Privacy Policy

Personal Information Protection Policy of China Sustainable Energy Knowledge Exchange of Energy Foundation China

Dear users:

Thank you for visiting the China Sustainable Energy Knowledge Exchange (https://dataplatform.efchina.org, hereinafter referred to as the “Platform”). The Platform is operated by The Energy Foundation Beijing Representative Office (hereinafter referred to as “we”, “us” or “our”). We are fully aware of the importance of your personal information and will do our best to protect the security of your personal information. We will protect your personal information pursuant to applicable laws and regulations, and follow the principle of keeping rights commensurate with responsibilities, making clear the purpose, seeking the consent of personal information subjects, processing the minimum amount of information essential to meeting the purpose, staying open and transparent, ensuring security, and keeping personal information subjects involved. To help you understand what personal information is collected, and how we use, store, share and transfer such information when you use the Platform, we have hereby developed the Personal Information Protection Policy of Energy Data Platform of Energy Foundation China (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”). Please read the Policy carefully, especially those parts in bold. You can contact us with the contact information specified in Section XI of the Policy if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

The Policy will help you understand the following:

• I. Scope of the Policy
• II. How We Collect and Use Your Personal Information
• III. Exceptions to Obtaining Consent
• IV. How We Use Cookies
• V. How We Store Your Personal Information
• VI. How We Share, Transfer and Disclose Your Personal Information
• VII. How We Protect Your Personal Information
• VIII. Your Rights
• IX. Personal Information Protection of Minors
• X. Changes and Revisions to the Policy
• XI. Contact Us
• XII. Effectiveness of the Policy

I. Scope of the Policy

The Policy applies to the services we provide to you through the Platform. In particular, it does not apply to the services provided to you by other third parties, such as the services or website of a third party you connect to through links on the Platform. You understand that these services are provided to you independently by a third party, and that the third party will be solely responsible for the processing of your personal information in accordance with its policy or user agreement.

II. How We Collect and Use Your Personal Information

“Personal information” refers to various information related to an identified or identifiable natural person, recorded electronically or by other means, excluding anonymized information.

When you use the Platform, we may collect and use the information necessary for providing relevant services in the following manners; and we will not collect the relevant information when you do not use a specific function. None of the current functions provided by the Platform involves collection of personal information.

(1) Browse the Platform

When you browse the Platform on your computer or mobile device, we may collect the following non-personal information:

• a) Technical information such as session ID, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in type and version, operating system and platform, visit time, IP location, sources of links, landing page, search term, access identifier, visit duration, the number of pages visited, the last page you stay on, the last time of your visit, visit type (whether it is the first visit), visit frequency, downloaded content, operating system, network service provider, language environment, screen resolution, screen color (in bits), Flash version, whether Cookies can be used, whether JAVA can be used, the time of opening a page, the duration of your stay on a page, the address of the pages you stay on, and other technologies you use on your device to visit the Platform.
• b) Use information, such as the information about how you use our website and services.

(2) Other functions to be developed

We may develop other functions on the Platform in the future, such as account registration or certain browsing and downloading functions limited to registered users. If any new function involves the collection and processing of personal information, we will update the Policy in accordance with Section X of the Policy, and protect your personal information pursuant to applicable laws and regulations.

Please note that we might also collect, use and share aggregate data on the Platform, such as statistical or structural data related to users. Aggregate data may be derived from the above-mentioned non-personal information and does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. We have the right to use it for any legitimate purpose (for example, we may aggregate the information about your use of the Platform to find out how many users visit a specific site feature and to improve existing products and services).

III. Exceptions to Obtaining Consent

According to relevant laws and regulations, we may collect and use your personal information without obtaining your consent under the following circumstances:

• 1. Where collection and use are necessary for concluding and performing a contract to which you are a party;
• 2. Where collection and use are related to the performance of our obligations under laws and regulations;
• 3. Where collection and use are necessary for responding to public health emergencies, or for protecting the life, health, and property of an individual under emergencies;
• 4. Where collection and use are related to national security or national defense;
• 5. Where collection and use are related to crime investigation, prosecution, trial, and judgment enforcement;
• 6. Where collection and use are necessary for safeguarding the vital legitimate rights and interests of personal information subjects or other individuals, such as life and property safety,but it is difficult to obtain your consent;
• 7. Where the collected personal information is disclosed to the public by yourself;
• 8. Where personal information is collected from legally disclosed information, such as news reports and government information disclosure;
• 9. Where collection and use are necessary for maintaining safe and stable operation of the products or services provided, such as for detecting and dealing with malfunctions of products or services;
• 10. Where personal information is processed to a reasonable extent for the public interest, such as news reports, public opinion-based supervision;
• 11. Where collection and use are necessary for conducting statistical or academic research in the public interest by academic research institutions, and when the results of academic research or descriptions are disclosed, the personal information contained in the results is de-identified;
• 12. Under any other circumstances as provided by laws, regulations, or national standards.

IV. How We Use Cookies

To ensure that our products work properly, we may place small text files called Cookies on your computer or mobile device. A Cookie typically contains an identifier, site name, and some numbers and characters. With Cookies, the Platform can store such data as your login status and preferred website settings. We will not use Cookies for any purpose other than those specified in the Policy. You can manage or delete Cookies according to your preference. Please refer to AboutCookies.org for more details. You can delete all the Cookies stored on your computer, and most web browsers have a feature that blocks Cookies. However, if you do so, you need to change your user settings by yourself each time you visit the Platform. For more information on how to change your browser settings, please visit the following links: <Internet Explorer>,<Google Chrome>,<Mozilla Firefox>,<Safari>, and <Opera>.

V. How We Store Your Personal Information

(I) Storage Location

In the event that we collect any personal information within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, we will store such personal information pursuant to the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China. In general, we will not provide personal information to entities or individuals outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China. Where it is explicitly provided by laws and regulations, or when we obtain your explicit authorization, we will provide your personal information to overseas entities after fulfilling the obligations under laws and regulations. We will ensure that your personal information is protected to a degree no less than that set forth in the Policy through contracts or other approaches.

(II) Storage Period

If the Platform collects any personal information, we will retain your personal information for as long as necessary for achieving the purposes specified in the Policy, unless a longer storage period is required by law. The storage period depends on the following criteria and the longest period of time shall prevail.

• 1. The period needed to complete the functions you have agreed to use;
• 2. The period needed to ensure the security and quality of the services we provide to you;
• 3. A longer period of storage to which you have consented;
• 4. The period as specified in other special agreements.

When it goes beyond the storage period, we will delete or anonymize your personal information as required by applicable laws.

If we cease to operate the Platform and related services, we will promptly cease the collection of your personal information and issue an announcement about the cessation of operation. At the same time, we will delete or anonymize the personal information we have stored.

VI. How We Share, Transfer and Disclose Your Personal Information

(I) Sharing

If the Platform collects any personal information, we will not share your personal information with any companies, organizations or individuals except under the following circumstances:

If the Platform collects any personal information, we will not transfer your personal information to any other company, organization, or individual, except under the following circumstances:

• We may share your personal information with other parties if your express consent is obtained;
• 2. Where information is shared as provided by laws and regulations, as needed by the settlement of lawsuits and disputes, or as requested by administrative or judicial authorities;
• 3. Where to the extent permitted by laws or regulations, sharing is necessary for protecting the interests, property, or safety from harm for us, our headquarter or partners, you or other users, or the public.

(II) Transfer

If the Platform collects any personal information, we will not transfer your personal information to any other company, organization, or individual, except under the following circumstances:

• 1. Where your express consent is obtained;
• 2. Where the transfer is made as required by applicable laws and regulations or legal procedures, or in accordance with mandatory administrative or judicial requirements;
• 3. Where information is transferred in line with the relevant agreement we have signed with you (including the electronic agreement signed online and the corresponding platform rules), or other legal documents;
• 4. As the operation grows, we and our headquarter may engage in a merger, acquisition, asset transfer, or other similar transactions. Where a transaction involves the transfer of your personal information, we will require the company, organization, and individual holding your personal information to continue to be bound by the Policy; otherwise, we will require the company, organization, and individual to re-obtain your consent.

(III) Disclosure

If the Platform collects any personal information, we will disclose your personal information only under the following circumstances:

• 1. Where your express consent is obtained;
• 2. Law-based disclosure: we may disclose your personal information as mandatorily required by laws, legal procedures, lawsuits, or competent authorities of the government.

VII. How We Protect Your Personal Information

We pay great attention to the security of your personal information. If the Platform collects any personal information, we will implement reasonable control and appropriate technical and organizational measures in accordance with national laws and regulations to protect personal information, and maintain the security of our information and systems related to personal information to prevent unauthorized access to, disclosure, use, modification, damage, or loss of data. Files containing personal information are protected to varying degrees according to the level of sensitivity of the information they contain. In addition, we apply appropriate control measures (such as access restriction) on the computer system and apply them as appropriate. We also take reasonable measures to ensure that only authorized employees can have access to personal information.

VIII. Your Rights

You can access and manage your personal information in the following ways when you use the Platform.

(I) Access and correct your personal information

You can contact us with the contact information specified in Section XI below to access and correct your personal information.

(II) Delete your personal information

You have the right to request us to delete your personal information under the following circumstances:

• 1. Where we illegally collect your personal information without your consent;
• 2. Where we process your personal information in violation of laws and regulations;
• 3. Where we use and process your personal information in breach of the agreement with you;
• 4. Where you no longer use our products or services;
• 5. Where we cease to provide services to you.

You may request the deletion of your personal information by contacting us with the contact information specified in Section XI of the Policy, and we will respond to your request within 15 working days. When we delete your personal information from servers, we may not immediately delete the same data from the backup system, but we will delete the information when the backup is updated.

Please note that where the storage period as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations has not been reached, or where it is technically difficult to delete your personal information, we may not be able to delete your personal information, but will promptly stop processing your personal information.

(III) Withdraw Your Consent

Certain functions may require some basic personal information to be completed. You may give or withdraw at any time your consent to the collection and use of additional personal information. Your withdrawal of consent will not affect our previous processing of your personal information, but we will cease to process your personal information. You may change the authorized scope by contacting us with the contact information specified in Section XI below.

(IV) Access a copy of your personal information

You may obtain a copy of your personal information by contacting us with the contact information specified in Section XI below. We may also transfer a copy of your personal information directly to a third party designated by you upon your request, provided that the relevant technology is feasible.

IX. How We Process Personal Information of Minors

Our products, websites and services are primarily intended for adults. Minors under the age of 14 may not use our products or services without the consent of parents or guardians. For the personal information collected from minors with the consent of their parents, we will use or disclose the information only as permitted by laws, with the express consent of their parents or guardians, or as necessary for protecting minors.

If we find that we have collected minors’ personal information without prior verifiable consent of parents, we will try to delete the relevant data as soon as possible.

X. Changes and Revisions to the Policy

We may revise the Policy from time to time. We will not limit your rights under the Policy without your express consent.

We will provide a prominent notice when there are significant changes to the Policy. You may also visit the Platform at any time for the latest Policy.

Significant changes within the meaning of the Policy include, but are not limited to:

• 1. The significant changes in our service model, such as the changes in the purpose of personal information processing, the type of personal information processing, the way personal information is used, etc.;
• 2. The significant changes in ownership, such as the change of owner as a result of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, etc.;
• 3. The changes in the main recipients that personal information is shared with, transferred to, or disclosed to;
• 4. The significant changes in your rights to participate in personal information processing and the ways in which such rights are exercised;
• 5. The changes of the contact information and complaint channels we provide;
• 6. The impact assessment report for personal information security indicates a high risk.

Your continued use of our website after such changes and revisions will be deemed to be your consent to the changes and revisions to the Policy.

XI. Contact Us

The Energy Foundation Beijing Representative Office is the operator of the Platform and the processor of your personal information, located at CITIC Building, Room 2403, No. 19, Jianguomenwai Dajie, Beijing. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or complaints bout the Policy and the processing of your personal information, please contact us at china@efchina.org.

In general, we will respond to your request within 15 working days. You understand that the processing of your request may take longer than the above time due to material review, information verification, operational procedures, etc. We welcome and appreciate your supervision and suggestions.

XII. Effectiveness of the Policy

The Policy is developed on [July 20], 2023, and becomes effective as of [October 1], 2023.