Privacy Policy

[Advance Woody Biomass Alliance / USIPA legal entity name] (“AWBA,” “USIPA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit or interact with our website located at and any related pages, content, forms, and services (collectively, the “Site”).

By using the Site, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect through the Site, including when you:

• browse the Site;
• submit a contact form or inquiry;
• sign up for newsletters, updates, or alerts;
• communicate with us by email or through the Site;
• interact with pages, content, or embedded third-party tools.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, services, or platforms that may be linked from our Site.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of information:

A. Information You Provide Directly

When you contact us or fill out forms on the Site, we may collect:

• Name
• Email address
• Organization/company name
• Job title
• Phone number (if provided)
• Country/region (if provided)
• Message content and inquiry details
• Any other information you choose to provide

B. Automatically Collected Information

When you visit the Site, we (and our service providers) may automatically collect certain technical and usage data, such as:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device type and operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website/source
• Date/time of access
• Clickstream and interaction data
• Approximate location (based on IP, if enabled via analytics tools)

C. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may use cookies, pixels, tags, scripts, and similar technologies to:

• operate and secure the Site;
• remember preferences;
• analyze Site performance and traffic;
• improve user experience;
• measure campaign or content effectiveness.

See Section 8 (Cookies and Tracking Technologies) for more details.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• To operate and maintain the Site
• To respond to inquiries and provide requested information
• To send communications you request (e.g., newsletters, updates, event notices, industry alerts)
• To improve the Site, content, and user experience
• To analyze usage and performance of the Site
• To protect security and prevent fraud/misuse
• To comply with legal obligations
• To establish, exercise, or defend legal claims
• For internal organizational and administrative purposes

We may also use aggregated or de-identified information for analytics, reporting, and improvement purposes.

4. Legal Bases for Processing (EEA/UK, if applicable)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, or the United Kingdom, we may process personal information on one or more of the following legal bases:

• Consent (e.g., for newsletter subscriptions or optional cookies, where required)
• Legitimate interests (e.g., operating the Site, responding to inquiries, improving services, security)
• Performance of a contract (if applicable)
• Legal obligation (e.g., compliance with applicable law)

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing already performed).

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell personal information in the traditional sense of exchanging it for money.

We may share personal information with:

A. Service Providers / Processors

Third parties that help us operate the Site and related activities, such as:

• website hosting/platform providers (e.g., Webflow)
• analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics or similar)
• email/newsletter platforms
• form processing tools / CRM systems
• IT/security providers

These providers may process information on our behalf under contractual restrictions.

B. Legal / Compliance Disclosures

We may disclose information if required to do so by law or if we believe disclosure is necessary to:

• comply with legal process or regulatory requests,
• protect our rights, property, or safety,
• investigate fraud, abuse, or security issues,
• enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements.

C. Organizational Transactions

If permitted by law and relevant to our organizational structure, information may be disclosed in connection with a merger, restructuring, transfer of assets, financing, or similar transaction (subject to appropriate safeguards).

6. Third-Party Services and Links

The Site may link to third-party websites, publications, social media platforms, event tools, or partner resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties.

If you click a third-party link, your information will be governed by that third party’s privacy policy and terms.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including:

• responding to your inquiry,
• providing requested communications,
• maintaining records,
• complying with legal, tax, accounting, or reporting obligations,
• resolving disputes and enforcing agreements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and applicable legal requirements.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What We Use

We may use:

• Essential cookies (required for basic Site functionality/security)
• Analytics cookies (to understand Site usage and improve performance)
• Preference cookies (to remember choices/settings)
• Marketing cookies (if used in the future for campaign measurement or advertising)

Your Choices

Depending on your location, you may be able to:

• manage cookie preferences through a cookie banner or settings tool (if implemented);
• disable cookies in your browser settings;
• use browser privacy controls.

Please note that disabling cookies may affect Site functionality.

Implementation note: If the site uses analytics/marketing cookies and serves users in GDPR/ePrivacy jurisdictions, you should implement a cookie consent banner and optional cookie preference controls before launch.

9. Email Communications and Newsletter Preferences

If you sign up for newsletters or updates, we may send you emails related to industry news, advocacy updates, events, or organization announcements.

You can unsubscribe at any time by:

• clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the email (if available)

Please note that we may still send non-promotional communications where necessary (e.g., responses to inquiries).

10. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to protect personal information. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure.

Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International Data Transfers

We may process and store information in countries other than the country in which you are located, including the United States, where data protection laws may differ.

Where required by applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to safeguard international transfers (such as contractual safeguards).

12. Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for a general professional audience and is not directed to children under 13 (or a higher age where required by local law). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

If you believe a child has provided personal information through the Site, please contact us so we can take appropriate steps.

13. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, such as the right to:

• access personal information we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate information;
• request deletion of personal information;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• withdraw consent (where processing is based on consent);
• request data portability (where applicable);
• lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.

California Privacy Notice (Placeholder)

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under applicable California privacy laws, which may include rights to know, delete, and correct personal information, and rights related to certain sharing/use of personal information.

We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration.
[If applicable: We do/do not use personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.]

Note: This section should be customized based on your actual data practices and legal advice.

14. Do Not Track / Browser Signals

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) setting. Because there is no universally accepted standard for responding to DNT signals, the Site may not respond to DNT requests at this time.

[Optional if implemented: We recognize certain opt-out preference signals as required by applicable law.]

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.

If changes are material, we may provide additional notice on the Site or by other means, where appropriate.

Your continued use of the Site after the updated Privacy Policy becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised policy, to the extent permitted by law.