Privacy Policy

Alternative Fuels Council Privacy Statement

5/19/2023

We at the Alternative Fuels Council, Inc. (AFC) respect your concerns about privacy and value the relationship we have with you.  We want you to be familiar with how we collect, use, and disclose information about you.  This Privacy Statement describes our practices in connection with the AFC’s website and other information collection sources.  By visiting our website and providing your information, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Statement.

What Types of Information Do We Collect and How Do We Collect It?

The AFC currently collects information about you in the following ways:

  • Information we receive from you, which includes information you provide in:
  • Meeting registration forms – For meeting registrations, we typically ask for (but are not limited to) First Name, Last Name, Nickname, Title, Company, Telephone, Email, Business Address, CC Email Address, and dietary restrictions. Sometimes we ask for travel plans, lodging information, guest/companion information, payment information, Emergency Contact Name and Phone, Badge Name, and other data like the meeting sessions, meals, and receptions you wish to attend.
  • The “members only” section of AFC’s website – Name, Nickname, Telephone, Email, Title, Subscriptions, and Committee participation.
  • Information sent by your device or browser when you visit our website. When you visit a website, including the AFC’s website, your browser automatically sends certain information such as browser type, language preference, operating system, internet service provider, internet protocol (IP) address, device identification number, geo-location data, and online browsing data (such as date and time of access to our website, referring website address, pages viewed, features used, links clicked, and other actions you take in connection with the website, sometimes referred to as “clickstream data”).
  • Information from our tracking tools. When you visit our website, automated collection tools such as “cookies” and “web beacons” may gather information about your visit and your computer.
  • A cookieis a small text file stored on your computer that lets us know whether you have visited the website before and your navigation experience during your visit. Cookies may be used to facilitate your access to our website, enhance and personalize your online experience, and recognize your computer or your device.
  • Web beaconsare small graphics placed on our website and in email communications that are used to measure the effectiveness of our website and email communications. Web beacons on our website collect information about your visit, like the pages you view, the features you use, the links you click, and other actions you take in connection with the website.  Web beacons in our emails track your interactions with those messages, such as when you receive, open, forward, or click a link in an email message from us.
  • We also use other third-party analytics services to analyze how a visitor uses our website or interacts with the content we provide. Examples of these services include:
    • Google Analytics
    • Google Tag Manager
    • UTM Codes
    • Bit.ly tracking links
    • Facebook tracking pixels
    • Twitter universal web tag
    • Informz Email Analytics

The third-party analytics services we use change over time.  For a full list of the third-party analytics services we use, please contact us at [insert email].

  • Information we receive from other sources. We receive information about you from other sources.  This information helps us supplement the information we receive from you and improve the personalization of our communications to you.  Examples of these other sources include:
    • Sprout social analytics
    • Phone2Action
    • Informz Email Analytics
    • Gravity forms
    • TrackMaven
    • NationBuilder

How Do We Use The Information We Collect About You?

We use the information we collect about you in the following ways:

  • To customize our communications with you and provide personalized content, offers, and advertising.
  • For administrative purposes, such as to assist you with registration, obtain information about AFC-related events, and respond to inquiries from you.
  • To administer offers, promotions, and surveys.
  • To communicate with you about AFC-related issues.
  • To operate, evaluate, and improve our organization (including developing new services and products, managing communications, determining the effectiveness of our sales, marketing, and advertising and analyzing and enhancing our existing services and products).
  • To perform data analyses and other processing (including market and consumer research and trend analysis).
  • To display content on our website, such as stories and photos.

We may change the way we use information about you, in which case we will update this Privacy Statement.

With Whom Do We Share Information About You?

We may share information about you in the following ways:

  • We sometimes partner with private companies that sponsor AFC events. We share with them the attendee lists for such events.  Those lists contain name, title and company. Attendee email addresses and mailing addresses are only shared with consent.
  • We sometimes contract with third parties for marketing or other activities on behalf of the AFC and allow them to use selected member information such as names, email addresses or mailing addresses under strict confidentiality agreements.
  • We share member information such as names, email addresses and mailing addresses with NATSO, Inc.
  • With third parties that perform services on our behalf, including running our websites, sending communications for us, and executing events. These third parties are contractually restricted from using or disclosing your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or to comply with legal requirements.
  • With third parties, such as law enforcement or regulatory authorities, when required by law or legal process, to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation or suspected or actual criminal activity.

We reserve the right to transfer information about you if we sell or transfer all or a portion of our organization or assets.  Should such sale or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to direct the transferee to use your information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Statement.

What Are Your Choices?  

If you would like to stop receiving marketing communications from us, click on unsubscribe@[insert] or call us at [insert phone number].

Your browser may give you the ability to control cookies or other tracking tools.  The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to delete existing cookies.  Note that if you choose to disable cookies, it is possible that some of our websites’ features may not function properly.  For more information on deleting or controlling cookies, visit www.aboutcookies.org.

Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you.  These features are not all uniform.  We do not currently respond to those signals.

What Are Your California Privacy Rights?

If you reside in California, you have the right to ask us one time each year if we have shared your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.  To make a request, please send us an email or call us at the phone number provided below.  Indicate in your letter that you are a California resident making a “Shine the Light” inquiry.

How Is Your Information Secured?

We recognize the importance of maintaining the security of your information.  We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, and modification. Please be aware though that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.

What About Links to Third Party Sites?

From time to time, we may provide links to third-party websites.  These websites operate independently from AFC and may have their own privacy statements in place, which we strongly suggest you review if you visit any linked websites.  To the extent any linked websites you visit are not operated by or on behalf of AFC, we are not responsible for their content or your use of the websites.

How Will You Know If This Privacy Statement Changes?

This Privacy Statement may be updated periodically and will be posted on our website, indicating when it was last updated.  If there are material changes to our Privacy Statement, we will post a prominent notice on our websites and/or provide other notice as required by law.

How Can You Contact Us?

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Statement, or if you would like us to update information we have about you, please call us at 515.988.1626 or send us an email at info@natsoaltfuels.com.

Notice to European Residents – EU Specific Terms

To comply with the requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for our European users, this Privacy Statement outlines the legal basis on which we process your personal information and provides other information required by the GDPR.  The terms and conditions contained in this section – Notice to European Residents – EU Specific Terms – applies only to the personal information of European Union residents we may process.

Legal Basis for Processing Your Information

We will only process your information where we have a legal basis to do so.  The legal basis will depend on the reason(s) we collected and need to use your personal information.  The different legal bases we rely on are:

  • Consent: Where you have told us you are happy for us to process your personal information for a specific purpose, such as when you request that we contact you with information about our products and services.
  • Legitimate interests: Where the processing is necessary for us to conduct our business, but not where your interests are overridden by your rights or interests. This may include processing to inform you of changes to our services, or to provide you with information about other services we offer.
  • Contractual necessity: Where the processing is necessary based on your purchase of a product or service from our website.
  • Legal claims: Where the processing of your personal information is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.
  • Legal obligation: Where we are required to process your personal information by law.

Transfers of Personal Information

This website is published in the United States.  If you are located within the European Union, you should be aware that when you access the website and provide your personal information, you are transferring your data to the United States where it is being collected and processed.  We will take steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is subject to appropriate safeguards and that it is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy statement.

How long we keep your Personal Information

The period for which we retain your information varies according to the use of that information. In some cases, there are legal requirements to keep certain data for a minimum period of time. Unless specific legal requirements dictate otherwise, we will retain your information no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and processed (as described above).

Your rights

You have the right under certain circumstances:

  • To be provided with a copy of your personal information held by us:
  • To request the rectification or erasure of your personal information held by us;
  • To request that we restrict the processing of your personal information (while we verify or investigate your concerns with this information, for example);
  • To object to the further processing of your personal information, including the right to object to marketing;
  • To request that your provided personal information be moved to a third party.

Your right to withdraw consent

Where the processing of your personal information by us is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent without detriment at any time by contacting us as set forth in the Contact Us section.  Such withdrawal will not affect the processing of your personal data prior to the withdrawal.

How to exercise your rights

You can also exercise the rights listed above at any time by contacting us at [insert email address] or calling us at [insert phone number]. The exercise of the above rights might be subject to certain conditions and we might require further information from you before we can respond to your request.

If your request or concern is not satisfactorily resolved by us, you may approach your local data protection authority.