Our privacy policy explains the what, how and why of the information we collect when you use our websites. It describes the specific ways we use and disclose that information, as well as your options regarding the collection and use of the information collected. Among others, our data protection and processing are in compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
 
 

The Basics

Definitions
We’ll start by introducing a few definitions that will help you understand this policy. When we say “we”, “us” and “GEI”, we’re referring to Global Engagement Institute, a State of New York C-corporation. We provide international education and engagement opportunities, and support international students and professionals interested in studying or engaging abroad (the “Services”). When we say “you” or “Participant”, we’re referring to the person or entity that’s registered with us to use the Services. We offer the Services on our website https://www.global-engagement.org and our registration/application gateway https://gei-horizons.symplicity.com that is owned by our partner Symplicity (each a “Website” and together the “Websites”).
 
 
Goals
In the simplest terms, we take your privacy seriously. Our Privacy Policy incorporates the following goals:

• We never sell, rent, share or barter your information, except to comply with law;
• We never ask you for personal information unless we truly need it;
• We only store personally identifiable information when required for the ongoing operation and provision of our services; and
• We never process credit card transactions directly, nor do we store your credit card information.

Collection of Information

Information you provide
When you use the Services, use our “Contact us” form, subscribe to our newsletter, send us an inquiry, send us an email, comment on our blog, or communicate with us in any way, you give us information that we collect. We may collect, among others, basic user information such as your name, physical address, email address, phone number and home institution, as well as details like gender, birth date and other demographic information.

When you apply for a program or scholarship through GEI, we collect additional information that allows us to thoroughly evaluate and assess your application. This additional information may include, among others, transcripts, emergency contact information, GPA, and major of study. For certain logistics arrangements, we may also need such information as a copy of your main passport page as well as relevant information relating to your health and dietary concerns.

If you choose to refer a friend through our referral program or by any other means, we will collect your friend’s name and contact information.
 
 
Information we collect from your use of the Services
We may get information about how and when you use the Services, store it in log files associated with your account, and link it to other information we collect about you, including but not limited to the following:

• Transaction information: When you use our Services to make payments, we collect your name and email address, the GEI program you have chosen and the payment amount. We use PayPal as our payment gateway for online payments. To make a payment, you’re redirected to a PayPal website to finish your transaction. PayPal allows you to choose from different payment types, typically debit or credit cards as well as your own PayPal account if you have one. You will be asked to provide personal data to PayPal when making a payment. PayPal is fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. We direct you to their privacy policy for further assurance in this area. GEI is in no way responsible for the privacy policy and business activities of PayPal, and we do not ask for and/or store any credit card information of yours ourselves.
• Device information: We may collect device-specific information when you access our Services, including your hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, mobile network information, and information about the device’s interaction with our Services.
• Use information: We may collect information about how you use our Services, including your access times, browser types and language, and Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. We may use your IP address to diagnose problems with our server and administer the site – monitoring visitor traffic patterns and site usage to help us develop and improve the Websites further. Please note that we do not store any individual data from our cookies; we simply use the information to understand user trends.
• Cookies: We use cookies to collect information about your use of the website and to assist repeat visitors. Cookies are small data files that websites store on your hard drive or in device memory. Among other things, cookies support the integrity of our registration process, retain your preferences and account settings, and help evaluate and compile aggregated statistics about user activity. Most browsers automatically accept cookies but you can delete existing cookies from your browser. You can also edit your browser options to choose not to receive cookies in the future. We may use cookies to keep track of the transaction from one page to the next. Cookies enable us to monitor site usage levels, allowing us to improve your website experience. Cookies cannot be used to trace visitor behavior across other websites.

 
 
Information we collect from other services
We may collect information about you from third parties, including but not limited to, third-party verification services, mailing list providers, and publicly available sources.
 
 

Use of Information

We may use information about you to provide, maintain and improve our Services, evaluate applications for Services, and deliver the information to support your request.

We may use information about you to bill and collect money owed to us, including sending you and your associated contacts emails, invoices, receipts and notices of delinquency.

We may also use information about you to personalize the Services we offer. As an example, if we know which institution you attend or work at, we may use that information to determine if you are eligible for additional discounts offered only to participants from that institution.

We may use information we collect from you or from friends you refer to us to send news and information about our Services and to communicate with you about products, services, promotions and scholarships we offer. For instance, if you previously expressed interest in studying in Rwanda and we launch a new program in Rwanda, we want you to know about it! You may always opt out of these communications by following the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of the email.

We may also use information about you to track and analyze trends and usage in connection with our Services; to process and deliver scholarships and promotions; to protect our rights or property; to verify your identity; to investigate and prevent fraud or other illegal activities; and for any other purpose disclosed to you in connection with our Services.
 
 

Sharing of Information

We may share personal information about you – both domestically and abroad at the destination(s) of your selected program – as follows:

• With universities and your identified contacts, in order to provide, maintain and improve our Services, as well as to bill or collect a debt associated with those Services;
• With third parties to provide, maintain and improve our Services, including service providers who access information about you to perform services on our behalf, such as reservation, booking, verification or payment services – purely for operational purposes and not for marketing purposes;
• If we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; to enforce applicable agreements or policies; to protect the security or integrity of our Services; and to protect us, our sellers, end users, or the public from harm or illegal activities; and
• With your consent.

 
 
Public information and third parties
Information shared in public forums is just that – public. Keep the following in mind when utilizing our site to share information within public forums:

• We have public blogs on our Websites. Any information you include in a comment on our blog may be read, collected and used by anyone. If your Personal Information appears on our blogs and you want it removed, contact us. If we’re unable to remove your information, we’ll let you know why.
• Our Websites include social media features, like the Facebook ‘Like’ button. These features may collect information about your IP address and which page you’re visiting on our site. They may set a cookie to make sure the feature functions properly. Social media features and widgets may be hosted by a third party or directly on our site. We also maintain presences on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube, and on travel/education platforms such as GoOverseas. Any information, communications or materials you submit to us via a social media platform or a travel/education platform is done at your own risk without any expectation of privacy. We cannot control the actions of other users of these platforms or the actions of the platforms themselves. Your interactions with those features and platforms are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide them.
• Our Websites may include links to other websites, whose privacy practices may be different from ours. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to read carefully the privacy policy of any website you visit.

Security

We are committed to the protection of your data. We take reasonable measures, including administrative, technical and physical safeguards, to help protect the information we collect from loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We work with third party service providers such as 1&1, WP Engine, WordPress.org, Akismet Anti-Spam, Symplicity, PayPal, Mailchimp or Microsoft to host our Websites, services and software in secure production environments that use firewalls and other technology to reasonably prevent access from outside intruders. Please refer to these third party service providers’ privacy policies for further information about their own data protection policies, environments and activities.
 
 

Your Choices

Cookies
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject cookies. However, please note that our Services may not function properly if you do.
 
 
Preferences
If you wish to update or amend the information which we may hold about you or wish us to cease using your data, please contact us at programs@global-engagement.org. You have a right under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to access the information we may hold about you, subject to certain conditions. If you wish to make an application to access this information, please contact us at programs@global-engagement.org.

Furthermore, in case you have registered an account with us through our registration/application gateway, you can log in at https://gei-horizons.symplicity.com to view the data we maintain about you, update or amend the data, or even delete your account altogether. If you require any assistance with your account, you may contact us directly at programs@global-engagement.org.

When it comes to email communication that you may receive from us, you may always opt out of promotional emails by following the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of the email. We may still send you non-promotional communications for administrative or operational purposes, such as messages about your account or our ongoing business relations, as well as emergency communications regarding our programs abroad.
 
 

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices of the Websites, you can contact us at:
 
Global Engagement Institute (GEI)
251 State Street, #204 (c/o Mlekoday)
Schenectady, NY 12305, USA
programs@global-engagement.org