Privacy Policy
The Brain Gain Network’s (BGN) Privacy Policy
Your privacy is our top concern. We work hard to earn and keep your trust, so we adhere to the following principles to protect your privacy:
- We do not rent or sell your personally identifiable information to third parties for marketing purposes.
- We do not share your contact information with another user without your consent.
- Any personally identifiable information that you provide will be secured with industry standard protocols and technology.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you by e-mail or by means of a notice on our home page. By continuing to use the Brain Gain Network after notice of changes have been sent or published on the website, you are consenting to the changes.
I. Personal Information Collected
The purpose of the Brain Gain Network website is to permit users to voluntarily provide information about themselves for the purposes of locating, developing, maintaining and enhancing a network of professional contacts from the Philippine diaspora.
You willingly provide certain personal information to allow you to benefit from the Brain Gain Network. If you have any hesitation about providing such information or having such information displayed on the website or otherwise used in any manner permitted in this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement, you should not become a member of the Brain Gain Network community.
Personal information is collected in the following ways:
a. Registration
First, create an account in the Brain Gain Network. To create an account, provide the requested contact information such as name, e-mail, country, a brief summary of your professional background and a chosen password recognized and expressly acknowledged as personal information allowing others, including the Brain Gain Network, to identify yourself as the user.
b. Profile Information
Additional information may be provided on the Brain Gain Network Profile page once a user. Providing additional information beyond what is required during registration is entirely optional, but this enables you to better identify yourself and find new opportunities in the Brain Gain Network ecosystem.
c. Contacts’ Information
To connect with you directly on the Brain Gain Network, you may use the Brain Gain Network’s services to invite them by simply entering their names or e-mailing them.
Manually entering e-mails of your contacts can be made using the Invite More People to Join link on the Brain Gain Network user’s homepage.
All information entered will only be viewable by you and will not be searchable by others in the Brain Gain Network without your permission. Likewise, all information entered or uploaded about your contacts will be covered by the same terms of this Privacy Policy.
d. Customer Service
The Brain Gain Network may collect information through the website or through the Brain Gain Network Administrator e-mail account to accurately categorize and respond to a user’s inquiry and deliver appropriate service levels.
e. Cookies
Like most websites, the Brain Gain Network uses cookies and web log files to track site usage. A cookie is a tiny data file which resides in the computer allowing websites to recognize a user when returning to the website using the same computer and web browser.
If your browser settings do not allow cookies, you will not be able to use the Brain Gain Network website. Like the information entered during registration, cookie and log file data is used to customize your website experience. Cookies are used to improve the quality of our service by storing user preferences and tracking user trends.
In the course of serving advertisements or optimizing services, we may allow authorized third parties to place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Any information provided to third parties through such cookies will not be personally be identifiable but may provide general segment information, e.g. your industry or geographic location, your occupation or information about your professional or educational background, for greater customization of your user experience.
Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Unfortunately, if your browser settings do not allow cookies or you opt to refuse all cookies, you may not be able to use the Brain Gain Network website or services.
The Brain Gain Network does not store personally identifiable information in the cookies.
f. Log files, ISP addresses, information about your computer
Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when visiting the Brain Gain Network website we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave.
We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, e-mail patterns, as well as the name of your ISP.
The information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties without your permission or except when required by law.
g. Consent to personal processing information
Certain information you provide to the Brain Gain Network may reveal or allow others to identify your nationality, ethnic origin, religion or other aspects of your private life and more generally about you. Please be aware that in providing information for the purposes of opening a user account, you are expressly and voluntarily accepting the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and the Brain Gain Network’s User Agreement.
Supplying such information, including all information deemed “sensitive” by applicable law is entirely voluntary on your part. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement but please note that your withdrawal of consent will not be retroactive.
h. Rights to access, correct and eliminate personal information
You have a right to access, modify, correct and eliminate the data which has been collected pursuant to your decision to become a user. If you update any of your information, we may keep a copy of the information which you originally provided in our archives for uses documented herein.
We take your rights seriously and encourage you to use them if you deem this to be appropriate. You may exercise these rights by e-mailing us administrator@bgn.org.
II. Uses of personal information
The Brain Gain Network is web platform dedicated to locate and connect the Philippine diaspora. By effectively connecting and gathering the profiles of highly-skilled Filipino professionals, government, private sector, and other groups can access and engage Filipinos from the global diaspora to strengthen Philippine science & technology/ research & development and help foster an environment breeding successful ventures and entrepreneurs.
Personally identifiable information provided on the Brain Gain Network website is used to describe your profile to other users. Other information, which do not personally identify you as an individual, is collected (such as, for example, patterns of utilization) and is exclusively owned by the Brain Gain Network.
This information can be utilized by the Brain Gain Network, in its sole discretion, as deemed appropriate.
a. Communications
The Brain Gain Network will communicate through e-mail and notices posted on the website or other means available.
Please be aware that you will always receive certain e-mails from the Brain Gain Network, such as e-mail notices and/ or alerts based on user activities, the Brain Gain Network e-newsletter and announcements.
You can opt to change your e-mail and contact preferences at any time by logging in and heading to Settings to amend e-mail notification choices and update your e-mail account.
You can also opt out of receiving BGN e-mails, by sending a request to administrator@bgn.org.
b. Sharing information
The Brain Gain Network takes the privacy of its users very seriously. We do not sell, rent or otherwise provide your personal identifiable information to third parties for marketing purposes. We will only share your information with third parties to carry out your instructions or to provide specific services or information.
These third parties are requested to provide services by the Brain Gain Network. They do not retain, share or store any personal identifiable information and are bound by confidentiality agreements to limit their use of such information.
The Brain Gain Network also offers a “Public Profile” feature which allows users to publish portions of their BGN profile.
Your Brain Gain Network profile is searchable. Keywords relating to particular skills, backgrounds, interests, etc., which are related or indicated in your profile will be displayed or generated by the Brain Gain Network’s search engine.
However, the ability to view your profile – by Brain Gain Network members, third party-partners, anonymous users, non-Brain Gain Network members, and those who logged-out of their Brain Gain Network account – will be based on the Privacy Settings you have set as user.
Users may opt out of this feature by editing their account and privacy located under Settings. However the Brain Gain Network does not warrant how often third party search engines will update their cache.
c. Teaming-up with other organizations to offer combined and other services
The Brain Gain Network may offer its services in connection with other websites (including updates about the Brain Gain Network) or may team-up with other online services to give combined results of both services or additional services and benefits.
Platform applications (as defined in the User Agreement) can be designed by platform developers (as defined in the User Agreement) or by a subset of platform developers wherein the Brain Gain Network is more closely aligned (“Partners”).
We do check and only work with trusted partners. Because of the Brain Gain Network’s trust, platform applications or services designed by a partner may be automatically granted permission to access account information to provide the combined services.
For platform applications, you will be asked to confirm acceptance of the platform developers’ respective privacy policies and user agreements. In these cases, it will be your choice whether or not to make use of the services and whether to proceed under the platform developers’ terms.
For example, assuming you have not already given a platform application permission to access your information, your non-public profile information should not be visible to someone using a platform application if it is not otherwise accessible to that person in the Brain Gain Network.
To report any suspected misuse of information, contact administrator@bgn.org.
The Brain Gain Network is not responsible for your use of or inability to use any platform applications, including the content, accuracy or reliability of such applications and the privacy practices or other policies of platform developers.
d. Blogs, discussions, and groups
In posting replies and entries, using a bulletin board, importing a blog, or participating in a forum in the Brain Gain Network, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you choose to provide can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, as well as platform developers and other third parties. These could be used to send you unsolicited messages.
The Brain Gain Network is not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums.
e. Communicating to other users
Many e-mails you initiate through the Brain Gain Network, e.g. an invitation sent to a non-user, will list your name on the message. E-mails you initiate may also provide aggregate information about your network (i.e. how many people are in your network), but will not list the people who you are directly connected with.
Other communications you initiate through the Brain Gain Network website, like a request to be a contact, will list your name as the initiator but will not include your personal contact information.
Your contact information will only be shared with another user if both of you have indicated that you would like to establish contact with one another.
f. Legal disclaimer
It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information when required by law, such as responses to civil or criminal subpoenas or other requests by law enforcement personnel.
We will disclose such information wherein we have good faith or believe that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, subpoena or other legal process or request to the Brain Gain Network brought in any country throughout the world or to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
g. Disclosure to others
We may also disclose your personal and other information provided to another third party as part of a reorganization or sale of the assets of the Brain Gain Network.
Any third party to which we transfer or sell the Brain Gain Network’s assets will have the right to continue to use personal and other information provided to us.
III. Information choices
a. Accessing and changing account information
You can review the personal information provided and make any desired changes to the information published or to the settings of your enrolled Brain Gain Network account including your e-mail and contact preferences at any time.
Please be aware that even after your change request is processed, the Brain Gain Network may retain residual information about you in its back-up and/or archival copies of its database.
b. Closing account
You can close or have your account disabled in the Brain Gain Network website by sending a request to administrator@bgn.org.
If you close your Brain Gain Network account, we will remove your name and other personally identifiable information from our publicly viewable database.
We may retain certain data contributed by you if we believe it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as an analysis of aggregate, non-personally identifiable data, account recovery or if required by law.
IV. User’s obligations
As a user, you have certain obligations towards other users with whom you will be communicating. Certain of these obligations are imposed by applicable law and regulations, and others have become commonplace in user-friendly communities of likeminded members, such as the Brain Gain Network:
- You must at all times respect the terms and conditions of the current Privacy Policy and the User Agreement. This includes respecting all intellectual property rights which may belong to third parties (such as photographs).
- You must not download or otherwise disseminate any information which may be deemed be injurious, violent, offensive, racist or xenophobic, or which may otherwise violate the purpose and spirit of the Brain Gain Network and its community of users.
- You must not provide information to the Brain Gain Network and/ or users which you believe might be injurious or detrimental to your person, professional or social status.
Any violation of these guidelines may lead to the restriction, suspension or termination of your account by the Brain Gain Network, as we take these principles seriously and consider these to be the basis on which our Users adhere to the Brain Gain Network website and the services it offers.
V. Important information
a. Changes to the Privacy Policy
The Brain Gain Network may update this privacy policy at any time, with or without advance notice.
In the event there are significant changes in the way we treat your personal identifiable information, we will display a notice on the Brain Gain Network website or send you an e-mail. We will also indicate at the top of this page the policy’s new effective date. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information we have about you and your account.
If you use the Brain Gain Network service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices.
VI. Links
The Brain Gain Network may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personal identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by the Brain Gain Network.
VII. Third Party Advertising
Advertisements that appear on the Brain Gain Network are sometimes delivered (or "served") directly to users by third party advertisers. They automatically receive your IP address.
These third party advertisers, including Google’s AdSense, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to the Brain Gain Network website. They may also download cookies to your computer or use other technologies such as JavaScript and "web beacons" (also known as "1x1 gifs") to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content.
The Brain Gain Network does not have access to or control of the cookies that may be placed by third party advertisers. These third party advertisers have no access to your contact information stored in the Brain Gain Network unless you choose to share it with them.
Users may opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
This privacy policy covers the use of cookies by the Brain Gain Network and does not cover the use of cookies or other tracking technologies by any of its advertisers.
VIII. Security
In order to secure your personal information, access to your data on the Brain Gain Network is password-protected. To protect any data stored in our servers, we also regularly audit our system of possible vulnerabilities and attacks. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your log-in information.
Please note that e-mails and similar means of communication with other users of Brain Gain Network are not encrypted. We strongly request you not to communicate any confidential information through these means.
IX. Contact us
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please e-mail us at administrator@bgn.org.