Security and Privacy Policy

AA Membership and Event Information: AA collects certain Personal Data from you when you join the AA or register for AA events. AA uses this information to provide your membership, register you for events, provide information about memberships and events, and administer your registrations with AA.

AA Account Information: AA may require you to register for an account (an "AA Account") in order to use certain Services, such as the AA Career Center. We do not require you to register to use all of our Services. However, if you do register for Services offering an AA Account, you will gain access to those areas and features of the Services that require registration. AA will collect certain information about you in connection with your registration for your AA Account, which may include Personal Data and other information such as a username, password, personal profile, pictures, your location, and information about your contacts. Some of your AA Account information may be displayed publicly. You are not required to provide your Personal Data; however, if you choose to withhold certain Personal Data, we may not be able to provide you with certain Services.

Payment Transaction Information: We may collect and store information related to purchases and donations made through the Services. You may provide certain information to complete payments via the Services, including your credit or debit card number and related information along with your name and billing, delivery and shipping address, to complete payment transactions through certain Services. Please note AA works with Service Providers (as defined below) to handle payment transactions. AA does not itself retain your credit card or other financial account information; this information is handled for AA by our Service Providers. You are subject to the privacy policies and terms and conditions of our Service Providers when purchasing an AA membership, shopping for AA products, making donations or paying for another item, the terms of which may differ from those of AA for the AA Services. Please review the Service Providers’ privacy policies and terms and conditions before using their services.

Form Information: We may use online forms to request certain information from you in order to perform certain Services, such as your location to assist you in locating our products, or your contact information to assist with contacts or service requests. This information may include Personal Data.

Correspondence Information: If you sign up for a membership, attend a conference or event, utilize a Service or program, email us, subscribe to our newsletters mailing lists, publications, or blogs or participate or utilize other offerings, we may keep your message, email address, and contact information to respond to your requests, provide the requested products or Services, and to provide notifications or other correspondences to you. If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, you may let us know by sending us an email or by writing to us at the address noted at the end of this Privacy Policy. Please note requests to remove your email address from our lists may take some time to fulfill. Should you opt out, and once your request has been fulfilled, we will not send you general notifications or correspondence; however, we may still contact you if needed to provide important announcements or notifications regarding the Services for which you have registered, such as a change of venue, a time change, a change in programming, or the like.

Support Information: You may provide information to us via a support request submitted through the Services. We will use this information to assist you with your support request and may maintain this information to assist you or other users with support requests. Please do not submit any information to us via a support submission, including confidential or sensitive information that you do not wish for AA or our Service Providers to have access to or use in the future.

• Information that you provide by filling in webforms on our Website or Mobile App. This includes information provided when creating an online account, purchasing our Products or Services, subscribing to our e-newsletters or other communications, requesting information from us, submitting or posting material (where permitted) on our forums, or interacting with customer support or service, report a problem with our Website, Mobile App, Products, or Services, or otherwise communicating with us.

• Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses) if you contact us.
• Registering for an event.
• Your responses to surveys that we or our service providers might ask you to complete for research purposes.
• Purchasing training, educational, skill-based or other such products.
• Your search queries on the Website or Mobile App.
• When communicating with customer service/support.
• Third-party websites and mobile applications (e.g., websites that share information with us or advertising partners regarding online activities).
• Data suppliers (e.g., companies that provide demographics and other information regarding consumers).
• When making a donation via our Website or Mobile App.
• On mobile applications (parent, subsidiary and affiliate brands).
• Joint marketing partners.
• Online advertising companies.
• Fulfillment and delivery service providers.
• Social media companies.
• Other service providers.
• Responding to employment opportunities.

Information we collect automatically

Unique Identifiers: When you use or access the Services, we may access, collect, monitor, store on your device, and/or remotely store one or more "Unique Identifiers", such as a universally unique identifier. A Unique Identifier may remain on your device persistently, to help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Services. Some features of the Services may not function properly if use or availability of Unique Identifiers is impaired or disabled.

Log File Information: When you use our Services, we may receive log file information such as your IP address, browser type, access times, domain names operating system, the referring web page(s), pages visited, location, your mobile carrier, device information (including device and application IDs), search terms, and cookie information. We receive log file data when you interact with our Services, for example, when you visit our Website or Mobile App, sign into our Services, or interact with our email notifications. AA uses log file data to provide, understand, and improve our Services, and to customize the content we show you. AA may link this log file to other information AA collects about you via the Services.

Third-Party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Website or Mobile App are served by third parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers and application providers. First-party or third-party cookies may be used alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our Website or Mobile App. A first-party cookie is a cookie set by the domain name that appears in the browser address bar. A third-party cookie is a cookie set by (and on) a domain name that is not the domain name that appears in the browser address bar. It might be set as part of a side resource load (image, JS, iframe, etc., from a different hostname) or an AJAX HTTP request to a third-party server. The information that third-party cookies collect may be associated with your Personal Data or they may collect information, including Personal Data, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services (i.e., tracking such activities). They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content. 

We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. More information on how to opt out of third-party advertiser tracking mechanisms is available from the National Advertising Initiative (NAI).

We use cookies, clear gifs, and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Website or Mobile App; (b) provide custom, personalized content and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of our Services; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with certain IP addresses; and/or, (f) help you efficiently access your information after you sign in.

We may use your Personal Data you provide us and which we obtain from other sources to better understand your interests so we can try to predict what other products, services and information you might be most interested in. This practice involves making automated decisions about you based on this information in order to better enable us to tailor our interactions with you to make them more relevant and interesting. You may object to our doing this at any time by sending us an email or by writing to us at the address below (see Contact Information). Please note requests to discontinue this practice may take a reasonable amount time to fulfill.

We may use the information we have collected from you to enable us to display advertisements to our advertisers’ target audiences. Even though we do not disclose your Personal Data for these purposes without your consent, if you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, the advertiser may assume that you meet its target criteria.

We may collect geolocation information about you in order to serve up advertising and marketing communications based on your geolocation.

Google Tools: We use tools provided by Google, Inc. as described below.

• Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users interact with our Website, Mobile App, and Services, compile reports on their activity, and provide other services related to their activity and usage. The technologies used by Google may collect information such as your IP address, time of visit, whether you are a returning visitor, and any referring website. The information generated by Google Analytics will be transmitted to and stored by Google and will be subject to Google’s privacy policies. Learn more about Google's partner services and how to opt out of tracking of analytics by Google.
• Google AdSense. We use Google AdSense on our Website or Mobile App. Google’s advertising requirements and principles are available on the Google Advertising Policies Center. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. We have implemented the following: (a) Remarketing with Google AdSense and (b) Google Display Network Impression Reporting.
• Google DoubleClick. We work with Google DoubleClick, a third-party vendor, which uses cookies to serve ads on our Website or Mobile App. Google’s use of DoubleClick cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our Website or Mobile App or other websites on the Internet. You may opt out of Google’s use of DoubleClick cookies for interest-based advertising by visiting Google Ad Settings.
• Google Maps/Google Earth. We also use Google Maps (including the Google Maps API(s)) and/or Google Earth, which may, among other things, request access to your geolocation, and both of which are subject to their own terms of use and privacy policy.
• Google reCAPTCHA. We use Google reCAPTCHA, a free service provided by Google, to protect our Website or Mobile App from spam and abuse. Google reCAPTCHA uses advanced risk analysis techniques to decipher humans and bots. Google reCAPTCHA works differently depending on what version is deployed. For example, you may be asked to check a box indicating that you are not a robot or Google reCAPTCHA may detect abusive traffic without user interaction. Google reCAPTCHA works by transmitting certain types of information to Google, such as the referrer URL, IP address, visitor behavior, operating system information, browser and length of the visit, cookies, and mouse movements. Your use of Google reCAPTCHA is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Find more information about Google reCAPTCHA and how it works.

Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) Opt Out page or by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Crazy Egg: We use Crazy Egg to obtain anonymous data about how visitors interact with us. The data Crazy Egg collects includes information about how visitors navigate around a web page and the most commonly clicked links on a specific web page. View Crazy Egg's privacy policy. Find information about opting out of Crazy Egg.

Public Information: AA may also collect information about you from publicly available sources. Information you make publicly available in any public or open forum, such as on a social network, may be considered public information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy, and may be accessed and collected by AA. Please be aware that any content or information you share with or provide to third parties using or related to your use of the Services is neither private, nor confidential. AA is not responsible for any content or information you post or share with third parties. If you do not wish for certain information to be public, please do not share it.

SMS (Text Messages): Our Services may include sending you Short Message Service ("SMS") messages, which may deliver up to three messages per day to your wireless device (unless you communicate further with us), but message frequency may vary. We may use your information to contact you about your purchases, returns (if available), Website or Mobile App updates, conduct surveys, event information, public policy matters, research updates, fundraising opportunities, or informational and service-related communications, including important security updates. You may remove your information by replying "STOP" to the SMS text message you received. After you send the SMS message "STOP" to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. Alternatively, you may submit your request (see Contact Information) by email to us, including the email address and phone number you registered with us, or by any reasonable means. Please know that requests received by means other than email may require a reasonable amount of time to process before taking effect. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time and we will start sending SMS messages to you again. For help, please reply to a text with "HELP". Message and data rates may apply, depending on your cell phone plan. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. 

How we use your Personal Data

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any Personal Data, for one or more of the following purposes:

• To present our Website and Mobile App and their contents to you.
• To solicit you for donations.
• To provide you with information and respond to your questions on Products or Services that you request from us and information on new products and services, discounts, special promotions or upcoming events, and features or offers that we believe will be of interest to you.
• To provide you with the Products, Services, or information that you have requested.
• To process transaction payments, including, but not limited to, Product and/or Service fees, subscription fees, professional fees, membership dues, registration fees, voluntary contributions, examination fees, credential and designation fees, and payments, refunds and reimbursements for any products or services that you choose to purchase from us (though we do not receive your credit or debit card number).
• To process discounts, offers, loyalty rewards, and/or rebate requests, forms, and applications and coordinate with the manufacturer, retailer and/or wholesaler.
• To provide you with notices about your account, including expiration and renewal notices.
• To notify you about information regarding or changes to our Website or Mobile App, our policies, terms, or any Products or Services we offer or provide, or regarding your account.
• To process your account application and any changes to your account information.
• To process Personal Data or other information that you submit through or to us.
• To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website or Mobile App.
• To contact you about our own and third parties’ products and services that may be of interest to you.
• To provide access to restricted parts of our Website or Mobile App, e.g., areas accessible if you have a user account.
• To enhance and improve our Products and Services, for example, by performing internal research, analyzing user trends, and measuring demographics and interests.
• For internal purposes, such as Website, Mobile App, or Service and system operation, administration, maintenance, internal audits and reviews, diagnosing technical problems, and maintaining security.
• To provide statistics about the usage levels of the Website or Mobile App and other related information to our service providers.
• To notify you of data privacy incidents or provide you with legally required information.
• To request your participation in ratings, reviews, surveys, focus groups, or other initiatives which help us to gather information used to develop and enhance our Products and Services.
• To determine eligibility for membership, credentials, designations, or volunteer opportunities.
• To evaluate your performance on continued learning courses and assist you in the tracking of your progress.
• For examination or event registration, scheduling, event attendance, administration and related purposes.
• To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide Personal Data.
• In any other way we may describe and for which we obtain your consent when you provide the information and you give your consent.

Social Media Plug-ins: We integrate social media application program interfaces or plug-ins ("Plug-ins") from social networks, including Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Xing, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and/or possibly other companies, into the Website or Mobile App. In order to register as a user with us, you may have the option to sign in using your Facebook or other social media site login. 

For example, when you visit our Website or Mobile App, the Plug-in creates a direct connection between your browser and the Facebook server. This allows Facebook to receive information about your visit to our Website or Mobile App with your IP address. If you click the Facebook "Like" button while you are logged on to your Facebook account, you can link the contents of our Website or Mobile App to your Facebook profile. This allows Facebook to assign your visit to our Website or Mobile App to your user account. Please note that as provider of the Website or Mobile App, we receive no notification about the contents of the transmitted data or their use by Facebook. If you do not want Facebook to assign your visit to our Website or Mobile App to your Facebook user account, please log out of your Facebook user account.

Posting user content

You also may submit information, such as comments, reviews, testimonials and the like, to be published or displayed ("posted") on public areas of the Website or Mobile App, or transmitted to other users of the Website or Mobile App or third parties (collectively, "Content"). Your Content is posted and transmitted to others at your own risk. We cannot control the actions of other users of the Website or Mobile App with whom you may choose to share your Content. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your Content will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. By posting any Content or submitting Content for posting you agree to and do hereby grant us and our licensors, affiliates, partners, successors and assigns, a nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, transferrable, royalty-free right and license to use, store, display, publish, transmit, transfer, distribute, reproduce, rearrange, edit, redact, modify, aggregate, summarize, adapt, create derivative works of and publicly perform the Content that you post or otherwise submit to us for any purpose, in any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed ("Right to Use"). 

The Right to Use you grant us above also extends to any Content that you have posted to our Facebook or other social media account pages, or on other websites, e.g., Google, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Instagram, etc. The term "Use" includes, but is not limited to, use, reproduce, modify, publish, list information regarding, edit, delete, translate, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and make derivative works of the content.

If we permit you to post Content, by posting any Content, or submitting Content for posting, you agree with the following "User Content Posting Guidelines":

To the extent our Website or Mobile App contains areas where you can post or submit to be posted such as comments, product reviews, testimonials or the like, you agree to post Content that is proper and related to the general theme of the Website or Mobile App. Content also includes that which you send to us by email, text, mail, or other means. You agree not to post or submit any Content that:

• Is off-topic, false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, libelous, stalking, threatening, obscene, pornographic, indecent, vulgar, offensive, which contains unlawful material or information, or which otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
• Harasses, degrades, intimidates, or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
• Is not your own original creation or that you do not have permission to use or that infringes the copyright, trademark, patent, or other proprietary right of any person or that is used without the permission of the owner;
• Is intended to provide professional advice, including but not limited to, the provision of medical treatment, or legal, financial or investment advice;
• Promotes or provides instructional information about illegal or illicit activities;
• Purports to be from any person or entity, including but not limited to one of our employees, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
• Includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent, or is doxxing;
• Contains malicious software code of any kind, including, but not limited to, code that contain viruses, malware, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs designed to or that may interrupt, lock up, destroy, damage or limit the operation of another person's computer or network or telecommunications equipment;
• Disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Website or Mobile App, or that otherwise negatively affects the ability of others to use the Website or Mobile App; and/or
• Advertises or offers to sell any goods or services, or engage in surveys, contests, chain letters, or for any commercial purpose.

Information sharing

AA Personnel: AA’s personnel may have access to your information as needed to provide and operate the Services in the normal course of business. This includes information regarding your use and interaction with the Services.

Service Providers: We may share your Personal Data with third parties for the purpose of providing or improving the Services to you. We may share your Personal Data with third-party service providers which perform services on our behalf ("Service Providers"). This includes, without limitation, Service Providers which provide services relating to: outbound and/or inbound communications, data analysis, credit checks, screening checks, collection services, marketing assistance, managing customer information, creating, hosting, and/or providing customer or support services on our behalf, fulfilling orders, delivering packages, sending postal mail and email, removing repetitive information from customer lists, providing search results and links (including paid listings and links), processing credit card payments, managing our conferences and other events, and our legal and financial advisors. These Service Providers may have access to your Personal Data in order to provide these services to us or on our behalf. If we engage Service Providers for any of the foregoing, use of your Personal Data will be bound by obligations of confidentiality and their use of Personal Data will be restricted to providing their services to us. We may store Personal Data in locations outside our direct control (for instance, on servers or databases located or co-located with hosting Service Providers). It is likely that the identity and categories of such Service Providers will change during the life of your account.
 
Nonprofits: Like many other groups, AA may share Personal Data that we collect with other nonprofit organizations. However, we want to clarify that your phone number will not be shared with any texting program that is not directly related to AA's mission and services. If you do not want your Personal Data shared with other organizations, please contact us at [email protected] or the address below and we will remove you from any such shared lists.

Business Transactions: AA may purchase other businesses or their assets, sell our business assets, or be involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets (a "Business Transaction"). Your information, including Personal Data, may be among assets sold or transferred as part of a Business Transaction.

Required Disclosures: Except as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, we will not disclose your Personal Data to any third party unless required to do so by law, court order, legal process, or subpoena, including, but not limited to, in order to respond to any government, regulatory, or licensing request, or if we believe that such action is necessary to: (a) comply with the law, comply with legal process served on us or our affiliates, subsidiaries, contracted vendors, or affinity partners, or investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities; (b) enforce our Terms or customer agreement (including for billing and collection purposes); (c) take precautions against liability; (d) investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; (e) assist government enforcement agencies or to meet national security requirements; (f) to protect the security or integrity of our Website, Mobile App, our Products, and Services; or, (g) exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of us, our users or others. 

We will attempt to notify you, where practicable, about these requests unless: (i) providing notice is prohibited by the legal process itself, by court order we receive, or by applicable law, or (ii) we believe that providing notice would be futile, ineffective, create a risk of injury or bodily harm to an individual or group, or create or increase a risk of fraud upon us, our users, our Website, Mobile App, or our Services. In instances where we comply with legal requests without notice for these reasons, we will attempt to notify that user about the request after the fact if we determine in good faith that we are no longer legally prohibited from doing so and that no risk scenarios described in this paragraph apply.

In connection with the foregoing, we may need to share information with other companies, lawyers, agents, or government agencies. Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any legal defenses or objections that you may have to a third party’s, including a government agency’s, request to disclose your information.

We may or do disclose your Personal Data, in whole or in part, to the following types of third parties, and for one or more of the following purposes:

• Data storage or hosting providers for the secure storage and transmission of your data;
• Database and software service providers for the management and tracking of your data;
• Technology providers who assist in the development and management of our Website or our Mobile App;
• Identity management providers for authentication purposes;
• Legal and compliance consultants, such as external counsel, external auditors, or tax consultants;
• Payment solution providers for the secure processing of payments you provide to us;
• Outbound call center providers, who may perform outreach on our behalf regarding our products and Services;
• Fulfillment and shipping vendors for the fulfillment of our Products and Services;
• Survey and research providers who perform studies on our behalf;
• Learning technology and online event providers for the delivery and improvement of web events and learning programs and the tracking of your progress;
• Advertising partners, including social media providers, for the delivery of targeted advertisements;
• Our volunteers or committee members who perform various functions on our behalf;
• Unrelated third-party list renters for one-time mail or email approved by us; and/or
• Marketing providers who may sell mailing lists.

Event-Related Disclosure: From time to time, we may conduct events, run contests, make special offers, or other activities ("Events"), possibly together with an exhibitor, sponsor or other Service Provider. If you provide information to such third parties, you give them permission to use it for the purpose of that Event and any other use to which you consent. We cannot control such third parties’ use of your information. If you do not want your information to be collected by or shared with such third parties, you can choose not to participate in these Events.

We may also share your Personal Data with exhibitors for their marketing and commercial purposes (including, but not limited to, their sending you marketing and related communications), but only if you have both registered for a conference and either had your attendee credentials scanned by the exhibitor at its booth or enter an exhibitor’s booth virtually online (this does not apply to casual website visitors or conference attendees who are not registered to enter the exhibit hall).

Disclosure of De-Identified Personal Data: We may share De-Identified Personal Data with third parties for any purpose. De-Identified Personal Data or non-Personal Data may be aggregated for system administration and to monitor usage of the Website or Mobile App. It may be utilized to measure the number of visits to our Website or Mobile App, average time spent, number of pages viewed and to monitor various other Website or Mobile App statistics. This monitoring helps us evaluate how visitors use and navigate our Website or Mobile App so we can improve the content. We may share De-Identified Personal Data or anonymous information (including, but not limited to, anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, IP address, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third parties in any way we choose and for any purpose. We may disclose or otherwise share your De-Identified Personal Data with third parties, and we may receive valuable consideration for doing so.
 

Access to the information AA has collected about you

AA provides certain tools and settings within the Services to help you access, correct, delete, or modify your Personal Data associated with the Services. AA welcomes you to contact us (see Contact Information) regarding the information we have collected about you, including regarding the nature and accuracy of the data that has been collected about you, to request an update, modification, or deletion of your information, to opt-out of certain Services uses of your information, or to withdraw any consent you may have granted to AA.

Please note requests to delete or remove your information do not necessarily ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted, and removed information may persist in backup copies indefinitely. Please note that if you choose to delete your information or opt-out of the collection and use of your information, you understand that certain features, including but not limited to access to the Services, may no longer be available to you.

We may store the information we collect about you indefinitely, but information generally will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected, or as otherwise required by law. Following termination or deactivation of an AA Account, AA may retain your information and content for a commercially reasonable time for backup, archival, and audit purposes.
 

Opting-out of communications from AA

You may opt-out of receiving certain communications from AA by following the unsubscribe process described in an email communication, or by contacting us using the contact information noted at the end of this Privacy Policy. However, please note you may not opt-out of Services-related communications, such as account verification, changes or updates to features of the Services, or technical and security notices. Please note opt-out requests may take a reasonable amount of time to fulfill.

Universal opt-out mechanisms

The Website recognizes the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”) signal. If you are using a browser setting or plug-in that sends an opt-out preference signal to each website you visit, we will treat that as a valid request to opt out. Visit the Global Privacy Control website to download and use a browser supporting the GPC browser signal. If you choose to use the GPC signal, you will need to turn it on for each supported browser or browser extension you use. 

Some internet browsers incorporate a “Do Not Track” feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Given that there is not a uniform way that browsers communicate the “Do Not Track” signal, the Website does not currently interpret, respond to or alter its practices when they receive “Do Not Track” signals.

 

Information security

Security of your information

AA takes reasonable efforts to secure and protect the privacy, accuracy, and reliability of your information and to protect it from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. AA implements security measures as we deem appropriate and consistent with industry standards. These security measures include use of transport layer security (TLS) throughout the site to encrypt the communication between this site and its users. Located in high-security data centers, AA servers are restricted to authorized personnel only. These servers are protected by antivirus and next generation firewalls, all of which are regularly updated. As no data security protocol is impenetrable, AA cannot guarantee the security of our systems or databases, nor can we guarantee that Personal Data we collect about you will not be breached, intercepted, destroyed, accessed, or otherwise disclosed without authorization. Accordingly, any information you transfer to or from Services is provided at your own risk.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. You should maintain good internet security practices. Where you have password-protected access to an account or certain parts of the Website, Mobile App, or Services, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. You should not share your password with anyone. You must prevent unauthorized access to your account and Personal Data by selecting and protecting your password appropriately and limiting access to your computer or mobile device and browser by signing off after you have finished accessing your account. If your email account or Facebook account is compromised, this could allow access to your account with us if you have given up those details and/or permitted access through those accounts. If your email account is compromised, it could be used to ask us to reset a password and gain access to your account with us. If you think that any of your accounts have been compromised, you should change your account credentials with us, and in particular make sure any compromised account does not allow access to your account with us. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by other users. We will never email you to ask for your password or other account login information. If you receive such an email, please send it to us so we can investigate.
 

Your consent to disclosure/transfer/sale of your Personal Data

You consent to our disclosure of your Personal Data, De-Identified Personal Data, and other information you provide to us (collectively, "Transferred Information") to a potential or actual buyer or acquirer of our company or other successor for the purpose of considering or undergoing a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, change in control, or sale or transfer of some or all of our assets (each of the foregoing referred to as a "Transfer"), whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or other court proceeding, in which Personal Data held by us is among the assets transferred. You agree to, and do hereby consent to (and shall not object to), our assignment, conveyance, transfer, and/or license (whether by contract, merger or operation of law) as part of a Transfer, of any or all of our rights, in whole or in part, in or to Transferred Information and your consents, with or without notice to you and without your further consent. We cannot make any representations regarding the use or transfer of Transferred Information that we may have in the event of our bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, receivership, or an assignment for the benefit of creditors. By providing any Personal Data, you expressly agree and consent to the use and/or transfer of Transferred Information or other information in connection with a Transfer. Furthermore, except as required by law, we are not and will not be responsible for any breach of security by any third parties or for any actions of any third parties that receive any of the Transferred Information that is disclosed to us.
 

Data retention

The time period for which we retain your Personal Data depend on the purposes for which we use it. We will retain your Personal Data for as long as your AA Account is active, or as long as you are a registered account holder or user of our Services or for as long as we have another business purpose to do so (such as, but not limited to, for business, tax, or legal purposes) and, thereafter, for no longer than is required or permitted by law, or our records retention policy, reasonably necessary for internal reporting and reconciliation purposes, or to provide you with feedback or information you might request. This period of retention is subject to our review and alteration. 

Following termination or deactivation of your AA Account, we may retain your profile information and all information posted to public areas of the Website or Mobile App. Following termination or deactivation of your account, we may retain your Personal Data and other data, but will maintain it as confidential according to the Terms, this Privacy Policy, and as required by applicable law. 

We have the right to delete all of your Personal Data and other data after termination of your account without notice to you.

We may retain De-Identified Personal Data for as long as we deem appropriate.

Additional provisions regarding the Services and your information

Transfer and Storage of Your Information: Please note information AA collects about you may be transferred, processed and/or accessed by us in the United States, or another country where we, or our Service Providers operate. Please be aware Personal Data may be transferred to, and maintained on, computers located outside of your state or country where privacy laws may differ from and may not be as protective as those where you live. If you are located outside the United States and choose to allow us to collect information about you, please be aware that AA may transfer your Personal Data to the United States and process and store it there.

Website Hosting: Except for alz-net.org, AA hosts its Website internally. (Certain event-related websites may be and Mobile Apps are hosted by third-party vendors, and alz-net.org is hosted by a third-party vendor.)
 
Data Hosting: Certain transactions on AA's Website or Mobile App result in your data being stored with external data hosting providers. AA shares your data, including Personal Data, with our Data Hosting Service Provider for the purposes of processing your data pursuant to your use of the Services.
 
Safely Using AA’s Services: Despite AA’s safety and privacy controls, we cannot guarantee the Services are entirely free of illegal, offensive, pornographic, or otherwise inappropriate material, or that you will not encounter inappropriate or illegal conduct from other users when using the Services. You can help AA by notifying us of any unwelcome contact by contacting us.
 
Your California Privacy Rights: Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (known as the "Shine the Light" law), AA members and customers who are residents of California may request certain information about our disclosure of Personal Data during the prior calendar year to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please write to us at the address below or at [email protected] with "Request for California Privacy Information" on the subject line and in the body of your message. We will comply with your request within thirty (30) days or as otherwise required by the statute. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the "Shine the Light" requirements and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response.
 
Third-Party Behavioral Tracking: We allow third-party behavioral tracking of Personal Data, though we may use De-Identified Personal Data to track users’ click or browsing patterns. 
 
Notices; Unsubscribing: By providing us with your email address (including by "following", "liking", linking your account to our Website, Mobile App, or Service or other services, etc., on a third-party website or network), you consent to our using the email address to send you Service-related notices by email, including any notices required by law (e.g., notice of data privacy or security incidents), in lieu of communication by postal mail. You also agree that we may send you notifications of activity regarding our Products, Services, the Website, the Mobile App, your Personal Data, or any aspect of our relationship, to the email address you give us, in accordance with any applicable privacy settings. We may use your email address to send you other messages or content, such as, but not limited to, newsletters, additions or changes to features of the Service, or special offers. If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may unsubscribe by emailing us your request or, where available, by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of our e-newsletter. Unsubscribing may prevent you from receiving email messages regarding updates, improvements, special features, announcements, or offers. You may not unsubscribe from Service-related emails. Please note that if you have opted not to receive legal notice emails from us (or you have not provided us with your email address), those legal notices will still govern your use of the Services, and you are still responsible for reading and understanding them.

You can add, update, or delete information as explained above. When you update information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised information in our records. You may request deletion of your account by emailing us. It is your responsibility to maintain your current email address with us.

Privacy Notice for Colorado Residents: Residents of Colorado have certain rights, many of which are described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy. Such rights include the following:

• Right to Access Information. You have the right to access information practices. Much of the information you are entitled to access is disclosed in this Privacy Policy. You also have the right to access the categories of Personal Data we collect, with whom we share that information, and, in some cases, what specific Personal Data we associate with you or your account (where applicable).
• Right to Data Portability. If you request a copy of your specific information then we will provide it in an easily accessible format.
• Right to Deletion or Erasure. You may request that we delete the personal information we have collected about you. Depending on the applicable law, in some cases we are required or permitted to retain your information, even if you validly requested we delete or erase it.
• Right to Correct Information. You may request we correct or rectify inaccurate information we have collected about you.
• Right to Withdraw Consent. You may withdraw your consent to our data privacy practices.
• Right to Non-Discrimination. You have the right to not experience discrimination from us for exercising the rights listed in this section.
• Right to Opt-Out. Colorado consumers have the right, if applicable, to opt-out of the processing of Personal Data for purposes of (1) targeting advertising, (2) the “sale” of Personal Data; and (3) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning the consumer.

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to display advertisements to you on nonaffiliated websites, applications, and online services. This is “targeted advertising” under applicable privacy laws. When we engage in those activities, we sell Personal Data (i.e., information from cookies) to third-party advertisers and analytics companies. We do not use Personal Data for profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning individuals.

To exercise your rights, please submit a request via the contact information noted at the end of this Privacy Policy. If legally required, we will comply with your request upon verification of your identity and, to the extent applicable, the identity of the individual on whose behalf you are making such request. To do so, we will ask you to verify data points based on information we have in our records. If you are submitting a request on behalf of another individual, please use the same contact methods described above. If we refuse to take action regarding your request, you may appeal our decision via the contact information noted at the end of this Privacy Policy. 

If you would like to opt out of sales and targeted advertising, you may alter your cookie preferences here: Privacy Settings. If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we will also treat that as a valid request to opt out. Please see the “Universal Opt-Out Mechanisms” section above for more information.

GDPR: The Following Provisions Apply Only to Citizens and Residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland: The following provisions apply only if you are a citizen or resident of the UK, EEA, or Switzerland. For such citizens or residents, all processing of your Personal Data is performed in accordance with privacy rights and regulations, in particular, (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, known as the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), and our processing will take place in accordance with the GDPR. For purposes of the GDPR, we will be the "data controller" of Personal Data (referred to and defined in the GDPR as "Personal Data") we collect through the Website or Mobile App, unless we collect such information on behalf of a "data controller" in which case we will be a "data processor". This Privacy Policy does not apply to websites, applications or services that do not display or link to this Privacy Policy or that display or link to a different privacy policy. For UK, EEA, and Switzerland residents and citizens only, to the extent any definition in this Privacy Policy conflicts with a definition under the GDPR, the GDPR definition shall control.
 
We provide adequate protection for the transfer of Personal Data to countries outside of the UK, EEA, or Switzerland through a series of intercompany agreements based on or incorporating the Standard Contractual Clauses, or we rely on the European Commission’s adequacy decisions about certain countries, as applicable, and/or obtain your consent for these data transfers from Europe to the United States to other countries. We may also need to transfer your information to other group companies or service providers in countries outside the EEA. This may happen if our servers or suppliers and service providers are based outside the UK, EEA, or Switzerland, or if you use our services and products while visiting countries outside this area.

Your Specific Consent to Processing of "Special" Categories of Personal Information: Currently, under GDPR and Colorado law, certain types of Personal Data are considered "special" categories of information and certain additional disclosure is required and to which you hereby consent. Please see the table above under the Sensitive Personal Information section for details of the information collected and the purposes for use.

Our Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data (UK, EEA, and Swiss Visitors Only): If you are a visitor using our Website or Mobile App from the UK, EEA, or Switzerland, our legal basis for collecting and using the Personal Data described above will depend on the Personal Data concerned and the specific context in which we collect it. However, we will normally collect Personal Data from you only where we need the Personal Data to perform Services for you for which you have contracted with us, or where the processing is in our legitimate interests or rely upon your consent where we are legally required to do so and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect Personal Data from you or may otherwise need the Personal Data to protect your vital interests or those of another person.
 
The collection and processing of your Personal Data may be necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. Such legitimate interest purposes may include the following:

• Fraud prevention;

• Ensuring network and information security;

• Indicating possible criminal acts or threats to public security, including enhancing protection of our community against spam, harassment, intellectual property infringement, crime, and security risks of all kind, and enforcing legal claims, including investigation of potential violations of our Terms of Use;

• When we are complying with legal obligations;

• Processing employee or visitor, member, attendee, or registrant data;

• Performing the function or service you requested of us;

• Providing our Services and their functionality to you where such processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by our service providers related to the Services;

• Direct marketing and solicitation;

• The relevant and appropriate relationship we have with you;

• Analytics, e.g., assess the number of visitors, page views, use of the Website or Mobile App, etc., in order to understand how our Website, Mobile App, and Services are being used, to optimize the Website or Mobile App and/or future communications, and to develop new services and Website or Mobile App features; 

• Updating your information and preferences;

• Offering and improving our Services; and/or

• Enforcing legal claims, including investigation of potential violations of our Terms.

Your data rights under GDPR

If you are subject to GDPR, your rights include, in addition to those already described herein, the following:

• The right to access: Upon request, we will confirm any processing of your Personal Data and provide you with a copy of that Personal Data in an acceptable machine-readable format.

• The right to rectification: You have the right to have us correct any inaccurate Personal Data or to have us complete any incomplete Personal Data.

• The right to erasure: You may ask us to delete or remove your Personal Data and we will do so in some circumstances, such as where we no longer need it (we may not delete your data when other interests outweigh your right to deletion).

• The right to restrict processing: You have the right to ask us to suppress the processing of your Personal Data but we may still store your Personal Data.

• The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to your Personal Data used in the following manners: (a) processing based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling); (b) direct marketing (including profiling); and, (c) processing for purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics. 

• The right to data portability: You have the right to obtain your Personal Data from us that you consented to give us or that is necessary to perform fulfillment of member benefits with you. We will give you your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

• The right to complain to a supervisory authority: You have the right to file a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the European member state of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement if you consider that the processing of Personal Data relating to you infringes upon your rights.

• The right to withdraw consent: If we are processing your Personal Data based on your consent to do so, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

If a designation of a data protection officer is required under the GDPR, our person for this purpose can be contacted at [email protected].

Contacting AA regarding this Privacy Policy

Alzheimer’s Association
225 N. Michigan Avenue
Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60601
Attn: Data Privacy Officer
Email: [email protected]

Last Updated: September 18, 2024