Privacy Policy
Generally, our intent is to collect only the personal information that is provided voluntarily by online visitors for the purpose of offering information and/or services to those individuals or offering information about employment opportunities. Please review this privacy statement ("Privacy Statement") to learn more about how we collect, use, share and protect the personal information that we have obtained.
1. Collection and use of personal information
1.1 What information we collect
We obtain personal information about you if you choose to provide it — for example, to contact mailboxes or to register for certain services. In some cases, you may have previously provided your personal information to 3C-LINK (if, for example, you are a former employee). If you choose to register or login to a 3C-LINK web site using a third party single sign-in service that authenticates your identity and connects your social media login information (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Twitter or microblog, WeChat or QQ) with 3C-LINK, we will collect any information or content needed for the registration or log-in that you have permitted the social media provider to share with us, such as your name and email address for the purposes above mentioned. Other information we collect may depend on the privacy settings you have set with your social media provider, so please review the privacy statement or policy of the applicable service.
By registering and/or submitting personal information to 3C-LINK, you are also acknowledging that 3C-LINK may use this information in accordance with this Privacy Statement. Your personal information is not used for other purposes, unless we obtain your permission, or unless otherwise required or permitted by law or professional standards. For example, if you register to a 3C-LINK web site and provide information about your preferences we will use this information to personalise your user experience. Where you register or login using a third party single user sign-in we may also recognize you as the same user across any different devices you use and personalise your user experience across other 3C-LINK sites you visit. If you send us a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) to apply online for a position with 3C-LINK, we will use the information that you provide to match you with available 3C-LINK job opportunities.
In some cases where you have registered for certain services we may store your email address temporarily until we receive confirmation of the information you provided via an email (i.e. where we send an email to the email address provided as part of your registration to confirm a subscription request) or required by the applicable law.
This Privacy Statement also covers other means by which we collect information. For example, it also covers how we collect information from in person discussions, telephone conversations, and through non-electronic communications (i.e., collection through means other than 3C-LINK’s online systems).
1.2 Social media widgets and applications
3C-LINK web sites may include functionality to enable sharing via third party social media applications, such as the Facebook, microblog, WeChat Like button and QQ, Twitter widget. These social media applications may collect and use information regarding your use of 3C-LINK web sites Any personal information that you provide via such social media applications may be collected and used by other members of that social media application and such interactions are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide the application. We do not have control over, or responsibility for, those companies or their use of your information.
In addition, 3C-LINK web sites may host blogs, forums, crowd-sourcing and other applications or services (collectively "social media features"). The purpose of social media features is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and content. Any personal information that you provide on any 3C-LINK social media feature may be shared with other users of that social media feature (unless otherwise stated at the point of collection), over whom we may have limited or no control.
1.3 Minors
3C-LINK understands the importance of protecting minors' privacy, especially in an online environment. In particular, our sites are not intentionally designed for or directed at minors under the age of 18. It is our policy never to knowingly collect or maintain information about anyone under the age of 18, except as part of an engagement to provide professional services.
2. Sharing and transfer of personal information
2.1 Transfers to third parties
We do not share personal information with unaffiliated third parties, except as necessary for our legitimate professional and business needs and to the extent permitted by law, to carry out your requests, and/or as required or permitted by law or professional standards. This would include:
- Our service providers: 3C-LINK work with reputable partners, service providers or agencies so they can process your personal information on our behalf. 3C-LINK will only transfer personal information to them when they meet our strict standards on the processing of data and security. We only share personal information that allows them to provide their services.
- If we are reorganised or sold to another organisation: 3C-LINK may also disclose personal information in connection with the sale, assignment, or other transfer of the business of the site to which the data relates;
- Courts, tribunals, law enforcement or regulatory bodies: 3C-LINK may, to the extent permitted by the local laws or subject to the fulfillment of the regulatory requirements of the applicable laws, disclose personal information in order to respond to requests of courts, tribunals, government or law enforcement agencies or where it is necessary or prudent to comply with applicable laws, court or tribunal orders or rules, or government regulations.
- Audits: disclosures of personal information may also be needed for data privacy or security audits and/or to investigate or respond to a complaint or security threat.
3C-LINK may also store personal information inside or outside of Hong Kong and/or China. If we do this your personal information will continue to be protected by means of contracts we have in place with those organisations inside and outside Hong Kong and/or China, which are in a form approved by the competent authority in the applicable jurisdiction.
3C-LINK will not transfer the personal information you provide to any third parties for their own direct marketing use.
2.2 Transfer within the global organisation of 3C-LINK firms
To the extent permitted by applicable law, we share information including personal information you provided with other member firms of the 3C-LINK global organisation as part of international engagements, and with 3C-LINK International and other member firms where required or desirable to meet our legal and regulatory obligations around the world. Other parts of the 3C-LINK organisation are also used to provide services to us and you, for example hosting and supporting IT applications, provision of certain forms of insurance for member firms and its clients, performing client conflicts checks and Anti-Money Laundering checks, assisting with client engagement services and otherwise as required in order to continue to run 3C-LINK’s business.
By providing 3C-LINK with personal information via online systems, visitors are explicitly consenting to this transfer and/or storage of their personal information across borders for the purpose of the foregoing 2.1 and 2.2. If information you provided includes personal information of individuals based within or outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), you agree to obtain express consent, whenever required under the applicable law, from these individuals prior to the submission of such personal information to 3C-LINK. If information you provided includes personal information of individuals within the People Republic of China, you agree and warrant to notify these individuals of such cross border transfer and obtain separate consent from these individuals, whenever required under the applicable laws, prior to the submission of such personal information to 3C-LINK. By consenting to this Privacy Statement, you confirm that explicit consent has been obtained from the relevant individuals.
3. Choices
In general, you are not required to submit any personal information to 3C-LINK, but we may require you to provide certain personal information in order for you to receive additional information about our services and events.
3C-LINK may also ask for your permission for certain uses of your personal information, and you can agree to or decline those uses. If you opt-in for particular services or communications, such as an e-newsletter, you will be able to unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions included in each communication. If you decide to unsubscribe from a service or communication, we will try to remove your information promptly, although we may require additional information before we can process your request.
As described in "Cookies" above, if you wish to prevent cookies from tracking you as you navigate our sites, you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Note, however, that some portions of our sites may not work properly if you elect to refuse cookies.
4. Your rights
If you have submitted personal information to 3C-LINK, you have the following rights:
- Access and correction: you have the right to access to that data. This is sometimes called a ‘Subject Access Request’. If we agree that we are obliged to provide personal information to you, we will provide it to you free of charge. Before providing personal information to you, we may ask for proof of identity and sufficient information about your interactions with us that we can locate your personal information. If the information we hold about you is incorrect, you may ask us to correct any inaccuracies in the personal information.
- Object to processing: you may have the right to object to us processing your personal information if we are not entitled to use it any more, to have your information deleted if we are keeping it too long or have its processing restricted in certain circumstances and/or to obtain copies of information we hold about you in electronic form if we are able to do so.
5. Data security and integrity
3C-LINK has reasonable security policies and procedures in place to protect personal information from unauthorised loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. Despite 3C-LINK's best efforts, however, security cannot be absolutely guaranteed against all threats. To the best of our ability, access to your personal information is limited to those who have a need to know. Those individuals who have access to the data are required to maintain the confidentiality of such information.
We also make reasonable efforts to retain personal information only for so long as the information is necessary to comply with an individual's request or until that person asks that the information be deleted and, in any case, no longer than 10 years.
6. Links to other sites
Please be aware that 3C-LINK web sites may contain links to other sites, including sites maintained by other 3C-LINK member firms that are not governed by this Privacy Statement but by other privacy statements that may differ somewhat. We encourage users to review the privacy policy of each Web site visited before disclosing any personal information.
By registering on any 3C-LINK web site and then navigating to another 3C-LINK web site while still logged in, you agree to the use of your personal information in accordance with the privacy statement of the 3C-LINK web site you are visiting.
7. Changes to this statement
3C-LINK may modify this Privacy Statement from time to time to reflect our current privacy practices. When we make changes to this statement, we will revise the "updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to be informed about how 3C-LINK is protecting your information.
