VST is committed to protecting your privacy and to providing as secure a user experience as practicable. This privacy policy explains our collection, use, and disclosure practices for information sent to Vela Sustainability Technologies via or in connection with your use of the Vela Sustainability Technologies software, including any mobile applications (“the Software”) and any associated support and maintenance services. If our public website https://velasustainability.com/ (the “Website”) is accessed or used in connection with your use of the Software or its support and maintenance, use of the Website is also governed by this policy.

In this policy: (i) “Personal Information” means information that identifies you as an individual or that relates to an identifiable person; and (ii) “Other Information” means all information that is not Personal Information, which means any information that does not reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an individual. Personal Information and Other Information are collectively referred to as “information”.

By accessing the Website, using the Software, or by submitting information to Vela Sustainability Technologies in connection with your use of the Software or the support and maintenance of the Software, you consent to the terms of this policy, which apply to information from or about you (including Personal Information) collected or received as described in this policy. This consent is given on your behalf and on behalf of any person on whose behalf you use the Software or submit information to Vela Sustainability Technologies, such as your employer if you are using the Software or accessing the Website in the course of your employment.

The Vela Sustainability Technologies company that initially receives your information may differ by country, depending on where you are. Vela Sustainability Technologies or any member of its group of companies that collects or receives information under this policy is bound by and is entitled to the benefit of this policy.

All Vela Sustainability Technologies employees worldwide have a responsibility to respect and encourage others to respect, the privacy and security of Personal Information – whether from employees, customers, contractors, or vendors. Vela Sustainability Technologies employees must collect, use, store, handle, and disclose Personal Information only by Vela’s Sustainability Technologies privacy policies and applicable laws.

What information is or may be collected?

The following information may be collected by Vela Sustainability Technologies:

• Information is necessary to verify the integrity of the Software and the validity of licenses.
• Information used to improve the quality, reliability, and performance of the Software and related services.
• Account or payment information necessary for a transaction or to set you or your organization up in our systems, to administer support and maintenance or licence entitlements tracking. This may include your or your organization’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, social media or messaging account ID, and profile picture.
• Market research or other information we may request and/or you may supply from time to time in connection with the Software, such as postings in message boards, forums, chat, profile pages and blogs, or social media tools used to provide, administer or enhance support and maintenance of the Software.
• Information about you or your location or language, such as details required to activate or configure location-based features in the Software.
• Other Information such as browser, network, and device information, Software usage data; data stored on or accessible via a mobile device on which you access any mobile application, where that data does not constitute Personal Information, and information collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies.

Usage Information – We may use certain technologies to generate and cause the Software to transmit to us statistics and other information (including, without limitation, metadata produced as a result of your use of the Software) from and/or about the performance, operation, and use of the Software. Error reports and defect log entries submitted to Vela Sustainability Technologies via the Software also contain or may contain information about the performance, operation, and use of the Software. This information may include Personal Information and is collectively referred to in this policy as “Use Information“. Examples of Use Information (by way of illustration only) include:

• Computer registry settings and environment variables, Software modules installed, and Software configuration, specification, or session files;
• Software licensing information;
• Screenshots of the Software when in use;
• Performance information, such as how quickly the Software responds and the number and frequency of problems the Software experiences;
• Usage information, such as the features that you use most often and how frequently you launch the Software;
• Your user profile information – name, company, title, job, phone numbers, email, to the extent this has been entered into the Software;
• Your email address if you enter this before submitting the report/entry, if you have requested information, or if you have downloaded the viewer or demonstration edition of the Software;
• The IP address of your computer;
• Your computer system settings and configuration such as operating system, number of processors, CPU speed, RAM used and available, video card type, display screen resolutions, hard drive space, operating system version, how many network connections you use, hardware ID (including manufacturer, device name and version), regional and language settings; and
• Any step-by-step description you give of what you were doing when an error or other problem occurred.

We may, subject to this policy, utilize one or more third parties to process Use Information on our behalf.

Collection of Other Information

We and our service providers may collect Other Information in several ways, including:

• Through your browser or device: Certain information is collected by web browsers or automatically through your device. We use this information to ensure that the Vela Sustainability Technologies products continue to function properly and that the service that we provide to you is not compromised.
• Use of cookies: A cookie (also known as an HTTP cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website to your web browser. Your browser will store this cookie and return it to the website server when you browse pages on the website. Cookies are used to remember the ‘state’ of activities performed on the website. The Website only uses “session cookies”. These cookies will expire at the end of your browsing session. Vela Sustainability Technologies only uses these cookies to ensure a consistent experience while using the Website. Vela Sustainability Technologies does not use these cookies for tracking, marketing, or advertising. Further to this, we do not use permanent cookies or flash cookies as part of our Website service. You have the right to “opt-out” of the use of cookies on the Website to identify you. To prevent the use of cookies on the Website, please follow the instructions of your web browser.

How is the information used?

Vela Sustainability Technologies may use the information collected in the following ways or for the following purposes, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

Vela Sustainability Technologies uses the information collected to improve the Software and perform services and tasks relating to the Software. This includes maintaining and improving the performance of the Software, developing new features, conducting research, and providing customer support to customers who have support and maintenance agreements in place. Examples of such uses include the following:

Customer Support – We use information to diagnose Software problems and provide customer care and support and maintenance services to customers who have support and maintenance agreements in place, subject to Vela’s Sustainability Technologies support policies. In this regard, we may disclose your information to our distributors or to your or your organization’s support services partners to facilitate customer support or product improvement. We also use information, including Personal Information, to administer your or your organization’s account and to complete and fulfill purchases.

Product Improvement – We use the information to continually improve the Software, including adding new features or capabilities and debugging. For example, we use error reports to improve the stability of the product and usage information to determine what new features to prioritize. We may also use information to detect, and protect against, emerging and evolving threats to users or user data (such as malware or spam). We may use and analyze information, such as your Use Information, in an anonymized way for statistical purposes to learn about the usage of the Software.

Security, Safety, and Dispute Resolution – We use the information to protect the security and safety of the Software and our customers, to detect and prevent fraud, piracy, or unauthorized use, to confirm the validity of Software licenses, to determine if the Software being used is genuine and to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. We may disclose your information to fraud-checking or anti-counterfeiting organizations or agencies.

Communications – We use the information we collect to communicate with you and personalize our communications with you. For example, we may contact you by phone email, or other means to inform you when a defect is fixed, discuss your licensing needs, let you know when security updates or new releases are available, update you or inquire about or respond to a support, service or information request, invite you to participate in a survey, tell you that you need to take action to keep your licensing active or tell you about a Vela Sustainability Technologies product or service that may be of interest to you. Where required by law, Vela Sustainability Technologies will make available and implement an ‘unsubscribe’ option in marketing communications we may send you and Vela Sustainability Technologies will otherwise comply with applicable anti-spam laws.

Other – Your information might also be used for legal, regulatory, and statistical purposes or to provide localized or personalized features or functionality in or via the Software. We may also use your information for any other purposes identified when the information is collected.

Usage Information – We may (i) make Use Information publicly available in a form that does not identify you or any individual provided that such Use Information does not incorporate your or your organization’s confidential information, and (ii) use such Use Information for Vela’s Sustainability Technologies internal business purposes worldwide, including without limitation for security and operations management, to create statistical analyses, for research and development purposes, to study customer behaviors and usage of the Software, to enhance our product offerings, and to provide more targeted applications and communications to our customers. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we retain all rights, titles, and interests (including without limitation all intellectual property rights) in and to such Use Information.

Information may be used by Vela Sustainability Technologies to resolve defects or improve Vela’s Sustainability Technologies products and in the other ways described above, whether or not you have an active support and maintenance agreement in place with Vela Sustainability Technologies.

Vela’s Sustainability Technologies sharing of information and disclosure to third parties

Vela Sustainability Technologies is a group of companies that operates globally, therefore information you provide or which is gathered via the Software may be shared amongst and used and processed by Vela Sustainability Technologies Corporate Limited or any member of its group of companies worldwide. To the extent that these entities have access to your Personal Information, they will follow privacy practices no less protective than the practices described in this policy, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

We may disclose your information to law enforcement and national security agencies, and other government and regulatory authorities as required or authorized by law.

Vela’s Sustainability Technologies policy is not to rent, sell, trade, or otherwise disclose your Personal Information to other companies or individuals outside the Vela Sustainability Technologies group unless: (i) we have obtained your explicit consent; (ii) we use trusted businesses or persons to support us in providing our services to you or your organisation in which case such third parties are subject to agreements that oblige them to process the information only on our instructions and in compliance with this policy or the laws that apply to the relevant Vela Sustainability Technologies entity and appropriate confidentiality and security measures; or (iii) the law requires us to do so or we have a good faith belief that disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Vela Sustainability Technologies, its customers, employees, visitors or the public. We will ensure that third parties do not use your Personal Information for purposes other than those described in this policy or otherwise permitted by law.

Where we receive your information in connection with the support or maintenance of Software that you or your organization has licensed from a Vela Sustainability Technologies distributor or another support provider, or where Vela Sustainability Technologies otherwise acts as a subcontractor to your provider, you consent to Vela Sustainability Technologies disclosing your information to that distributor or provider, either to facilitate the provision of support services by them to you or your organization or to update or inform them of the direct information transmission between you and Vela Sustainability Technologies relating to such services.

We may store and process your Personal Information in any country in which any relevant Vela Sustainability Technologies group entity or our hosting, cloud, or information systems services providers maintain facilities. By using the Software or submitting information via or in connection with the Software, you consent to the transfer of your information among these facilities, including those located outside your country, where data protection and privacy laws may not exist or may be less strict or comprehensive than in your country.

How is the information received and stored and for how long?

Vela Sustainability Technologies may use third-party cloud, hosting, or data processing services to receive, process, or store information received from you.

Once received, we restrict access to your Personal Information to Vela Sustainability Technologies employees or Vela Sustainability Technologies suppliers’ personnel who need to have access to that information in order to provide the services or do the things described above. All of them are bound by a duty to keep your Personal Information reasonably safeguarded against unauthorised use or disclosure. Error Reports and Defect Log Entries submitted to Vela Sustainability Technologies via the Software are encrypted.

We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your information is treated in accordance with this policy. We take appropriate security measures to protect your information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. Where we store the information you provide on computer systems, we do so on systems with limited access and which are located in controlled facilities. However, you acknowledge that the transmission of information over wireless or wired networks and the internet is not inherently secure and no data transmission or storage system can be one hundred percent secure, so no absolute guarantee of security or privacy can be given and Vela Sustainability Technologies cannot warrant that others will not intercept or access your information transmitted to Vela Sustainability Technologies via or in connection with the Software or stored by Vela Sustainability Technologies. Neither Vela Sustainability Technologies nor any of our third-party service providers accepts any liability whatsoever as a result of transmission of your Personal Information (including any errors, delays or failure in transmission) via the internet or other unsecure network.

If you suspect that any interaction with Vela Sustainability Technologies or information covered by this policy is no longer secure, please notify us immediately on communications@velasustainability.com.

Vela Sustainability Technologies will retain your Personal Information no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, described above, or to comply with applicable law. Vela Sustainability Technologies reserves the right to delete the information you provide at any time and without notice.

Software that connects to the Internet

The Software (or an update or upgrade to it) may cause your computer to connect to the internet without notice to communicate with Vela Sustainability Technologies or a Vela Sustainability Technologies service to validate licences, to provide certain functionality, to validate digital certificates, to check for updates or to register, activate or reactivate the Software. This policy applies to information collected by the Software in this manner. Where required, failure to register or activate the Software may result in reduced functionality.

Your rights and Vela Sustainability Technologies contact details

You have the right to review your Personal Information received by Vela Sustainability Technologies pursuant to this policy, to request corrections if it is inaccurate or outdated, to provide any complaints or feedback with respect to this policy and to request deletion in case you are no longer using the Software or the purposes described above for collecting the Personal Information no longer apply. You may direct any queries or complaints to Vela Sustainability Technologies by contacting our Data Protection Contact at communications@velasustainability.com.

GDPR Compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”) was introduced during May 2018 in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). If and to the extent that Vela Sustainability Technologies collects, processes and uses your Personal Information subject to the GDPR, Vela Sustainability Technologies relies on its legitimate interests as described in this policy as a lawful basis for collecting, processing and using your Personal Information. Vela Sustainability Technologies is classified as a “Data Controller” for the purposes of the GDPR.

Many rights arising under the GDPR are addressed elsewhere in this policy (for example, your rights to access, correct or restrict processing of your Personal Information, or to have your Personal Information deleted). However If you are located within the EEA then you may have additional rights arising under the GDPR, including but not limited to rights regarding data portability (to transfer your Personal Information to another company or organisation) and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in your country of residence.

If you are a resident of the EEA and believe that we maintain your Personal Information subject to the GDPR, then you may direct any queries or complaints to Vela Sustainability Technologies by contacting our Data Protection Contact at communications@velasustainability.com.

Updates to this policy

Please note this policy will change from time to time. We expect most such changes to be minor, but there may be changes that are more significant. If any change may materially and negatively affect the privacy of your Personal Information, then we will use reasonable efforts to inform you about such changes, such as by posting an updated version on the Website. It is important that you check from time to time and ensure that you have reviewed the most current version of this policy. Your use of the Software following any such changes will mean that you accept the revised policy.