Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy of Social Enterprise Research Academy

This Privacy Policy was last updated on April 27, 2022.

Social Enterprise Research Academy (“SERA”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) values our users and respects their privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we will and will not use the information collected when you visit seraasia.org, and any other of our websites and online applications that link to this Policy (collectively, the “Services”).

By using our Services, you consent, where required, to the use and sharing of the information we collect and receive as described below.

Collection of Information:

When you interact with us through our Services, we may collect or receive the following types of information:

Information You Provide Directly. You may provide information directly to us in several different ways. For example, we collect the information you provide us when you:

Contact us with inquiries;
Respond to one of our surveys;
Register for access to our Services;
Purchase items through our Sites;
Use certain Services or;
Participate in ESG Circular and events and electronic correspondence with leaders and members.

This information may include your name and e-mail address, telephone number, address, photograph, credit card information and other information that may identify you (collectively, “Personal Information”).

Information We Collect Automatically. We also may receive and store certain information about you and your computer automatically. Automatically collected information may include:

The type of web browser and operating system you have used to access our Services; ● Your IP address (which is a number automatically assigned to your computer when you access the Internet and can be used to derive your general geographic location) or mobile device identifier;
The domain name of your Internet service provider;
The website you visited before you came to our Services; and
Information about the content you view and the features you access on our Services that we collect using cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies.

We may use such information and pool it with other information to track, for example, the total number of visitors to our Services, the number of visitors to each page of our Services, and the domain names of our visitors’ Internet service providers. We also use Google Analytics to better understand user visits to and navigation of the site. We may, from time to time, share this information with certain third parties, as set forth below in the section titled “Sharing of Information.” However, it is important to note that no directly identifiable Personal Information is made available to or shared with third parties as part of this process other than as set forth below in the Sharing of Information section.

Location information. We may collect your location information (for example, by using the GPS on your mobile device) to provide certain functionality, if you choose to enable such services. Please note that if you choose to enable location features, other users of our Services may be able to see your location.

Use of Information:

We use the information we collect and receive for the following general purposes:

To provide you with access to the Services you have requested and to permit you to participate in the SERA ESG Circular community; to participate in SERA Circles program (described below under “Circles, Chapters/Networks and Co-sponsors,”); to be part of e-mail and other communications among members and sponsors of the program; and to process and fulfill the orders you place with us;
For our legitimate interest, including to help us improve the content and functionality of our Services; better understand your interests and to contact you in the future to tell you about services we believe will be of interest to you; conduct research on our users’ demographics, interests, and behaviors, respond to your questions and assist with any problems with our Services, to meet our legal obligations and preserve the security of our websites and Services; and
For any other purpose disclosed to you at the time we collect the information, or otherwise with your consent.

Sharing of Information:

SERA is not in the business of selling your Personal Information. We consider your Personal Information and your other information to be a vital part of our relationship with you. There are, however, certain circumstances in which we may share your information with certain third-parties without further notice to you, as set forth below:(for our policy on sharing of your personal data for promotional and marketing purposes, please see the section entitled “Use of Personal Data for Direct Marketing Purposes”) :

ESG Circular. Your name, profile picture, and geographic location (if you have listed it in your profile), will be displayed on the profile page of any ESG Circular of which you are a leader.
Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates—companies that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with SERA.
Readers of your User Content. When you submit SERA’ stories or other User Content (as defined in our Terms of Service via our Services or otherwise to us, there could be information about you included in that User Content. For example, you may have revealed your name, age, location, or other biographical information in the context of telling a story about yourself. In that case, whenever we share your User Content with our other users, licensees, business partners, or other third parties in accordance with the rights you have granted to us regarding that User Content as described in the Terms of Service, we also share whatever Personal Information or other information you chose to include within that User Content.
Business Partners. We also may share your information with our licensees, business partners, and other third parties, particularly in connection with your participation in ESG Circular sponsored by business partners or the publication or other distribution or use of any of your User Content in accordance with the rights you have granted to us pursuant to our Terms of Service. For example, we may share your name, location, and biographical information that you chose to include within your User Content so that it may be published along with a SERA story or other User Content of yours.
Service Providers. We also may share your information with entities that provide services to us, including companies that provide web analytics, data processing, advertising, e-mail distribution, payment processing, order fulfillment, and other services. When we employ another entity to perform a function of this nature, we only provide them with the information they need to perform their specific function and limit them from using your information for any other purpose.
Third Party Services. We also may share your information with the operators of Third-Party Services (as defined below) that are integrated with our Services in some way, as more fully explained in the sections below entitled “Integration with Social Networking and Other Services.”
Other Parties When Required by Law or as Necessary to Protect Safety and Security or Our Services. There may be instances when we disclose your information to other parties in order to:

- Protect and defend the legal rights of SERA, its affiliates, and users of our Services or any other person;
- Protect the safety and security of users of our Services;
- Prevent fraud (or for risk management purposes); or
- Comply with or respond to the law or legal process or a request for cooperation by a government entity.
Other Parties in Connection With Certain Business Transactions. If we make a sale, donation, or transfer of assets, or are otherwise involved in a corporate merger, transfer, reorganization, dissolution or similar event, we may transfer your information to one or more third parties as part of that transaction.
Other Parties With Your Consent. In addition to the sharing described in this Privacy Policy, we may share information about you with other third parties when you consent to such sharing.

ESG Circular, Circles, Chapters/Networks and Co-Sponsors:

ESG Circular is a small group that meets regularly to learn and grow together. As described in our Terms of Service, a Hall of ESG is a group of ESG Circular that share information, network and/or host events together. You must be a registered user of our Services to access our materials and start, message or join an ESG Circular or Hall of ESG. When you participate in an ESG Circular, Circle Leaders can see you listed as a member of the ESG Circular (your “Member Listing”). Your Member Listing includes your name, geographic location (if provided) and email address. If you or your ESG Circular joins a Hall of ESG, the leaders of that Hall of ESG can see your Member Listing and your email address. If you’re the leader of a Hall of ESG, members and users can see your name, geographic location (if provided), and profile picture. If you send an email to an ESG Circular, Chapter or Circle Leader, your e-mail address is visible to recipients of that email. Some ESG Circular and Hall of ESG may be cosponsored by a Third-Party Service with a particular interest in the mission of that ESG Circular and Hall of ESG. These Co-sponsors have access to the Member Listings and email addresses of the members of the ESG Circular and Hall of ESG they sponsor. If you provide information directly to a Co-sponsor, that information will be subject to the privacy policy of that Co-sponsor, and the use of that information by the Co-sponsor will not be governed by this Privacy Policy.

Use of Personal Data for Direct Marketing purposes

As well as the purposes set out above, If you provide us with your personal information, we intend to use it for promotional or direct marketing purposes including sending you promotional materials and conducting direct marketing in relation to our products and services .However, we may not use your personal information for such purpose unless we have received your consent to our intended use.

Direct marketing communications may be sent to you through various channels, including by telephone, post, email, SMS, through mobile apps, online apps, social media platforms and other online means.

We will use the personal information supplied by you for direct marketing only in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“Ordinance”). Our direct marketing materials may come in several forms, including but not limited to marketing mails, emails and text messages, the details of which are set out in the following sub-sections.

If you wish to withdraw your consent, please inform us by writing to the address in the section on “Contact Information” or sending us an email at [email protected]. Any such request should clearly state details of the personal data in respect of which the request is being made.

Targeted Advertising

We also may contract with third-party advertising networks that collect IP addresses and other information through the use of cookies, web server logs and web beacons on our websites and emails; on third-party websites and emails; and on our advertising placed on third-party websites. They use this information to provide advertisements about products and services tailored to your interests (including for companies not affiliated with us). You may see these advertisements on other websites.

We may also use third-party platforms, including platforms operated by social networks, such as Google, Facebook, Pinterest, WeChat, LINE, etc., to show interest-based ads. We may convert your email address, telephone number or other information into a unique value which can be matched by those third parties with a user on their platform or with other data they may have collected from you. This matching allows interest-based ads to be delivered on those platforms.

We may from time to time utilise Facebook Advertising, Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing, and communications. We do this to understand and deliver ads and make them more relevant to you. Cookies also enable us to learn whether someone who saw an ad on Facebook later visited our website. The ultimate control of the dissemination of information gathered through Facebook Advertising, Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing, and communications resides

entirely with Facebook. You can opt-out of Facebook’s use of cookies and Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing through settings on your Facebook Account.

To opt out of other ads, you must change your advertising preferences on those third-party platforms.

Your Choices:

You can visit our Services without providing any Personal Information. If you choose not to provide any Personal Information, you may not be able to use certain Services.

Some or all of the cookies described below may be stored in your browser. To manage how cookies are used, you can refuse the use of certain cookies. Most browsers allow you to manage how cookies are set and used as you’re browsing, and to clear cookies and browsing data. You can manage in your browser (though browsers for mobile devices may not offer this visibility). For example, if you use Google Chrome as your browser, you can visit chrome://settings/cookies. Google Chrome’s settings allow you to delete existing cookies, allow or block all cookies, and set cookie preferences for websites. Google Chrome also has Incognito mode, which doesn’t store your Chrome history of visited sites or cookies on your device after you close all Incognito windows.

If we send you marketing emails about services that may interest you, each e-mail will contain instructions permitting you to “opt-out” of receiving future marketing or other communications.

Children’s Information:

Seraasia.Org does not knowingly collect or store Personal Information about children under the age of 13. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to instruct their children not to provide Personal Information on the Internet without their permission. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Information to Seraasia.Org through our Services, please contact us and we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases.

International Users:

SERA is based in Hong Kong, and, regardless of where you use our Services, the information collected as part of that use will be transferred to and maintained on servers located in Hong Kong. Please note that any information we obtain about you will be stored in accordance with Hong Kong privacy laws, regulations, and standards, which may not be equivalent to the laws in your country of residence. By using our Services, you consent to this collection, transfer, storage, and processing of information to and in Hong Kong.

Third-Party Functionality and Links to Third-Party Sites:

Some of the functionality on our Services may be provided by third parties that are not affiliated with SERA. These entities may collect or receive certain information about your use of our Services, including through the use of

cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. SERA is not responsible for the privacy practices of these entities. In addition, our Services may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by SERA. These links do not imply that SERA endorses or has reviewed the third party websites. Any such websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for their privacy policies or practices. If you provide any Personal Information through any such third-party website, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies and practices of such third-party.

Integration with Social Networking and Other Services:

Our Services may allow you to enable or log in via various online services, including social networking services like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Our Services also may enable you to access these Third-Party Services directly or indirectly through our Services. By directly integrating these Third-Party Services, we aim to make your online experiences richer and more personalized. When you add a Third-Party Service account to our Services or log into our Services using your Third-Party Service account, we may collect relevant information necessary to enable our Services to access that Third-Party Service and your data contained within that Third-Party Service. We also may share your information with the operator of that Third-Party Service to facilitate or enhance delivery of that Third-Party Service or other services to you.

As part of an integration with a Third-Party Service, that Third-Party Service may provide us with access to certain information that you have provided to the Third-Party Service, and we will use, store, and disclose such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. For example, if we administer a group using a Third-Party Service, we may receive any information that Third-Party Service may make available to group administrators. However, please remember that the manner in which Third-Party Services use, store, and disclose your information is governed by the policies of such third-parties, and Seraasia.Org is not responsible for the privacy practices or other actions of any Third-Party Services that may be enabled within our Services.

You may also have the option of posting your activities on our Services and other content to Third-Party Services when you access content through our Services. For example, you may post to Facebook that you performed an activity on our Services. We also may publish user-generated contributions through Third-Party Services, such as by posting a user story on our Facebook Page or asking you to enable publishing your Instagram profile or feed on our Sites (including as part of your profile on our Sites) or Facebook Page. If either you or we choose to make any of your contributions available through a Third-Party Service or engage in other activities in connection with a Third-Party Service, your friends, followers, and subscribers on those Third-Party Services that you have enabled will be able to view those contributions and activities.

Security:

SERA takes steps to protect the information provided via our Services from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no Internet or e-mail transmission is ever fully secure or error-free. Please keep this in mind when disclosing any Personal Information or other information to SERA.Org via e-mail or the Internet.

We store your Personal Information for as long as necessary to perform our agreement with you and to meet our legitimate interests and legal obligations.

Changes to This Privacy Policy:

Our Services and our business may change from time to time. As a result, at times it may be necessary for SERA to make changes to this Privacy Policy. SERA reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time without prior notice. If we make any material changes in the way we use or disclose your Personal Information, we will post a notice on our Services. If you object to any such changes, you must cease using our Services. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically, and especially before you provide any Personal Information to us. This Privacy Policy was last updated on the date indicated above. Your continued use of our Services after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.

Contact Us:

To keep your Personal Information accurate, current, and complete, please contact us as specified below. We will take reasonable steps to update or correct Personal Information in our possession that you have previously submitted via our Services. Please also feel free to contact us if you have any questions about SERA’s Privacy Policy or the information practices of our Services.

You may contact us at:

Contact Information
Email: [email protected]
Tel:(852) 2778 1000
Address: Level 36, PCCW Tower, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong