GDPR

GDPR Policy

This GDPR Policy is incorporated into, and is subject to the terms and conditions of, the Agreement between VC4A (together with its Affiliates) and the customer entity that is a party to the Agreement (“Customer” or “you”).

1. Definitions
   • “Affiliate” means an entity that directly or indirectly Controls, is Controlled by or is under common Control with an entity.
   • “Agreement” means VC4A Terms, or other written or electronic agreement, which govern the provision of the Service to Customer, as such terms or agreement may be updated from time to time.
   • “Control” means an ownership, voting or similar interest representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total interests then outstanding of the entity in question. The term “Controlled” shall be construed accordingly.
   • “Customer Data” means any personal data that VC4A processes on behalf of Customer via the Service, as more particularly described in this GDPR Policy.
   • “Data Protection Laws” means all data protection laws and regulations applicable to a party’s processing of Customer Data under the Agreement, including, where applicable, EU Data Protection Law and Non-EU Data Protection Laws.
   • “EU Data Protection Law” means all data protection laws and regulations applicable to Europe, including (i) Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation) (“GDPR”); (ii) Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector; (iii) applicable national implementations of (i) and (ii); and (iii) in respect of the United Kingdom (“UK”) any applicable national legislation that replaces or converts in domestic law the GDPR or any other law relating to data and privacy as a consequence of the UK leaving the European Union).
   • “Europe” means, for the purposes of this GDPR Policy, the European Union, the European Economic Area and/or their member states, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
   • “Non-EU Data Protection Laws” means the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”); the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”); and the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”), Federal Law no. 13,709/2018.
   • “Privacy Shield” means the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework self-certification program operated by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
   • “Privacy Shield Principles” means the Privacy Shield Principles (as supplemented by the Supplemental Principles).
   • “SCCs” means the standard contractual clauses for processors as approved by the European Commission or Swiss Federal Data Protection Authority (as applicable).
   • “Security Incident” means any unauthorized or unlawful breach of security that leads to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, or alteration of, or unauthorized disclosure of or access to, Customer Data on systems managed or otherwise controlled by VC4A.
   • “Sensitive Data” means (a) social security number, passport number, driver’s license number, or similar identifier (or any portion thereof); (b) credit or debit card number (other than the truncated (last four digits) of a credit or debit card); (c) employment, financial, genetic, biometric or health information; (d) racial, ethnic, political or religious affiliation, trade union membership, or information about sexual life or sexual orientation; (e) account passwords; or (f) other information that falls within the definition of “special categories of data” under applicable Data Protection Laws.
   • “Service Data” means any data relating to the Customer’s use, support and/or operation of the Service, including information relating to volumes, activity logs, frequencies, bounce rates or other information regarding emails and other communications Customer generates and sends using the Service.
   • “Sub-processor” means any processor engaged by VC4A or its Affiliates to assist in fulfilling its obligations with respect to providing the Service pursuant to the Agreement or this GDPR Policy. Sub-processors may include third parties or Affiliates of VC4A but shall exclude VC4A employees or consultants.
   • The terms “personal data”, “controller”, “data subject”, “processor” and “processing” shall have the meaning given to them under Data Protection Laws or if not defined thereunder, the GDPR, and “process”, “processes” and “processed” shall be interpreted accordingly.
2. Roles and Responsibilities
   1. Parties’ roles. If EU Data Protection Law or the LGPD applies to either party’s processing of Customer Data, the parties acknowledge and agree that with regard to the processing of Customer Data, Customer is the controller and VC4A is a processor acting on behalf of Customer, as further described in Annex A (Details of Data Processing) of this GDPR Policy.
   2. Purpose limitation. VC4A shall process Customer Data only in accordance with Customer’s documented lawful instructions as set forth in this GDPR Policy, as necessary to comply with applicable law, or as otherwise agreed in writing (“Permitted Purposes”). The parties agree that the Agreement sets out Customer’s complete and final instructions to VC4A in relation to the processing of Customer Data, and processing outside the scope of these instructions (if any) shall require prior written agreement between the parties.
   3. Prohibited data. Customer will not provide (or cause to be provided) any Sensitive Data to VC4A for processing under the Agreement, and VC4A will have no liability whatsoever for Sensitive Data, whether in connection with a Security Incident or otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, this GDPR Policy will not apply to Sensitive Data.
   4. Customer compliance. Customer represents and warrants that (i) it has complied, and will continue to comply, with all applicable laws, including Data Protection Laws, in respect of its processing of Customer Data and any processing instructions it issues to VC4A; and (ii) it has provided, and will continue to provide, all notice and has obtained, and will continue to obtain, all consents and rights necessary under Data Protection Laws for VC4A to process Customer Data for the purposes described in the Agreement. Customer shall have sole responsibility for the accuracy, quality, and legality of Customer Data and the means by which Customer acquired Customer Data. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, Customer agrees that it shall be responsible for complying with all laws (including Data Protection Laws) applicable to any emails or other content created, sent or managed through the Service, including those relating to obtaining consents (where required) to send emails, the content of the emails and its email deployment practices.
   5. Lawfulness of Customer’s instructions. Customer will ensure that VC4A processing of the Customer Data in accordance with Customer’s instructions will not cause VC4A to violate any applicable law, regulation, or rule, including, without limitation, Data Protection Laws. VC4A shall promptly notify Customer in writing, unless prohibited from doing so under EU Data Protection Laws, if it becomes aware or believes that any data processing instruction from Customer violates the GDPR or any UK implementation of the GDPR.
3. Sub-processing
   1. Authorized Sub-processors. Customer agrees that VC4A may engage Sub-processors to process Customer Data on Customer’s behalf. The Sub-processors currently engaged by VC4A and authorized by Customer are GitHub, WordPress, Mailchimp, SurveyMonkey, Slack, StackStorage, Stripe, HomeRun, Microsoft Office, TeamWork, HighRise, Basecone, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Analytics, and Dropbox. The Sub-processors currently contracting VC4A for services (Campaigns and Community Pages) and authorized by Customer are available here.
   2. Sub-processor obligations. VC4A shall: (i) by using VC4A services or working with VC4A each Sub-processor assumes these same data protection obligations and provides the same level of protection for Customer Data as those in this GDPR Policy, and to the extent applicable to the nature of the service provided by such Sub-processor; and (ii) remain responsible for compliance with the obligations of this GDPR Policy and for any acts or omissions of such Sub-processor that cause VC4A to breach any of its obligations under this GDPR Policy.
4. Security
   1. Security Measures. VC4A shall implement and maintain appropriate technical and organizational security measures that are designed to protect Customer Data from Security Incidents and designed to preserve the security and confidentiality of Customer Data in accordance with VC4A security standards described in Annex B (“Security Measures”).
   2. Confidentiality of processing. VC4A shall ensure that any person who is authorized by VC4A to process Customer Data (including its staff, agents and subcontractors) shall be under an appropriate obligation of confidentiality (whether a contractual or statutory duty).
   3. Updates to Security Measures. Customer is responsible for reviewing the information made available by VC4A relating to data security and making an independent determination as to whether the Service meets Customer’s requirements and legal obligations under Data Protection Laws. Customer acknowledges that the Security Measures are subject to technical progress and development and that VC4A may update or modify the Security Measures from time to time, provided that such updates and modifications do not result in the degradation of the overall security of the Service provided to Customer.
   4. Security Incident response. Upon becoming aware of a Security Incident, VC4A shall: (i) notify Customer without undue delay, and where feasible, in any event no later than 48 hours from becoming aware of the Security Incident; (ii) provide timely information relating to the Security Incident as it becomes known or as is reasonably requested by Customer; and (iii) promptly take reasonable steps to contain and investigate any Security Incident. VC4A’s notification of or response to a Security Incident under this Section 4.4 shall not be construed as an acknowledgment by VC4A of any fault or liability with respect to the Security Incident.
   5. Customer responsibilities. Notwithstanding the above, Customer agrees that except as provided by this GDPR Policy, Customer is responsible for its secure use of the Service, including securing its account authentication credentials, protecting the security of Customer Data when in transit to and from the Service, and taking any appropriate steps to securely encrypt or backup any Customer Data uploaded to the Service.
5. Security Reports and Audits
   1. Audit rights. VC4A shall make available to Customer all information reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with this GDPR Policy and allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections by Customer in order to assess compliance with this GDPR Policy. Customer acknowledges and agrees that it shall exercise its audit rights under this GDPR Policy (including this Section 5.1 and where applicable, the SCCs) and any audit rights granted by Data Protection Laws, by instructing VC4A to comply with the audit measures described in Section 5.2.
   2. Security due diligence. In addition to the Report, VC4A shall respond to all reasonable requests for information made by Customer to confirm VC4A ‘s compliance with this GDPR Policy, including responses to information security, due diligence, and audit questionnaires, by making additional information available regarding its information security program upon Customer’s written request to privacy@vc4a.com, provided that Customer shall not exercise this right more than once per calendar year.
6. International Transfers
   1. Data center locations. Customer acknowledges that VC4A may transfer and process Customer Data to and in the United States and anywhere else in the world where VC4A, its Affiliates or its Sub-processors maintain data processing operations. VC4A shall always ensure that such transfers are made in compliance with the requirements of Data Protection Laws.
   2. European Data transfers. To the extent that VC4A is a recipient of Customer Data protected by EU Data Protection Laws (“EU Data”), the parties agree that VC4A makes available the mechanisms listed below:
      • (a) Privacy Shield: For as long as VC4A is self-certified to the Privacy Shield: (i) the parties acknowledge and agree that VC4A will be deemed to provide adequate protection (within the meaning of applicable EU Data Protection Laws) for EU Data by having self-certified its compliance with Privacy Shield; (ii) VC4A agrees to process EU Data in compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles; and (iii) if VC4A is unable to comply with this requirement, VC4A shall inform Customer.
      • (b) SCCs: VC4A agrees to abide by and process EU Data in compliance with the SCCs, which are incorporated in full by reference and form an integral part of this GDPR Policy. For the purposes of the SCCs: (i) VC4A agrees that it is the “data importer” and Customer is the “data exporter” under the SCCs (notwithstanding that Customer may itself be an entity located outside the EU); (ii) Annexes A and B of this GDPR Policy shall replace Appendixes 1 and 2 of the SCCs, respectively; and (iii) Annex C shall form Appendix 3 of the SCCs. The parties further agree that the SCCs will apply to Customer Data that is transferred via the Service from Europe to outside Europe, either directly or via onward transfer, to any country or recipient: (a) not recognized by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data (as described in the EU Data Protection Law); and (b) not covered by VC4A ‘s Privacy Shield certification.
7. Return or Deletion of Data
   1. Deletion on termination. Upon termination or expiration of the Agreement, VC4A shall (at Customer’s election) delete or return to Customer all Customer Data (including copies) in its possession or control, except that this requirement shall not apply to the extent VC4A is required by applicable law to retain some or all of the Customer Data, or to Customer Data it has archived on back-up systems, which Customer Data VC4A shall securely isolate, protect from any further processing and eventually delete in accordance with VC4A ‘s deletion policies, except to the extent required by applicable law.
8. Data Subject Rights and Cooperation
   1. Data subject requests. As part of the Service, VC4A provides Customer with a number of self-service features, that Customer may use to retrieve, correct, delete or restrict the use of Customer Data, which Customer may use to assist it in connection with its obligations under the Data Protection Laws with respect to responding to requests from data subjects via Customer’s account at no additional cost. In addition, VC4A shall, taking into account the nature of the processing, provide reasonable additional assistance to Customer to the extent possible to enable Customer to comply with its data protection obligations with respect to data subject rights under Data Protection Laws. In the event that any such request is made to VC4A directly, VC4A shall not respond to such communication directly except as appropriate (for example, to direct the data subject to contact Customer) or legally required, without Customer’s prior authorization. If VC4A is required to respond to such a request, VC4A shall promptly notify Customer and provide Customer with a copy of the request unless VC4A is legally prohibited from doing so. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in the Agreement (including this GDPR Policy) shall restrict or prevent VC4A from responding to any data subject or data protection authority requests in relation to personal data for which VC4A is a controller.
   2. Subpoenas and court orders. If a law enforcement agency sends VC4A a demand for Customer Data (for example, through a subpoena or court order), VC4A shall attempt to redirect the law enforcement agency to request that data directly from Customer. As part of this effort, VC4A may provide Customer’s basic contact information to the law enforcement agency. If compelled to disclose Customer Data to a law enforcement agency, then VC4A shall give Customer reasonable notice of the demand to allow Customer to seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy, unless VC4A is legally prohibited from doing so.
   3. Data protection impact assessment. To the extent required under applicable Data Protection Laws, VC4A shall (taking into account the nature of the processing and the information available to VC4A) provide all reasonably requested information regarding the Service to enable Customer to carry out data protection impact assessments or prior consultations with data protection authorities as required by Data Protection Laws. VC4A shall comply with the foregoing by: (i) complying with Section 5 (Security Reports and Audits); (ii) providing the information contained in the Agreement, including this GDPR Policy; and (iii) if the foregoing sub-sections (i) and (ii) are insufficient for Customer to comply with such obligations, upon request, providing additional reasonable assistance (at Customer’s expense).
9. Jurisdiction-Specific Terms
   1. To the extent VC4A processes Customer Data originating from and protected by Data Protection Laws in one of the jurisdictions listed in Annex D, then the terms specified in Annex D with respect to the applicable jurisdiction(s) (“Jurisdiction-Specific Terms”) apply in addition to the terms of this GDPR Policy. In the event of any conflict or ambiguity between the Jurisdiction-Specific Terms and any other terms of this GDPR Policy, the applicable Jurisdiction-Specific Terms will take precedence, but only to the extent of the Jurisdiction-Specific Terms’ applicability to VC4A.
10. Limitation of Liability
    1. Each party’s and all of its Affiliates’ liability taken together in the aggregate arising out of or related to this GDPR Policy (including the SCCs) shall be subject to the exclusions and limitations of liability set forth in the Agreement.
    2. Any claims made against VC4A or its Affiliates under or in connection with this GDPR Policy (including, where applicable, the SCCs) shall be brought solely by the Customer entity that is a party to the Agreement.
    3. In no event shall any party limit its liability with respect to any individual’s data protection rights under this GDPR Policy or otherwise.
11. Relationship with the Agreement
    1. This GDPR Policy shall remain in effect for as long as VC4A carries out Customer Data processing operations on behalf of Customer or until termination of the Agreement (and all Customer Data has been returned or deleted in accordance with Section 7.1 above).
    2. The parties agree that this GDPR Policy shall replace any existing data processing agreement or similar document that the parties may have previously entered into in connection with the Service.
    3. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between this GDPR Policy and the VC4A Standard Terms of Use, the provisions of the following documents (in order of precedence) shall prevail: (a) SCCs; then (b) this GDPR Policy; and then (c) the VC4A Standard Terms of Use.
    4. Except for any changes made by this GDPR Policy, the Agreement remains unchanged and in full force and effect.
    5. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Agreement (including this GDPR Policy), VC4A shall have a right to collect, use and disclose Service Data for its legitimate business purposes, such as: (i) for accounting, tax, billing, audit, and compliance purposes; (ii) to provide, develop, optimize and maintain the Service; (iii) to investigate fraud, spam, wrongful or unlawful use of the Service; and/or (iv) as required by applicable law. To the extent any such Service Data is considered personal data under Data Protection Laws, VC4A shall be responsible for and shall process such data in accordance with the VC4A Privacy Policy and Data Protection Laws. For the avoidance of doubt, this GDPR Policy shall not apply to Service Data.
    6. No one other than a party to this GDPR Policy, its successors and permitted assignees shall have any right to enforce any of its terms.
    7. This GDPR Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with governing law and jurisdiction provisions in the Agreement, unless required otherwise by applicable Data Protection Laws.

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Annex A – Details of Data Processing

• Subject matter: The subject matter of the data processing under this GDPR Policy is the Customer Data.
• Duration of processing: VC4A will process Customer Data as outlined in Section 7 (Return or Deletion of Data) of this GDPR Policy.
• Purpose of processing: VC4A shall only process Customer Data for the Permitted Purposes, which shall include: (i) processing as necessary to provide the Service in accordance with the Agreement; (ii) processing initiated by Customer in its use of the Service; and (iii) processing to comply with any other reasonable instructions provided by Customer (e.g., via email or support tickets) that are consistent with the terms of the Agreement.
• Nature of the processing: VC4A provides a networking service, automation and marketing platform and other related services, as more particularly described in the Agreement.
  Categories of data subjects: (i) Members; and (ii) Organizational Profiles, each as defined in the VC4A Privacy Policy.
  Types of Customer Data: Customer may upload, submit or otherwise provide certain personal data to the Service, the extent of which is typically determined and controlled by Customer in its sole discretion, and may include the following types of personal data:
  • Members: Identification and contact data (name, address, title, contact details, username); financial information (credit card details, account details, payment information); employment details (employer, job title, geographic location, area of responsibility);
  • Organizational Profile: Identification and contact data (name, date of birth, gender, general, occupation or other demographic information, address, title, contact details, including email address); personal interests or preferences (including purchase history, marketing preferences and publicly available social media profile information); IT information (IP addresses, usage data, cookies data, online navigation data, location data, browser data); financial information (financial overviews and statements), funding history and and fundraising details.
• Sensitive Data: VC4A does not want to, nor does it intentionally, collect or process any Sensitive Data in connection with the provision of the Service.
• Processing Operations: Customer Data will be processed in accordance with the Agreement (including this GDPR Policy) and may be subject to the following processing activities:
  Storage and other processing necessary to provide, maintain and improve the Service provided to Customer pursuant to the Agreement; and/or
  Disclosures in accordance with the Agreement and/or as compelled by applicable law.

 

Annex B – Security Measures

The Security Measures applicable to the Service are described here (as updated from time to time in accordance with Section 4.3 of this GDPR Policy).

Annex C

All defined terms used in this Annex C shall have the meaning given to them in the SCCs unless otherwise defined in this Annex.
 

Annex D – Jurisdiction-Specific Terms

Europe

1. Objection to Sub-processors. Customer may object in writing VC4A’s appointment of a new Sub-processor within five (5) calendar days of receiving notice in accordance with Section 3.1 of GDPR Policy, provided that such objection is based on reasonable grounds relating to data protection. In such event, the parties shall discuss such concerns in good faith with a view to achieving a commercially reasonable resolution. If no such resolution can be reached, VC4A will, at its sole discretion, either not appoint such Sub-processor, or permit Customer to suspend or terminate the affected Service in accordance with the termination provisions in the Agreement without liability to either party (but without prejudice to any fees incurred by Customer prior to suspension or termination).

 

California

1. The definitions of: “controller” includes “Business”; “processor” includes “Service Provider”; “data subject” includes “Consumer”; “personal data” includes “Personal Information”; in each case as defined under CCPA.
2. For this “California” section of Annex D only, “VC4A Services” means the suite of marketing tools and insights available for VC4A Customers to use, including without limitation, campaign management, advertisements, and direct mailings and other related digital communications, analytics and tools made available through the VC4A online platform, as may be further described in the App and/or on the VC4A Site.
3. For this “California” section of Annex D only, “Permitted Purposes” shall include processing Customer Data only for the purposes described in this GDPR Policy and in accordance with Customer’s documented lawful instructions as set forth in this GDPR Policy, as necessary to comply with applicable law, as otherwise agreed in writing, or as otherwise may be permitted for “service providers” under the CCPA.
4. VC4A’s obligations regarding data subject requests, as described in Section 8 (Data Subject Rights and Cooperation) of this GDPR Policy, apply to Consumer’s rights under the CCPA.
5. Notwithstanding any use restriction contained elsewhere in this GDPR Policy, VC4A shall process Customer Data only to perform the VC4A Services, for the Permitted Purposes and/or in accordance with Customer’s documented lawful instructions, except where otherwise required by applicable law.
6. VC4A may de-identify or aggregate Customer Data as part of performing the Service specified in this GDPR Policy and the Agreement.
7. Where Sub-processors process the personal data of Customer contacts, VC4A takes steps to ensure that such Sub-processors are Service Providers under the CCPA with whom VC4A has entered into a written contract that includes terms substantially similar to this GDPR Policy or are otherwise exempt from the CCPA’s definition of “sale”. VC4A conducts appropriate due diligence on its Sub-processors.

 

Canada

1. VC4A takes steps to ensure that VC4A’s Sub-processors, as described in Section 3 (Sub-processing) of the GDPR Policy, are third parties under PIPEDA, with whom VC4A has entered into a written contract that includes terms substantially similar to this GDPR Policy. VC4A conducts appropriate due diligence on its Sub-processors.
2. VC4A will implement technical and organizational measures as set forth in Section 4 (Security) of the GDPR Policy.

 

Appendix 3 to the Standard Contractual Clauses

This Appendix forms part of the Clauses and must be completed by the parties.

This Appendix sets out the parties’ interpretation of their respective obligations under specific Clauses identified below. Where a party complies with the interpretations set out in this Appendix, that party shall be deemed by the other party to have complied with its commitments under the Clauses.

For the purposes of this Appendix, “GDPR Policy” means the GDPR Policy in place between data importer and data exporter and to which these Clauses are incorporated and “Agreement” shall have the meaning given to it in the GDPR Policy.

Clause 5(a): Suspension of data transfers and termination

The parties acknowledge that data importer may process the personal data only on behalf of the data exporter and in compliance with its instructions as provided by the data exporter and the Clauses.
The parties acknowledge that if data importer cannot provide such compliance for whatever reason, it agrees to inform promptly the data exporter of its inability to comply, in which case the data exporter is entitled to suspend the transfer of data and/or terminate the Clauses.
If the data exporter intends to suspend the transfer of personal data and/or terminate these Clauses, it shall endeavour to provide notice to the data importer and provide data importer with a reasonable period of time to cure the non-compliance (“Cure Period”).
If after the Cure Period the data importer has not or cannot cure the non-compliance then the data exporter may suspend or terminate the transfer of personal data immediately. The data exporter shall not be required to provide such notice in instance where it considers there is a material risk of harm to data subjects or their personal data.

Clause 5(f): Audit

Data exporter acknowledges and agrees that it exercises its audit right under Clause 5(f) by instructing data importer to comply with the audit measures described in Section 5 (Security Reports and Audits) of the GDPR Policy.

Clause 5(j): Disclosure of subprocessor agreements

The parties acknowledge the obligation of the data importer to send promptly a copy of any onward subprocessor agreement it concludes under the Clauses to the data exporter.
The parties further acknowledge that, pursuant to subprocessor confidentiality restrictions, data importer may be restricted from disclosing onward subprocessor agreements to data exporter. Notwithstanding this, data importer shall use reasonable efforts to require any subprocessor it appoints to permit it to disclose the subprocessor agreement to data exporter.
Even where data importer cannot disclose a subprocessor agreement to data exporter, the parties agree that, upon the request of data exporter, data importer shall (on a confidential basis) provide all information it reasonably can in connection with such subprocessing agreement to data exporter.

Clause 6: Liability

Any claims brought under the Clauses shall be subject to the terms and conditions, including but not to limited to, the exclusions and limitations set forth in the Agreement. In no event shall any party limit its liability with respect to any data subject rights under these Clauses.

Clause 11: Onward subprocessing

The parties acknowledge that, pursuant to FAQ II.1 in Article 29 Working Party Paper WP 176 entitled “FAQs in order to address some issues raised by the entry into force of the EU Commission Decision 2010/87/EU of 5 February 2010 on standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries under Directive 95/46/EC” the data exporter may provide a general consent to onward subprocessing by the data importer.
Accordingly, data exporter provides a general consent to data importer, pursuant to Clause 11 of these Clauses, to engage onward subprocessors. Such consent is conditional on data importer’s compliance with the requirements set out in Section 3 (Sub-processing) of the GDPR Policy.

How to Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact privacy@vc4a.com.