Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 1, 2024

1. Introduction

ASA Kerala ("we", "our", "us") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy will inform you about how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from) and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

2. Important Information and Who We Are

This Privacy Policy aims to give you information on how ASA Kerala collects and processes your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide through this website when you sign up for our newsletter, register for membership, participate in our events, or utilize our services.

The website is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

ASA Kerala is the controller and responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact us at the details set out below.

3. The Data We Collect About You

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

• Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, date of birth, gender, nationality, and education/professional history related to Japan.
• Contact Data includes postal address, email address, and telephone numbers.
• Membership Data includes details about your membership type, status, and preferences.
• Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
• Profile Data includes your interests, preferences, feedback, and survey responses.
• Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products, and services.
• Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

We also collect, use, and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offenses.

4. How We Collect Your Personal Data

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

• Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact, and Membership Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email, or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
  • Apply for membership with our association;
  • Create an account on our website;
  • Subscribe to our publications;
  • Register for events or programs;
  • Request marketing material to be sent to you;
  • Enter a promotion or survey; or
  • Give us feedback or contact us.
• Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.
• Third parties or publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
• Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
• Where you have provided consent for a specific purpose.

We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Marketing

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising. You can opt-out of marketing communications at any time by contacting us or by using the 'unsubscribe' link in any of our emails.

Cookies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our Cookie Policy.

6. Disclosures of Your Personal Data

We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above.

• Service providers acting as processors who provide IT and system administration services.
• Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, and accounting services.
• Regulators and other authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.
• Partner organizations with whom we collaborate to deliver events or programs, but only with your consent or when necessary for the performance of a contract.
• Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our organization or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other organizations or merge with them. If a change happens to our organization, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this Privacy Policy.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

7. International Transfers

Given our focus on Japan-Kerala relations, we may need to transfer your personal data outside of India. Whenever we transfer your personal data internationally, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by implementing safeguards.

8. Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

9. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.

10. Your Legal Rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:

• Request access to your personal data.
• Request correction of your personal data.
• Request erasure of your personal data.
• Object to processing of your personal data.
• Request restriction of processing your personal data.
• Request transfer of your personal data.
• Right to withdraw consent where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us using the details below. You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review. This version was last updated on the date indicated at the beginning of this document. Historic versions can be obtained by contacting us.