Privacy Policy

Effective as of 28 February 2024

This Privacy Policy describes how Gates Ventures, LLC (GV) and our affiliated entities (referred to collectively as “GV”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses and shares your personal information as part of the Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium (GNPC) project if you visit https://www.neuroproteome.org/ or our other websites or services that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Services”) or take other actions through the Services such as choosing to contact us, receive our communications, participate in challenges, or attend our events.

We provide important information for individuals in Europe below.


Table of Contents (click to navigate)



Personal Information We Collect

Information you provide to us. Personal information you provide to us through the Services may include:

  • Contact information You must provide a valid email address so that we can fulfill your request to communicate with you. If you choose to provide a name or other information in your request for communications, you are free to use a pseudonym.
  • Feedback or correspondence, such as information you provide when you contact us with questions, feedback, or otherwise correspond with us.
  • Usage information, such as information about how you use the Services and interact with us, including information you provide when you use any interactive features of the Services.
  • Marketing information, such as your preferences for receiving communications about our products, activities, and publications, and details about how you engage with our communications.
  • Other information that we may collect which is not specifically listed here, but which we will use in accordance with this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

Information we obtain from social media platforms. We may maintain pages for GNPC on social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. When you visit or interact with our pages on those platforms, the platform provider’s privacy policy will apply to your interactions and their collection, use, and processing of your personal information. You or the platforms may provide us with information through the platform, and we will treat such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Cookies and Other Information Collected by Automated Means. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and activity occurring on or through the Services. The information that may be collected automatically includes your computer or mobile device operating system type and version number, manufacturer and model; device identifier; browser type; screen resolution; IP address; the website you visited before browsing to our website; general location information such as city, state or geographic area; and information about your use of and actions on the Services, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times, and length of access. Our service providers and business partners may collect this type of information over time and across third-party websites and mobile applications.

See our Cookie Policy for more information.


How We Use Your Personal Information

We use your personal information for the following purposes and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy or at the time of collection:

To operate the Services. We use your personal information to:

  • provide, operate, and improve the Services;
  • facilitate social features of the Services, such as our blog community forum, and connecting researchers with similar research interests;
  • communicate with you about the Services, including by sending you announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
  • understand your interests and personalize your experience with the Services;
  • provide support and maintenance for the Services; and
  • respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

For research and development. We analyze use of the Services to improve the Services and to develop new products and services.

To send you marketing and promotional communications. We may send you marketing communications as permitted by law. You can opt out of our marketing and promotional communications as described below.

To comply with law. We use your personal information as we believe necessary or appropriate to comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities.

For compliance, fraud prevention, and safety. We may use your personal information and disclose it to law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties as we believe necessary or appropriate to: (a) protect our, your, or others’ rights, privacy, safety, or property (including by making and defending legal claims); (b) enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Services; and (c) protect, investigate, and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activity.

With your consent. In some cases we may specifically ask for your consent to collect, use, or share your personal information, such as when required by law.

To create anonymous data. We may create anonymous data from your personal information and combine it with other individuals whose personal information we collect. We make personal information into anonymous data by removing information that makes the data personally identifiable to you. We may use this anonymous data and share it with third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve the Services and promote our business. Once anonymized, we will take steps to prevent the information from being re-identified.


How We Share Your Personal Information

We do not share your personal information with third parties without your consent, except in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

Service providers. We may share your personal information with third-party companies and individuals that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Services (such as customer support, website troubleshooting, hosting, analytics, email delivery, marketing, administrators of Challenges, and database management services).).

Examples of some our current service providers (with links to their privacy policies and/or legal terms) as of the date of posting this privacy policy are:

Partners. See our Cookie Policy for more information about third parties that collect information through our Services with cookies and similar technologies.

Professional advisors. We may disclose your personal information to professional advisors, such as lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

For compliance, fraud prevention and safety. We may share your personal information for the compliance, fraud prevention and safety purposes described above.

Government Requests. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this policy, we may preserve or disclose your information if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation, or legal request or to protect the safety, property, or rights of GV or others. However, nothing in this policy is intended to limit any legal defenses or objections that you may have to a third party or government request to disclose your information.

Corporate transfers. We may transfer or otherwise share some or all of our business or assets, including your personal information, in connection with a (potential) organizational transaction such as a merger, consolidation, reorganization, or in the event of dissolution.


Your Choices

In this section, we describe the rights and choices available to all users. Users who are located within Europe can find additional information about their potential rights below.

  • Opt out of marketing communications. You may opt out of marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.
  • Cookies & browser web storage. For information on how to disable cookies and similar technologies used in the Services, see our Cookie Policy.
  • Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit www.allaboutdnt.com.
  • Choosing not to share your personal information. Where we are required by law to collect your personal information, or where we need your personal information to provide the Services to you, if you do not provide this information when requested (or you later ask to delete it), we may not be able to provide you with the Services or certain features. We will tell you what information you must provide to receive the Services by designating it as required at the time of collection or through other appropriate means. In some cases, you may provide a pseudonym, such as when you sign up for our email list.


Other Sites, Mobile Applications, and Services

The Services may contain links to, or content or features from, other websites and online services operated by third parties. These links are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. In addition, our content may be included on web pages or in mobile applications or online services that are not associated with us. We do not control third-party websites, mobile applications, or online services, and we are not responsible for their actions. Other websites and services follow different rules regarding the collection, use, and sharing of your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites and mobile applications and online services you use.


Security Practices

We employ industry-standard organizational, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

Some of our current security practices as of the date of this privacy policy include: Data is stored within a secured facility that limits physical access. Data at rest is stored in an encrypted state. Vendors must receive individual, per-instance authorization before being able to access our data stored within their facility (which access is only allowed as part of troubleshooting). All administrative accounts are protected by multi-factor authentication and, in most cases, access is also limited by IP address. All administrative actions are audited. An automated security review is undertaken on a regularly scheduled basis. A specific and targeted security review is conducted bi-annually or more often as dictated by the needs and changes introduced in the services offered. An SDLC (software development lifecycle) program is used by the development partners to manage security practices and data handling during the development and maintenance cycles.


International Data Transfers

We are headquartered in the United States, and your personal information may be transferred outside of your state, province, or country to the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your state, province, or country.


Children

The Services are not directed to, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from, anyone under the age of 16. If we learn that we have collected personal information of a child without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian, we will delete it. We encourage parents with concerns to contact us at info@neuroproteome.org.


Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended version on the Services and indicating the effective date of the amended version. We may announce any material changes to this Privacy Policy through the Service and/or contacting you if doing so is required by law.


How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Policy or GV’s privacy practices, email us at info@neuroproteome.org


Notice to European Users

The information provided in this section applies only to individuals in the European Economic Area and United Kingdom (collectively, “Europe”).

Personal information. References to “personal information” in this Privacy Policy are equivalent to “personal data” governed by European data protection legislation.

Legal bases for processing. The legal bases of our processing of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy will depend on the type of personal information and the specific context in which we process it. However, the legal bases we typically rely on are set out in the table below. We rely on our legitimate interests as our legal basis only where those interests are not overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or our processing is otherwise required or permitted by law). If you have questions about the legal basis of how we process your personal information, contact us at info@neuroproteome.org.

Processing purpose
Details regarding each processing purpose listed below are provided in the section above titled “How We Use Your Personal Information”.

Legal basis

To operate the Services

Processing is necessary to perform the contract governing our provision of the Services or to take steps that you request prior to signing up for the Services. If we have not entered into a contract with you, we process your personal information based on our legitimate interest in providing the Services you access and request.

For research and development, To send you marketing communications, For compliance, fraud prevention and safety
To create anonymous data

These activities constitute our legitimate interests.

To comply with law 

Processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

With your consent 

Processing is based on your consent. Where we rely on your consent you have the right to withdraw it any time in the manner indicated when you consent or in the Services.

Use for new purposes. We may use your personal information for reasons not described in this Privacy Policy where permitted by law and the reason is compatible with the purpose for which we collected it. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and explain the applicable legal basis.

Sensitive personal information. We ask that you not provide us with any sensitive personal information (e.g., social security number, government-issued identification, payment card information, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) on or through the Services, or otherwise to us.

Retention

We retain personal information where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so (for example, to provide you with a service you have requested; to comply with applicable legal, tax or accounting requirements; to establish or defend legal claims; or for fraud prevention). When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

“Live” user data (username, email, sign-in information [whether a link to a Facebook or Twitter ID]) is stored without any active plans on purging old or inactive data.

A user may request, in accordance with standards such as GDPR, to have their data removed from our live system, and it will eventually expire out of the backups once the retention period has ended.

Your rights

European data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your personal information. If you are located within Europe, you may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:

  • Access. Provide you with information about how we process your personal information and give you access to your personal information.
  • Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
  • Delete. Delete your personal information.
  • Transfer. Transfer a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice.
  • Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information.
  • Object. Object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the basis of our processing of your personal information that impacts your rights.

Please contact us to submit these requests. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Applicable law may require or permit us to decline your request. If we decline your request, we will tell you why, subject to legal restrictions. If you would like to submit a complaint about our use of your personal information or our response to your requests regarding your personal information, you may contact us or submit a complaint to the data protection regulator in your jurisdiction. You can find your data protection regulator here.

Cross-Border Data Transfer

If we transfer your personal information from the European Economic Area to a country outside of it and are required to apply additional safeguards to your personal information under European data protection legislation, we will do so. Please contact us for further information about any such transfers or the specific safeguards applied.