Privacy Policy

Overview

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA recognizes and values the privacy of the law enforcement, treatment, and prevention community and its guests, and strives to set the standard in which we manage personal information. 

In principle and practice, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA strives to:

  • Collect, store, and use the minimum amount of personal information necessary for its legitimate business purposes, and to comply with legal obligations.
  • Take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information managed is accurate and up-to-date.
  • Limit who has access to personal information in our possession to only those who need it for a legitimate, specific purpose.
  • Protect personal information through appropriate physical and technical security measures tailored to the sensitivity of the personal data we hold.  
  • Provide opportunities to control personal information, as permitted by applicable United States and other laws.
  • Integrate privacy in the design of our activities when that involves the use of personal data.

Scope

This scope of this notice applies to our practices for gathering and disseminating information related to the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA main website (hidta.org). It is meant to provide an overview of our activities that require the processing of personal information and our approach to protecting privacy. Please be advised that specific initiatives and programs may have specific privacy notices for their activities related to their collection and processing of your personal information.

Our Accountability

At the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA, we strive to appropriately manage, secure, and keep private and confidential the personal data entrusted to us.

Contact Us

If you have any inquiries or requests, please write to vpallutc@wb.hidta.org..

In order to be able to reply to requests for the exercise of rights, and if we are not certain of your identity, we may need to ask you for further identification data to be used only for the purposes of replying to your request.

Collection and Use of Information

How We Collect Information

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA collects personal information in the following circumstances:

  • Direct Collection: When provided to us, such as when one signs up for a newsletter on one of our websites.
  • Automated Processes: Through automated processes. This includes information provided us through technology, such as through a cookie placed on computers when a website is visited.

Our goal is to limit the information we collect to the information needed to support our business.

Information We Collect

During a user visit to hidta.org, we automatically collect and store certain information about the visit. Information collected includes:

The Internet domain from which a visitor accesses the website

  • The IP address assigned to the visitor’s computer
  • The type of browser the visitor is using
  • The date and time of visit
  • The address of the website from which the visitor has linked to hidta.org

In addition, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA collects information from users who visit hidta.org or through Washington/Baltimore HIDTA contracted-for third-party advertising and marketing providers (ex: Google Analytics). Information collected may include:

  • Content viewed during the visit
  • Date and time of visit
  • Amount of time spent on the website
  • Visitor location based on IP address
  • Demographic information

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA website also may provide opportunities for site visitors to voluntarily provide personally identifiable information, such as their email address, name, telephone number or street address.

How This Information Is Used

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA collects and uses information about user visits to allow it to monitor website performance, make improvements to site navigation and content, and better describe its activities and accomplishments toward its mission to various audiences

We may occasionally process other personal information for other legitimate and specific purposes. When these situations occur, we will endeavor to inform users of such occasional processing activities.

Security and Retention of Information

With Whom This Information Will Be Shared

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA does not sell or rent your personal information. We may, however, share your personal information in limited circumstances, such as with service providers that support business activities. We require our service providers to keep your personal information secure. We do not allow our service providers to use or share personal information for any purpose other than providing services on our behalf.

We may also share personal information when required by law, or when we believe sharing will help to protect the safety, property, or rights of the organization and its staff. Unless otherwise notified by the collecting office, information provided to the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA may be shared among offices within the organization and outside entities as necessary or appropriate in the conduct of legitimate Washington/Baltimore HIDTA business and consistent with applicable law. Individuals may inspect and/or correct their personal information as provided by the Public Records Act or applicable university policy. 

Cookies

To enhance your experience, we may place “cookies” on your computer or device. Cookies are files that store your preferences. When you access hidta.org, the following cookies may be placed on your device, depending on your web browser settings. Our website uses the following types of cookies:

Google Analytics Cookies

  • Purpose: Google Analytics cookies count visits and traffic sources in order to measure and improve the performance of our website. See details about Google Analytics’ usage of cookies on websites and privacy policy.
  • Opt-out: You can opt out of Google’s add personalization from Google Ads Settings. Find out more about managing cookies through your browser .
  • Browse in private: If you don’t want Google Chrome to remember your activity, you can browse the web privately in Incognito mode. 

Social Media Plugins

Some of the pages on our website have embedded social media sharing buttons. Social media platforms use cookies or other tracking technologies when a button is embedded on our website. We do not have access to or control of any information collected through these buttons. The social media platforms are responsible for how they use your information. For specific privacy controls on how these buttons track how users access our website, see the cookies policies of Twitter, Facebook LinkedIn, and YouTube.

How Information Is Secured

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA recognizes the importance of maintaining the security of the information it collects and maintains, and we endeavor to protect information from unauthorized access and damage. The University of Baltimore strives to ensure reasonable security measures are in place, including physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect your personal information.

Privacy Notice Changes

This privacy notice may be updated from time to time. We will post the date our notice was last updated at the top of this privacy notice.

Who to Contact with Questions or Concerns

If you have any concerns or questions about how your personal data is used, please contact our communications director at vpallutc@wb.hidta.org. 

Retention Period

We strive to keep personal data in our records only as long as they are necessary for the purposes they were collected and processed. Retention periods vary and are established considering our legitimate purposes and all applicable legal requirements.

European Union

If you are in the EU and you interact with the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA in the context of this website, then our processing of your personal information may fall under Regulation 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation, or the “GDPR”) and under the legal framework of Directive 2002/58/EC (“ePrivacy” Directive). In these circumstances and as applicable, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA may be the controller of the processing of your personal data. 

Transfers

When you interact with the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA, personal information is transferred to the United States. The United States is not currently among the countries outside the European Union that have obtained an adequacy decision from the European Commission reflecting an adequate level of data protection. To enable a lawful transfer of personal data from the EU, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA relies on the derogations laid out in Article 49 GDPR. Be advised that we provide safeguards for the information transferred, as required by the GDPR itself and in accordance with this website privacy notice.

Legal Basis for Processing

When we process personal information, we will endeavor to have a valid lawful ground for processing in place. We process personal information relying on different lawful grounds for processing, depending on the context of the processing activity. 

Specifically, the personal data initially collected from the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA contractors are collected and processed as it is necessary for the performance of the contract under which the organization provides related services and/or employment. Thereafter the continued collection and processing of personal data of employees of the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA is undertaken where it is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by the organization or a third party (in such case, the legitimate interests will relate to the efficient, lawful, and appropriate delivery of services, and will not operate to the detriment of the rights of individuals); for the purposes of the performance of a legal obligation; where necessary to protect your vital interests (e.g., the safety and well-being) or those of another party; where it is necessary for performing a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority (e.g., a disclosure for the benefit of public health concerns); or as it is necessary for the performance of the contract. If one of these lawful bases do not apply, we will seek the consent of the EU resident to whom the personal data belongs.

Special Category Data

“Special Category Data”, also known as sensitive personal data, is subject to additional controls. This includes data concerning racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data, sex life or orientation, and health data. 

We hold such data with respect to EU residents who are employees of the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA in order to implement and manage services and processes including but not limited to administration, support, training, professional development, certification, and other services.

When the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA processes an EU resident’s Special Category Data, and where the EU resident has not been made the information public, we will seek and must obtain your (the EU resident’s) explicit consent unless we require the data for (1) the protection of your vital interests or those of another person; (2) the exercise or defense of a legal claim; (3) a substantial public interest; or (4) the purposes of medical or health care. 

Your Rights

The Washington/Baltimore HIDTA is committed to facilitating the exercise of the rights granted to you by EU data protection law (the right to access your data, to ask for erasure, correction, restriction, portability of your data or to object to the processing of your data) in a timely manner for personal information that properly falls under the GDPR.

In order to be able to reply to requests for the exercise of rights, and if we are not certain of your identity, we may need to ask you for further identification data to be used only for the purposes of replying to your request. If you have any inquiries or requests, please write to vpallutc@wb.hidta.org.

We strive to respond promptly to these requests and will do our best to address your concern. However, if you believe we have not been able to deal with your concern appropriately, you have a right to complain to your local data protection authority. You also have the right to submit a complaint in the member state of your residence or place of work of an alleged infringement of the GDPR.