Privacy Notice

Last updated: November 4th, 2024

This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) applies whenever The Fusion Syndicate (referred to in this Notice as “TFS”, “we” or “us”) processes personal information about you – for example, by collecting it, using it, storing it, or disclosing it to others. It describes the contexts in which we process your personal information, how it is processed, the legal basis for processing, who else might have access to it, and what rights you can exercise and how to exercise them.

TFS operates in the State of Oregon but does business with Customers around the world. We define Personal Information to be consistent with a variety of global laws, which is “an information relating to, directly or indirectly, an identified or identifiable natural person or household.” This includes things like your name, postal address, telephone number, and email address, as well as less obvious information such as machine identifiers, which are included in the following defined categories. Because of that, we have drafted this Notice to ensure that you are aware of information relevant to data protections applicable to a wide range of individuals. You can always contact us with questions at privacy@TheFusionSyndicate.com.

The Basics:

Your Rights

You have the following data protection rights:

• To access, correct, update or request deletion of your personal information;
• To request that we disclose to you the information in this Notice;
• To object to processing of your personal information, ask us to restrict processing of your personal information or request portability of your personal information;
• To not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you;
• To opt-out of marketing communications we send you;
• To withdraw any previously granted consent at any time; and
• To lodge a complaint with an appropriate data protection authority or applicable regulatory body.

We respond to all requests received from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Required Disclosures:

Who do we collect information about?

We collect information about users of our website(s), such as cookies and information collected through website forms. We may collect additional information about our customers, potential customers, partners, vendors, service providers, and other members of the public who might contact us for additional information. In some instances, the information we collect may only be a name and contact information so that we might return a phone call or email, and in other situations (the contexts listed below) we may collect additional information.

In what contexts do we collect personal information?

TFS collects personal information in a variety of contexts, each of which is defined below. The categories of information, types of information, sources of information and our purposes for collecting, processing, using, and sharing such information is determined based on this context.

• Websites. TFS collects Personal Information through our websites, including, but not limited to, the website or subdomains of www.thefusionsyndicate.com, or any website that posts this Notice (collectively, the “Sites”). Personal Information collected through a website, but in a different context defined in this Notice, such as the Interactions with Job Applicants Context or Products and Services context, is treated in compliance with the stated context and not the Websites Context.
  Products and Services. TFS collects Personal Information through your use of products and services made available to you by us. This includes software (including software for mobile devices or “apps”), consulting services, professional services, and support services.
• Social Media. TFS collects Personal Information through your use of our social media pages and apps, through HTML-formatted email messages that link to this Notice, through your interactions with third party social media (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter), and when you publicly post using TFS-related hashtags.
• Interactions with Job Applicants. TFS collects Personal Information when you apply for a job at www.thefusionsyndicate.com/jobs, interact with our third-party partners’ (such as LinkedIn) postings of job openings at TFS, or provide information to our internal or external recruiters via email or web forms.
• Market Research. TFS collects Personal Information from third party service providers for the purpose of market research, product research, targeted advertising, and business development.
• Offline. When you interact in person with representatives from TFS, such as at an event we host or participate in or when you place an order over the phone or contact customer service by phone, you may disclose or we may observe or infer Personal Information about you that you did not directly state.

How do we use, and disclose the personal information we collect and what is the legal basis for this?

Websites

• Categories of Personal Information We Collect. We collect Personal Information about you when you use the Sites, including Individual Identifiers, Customer Records, Inferences, and Electronic Network Information.
• Sources of Information. Personal Information collected in the Website context is collected from Original Sources, Customer Sources, and Third-Party Sources.
• Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. For website cookies, we rely on use consent for the processing of this information. Other information is processed under our legitimate interest in understanding the effectiveness and reach of Websites.

Products and services

TFS products and services collect and send a variety of information to us in accordance with the product and services documentation. This information is classified as follows, and as further defined in the sales contracts:

• Customer Content. Information and data provided by Customers that TFS may operate on, where such operation is on the Customer’s behalf as part of providing a Product or Service.
• Functional Data. Data that is generated by TFS’s providing the Product or Service, and which informs TFS in the development, deployment, operations, maintenance, and securing of a Product or Service.
• Support Information. Information provided to TFS by or for a Customer for the purpose of providing technical support pertaining to a Product or Service and/or maintaining a Customer’s Product or Service.

Personal Information may be included in any of these data classifications. However, TFS only actively collects Functional Data and Support Information because Functional Data and Support Information are necessary for us to provide the products and services to you. We will process Customer Content in accordance with the applicable service terms, but this data is not specifically collected by TFS. Customer Content, including Customer Content that results from the output of prompts, is not used to train the Fusion™ GPT or shared with any third party.

Categories of Personal Information We Collect. We collect Personal Information about you when you use our Products or Services, including Individual Identifiers, Customer Records, Electronic Network Information, Inferences, and Commercial Information.

Sources of Personal Information. Personal Information collected in the Products and Services context is collected from Original Sources, Customer Sources, Product Sources, Services Sources, and Third-Party Sources.

Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. TFS processes Personal Information in its products and services on the legal basis that it is necessary to fulfil the contracts for such products or services. TFS collects and processes Personal Information collected through the products and services solely for the purpose of providing the services and commercial purposes ancillary to providing the products or services (such as monitoring the performance of the products and services or improving the products and services), and TFS will not retain, use, or disclose Personal Information collected through the Products or Services except as stated in this Privacy Notice.

Third Parties with Whom We Share Personal Information. TFS uses third-party service providers and sub-processors to provide services on our behalf and may share Personal Information collected by the Products and Services with them to assist them in providing these services. These can include providers of services such as website hosting, data analysis, payment processing, order fulfillment, information technology and related infrastructure provision, customer service, email delivery, auditing, and other services. We also may share Personal Information with channel partners or resellers if you inquire about our products or services typically fulfilled through channel partners or resellers. These channel partners or resellers may also use this information to inform you about third-party products or services that may be of interest.

• OpenAI (ChatTeam account service provider)
• Microsoft (communications, office productivity, and cloud service provider)
• Wix.com (Advertising purposes and website hosting service provider)
• QuickBooks (Bookkeeping, invoicing and payments service provider)

Third Party Advertisement. Personal Information collected through the Products and Services is not used for advertisement purposes. We do not engage in cross-site tracking to sell consumer behavior info to data brokers or to broker for ourselves.

Social media

Categories of Personal Information We Collect. We collect Personal Information about you in Social Media context including Individual Identifiers, Customer Records, Inferences, Electronic Network Information, Geolocation Data, Professional and Employment Information, and Sensitive Information Protected under the Law.

Sources of Information. Personal Information collected in the Social Media context is collected from Original Sources, Third-Party Sources, and Customer Sources.

Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. TFS collects and processes personal information in the social media context in compliance with the terms of service, any applicable permissions granted, and relying on the legal basis of processing of the related social media provider. Our further processing is done pursuant to our legitimate interests in operating our business.
Third Party Advertisement. In addition to the third-party advertising companies we use to serve advertisements regarding goods and services that may be of interest to you when you access and use social media, a third-party social media provider may provide further advertising. Please review third party social media privacy policies for their advertisement and privacy policies for more information on how they collect and use personal information.

Interactions with job applicants

Retention. The criteria used to determine our retention periods for job applicants’ Personal Information are: (i) the duration of the application process; (ii) as long as we have an ongoing working relationship with you; (iii) as required by a legal obligation to which we are subject; (iv) as advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard of applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations). Your Personal Information will be added to TFS’s international candidate database and can be retained and used to consider you for opportunities at TFS and its affiliates other than the one(s) for which you apply.  If you do not wish us to do this, please contact us at Privacy@TheFusionSyndicate.com.

Law Applicable to Job Application. We accept job applicants from around the world. All job applications are evaluated by our team in the United States, such that any Personal Information you submit as part of a job application will be collected in the United States and will be subject to U.S. laws. Any hiring or other employment-related decisions will be made by the hiring affiliate in accordance with the law of the country where the job will be located.

Minors. We do not accept applications from minors under the age of 18.

Categories and Types of Personal Information We Collect. We collect Personal Information about you when you interact with TFS or our service providers or contractors in the context of exploring or applying for job openings, submitting applications for employment, attending job fairs or recruiting events, or otherwise engaging in employment and job application activities with TFS, including Individual Identifiers, Inferences, Employment Records, Education information, Electronic Network Information, Geolocation Data, audio, electronic, visual, or similar information, Professional and Employment Related Information, Protected Class Information, and Sensitive Information Protected under Law.

We will only collect this information where permitted by law.

• Any information you submit as part of a job application must be true, complete and not misleading. Submitting inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information may lead to a rejection of your application during the application process or disciplinary action including immediate termination of employment.  In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure that information you submit does not violate any third party’s rights.
• If you provide us with Personal Information of a reference or any other individual as part of your application, it is your responsibility to obtain the consent from that individual prior to providing that information to us.
• Providing Personal Information to us as part of job application is voluntary. However, if you do not provide sufficient data, TFS may be unable to consider your employment application or, if you are hired, your subsequent promotion, transfer, or relocation.
• Decision on hiring are processed within the United States. Accordingly, any Personal Information you submit to us will be transferred to, processed and stored in the United States.

Categories of Sources of Information. Personal Information collected in the Interactions with Job Applicants context is collected from Original Sources and Third-Party Sources (such as LinkedIn and Indeed Career Builders), as well as from your prior employers and educational institutions you attended.

Third-Party Sources & Potential Candidates. We may use automated systems to enable us to find and recruit job candidates. These automated systems use personal information collected from Original and Third-Party Sources to determine whether an individual meets the requirements that apply for a specific job vacancy. Based on this analysis, we will be provided with an overview of the profiles that are potentially qualified for the relevant job and they will assess these recommendations and make individualized assessments as to applicant engagement and hiring.

Candidate Database. We may keep your Personal Information in our candidate database, including updating the database from linked Third Party Sources, even if you are not hired from your original application. If you do not wish us to retain your Personal Information for future job opportunities, please contact us at privacy@thefusionsyndicate.com.

Other sources may include your references, prior employers and educational institutions you attended.

Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. Personal Information collected in the Interactions with Job Applicants context is used solely for the purposes of identifying, evaluating, screening, recruiting, and hiring candidates for employment and for business and commercial purposes ancillary to those purposes, as permitted by applicable law.  This may include:

• To process your application. We will engage in these activities to manage our prospective contractual relationship with you, based on our legitimate interests;
• To assess your capabilities and qualifications for a job. We will engage in these activities to manage our prospective contractual relationship with you, based on our legitimate interests;
• To conduct reference checks. We will engage in these activities to comply with a legal obligation or based on our legitimate interests;
• To respond to your inquiries and communicate with you about your application, and to send you information regarding changes to our terms and policies. We will engage in these activities to manage our prospective contractual relationship with you;
• To comply with or monitor compliance with any applicable law or regulation. We will engage in these activities to comply with a legal obligation or based on our legitimate interests;
• To conduct background checks if we offer you a position. We will engage in these activities to comply with a legal obligation or based on our legitimate interests; and
• To preserve our other legitimate interests, for example, for administrative purposes, aggregate management reporting, internal training, and as generally required to conduct our business within TFS and its affiliates.

If a Job Applicant’s application is successful and results in hiring, Personal Information we collect in connection with the individual’s application can be incorporated into our human resources system and used to manage the new-hire process; any such information can become part of the individual’s employee file and used for other employment-related purposes.

As discussed below, in certain cases we will ask questions about Sensitive Personal Information Protected under Law for monitoring equal opportunity. We can also inquire about criminal records. We will do so only where permitted by applicable law. Otherwise, we ask that you avoid submitting data which may qualify as Sensitive Personal Information protected under Law, except where such data is legally required.

TFS is an equal opportunity employer, which means we offer equal treatment to all applicants. TFS does not discriminate, either directly or indirectly, on legally protected grounds: race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs or creed, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or genetic information in any area or recruitment.

We may aggregate and/or anonymize Personal Information so that it will no longer be considered Personal Information. We do so to generate other data for our use, which we may use and disclose for any purpose.

Third Party Advertisement. TFS does not use Personal Information collected in the Interactions with Job Applicants context to provide advertisements regarding goods and services.

New York City Residents—Automated Employment Evaluation. TFS may use an automated employment evaluation tool as one of several tools and methods to help TFS screen and select candidate applications for further consideration. The automatic employment evaluation tool highlights and may rank candidates for further consideration based on experience and skills identified by TFS and found in candidates’ application and supporting documentation. You may request an alternative selection process or accommodation by contacting us at info@thefusionsyndicate.com.

Market research

Categories and Types of Personal Information We Collect. We may collect or otherwise observe Personal Information from individuals in the market research context, including Individual Identifiers, Inferences, Employment Records, Education information, Geolocation Data, Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information, Professional and Employment Related Information, Protected Class Information, and Sensitive Information Protected under Law.

Categories of Sources of Information. Personal Information collected in the Market Research context is collected from Original Sources, Third-Party Sources, and Customer Sources.

Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. Personal information collected in the Market Research context is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in collecting marketing research for the operation of our business. Processing is limited to the purpose of market research and sales enablement.

Offline

Categories and Types of Personal Information We Collect. We may collect or otherwise observe Personal Information from individuals offline, including Individual Identifiers, Inferences, Employment Records, Education information, Geolocation Data, Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information, Professional and Employment Related Information, and Sensitive Information Protected under Law.

Categories of Sources of Information. Personal Information collected in the Offline context is collected from Original Sources, Third-Party Sources, and Customer Sources.

Third Party Advertisement. We do not use third-party advertising companies to serve advertisements based on Personal Information we collected Offline.

Legal Basis and Purpose of Processing. Personal information collected Offline is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in making business connections, networking, and generating sales or vendor leads as part of the operation of our business. Processing is limited to those activities around networking, sales, marketing, purchasing, and vendor and customer relationship management.

Who do we share personal information with?

TFS uses third party providers and sub-processors to provide services on our behalf and may share Personal Information with them to assist them in providing these services. In the past 12 months, we have disclosed personal information to the follow categories of service providers for business purposes: commercial large language model and generative artificial intelligence, website hosting, data analytics, payment processing, order fulfillment, information technology and related infrastructure provision, customer service, email delivery, auditing, and backend business operations. We also may share Personal Information with channel partners, resellers, or corporate entity parents that purchase products and services on behalf of their subsidiaries and affiliates. These channel partners, resellers, or corporate affiliates may also use this information to inform you about third-party products or services that may be of interest.

Currently, we share personal information with the following third parties for the purposes listed in the parentheses:

• OpenAI (ChatTeam account service provider)
• Microsoft (communications, office productivity, and cloud service provider)
• Wix.com (Advertising purposes and website hosting service provider)
• QuickBooks (Bookkeeping, invoicing and payments service provider)

Do we sell personal information?

TFS does not sell personal information nor does it engage in cross-site tracking to sell consumer behavior info to data brokers or to broker for itself.

Information on The Types and Sources of Personal Information:

California law requires us to disclose the nature of personal information processing in terms of “types” “categories” and “sources” of personal information. To reduce the complexity of our Privacy Notice, we have used this nomenclature throughout this Privacy Notice.

We plan to collect, and have collected within the preceding 12 months, the following Categories of Personal Information:
Individual Identifiers. This includes information like your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, login alias, IP address or Other Information that identifies you regardless of your relationship to TFS.

• Inferences. This includes customer profiles, usage preferences, or other information about an individual’s anticipated or assumed actions or behaviors.
• Customer Records. This includes information like your company name, job title, account number, customer identifier, or Other Information that relates to you as a customer of TFS.
• Education information. This includes information about your educational history, such as the schools you have attended, the courses of study you followed, the status of any required continuing education for professional licensing, or Other Information relating to your education.
• Commercial Information. This includes payment card data, financial account information, account information, records of products or services purchased, obtained or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies of the customer, and Other Information necessary to collect and process payment for products and services ordered by the customer.
• Electronic Network Information. This includes information like browser and device data, and internet or network activity information, such as activity on our Websites and Services, data collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies, and Other Information that is generated through your use of the internet to access our websites.
• Geolocation Data. This includes information such as your precise location or city, state, county, or country, if you have such geolocation data enabled when using the applicable social media application. For example, if you use Facebook to “Check In” at a TFS-run event, we can collect that information.
• Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information. This includes information that is captured on audio or video recording, such as if a telephone or video call is recorded, or simply observable in such interaction or in an Offline Context.
• Protected Class Information.  This includes characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as sex, age, gender, race, disability, marital status, medical conditions, gender identity and expression, and military/veteran status.
• Professional and Employment Related Information. This includes your contact details, user name and password to be able to access the Careers Site where you can apply for jobs, and information about your current or past employers, memberships in professional associations or trade unions, and professional licensing status if you make such information publicly available in the context from which the Personal Information is collected, such as in your publicly available social media accounts, through a resume submitted to us, or by attending a professional event associated with an affinity group. This may also include your work authorization status, skills, information relating to references and any other information you elect to provide to us (e.g., employment preferences, willingness to relocate, current salary, desired salary, awards or professional memberships).
• Sensitive Personal Information Protected under Law. This includes characteristics of protected classifications under law, such as information about your age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, sex life, disability, political preference, trade union membership, philosophical views, religious beliefs, marital status, citizenship, immigration status, medical or health information, biometric information, biometric templates, veteran status, precise geolocation, background check information, judicial data or information on other judicial or administrative proceedings. This may also include an individual’s social security, driver’s license, state identification card, or passport number; account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number in combination with any required security or access code, password, or credentials allowing access to an account, or the contents of mail, email, and text messages unless we are the intended recipient of the communication. We may also collect other pieces of information of particularly sensitive nature, if you make such information publicly available in the context from which the Personal Information is collected, such as in your publicly available social media accounts, through a resume submitted to us, or by attending a professional event associated with an affinity group.

“Other Information” means any information that does not reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an identifiable individual, such as: browser and device data, App usage data, data collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies, demographic information and other data provided by you that does not reveal your specific identity, or other types of information that has been aggregated in a manner such that it no longer reveals your specific identity.

Other Ways We Might Disclose Personal Information

We might disclose personal information in the following circumstances:

• to third parties who provide services on our behalf, such as IT hosting providers, email providers and data backup providers, subject to strict contractual terms that protect the personal information in accordance with data protection law;
• to competent law enforcement, judicial or regulatory authority, or public safety authority if we believe disclosure is required (i) as a matter of applicable law or regulation, (ii) to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or (iii) to protect your vital interests or those of any other person;
• to subcontractors, with your prior consent;
• to any other person if the relevant data subject(s) have consented.

International Transfers of Personal Information

TFS is organized and operates in the state of Oregon in the United States. Personal information will necessarily be transferred to and processed in the United States. Technical, organizational, and management systems have been put in place to safeguard information in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR and UK GDPR.

Cookies

We have instructed our website hosting company to not use any cookies on our site except for those required for site functionality.  We do not run any analytics or other cookies on our site, and do not place any other tracking capabilities such as pixels or session replay technology in our website.

California Residents

Pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, the “CCPA”), if you are a California resident, you have the right to make the following requests:

1. Request to Know
   1. You may request that we disclose to you:
      1. The categories of Personal Information we collected about you and the categories of sources from which we collected such Personal Information;
      2. The specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you;
      3. The categories of Personal information about you that we “shared” (as defined under the CCPA) and the categories of third parties with whom we “shared” such personal information;
      4. The business or commercial purpose for collecting or “sharing” (if applicable) Personal Information about you; and
      5. The categories of Personal Information about you that we otherwise disclosed, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed such Personal Information (if applicable).
2. Request to Delete
   1. You may request that we delete Personal Information we collected from you.
3. Request to Correct
   1. You may request that we correct inaccuracies in your Personal Information.
4. Request to Opt Out of “Sharing”
   1. You may request to opt out of any future “sharing” or your Personal Information for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising.

To make a Request to Know, Correct or Delete, please contact us at privacy@TheFusionSyndicate.com.

We will verify and respond to your request consistent with applicable law, considering the type and sensitivity of the Personal Information subject to the request. We may need to request additional Personal Information from you, such as email address, state of residency, or mailing address, to verify your identity and protect against fraudulent requests. If you maintain a password-protected account with us, we may verify your identity through our existing authentication practices for your account and require you to re-authenticate yourself before disclosing or deleting your Personal Information. If you make a Request to Delete, we may ask you to confirm your request before we delete your Personal Information.

To request to opt out of any future “sharing” of your Personal Information for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising, click on the “Do Not Share My Personal Information” options for the applicable webpage containing your Notice of Right to Opt-Out and enabling consumers to opt out.

You have the right to be free from unlawful discrimination or retaliation for exercising your rights under the CCPA.

We do not sell and have not sold Personal Information, including Sensitive Personal Information, within the preceding 12 months, as “sale” is defined in the CCPA. Without limiting the foregoing, we do not sell or “share” the Personal Information, including the Sensitive Personal Information, of minors under age 16.

Authorized Agents

If you want to make a request as an authorized agent on behalf of a California resident, you may use the submission methods noted above. As part of our verification process, we may request that you provide, as applicable:

• Proof of your registration with the California Secretary of State to conduct business in California;
• A power of attorney from the California resident pursuant to Probate Code sections 4121-4130;
• Written permission that the California resident has authorized you to make a request on the resident’s behalf. This permission must be signed (via physical or e-signature) by the California resident.

If you are making a Request to Know, Correct or Delete on behalf of a California resident and have not provided us with a power of attorney from the resident pursuant to Probate Code sections 4121-4130, we may also require the resident to:

• Verify the resident’s own identity directly with us; or
• Directly confirm with us that the resident provided you permission to submit the request.

Updates

We may update this Notice from time to time in response to legal, technical, or business developments. When we update our Notice, we will take appropriate measures to inform you. The “last updated” date of this Notice is at the top of this page.