Privacy Policy

Click here to read the full DCAT Terms of Use.
Effective Date: January 20, 2020

  1. Introduction

The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (“DCAT”) powers relationships and industry knowledge for companies engaged in the business of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. DCAT is a 501(c) 6, not-for-profit, member-supported, global business development association whose unique membership model integrates both innovator and generic drug manufacturers and suppliers of ingredients, development and manufacturing services, and related technologies.

This Privacy Policy applies only to websites and mobile applications controlled by DCAT, namely www.dcat.org, www.dcatweek.org, www.dcatvci.org, and connect.dcat.org (the “Site(s)”). This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information that is collected offline.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully because by registering for or using the Sites you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound to this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to keep up to date on how we are handling your personal information.

Please note the arbitration provision set forth below, requiring you to arbitrate any claims you may have against DCAT on an individual basis.  EXCEPT WHERE AND TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY.

2. This Privacy Policy explains the following:

3. What information does DCAT collect about me?

DCAT collects (i) personal information voluntarily supplied by you when you register on the Sites, and information provided by visitors to administer your organization’s membership, and (ii) tracking information collected as you navigate the Sites. We note that over time, non-personal information could become personal information through regulatory developments, technological advancements, or co-mingling with personal information. The types of personal information we collect from you depend on the features you use on the Sites. 

In particular, DCAT collects the following information from and about you:

  1. Member Information – If you register as a delegate of a member organization, we will collect information from you to administer the membership and services provided to members.
  2. Event Attendee Information– if you attend an event hosted by us, we may collect your business cards, contact information and photographs.
  3. Payment Information– we use third party service providers to collect and process your payment information for membership, events and other products and services we may offer.
  4. User Information – We may collect personal information from you when you sign up on our Site(s) to receive information from DCAT or to contact us. That personal information may include, among other things, your full name, email address, phone number and other information you provided to us.
  5. Sensitive data– We may collect limited sensitive data related to attendance at DCAT events, including dietary restrictions.
  6. Demographic Information– We may collect your demographic information, such as your age, gender, city, state and country.
  7. Usage Information– We may collect data information about how you and your devices interact with the Site(s). This could include features you use, the web pages you visit and the search terms you enter. This could also include data information about your devices and the network you use to connect to our services, including IP addresses, device identifiers and data information about the performance of the services you use on the Sites and any problems you experience with them.
  8. Content and Other Information You Provide to Us– We may collect additional content and information that you voluntarily provide us, such as when you post a comment, submit a complaint or send us feedback.
  9. Public data and posts– This may consist of comments or content that you post on the services and the personal information about you that accompanies those posts or content, which may include a name, user name, or comments.
  10. Google Analytics– To help facilitate the delivery of relevant content, we use Google Analytics. We have enabled the IP anonymization feature of Google Analytics so we are not collecting information that will identify you or your location. Google Analytics uses cookies to report on user interactions on our and others’ websites. We use the data collected for optimizing marketing, refining advertising and/or programming strategies and generally making advertising more effective. Google provides a complete privacy policy and instructions on opting-out of Google Analytics here. Note that Google’s opt-out mechanism is specific to Google activities and does not affect the activities of other ad networks or analytics providers that we may use.

4. How Do We Collect Personal Information?

(1) Active Collection 

As noted above, we collect and store the personal information from you directly, at the time you supply information to us via the Sites. For instance, if you contact us with a question, we may store your communications, including any personal information you include in them, so we can effectively respond to you. If you do not want us to collect your personal information, please do not provide it to us.

(2) Passive Collection

We may collect information passively while you are visiting or interacting with the Sites. We call this “passive” collection because you may not know that this information is being collected. Here are some examples of the information that is collected via the Sites and a description of how this information is used:

  • Internet Protocol (IP) addresses– Your IP address is a number that lets computers attached to the Internet know where to send your information, such as the webpages you view. We use this information to deliver our webpages to you upon request, tailor our Sites to the interests of our users and measure traffic within our Sites.
  • Cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies– A cookie is a small text file that may be used to collect information about your activity on the Sites. For example, when someone visits a page within the Sites, a cookie is placed on the user’s machine (if the user accepts cookies) or is read if the user has visited the Sites previously.Web beacons are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Sites and to help determine the effectiveness of promotional or advertising campaigns. When used in HTML-formatted email messages, web beacons can tell the sender whether and when the email has been opened. Web beacons are embedded invisibly on webpages.  For more information, please see the Cookies and Similar Technologies section below.

4. How DCAT uses the information you collect about me?

DCAT uses your personal information for a number of purposes including the following:

  1. to provide and administer member services;
  2. provide you with member support and to respond to inquiries;
  3. to measure and improve those services and features;
  4. for internal record keeping;
  5. to invite you to participate in surveys or research about DCAT or our members;
  6. to alert you to special offers, updated information from DCAT or other third parties, or to forward promotional materials.
  7. to inform you of upcoming events and administer such events;
  8. to send our newsletters;
  9. to invite DCAT members to advertise or be a sponsor of a future event;
  10. to invite DCAT members to volunteer at upcoming events;
  11. to invite non-DCAT members to become members;
  12. to use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to block disruptive use, to establish the number of visits from different countries;
  13. to analyze and improve the activities and content offered by the DCAT website to provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience. We may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes.
  14. to notify you about a material change to this Privacy Policy, if necessary, or to contact you in response to sign-up forms.
  15. to protect the rights of DCAT and others. There may be instances when we may disclose your personal information, including situations where we have a good faith belief that such processing is necessary in order to: (i) protect, enforce or defend the legal rights, privacy, safety or property of DCAT, our affiliates or their employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements and terms and conditions); (ii) protect the safety, privacy and security of users of our Site(s) or members of the public; (iii) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes;
  16. to comply with applicable laws or legal process and/or respond to requests from public and government authorities.
  17. for any other legitimate business reasons.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

We process personal information per applicable law and with transparency and fairness. Our processing activities are conducted:

  1. With your consent;
  2. In order to fulfill our contractual obligations to you;
  3. For the legitimate purpose of operating our business, including to improve and develop our services to members, for fraud prevention purposes, and to improve user experience;
  4. As otherwise in compliance with the law.

6. Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?

DCAT will contact you for marketing purposes where you have provided us with consent to do so in accordance with applicable law. Please see below for information on how to change your communication preferences, including opting out of future marketing communications.

7. Will DCAT share my personal information with anyone else?

We will use your information within DCAT for the organizational and membership purposes for which it was obtained. We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personal information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. Non-personal information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses – see the Cookies and Ads section below. This information may be used by third parties (such as AdRoll) to target advertising on other sites based on users’ online activity – see the Cookies and Ads section below for more details.

DCAT may share your personal information with the following categories of recipients:

  • Service providers, helping to administer the services, products, services educational programs and events.We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.Subsidiaries and affiliates to better serve the DCAT membership and its evolving needs;
  • Sponsors, Exhibitors and Hosts of DCAT events to allow sponsors and exhibitors to contact you about their products and services that may be of interest to our membership.
  • Third parties, who provide products and services of interest to DCAT members and event attendees;
  • Competent authorities, including law enforcement, in order to comply with applicable laws or court orders.

8. Collection and Use of Information from Children

The Sites are not intended for use by persons under the age 16. DCAT does not knowingly collect information from visitors under the age of 16, and, in the event that we learn that a person under the age of 16 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such personal information.

9. What are your rights with regard to your personal information?

For residents of the EU, you have the right to:

  1. Obtain confirmation as to whether or not your personal information exists and to be informed of its content and source, verify its accuracy and request its completion, update or amendment;
  2. Request the deletion, anonymization or restriction of the processing of your personal information processed in breach of the applicable law;
  3. Object to the processing, in all cases, of your personal information for legitimate reasons;
  4. Receive an electronic copy of your personal information, if you would like such a copy for yourself or in order to port your personal information to a different provider;
  5. Lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority.

You may send your request to DCAT Data Controller Josetty Bouillon at josetty@dcat.org or 1-609-208-1888 ext. 7005. The above rights are subject to applicable limitations and restrictions. In certain cases, your request may be denied based on a legitimate exception such as where we are prevented from disclosing such information based on legal requirements, fraud prevention or security concerns. For more information or to make a request, please contact josetty@dcat.org.

Remember that even after you cancel your account, or if you ask us to delete your personal information copies of some information from your account may remain viewable in some circumstances where, for examples, you have shared information with other services. Because of the nature of caching technology, your account may not be instantly inaccessible to others. We may also retain backup information related to your account on our servers for some time after cancellation or your request for deletion, to comply with applicable law.

Marketing Choices:  We also give you choices regarding our use and disclosure of your personal information for marketing purposes. You may withdraw your consent to:

  1. Receiving electronic communications from us– We communicate with users and members who subscribe to our services on a regular basis via email. For example, we may use your email address to send you notice of payments, information about changes to our products and services, and other disclosures as required by law. Generally, users cannot opt-out of these communications, but they will be primarily informational in nature rather than promotional. If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from us, you may opt-out of receiving these by following the unsubscribe link in our communications or sending a request to DCAT Digital Marketing Manager Jessica Decina at jdecina@dcat.org. We will process your unsubscribe as soon as possible, but please be aware that in some circumstances you may receive a few more messages until the unsubscribe is processed.
  2. Our sharing of your personal information with DCAT affiliates or business partners for their marketing purposes – If you would prefer that we do not share your personal information with DCAT affiliates, sponsors or other third parties for their direct marketing purposes, you may opt-out of this sharing by following the unsubscribe link in the communications or sending a request to josetty@dcat.org.

10. Forums, Chat Rooms and Other Public Posting Areas

Please note that any information you include in a message you post to any chat room, forum or other public posting area is available to anyone with a membership. If you do not want people to know your email address, for example, do not include it in any message you post publicly. PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHEN DISCLOSING ANY INFORMATION IN CHAT ROOMS, FORUMS AND OTHER PUBLIC POSTING AREAS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DISCLOSE IN CHAT ROOMS, FORUMS AND OTHER PUBLIC POSTING AREAS.

11. International Data Transfers

For individuals located in the EU and participating in events or other membership activities, your personal information may be transferred to countries outside the EU, in particular to the United States. Some non-EEA countries are recognized by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of data protection according to EEA standards. The full list of these countries is available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/international-transfers/adequacy/index_en.htm. For transfers from the EEA to countries not considered adequate by the European Commission, we have put in place appropriate and suitable safeguards to protect your personal data and that transfer of your personal data is in compliance with the requirements and the obligations provided by applicable data protection laws, such as standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission as per Articles 45 and 46 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679. 

If you choose to provide us with personal information, it will be stored in the US and may be stored in other jurisdictions. DCAT may transfer that information to its service providers, affiliates and subsidiaries, across borders, and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are visiting the Site from the EU or other regions with laws governing data collection and use, please note that your personal information is transferred to the US and may be transferred to other jurisdictions. The US does not, and these other jurisdictions may not, have the same data protection laws as the EU and may not afford many of the rights conferred upon data subjects in the EU. By providing your personal information, you consent to:

  1. The use of your personal information for the uses identified above in accordance with this Privacy Policy; and
  2. The transfer of your personal information to the United States as indicated above.

12. Cookies and Ads Policy – information DCAT collects from your computer or mobile device

What is a cookie?

Cookies are small text files on your device. They are made by your web-browser when you visit a website. Every time you go back to that website, your browser will send the cookie file back to the website’s server. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognize a user’s device. DCAT does not use cookies to match specific user behavior with IP addresses or any other potentially identifiable information. You can find more information about cookies at:

www.allaboutcookies.org

and 

www.youronlinechoices.eu

Why does DCAT use cookies?

We use, and allow certain third parties to use, cookies and other similar technologies to operate our Site(s), provide any of our services or other functions and to help collect information. We, or third parties, may use session cookies or persistent cookies. Session cookies only last for the specific duration of your visit and are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain on your device’s hard drive until you delete them or they expire. Different cookies are used to perform different functions, which we explain below:

  1. Essential. Some cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around our Sites and use their features, such as accessing secure areas of the Sites. Without these cookies, we cannot enable appropriate content based on the type of device you are using.
  2. Browsing and functionality. These cookies allow us to remember choices you make on the Sites, such as your preferred language and the country from which you are visiting, and provide enhanced, more personalized features.
  3. Performance and analytics. We use our own cookies and third-party cookies to see how you use our Sites and services in order to enhance their performance and develop them according to your preferences. In particular, we use:

Google Analytics: To help facilitate the delivery of relevant content, we use Google Analytics. We have enabled the IP anonymization feature of Google Analytics so we are not collecting information that will identify you or your location. Google Analytics uses cookies to report on user interactions on our and others’ websites. We use the information collected for optimizing marketing, refining advertising and/or programming strategies and generally making advertising more effective. Google provides a complete privacy policy and instructions on opting-out of Google Analytics here.

13. Updates to DCAT’s Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time so you may wish to check it each time you submit personal information to DCAT. The date of the most recent revisions will appear on this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use the DCAT website to submit personal information to DCAT. If material changes are made to the Privacy Policy, we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on the website. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to keep it up to date on how we are handling your personal information.

14. Security and Retention

We take commercially reasonable precautions to protect your information. No data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you understand that any information you transfer to DCAT is done at your own risk.

Once we receive your transmission, we make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure security on our systems. If we learn of a security systems breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the Sites or providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy and administrative issues relating to your use of the Sites. We may post a notice on our Sites if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to you at the email address you have provided to us in these circumstances. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing. 

We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

16. Dispute Resolution

By using the Sites, you and DCAT agree that, if there is any controversy, claim, action, or dispute arising out of or related to your use of the Sites, or the breach, enforcement, interpretation, or validity of this Privacy Policy or any part of it (“Dispute”), both parties shall first try in good faith to settle such Dispute by providing written notice to the other party describing the facts and circumstances of the Dispute and allowing the receiving party 7 days in which to respond to or settle the Dispute.

Notice to us shall be sent to:

The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association
One Union St., Suite 208
Robbinsville, NJ 08691 

Notice to you shall be sent to the address we have on file for you, if any.

Both you and DCAT agree that this dispute resolution procedure is a condition precedent that must be satisfied before initiating any litigation or filing any claim against the other party. WHERE PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IF ANY DISPUTE CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE ABOVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE, YOU AGREE THAT THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION FOR SUCH DISPUTE WILL BE DECIDED BY BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. Other rights that you and we would have in court will not be available or will be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights. Any such Dispute shall be exclusively submitted to JAMS (www.jamsadr.com) for binding arbitration under its rules then in effect, before one arbitrator to be mutually agreed upon by both parties.

The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute arising under or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of this Privacy Policy, including any claim that all or any part of this Privacy Policy is void or voidable with the exception of disputes related to or involving DCAT’s intellectual property.

17. Choice of Law

This Privacy Policy has been made in, and shall be governed, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of New Jersey, without giving effect to any conflict of law principles. Notwithstanding the foregoing provision with respect to applicable substantive law, any arbitration conducted pursuant to the terms of this Privacy Policy shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16).

18. Your California Privacy Rights and How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits visitors to the Sites who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact DCAT Data Controller Josetty Bouillon at josetty@dcat.org or 1-609-208-1888 ext. 7005. Please indicate “Shine the Light Law” in the subject line when making a request through email. 

We do not share personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless you consent to such disclosure, typically by “opting-in” to receive information from a third party that is sponsor, exhibitor, or other third party or other promotion on our Sites. If you do ask us to share your personal information with a third party for its marketing purposes, we will only share information in connection with the consent you have provided.

At this time our Sites do not recognize automated browser signals regarding tracking mechanisms, which may include “Do Not Track” instructions.

19. Assignment

In the event that all or part of our assets are sold or acquired by another party, or in the event of a merger, you grant us the right to assign the personal information we have collected from you.

20. Links to External Sites

DCAT takes no responsibility for the content of external Internet sites. Other websites that we may link to are owned and operated by third parties, and DCAT has no control over them. The fact that we include links to other websites does not mean that DCAT approves of or endorses any other third-party website or the content of that website. We accept no liability for any statements, information, products, or services that are published on or are accessible through any websites owned or operated by third parties. 

21. Contact Us

Your visit to the Sites is subject to this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at the postal and email addresses below: 

Margaret M. Timony
Executive Director
The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association
One Union St., Suite 208
Robbinsville, NJ 08691

Phone: +1-609-208-1888
Toll free: +1-800-640-DCAT (3228)
Fax: +1-609-208-0599
Email: info@dcat.org