Effective as of June 2023
The American Council of Engineering Companies (“we”, “us,” or “ACEC” or with “our”) has developed this policy statement (“Privacy Policy”) to assist end users (referenced herein with “you” or “user” or with “your”) of ACEC’s Web site located at www.acec.org, ACEC’s Internet or mobile applications, or related ACEC services (including without limitation the Dynamic Benchmarking DEI benchmarking service) (“Site”) in understanding the personally identifiable information (“PII”) collection and use practices for ACEC’s Site. PII, as such term is used herein, includes information that can reasonably identify a specific individual, such as, without limitation, a name, address, phone number, or e-mail address. ACEC reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. If ACEC makes changes to this Privacy Policy, ACEC will post those changes at this location. Please review this Privacy Policy on a periodic basis. By using the Site, you signify you have reviewed, understand, and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, which describes the information we collect and how we use and disclose it.
1. What Information Does ACEC Collect?
PLEASE NOTE: THE TYPE OF DATA COLLECTED BY ACEC WILL VARY WITH THE FUNCTIONALITY OFFERED BY THE SITE AND YOUR USE OF THE SITE. MOREOVER, CERTAIN DATA SUBMISSION IS VOLUNTARY. Below, we provide specific examples of the types of PII ACEC may collect through the Site.
Contact Information: ACEC may request or require contact information from its members and their personnel, such as your name, address, phone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address, when you seek access to certain portions of the Site, register for programs or events and/or make purchases through the Site.
Demographic Information: ACEC may request, collect, and compile demographic data you or your organization may provide (e.g., general employment information such as organization, title and position and, for certain services, aggregated or deidentified statistics regarding race, gender, age or other related information).
Transactional Information: ACEC may create and maintain a database of aggregated information about the transactions that occur on the Site (e.g., tool or feature (and related database) utilization, registration information, and activity, navigation, or content selection data).
Financial Information: ACEC may use credit card account information to facilitate payments for resources, programs and/or events available on the Site.
Technical Information: ACEC may also collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from all users of our Site as well as the date and time of access and the Web page(s) accessed. ACEC may also catalog your log-in information and the type of computer, browser, or operating system used by the user.
2. How Does ACEC Use that Information?
To operate the Site and provide and/or enhance certain of its features, tools, and functionality and to otherwise provide and improve the quality of the programs, solutions, and services ACEC may offer or make available, ACEC may collect PII from different parts of its Site. ACEC gathers PII during the registration or content submission (for example, and without limitation, when submitting comments or questions) processes available on the Site. However, ACEC may also collect or request PII at other times, including, but not limited to, when you sign up for programs or events available through the Site. Below, is more detail on how ACEC may use PII about you.
Contact Information: ACEC may use contact information in connection with the provision of its solutions, services, and content and to enable you to participate in any activities, events, promotions, and/or offerings available through the Site. ACEC may also use contact information to facilitate registration for a particular program, event, service or solution, to advertise its programs, events, or services, to create a personalized experience for you, to provide you with news and information, to contact you regarding a survey, to assist with security or fraud prevention or response measures, and to get in touch with you with respect to transactions conducted through the Site, material changes in our Site’s policies and agreements, new programs, events or services ACEC may offer, or otherwise. In addition, ACEC may supplement the PII collected from you with information about you obtained from other sources, such as, without limitation, from ACEC’s advertisers, business partners, members, or ACEC may engage in cross-border transfers of PII in order to provide or enhance our ability to provide or advertise our programs, events, services, or solutions and/or the programs, events, services, or solutions of others and to otherwise tailor the Site. We also may share, license, and/or sell your contact information with or to third parties including, without limitation, ACEC’s members, agents, contractors, advertisers or business partners, to provide or improve our programs, events, services, or online solutions and to allow for on-line registration for programs, events, or services, the online provision of software applications, and/or for other internal business purposes.
Demographic Information: ACEC may use demographic information for marketing, administrative, management, lobbying, and monitoring purposes both in order to continue to provide or improve the Site as well as to provide or improve ACEC’s solution, program, event or service offerings. In addition, ACEC may share, license, and/or sell survey results and aggregated demographic data collected through the Site with or to third parties, including, without limitation, its affiliates, advertisers, business partners, the general public, the news media, and the U.S. Government and state governments, not only as may be required by law, but also for advertising purposes, for release to third parties, and/or to participate in government programs and initiatives. However, such survey or aggregated information will not identify any particular user.
Transactional Information: ACEC may use transactional information for marketing, administrative, and support purposes in order to provide or improve the Site and its solution, program, event or service offerings and may also share, license, and/or sell such transactional data for such purposes with or to third parties, including, without limitation, advertisers or business partners.
Financial Information: ACEC may use credit card or online payment information to process payments for events, programs or resources made available to users on the Site. However, ACEC does not store your credit card information.
Technical Information: ACEC may use technical information, such as IP address or browser type, to help diagnose problems with our servers, analyze Site usage trends, track user movements on the Site, and to otherwise manage and monitor our Site.
Business Transactions: In the event that ACEC goes through a business transaction, such as a bankruptcy event, merger, investment transaction, or acquisition by another entity involving the sale of all or a portion of its assets, please note that the PII collected and retained by ACEC may be among the assets transferred or reviewed. In the event a transaction of this kind occurs that results in the transfer of PII to a purchaser of all or a portion of the assets or ownership interests of ACEC, ACEC will notify you via e-mail and/or place a prominent notice on the Site for thirty (30) days of any such change in ownership or control and the possibility of changes being made to this Privacy Policy.
Legal Action. ACEC may disclose PII when legally required to do so in accordance with subpoenas, government requests or regulations, or legal proceedings. ACEC may also use and/or disclose PII when it deems necessary to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Site or as is otherwise required to limit legal liability, protect or defend our rights, property, or interests, or protect the safety, rights, or property of other end users or customers.
3. What About the Use of Cookies and Other Data Collection Techniques?
ACEC or its contractors may use cookies, web beacons, tags, log-in files, and/or other similar data collection or tracking techniques to enhance and/or monitor your experience while using our Site. Cookies and other related techniques are generally pieces of information, which ACEC uses for record-keeping, troubleshooting, and Site functionality purposes and which the Site may transfer to us and/or your computer’s Web-browser for storage on our server(s) or your computer’s hard drive. Cookies and other related techniques enable ACEC to manage and/or customize your experience on the Site, including available advertisements. Cookies and other related techniques also make Web-surfing or site review easier by automatically performing certain functions such as saving your personal preferences and by providing targeted content.
If you would prefer not to receive cookies or allow identifiers, however, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies or surf anonymously. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies or surf anonymously, you should understand that it is possible that some areas of our Site will not function properly when you view them.
We may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) that serve ads on behalf of us and others on non-affiliated platforms. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your use of the Site and other sites or apps over time, including information about relationships among different browsers and devices. This type of advertising is known as interest-based advertising.
You may visit the DAA Webchoices tool at www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt out of this advertising on websites by companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program. If you delete your cookies or use a different browser or mobile device, you may need to renew your opt-out choices exercised through the DAA Webchoices tool. Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications. It may make the ads you see less relevant to your interests.
We may also work with third parties that collect data about your use of the Site and other sites or apps over time for non-advertising purposes. We use Google Analytics and other third-party services to improve the performance of the Site and for analytics and marketing purposes. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and uses data when you use our Site, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
4. What About External or Third Party Web Sites?
To the extent hyperlinks or gateways are utilized to access external or third party sites, you should be aware that these external or third party sites may collect PII and are not controlled by ACEC and therefore, are not subject to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies only to the Site and will not apply to (i) any other web sites or entities that ACEC does not own or control, or (ii) persons that are not employees of ACEC. ACEC suggests that you check the privacy policies of other web sites to determine how the proprietors of these third party sites will utilize PII about you.
5. What About Security & Data Integrity?
ACEC and the Site use reasonable security measures or safeguards designed to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the PII under ACEC’s control. However, the confidentiality or integrity of any communication, data, or material transmitted via the Internet or stored with ACEC cannot be guaranteed.
6. What About “Opting Out” of Data Collection and Use?
The collection, use, and sharing of PII about you may be necessary for ACEC to provide certain features, programs, events, resources, and services made available on the Site, and to operate and/or improve the Site. For example, all users who register for an event, program or seminar, or purchase resources from ACEC on the Site, will need provide PII for ACEC’s use and collection in connection with those events, programs, or resources. However, under other circumstances you can decide on your own if you wish to provide PII or opt-out of doing so. For example, if ACEC conducts a survey on the Site, you do not have to participate unless you agree to do so.
ACEC also provides you with the opportunity to opt-out of certain ACEC business practices where PII about you may be used. Specifically, users may opt-out of the following activities: (i) inclusion in user postal mailings, (ii) e-mail communications sent by ACEC, (iii) facsimile communications sent by ACEC, and (iv) particular advertising arrangements.
California Residents: Companies that collect PII from California residents and disclose such information to third parties (including affiliated entities) for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes must, in response to a request by a consumer, either (1) provide a list detailing the categories of information shared and the entities to which such information was provided, or (2) provide a mechanism by which a consumer may opt-out of having his or her information shared with third parties. ACEC has elected the second option, and you may request that your PII not be shared with third parties by sending your request, including your full name, email address and postal address, to Attn. Privacy, 1400 L Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005-3592. California residents are also entitled to know that they may file grievances and complaints with California Department of Consumer Affairs, 400 R Street, Suite 1080, Sacramento, CA 95814; or by phone at 916-445-1254 or 800-952-5210; or by email to dca@dca.ca.gov.
7. What About Governing Law?
This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, U.S.A. The Site and the servers that host the Site are located in the United States. Any information you provide will reside in the United States. By visiting and using the Site and submitting PII thereto, you therefore understand that PII about you will be transferred to and processed in the United States.
8. What About Any Other Questions?
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the PII collection and use practices of the Site, you can contact ACEC at acec@acec.org, (202) 347-7474 (phone), or at Attn. Privacy, 1400 L Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005-3592.