Privacy Policy

Effective date: August 20, 2024 

The contents of this page constitute SEIA’s Privacy Policy. To read the Terms of Service for using this website, please visit this page. 

Contents 

Introduction 

This Privacy Notice explains how the Solar Energy Industries Association, Inc., (“SEIA”, “we” or “us”) collects and processes your Personal Data. Each time you use our Site, the current version of the Privacy Notice will apply. Accordingly, whenever you use our Site, you should check the date of this Privacy Notice (which appears at the top) and review any changes since the last version. This Privacy Notice is applicable to all Site visitors, registered users, and all other users of our Site. 

“Personal Data” is any information that enables us to identify you, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as your name, identification number, location data, online identifier or one or more factors specific to your physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. 

By visiting www.seia.org, other SEIA-branded Websites or those of our legal subsidiaries, or using our mobile application, (together the “Site”), you acknowledge that you have read and understood the processes and policies referred to in this Privacy Notice. 

Who we are 

For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the “GDPR”), the Data Controller is Solar Energy Industries Association, Inc., registered in the District of Columbia, U.S., with a registered address of 1425 K St. N.W., Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20005. SEIA is not required to appoint a Data Protection Office according to the GDPR. 

How to contact us 

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Notice, please contact us using the Contact Us section on our Site. Alternatively you can contact us by phone at 1-202-682-0556, by sending an email to info@seia.org or webfeedback@seia.org or by post to 1425 K St. N.W., Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20005. 

How we collect personal data 

Personal Data that you give us 

We may collect and process the following Personal Data: 

Personal data we collect from you 

With regard to each of your visits to the Site we will automatically collect the following information: 

Personal data we collect from others 

This is information we receive about you if you use any of the other Websites (operated by us, or another member of our group) or use any other services provided by another member of our group or us. 

Non-Personal Data 

We collect information that is sent to us automatically by your web browser and we may use this information to generate aggregate statistics about visitors to our Site, including, without limitation: 

We may use non-Personal Data for various business purposes such as providing customer service, fraud prevention, market research, and improving our Site. Please check your web browser if you want to learn what information your browser sends or how to change your settings. 

Cookies 

The information that we collect with cookies allows us to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, to statistically analyze usage of the Site, and to improve and customize our content and other offerings. However, we only disclose information collected with cookies to third parties on an aggregated basis without the use of any information that personally identifies you. 

Cookies are pieces of numeric data that we transfer to be stored on your computer so that we can easily identify your computer when you return to our Site. For more information about cookies, visit: www.allaboutcookies.org. 

SEIA can only “read” Cookies that are placed on your computer from our Site. Usage of Cookies is not linked to any personally identifiable information. You can choose to disable Cookies by following the procedure suggested by your browser. If you choose to disable Cookies in your browser, you may still be able to access portions of our Site but your use of the Site may not be as efficient or as enjoyable as it would be if cookies were enabled. 

When you first access the Site, you will receive a message advising you that Cookies are in use. By continuing to browse the Site, you agree to our use of Cookies as described in this Privacy Notice. 

We use the following cookies: 

You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below: 

Cookies used by SEIA 

Cookie Source  Cookie Name  Purpose  Expiration 
Google Universal Analytics  _ga  This helps us count how many people visit the Site by tracking if you have visited before.  2 years 

Third-party cookies used by SEIA 

Cookie Source  Cookie Name  Purpose 
Salesforce Pardot  visitor_id  Pardot tracks visitor activities on the SEIA Site by setting cookies on their browsers. Cookies are set to remember preferences (like form field values) when a visitor returns to the site. 
Salesforce Pardot  pi_opt_in  The pi_opt_in cookie is set with a true or false value when the visitor opts in or out of being tracked via cookies. 

“Do not track” signals 

SEIA tracks user activity to better improve its Site and market relevant products and services. For example, the Site will track the URL that you visited before you came to the Site, the URL to which you next go and your Internet Protocol (IP) address.. 

We support “do not track” signals (“DNT”). If you have DNT enabled in your web browser, we will not receive browser-related information from our advertising partners for tailoring advertisements. 

How we use your personal data 

We will only process your Personal Data, including sharing it with third parties, where (1) you have provided your consent which can be withdrawn at any time, (2) the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, (3) we are required by law, (4) processing is required to protect your vital interests or those of another person, or (5) processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate commercial interests, except where such interests are overridden by your rights and interests. 

We may use Personal Data you give to us for the following purposes: 

We will use Personal Data that we collect about you: 

We will combine Personal Data we receive from others with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined Personal Data for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive). 

The Site or applications allow you to register to join by logging into your account with certain third party social networking sites (including, but not limited to, Facebook). We may access, make available and store this information as permitted by you so that it is available on and through the site and application. We may keep all of this information indefinitely. 

The Site includes the ability for you and other users to post comments, photographs and other content on the Site.  As a result, we will also receive information about you: (i) when you choose to post or otherwise share it on the Site, or (ii) when other users post or otherwise share information about you on the Site. We may use such information about you in a variety of ways, including to administer the Site and enhance your experience with the Site, and to communicate with you about the Site and new offerings associated with the Site. We may keep all this information indefinitely and such information that you or others post to the Site may be accessible by any other users of the Site. 

[SEIA also collects non-personally identifiable information. This refers to information that does not, by itself, identify a specific individual. Like many other Sites, we gather certain information about the use and navigation of our Site by our visitors. This information is then compiled and analyzed in a way that does not identify our visitors personally. The information may include the referring Uniform Resource Locator (URL), indicating from where a visitor to our Site has come, which URLs have been visited on our Site and in what order, what browser is being used, and what Internet Protocol (IP) address a visitor used to get to our Site. We may also use such information for Site and system administration. Your IP address may also be used to help identify you, gather broad demographic information, and market relevant SEIA products and services.] 

When we share and who can access your personal data 

We may share your Personal Data for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice with: 

We will only transfer your Personal Data to trusted third-parties who provide sufficient guarantees in respect of the technical and organizational security measures governing the processing to be carried out and who can demonstrate a commitment to compliance with those measures. SEIA occasionally provides trusted sponsors of SEIA events with attendee lists that include attendee names and their companies, but not contact information. 

We sometimes provide links to third-party Websites. You acknowledge that such links are provided for your convenience only and do not constitute an endorsement by SEIA of such third-party Websites. Since we do not control these Websites, we assume no responsibility for the privacy practices of such Websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies posted on those, and all, third-party Websites. 

Selling your personal data 

We will never sell your Personal Data to third parties with whom you do not have an existing relationship. We may sell access to your information (including Personal Data) to our strategic business partners with whom you have an existing relationship in order for our partners to better target their products and services to you. Our partners will not have direct access to your Personal Data but rather will have the ability to communicate with you through your participation with our Site. 

We will not share, rent, sell or otherwise disclose any of the personally identifiable information that we collect about you through our Site, except in any of the following situations: 

We may offer community features and public interactive forums through the Site, like discussion boards, product reviews, chat rooms, forums, wikis, social networking platforms and blogs. When you participate in such offerings, your username and other personal information you choose to provide or communicate in these public spaces may be seen by others, and you should exercise caution when disclosing such information and realize that information you post could remain viewable in cached or archived webpages or copied and stored by other users even after you remove it. We cannot control the actions of other users of the Site, and we are not responsible for the results of your postings. Furthermore, when you participate in these interactive features, you may be agreeing to terms of use that, among other things, allow us to use your name and other information in our marketing and advertising. 

SEIA may also create applications which help support the mission of the organization. These applications may collect Personal Data, like your profile picture and ID, to display on third-party Websites. At any time, you may opt-out from the application and remove your information from being displayed by contacting us at webfeedback@seia.org. 

We may share aggregated or anonymous information that cannot identify you with third parties. For example, we may disclose the number of visitors to the Site, the number of people who have downloaded a document or the number of people from a certain state who purchased a product from the Site. 

If you access the Site from outside of the United States, information that we collect about you will be transferred to servers inside the United States and maintained indefinitely, which may involve the transfer of information out of countries located in the European Economic Area. By allowing us to collect information about you, you consent to such transfer and processing of your data. 

Children and privacy 

Our Site is not directed to children under the age of 13, if you are not 13 years or older, do not use our Site. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If we learn that Personal Data of persons less than 13 years-of-age has been collected through our Site, we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. 

Minors under the age of 18 may remove or request and obtain removal of content and information that they post on the Site or app. To remove or to request and obtain removal of such content and information, the user must contact us at webfeedback@seia.org. 

Security and storage 

Security 

Although we use security measures to help protect your Personal Data against loss, misuse or unauthorized disclosure, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to us over the internet. The personal information you provide online is retained for no longer than is necessary, depending on the purpose for which it is held, and is electronically stored on a secure server. We protect the personal information you share with us. Access to your personal information is limited only to those SEIA employees and third-party partners, all of whom are required to keep your information confidential. SEIA does not sell, loan, trade or lease any personal information collected on our Site. 

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure proper use of your personally identifiable information, SEIA and its third-party partners employ appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online, consistent with industry practices. In addition, we take steps to protect the user data we collect against unauthorized access. However, you should keep in mind that the Site is run on software, hardware and networks, any component of which may, from time to time, require maintenance or experience problems or breaches of security beyond our control. 

Please also be aware that despite our best intentions and the guidelines outlined in this Privacy Policy, no data transmission over the Internet or encryption method can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. 

Transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and international users 

We are headquartered in the United States. Your Personal Data may be accessed by us or transferred to us in the United States or to our affiliates, partners, merchants, or service providers who are located worldwide. If you are visiting our Site from outside the United States, be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where our servers are located, and our central database is operated. By using our Service, you consent to any transfer of this information. 

We will not transfer Personal Data, relating to individuals within the European Economic Area (“EEA”), to third parties (i.e., those outside of our group), located outside of the EEA without ensuring adequate protection under European law. Where a third party is located in a country not recognized by the EU Commission as ensuring an adequate level of protection, we will take appropriate steps, such as implementing standard contractual clauses recognized by the EU Commission, ourselves or through our trusted third-party vendors, to safeguard your Personal Data. 

We use SalesForce as a third-party vendor to maintain the great majority of the Personal Data we hold. More information on the SalesForce policy regarding transfer of personal information can be found here. 

How long we store your personal data 

We will store your Personal Data, in a form which permits us to identify you, for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which the Personal Data is processed. We may retain and use your Personal Data as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements and rights, or if it is not technically reasonably feasible to remove it. Consistent with these requirements, we will try to delete your Personal Data quickly upon request. Otherwise, if there is a continued use for SEIA to keep your Personal Data, we may keep all of this information indefinitely. 

Where we store your personal data 

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology through an approved third-party vendor and tokenized once processed so that SEIA does not have access to credit card information. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. 

The Personal Data that you provide to us is generally stored on servers located in the United States. If you are located in another jurisdiction, you should be aware that once your Personal Data is submitted through our Site, it will be transferred to our servers in the United States and that the United States currently does not have uniform data protection laws in place. 

Your rights 

Correction and removal 

If any of the information that we have about you is incorrect, or you wish to have information (including Personal Data) removed from our records, please contact us at webfeedback@seia.org. 

Opting Out 

SEIA measures the performance of its Site to determine how we can improve and expand upon the content and services we provide. We have designed our Site so that you are not required to provide any personally identifiable information unless you are requesting access to certain options and services. You may choose at any time not to provide personally identifiable information, although this may restrict our ability to provide requested services or information. 

If you no longer want to receive emails from SEIA on a going-forward basis, you may opt out of receiving emails by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email you receive, or, if you created an online account when you registered to receive our emails, you may log in to your account and make changes to your communication preferences. If you are having difficulty unsubscribing from our marketing communications using the above methods, please contact us directly at webfeedback@seia.org. 

Please allow ample time for us to process your request. However, please note that even if you opt out from receiving marketing communications, we may need to send you service-related communications and may need to keep information we have collected about you for record-keeping, research and other purposes. 

Your European Rights 

You have the right to ask us not to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your Personal Data) if we intend to use your Personal Data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your Personal Data. You can also exercise the right by contacting us using the Contact Us section on our Site. 

Under European data protection law, in certain circumstances, you have the right to: 

In addition, where you believe that SEIA has not complied with its obligations under this Privacy Notice or European law, you have the right to make a complaint to an EU Data Protection Authority, such as the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. 

Your U.S. Rights 

By choosing to visit our Site or provide information to us, you agree that any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this Privacy Policy will be governed by the law of the District of Columbia. You also agree to abide by any limitation on damages contained in our Terms of Service, available at www.seia.org/terms-service or other agreement that we have with you. 

You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us using the Contact Us section on our Site. 

Your Californian Rights 

FOR RESIDENTS OF CALIFORNIA ONLY: Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code requires select businesses to disclose policies relating to the sharing of certain categories of your Personal Data with third parties. If you reside in California and have provided your Personal Data to Company, you may request information about our disclosures of certain categories of Personal data to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Such requests must be submitted to us at one of the following addresses: webfeedback@seia.org or 

SEIA 

Attn: California Privacy Rights
1425 K St., NW – Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005 

Changes to this Privacy Notice 

If we make any material changes to this Privacy Notice or the way we use, share or collect personal Data, we will notify you by revising the “Effective Date” at the top of this Privacy Notice, prominently posting an announcement of the changes on our Site, or sending an email to the email address you most recently provided us (unless we do not have such an email address) prior to the new policy taking effect. 

Any changes we make to our Privacy Notice in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notification sent to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to this Privacy Notice.