Privacy Policy | Greater Houston Partnership
The Greater Houston Partnership values and respects the
privacy of our member companies, their employees, our prospects, visitors,
staff and clients. We recognize the importance of protecting personally
identifiable information or sensitive business information that you may
share with us.
What information does the Partnership collect?
You may submit or be asked to provide certain company information
or personally identifiable information to us when you:
- Submit requests to our offices or Web sites in person, by e-mail, fax, telephone, postal mail and other means;
- Request information from the Partnership via our contact forms, brochures, marketing pieces, surveys or Web sites;
- Communicate with us by sending letters, articles or information for publication; news releases; e-mails; faxes; reports; publications; presentations or other materials;
- Join the Partnership or renew your company membership;
- Sign up for a Partnership committee or for recognition as one of your company’s official representatives;
- Subscribe to or purchase Partnership publications or other products;
- Sign up for special offers from the Partnership or our partners, members or sponsors;
- Complete our annual Business Survey, our annual Official Representative survey or other surveys;
- Enter sweepstakes or contests sponsored by the Partnership or one of our partners, members or sponsors;
- Ask for assistance from the Partnership’s Economic Development or World Trade divisions in matters that involve governmental regulations, business incentive applications or the relocation or expansion of a company;
- Apply for the Partnership’s certification of international shipments;
- Register for or attend Partnership events, workshops or seminars; or
- Apply for employment.
In most cases, the Partnership collects only basic information needed to: (1) complete your membership application, (2) register you for an event, (3) complete a transaction, (4) list your company in one of our directories or other products or (5) consider you for employment. This information may include your name, title, company mailing address, physical address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, business description, number of employees or other ranking that might indicate the size of your business, names and similar information about other key executives, the extent of your international operations, and whether your firm may be owned by a foreign company or have foreign subsidiaries.
The Partnership also may collect financial information,
such as banking or credit card information, when you purchase products
or register for events. If you are concerned about providing such information,
please contact us at ghp@houston.org or call our Information Services
desk at 713-844-3666 for assistance.
How does the Partnership use information you provide?
We use information you and/or your company provide to personalize
your service; to better understand your needs as a member; to broaden
our relationship with you and your company; to develop and market products
and services that may be of interest to you; to collect data needed to
analyze business trends in the Houston market; to publish and distribute
our business directories, newsletters and other products; to promote
the
Greater Houston region by providing accurate data on industries and resources;
to develop educational programs; to respond to inquiries from the news
media; and to assist other agencies and organizations in strengthening
the Houston business community and its worldwide connections. We share
our information with other companies, agencies and organizations subject
to applicable laws and the “opt-out” provisions of this policy.
How can you update or correct your information?
The Partnership makes every effort to ensure that your personal information and that of your company is accurate and current. Every company in our database is surveyed at least once each year.
The information we collect is focused on companies because our mission and our membership base are business-oriented. However, we do maintain records of individuals, with information about their company affiliations. If you are receiving communications from the Partnership, then we maintain a personal record for you with name, title, employer and business contact information. You may update certain information via our Web site by logging in.
Visit the Member Maintenance section of the Partnership's Web site.
Once you have logged in, click on your name in the left-hand menu. Then, click “edit” to bring up the fields which can be changed on the Web. If you change employer, please contact our Research Department at 713-844-3618 or e-mail: ghp@houston.org.
What is the Partnership’s “opt-out” policy?
If you do not wish the Partnership to use information you or your
company may provide, you should withhold that information. We will not
publish personal fax numbers or e-mail addresses, but we will make
your company’s e-mail address and fax number available in
our directories and other products unless you ask in writing that they
be withheld.
To withdraw a company fax number we may already have on record, please contact our Research Department at 713-844-3618. Only authorized company representatives may request this change.
To opt out of receiving e-mail messages from the Partnership about products and services that may be of interest to you or to prevent publication of your e-mail address or its release to other parties, please visit www.houston.org/unsubscribe/ and complete the form. We will make every effort to block your e-mail address from future messages within the time required by law.
Please be aware that you will be removed from all Partnership e-mail lists and may not receive items you might wish to receive, such as announcements of major events, invitations to serve on our committees, notices of committee meetings, newsletters, workshop and seminar opportunities, requests to update your business information in our directories, periodic economic data, membership information or notices of new resources and opportunities for Houston businesses.
Because you will miss so many opportunities, we hope you will choose not to opt out of receiving information from the Partnership by e-mail. Due to computer system limitations at present, we can offer only this “all or nothing” option.
If you select this option, please be aware that the Partnership has no means of preventing other parties that may have legitimately obtained your information previously from continuing its use in faxes, e-mails, telephone solicitations or other publications. We cannot be responsible for continued use by other parties. You should contact those parties directly to request that they discontinue use of your information.
What information does the Partnership keep confidential?
The Partnership does not discuss or disclose information about: (1) pending
economic development projects, (2) pending or anticipated litigation,
(3) the private activities of our volunteers or staff that are unrelated
to Partnership business and (4) items about which confidentiality is required
by law, court order or contract.
Can the Partnership prevent third-party access to personal information?
E-mail, faxes, mail, the Internet and other means of communication
are never 100 percent secure by nature. We cannot guarantee that your
private communications or other personally identifiable information will
never be disclosed to third parties. For example, we may be forced to
disclose information to the government under certain circumstances. Or,
a third party might unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private
communications. Additionally, we may (and you authorize us to) disclose
your personally identifiable information to private entities, courts of
law, law enforcement or other government officials as necessary or appropriate.
We do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personally identifiable
information or private communications will always remain private under
all circumstances.
Are “cookies” or other invasive techniques used on Partnership
Web sites?
The Partnership uses a computer application called a “cookie” to better understand how to improve the experience of visiting Partnership Web sites. “Cookies” are identifiers that a Web site can send to a user’s computer browser to facilitate the user’s next visit to that Web site. This enables our Web sites to identify you as a member or nonmember when you enter the sites and offer you the appropriate prices or provide you access to areas that may be restricted to Partnership members only. Nonmembers typically are charged double our member rates and are not given access to all Partnership resources. Also, the Partnership tracks the Internet addresses from which visitors enter our site and uses this data to analyze the success and outreach of our programs and services.
What measures are taken to ensure security of your information?
We use industry-standard techniques and applications to safeguard
the confidentiality of your personally identifiable or company information,
such as firewalls, private servers and secure socket layers where appropriate.
We maintain other procedural, electronic and physical safeguards to
guard
your nonpublic information. Our practices comply with applicable state
and federal regulations. Our Business Survey update procedures require
your knowledge of a confidential code to gain access, which prevents
other
users from being able to review or alter your company’s information
without your knowledge.
What usage does this policy cover and will the policy change?
This policy only addresses Partnership business activities and Partnership use of information you may provide. Other third parties and/or Web sites (including those we link to or which we co-brand) may have their own policies, which we do not control and cannot be held responsible for, and thus are not addressed nor bound by this policy.
The Partnership has no control over and will not be held responsible for the actions of other parties that may purchase or otherwise obtain Partnership directories, databases, lists, labels or other products that may contain information you provide.
This policy may be updated or altered from time to time, with or without advance notice to you, and your continued membership or use of our Web site or other products and services constitutes your agreement with its terms and conditions.
What if you have other questions?
If you have any questions regarding our policy, please contact the Partnership at ghp@houston.org or call 713-844-3600.
