Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

This privacy policy (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to Pyramid, will be processed by us.  Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

By using our websites, you consent to our privacy policy and any future updates that may occur.

Pyramid collects personally identifiable information from you when you register on one of our websites, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, respond to a survey or fill out a form.  When visiting one of our websites you may be asked for certain information which includes but is not limited to:

• Full name
• Address
• Telephone Number
• Email Address
• Occupation/Company Name
• Dietary Requirements

In addition we also collect the following technical information which may also be stored as a “cookie” (refer to Section D Use of Cookies below)

• Connection information (e.g. IP Address, ISP information, etc)
• Browser information
• Geo location data (your browser will prompt you for permission)
• Data collected by Google Analytics (how Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps)

Special Category Data: we do not collect special category data such as biometric data for unique identification, health information and medical records, criminal records, racial or ethnic origin, political orientation or beliefs, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning sex life or sexual orientation, genetic data.

Information about other individuals: If you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that the other person has appointed you to act on his/her behalf and has agreed that you can:

• Give consent on his/her behalf to the processing of his/her personal data;
• Receive on his/her behalf any data protection notices; and give consent to the transfer of his/her personal data as contemplated in this privacy policy.

Pyramid collects and uses your personal information to deliver services that you have requested, to inform you of other products or services available to you from Pyramid, to solicit feedback from you on customer service and to provide you with periodic updates. Giving us this information is voluntary. However, if you do not give us this information, we may not be able to provide any of the products or services you request from us. Financial information that is entered through this website is used to bill the user for products and services.

The data we collect whether it be from a cookie or not will be used for the following:

• Authentication/Security – This is to ensure that your data remains secure and help protect user accounts.
• Status – To determine whether or not you have logged into our site.
• User Experience – We use cookies to store information about your preferences and to personalize our website for you.
• Advertising – We use your data to send out advertisements which you can opt out of. Refer to Section C Marketing Communications below.
• Analysis – We use your data to help us to analyze the use and performance of our website and services, and to adjust as needed.

Where we are legally required to do so, we ask you for your prior consent before providing you with promotional materials or information. When marketing consent is obtained, we use the double-opt-in method (confirmation of your email address by email before sending you promotional messages) in order to verify your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time (this will not affect the processing of your personal data undertaken until the revocation). You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within each email or by contacting us directly (see the “How to Contact Us” section of this privacy policy). We will subsequently have your contact information removed from our promotional email list. Even after you option out from receiving promotional messages from us, you will continue to receive transactional messages from us regarding our products and services purchased or ordered.

Like most websites, we use cookies to enhance your experience, gather general visitor information as determined by Pyramid, and track visits to our website. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers’ systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and are a convenient way to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page, so that when you return to our site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved. Most web browsers generally accept cookies but you can modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer.

We use Cookies for the following scenarios:

• Keeping track if you have logged into our website.
• Keeping track of what purchases/registrations you have made.
• Keeping track of your connection/browser information.
• Google Analytics Data (how Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps)
• Remembering temporary information such as what items are in your shopping basket before checkout.

How can I disable Cookies?

Consult with your browser’s user manual to set said browser to block cookies. Please note if you completely block all cookies you will be unable to purchase products as cookies are required to remember basket contents. Additionally you may experience issues trying to register for a workshop as sometimes cookies are required to help process a payment.

Alternatively you can use your browser’s privacy/incognito mode to browse our website. This mode allows basic cookies to enable basic features such as adding products to the shopping basket. Any cookies used while in privacy are deleted at the end of your browsing session, and your browsing history is not saved. Generally speaking this mode does NOT allow cookies that track personal data such as your location, form field information, etc. Refer to your browser’s user manual to confirm what data is stored while using privacy mode.

How To Enable Private Browsing

• If using Google Chrome, open a new Incognito Window.
• If using Mozilla Firefox, open a new Private Window.
• If using Microsoft Edge, open a new InPrivate Window.
• If using Apple Safari, open a Private Browsing window.
  

If you are not using one of the above browsers, please consult your browser’s user manual. The above instructions are not meant to serve as complete cookie blocking guideline. Please refer to your browser’s documentation for more detailed information on cookie blocking and private browsing.

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to third parties your personally identifiable information other than those trusted third parties listed below who assist us in operating our websites, conducting our business, or servicing you. We required these third parties to keep this information confidential and to comply with applicable data protection laws and regulations.  We will not provide your credit information to anyone except as necessary to process your order or if reasonably necessary to comply with the law or to protect our rights or property.

• Authorize.net ()
• PayPal (Privacy Policy)
• Amazon S3/SES/CloudFront (Privacy Policy)
• ElasticEmail (Privacy Policy)
• Google Analytics & Tag Manager with Consent Mode V2 (Privacy Policy)
• CrashPlan (Privacy Policy)

You agree that we have the right to share your personal information with:

• Any member of our group. (For more information on our group members please check our site or contact us. See the “How to Contact US” section below.)
• The third parties listed above

We will disclose your personal information to third parties:

• If Pyramid or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets.
• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our Terms of Use or terms and conditions of supply or a contract we have entered into with you and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Pyramid, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online against accidental and unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, of, or access to personal information. These safeguards include but not limited to:

• Using a secure website certificate (https)
• All servers routinely receive updated security patches.
• Only senior level staff has access to your data.
• Your data is stored behind secured areas of our servers.
• Hard copies of data are stored in a secured/locked facility.

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorized access.

All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers. As a company providing services internationally, we may receive and transfer information all over the world. Consequently, your personal information may be used, stored and processed outside of the country where you entered that information or from which we collected it.
It may also be processed outside the location from which it was collected by staff operating in different locations who work for us or for one of our suppliers. This includes staff engaged in, among other things, the fulfillment of your order and the provision of support services.

You can obtain more information about the locations where your data is stored and transferred to, including the identity of third party suppliers and their locations and processing activities by contacting us. See the “How to Contact Us” section below]

Wherever we are required to transfer your personal information, regardless of where this occurs, we have taken steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy and all applicable data protection laws and regulations. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing.

We will retain your personal information for as long as you maintain an account or as otherwise necessary to provide you with our products and services. We will also retain your personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Where we no longer need to process your personal information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, we will delete your personal information from our systems. Typically we will store the following data indefinitely unless otherwise stated.

• Your Product Order/Workshop Registration History
• Your Connection/Browser Information
• Your Personal Information

Where permissible, we will also delete your personal information upon your request.  For more information see the “Your Rights” Section of this Privacy Policy.

You have the right to ask whether we have a record of any personal information and the details of that information and you may request a copy of that information as well as ask us to correct and/or update any personal information we have about you.

You may request us to erase any personal information stored by Pyramid about you (known as the “right to be forgotten”) in the following circumstances:

• it is no longer necessary for the Manager to hold that Personal Data with respect to the purpose for which it was originally collected or processed;
• you wish to withdraw your consent to us holding and processing your personal data;
• you object to us holding and processing your personal data (and there is no overriding legitimate interest to allow us to continue doing so);
• the personal data has been processed unlawfully; or
• the personal data needs to be erased in order for us to comply with a particular legal obligation.

Unless we have a valid reason for rejecting your request, we will erase the personal information in question as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than 30 days after we have received your request. We are not obligated to accede to your request if it is necessary to retain any personal information to comply with our other legal obligations, or if required to establish, exercise or defend any legal claims.

You can ask us to stop contacting you with direct marketing. Even if you have accepted the processing of your personal data for marketing purposes (by ticking the relevant box), you have the right to ask us to stop processing your personal data for such purposes. Let us know what exactly you are not happy with, e.g.  if you are unhappy with certain ways  we contact you (for example, you may be happy for us to contact you by email but not by telephone).

You can ask us to cease processing your information. You may request that we cease processing your personal data.  If you make such a request, we shall retain only the amount of personal data pertaining to you that is necessary to ensure that no further processing of your personal data takes place.

You can take your data with you or ask us to transfer it to another service provider (known as “data portability”). The right to data portability only applies:

• to personal data you’ve provided to us (i.e. not any other information),
• where we are processing your personal data because you have provided your consent for us to do so, or under a contract with you; and
• when processing is carried out by automated means.

We can refuse your data portability request if the processing does not satisfy the above criteria.  Also, if the personal data concerns more than one individual, we may not be able to transfer the information to you if doing so would prejudice the other person’s rights.

To contact use to exercise any of the above rights see the “How to Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy. Please allow us up to 30 days to respond to your request.

This privacy policy applies to all apps PECSTalk, PECSTalk Lite, R+ Remind, Working4, PECS Phase III, Wait4it, PECS IV+, and iHear PECS: Animals on iOS and Android (hereby referred to as “Applications”) for mobile devices that were created by Pyramid Group Management LLC or Pyramid Global Communication Technology LLC (hereby referred to as “Service Providers”) as a commercial service.

Information Collection and Use

The Service Providers do not collect any Personal Data. Personal Data is defined as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person and includes any of the following: email address, device ID, first and last name, billing or shipping information and so on.

The Applications collect information when you download and use it. This information may include information such as:

• your device’s internet protocol address (e.g. IP address) in the event of an Application crash
• the pages of the Application that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages
• the time spent on the Application
• basic interactions that are being done in the event of an Application crash
• the operating system that is in use on your mobile device

For a better experience while using the Applications, the Service Providers may require you to provide us with certain optional information that will be used for marketing and internal analysis. The information that the Service Providers request will be retained by them and used as described in this privacy policy.

Third Party Access

Only aggregated, anonymized data is periodically transmitted to external services to aid the Service Providers in improving the Application and their service.

Please note that the Application utilizes third-party services that have their own Privacy Policy about handling data. Below are the links to the Privacy Policy of the third-party service providers used by the Application:

• Google Play Services
• Apple App Store
• Google FireBase
  • Analytics
  • Crashlytics
• IO

The Service Providers may disclose User Provided and Automatically Collected Information:

• as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process;
• when they believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect their rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request;
• with their trusted services providers who work on their behalf, do not have an independent use of the information we disclose to them, and have agreed to adhere to the rules set forth in this privacy statement.

Opt-Out Rights

You can stop all collection of information by the Applications easily by uninstalling it. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your mobile device or via the mobile application marketplace or network.

Data Retention Policy

The Service Providers will retain User Provided data for as long as you use the Application and for a reasonable time thereafter. If you’d like them to delete User Provided Data that you have provided via the Application, please contact them at apps@pecs.com and they will respond in a reasonable time.

Security

The Service Providers are concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. The Service Providers provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect information the Service Providers process and maintain.

Changes

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time for any reason. The Service Providers will notify you of any changes to the Privacy Policy by updating this page with the new Privacy Policy. You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes, as continued use is deemed approval of all changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding privacy while using the Application, or have questions about the practices, please contact the Service Providers via email at apps@pecs.com.

This privacy policy is effective as of 25 June 2024.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about how we handle your personal information, and to exercise your rights, you may contact us at PGMSC@pecs.com.

If you have a complaint about how your data is being handled please contact us at PGMSC@pecs.com. 

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. We will post any privacy policy changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will notify you by sending you an email notification. We encourage you to review our privacy policy when using our websites to stay informed about our information practices and the ways that you can help protect your own privacy. If you disagree with any changes to this privacy policy, we politely suggest that you should stop using our websites. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this website, you can contact PGMSC@pecs.com.