FirstPrinciples Foundation
Privacy Policy
Last Update: April 2024
FirstPrinciples Foundation (“FirstPrinciples”, “we”, or “us”) values and respects your privacy. We have prepared this privacy policy to describe the manner in which we collect, use, disclose and otherwise process personal information when you visit our website located at https://www.firstprinciples.com/ (the “Website”) or otherwise interact with us. We partner with and provide funding for researchers who conduct high-risk, high-reward research in theoretical physics (the “Services”).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Means of Collection
We collect personal information that you provide directly to us (through our Website, or through other communication channels) as well as information your devices provide to us automatically.
How we collect and use personal information through the Website and in our other interactions with you
We may collect and use personal information when you:
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Receive the Services.
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Sign-up to receive marketing emails such as newsletters, offers and promotions.
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Apply for a job at FirstPrinciples.
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Attend our events.
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Participate in our surveys or research.
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Contact us with a comment, question or complaint.
Services: To administer the Services, we may collect your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and information about your educational background, current and former employment, volunteering activities, and research project(s). We collect this information to evaluate you and your research project, and to determine whether FirstPrinciples will partner with you and provide the Services.
Marketing Communications: If you sign up to receive email, SMS and other marketing communications, we will collect your name, email address and phone number in order to send you newsletters, offers, promotions, and other information that may be tailored to your interests and preferences. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of each email. Alternatively, you can opt-out of receiving email marketing communications by contacting us at the contact information provided in the “Contact Us” section below. Please note that you may continue to receive transactional or account-related communications from us.
Careers: In connection with a job application or related inquiry, you may provide us with certain personal information about yourself (such as that contained in a resume, cover letter, or similar employment-related materials). We use this information for the purpose of processing and responding to your application for current and future career opportunities.
Events: If you attend one of our events (or visit a booth at an event), we may collect business contact information such as your first and last name, company name, work email address and phone number. We collect this information so that we can communicate with you about the event and contact you about future events.
Surveys and Research: From time to time, we may offer you the opportunity to participate in one of our surveys or other research projects. We will collect certain personal information about you if you choose to participate in a research survey of ours. The information we collect will depend on the particular survey or research project and we will provide you with specific details regarding our information practices for that survey or research project prior to collecting any information from you. The information obtained through our surveys and customer research is used in an aggregated, de-identified form. We use this information to help us understand our users and to enhance our Services and Website.
Contact Us: When you contact us with a comment, question or complaint through email, phone, or through our “Contact Us” form on our website, you may be asked for information that identifies you, such as your name, address and a telephone number, along with additional information we need to help us promptly answer your question or respond to your comment. We may retain this information to assist you in the future and to improve our customer service and products
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR WEBSITE
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Visiting our Website: In general, you can visit our Website without telling us who you are or submitting any personal information. However, we collect the IP (Internet protocol) addresses of all visitors to our Website and other related information such as page requests, browser type, operating system and average time spent on our Website. We use this information to help us understand our Website activity and to monitor and improve our Website.
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Cookies: Our Website uses a technology called "cookies". A cookie is a tiny element of data that our Website sends to a user’s browser, which may then be stored on the user’s hard drive so that we can recognize the user’s computer or device when they return. You may set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to not accept certain cookies. However, if you decide not to accept cookies from our Website, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the Website features.
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Analytics: We may use a third-party such as Google Analytics to help us gather and analyze information about the areas visited on the Website (such as the pages most read, time spent, search terms and other engagement data) in order to evaluate and improve the user experience and the Website. These third parties may use cookies and other tracking technologies. For more information about Google Analytics or to prevent the storage and processing of this data (including your IP address) by Google, you can download and install the browser plug-in available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. You can also obtain additional information on Google Analytics’ data privacy and security at the following links:
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Third-Party Links: Our Website may contain links to other websites that FirstPrinciples does not own or operate. We provide links to third-party websites as a convenience to the user. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked websites. The linked websites have separate and independent privacy policies, notices and terms of use. We do not have any control over such websites, and therefore we have no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations that operate such linked websites may collect, use or disclose, secure and otherwise treat personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
SAFEGUARDS AND RETENTION
We have implemented reasonable administrative, technical and physical measures in an effort to safeguard the personal information in our custody and control against theft, loss and unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure. We restrict access to personal information on a need-to-know basis to employees and authorized service providers who require access to fulfil their job requirements.
We will retain personal information as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes stated herein unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period of time. To provide security and business continuity for the activities described here, we make backups of certain data, which we may retain for longer than the original data.
YOUR CHOICES
Marketing Communications
As indicated above, if you have signed-up to receive our email communications, you can unsubscribe any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of the email. Alternatively, you can opt-out of receiving our marketing communications by contacting us at the contact information under “Contact Us” below.
Exercising Your Privacy Rights
We will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is not used unless it is accurate and up to date. We request that you regularly review the information you have submitted to us using the Website and promptly notify us if any information submitted is no longer accurate or correct.
Where required by applicable law, you may have the right to access, update, rectify and correct inaccuracies in, and withdraw consent to the processing of, your personal information in our custody or control. You may make such a request or withdraw consent by emailing or writing to us using the contact information set out below. We may request certain personal information for the purpose of verifying your identity when you seek access to your personal information.
OUR PRIVACY POLICIES AND PRACTICES
We are committed to protecting personal information and have implemented policies and practices that govern our treatment of personal information, including:
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a privacy framework that defines the roles and responsibilities of our employees with respect to the treatment of personal information in our custody and control;
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the designation of a Privacy Officer who is responsible for overseeing FirstPrinciples’ compliance with applicable privacy legislation;
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practices pertaining to privacy training and awareness for our employees with access to personal information;
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policies and procedures regarding the protection of personal information, including safeguards designed to protect personal information in our custody and control against loss or theft and unauthorized access, use or disclosure;
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processes for responding to data subject requests and complaints concerning the handling of personal information in a timely and effective manner; and
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a framework governing the retention and destruction of personal information that is designed to ensure compliance with our legal and contractual obligations.
UPDATES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY
We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes to our privacy practices. We encourage you to periodically review this page to ensure you are familiar with those changes. We will indicate at the top of this privacy policy when it was most recently updated.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy or the manner in which we or our service providers (including our service providers outside Canada) treat your personal information, or to request access to or correction of your personal information, please contact us using the Contact Us form on the website.
SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We do not sell or disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, except as set forth below or as required or permitted by law.
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Service Providers: Your personal information will be transferred (or otherwise made available) to certain third parties that provide services on our behalf (including our affiliates). We use service providers to provide services such as hosting Website, processing payments, providing customer and technical support, and providing advertising and marketing services. Our service providers are only provided with the information they need to perform their designated functions and are not authorized to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing or other purposes. We and our service providers may access, store and otherwise process personal information outside of Canada (and, for residents of Quebec, outside of Quebec), including in the United States, where we or our service providers are located.
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Legal and Compliance: We and our U.S., Canadian, and other foreign service providers may provide your personal information in response to a search warrant to other legally valid inquiry or order, or to another organization for the purposes of investigating a breach of an agreement or contravention of law or detecting, suppressing or preventing fraud, or as otherwise may be required or permitted by applicable U.S., Canadian or other law or legal process, which may include lawful access by US or foreign courts, law enforcement or other government authorities. Your personal information may also be disclosed where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims and to investigate or prevent actual or suspected loss or harm to persons or property.
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Sale of Business: We may transfer any information we have about you as an asset in connection with a proposed or completed merger, acquisition or sale (including transfers made as part of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings) involving all or part of FirstPrinciples or as part of a corporate reorganization or other change in corporate control.