Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

This privacy notice serves to elucidate the procedures by which GFC collects and uses personal data, while delineating your entitlements regarding said personal data. In this communication, the terms "GFC," "our," "we," or "us" refer to the GFC Cloud (Shanghai) Technology Service Co., LTD.

GFC engages in the processing of personal data for a variety of purposes. We directly collect this personal data from you, such as when you engage us to prepare your tax return, visit https://www.gfc-global.com/, submit your contact details to receive marketing communications from us, or provide event-related data to attend GFC events. Alternatively, we process your personal data in the context of providing professional services to your employer or service provider, for example, conducting consulting for the company you work for. Finally, we obtain your personal data via publicly available sources, such as LinkedIn. This privacy notice is intended to cover all of the above-mentioned scenarios.

Personal Data

In this privacy notice, the term "personal data" encompasses any information pertaining to an identifiable individual, whether directly or indirectly, particularly by reference to identifiers such as a name, identification number, location data, or an online identifier. Personal data also encompasses one or more specific factors relating to an individual's physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity.

Additionally, it includes special categories of personal data (special category data) from which we can ascertain or infer an individual's attributes：

           1.  Racial or ethnic origin

           2. Political opinions

           3. Religious or philosophical beliefs

           4. Membership of a trade union

           5. Genetic data

           6. Biometric data

           7. Physical or mental health or condition

           8. Sex life or sexual orientation

Rights in relation to data

You are entitled to the following rights concerning your personal data:

         1. Access to the personal data that GFC holds about you

         2. The right to have your personal data corrected, for instance, if it is incomplete or inaccurate

         3. The right to restrict or object to the processing of personal data, or request the erasure of personal data (under specific                                     circumstances and in accordance with applicable law)

        4. Receipt of a copy of the personal data you provided to GFC in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (referred              to as "data portability") (under specific circumstances and in accordance with applicable law)

         5. If you have voluntarily provided personal data or consented to its use, the right to withdraw your consent

         6. The right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority

Voluntarily Provided Data

We gather personal data that you willingly provide through our website, such as when you complete online forms to contact us, subscribe to a newsletter, utilize our online benchmark tools, sign up to receive marketing communications, or register for events we host. The information we collect includes:

1. Name
2. Job title, job level, or job function
3. Educational background
4. Company or organization details
5. Company-related data
6. Contact details like primary email, email address, and phone numbers
7. Demographic details such as industry, country, postal code, preferences, and interests
8. Event-specific information obtained through event-related forms, like dietary restrictions, hotel and flight details, registration status, media interview attendance, past event participation, and gender
9. Information essential for providing our services to you
10. Any other personal data that you choose to share voluntarily

We do not actively seek sensitive category data unless you provide it voluntarily. While there are areas on the website where you can input any information in free text format, we do not aim to process sensitive data. You are not obligated to disclose sensitive personal details in these free text fields. By choosing to share any sensitive personal data in this manner, you consent to its collection and processing.

Upon registration on our website, your personal data is stored in our CRM system. Information of registrants is deleted if there has been no active engagement with GFC for 18 months, or earlier if mandated by law.

Purposes for which we process your personal data:

1. To oversee and maintain our website, including verifying and validating your identity, and preventing unauthorized entry to restricted sections of our site
2. To personalize and enhance your browsing experience by presenting content (including targeted advertisements) that is more likely to be pertinent and interesting to you
3. To analyze visitor data and site traffic information
4. To identify the company, organization, institution, or agency you are affiliated with or associated to
5. To advance our business and services
6. To furnish you with marketing communications, GFC Thought Leadership materials, and online benchmark tools
7. To carry out benchmark and data analysis (e.g., regarding site usage and demographic analyses of site visitors)
8. To comprehend how visitors utilize the features and functionalities of our site
9. To supervise and ensure adherence to applicable terms of use
10. To conduct quality and risk management evaluations
11. To facilitate improved management of GFC events, including the World Entrepreneur of the Year
12. To enable event management teams to more effectively coordinate their email campaigns and event notifications
13. To facilitate event and webinar registration
14. To allow for content download
15. To ensure efficient delivery of services and information to you
16. Any other purpose for which you provided information to GFC

Clients

When you enlist our professional services, we collect and utilize personal data when there is a valid business rationale in connection with those services. In the course of delivering professional services to clients, GFC also processes the personal data of individuals who are not directly our clients (such as employees, customers, or suppliers of our clients). The majority of the personal data we gather and use to provide our services is voluntarily provided by our clients, or collected by us from third-party sources at their behest. Consequently, if you are a client of GFC, it will typically be evident to you which personal data we collect and use. This information may encompass:

1. Foundational details, such as your name, your company affiliation, your role, and your connection to an individual
2. Contact details, such as your mailing address, email address, and phone numbers
3. Financial particulars, such as payment-related information
4. Any other personal data related to you or other third parties that you furnish to us for the purpose of availing our services

We use this information:

1. To render services to you
2. To oversee our relationship and uphold contractual ties
3. For accounting and tax obligations
4. For marketing and business growth
5. To adhere to our legal and regulatory responsibilities
6. To establish, exercise, or safeguard legal rights
7. For historical and statistical purposes

Transfers of personal data

We implement suitable security and legal measures to protect the safety and integrity of personal data transferred within the GFC organization. Your personal data will be handled by support providers of GFC who facilitate our internal ancillary procedures.

Other disclosures

GFC discloses your personal data:

1. Where deemed appropriate for the purposes outlined in the section "Purposes for which we process personal data," including within the GFC organization itself
2. If mandated by applicable law
3. In the context of a reorganization or merger involving our organization and another entity
4. If we deem such disclosure necessary to enforce or implement engagement terms, agreements, or to safeguard GFC's rights, assets, or well-being
5. To comply with a legal obligation, judicial proceeding, court order, regulatory inquiry, or government directive
6. With your explicit consent

It is important to highlight that in specific jurisdictions, GFC is legally obligated to report suspicious transactions and related activities to relevant regulatory bodies under anti-money laundering, terrorist financing, insider trading, or similar laws. GFC also notifies law enforcement agencies about suspected criminal behavior.

Security

GFC ensures the confidentiality and security of information acquired during its operations. Access to such data is restricted, with established policies and procedures in place to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorized disclosure.

1. Personal data is safeguarded through appropriate physical, technological, and organizational security measures, aligning with data protection requirements as a standard practice.
2. Personal data is handled, stored, and shared solely for legitimate business purposes.
3. Our agreements with third-party processors affirm that data management adheres to the same high standards maintained throughout the organization.
4. Special attention is given to handling sensitive personal data.
5. Measures are in position to maintain the accuracy, completeness, currency, sufficiency, and reliability of personal data.
6. Personal data is retained in an identifiable format only for the necessary duration.
7. When relevant, individuals engaged with by GFC are informed of the purpose behind the processing of their personal data.
8. A record of processing activities categories is maintained. Activities posing a potential high risk to individuals' rights and freedoms undergo a data protection impact assessment.

Changes to this privacy statement

Periodically, we will revise this privacy statement to account for modifications in our procedures and offerings. The "last updated" date at the beginning of this privacy notice will be adjusted when revisions are made. In cases where substantial alterations are made to how we gather, utilize, and disclose personal data, we will inform you by prominently displaying notifications of these adjustments on the website. We suggest checking this page intermittently to stay informed about any updates to this privacy statement.