Privacy Policy, Cookies policy and Website terms and Conditions.
1. Introduction
This Internet website is provided by The Joint Arab British Chamber Of Commerce (“ABCC”) referred to as “we”, “us” and “our” in this policy.
1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors and service users.
1.2 This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.
1.3 We will ask you to consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy when you first visit our website.
1.4 In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to The Joint Arab British Chamber Of Commerce (“ABCC”). For more information about us, see Section 19.
1.5 “You” refers to the customer or user who uses the Site subject to these terms and conditions and “your” will be construed accordingly.
“Site” means the site on the World Wide Web located atwww.abcc.org.uk (English and Arabic), and “Content” means the information and other material available within the Site both (English and Arabic).
2. How we use your personal data
2.1 In this Section 2 we have set out:
(a) the general categories of personal data that we may process;
(b) in the case of personal data that we did not obtain directly from you, the source and specific categories of that data;
(c) the purposes for which we may process personal data; and
(d) the legal bases of the processing.
2.2 We may process data about your use of our website and services (“usage data“). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our analytics tracking system. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is for our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.
2.3 We may process your account data (“account data“). The account data may include your name and email address. The source of the account data may come from you or your employer. The account data may be processed for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business.
2.4 We may process your information, pictures, videos included in your personal profile on our website or recorded from any of our events (“profile data“). The profile data may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, profile pictures and images, video, gender, date of birth, relationship status, interests and hobbies, educational details and employment details. The profile data may be processed for the purposes of enabling and monitoring your use of our website and services. The legal basis for this processing is consentorour legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business.
2.5 We may process your personal data that are provided in the course of the use of our services (“service data“). The source of the service data is provided by you or your employer. The service data may be processed for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent OR our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business.
2.6 We may process information that you post for publication on our website or through our services (“publication data“). The publication data may be processed for the purposes of enabling such publication and administering our website and services. The legal basis for this processing is consent OR our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business.
2.7 We may process information contained in any enquiry you submit to us regarding goods and/or services (“enquiry data“). The enquiry data may be processed for the purposes of offering, marketing and selling relevant goods and/or services to you. The legal basis for this processing is consent.
2.8 We may process information relating to transactions, including purchases of services, that you enter into with us and/or through our website (“transaction data“). The transaction data may include your contact details, your card details and the transaction details. The transaction data may be processed for the purpose of supplying the purchased goods and services and keeping proper records of those transactions. The legal basis for this processing is for the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract and our legitimate interests, namely our interest in the proper administration of our website and business.
2.9 We may process information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (“notification data“). The notification data may be processed for the purposes of sending you the relevant notifications and/or newsletters. The legal basis for this processing is consent.
2.10 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us (“correspondence data“). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our website will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record-keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business and communications with users.
2.11 We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.
2.12 We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.
2.13 In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this Section 2, we may also process any of your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
2.14 Please do not supply any other person’s personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.
3. Automated decision-making
3.1 The operations we perform on personal data does not constitute “automated decisions”.
4. Providing your personal data to others
4.1 We may disclose your personal data to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes, and on the legal bases, set out in this policy.
4.2 We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
4.3 We may disclose your name, address, telephone number, email address, to our suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for magazine advertisement and events management.
4.4 Financial transactions relating to our website and services arehandled by our payment services providers, [HSBC, Sage pay, Barclay Card and PayPal]. We will share transaction data with our payment services providers only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing your payments, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds. You can find information about the payment services providers’ privacy policies and practices in their websites.
4.5 We may disclose your enquiry data to one or more of those selected third party suppliers of goods and services for the purpose of enabling them to contact you so that they can offer, market and sell to you relevant goods and/or services. Each such third party will act as a data controller in relation to the enquiry data that we supply to it; and upon contacting you, each such third party will supply to you a copy of its own privacy policy, which will govern that third party’s use of your personal data.
4.6 In addition to the specific disclosures of personal data set out in this Section 4, we may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
5. International transfers of your personal data
5.1 In this Section 5, we provide information about the circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
5.2 We don’t have offices and facilities outside EEA. The European Commission has made an “adequacy decision” with respect tothe data protection laws of each of these countries.
5.3 You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
6. Retaining and deleting personal data
6.1 This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal data.
6.2 Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6.3 Personal data shall be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by this Regulation in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject.
6.4 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
7. Security of personal data
7.1 We will take appropriate technical and organisational precautions to secure your personal data and to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.
7.2 We will store all your personal data on secure servers, personal computers and mobile devices, and in secure manual record-keeping systems.
7.3 Data relating to your enquiries and financial transactions that is sent from your web browser to our web server, or from our web server to your web browser, will be protected using encryption technology.
7.4 You acknowledge that the transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.
7.5 You should ensure that your password is not susceptible to being guessed, whether by a person or a computer program. You are responsible for keeping the password you use for accessing our website confidential and we will not ask you for your password.
8. Amendments
8.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
8.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.
8.3 We may notify you of changes to this policy by email or through the private messaging system on our website.
9. Your rights
9.1 You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to:
(a) the payment of a fee (currently fixed at GBP 10); and
(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity [(for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address).
9.2 We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
9.3 You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.
9.4 In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.
9.5 In this Section 9, we have summarised the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, and not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.
9.6 Your principal rights under data protection law are:
(a) the right to access;
(b) the right to rectification;
(c) the right to erasure;
(d) the right to restrict processing;
(e) the right to object to processing;
(f) the right to data portability;
(g) the right to complain to a supervisory authority; and
(h) the right to withdraw consent.
9.7 You have the right to confirmation as to whether or not we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data, together with certain additional information. That additional information includes details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients of the personal data. Providing the rights and freedoms of others are not affected, we will supply to you a copy of your personal data. The first copy will be provided free of charge, but additional copies may be subject to a reasonable fee.
9.8 You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.
9.9 In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
9.10 In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.
9.11 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the processing is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
9.12 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.
9.13 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes on grounds relating to your particular situation, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.
9.14 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:
(a) consent; or
(b) that the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract,
and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. However, this right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
9.15 If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.
9.16 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
9.17 You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by written notice to us.
10. Third party websites
10.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.
10.2 We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
11. Personal data of children
11.1 Our website and services are targeted at persons over the age of 18.
11.2 If we have reason to believe that we hold personal data of a person under that age in our databases, we will delete that personal data.
12. Updating information
12.1 Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.
13.1 Insofar as we act as a data processor rather than a data controller, this policy shall not apply. Our legal obligations as a data processor are instead set out in the contract between us and the relevant data controller.
14. About cookies
14.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
14.2 Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
14.3 Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
15. Cookies that we use
15.1 We use cookies for the following purposes:
(a) authentication – we may use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website.
(b) status – we may use cookies to help us to determine if you are logged into our website
(c) shopping cart – we may use cookies to maintain the state of your shopping cart as you navigate our website
(d) personalisation – we may use cookies to store information about your preferences and to personalise our website for you
(e) security – we may use cookies as an element of the security measures used to protect user accounts, including preventing fraudulent use of login credentials, and to protect our website and services generally
(f) advertising – we may use cookies to help us to display advertisements that will be relevant to you
(g) analysis – we may use cookies to help us to analyse the use and performance of our website and services
(h) cookie consent – we use cookies to store your preferences in relation to the use of cookies more generally.
16. Cookies used by our service providers
16.1 Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.
16.2 We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy
17. Managing cookies
17.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:
(a) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en (Chrome);
(b) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences (Firefox);
(c) http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/ (Opera);
(d) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);
(e) https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411 (Safari); and
(f) https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-and-privacy (Edge).
17.2 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.
18. Cookie preferences
18.1 You can manage your preferences relating to the use of cookies.
19. Our details
19.1 This website is owned and operated by The Joint Arab British Chamber Of Commerce (“ABCC”)
19.2 We are registered in England and Wales under registration number 1199402, and our registered office is at 43 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 2NJ.
19.3 Our principal place of business is at 43 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 2NJ.
19.4 You can contact us:
(a) by post, to address given above;
(b) by using our website contact form;
(c) by telephone, the contact number published on our website from time to time; or
(d) by email, using the email address published on our website from time to time.
Terms and Conditions
Availability
You acknowledge that it is technically impossible to provide the Site free of faults and that we do not undertake to do so; that faults may lead to the temporary unavailability of the Site; and that the operation of the Site may be adversely affected by conditions and performances outside our control, including, without limitation, transmission and telecommunications links between us and you and between us and other systems and networks. We and/or our suppliers may make improvements and/or changes in the Site at any time.
Warranty
We will perform our services with reasonable care and skill. No representation or warranty is given that the services will be uninterrupted or error free or that all errors or defects can be corrected or remedied. The Site is used at your own risk. We accept no liability for any loss or damage to your hardware and/or software and/or data resulting from your access and/or use of the Site. In no event shall ABCC be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the advice or information given on this Site.
Security
You are responsible for the security and proper use of (any) user name and passwords used from time to time in connection with the Site and must take all necessary steps to ensure that they are kept confidential, secure, used properly and not disclosed to unauthorised people. You must immediately inform us if there is any reason to believe that your user name or password has or is likely to become known to someone not authorised to use it or is being or is likely to be used in an unauthorised way. If you forget or lose a password or user name you must contact us and satisfy such security checks as we may operate. We reserve the right to suspend user name and password access to the Site and the Services if at any time we consider that there is or is likely to be a breach of security. We reserve the right (in our sole discretion) to require you to change any or all of the passwords used by you in connection with the Site. You must immediately inform us of any changes to the information you supplied when registering for the Site.
Opt Out from Electronic Communications.
Marketing Communications.
ABCC may send you electronic communications marketing or advertising the Services themselves or events on the Services, to the extent you have registered for the Services or purchased a ticket and/or registration to an event listed on the Services. You can “opt out” of receiving these electronic communications by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any such electronic communication.
Organizer Initiated Communications.
Organizers may use our email tools to send electronic communications to those on their email subscription lists, including Attendees who have registered for their events on the Services in the past. Although these electronic communications are sent through our system, ABCC does not determine the content or the recipients of these electronic communications. Organizers are required to use our email tools only in accordance with all applicable laws. ABCC provides an “Unsubscribe” link on each of these emails, which allows recipients to “opt out” of electronic communications from the particular Organizer.
Social Notifications.
If you connect your Facebook account or sign up for other social media integrations whose product features include social notifications (i.e., updates on what your friends are doing on the Services), you will receive these social notifications. You can manage these social notifications by toggling your social settings to private or disconnecting such integration.
Transactional or Responsive Communications.
Certain electronic communications from ABCC are responsive to your requests. For instance, if you are an Attendee, we must email you your ticket or registration when you purchase such ticket or registration. As a further example, if you email any ABCC department, we will return your email. Notwithstanding any unsubscribe election that you have made, you will still receive these emails. You can stop receiving these types of emails only by contacting us. By electing to stop receiving all electronic communications from us or through our system you will no longer receive any updates on events you have created (including payout issues) or on events you are registered to attend (including emails with your tickets). We do not recommend that you do this unless you plan to no longer use the Services, are not currently registered for an event, are not currently organizing an event and will have no need to receive further communications from us or through our system.
Retention.
It may take up to forty eight (48) hours for us to process an unsubscribe request. Even after you opt out of all electronic communications, we will retain your Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy, however, we will no longer use it to contact you. However, Organizers who have received your Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy may still use that Personal Data to contact you in accordance with their own privacy policies, but they may not use our system to do so.
Invoicing and payment
Delegate fees (including any card processing and/or booking fees applicable) are payable upon booking unless a valid, authorised Purchase Order is provided and accepted.
For online bookings paid at the time of booking, invoices/receipts will be issued electronically from the booking website on completion of the booking.
For bookings accepted with purchase orders, invoices will be sent via post to the name and address provided on the booking form and must be paid within 30 days of the invoice date or not later than 1 working day prior to the start of the event, whichever date occurs soonest (the “due date”).
Payment must be made in pounds Sterling by cheque, credit/debit card or BACS.
Event attendance
Delegates will receive joining instructions via email to the email address provided on the booking form.
It is the responsibility of the individual completing the event registration/booking form to ensure joining instructions are received by the delegate. Instructions will be sent via email to the email address provided on the booking form.
If the joining instructions are not received, it is the responsibility of the individual who completed the event registration/booking form to contact ABCC Events department to arrange for them to be reissued.
Failure to attend the event will result in the full cost being incurred. No refund shall be given.
Failure to attend an event at which a free or concessionary rate place was given may at ABCC sole discretion result in the delegate becoming ineligible for such places at future event(s).
ABCC will send all correspondence primarily via email to the email provided on the booking form. If alternative details are received after the booking form has been submitted, they will supersede the original details and all future correspondence will be sent to the new address.
It may be necessary, for reasons beyond the control of ABCC, to change the content and timing of the programme, the date, the venue or the speaker(s).
Cancellations and Amendments
All requests for cancellations and/or transfers must be received in writing.
Changes will become effective on the date of written confirmation being received.
The appropriate cancellation charge will apply based on the cost of your booking (excluding any card processing fees and/or booking fees previously applied).
Miscellaneous
Notices shall be given to the relevant party at the addresses given by you, or at such address as is notified to the other to this purpose. This agreement constitutes the whole agreement between the parties and can only be varied in writing. We may assign the benefit (subject to the burden) of this agreement to any purchaser of our business. Your statutory rights are not affected at all by these terms and conditions. This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England. Any dispute will be dealt with by the English courts. Each party confirms that, save as expressly set out in this agreement, no term of this agreement is enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by any third party who but for that Act would not have been entitled to enforce such terms.
Contacting Us
If you would like to contact us or wish to make a complaint, please call on 020 7659 4876 within opening hours or email info@abcc.org.uk. Alternatively, if you prefer to write by post, then please send your letter to Secretary General Office, 43 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 2NJ. All notices and written communication should also be sent to this address.
Compliance with Laws
By using this website, you agree to do so only for lawful reasons. You agree not to impersonate anyone and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding transactions entered into on the website.
Pension Information
Click here for Annual Report
Click here for the Statement of Investment Principle
Click here for Implementation Statement
Updated February 2023