PRIVACY POLICY

Welcome. You have arrived at a website provided by The Tasting Alliance, L.P. or its affiliated entities (“The Tasting Alliance,” “The Tasting Alliance” or “we,” “our” or “us”). 

The Tasting Alliance Competitions are considered the most influential for a reason. We have elevated the reputation of thousands of brands, and represent the ultimate curator for the world’s best wine and spirits. Receiving a medal from our organization is a critical next step for any producer to earn recognition in the industry. At The Tasting Alliance, we respect your privacy and want to protect your personal information. 

This Privacy Policy governs The Tasting Alliance’s websites, their subdomains, and all portals, applications, products, goods, services, events, and any interactive features, applications, or other services offered by us that post a link to this Privacy Policy (“Site” or “Sites”). This Privacy Policy also applies to information (including the “Personal Information” defined below) that we may collect from you via contact us forms, emails, phone calls or other communications with our representatives or in any other instance when you contact us. We refer to all of the above as our “Services.”

We are required by law to tell you what information we collect from you, why we collect it, how we use it, under what circumstances we may share it with third parties, how we protect that information, and your choices with respect to how your personal information is used. As a preliminary matter, we handle all information you provide us with the utmost confidentiality. At times, we may need to disclose your personal information to third parties outside The Tasting Alliance who may be assisting us with providing Services to you, as set forth in this Policy. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at hello@thetastingalliance.com. 

Please note that if you voluntarily provide your information in the course of interacting with our Sites, speaking with one of our representatives on the phone or otherwise using our Services, we will take that as your agreement to our collection, use, and disclosure of your information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into our Terms of Use which govern your use of the Sites. 

By using our Sites or speaking to our representatives about our Services, you consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to our Terms of Use. 

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any products, goods, services, websites, or content that are offered by third parties (“Third Party Services”), which are governed by their respective privacy policies. 

What Information We Collect 

Why We Collect Information

When We Disclose Information  

Ads and Information About You 

Your Choices About the Information We Collect 

Children’s Privacy 

Do Not Track Disclosures 

Visitors to the Sites Outside of the United States 

Updating Personal Information

Links

Security

International Data Transfers 

Your California Privacy Rights 

Your GDPR Privacy Rights 

Questions/Changes in Privacy Policy

a) Information You Provide to Us

In connection with the Services we provide, we may ask you to provide us with certain information, including:

● Contact and shipping information. Your first and last name, email address, home and/or business address, shipping address, telephone number(s), and mobile number(s);

● Age. Your birthdate or age;

● Financial information. Your credit card or debit card number, your payment and/or service history;

● Social media information. Social media handles, content and other data shared with us through third-party features that you use on our Sites and other service (such as apps, tools, payment services, widgets and plug-ins offered by social media services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube) or posted on social media pages (such as our social media page or other pages accessible to us); and

● Employment information (for job applicants, employees, and/or volunteers). Your current or past employment information, your military or veteran status, your marriage status, educational information; 

● Other information. Information that could reasonably be used to identify you personally or identify your household or device. 

The above is collectively referred to as “Personal Information.”

Your decision to provide us with information is voluntary, but if you choose not to provide requested information, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the Sites’ features or our Services. 

b) Information That Is Automatically Collected

In addition to information that you choose to submit to us, we and/or our service providers may automatically collect and/or store certain information when you visit or interact with the Sites (“Usage Information”). This Usage Information may be stored and/or accessed from your personal computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or other device (a “Device”) whenever you visit or interact with our Sites. Usage Information may include:

● Your IP address, IDFA, Android/Google Advertising ID, IMEI, or another unique identifier;

● Your Device functionality (including browser, browser language, operating system, hardware, mobile network information);

● Referring and exit web pages and URLs; 

● The areas within our Sites that you visit and your activities there, including remembering you and your preferences;

● Your Device location or other geolocation information, including the zip code, state or country from which you accessed the Services;

● Your Device characteristics; and

● Certain other Device data, including the time of day you visit our Sites.

For location information, we may use this information to provide customized Services, content, promotional offers, and other information that may be of interest to you. 

If you no longer wish for us or our service providers to collect and use location information, you may disable the location features on your device. Consult your device manufacturer settings for instructions. Please note that if you disable such features, your ability to access certain features, Services, content, promotions, or products may be limited or disabled.

c) Use of Cookies and other Tracking Technologies

We may use various methods and technologies to store or collect Usage Information (“Tracking Technologies”). Tracking Technologies may set, change, alter or modify settings or configurations on your Device. A few of the Tracking Technologies used on the Sites), include, but are not limited to, the following (as well as future-developed tracking technology or methods that are not listed here):

● Cookies. A cookie is a file placed on a Device to uniquely identify your browser or to store information on your Device. Our Sites may use HTTP cookies, HTML5 cookies, Flash cookies and other types of cookie technology to store information on local storage. 

● Web Beacons. A Web Beacon is a small tag (which may be invisible to you) that may be placed on our Sites’ pages and messages.

● Embedded Scripts. An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the Sites, such as the links you click on. 

● ETag, or entity tag. An Etag or entity tag is a feature of the cache in browsers. It is an opaque identifier assigned by a web server to a specific version of a resource found at a URL. 

● Browser Fingerprinting. Collection and analysis of information from your Device, such as, without limitation, your operating system, plug-ins, system fonts and other data, for purposes of identification.

● Recognition Technologies. Technologies, including application of statistical probability to data sets, which attempt to recognize or make assumptions about users and devices (e.g., that a user of multiple devices is the same user). 

We may use Tracking Technologies for a variety of purposes, including:

● To allow you to use and access the Sites, including for the prevention of fraudulent activity and improved security functionality;

● To assess the performance of the Sites, including as part of our analytic practices or otherwise to improve the content, products or services offered through the Sites;

● To offer you enhanced functionality when accessing the Sites, including identifying you when you sign into our Sites or keeping track of your specified preferences or to track your online activities over time and across third-party sites; and

● To deliver content relevant to your interests on our Sites and third-party sites based on how you interact with our content.

You can get more information about Cookies and Tracking Technologies, and instructions on how to opt out of cookies and certain tracking technologies, in our “Ads and Information About You” section below. 

d) Sources of Personal Information

Additionally, we may obtain Personal Information from you where you expressly provide us with the information. Examples of sources from which we collect information include interviews and phone calls with you, letters, e-mails or other communications from you, information provided via web forms or inputs/uploads into our Sites or at events we attend or sponsor, documents you have provided to us, and employment applications. 

e) Information We Collect When You Interact with Third-Party Sites 

The Sites may include functionality that allows certain kinds of interactions between the Sites and your account on a third-party website or application. The use of this functionality may involve the third-party site providing information to us. For example, we may provide links on the Site to embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.) from other websites, or we may use third parties to facilitate emails or postings to social media (like a “Share” or “Forward” button). These third parties may retain any information used or provided in any such communications or activities and these third parties’ practices are not subject to our Privacy Policy. We may not control or have access to your communications or the tracking of your activity through these third parties. Further, when you use third-party sites or services, you are using their services and not our services and they, not we, are responsible for their practices. You should read the applicable third-party privacy policies before using such third-party tools on our Site. Please also see our Terms of Use for further information.

f) Information from Third Parties

In addition, we may collect information about you from other sources, including our distributors and vendors, or other sources. We may also obtain information about you from marketers and market research firms. We may combine the information we collect from third parties with information that we have collected from you or through your use of the Services.

We may use your information for various purposes, including: 

● Responding to your requests for information; 

● Providing Services to you;

● Verifying your age and identity, and for fraud prevention;

● Fulfilling your orders and/or processing your payments; 

● Evaluating your employment or volunteer application; 

● Providing you with updates and information about products, services, and events we provide; 

● Evaluating your submission into one of our competitions;

● Sending you marketing information about The Tasting Alliance, our partners, and our affiliated entities;

● Sending you email communications such as electronic newsletters about our Services and events and promotions which may be of interest to you, as well as those of our partners and/or sponsors;

● Improving the effectiveness of our Sites, our marketing endeavors, and our product and service offerings;

● Identifying your product and service preferences, providing personalized content and ads and informing you of new or additional information, products and services that may be of interest to you;

● Helping us address problems with and improve our Sites and our products and services, including testing and creating new products, features, and services;

● Providing mobile marketing messages and other communications and messages; 

● Protecting the security and integrity of the Sites, including understanding and resolving any technical and security issues reported on our Sites;

● Administering employee benefits, such as medical, dental, commuter and retirement benefits, including recording and processing eligibility of dependents, absence and leave monitoring, insurance and accident management, rewards or discount programs offered to employees; 

● Engaging in analysis, research, and reports regarding the use of our Sites and Services;

● For internal business purposes; 

● Complying with the law and protecting the safety, rights, property or security of The Tasting Alliance, the Services, and the general public; 

● For purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy; and

● For other purposes.

We may aggregate, de-identify, and/or anonymize any information collected through the Sites or Services such that such information is no longer linked to your personally identifiable information. We may use and share this aggregated and anonymized information (non-Personal Information) for any purpose, including without limitation, for research and marketing purposes, and may also share such data with our affiliates and third parties, including advertisers, promotional partners and others.

To the extent permitted by law and any applicable state Code of Professional Conduct, certain nonpublic information about you may be disclosed in the following situations:

● To comply with a validly issued and enforceable subpoena or summons.

● In the course of a review of The Tasting Alliance’s practices under the authorization of a state or national licensing board, or as necessary to properly respond to an inquiry or complaint from such a licensing board or organization.

● In conjunction with a prospective purchase, sale, or merger of all or part of our practice, provided that we take appropriate precautions (for example, through a written confidentiality agreement) so the prospective purchaser or merger partner does not disclose information obtained in the course of the review.

● As a part of any actual or threatened legal proceedings or alternative dispute resolution proceedings either initiated by or against us, provided we disclose only the information necessary to file, pursue, or defend against the lawsuit and take reasonable precautions to ensure that the information disclosed does not become a matter of public record.

● To provide information to affiliates of The Tasting Alliance and nonaffiliated third parties who perform services or functions for us in conjunction with our services to you, but only if we have a contractual agreement with the other party which prohibits them from disclosing or using the information other than for the purposes for which it was disclosed. Examples of such disclosures include using a payment processor, distributor, merchandise store, customer service provider, or an email marketing provider.

Finally, we also may share your information, including your Personal Information, with our affiliates and other third parties, such as companies with whom we have marketing or other relationships, for direct marketing purposes. You may opt out of this sharing at any time. (If you are a California resident, you have the right to request additional information regarding the “sale” of your information. Please see the Section entitled “Your California Privacy Rights” below about these rights.) In addition, we may share the information we have collected about you, including Personal Information, as disclosed at the time you provide your information and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. 

You may see certain ads on our Sites because we may have sponsored content, and/or because we participate in advertising networks administered by third parties. These networks may track your online activities over time and across third party websites and online services by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of the Tracking Technologies described above, and they use this information to show you advertisements that are tailored to your individual interests. The information they collect includes information about your visits to our Sites, such as the pages you have viewed. This collection and ad targeting takes place both on our Sites and on third-party websites that participate in the ad network. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our communications and marketing efforts. 

If you would prefer that we not share your name and email address with third parties (other than with our affiliates) to receive promotional offers, you have the option to opt out of such sharing. To do so, please email us at hello@thetastingalliance.com. Your choice will not affect our ability to share information in the other ways described in this Privacy Policy.

If you do not wish to receive communications, please contact us as follows:

Email: Click the unsubscribe link in emails or email us at hello@thetastingalliance.com.

Postal address:

The Tasting Alliance

Pier 50, Shed A

San Francisco, CA 94158

Please include your full name, contact information and your communication preferences. 

Please note that certain of your personal information, such as your name or other identifying information, may remain in our database even after a deletion request in order to service your account, maintain the integrity and historical record of our database and systems, or to comply with applicable laws and regulations. 

If you are a resident of certain jurisdictions, such as California, the U.K., or the European Union, you may have additional rights as outlined below. 

Our Sites are not intended for use anyone under the age of 21 and we never request, or knowingly collect, any personally identifiable information from children. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 who you believe inadvertently provided their information to us, please contact us at hello@thetastingalliance.com to request the immediate deletion of that information.

Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a web browser setting that requests that a web application disable its tracking of an individual user. When you choose to turn on the DNT setting in your browser, your browser sends a special signal to websites, analytics companies, ad networks, plug in providers, and other web services you encounter while browsing to stop tracking your activity. Various third parties are developing or have developed signals or other mechanisms for the expression of consumer choice regarding the collection of information about an individual consumer’s online activities over time and across third-party websites or online services (e.g., browser do not track signals), but there is no universally agreed-upon standard for what a The Tasting Alliance should do when it detects a DNT signal. Currently, we do not monitor or take any action with respect to these signals or other mechanisms. You can learn more about Do Not Track here. 

Our Sites are intended for users in the United States. If you are visiting the Sites from a location outside of the U.S., your connection will be through and to servers located in the U.S. All information you receive from the Sites will be created on servers located in the U.S., and all information you provide will be maintained on web servers and systems located within the U.S. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those of the country in which you are located, and your information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States according to laws of the United States. By using the Sites or providing us with any information, you consent to the transfer to, and processing, usage, sharing and storage of your information in the United States and in other countries, as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Because we work with global companies, we may transfer your Personal Information outside of the country in which it was originally provided. This may include transfers to third parties, such as service providers or affiliated entities who are located outside of the United States, where data protection laws may not offer the same level of protection as those in the U.S., U.K., E.U. or European Economic Area (“EEA”). When we transfer personal data outside of these areas, we take steps to make sure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your Personal Information.