Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 14/07/2024

Who we are

This privacy notice for afecohub.com (‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share (‘process’) your information when you use our services (‘Services’), such as when you:

Visit our website at https://www.afecohub.com, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice;

Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events.

Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

1. Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

2. Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

3. What information do we collect?

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us. Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:

  • email addresses
  • names
  • phone numbers
  • contact preferences

Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information. All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Information Automatically Collected

In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Services, and for our
internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies. You can find out more about this in our Cookie Notice: afecohub.com/cookie-policy. The information we collect includes:

Log and Usage Data: Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services and which we record in
log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the Services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports
(sometimes called ‘crash dumps’), and hardware settings).

Device Data: We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system, and system configuration information.

Location Data: We collect location data such as information about your device’s location, which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Services. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect
geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device. However, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of
the Services.

Cookies

As aforementioned the full policy can be found at www.afecohub.com/cookie-policy, or at the footer of the page.

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to gather information when you interact with our Services. Some online tracking technologies help us maintain the security of our Services, prevent crashes, fix bugs, save your preferences, and assist with basic site functions.

We also permit third parties and service providers to use online tracking technologies on our Services for analytics and advertising, including to help manage and display advertisements, to tailor advertisements to your interests, or to send abandoned shopping cart reminders (depending on your communication preferences). The third parties and service providers use their technology to provide advertising about products and services tailored to your interests which may appear either on our Services or on other websites.

To the extent these online tracking technologies are deemed to be a ‘sale’/’sharing’ (which includes targeted advertising, as defined under the applicable laws) under applicable US state laws, you can opt out of these online tracking technologies by submitting a request as described below under section ‘DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?’

More details can be found here: www.afecohub.com/cookie-policy

Google Analytics

We may share your information with Google Analytics to track and analyse the use of the Services. The Google Analytics Advertising Features that we may use include: Google Display Network Impressions Reporting, Remarketing with Google Analytics and Google Analytics Demographics and Interests Reporting. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across the Services, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. You can opt out of Google Analytics Advertising Features through Ads Settings and Ad Settings for mobile apps. Other opt out means include http://optout.networkadvertising.org/ and http://www.networkadvertising.org/mobile-choice. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the https://policies.google.com/privacy

4. How do we process your information?

In Short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with
your consent. We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including: To save or protect an individual’s vital interest. We may process your information when necessary to
save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm.

5. What legal bases do we rely on to process your information?

In Short: We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e. legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with
services to enter into or fulfil our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfil our legitimate business interests.

If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information:

Consent: We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e. consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

Legal Obligations: We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

Vital Interests: We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person.

If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you.

We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e. express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e. implied consent). You
can withdraw your consent at any time.

In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example:

  • If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way.
  • For investigations and fraud detection and prevention .
  • For business transactions provided certain conditions are met.
  • If it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claim.
  • For identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kin.
  • If we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be victim of financial abuse.
  • If it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach
    of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province.
  • If disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of records.
  • If it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was produced.
  • If the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes.
  • If the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations.

6. Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

7. Who we share your data with

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

8. How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

9. What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

In some regions (like the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; (iv) if applicable, to data portability; and (v) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section ‘HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?’ below.

We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data protection authority or UK data protection authority. If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Withdrawing your consent

If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the
section ‘HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?’ below.

However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

Cookies and similar technologies

Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can
usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services. For further information, please see our Cookie Notice: afecohub.com/cookie-policy.

“Do-Not-Track” Features

California law requires us to let you know how we respond to web browser DNT signals. Because there currently is not an industry or legal standard for recognising or honouring DNT signals, we do not respond to them at this time.

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (‘DNT’) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing DNT signals has been finalised. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.

10. Do US residents have specific privacy rights?

In Short: If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, or Virginia, you may have the right to request access to and receive details about the personal information we maintain about you and how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, get a copy of, or delete your personal information. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information. These rights may be limited in some circumstances by applicable law. More information is provided below:

A) IdentifiersContact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account name
B) Personal Information as defined in the California Customer Records statuteName, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial
information
C) Protected classification characteristics under state or federal lawGender, age, date of birth, race and ethnicity, national origin, marital status, and other demographic data
D) Commercial InformationTransaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information
E) Biometric InformationFingerprints and voiceprints
F) Internet or other similar network activityBrowsing history, search history, online behaviour, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisements
G) Geolocation dataDevice location
H) Audio, electronic, sensory, or similar informationImages and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities
I) Professional or employment related informationBusiness contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level or job
title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply to work with us
J) Education informationStudent records and directory information
K) Inferences drawn from collected informationInferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a
profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics.
L) Sensitive personal informationGovernment identifiers (such as social security numbers); an account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number with any required security code, password, or credentials allowing access to an account

We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:

  • Receiving help through our customer support channels;
  • Participation in customer surveys or contests; and
  • Facilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries.

We will use and retain the collected personal information as needed to provide the Services or for:

  • Category H – As long as the user has an account with us

Sources of Personal Information

Learn more about the sources of personal information we collect in ‘WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?’

How We Use and Share Personal Information

Learn about how we use your personal information in the section, ‘HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?’

Will your information be shared with anyone else?

We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Learn more about how we disclose personal information to in the section, ‘WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?’

We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be ‘selling’ of your personal information.

We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. We will not sell or share personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.

Your Rights

You have rights under certain US state data protection laws. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law. These rights include:

  • Right to know whether or not we are processing your personal data
  • Right to access your personal data
  • Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data  Right to request the deletion of your personal data
  • Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
  • Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights
  • Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising (or sharing as defined under California’s privacy law), the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (‘profiling’)

Depending upon the state where you live, you may also have the following rights:

  • Right to obtain a list of the categories of third parties to which we have disclosed personal data (as permitted by applicable law, including California’s and Delaware’s privacy law)
  • Right to obtain a list of specific third parties to which we have disclosed personal data (as permitted by applicable law, including Oregon’s privacy law)
  • Right to limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal data (as permitted by applicable law, including California’s privacy law)
  • Right to opt out of the collection of sensitive data and personal data collected through the operation of a voice or facial recognition feature (as permitted by applicable law, including Florida’s privacy law)

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise these rights, you can contact us by submitting a data subject access request, by emailing us at [email protected], or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document.

Under certain US state data protection laws, you can designate an authorised agent to make a request on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorised agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorised to act on your behalf in accordance with applicable laws.

Request Verification

Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes.

If you submit the request through an authorised agent, we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity before processing your request and the agent will need to provide a written and signed permission from you to submit such request on your behalf.

Appeals

Under certain US state data protection laws, if we decline to take action regarding your request, you may appeal our decision by emailing us at [email protected]. We will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If your appeal is denied, you may submit a complaint to your state attorney general.

California ‘Shine The Light’ Law

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the ‘Shine The Light’ law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us by using the contact details provided in the section ‘HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?’

11. Other regions privacy rights

In Short: You may have additional rights based on the country you reside in.

Australia and New Zealand

We collect and process your personal information under the obligations and conditions set by Australia’s Privacy Act 1988 and New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act).

This privacy notice satisfies the notice requirements defined in both Privacy Acts, in particular: what personal information we collect from you, from which sources, for which purposes, and other recipients of your personal information.

If you do not wish to provide the personal information necessary to fulfil their applicable purpose, it may affect our ability to provide our services, in particular:

  • offer you the products or services that you want
  • respond to or help with your requests

At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section ‘HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?’

If you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you have the right to submit a complaint about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a breach of New Zealand’s Privacy Principles to the Office of New Zealand Privacy Commissioner.

Republic of South Africa

At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section ‘HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?’

If you are unsatisfied with the manner in which we address any complaint with regard to our processing of personal information, you can contact the office of the regulator, the details of which are:

The Information Regulator (South Africa)
General enquiries: [email protected]
Complaints (complete POPIA/PAIA form 5): [email protected] & [email protected]

12. Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

13. Third-Party Websites

Users may find advertising or other content on our website that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors, and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our Site.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

afecohub.com has the discretion to update this privacy policy at any time. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We encourage users to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically and become aware of modifications.

15. Your Acceptance of These Terms

By using this Site, you signify your acceptance of this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to this policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes.

16. How can you review, update, or delete the data we collect from you?

Based on the applicable laws of your country or state of residence in the US, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, details about how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, or delete your personal information. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information. These rights may be limited in some circumstances by applicable law. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please fill out and submit a data subject access request.