PRIVACY POLICY

 

Effective August 4, 20226​

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1. About This Policy

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The Blackwell Institute of Innovative Research & Global Strategies ("BIIRGS," "we," "us," or "our") is an independent interdisciplinary psychological science institute. We are incorporated in the United States, maintain operations primarily in the United States, and work with individuals and organizations globally.

This policy explains what personal information we collect through biirgs.com, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the rights available to you. It is written with regard to applicable United States privacy law and, where applicable, the UK GDPR and EU GDPR.

BIIRGS is the controller of information collected through this website. Contact us at privacy@biirgs.com.

 

2. Information We Collect

Information you give us. When you contact us, subscribe to our mailing list, register for an event or program, or purchase or license our materials, we collect your name, email address, organization and role where provided, and the content of your message or registration. For purchases, we collect billing and invoicing details. Full payment-card details are handled directly by our payment provider; BIIRGS does not receive or store full card numbers.

Information collected automatically. When you visit our website, our website and service providers may collect technical information including IP address, approximate location, device and browser type, pages viewed, and date and time of access.

Information received through service providers. We may receive information from service providers that support our website, forms, event registration, payment processing, and email delivery.

We do not seek sensitive or special-category personal information through this website. Please do not include health information or other sensitive details in a message unless it is necessary for your request.

 

3. Why We Use It

We use personal information to:

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• respond to inquiries, partnership requests, and correspondence;

• deliver commissioned work, advisory services, and licensed materials;

• administer event and program registration and related communications;

• send briefings, publications, and mailing list communications you have asked to receive;

• process payments and maintain financial records;

• operate, secure, and improve our website; and

• comply with law and protect our rights.

 

Where the UK or EU GDPR applies, our legal bases are: performance of a contract, for services, licensing, and event registration; consent, for mailing list communications and non-essential cookies; legal obligation, for financial and legal record-keeping; and legitimate interests, for responding to those who contact us and for website security and improvement.

 

We do not sell personal information. We do not use it for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising, or for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

4. Cookies

Our website uses cookies in two categories. Strictly necessary cookies enable core functions including security, session management, and remembering your cookie choices. These cannot be disabled through our cookie settings. Functionality and analytics cookies help us understand how our website and publications are used, for institutional insight only.

We do not use advertising pixels or cookies for targeted advertising.

Where UK or EU rules apply, we ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies. You can change or withdraw your choices at any time using the cookie icon shown on every page, or through your browser settings.

5. Who We Share It With

We share personal information only where necessary, with:

 

• the service providers that operate our website, forms, event registration, payments, email delivery, and cloud storage;

• professional advisers, such as legal and accounting advisers, where reasonably required;

• research collaborators, only where you have been informed and, where required, have consented, and ordinarily only in anonymized or aggregated form;

• legal and regulatory recipients, where required by law or necessary to establish or defend legal claims; and

• a successor organization, if we reorganize or transfer our activities, subject to this policy continuing to apply.

Some providers act on our instructions; others, including certain ticketing and payment platforms, act independently under their own privacy policies.

6. Research Participation

Personal information collected specifically as part of a formal research study is governed by the participant information sheet, consent form, and ethical approval for that study. Research participation is voluntary. Research data is stored separately from website and marketing data, is not used for marketing, and is reported in anonymized or aggregated form unless a participant has separately consented to attributed use.

If you are a research participant with questions about your data, contact privacy@biirgs.com and quote the study name.

7. International Transfers

Personal information may be processed in the United States or in other countries where our service providers operate. Where UK or EU transfer rules apply, we rely on the safeguard appropriate to that transfer, which may include an adequacy decision or recognized data privacy framework, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.

You may request further information about the safeguards relevant to your information by writing to privacy@biirgs.com.

8. How Long We Keep It

We keep personal information only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and for as long as required to meet legal, contractual, accounting, and tax obligations. Mailing list details are kept until you unsubscribe. Client and licensing records are kept for the duration of the engagement and for the period afterward required by law. Research data is kept as specified in the documentation for that study.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or irreversibly anonymize it.

9. Security

We maintain administrative, technical, and organizational measures appropriate to the information we hold, including access controls, encryption in transit, reputable service providers, and separation of research data from operational data. No system can be guaranteed completely secure. If a breach occurs, we will notify the relevant regulator where required and, where it is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, notify you as required by law.

10. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, receive a copy in a portable format, object to or restrict certain uses, withdraw consent at any time, and opt out of the sale of personal data, targeted advertising, and profiling. BIIRGS does not sell personal data, use it for targeted advertising, or conduct profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

We will not discriminate or retaliate against you for exercising these rights.

To exercise a right, write to privacy@biirgs.com and tell us what you would like us to do. We may ask you to verify your identity first. We respond within one month where the UK or EU GDPR applies, and within 45 days under most US state privacy laws, with an extension where the law permits and the request is complex.

If you are not satisfied, you may appeal our decision by writing to privacy@biirgs.com with the subject line Privacy Request Appeal. You may also complain to a regulator. In the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk); in the EEA, the authority where you live or work; in New Jersey, the Division of Consumer Affairs within the Office of the Attorney General. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

11. Other Websites

Our website links to and may embed content from third-party services, including event ticketing, publishing, video, and professional networking platforms. Those services collect information under their own policies, which we do not control.

12. Changes and Contact

We may update this policy. The effective date at the top shows when it was last revised, and we will give additional notice where a change is material.

Questions, requests, or concerns: privacy@biirgs.com