Ardan’s commitment to privacy
This Privacy Notice is provided by Ardan Equity Partners, LLC (“Ardan”, “we” and “us”), and it applies to ways in which we interact with individuals, (“Data Subjects”) in connection with our business, including, without limitation:
directors, officers, employees and other representatives of portfolio companies in which Ardan has made an investment or is considering making an investment;
individual representatives of third party sellers, placement agents, finders, investment bankers, consultants, lawyers, accountants, advisers and other service providers, whether or not engaged by Ardan;
directors, officers, employees and other representatives of Ardan;
individuals applying for or enquiring about and employment with us;
individuals who consider or do invest with us and their representative agents with whom we interact during the normal course of business; and
visitors to our websites and users of any digital services we provide.
We respect the privacy of Data Subjects. This Privacy Notice describes how we collect, use, store, process, disclose and transfer information that we may collect from Data Subjects. Please note that Ardan may provide additional privacy notices or similar disclosures in respect of certain categories of Data Subjects (e.g., certain investors or prospective investors in a fund managed or advised by Ardan, certain former or existing employees associated with Ardan, etc.), and certain geographies and jurisdictions.
What data do we collect and how?
Personal Data. When we use the term “Personal Data” we mean information that reasonably can be used to identify you as an individual person. In connection with our business, we collect various types of Personal Data, including, among other things:
Identifiers such as your name, postal address, tax ID, passport number, internet protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, mail address, phone number, or other similar identifiers.
Information classified as personal or protected information by state, federal, or other applicable law, including your nationality, place and date of birth, gender, picture, marital status, number of children, and information on criminal history/unlawful conduct.
Commercial information, including tax information, bank account details, credit card number, money transfers including communications on bank transfers, assets, investor profile, credit history, debts and expenses.
Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an internet website, application, or advertisement.
Visual information, including your picture.
Professional or employment-related information, including your employment, employer’s name, and remuneration.
Education information, including your level of education.
We collect this Personal Data in various ways, including:
Directly from the Data Subject (e.g., when you voluntarily submit information to the Site, or send us an email or other written correspondence)
Indirectly from other sources (e.g., from public records or from a counterparty in possession of the data).
Automatic Collection Tools. In addition, we automatically collect certain data from Data Subjects who visit the Site. To this end, we use data collection tools (“Cookies”) on the Site to record certain usage information, such as the number and frequency of visitors to the Site. This information may include the websites that you access immediately before and after your visit to our Site, and which Internet browser you are using. Please see our separate Cookies Policy to learn about how we use Cookies on the Site.
If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that the Personal Data we collect will be processed and stored in the United States, a jurisdiction in which the data protection and privacy laws may not offer the same level of protection as those in the country where you reside or are a citizen.
How and on what basis do we use your Personal Data?
We use your Personal Data for a variety of reasonable and legitimate business purposes, including, but not limited to, the following:
Complying with legal or regulatory obligations, such as our obligations regarding know-your-client and anti-money laundering;
Performing a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, including to: (i) provide you with information regarding Ardan products or services, (ii) assist you and answer your requests, (iii) evaluate whether we can offer you a Ardan product or service and under what conditions;.
Other legitimate purposes, such as:
Communicating with Data Subjects;
Performing activities relating to client management, financial management and administration;
Creating, improving and developing our products and services;
Conducting market research, surveys, and similar inquiries to help us understand trends, client and Site visitor needs;
Investigating and resolving disputes and security issues and enforcing our Terms of Use and other agreements;
Monitoring and auditing compliance with internal policies and procedures, legal obligations and to meet requirements and orders of regulatory authorities; and
Processing and considering applications for employment, including evaluating and confirming your suitability for the position and accuracy of any information submitted.
We will not use your Personal Data for any purposes inconsistent with this Privacy Notice without your permission.
We do not sell any personal data and have not sold any personal data in the past.
With whom do we share your Personal Data?
Within Ardan. We share your Personal Data among Ardan entities for the purposes set forth above. In general, our group entities, in turn, are not permitted to share your information with other non-affiliates entities, except as described herein or otherwise permitted by applicable laws.
To Third Parties. We share your Personal Data with third parties in certain circumstances, including the following:
Service Providers. We share Personal Data with service providers that perform services on our behalf (e.g., third-party service providers to operate the Site). These companies may have access to your Personal Data but are permitted to use the information solely to provide the specific service or as otherwise permitted by law. We generally require these providers by contract to keep the information confidential.
Transaction or Other Corporate Event. Your Personal Data can be disclosed as part of a corporate business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, joint venture, or financing or sale of company assets, including bankruptcy proceedings, and could be transferred to a third party as one of the business assets in such a transaction. It also can be disclosed in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership. In such an event, we will post prominent notice of the change in ownership.
As Required by Law. We also disclose your Personal Data if we are required to make disclosures by applicable law or to the government or private parties in connection with a lawsuit, subpoena, investigation or similar proceeding, or as part of our legislative or regulatory reporting requirements.
How do we protect your Personal Data?
We take seriously the obligation to safeguard your Personal Data. Your Personal Data held by us will be kept confidential in accordance with applicable Ardan policies and procedures. We will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that all Personal Data is kept secure and safe from any loss or unauthorized disclosure or use. All reasonable efforts are made to ensure that any Personal Data held by us are stored in a secure and safe place, and accessed only by our authorized employees and transferees.
Keeping your Personal Data current
In general, we seek to ensure that we keep your Personal Data accurate and up to date. However, you are responsible for, and we kindly request that you inform us of, any changes to your Personal Data (such as a change in your contact details).
How long do we keep your Personal Data?
In general, we will process and store your Personal Data for at least as long as it is necessary in order to fulfil our contractual, regulatory and statutory obligations. Subject to those qualifications, our goal is to keep such data for no longer than necessary in relation to the purposes for which we collect and use the Personal Data (we refer to the purposes as set forth above).
Contact and Complaints
Ardan takes very seriously any complaints we receive about our use of your Personal Data.
Any Personal Data we receive from you when making a complaint will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Notice and only to process the complaint and check on the level of service we provide. Similarly, where inquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the inquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.
The ArdanEquity.com Site
ArdanEquity.com (“the Site”) is operated from servers in the United States. BY USING THE SITE AND PROVIDING INFORMATION TO US, YOU CONSENT TO THE TRANSFER AND PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IN THE UNITED STATES.
Please be aware that the Site may contain links to other websites hosted by third parties. Ardan does not control and is not responsible for the content or privacy practices and policies of such third party websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Site and to read the privacy policies of each third-party website, especially if such website collects Personal Data from you.
Additional Information for Residents of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”)
The below information applies to any Data Subject resident in the EEA. For purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27th April 2016 (the “GDPR”), we act as a “data controller” and our headquarters is located in the United States at 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite 317-346 Palm Beach, FL 33480. As a data controller, we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use Personal Data about you.
GDPR Data Protection Principles
In respect of the collection, holding, storage, use, and processing of your Personal Data:
We will process the data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
We will obtain the data only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
The data we collect will be relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the data is accurate and kept up to date.
Subject to applicable legal or other requirements, we will keep the data only as long as necessary.
We will use appropriate technical and/or organizational measures to ensure appropriate security of the data.
Transfer of Personal Data Outside of the EEA
The transfer of Personal Data from the UK/EEA to the Ardan entities outside the EEA is governed by data transfer agreements which are in the form of the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission (a copy of which can be obtained from us via the contact details below).
Where your Personal Data is processed by third parties outside the EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to adequately protect it, as required by applicable law, including the execution of standard contractual clauses (referred to above) if the recipients are not located in a country with adequate data protection laws (as determined by the European Commission) or certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework.
GDPR Data Subject Rights
Under the GDPR, in certain circumstances, an EEA-resident Data Subject has certain individual rights with respect to the Personal Data that we hold about them. In particular, you may have the right to:
Request access to any data held about you
Ask to have inaccurate data amended
Request data held about you to be deleted, provided the data is not required by Ardan to perform a contract, defend a legal claim or to comply with applicable laws or regulations
Prevent or restrict processing of data which is no longer required
Request transfer of appropriate data to a third party where this is technically feasible
Additionally, in the circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your Personal Data for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.
Automated Decision Making
We respect your legal rights not to be subject to decisions that are based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data, including profiling, especially where such processing has legal or other significant effects on you. In establishing and carrying out a business relationship, we generally do not use any automated decision making pursuant to the GDPR. We may process some of your Personal Data automatically, with the goal of assessing certain personal aspects (profiling), such as to comply with legal or regulatory obligations to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and offenses that pose a danger to assets. [We also use assessment tools in order to be able to allow communications and marketing to be tailored as needed.]
Complaints to Local Authorities
As a resident of the EEA, you are also entitled to direct any complaints in relation to our processing of your Personal Data to your national or local data protection supervisory authority.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your Personal Data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive.
Additional Information for Residents of California
The information below may apply to Data Subjects who are residents of California.
California Data Subject Rights
California’s “Shine the Light” law permits California residents to annually request and obtain information free of charge about what Personal Information is disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. For more information on these disclosures, please contact us using the contact details set out under the “Contact and Complaints” heading above.
In addition, Data Subjects in California may have a right under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) to request erasure of their personal data or access to personal data that we have collected in the last twelve (12) months.
Individuals who submit requests for access or erasure of personal information will be required to verify their identity by answering certain questions. We will not disclose or delete any information until identity is verified.
If you are making a request for access, we may not be able to provide specific pieces of personal information if the disclosure creates a substantial, articulable, and unreasonable risk to the security of your personal information, your account with us, or our systems or networks.
If you are making a request for erasure, we will ask that you confirm that you would like us to delete your personal information again before your request is addressed.
You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf by providing that agent with your written permission. If an agent makes a request on your behalf, we may still ask that you verify your identity directly with us before we can honor the request.
Agents who make requests on behalf of individuals, will be required to verify the request by submitting written authorization from the individual. We will not honor any requests from agents until authorization is verified.
Under the CCPA, you cannot be discriminated against for exercising your rights to access or request erasure of their personal data.