GameEthos Privacy Policy
Effective Date: October 26, 2024
Welcome to the GameEthos Privacy Policy. This policy explains how GameEthos Research Group, located at 1326 Grove St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA, Montreal, QC H3A 3C6, Canada, collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you interact with our website (ga-me-ethos.com), subscribe to our newsletter, participate in our workshops, or otherwise engage with our services. GameEthos is committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. Dr. Isobel Dubois, as the lead researcher, oversees the implementation of this policy, ensuring compliance with all applicable privacy laws and regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
1. Information We Collect
We collect several types of information to provide and improve our services:
- Personal Data: This includes your name, email address, and any other information you provide when you subscribe to our newsletter, register for a workshop, or contact us through our website. We may also collect your affiliation (e.g., university, game development studio) if you provide it.
- Usage Data: We collect information about how you use our website, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, the pages you visit, and the time and date of your visits. This data is collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies.
- Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and hold certain information. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:
- To provide and maintain our website and services.
- To send you newsletters, research updates, and information about our workshops and events (only if you have subscribed to our newsletter).
- To respond to your inquiries and provide customer support.
- To analyze website usage and improve our services.
- To detect, prevent, and address technical issues.
- To comply with legal obligations.
3. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data
Our legal basis for processing your personal data depends on the specific context in which we collect it. Generally, we process your personal data on one or more of the following grounds:
- Consent: We may process your data based on your explicit consent, such as when you subscribe to our newsletter. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
- Contractual Necessity: We may process your data to fulfill our contractual obligations, such as when you register for a workshop.
- Legitimate Interests: We may process your data based on our legitimate interests, such as improving our services and conducting research, provided that your rights and freedoms are not overridden.
- Legal Obligation: We may process your data to comply with legal obligations.
4. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We may share your personal data with third parties only in the following circumstances:
- Service Providers: We may share your data with third-party service providers who assist us in providing our services, such as email marketing platforms, web hosting providers, and analytics providers. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes we specify.
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your data if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request, such as a subpoena or court order.
- Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your data may be transferred to the acquiring entity.
- With Your Consent: We may share your data with third parties with your explicit consent.
5. Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These measures include:
- Using secure server infrastructure.
- Implementing data encryption.
- Regularly updating our security protocols.
- Limiting access to personal data to authorized personnel only.
However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Data Retention
We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. 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 requirements.
7. Your Rights Under GDPR (for European Residents)
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including:
- The right to access: You have the right to request access to your personal data that we hold.
- The right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- The right to erasure: You have the right to request that we delete your personal data, under certain circumstances.
- The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain circumstances.
- The right to data portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.
- The right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, under certain circumstances.
- The right to withdraw consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@ga-me-ethos.com . We will respond to your request within one month.
8. Cookie Policy
Our website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit a website. We use cookies for the following purposes:
- Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly and cannot be disabled. They include cookies that enable you to log in, navigate the site, and use its features.
- Analytics Cookies: These cookies allow us to analyze website usage and improve our services. They collect information about how you use our website, such as the pages you visit and the time spent on each page.
- Marketing Cookies: These cookies are used to track your browsing habits and deliver targeted advertising. We do not currently use marketing cookies on our website.
You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. Most web browsers allow you to manage your cookie preferences through their settings. You can choose to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or be notified each time a cookie is set. Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website.
9. Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites that are not owned or controlled by GameEthos. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.
10. Children's Privacy
Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 16, we will take steps to delete the data as soon as possible.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable laws. We will post any changes on our website and update the "Effective Date" at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your personal data.
12. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
GameEthos Research Group
Attention: Privacy Officer
1326 Grove St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
Montreal, QC H3A 3C6
Canada
Email:
privacy@ga-me-ethos.com
Phone: +1 415-409-1002 ext. 5680