Last Updated: 13/03/2025

1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how Hospitality IT Accelerate, facilitated by CMS Group Ltd ("we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use our website [Your Website Address] (the "Website") and participate in the Hospitality IT Accelerate community.
Hospitality IT Accelerate is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy describes our practices regarding the personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, and how we handle that data.

2. Data Controller
For the purpose of data protection law, CMS Group Ltd, is the data controller for the personal data collected and processed through this Website in connection with the Hospitality IT Accelerate community.

3. Information We Collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal data:

• Information You Provide Directly:

  • Registration Information: When you register to become a member of Hospitality IT Accelerate, you will provide information such as your name, job title, company, email address, phone number (optional), industry sector, and areas of IT interest within hospitality.

  • Profile Information: You may choose to add further information to your member profile, such as a professional biography, photo, and links to social media profiles (optional).

  • Forum and Community Contributions: If the Website includes a community forum or similar features, we will collect information you post, comment, or otherwise contribute within these areas.

  • Event Registration Information: When you register for our events (including networking mixers, workshops, roundtables, and panel discussions), you may provide additional information relevant to the event.

  • Contact Form Submissions: When you use the contact form on our Website to make inquiries or requests.

  • Needs and Offers Board Postings: If you use a "Needs and Offers" board feature, we will collect the information you post there.

• Information We Collect Automatically:

  • Log Data: We automatically collect certain information when you visit our Website, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages visited, and the dates/times of your visits.  

  • Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies (see section 7 below) to collect information about your browsing activity on our Website.

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4. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To Provide and Manage the Hospitality IT Accelerate Community:

  • To create and manage your membership account.

  • To enable you to access member-only areas and features of the Website.

  • To facilitate networking and communication among community members, including making your profile visible to other members in a member directory (as per your profile settings).

  • To manage and moderate the community forum (if applicable).

• To Organize and Administer Events:

  • To process event registrations and send you event-related communications.

  • To facilitate event check-in and participation.

• To Communicate with You:

  • To respond to your inquiries and requests submitted via the contact form.

  • To send you important service announcements and updates about Hospitality IT Accelerate, including event notifications, community news, and resource updates (based on your communication preferences, where applicable).

• To Improve our Website and Services:

  • To analyze Website usage and trends to understand how our Website is used and to improve its functionality and content.

  • To personalize your experience on our Website. * To conduct research and analysis to improve our community offerings and tailor them to member needs.

• For Security and Legal Compliance:

  • To protect the security and integrity of our Website and community platform.  

  • To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.

   

5. Sharing Your Information
We may share your personal data in the following limited circumstances:

• With Other Community Members: Certain information in your member profile (such as name, job title, company, and profile picture if you upload one) will be visible to other registered members of Hospitality IT Accelerate to facilitate networking and community building. You control some of this visibility through your profile settings.

• With Service Providers: We may engage third-party service providers who assist us in operating our Website, providing services to you (such as email marketing, event management, and website hosting), and conducting our business. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your personal data and only use it for the purposes we specify.

• With Event Sponsors (Limited): For specific events, we may share a limited attendee list (name, job title, company) with event sponsors mentioned for the launch event. We will only do this if explicitly stated in the event registration information or with your explicit consent. Sponsors will be bound by confidentiality obligations and are not permitted to use your data for their own marketing purposes unless you directly opt-in with them.

• For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your personal data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a subpoena or court order).

We will not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

6. Data Security
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies (e.g., pixels, web beacons) to collect information about your browsing activity on our Website. These technologies may be used for purposes such as:

• Essential Website Functionality: To enable core site functionality, such as user login and session management.

• Analytics: To understand how visitors use our Website, such as which pages are visited most often and how users navigate the site. This helps us improve our Website and user experience.

• Personalization: To remember your preferences and personalize your experience on our Website.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this Website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

8. Your Data Rights
You have certain rights regarding your personal data, including:  

• Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you.

• Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.  

• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we erase your personal data.  

• Right to Restriction of Processing: In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data.

• Right to Data Portability: In certain circumstances, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.  

• Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, including for direct marketing purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact form on our Website. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection law.

9. Data Retention
We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, including for as long as you remain a member of the Hospitality IT Accelerate community, and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. If you wish to cancel your membership, we will typically retain anonymized data for analytical purposes but will securely delete your personally identifiable information according to our data retention schedule.  

10. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. We will post any changes on this Website and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. For significant changes, we may also provide more prominent notice or seek your consent, as required by applicable law.  

11. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us through the contact form available on our Website.