can also delete cookies which have already been placed on your device.
Please remember that disabling or deleting some or all cookies may prevent some web services (including on this website) from functioning correctly and may lead to a less smooth or less personalized browsing experience.
You should visit the “Help” section of your browser for how to manage your cookie settings, or follow the links below:
Internet Explorer:
http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/260971/description-of-cookies
Mozilla Firefox:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Cookies
Google Chrome:
http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95647
Safari:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5042
Opera:
http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/security/privacy/
For further general information on cookies and more detailed advice on how to disable and enable them please go to http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
Do Not Track. We and our service providers or third-party ad servers may also use cookies or similar technologies to collect information about your browsing activities over time and across different websites following your use of the Online Services. While, as described above, you may have the opportunity to control the use of cookies through your web browser, we do not currently respond to web browser “Do Not Track” signals or other mechanisms that provide a method to opt out of the collection of information across the networks of websites and online services in which we participate. For more information about Do Not Track, please visit www.allaboutdnt.com.
Third Party Analytics. We use automated devices and applications, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate usage of our Online Services. We also may use other analytic means to evaluate our Online Services. We use these tools to help us improve our services, performance, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies to perform their services. We do not share your name and contact information with these third-party analytics providers; however, these providers may obtain unique identifiers for your device or your IP address.
Security of Internet Communications
The Internet is not a secure medium. We employ reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. When you enter sensitive information (such as a credit card number or Personal Identity Number) on our web sites, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL) or similar technology during its transmission to our web site. Unfortunately, no method of transmitting or storing data can be guaranteed to be secure, and we do not assume any responsibility for any harm, loss or damage you may experience from transmission of information by or to us over the Internet. If you believe that the security of any account you might have with us has been compromised, please contact us at info@rowland.education
We restrict access to personal information collected about you at our web sites to our employees, our affiliates’ employees or others who need to know that information to provide services to you or in the course of conducting our normal business operations.
How to Contact Us and Access and Correct Your Information
If you have a question or would like to access and correct personal information you have submitted to us through the Online Services, please log into your account for the particular Online Service or send an email to the address below with your question or requesting to see your information. We will be happy to make corrections whenever possible but may not be able to provide information relating to investigations, claims, litigation and other matters.
Please address requests to: riateam@rowland.institute
Blogs, Forums and Other Interactive Features
We may offer blogs, online forums or other interactive features on the Online Services that enable you to share information about our services or other issues of interest. You should be aware that any communications you submit or post to any such interactive features on the Online Services may be viewable by other participants or users. Therefore, by submitting or posting to such interactive features you acknowledge and agree that you have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality in the content you submit for such features, whether or not it contains personal information about you.
Links to Other Sites
For your convenience, we may provide links to other web sites and web pages that we do not control. We cannot be responsible for the privacy practices of any web sites or pages not under our control and we do not endorse any of those web sites or pages, the services or products described or offered on such web sites or pages, or any of the content contained on those web sites or pages. Before providing any personal information to such web sites, please be sure to carefully review the web site’s privacy policy.
We are not responsible for the collection, usage and disclosure policies and practices (including the data security practices) of other organizations, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook or any other app developer, app provider, social media platform provider, operating system provider, wireless service provider or device manufacturer, including any Personal Information you disclose through or in connection with the Apps or our Social Media Pages.
Consent
By using the Online Services, you signify your consent to this Online Privacy Policy and this site’s Terms of Use. If you do not agree to this policy or the site’s Terms of Use, please do not use the Online Services. The Online Services are not for use within any country or jurisdiction or by any persons where such use would constitute a violation of law. If this applies to you, you are not authorized to access or use any of the Online Services.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may change this Online Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time. Any amendments or modifications to this Online Privacy Policy will become effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of any of our Online Services following the posting of a revised version of this Online Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the revised Policy. If you do not agree with the revised Online Privacy Policy, do not use any of our Online Services.
Last Updated, March 2020
Our Corporate Contact Information:
Rowland Institute for Advancement Limited
2003, 20/F, Tower 5, China Hong Kong City
33 Canton Road, TsimShaTsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
email: riateam@rowland.institute