This Privacy Policy explains how Open Technology Fund (“Open Technology Fund,” “we,” or “us”) collects, uses, and discloses information about you. This Privacy Policy applies when you use our websites and other online services that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, our “Services”), engage with us on social media, or otherwise interact with us.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or sending you a notification). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

The purpose of our Services are to inform the public about the initiatives and projects of Open Technology Fund, to help shine light on the operations of those we support, to present information to inform future applicants, and to allow an open submission platform for any and all potential applicants. Open Technology Fund adheres to the highest standards of ethical practices in all of our operations and is dedicated to protecting the privacy of all visitors to our Services. Except as disclosed below, we don’t sell, barter, give away, rent or permit anyone outside of OTF to use or access your personal information.

Collection of Information

Information You Provide to Us

As a result of support requests, our correspondence with you, and submission forms on our website, we keep non-financial information in a database used by employees and some contractors. This information may include your contact information and whatever name you provide to us.

Information We Collect Automatically When You Interact With Us

For users of our Services, we temporarily log standard technical information, such as the numerical internet protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using; the browser software you use and your operating system; and the internet address of the outside website from which you followed a link to our Services, for up to 48 hours. The information is kept for 48 hours primarily to assist Open Technology Fund in diagnosing technical problems and defending against attacks on the site.

Use of Information

We use the information we collect to:

-Provide, maintain, and improve our Services;

-Process transactions and send you related information, including confirmations and surveys;

-Send you technical notices, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;

-Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;

-Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;

-Detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of Open Technology Fund and others;

-Debug to identify and repair errors in our Services;

-Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and

-Carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.

Sharing of Information

We share personal information in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this policy:

-We may share personal information to fulfill our review process or in consideration for external funding.

-We share personal information with vendors, service providers, and consultants to perform services for us, such as companies that assist us with application processing, security audits, and payments.

-We share personal information with your consent or at your direction.

-We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. In these cases, we will attempt to provide you with notice via email or postal mail in order to give you an opportunity to object to the disclosure. In addition, we will independently, and when possible publicly, object to requests for access to information about users of our site that we believe to be improper.

-We may share personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of Open Technology Fund, our users, the public, or others.

-We share personal information with our lawyers and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests.

-We share personal information between and among Open Technology Fund and our current and future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other organizations under common control and ownership.

-We share personal information to carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.

Analytics

Our web server places a small data file on your computer called a ‘cookie.’ This cookie helps us improve the web site’s functionality during your visit. The cookie contains no personal information and is not used by us during your visits to other websites. No personal information about you other than your computer type and the fact that you visited is being saved in the cookie.

We also allow others to provide analytics services on our behalf across the web. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services, including the IP address of the computer you are using, the browser software you use and your operating system, the date and time you access our site, and the internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site. This information may be used by Open Technology Fund and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, and better understand your online activity.

Our website carries no advertising, and there are no paid sponsorships. Open Technology Fund does not receive any payment or compensation for publishing any content or link.

Data Retention

After 48 hours, Open Technology Fund makes anonymous, obfuscates, aggregates and/or deletes unneeded technical information. Circumstances in which Open Technology Fund may need to retain technical information longer than 48 hours include when we believe it is reasonably necessary for conducting site testing, diagnosis of technical problems, and defending against attacks on the site. In those instances we will delete the information as soon as it is apparent the information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was kept.

Data Security

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal data is processed securely and treated in accordance with this policy. The technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorized access to personal data include limiting staff and sub-processor access to personal data in accordance with specific job responsibilities or contractual obligations, the encryption of data where possible, the institution of security protocols and staff training.

Although we do our best to protect personal data, information transmitted over the internet remains vulnerable to interception – for this reason, the transmission of any personal data to our websites or via email to us is therefore at your own risk.

Links to Other Services

Our website includes links to external websites, which may process your data or use cookies; for example, links to our Twitter page or other external resources and social media platforms. You can find out more about these services and their use of data through their respective websites and privacy policies. We are not responsible for, nor do we have control over, the privacy practices of such third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party services visited.

Your Choices

Correction and Deletion of Your Information

Applicants may correct their information at any time by logging into their account and making the correction, or by contacting us and requesting a correction. Applicants and visitors to our site may contact OTF at [email protected] to request that we delete their information at any time.

Cookies

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.

Communications

We will honor your request to stop sending you publications or e-mail newsletters, and this will not affect your support-related communications. Please e-mail [email protected] with such requests.

Additional Disclosures for Individuals in Europe

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have certain rights and protections under the law regarding the processing of your personal data, and this section applies to you.

Legal Basis for Processing

When we process your personal data, we will do so in reliance on the following lawful bases:

  • To perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g., processing payments for and providing the products and services you requested).
  • When we have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data to operate our business or protect our interests (e.g., to provide, maintain, and improve our products and services, conduct data analytics, and communicate with you).
  • To comply with our legal obligations (e.g., to maintain a record of your consents and track those who have opted out of email communications).
  • When we have your consent to do so (e.g., when you opt in to receive email communications from us). When consent is the legal basis for our processing your personal data, you may withdraw such consent at any time.

Data Retention

In accordance with our guiding principles, we have followed a privacy-by-design and data minimization approach in the design and build of our website. We store personal data for as long as necessary to carry out the purposes for which we originally collected it and for other legitimate business purposes, including to meet our legal, regulatory, or other compliance obligations.

Data Subject Requests

Subject to certain limitations, you have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you and to receive your data in a portable format, the right to ask that your personal data be corrected or erased, and the right to object to, or request that we restrict, certain processing. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, [email protected].

Questions or Complaints

If you have a concern about our processing of personal data that we are not able to resolve, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority where you reside. Contact details for your Data Protection Authority can be found using the links below:

For individuals in the EEA: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en

For individuals in the UK: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

For individuals in Switzerland: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home/the-fdpic/contact.html

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at [email protected].