US Privacy Notice

GDPR Privacy Policy

Updated: March 2023

We at Portland Inc and Portland PR Ltd (“we”, “us” or “our” and collectively “Portland”) respect your privacy.

Portland PR Ltd is a company located in the United Kingdom. Portland PR Inc is a company located in Washington, US and is a subsidiary of Portland PR Ltd.

This privacy policy applies to the processing of personal information by Portland PR Inc.

Please note that a separate GDPR policy applies to the processing of personal data by Portland Ltd in the UK.

If you are a California consumer and would like information about our online and offline privacy practices and your privacy rights, please see the section of this Privacy Policy called “California Consumer Privacy Statement” by clicking  .

PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY

This Policy explains our approach to any personal information that we might collect from you using this website (the “Site”) and in other situations or interactions with us, and the purposes for which we process your personal information. This Policy also sets out your rights in respect of our processing of your personal information.

This Policy will inform you of the nature of the personal information about you that is processed by us and how you can request that we delete, update, transfer and/or provide you with access to it or otherwise cease processing it for a specific purpose. This Policy is intended to assist you in making informed decisions when using the Site.

TYPE OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT 

Personal information is information that identifies you as an individual. Categories of personal information we collect includes:

• Contact information (g. name, physical address, telephone number, email address)
• Information about your interests or affiliations
• Information for hiring and human resources (g. employment and education history, work eligibility status, date of birth, financial account information, government-issued identification information), and
• Any additional information you submit to us

Additional information about the personal information we collect is described in the section HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION and the COOKIE section below.

WAYS OF OBTAINING PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect and receive your personal information using different methods:

Personal information you provide to us. You may give us your personal information directly. This will be the case when, for example, you contact us with enquiries, complete forms on our Site or in hard copy or participate in a survey, subscribe to receive our marketing communications or provide feedback to us otherwise through your interactions with us.

Personal information we collect from you automatically. When you access and use our Sites, we will automatically collect certain technical information about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal information by using cookies and other similar technologies (see Cookie Policy section below).

Personal information received from third parties. From time to time, we will receive personal information about you from third parties. Such third parties may include analytics providers, payment providers, hotel and transport providers and third parties that provide technical services to us so that we can operate our Site and provide our services.

Publicly available Personal information. From time to time we may collect personal information about you from publicly available sources or media reports or personal information about you that you or a third party may make publicly available to us (for example through speaking at events or publishing articles or other news stories).

HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION

Our primary goal in collecting personal information from you is to:

• Verify your identity
• Provide our services to clients
• Help us improve our products and services and develop and market new products and services
• Carry out requests made by you to us
• Investigate or settle inquiries or disputes
• Comply with any applicable law, court order, other judicial process, or the requirements of a regulator
• Enforce our agreements with you
• Protect the rights, property or safety of us or third parties, including our other clients and users of the Site
• Provide support for the provision of our Services, and
• Use as otherwise required or permitted by law

We set out in more detail below the specific ways in which we may use your personal information

• Client information

Information we collect with respect to our clients and potential clients is used to enable us to respond to client requests, to administer client accounts with us, to conduct credit checks, and to verify and carry out financial transactions for payments made to us.

• Media and informational inquiries

We may collect information for interviews requests, for media questions, or requests for information about our company. We may also provide you with the opportunity to sign up for newsletters or to receive copies of blogs and other information that we make available. Contact information may be requested in each case, together with details of other personal information that is relevant to these inquiries. This information is used in order to enable us to respond to your requests or media requests.

• Surveys and voting

We may collect personal information from you via surveys or voting polls. Participation is voluntary, and you will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to disclose information. At times, you may have to register to vote or to take part in a survey. We would use that information to report the results of the survey or vote.

• Promotions

We may conduct promotions, contests or giveaways, which may require that you register to enter. We collect personal information from you in order to conduct the promotion, contest or giveaway and to deliver prizes or notices. Participation in these events and providing us with your information is voluntary.

• Industry information

We collect, and maintain data bases containing, information about journalists, talent, social media influencers, social media users and other professionals in the public relations, news or media industry collected by us or by our trusted third-party media analytics service providers. Such information may include an individual’s name, business contact details, professional interests and affiliations. This information may be information that is voluntarily supplied to us by those individuals through our Site or in other situations (such as public speaking events), or information that is public or available in third party databases or via third party content platforms (including social media platforms). Further we may collect and/or review other publicly available news stories and other journalistic content including content made available through public news sites and social media sites to understand what people are saying about us and our clients. We use this information to provide our services to our clients including ensuring we and our clients are fully up to speed on public opinion in any particular area and are fully briefed when it comes to dealing with the press. We may also use this information for our own internal administrative and promotional purposes. We make efforts to minimise the use of this information to that which is strictly necessary for our legitimate business interests.

• Interactive areas

We may provide interactive areas, such as message boards, chat rooms or other forums. Participation in these areas by users is voluntary. We discourage you from submitting any information that may identify you personally when participating in these areas. Use of these public areas is not secure and we cannot ensure that your information will be protected.

• Marketing communications

We may carry out marketing activities using your personal information. We may send marketing information to you by mail or email. We may also provide you with information about media and public relations events. It may be necessary to mention the purpose of other marketing communications at the point that we collect that information. We send this information and materials to you where you have consented to receive such information or materials, where we have another lawful basis to do so to the extent required by law.

• Receipt of services

If we have engaged you or the organisation you represent to provide us with products or services (for example, if you or the organisation you represent provide us with services such as IT support or financial advice), we will collect and process your personal information in order to manage our relationship with you or the organisation you represent, to receive products and services from you or the organisation you represent and, where relevant, to provide our Services to others.

• Recruitment

If individuals apply for a job with us or otherwise express an interest in working for us, we will collect contact details and CV or resume information from the individual. We use such personal information for the following purposes: a) to assess the individual’s suitability for any position for which they applied (or future positions for which we think the individual may be suitable) including employment or freelancer positions, summer placements or internships and also any business support or services role whether such application has been received by us online, via email or by hard copy or in person application; b) to take any steps necessary to enter into any contract of employment (or otherwise) with the individual; c) to comply with any regulatory or legal obligations in relation to any such application; and d) to review our equal opportunity profile in accordance with applicable legislation. We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, ethnic origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability or any other basis covered by local legislation.

• Business administration and legal compliance

We may use your personal information for the following business administration and legal compliance purposes:

• To comply with our legal obligations;
• To enforce our legal rights;
• To protect the rights of third parties; and
• In connection with a business transition such as a merger, reorganisation, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets.

PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CHILDREN 

We do not intend to or knowingly collect personal information from children.

PARTIES WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH

We may share your personal information with any of our group affiliates, or with our agents, partners, clients or contractors or professional advisers or government or regulatory bodies for the following purposes: (a) provide our services to clients or otherwise receive assistance in processing transactions; (b) fulfilment of requests for information, receiving and sending communications, updating marketing lists, analysing data; (c) provision of IT and other support or internal administrative business services; or (d) to facilitate the operation and effective management of our group of businesses, where it is in our legitimate interests and we have concluded these are not overridden by your rights (including dealing with any client matters that require escalation); (e) comply with a legal obligation or in connection with a legal claim or dispute or to otherwise protect our legal rights; and (f) assistance in other ancillary to the operation of tasks, from time to time. Our agents, partners and contractors will only use your information to the extent necessary to perform their functions.

We will not sell your personal information to other companies and we will not share it with other companies for them to use without your consent, except in the circumstances listed above or in connection with the sale or merger of Portland or the division or office responsible for the services.

Please note, the types of third parties we share your personal information with set out above is non-exhaustive and there may be circumstances where we need to share personal information with other third parties in order to operate our Site and to provide our services. We will notify you of any other circumstances where we would share your information on a case by case basis.

DATA TRANSFERS

We might receive personal information under the Privacy Shield and subsequently transfer to a third party acting as an agent on our behalf. In such case, we remain liable if our agent processes such personal information in a manner inconsistent with the Privacy Shield Principles, unless we are able to prove that we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

OBTAINING YOUR CONSENT

Where our use of your personal information requires your consent, you can provide such consent:

• at the time that we collect your personal information following the instructions provided; or
• by informing us by e-mail, post or phone using the contact details set out in this Policy.

Please note that if you specifically consent to additional uses of your personal information, we may use your personal information in a manner consistent with that consent.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We are committed to keeping the personal information you provide to us secure. We take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your personal information, including but not limited to sophisticated software and hardware that prevent personal information from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction, taking into account the risks involved in the processing and the nature of the personal information.

ACCESS TO YOUR DATA

To the extent required by applicable law, we will provide you with reasonable access to the personal information maintained about you and a reasonable opportunity to correct, amend or delete the information where it is inaccurate or has been processed erroneously, as appropriate. We may limit or deny access to personal information where permitted by law (such as where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate or where the rights of third parties would be violated).

You may exercise these rights verbally or in writing by using our contact information provided in the section below entitled CONTACT DETAILS. We will endeavor to promptly respond to your requests and will respect time frames set by local legislation where applicable.

Please note that in order for you to assert these rights we may need to verify your identity to confirm your right to access your personal information. This is a security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. In order to verify your identity, we may need to gather more personal information from you than we currently have.

CHOICES AND MEANS

We generally offer you the opportunity to choose whether your personal information may be (a) disclosed to third-party controllers, or (b) used for a purpose that is materially different from the purposes for which the information was originally collected or subsequently authorised by you. We obtain opt-in consent for certain uses and disclosures of sensitive data. Unless we offer you an appropriate choice, we use personal information only for purposes that are materially the same as those indicated in this Policy. To exercise your choices, you may contact us as indicated in this Policy.

We may share personal information with our affiliates as described above under PARTIES WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH. We may disclose personal information without offering an opportunity to opt out, and may be required to disclose such information (a) to third-party processors we have retained to perform services on our behalf and pursuant to our instructions, (b) if we are required to do so by law or legal process, or (c) in response to lawful requests from public authorities, including to meet national security, public interest or law enforcement requirements.

OPT OUT AND UNWANTED COMMUNICATIONS

To opt out of any future promotional or marketing communications or any other commercial communications from us, you should send a request to us at the contact information in the section entitled CONTACT DETAILS. We will process your request within a reasonable time after receipt.

COOKIES

We use cookies and similar technologies to collect personal information from the computer or other device you use to access the Site. “Cookies” are pieces of information that may be placed on your device for the purpose of collecting data to facilitate and enhance your communication and interaction with our Site. We may also allow certain third parties to place cookies as described below.

We use cookies and other technologies on all our sites to ensure the best possible experience on our Site. These uses include:

• analytical cookies to recognize and count users of our Site, measure the effectiveness of our content, and understand how visitors use our Site. We currently use Google Analytics for this purpose; or
• placing, or allowing a third party to place, functional cookies to make a website easier to use, such as cookies that maintain a user’s session.

You can review your Internet browser settings to exercise choices you have for certain cookies. If you disable or delete certain cookies in your Internet browser settings, you might not be able to access or use important functions or features of this Site, and you may be required to re-enter your log-in details.

For more information about how we use cookies please see our COOKIE POLICY available on the Site.

HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Where applicable law imposes restrictions on the length of time for which personal information can be retained, we will generally comply with this by retaining personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, after which it will be deleted from our systems. The principle may be departed from where required by law.

If any personal information is only useful for a short period (e.g. for a specific event or marketing campaign or in relation to recruitment), we may delete it at the end of that period. Please note that if you are an unsuccessful candidate we may keep your information for a short period.

If you have opted out of receiving marketing communications from us, we will need to retain certain personal information on a suppression list so that we know not to send you further marketing communications in the future

COMPLIANCE WITH THE PRIVACY SHIELD

Portland Inc. complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union to the United States. Portland Inc. has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/. Please note that Portland Inc. no longer relies on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to transfer personal data to the U.S

MODIFICATIONS TO THIS POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Policy as needed, for example, to comply with changes in laws, regulations or requirements introduced by applicable data protection authorities. Changes must be approved by our privacy points of contact, the office of the corporate legal department, or their designees who will seek input as they reasonably deem appropriate from corporate executives for the amended Policy to enter into force. If we make changes to the Policy, this amended Policy will be submitted for renewed approval according to the relevant applicable provisions of the law. We will post all changes to the Policy on relevant internal and external websites.

We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to be informed of how we use your personal information.

CONTACT DETAILS

For questions or concerns about this Policy, or to ask questions or express concerns about our collection, management and processing of personal data, or to exercise your rights, you may contact the persons listed below

If at any time you believe that your personal information has been processed in violation of this Policy, or if you have any inquiries or complaints about the use or limitation of use of your personal information, you may contact us by:

• Sending an e-mail to [email protected]; or
• Sending us a letter using the following address:

Attn: DPO
Portland PR Inc
1615 L St NW,
Washington, DC 20036

RECOURSE ENFORCEMENT AND LIABILITY

We are subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission. We have mechanisms in place designed to effect compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles. We conduct an annual self-assessment of personal information handling practices to verify that the attestations and assertions we make about our Privacy Shield privacy practices are true and that such privacy practices have been implemented as represented and in accordance with the Privacy Shield Principles.

Recourse: You may file a complaint concerning our processing of your personal information. We will take steps to remedy issues arising out of any alleged failure to comply with the Privacy Shield Principles. You may contact us as specified below about complaints regarding our personal information handling practices

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

If your complaint cannot be resolved through our internal processes, we will cooperate with the alternative dispute resolution provider JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) pursuant to the JAMS International Mediation Rules, available on the JAMS website at: www.jamsadr.com/international-mediation-rules.

JAMS mediation may be commenced as provided for in the relevant JAMS rules. The mediator may propose any appropriate remedy, such as deletion of the relevant personal information, publicity for findings of noncompliance, payment of compensation for losses incurred as a result of noncompliance, or cessation of processing of the personal information of the individual who brought the complaint. The mediator or the individual also may refer the matter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which has Privacy Shield investigatory and enforcement powers over us. Under certain circumstances, individuals also may be able to invoke binding arbitration to address complaints about our compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles.

In addition to the above and under certain conditions, the individual may invoke binding arbitration for complaints that have not been resolved by any of the other Privacy Shield mechanisms. See Annex 1of the Privacy Shield framework for further information: https://www.privacyshield.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015t00000004qAg

California Consumer Privacy Statement

This California Consumer Privacy Statement supplements this Policy and applies solely to California consumers. This section provides information about our online and offline privacy practices. This Statement does not apply to our personnel.

This California Consumer Privacy Statement uses certain terms that have the meaning given to them in the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and its implementing regulations (the “CCPA”).

Notice of Collection and Use of Personal Information

We may collect the following categories of personal information about you.

• Identifiers: identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier (such as a device identifier; cookies, beacons, pixel tags, mobile ad identifiers and similar technology; customer number, unique pseudonym, or user alias; telephone number and other forms of persistent or probabilistic identifiers), online identifier, internet protocol address, email address, and other similar identifiers
• Additional Data Subject to Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80: such as signature, physical characteristics or description, education, financial information
• Protected Classifications: characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, genetic information, disability, citizenship status, and military and veteran status
• Commercial Information: commercial information, such as records of products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, and other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies
• Online Activity: Internet and other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding your interaction with websites, applications or advertisements
• Geolocation Data
• Sensory Information: audio, electronic, visual, and similar information
• Employment Information: professional or employment-related information
• Education Information: education information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99)
• Inferences: inferences drawn from any of the information identified above to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behaviour, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes

We may use the categories of personal information listed above for the purposes described in this Policy. In addition, we may use these categories of personal information for certain business purposes specified in the CCPA, as described in this table:

In addition, we may also use the following categories of personal information for purposes of managing our career opportunities: Identifiers; Additional Data Subject to Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80; Protected Classifications; Sensory Information; Employment Information; Education Information and Inferences

Our Prior Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

We may have collected and used your personal information, as described above, during the 12-month period prior to the effective date of this California Consumer Privacy Statement. For the personal information collected during that timeframe, we describe below: (a) the categories of sources from which we may have obtained the personal information, (b) the categories of third parties with whom we may have shared the information, (c) the categories of personal information we may have sold, and (d) the categories of personal information we may have disclosed for a business purpose.

• Sources of Personal Information

We may have obtained personal information about you from various sources, as described below:

• Sharing of Personal Information

We may have shared your personal information with certain categories of third parties, as described below:

• Sale of Personal Information

We have previously and will collected information about you for the purpose of providing it to our clients in situations described above under HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION. These situations include, for example, when we collect information about individuals for market research and focus groups; promotions; surveys and voting; media monitoring; and industry information. These services are provided at our clients’ request for monetary consideration. This may be considered the sale of personal information for purposes of the CCPA.

We may sell your personal information in connection with the sale of Portland or the division or office responsible for the services.

You have the right to opt out of this disclosure of your information, as detailed below.

During the 12-month period prior to the effective date of this California Consumer Privacy Statement, we may be considered to have sold the following categories of personal information for the purposes described above: Identifiers; Additional Data Subject to Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80; Protected Classifications; Commercial Information; Online Activity; Geolocation Data; Sensory Information; Employment Information; Education Information and Inferences.

We do not sell the personal information of minors under 16 years of age without affirmative authorization if we have actual knowledge of the individual’s age.

• Disclosure of Personal Information for a Business Purpose

We may have disclosed to third parties the following categories of personal information for a business purpose: Identifiers; Additional Data Subject to Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80; Protected Classifications; Commercial Information; Online Activity; Geolocation Data; Sensory Information; Employment Information; Education Information and Inferences.

California Consumer Privacy Rights

You have certain choices regarding our use and disclosure of your personal information, as described below.

Access: You may have the right to request, twice in a 12-month period, that we disclose to you the personal information we have collected, used, disclosed and sold about you during the past 12 months.

Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete certain personal information we have collected from you.

Opt-Out of Sale: You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information.

Shine the Light Request: You also may have the right to request that we provide you with (1) a list of certain categories of personal information we have disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year and (2) the identity of those third parties.

How to Submit a Request: To submit an access or deletion request, or a Shine the Light request, email us at [email protected]

Verifying Requests: To help protect your privacy and maintain security, we will take steps to verify your identity before granting you access to your personal information or complying with your request. If you request access to or deletion of your personal information, we may require you to provide us with information about you to verify your identity. The type of information that we ask for may vary depending on the type and sensitivity of the personal information we hold about you or that you request. If additional information is required to verify your request, we may contact you to provide us with that information before responding to your request for access or deletion. In addition, if you ask us to provide you with specific pieces of personal information, we will require you to sign a declaration under penalty of perjury that you are the consumer whose personal information is the subject of the request. If you designate an authorized agent to make an access, deletion or opt-out of sale request on your behalf (1) we may require you to provide the authorized agent written permission to do so, and (2) for access and deletion requests, we may require you to verify your own identity directly with us (as described above).

Additional Information: If you choose to exercise any of your rights under the CCPA, you have the right to not receive discriminatory treatment by us. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may charge a reasonable fee to comply with your request. This Statement is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact [email protected] to request this Statement in an alternative format.