Privacy Policy

Uplifters Limited (Uplifters) treats the protection of privacy in relation to personal data very seriously. All personal data collected by Uplifters shall be treated with respect and we are committed to complying with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of Hong Kong and to implement applicable Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data best practice. We may from time to time update this policy and all information will be governed by our most recent policy as available on our website.

By using or accessing the Website or by contracting with us in any manner (including as a client, service provider, donor, volunteer or employee), you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy which sets out how we will collect and use your personal data.

Remember that your use of the Website and services provided by Uplifters is at all times subject to the Terms, which incorporates this Privacy Policy. Any terms we use in this Privacy Policy without defining them have the definitions given to them in the Terms.

Collection of Personal Data

We do not collect information about individuals except where this is specifically stated and provided with your knowledge. From time to time it is necessary for data subjects to supply Uplifters with personal data in connection with the use of the Website; registration, enrolment in a course and establishment of a user account, or the use or continuation of provision of educational services, products and facilities or our relationship with you as your current, future or former employer or volunteer organisation, or your provision of services to us (or your position as a representative of a company which provides services to us). Failure to supply such personal data may result in Uplifters being unable to register, enrol, establish a user account or use or continue the provision of educational services, products and facilities or our employer or volunteer arrangement.

You may voluntarily choose to share additional personal data on the Uplifters’ website/online learning platform including through chatbots and on Uplifters’ social media  on third-party platforms, for example:

• In your Uplifters’ account profile
• When participating in a course, forum or other interactive experience on the Uplifters’ website and Uplifters’ chatbots or pages on social media platforms such as Facebook;
• You are an applicant for a job or volunteering role with us.

Types of Personal Data Collected

Uplifters directly collects personal data relating to members of the public who use Uplifters’ services or the Website or donate to Uplifters when you:

• Sign up for an Uplifters course (on your own behalf or on behalf of another individual) and create an Uplifters user profile;
• Enrol and participate in Uplifters’ online courses;
• Purchase a product or service on your own behalf or on behalf of another individual);
• Send email messages, chatbot or Facebook chat messages to Uplifters (including messages to learner support);
• Participate in public forums and other interactive experiences on the Uplifters website/online learning platform and social media platforms or in person;
• Donate to Uplifters;
• Make an enquiry, complaint or data access or correction request.

Such personal data includes: full name, personal details, such as nationality, age, date of birth, gender, marital status and number of children, contact details including telephone numbers, email and residential address, payment details such as credit card information or bank account details, employment details (including income) and history, other personal information such as financial habits and situation, plans for the future and well-being level.

We will always try to collect your personal data directly from you. However, there may be instances where we will need to collect your information from other persons or entities, including, for example, if your employer registers you for an Uplifters course. Where we obtain your information from a third party, in particular your employer, we may ask them to provide you with a copy of this Privacy Policy to ensure you know we are processing your information and the reasons why.

We may collect personal data relating to our employees, officers, volunteers including personal particulars, Hong Kong identification card number and copy/passport number and copy, education and qualifications, employment history, salary and allowances, bank account details, job applications, terms and conditions of service, rank and post, training, appraisal reports, promotion board assessments, conduct and discipline, awards, benefits, medical records, leave, retirement and pension, professional qualifications, Mandatory Provident Fund and provident fund account details, and legal assistance.

We may collect personal data relating to or in connection with your provision of services to us or your position as a representative of a provider of services to us including full name and contact details.

Uplifters also indirectly collects usage information about your visit to the Uplifters website and use of the e-learning platform as described in the ‘Cookies and Tracking Technologies’ section below.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We collect non-specific information on visitors’ and registered users’ activities on the Website by third-party web beacons and cookies from vendors including Google, via means of web analytics tools such as Google Analytics on most parts of the Website, which may include information such as where the visitor or registered user has come from (e.g. referring domains, search engines, marketing campaigns), the type of browser or operating system used to access our Website, pages viewed, date and time of access, the site path of the visitor, what content visitors are clicking on, which courses visitors are interested in and sign up for/participate in. You can find out more about Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/) on its website. We do not collect any personal data (e.g. name, address, email address) using the web analytics but we do collect IP addresses. Uplifters does not link any web analytics information to an individual. Uplifters uses this information to ensure that the Website is providing the best possible user experience and providing relevant services. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can disable this function by changing your browser settings if you wish. However, if you do so you may not be able to take full advantage of our Website.

Uplifters may track and collect information from emails that we send you, for example, whether you opened the email or clicked on any links in the email.

We may share overall visitor trends and other generic information collected on our Website with third parties but we will not disclose any personal details or personally identifiable information without your consent.

Our Website may contain links to websites operated by third parties. We have no control over the content of the linked websites or how the operators of those websites deal with your personal data. We encourage you to review the privacy policies applicable to those third-party websites to understand how your personal data may be used by those third-party websites.

Purposes  for which your Personal Data may be Used

Uplifters collects and uses personal data for the following purposes, to:

• Operate and improve the Website – including creating and improving features that support the Uplifters’ community and enable Website use at scale. This also includes personalising the Website, so your learning experience is tailored to your interests and needs;
• Create, administer, provide and teach courses – including creating and improving the delivery of online courses and programmes on the Website. This also includes personalising courses, so your learning experience is tailored to your interests and needs, and assessing your attendance/performance and awarding certificates;
• Offer and improve products and services – including enabling you to navigate the Website, to enrol and participate in courses and programmes on the Website, to learn effectively on such courses and programmes, and as applicable to purchase or obtain products and services on the Website;
• Develop and maintain the security of the Website – including tracking Website outages and creating software solutions, detecting contraventions of the Terms of Service, and monitoring uses, misuses, and potential misuses of the Website;
• Communicate with you – including answering your course/programme and Website questions, notifying you of courses/programmes and Website/e-learning platform technical issues;
• Conduct or research studies, invitation of participation in programmes/activities, assessment of applications, assessment of qualifications, issue of certificates, monitoring of employees, users, and volunteers’ progress, processing of applications for reimbursement of fees, assessment of nominations and dissemination of awards, verification of assessment, planning, provision, development, implementation and recording of services, referral and placement, and education researches;
• Perform a range of employment-related and volunteer-related purposes, such as appointments, integrity checking, postings and transfers, offer/renewal/extension of agreements, incremental credit, training and career development, revision of terms or conditions of service, promotion, conduct and discipline, legal assistance, benefits, continuation in or removal from office;
• Collect, process and administer donations;
• Enable us to operate our services efficiently and sustainably;
• If required by applicable law, a competent authority or under order by the courts; and
• Recruitment; administering, servicing, and administration of various schemes, an arrangement of payments for services delivered, dealing with complaints and enquiries or requests for personal data and information.

Disclosure of Personal Data

We do not sell your information nor make it generally available to others but we may disclose personal data to other organisations or agencies that are bound to handle your information in the same way we do. The circumstances where we may disclose your personal data to such third parties include when another organisation helps us process transactions, store data, access data or provide services to you (including courses) in order for them to perform their role.  Uplifters does not otherwise share any personally-identifiable or personal data of users with third parties, unless with your consent or as required to do so under applicable law or judicial process.

Direct Marketing

Uplifters requires consent (which can include an indication of non-objection) in order for us to use your personal data for direct marketing, including name, contact details, nationality, occupation, gender, health and family status to provide you with marketing communications relating to personal development services, member activities, donations and contributions for charitable and/or non-profit-making purposes (including by email, SMS, chatbot or other instant messengers on social media). Such consent is given can subsequently be withdrawn without charge by emailing the Data Protection Officer at hello@uplifters-edu.org.

We will not sell your personal data to anyone. We require your consent before providing any of your personal data [name, contact details, nationality, occupation, gender, health and family status] to the community or educational partners for their direct marketing. Such consent is given can subsequently be withdrawn without charge by emailing the Data Protection Officer at hello@uplifters-edu.org.

 Storage of Personal Data and Security

All personal data collected is stored securely to prevent any unauthorized or accidental access, disclosure, processing or erasure. Uplifters implements appropriate physical, electronic and managerial measures to safeguard and secure personal data including password protection and limiting physical access.

Uplifters takes all practicable steps to ensure that personal data is not kept longer than necessary and in compliance with applicable statutory requirements relating to the retention of personal data.

Even though we take steps to secure your personal data, you should be aware that no system is impenetrable and no information provided over the Internet is totally secure. Accordingly, we cannot and do not guarantee the security of information that you transmit or receive over the Internet. You should not send confidential details or credit card numbers, for example, by email unless specifically requested by us.

You should take precautions not to share, provide or facilitate unauthorised use of your Uplifters account profile and/or username and/or password. If in the unlikely event unauthorised access or transactions have been discovered, you should notify Uplifters immediately.

Data Access or Correction Requests

Data access or correction requests must be made in writing by email. Requests should be addressed to the Data Protection Officer at hello@uplifters-edu.org.

Uplifters may require you to provide identity proof such as your Hong Kong Identity Card and impose a reasonable charge to cover the costs of processing the data access request.

Enquiries

Any enquiries regarding personal data policies and practices should be addressed to the Data Protection Officer at hello@uplifters-edu.org.

Marie Kretz Di Meglio

Uplifters CEO

19.12.2019

Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions of service (Terms) apply to your use of Uplifters Limited’s (Uplifters, We, Our) services (including but not limited to its website (including its e-learning platform on the website and/or chatbot)) (Website), whether as a guest or a registered user. By registering for an Uplifters course and/or using the Website, you agree to accept all these Terms. You must not register for an Uplifters course or use the Website if you do not agree with any of these Terms.

1. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms at any time, so please check this webpage regularly for any modifications/supplements which We may make, before using the Website. To assist you doing this, We will make the most recent version of these Terms available on the Website and will indicate at the top the most recent date that they were modified. By continuing to use the Website after We modify these Terms, you accept the new version of the Terms. If you do not agree to the changes you must not continue to use the Website and instead contact us at hello@uplifters-edu.org.

2. Intellectual Property Rights

Other than the content you own, under these Terms, Uplifters and/or Our licensors (if any) own all the intellectual property rights in the Website and the materials contained in it and published on it. All such rights are reserved. You must abide by all copyright notices or restrictions contained on the Website.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable worldwide licence to use the Website materials and access the Uplifters course solely for personal and educational, non-commercial purposes subject to these Terms. The licence is effective until termination by you or us.

You may make a reasonable number of copies of Website materials for personal, non-commercial use provided you do not alter the text or remove any notice or intellectual property mark or copyright displayed on the materials.

In particular, you must not:

• Publish, copy, reproduce, distribute, disseminate or otherwise make available any Website material in any other media without prior consent or agreement from Uplifters;

• assign, transfer, sell, sub-licence and/or otherwise commercialise any Website material;

• modify, transfer, distribute, pledge, or create derivative works based on the Website, including its user interfaces;

• engage in any data mining, data harvesting, data extracting, reverse-engineering, decompiling, disassembling or any other similar activity in relation to the Website;

• use the Website to engage in any advertising or marketing without consent or agreement from Uplifters;

• publicly perform and/or show any Website material without consent or agreement from Uplifters;

• use the Website in any way that is or may be damaging to the Website or to any person or entity including Uplifters and other users; or

• use the Website contrary to applicable laws and regulations.

Certain areas of the Website are restricted from access by you and Uplifters may further restrict access by you to any areas of the Website, at any time, in Our absolute discretion.

Any user ID and password you may have for the Website are confidential and personal to you and you are responsible for keeping such information confidential. We have the right to disable any user ID or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in Our opinion you have failed to comply with any of these Terms. 

3. Your Content

By submitting or distributing your user postings, you represent and warrant:

• you have the necessary rights, licences, consents, permissions to reproduce/ post the user posting, and authorise Uplifters to use and distribute your user postings in a manner consistent with the licences granted below, and

• your submission of your user postings/Our exercise of the licences granted by you will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party.

You are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of any materials posted by you and through your user account, and the consequences of posting them.

When you post any content on the Website, including but not limited to any audio, video, text, images or other material, you grant Uplifters a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable, assignable, sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, make available, translate and distribute that content in any and all media formats or through any and all media channels.

We reserve the right to remove any of your content from the Website at any time without notice.

4. Links

Uplifters or third parties through the Website may provide links to other websites or resources. As Uplifters does not have control over these third party sites, you acknowledge and agree that Uplifters is not responsible for whether you should use those sites or resources and does not endorse any of those sites or resources or their contents, products or other materials found there.

You also acknowledge and agree that Uplifters is not liable directly or indirectly for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such contents, products or services available on or through any such website or resource.

You may not hyperlink to the Website or any of its webpages unless you have obtained Uplifters’ prior written consent. Such requests should be sent to hello@uplifters-edu.org for consideration. Uplifters reserves the right to withdraw any consent given at any time. Such consent does not extend to any contents or other websites or resources on third party websites. If you intend to reproduce, adapt, make available to the public, distribute or otherwise use any contents on or to hyperlink to any such linked websites, you must obtain all necessary permissions from the relevant intellectual property owners in accordance with the applicable intellectual property notice.

5. No Official Certification Given

Uplifters does not provide any official educational certifications or diplomas for courses offered. All certifications given are only to certify successful completion of the courses offered on the Website according to the attendance and/or participation rating standards of Uplifters. We do not warrant that you will obtain any particular qualification upon completion of any Uplifters course.

6. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

The Website and the materials on it are provided on “as is” basis and for general, information purposes only. Nothing contained on or provided through the Website is to be interpreted as provision of professional advice.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Website and the materials on it, or provided through it, are provided without warranties of any kind (express or implied) including as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for purpose, non-infringement, reliability, security, timeliness or freedom from computer viruses in respect of the Website or its contents. They have been prepared using reasonable skill and care, and reasonable skill and care will be used in providing Uplifters courses. If you rely on any information provided to you on the Website, by Uplifters or its partners, you do so solely at your own risk. We will not provide you with any medical or professional advice. The Website or the courses provided are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, medical condition or injury.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Uplifters, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents, will not be liable for any loss or damage relating to or arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the Website or the materials or information provided on it, including any omissions from, errors in, misstatements, or misrepresentations, use or misuse of or reliance on or inability to use the Website.  We do not warrant or make any representations regarding the usefulness of or the expected results of the materials contained on the Website. In no event will We be liable to you or to anyone else for any decision made (or not made) or action taken (or not taken) by you or anyone else in reliance or use of the Website or the materials or information provided on it.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits Our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by Our negligence or the negligence of Our employees or agents or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.

Save as otherwise provided in these Terms, Our maximum total liability to you or to anyone else under and/or arising in relation to these Terms is the amount of the fee (if) paid by you or by a third party on your behalf in respect of your registration, for any Uplifters course on the Website.

Uplifters, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers or agents will not be liable for any indirect, unforeseeable or incidental losses incurred, loss of income, loss or corruption of data or for additional damage, loss, liability, claims, costs, expenses caused or contributed to by your continued use of the Website or Website materials after a defect or error has become apparent or suspected or should reasonably have become apparent to you.

Except for the contents that have been expressly stated to be produced by Uplifters, any other contents on the Website are not within Uplifters’ scope of liability, and Uplifters is not liable for loss or damage relating to, arising out of, or in any way connected with, accidents (including infection by computer virus), defamation or infringement of intellectual property rights. Any materials downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the Website is done at your own risk and discretion and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or damage or loss of data resulting from the download of information.

7. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to on demand defend, indemnify and hold Uplifters, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents from and against any and/or all liabilities, costs, demands, actions, claims, damages and expenses (including without limitation legal fees) arising in any way or connected to your breach of any (whether in whole or in part) of these Terms.

We may, if necessary, participate in the defence of any claim or action and any negotiations for settlement. No settlement which may adversely affect Our rights or obligations may be made without Our prior written approval. We reserve the right at Our own expense and on notice to you to assume exclusive defence and control of any claim or action.

8. Privacy Policy

For information about Our privacy policies and practices including Our use of cookies, please refer to Our Privacy Policy

9. Payment

The amount of any charges or fees for courses to be provided on the Website are as specified Course Information pages of the Website.

Payment on time in respect of any registration for a course for which a fee or charge is payable on the Website is an essential condition of these Terms. Payment is not deemed to be made until we have received cash or cleared funds in respect of the full amount outstanding.

10. Cancellation or Suspension of Courses

Once you have registered for an Uplifters course (whether for you or on another’s behalf), any registration fee paid in respect of that course is non-refundable.

In the event of Typhoon Signal 8 or above or a Black Rainstorm Warning, We have the right to postpone any scheduled Uplifters course including any course on the Website and re-schedule for a later date and time to be determined at Our sole discretion.

If you are unable to access a course on the Website, We will use reasonable endeavours to provide a solution where We have direct control over the system, software or settings involved. If the issue lies with your hardware, systems, software or settings thereof, We may, in Our discretion, provide assistance to you to help you resolve the issue but We cannot guarantee that any assistance provided will resolve your issue.

You accept and acknowledge that periods of downtime may be required in respect of the information technology infrastructure connected to the Website and that technical assistance may not be available during such periods of downtime.  Further you accept that you will not have a claim for breach of contract or otherwise in respect of such period of unavailability.

We will use reasonable endeavours to make the Website and online courses available but cannot guarantee uninterrupted, timely or error free availability or that defects will be corrected.  Uplifters reserves the right to suspend access to the Website and online courses for the purpose of scheduled or emergency maintenance, repairs or upgrades to improve the performance or functionality of the Website.

You also accept and acknowledge that Uplifters cannot be held responsible for any delay or disruptions to your access to the Website or and online courses as a result of such suspension or any of the following:

• the operation of the Internet and the world wide web, including but not limited to viruses;

• any firewall restrictions that have been placed on your network or the computer you are using to access Website or and online courses;

• failures of telecommunications links and equipment; or

• updated browser issues.

11. Severability

If any provision of these Terms for any reason is or is held to be illegal, void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable (in whole or in part) by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction under any applicable law, the rest of these Terms will be valid and enforceable to the extent permitted by law.

12. Third Party Rights

A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance (Cap 623) to enforce any of its terms or any document referred to in it.

13. Termination

We may in Our sole discretion and at any time without prior notice to you and without cause, terminate all or any part of the Website or Our services to you and prohibit your right of access to all or any part of the Website (including your user account) or Our services, and remove any information and materials linked to your user account.

Termination of these Terms or the relationship between us and you does not affect the accrued respective rights or liabilities of either party or affect the continuance in force of any provision which is expressly or by implication intended to continue in force on or after termination.

14. Assignment

Uplifters has the right to assign, transfer, and subcontract its rights and, as applicable, its obligations under these Terms without any notice to its users.

You are not permitted to assign, transfer or subcontract any of your rights and/or, as applicable, obligations under these Terms unless otherwise agreed in writing with Uplifters.

15. Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between Uplifters and you in relation to your use of the Website and supersede all prior agreements (whether written or oral) and understanding (if any) relating to your use of the Website.

• Waivers

No neglect, delay or indulgence by Uplifters in enforcing any provision of these Terms will be construed as a waiver and no single or partial exercise of any rights or remedy by Uplifters under these Terms will affect or restrict the further exercise or enforcement of any such right or remedy.

17. Language

If these Terms are translated into any language other than English, the English language text prevails.

18. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the resolution of any disputes.