Privacy Policy

Smartesting has always recognized the importance of protecting personal data for its partners engaged in the digital age. It is also aware of the responsibilities associated with processing such data. This Privacy Policy outlines Smartesting’s practices concerning the protection of personal data related to the collection, use, retention, and other processing of personal information in connection with its websites, mobile applications where this Privacy Policy is referenced, and its social media pages (“Sites”). It explains the rights and choices individuals have concerning their personal data.

Please note that additional country-specific terms may apply, as outlined at the end of this Policy.

SCOPE OF THIS POLICY – SUMMARY

This Policy applies to the processing of personal data carried out by Smartesting in its capacity as a data controller—that is, the entity that determines the categories of personal data to be collected, whether online (including through the use of Smartesting Sites) or offline, as well as the purposes of their collection.

This Policy does not apply to:

  • Personal data of Smartesting employees and job applicants;
  • Personal data that Smartesting processes on behalf of its clients or other third parties, as specified in the applicable agreement.

This Policy provides information about:

  • The types of personal data Smartesting may collect about you (e.g., your contact details);
  • How personal data is collected;
  • The purposes and legal bases for processing your personal data (e.g., to comply with the law, for marketing purposes with your consent);
  • Your rights and choices regarding your personal data: depending on your jurisdiction, you may have legal rights regarding Smartesting’s processing of your personal data, including rights to access, correct, delete, transfer, or object to its processing. Regardless of your place of residence, Smartesting will honor your request to opt out of marketing communications;
  • How to contact us.

For ease of navigation, Smartesting Sites may contain hyperlinks to other websites or applications that Smartesting does not own or control. This Policy does not apply to such third-party websites, and Smartesting disclaims any responsibility for their content. Smartesting encourages you to read the privacy policies of any external websites or services you use.

PERSONAL DATA COLLECTED AND PROCESSED BY SMARTESTING

Personal data refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. A person is considered “identifiable” if they can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more elements specific to them.

In any case, the personal data processing carried out by Smartesting is limited to the data necessary to achieve the purposes described in this Policy.

Depending on the purposes detailed below, Smartesting processes the following personal data:

  • Personal and professional contact information, such as first and last name, mailing address, email address, phone number(s), and job title;
  • Profile information such as user ID, login and password, type of organization (business, school, etc.), its name, size, department, industry, and industry sub-sectors;
  • Transaction information: purchases made, especially through Smartesting Sites, event registrations, and billing data (such as credit card and bank account information), signature;
  • Health data: if you attend an event organized by Smartesting, health information may be requested to identify and accommodate individuals with disabilities or special dietary needs, as well as other personal data necessary throughout the event;
  • Usage information such as IP and MAC addresses, logs on how you use Smartesting Services, including data from cookies as described below and via Smartesting’s marketing preferences center, where applicable.

This personal data may be collected by Smartesting through the following means:

  • Directly from you via the Services or communicated by other means;
  • Automatically;
  • Through third parties, such as:
    • Your employer, school, or other organization you are affiliated with;
    • Third parties you have authorized to share your personal data with Smartesting;
    • Public databases.

Providing the personal data identified as mandatory is voluntary but necessary in order for Smartesting to deliver its Services to you.

Please note that Smartesting Services are not designed for children considered minors under applicable data protection laws. If you are a minor, you are not permitted to use Smartesting Services unless you have prior consent from your parents or guardians. If Smartesting becomes aware that it has collected personal data from a child, it will delete that information as soon as possible.

WHY YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS PROCESSED BY SMARTESTING

Smartesting uses your personal data in compliance with the law. The legal bases and purposes for which Smartesting processes your personal data are outlined below:

With Your Consent

  • To communicate with you, especially when you request information about Smartesting Services, register on Smartesting Sites, participate in surveys, or enable Smartesting to perform specific actions (e.g., publish your testimonials or recommendations on Smartesting Sites), and more generally, to manage Smartesting’s marketing and communication activities;
  • To understand your needs and interests and provide you with the most suitable Services;
  • To enable interactive and personalized use of the Smartesting Sites and access to all their features;
  • To allow you to display certain personal information from your profile when sharing ideas or other information about Smartesting Services with other users of the Sites, including the Yest Community platform.

To Enter into a Contract to Provide Smartesting Services

  • To allow you to: register for events, seminars, webinars, or contests, including managing and tracking your participation, and to register for Smartesting community forums; create an account to access Smartesting Services;
  • To allow Smartesting to manage its business relationships with you (in connection with business opportunities, commercial offers, purchases, contracts, orders, invoices, delivery, support services—including key information for Smartesting Services users—and the security of the Services or Smartesting’s professional services);
  • To manage your training and/or certification on Smartesting Services, which may include tracking your learning progress and making this information available to you;
  • To operate, maintain, administer, and improve the Services.

To Fulfill Legitimate Interests

Smartesting considers and evaluates the potential impact (both positive and negative) of processing your personal data on your privacy, as well as your rights, before carrying out such processing based on legitimate interest. Unless Smartesting has obtained your consent or the law otherwise permits or authorizes it, Smartesting will not process your personal data in situations where the impact on your privacy would outweigh Smartesting’s legitimate interest in processing your data:

  • To improve your experience, better understand your needs and interests, and personalize your use of the Smartesting Services, including remembering your settings;
  • To manage marketing activities for similar products or services if you are already using Smartesting Services;
  • To manage business relationships when you act on behalf of a Smartesting prospect or client (in connection with business opportunities, commercial offers, purchases, contracts, orders, invoices, delivery, support services—including essential user information—and the security of the Services or Smartesting’s professional services);
  • To manage Smartesting’s Anti-Piracy and Compliance Program;
  • To create anonymized data for analytical purposes;
  • To protect against, investigate, and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activities, as well as ensure security and prevention under Smartesting’s Cybersecurity Program.

Smartesting may combine your personal data with other relevant publicly available relevant information or with personal data collected through other processing activities.

To Comply with the Law

To manage Smartesting’s obligations related to compliance laws, including anti-corruption laws, applicable export laws, and trade sanctions and embargoes issued notably by the European Union and its Member States. This may include automated checks of all user registration data (as outlined in this Policy) and other identity-related information you provide, against sanctions lists; regular checks whenever a sanctions list is updated or when you update your information; blocking access to Smartesting Services in the event of a potential match; and contacting you to confirm your identity in case of such a match;

To store your financial data with a third-party payment provider;

To comply with legal requests and procedures, such as responding to subpoenas or requests from government authorities, as detailed below.

HOW LONG YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS RETAINED BY SMARTESTING

Smartesting does not keep your personal data longer than necessary, only for the time needed to fulfill the purposes described above. Retention periods vary depending on the data categories and the type of processing. To determine the appropriate retention time, Smartesting considers the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure, the purposes of processing, possible alternative ways to achieve those purposes, and applicable legal requirements:

  • When you have given consent, data will be retained until you withdraw it;
  • When Smartesting has entered into a contract with you or your employer, data will be retained for the duration of such a contract plus any applicable local statute of limitations;
  • When Smartesting has a legitimate interest in using your personal data, it will be retained for a limited and appropriate period to ensure fair processing of your data, or until you object to its use—subject to Smartesting’s compelling and legitimate reasons for continuing the processing, which override your right to object, or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims;
  • When Smartesting is required to comply with a legal obligation, the retention period will be defined in accordance with applicable law;
  • When your personal data is necessary for the establishment or defense of legal claims, Smartesting will retain it until the end of the relevant retention period or until the matter is fully resolved.

At the end of the retention period, your personal data will be deleted or anonymized using methods compliant with data protection standards.

WITH WHOM SMARTESTING SHARES YOUR PERSONAL DATA

Smartesting does not rent or sell your information but may share your personal data, necessary for certain business purposes, with the following categories of organizations:

  • Within Smartesting: As an international organization present in Europe that offers you tailored and proactive services, Smartesting may share your personal data for purposes consistent with this Policy (e.g., to provide you with support services).
  • With trusted Smartesting Partners:
    • Event or marketing sponsors: Smartesting may share your personal data with trusted sponsors with whom it organizes events or promotional marketing campaigns. When you register for an event organized by Smartesting, your name, company contact information, and email address may be shared with other participants and sponsors of the same event for communication and idea exchange purposes.
    • Business partners, such as assigned resellers, to provide you or your employer with appropriate offers or Services.
  • With third parties acting on Smartesting’s behalf: Smartesting may engage third-party companies and individuals as needed and disclose your personal data to them in the course of services they perform for Smartesting—such as training, customer support, hosting, payment services (to enable you to purchase Smartesting Services), email delivery, and database management. These third parties will use your personal data only according to Smartesting’s instructions and in a manner consistent with this Policy, and they are prohibited from using or disclosing your personal data for other purposes.
  • Third parties to comply with laws: In certain situations, Smartesting may, as permitted by applicable law, disclose some of your personal data to government authorities, law enforcement, or private parties if Smartesting, in good faith, believes such disclosure is reasonably necessary to:
    • comply with legal proceedings (e.g., a warrant, subpoena, or court order),
    • enforce the terms and conditions governing Smartesting Services,
    • protect the rights, property, or safety of Smartesting, its customers, or the public,
    • prevent, investigate, or deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activities.

Smartesting will review requests to ensure they comply with applicable laws. If a request is overly broad, Smartesting will seek to narrow it and, where possible, oppose the disclosure of information.

  • With third parties to serve or protect Smartesting’s legal and business interests: Smartesting may sell, transfer, or otherwise share all or part of its business or assets—including your personal data—in connection with a business deal (or potential business deal) such as a merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization, asset sale, or in the event of bankruptcy, change of control, or full or partial liquidation of Smartesting. In such cases, Smartesting will make reasonable efforts to ensure the recipient adheres to the Privacy Policy.

      INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

      When you access a Smartesting Site, please note that by continuing to use it while located in a country different from where the Smartesting Site is hosted, you consent to the transfer of your personal data to a country other than your own, where data protection laws may not be as protective as those in your country.

      As part of its multinational organization, Smartesting may transfer your personal data from one country or region to another, including anywhere in Europe. This can occur, for example, when Smartesting provides you with Services such as training, customer support, or hosting services.

      Whenever Smartesting transfers your personal data to countries that are not recognized by the authorities in your country (e.g., the European Commission) as providing an adequate level of personal data protection, the transfer will be based on safeguards recognized by your country’s authorities as offering adequate protection for personal data. These safeguards may include the standard contractual clauses issued by the European Commission, your informed consent to the transfer, or any other relevant mechanism.

      Please contact us if you would like more information about the mechanism used by Smartesting when transferring your personal data.

      YOUR RIGHTS

      Depending on applicable data protection laws, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal data:

      • The right to access your personal data;
      • The right to obtain a copy of your personal data held by Smartesting;
      • The right to request that your personal data be corrected, completed, updated, or deleted;;
      • The right to restrict processing;
      • The right to object to specific processing based on legitimate interests;
      • The right to data portability.
      • If the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time (for example, to unsubscribe from marketing communications).

      If you have an account, you can exercise your rights by logging into your account. Otherwise, you may submit your request here: hello@smartesting.com

      Depending on the scope of the request, Smartesting may charge you a reasonable fee to cover costs related to your request. Smartesting reserves the right to refuse access to your personal data in specific cases provided by applicable laws and regulations.

      Smartesting may ask for specific information to confirm your identity or to process your request. Applicable laws may require or allow Smartesting to deny your request, but in any case, Smartesting will always provide an explanation of its position, subject to legal restrictions.

      DATA SECURITY

      Smartesting has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction of your personal data during transmission to Smartesting and while in its possession. However, despite Smartesting’s efforts to protect your personal data, it cannot guarantee absolute protection against data leaks due to the unavoidable risks related to the Internet.

      It is important that you take precautions to prevent unauthorized access to your personal data. You are responsible for keeping your password and account information confidential. Therefore, you should make sure to log out when using a shared computer.

      COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

      Cookies used by Smartesting

      To improve your browsing experience on Smartesting Services, Smartesting uses cookies or other similar technologies that may process your personal data.

      Smartesting uses different types of cookies depending on the Services involved:

      • Strictly necessary cookies are always used; they are essential for you to properly use Smartesting Services and cannot be disabled. For example, they allow you to save your customization settings (language choice, service display, saving your shopping cart).
      • Functional cookies are used to enhance the performance of Smartesting Services, offer optimized features, and provide a more personalized experience by collecting information when you use Smartesting Services. Functional cookies also include analytics and performance cookies used to collect information about traffic to Smartesting Sites and how users interact with the Services. Information collected may include the number of visitors to Smartesting Sites, websites that referred you to Smartesting Sites, the pages you visited on Smartesting Sites, the time of day and duration of your visit, whether you visited before, and similar data. Smartesting uses this information to improve the operation of Smartesting Sites, gather general demographic information, and monitor activity levels on Smartesting Sites.
      • Advertising cookies are implemented by Smartesting or third parties to profile your interests and provide you with personalized, targeted content. They do not directly store personal data but rely on the unique identifier of your browser and Internet device.

      To see the detailed list of cookies used by Smartesting and their purposes, click here.

      Disabling cookies

      You can delete or reject functional and advertising cookies via the cookie banner. However, if you do not accept some of them, certain features and functions of the Services may not work properly and you may experience some inconvenience. For example, Smartesting may not recognize your computer or mobile device, and you may need to log in each time you visit Smartesting Sites. If you choose to delete advertising cookies, you will still see ads, but they may not be relevant to you.

      CONTACT – DISPUTE RESOLUTION

      Smartesting is committed to protecting your personal data. You can contact Smartesting’s Data Protection Officer via the following email: hello@smartesting.com if:

      • you have questions about this Policy;
      • you experience any difficulty accessing your personal data or exercising the rights listed above;
      • you believe Smartesting is not complying with the GDPR or applicable local data protection laws;
      • you have reason to believe that the security of your personal data has been compromised or misused.

      If you wish to file a complaint with the Group Data Protection Officer at Smartesting, you must send a letter to the address listed at the end of this Policy as reasonably requested by the Group Data Protection Officer at Smartesting.

      If you are a habitual resident of the European Union, you have the right to file a complaint with your local data protection authority.

      EFFECTIVE DATE AND UPDATES TO THE PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

      Smartesting reserves the right to modify and update this Policy at any time in accordance with its needs and circumstances, or when required by applicable laws and regulations. Smartesting encourages you to review this page regularly for the latest information on its data protection practices. In the event of major changes to this Policy, Smartesting may notify you by email or by any other means reasonably likely to reach you. This may include posting a specific notice on Smartesting Sites.

      Any changes to this Policy will take effect upon Smartesting’s publication of the new terms and/or implementation of the changes in the Services.

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