This “Privacy Policy” describes the privacy practices of The Simons Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “Simons Foundation,” “we,” “us” or “our”). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, maintain, protect, disclose and otherwise process personal information, and explains the rights and choices available to individuals with respect to their information. This Privacy Policy applies to our website, https://www.simonsfoundation.org/, and any other websites that we own or control that contain a link to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy also applies to information collected via email, text and other electronic messages between you and any of our websites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to our clinical research activities. This Privacy Policy does not apply to services that have separate privacy policies that do not incorporate this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected by any third party, including through any application or content that may link or be accessible from us through our websites.

Simons Foundation may provide additional or supplemental privacy notices to individuals at the time their data is collected. Such additional or supplemental privacy notice will govern how we may process the information you provide at that time.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the Simons Foundation’s processing of employee or contractor data.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our websites. By accessing or using our websites, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of this website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

We provide important information for individuals located in the European Union under the “Additional Information for European Union Users” section, which can be found toward the end of this Privacy Policy here.

Table of Contents

Personal Information We Collect

Information you give us

We collect personal information about individuals who interact with the Simons Foundation, including by using our website, subscribing to our publications, applying for a grant, applying for a job and registering for or attending an event. We collect some of this information automatically when individuals navigate through the site, such as IP addresses and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies. The types of personal information we collect include, but are not limited to:

• Personal and business contact information, such as your name, job title and employer name, email address, social media handles, mailing address, social media handle and phone number;
• Information about grant applicants, job applicants and similar individuals, such as professional credentials, educational and work history, present and past institutional affiliations, publications, research interests, areas of professional focus or specialization, and other information of the type typically included on a resume, curriculum vitae or scientific research grant application;
• Information provided by participants attending one of our meetings or events, such as information about travel and lodging, meal preferences and professional biography;
• Profile information, such as the username and password that you set to establish an online account with us, your photograph, your interests and your preferences;
• Personal information that may be contained in content that you choose to submit to us, such as grant applications, proposal documents or other content you transmit to us online;
• Financial information needed to pay for services that individuals may provide to us, such as tax identification number and financial account information;
• Feedback and correspondence, such as information you provide when interacting with us by email, phone calls or through other methods of communication, such as posting public comments;
• Usage information, such as information about how you use our websites and interact with us, including information associated with any content you upload to the websites or otherwise submit to us, and information you provide when you use any interactive features of the websites;
• Subscription information, such your preferences for receiving communications about our activities, events, and publications, and details about how you engage with our communications.

Information we collect about individuals who interact with us in person

In addition to the types of information described above, we may collect additional types of information when individuals interact with us in person, such as when individuals visit our offices or attend one of our meetings or events. The types of personal information we collect in these contexts include:

• Photos and video recordings of our events;
• CCTV security footage of the public areas inside and outside of our offices.

Information we collect from third parties

In some circumstances, we may collect information about individuals from third parties, including an individual’s employer, publicly available sources, analytics or data providers, professional recruiters and researchers. This may include scenarios where an individual’s assistant registers an individual for an event, where a researcher or grant applicant shares with us personal information of individuals connected with research, such as research study participants or investigators, or where a recruiter contacts us about a potential job candidate. We ask that you do not provide us with personal information about other individuals unless you are authorized or required to do so by contract or applicable law, or the individual has authorized you to do so and you have provided them with a copy of this Privacy Policy and any applicable supplemental privacy notice.

Information automatically collected

When you access our websites, we, our service providers and our partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your activity on our websites. The information that may be collected automatically includes your device’s operating system type and version number, manufacturer and model, device identifier, browser type, screen resolution, IP address, the website you visited before browsing to our websites, general location information such as city, state or geographic area, and information about your use of and actions on our websites, such as pages you viewed, how long you spent on a page, navigation paths between pages, information about your activity on a page, access times and length of access. This information is collected using cookies, pixel tags and similar technologies. Pixel tags (which are also known as web beacons and clear GIFs) are used on our websites and HTML-formatted emails to track the actions of users on our websites. Unlike cookies, which are stored on the hard drive of your computer or mobile device by a website, pixel tags are embedded invisibly on webpages or within HTML-formatted emails. Pixel tags measure the success of our marketing campaigns and compile statistics about usage of our websites or engagement with email notices so that we can manage our content more effectively. Please refer to our Cookies Policy for more details about our use of cookies.

Sensitive personal information

We ask that you not send us, and you not disclose to us, any sensitive personal information (e.g., Social Security numbers, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) unless we specifically request that information from you.

If you send or disclose any sensitive personal information to us, you must consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information, you must not submit such sensitive personal information to us.

How We Use Your Personal Information

To provide our services

We use your personal information to provide our services in the following ways:

• to operate, maintain, administer and improve our websites, services, programs, events and other charitable and scientific activities;
• to publish our newsletters, magazines and other communications;
• to attribute authorship to academic and promotional materials;
• to review and respond to grant applications, proposals and other documents submitted to us;
• to analyze the effectiveness of our grants and initiatives we have supported;
• to manage and communicate with you regarding your Simons Foundation account, if you have one, including by sending you service announcements, technical notices, updates, security alerts and support and administrative messages;
• to better understand your needs and interests and to personalize your experience with the websites;
• to provide support and maintenance for the websites;
• to respond to your requests, questions and feedback;
• to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.

To communicate with you

If you request information from us (such as by signing up for our newsletter or publications), register on our websites or request resources from us in order to support our mission, we may send you Simons Foundation–related marketing communications as permitted by law. You will have the ability to opt out of such communications.

To manage our recruiting and to process employment applications

We may use personal information, such as information submitted to us in a job application, to facilitate our recruitment activities and to process employment applications, such as by evaluating a job candidate for an employment activity and to monitor recruitment statistics.

To comply with law

We use your personal information as we believe necessary or appropriate to comply with any applicable court order, law, regulation and legal processes, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.

With your consent

We will request your consent to use your personal information where required by law, such as where we use certain cookies or similar technologies or before sending you certain marketing messages. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time in the manner that was indicated when we requested the consent or by contacting us at [email protected]. If you have consented to receive marketing communications from our third-party partners, you may withdraw your consent by contacting those partners directly.

To create anonymous data for analytics

We may create anonymous data from your personal information and other individuals whose personal information we collect. We make personal information into anonymous data by excluding information that makes the data personally identifiable to you, and use that anonymous data for business purposes.

For scientific research or statistical purposes, or for purposes of archiving in the public interest

As a foundation focused on the advancement of science, we may process personal data for a variety of purposes associated with our organizational mission. This includes processing personal information for scientific research or statistical purposes or for purposes of archiving in the public interest.

For compliance, fraud prevention and safety

We use your personal information as we believe necessary or appropriate to (a) enforce the terms and conditions that govern the service; (b) protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others; and (c) protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity.

As stated in a supplemental privacy notice

In some circumstances, we may provide a supplemental privacy notice that explains how we use personal information in a specific context.

How We Share Your Personal Information

Affiliates

We may disclose your personal information to our subsidiaries and affiliates for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Contractors and Service providers

We may employ third-party companies and individuals to administer and provide our services on our behalf (such as customer support, hosting, email delivery, database management services and job applicant management systems, as well as external reviewers and advisers who help us process and make determinations regarding grant applications). These third parties may use your information only as directed by the Simons Foundation and in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy. Contractors and Service Providers are prohibited from using or disclosing your information for any other purpose.

Partners

We may sometimes share your personal information with partners or enable partners to collect information via our websites. For example, some of our websites use Disqus, a third-party service that enables our visitors to post comments on our website. You may view the Disqus Privacy Policy here and control Disqus targeting and personalization here.

Disclosures about grant recipients

We publish information on our website about recipients of our research grants, including name, research topic and amount of funding, and may disclose this type of information directly to third parties.

Professional advisers and corporate transactions

We may disclose your personal information to professional advisers, such as lawyers, bankers, auditors, accountants and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services rendered to us, including to the extent reasonably needed to proceed with the negotiation or completion of a corporate transaction, such as a merger, reorganization, acquisition, or transfer or sale of all or a portion of our assets, in which case your personal information may be part of that corporate transaction.

Compliance with laws and law enforcement; protection and safety

We may disclose information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as required by law, and disclose and use such information as we believe necessary or appropriate to (a) comply with any applicable court order, laws, regulation and lawful requests and legal processes, such as to respond to subpoenas; (b) enforce the terms and conditions that govern our websites; (c) protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others; and (d) protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity.

Your Choices

Access, update, correct or delete your information

An individual who has registered for an account with us may review, update, correct or delete the personal information in their account profile by logging into their account.

Marketing communications

You may opt out of marketing-related emails by following the instructions contained at the bottom of our emails, or by contacting us at [email protected]. You may continue to receive service-related and other nonmarketing emails.

Online behavioral advertising

Some of the partners that collect information about users’ activities on our websites may be members of organizations or programs that provide choices to individuals regarding targeted advertising. Users may opt out of receiving targeted advertising on websites through members of the Network Advertising Initiative by clicking here or the Digital Advertising Alliance by clicking here. European users may opt out of receiving targeted advertising on websites through members of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance by clicking here, selecting the user’s country and then clicking “Choices” (or similarly titled link).

If you choose to opt out of targeted advertisements, you will still see advertisements online, but they may not be relevant to you. Even if you do choose to opt out, not all companies that serve online behavioral advertising are included in this list, so you may still receive cookies and tailored advertisements from companies that are not listed.

“Do Not Track” signals

Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not honor “Do Not Track” signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Choosing not to share your personal information

You may choose not to provide personal information to us. However, we may not be able to provide services to you if we are required to collect your personal information or if we need your personal information in order to provide the services. We will tell you what information you must provide to receive our services by designating it as required or through other appropriate means.

Security

We take a number of organizational, technical and physical measures designed to protect the personal information we collect, both during transmission and once we receive it. However, no security safeguards are 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of your information. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the website.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Children

Our websites are not intended for children under 16. If you become aware that a child has provided us with information without parental or guardian consent, please contact us at [email protected]. We will delete such information from our files as soon as reasonably practicable.

International Transfer

Simons Foundation is headquartered in the United States and may have service providers in other countries. Your personal information may be transferred to the United States or other locations outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction.
European Union users should read the important information provided in the “Cross-border data transfer” section about transfer of personal information outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Other Sites and Services

Our websites may contain links to other websites and services. These links are not an endorsement, authorization or representation that we are affiliated with that third party. We do not exercise control over third-party websites or services and are not responsible for their actions. Other websites and services may follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personal information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites you visit and services you use.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on our websites. We may (and, where required by law, will) also provide notification of changes in another way that we believe is reasonably likely to reach you, such as via e-mail (if you have an account where we have your contact information) or another manner through the Service (which may include posting an announcement on our websites).

Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting of the new terms and/or upon implementation of the new changes on the Service (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your continued use of our websites after the posting of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the terms of the modified Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns at all about our Privacy Policy, please feel free to email us at [email protected], or write to us at:

Additional Information for European Union Users

Personal information

References to “personal information” in this Privacy Policy are equivalent to “personal data” governed by European data protection legislation.

Controller and Data Protection Officer

Unless stated otherwise in this Privacy Policy, or in an additional or supplemental privacy notice, The Simons Foundation, Inc. is the controller of your personal information for purposes of European data protection legislation. Clinical Research Associates LLC may also be a controller in other contexts.

Our Data Protection Officer’s contact information is:

See the Contact Us section above for contact details.

Legal bases for processing

We use your personal information only as permitted by law. We are required to inform you of the legal bases of our processing of your personal information, which are described in the table below. If you have questions about the legal bases of how we process your personal information, contact us at [email protected].

Use for new purposes

We may use your personal information for reasons not described in this Privacy Policy where permitted by law and if the reason is compatible with the purpose for which we collected it. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and explain the applicable legal basis.

Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. When we process personal information for archiving purposes in the public interest, we will typically retain information indefinitely.

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

When we no longer require the personal information we have otherwise collected about you, we will dissociate such information from the information attached to your content. In some circumstances, we may anonymize your personal information (so that it can no longer be associated with you), in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Your rights

European data protection laws give European Union users certain rights regarding their personal information. If you are located within the European Union, you may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:

• Opt out. Stop sending you direct marketing communications. You may continue to receive service-related and other nonmarketing emails.
• Access. Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.
• Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
• Delete. Delete your personal information.
• Transfer. Transfer a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice.
• Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information.
• Object. Object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the basis of our processing of your personal information.

You can submit these requests by email to [email protected] or our postal address provided in the “Contact Us” section above. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Applicable law may require or permit us to decline your request. If we decline your request, we will tell you why subject to legal restrictions. If you would like to submit a complaint about our use of your personal information or response to your requests regarding your personal information, you may contact us as described above or submit a complaint to the data protection regulator in your jurisdiction. You can find your data protection regulator here.

Cross-border data transfer

Whenever we transfer your personal information out of the EEA to countries not deemed by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of personal information protection, the transfer will be based on one of the following safeguards recognized by the European Commission as providing adequate protection for personal information, where required by EU data protection legislation:

• Pursuant to the recipient’s compliance with standard contractual clauses, EU-US Privacy Shield or Binding Corporate Rules,
• Pursuant to the consent of the individual to whom the personal information pertains, or
• As otherwise permitted by applicable EEA requirements.
  Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal information out of the EEA.