Privacy policy
We encourage you to interact with us through different channels, among which our website(s) are very important. You have every right to know exactly what information we collect, what we do with it (and what we don’t) so you can feel safe and secure.
This privacy statement describes APOPO’s policy concerning the gathering and sharing of visitors’ information through the APOPO websites – all sites within the “apopo.org” domain name — which we’ll refer to as ‘the APOPO website’ in this policy. By visiting the APOPO website, you are accepting the practices described in this policy.
Note: when visiting the APOPO website, you may reach or be directed to other sites that relate to APOPO. All these sites have their own privacy statements which are similar to this one but may vary slightly.
Privacy: it’s between you and us
To be perfectly clear from the beginning: we don’t share, rent, sell or make otherwise available any personal information about you to any third party without your prior consent.
In some cases, we really need to transmit some details to third parties, like to initiate an online payment. In such a situation,
- the information we need from you for that purpose will be requested through a secure web page (identifiable by its address beginning with https://)
- we use a similar secure channel to interface with the provider
- we ensure that this provider is bound by minimally the same confidentiality and privacy policies under the contract we have with them.
Another exception would be if we believe disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request as per our Terms of Service, or to prevent or defend against misuse of the APOPO website, violation of our intellectual property rights, physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.
We do reserve the right to share aggregated or anonymized information – this information would not directly identify you.
What happens when you visit the APOPO website
The information we collect
The only information we gather during normal web use is what your browser sends to every website you visit: your IP (Internet Protocol) address, domain name, browser type, operating system, and information such as the website that referred you to us, the files you downloaded, the pages you visit, and the dates/times of those visits.
What we do and don’t do with it
Most of the data we collect in this category is commonly referred to as ‘web analytics’ and this technique is very widely used. In addition to the ubiquitous Google Analytics, we use specific tools to give us insights into how our visitors experience specific pages, such as Hotjar:
All this information is used to analyse trends and usage of the APOPO site and to improve the usefulness of the site. It is not connected with any personal information.
However, if you have registered with APOPO in connection with any activity on the APOPO website, the information we collect about your normal web usage will be identifiable to you. See next section.
Information which is personally identifiable
The information we collect
You can visit the APOPO site without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself. However, if you register for a newsletter, log on to the APOPO website, request information, apply for a job or join an electronic mailing list, you will be asked to provide personal information such as your name, postal address and e-mail address. This information is collected only with your knowledge and permission, and is stored in our database.
If you are purchasing something on the web, you may be asked to provide your credit card details.The rules about requesting and storing this information is very strict: in order to be allowed to store credit card info, an organisation needs to be PCI-certified. We prefer to work with payment providers who are PCI-certified, and we store such sensitive information on their servers — not on ours.
What we do and don’t do with it
Typically, you provide this information because you want something to happen, which is called an explicit opt-in. Examples are
- signing up for a newsletter
- submit your job application
- donate or purchase something online
In some cases, we will “remember” your online preferences to
- help you quickly find information that is relevant to you based on your interests
- help us provide content most relevant to you, by presetting a currency option or directing you to a country-specific page depending on your current location
- undertake statistical analysis
Statistical analysis? Don’t worry. The purpose of this is to understand what our audience is interested in, for instance, how many visitors we have from a specific country, so we can decide to provide translated content. As usual, such information is never shared, sold or rented to any outside party — so you’re safe.
Providing personal information on the APOPO website is optional. If you choose not to provide personal information, you can still browse and use the APOPO site, but you will not be able to carry out certain actions such as purchasing items, registering for a newsletter, or applying for a job.
External information sources
When we interface with other online services, we may collect information from those sources and combine that with information we collect from you directly. For example, when you link your myapopo profile with your Facebook profile, we will request your permission to access certain elements of your account information. What we can access from third-party social networking sites may include information such as tweets or posts from your timeline and the individuals whom you follow on the third-party social networking site. As with every social media integration, you will be told up front what we would like to access, and you can stop that access at any time.
Opting out and changing your information
We try to make it as easy as possible for you to let us know you do no longer want to receive newsletters from us or that you need to change the information we keep about you. Normally, you can cancel or modify your information by returning to the web page where you first provided the information. If that does not work or you cannot locate it, you can contact us by mail at herorats@apopo.org and we’ll make the changes as soon as possible.
Do we use cookies?
The short answer is: yes. It’s the standard technique websites use to make life easier for you, by enabling us to remember certains preferences you have, so you can avoid having to set them on your next visit. We don’t use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you.
How do cookies work?
A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent from the web server to your browser. It is used to securely store information such as user IDs, passwords, preferences, and online profiles. It is stored on the hard drive of your computer. By setting this cookie, APOPO will remember your details the next time you visit, so you don’t have to re-enter the information. This helps us to provide you with a better service.
Different websites can send their own cookies to your computer. To protect your privacy, your browser only allows a website to access the cookies it has already sent you, not the cookies sent by other sites. This means that the APOPO website can read the APOPO settings it ‘left behind’ on your computer, but no other site can.
How to control and delete cookies
If you wish to restrict or block all the cookies which are set by us, or any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer (including those from this visit) as well as more general information about cookies.
You can choose not to have cookies delivered by APOPO sites by changing your browser settings. Be advised that some pages of the APOPO website really require cookies to be enabled, so some functionality may not be available to you.
Notification of changes
Changes to this privacy policy will be posted here and will be available via the APOPO home page at https://www.apopo.org. For questions or queries regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at herorats@apopo.org.
