Privacy Notice

Last updated: October 1st, 2021

VAC Logistics CC (T/A VACorps) is a company based in Cape Town, South Africa. Our company is committed to protecting the privacy of all its participants. The following are legal requirements we follow to protect your privacy. This statement explains how we may collect information from you, how we may share your information, and how you can limit our sharing of your information.

We collect two types of information: personal information that you provide to us and non-personal information automatically collected through automated means.

Personal Information

Wherever possible, personal information is collected directly from you, although there may be occasions when information is collected about you from third parties, such as host or partner universities, with the prior approval of the individual or a publicly maintained record. If you are registered with us, you can access content and services that we offer only to registered users. Registered users also have the option of changing or deleting the data specified during registration at any time. We are also able to provide you with information about the personal data we hold about you at any time.

If you do not want to provide us with your Personal Information, you are not required to do so; however, while you may still access the Website, certain services may not be available to you. By providing your Personal Information to us via the Website, you consent to receive information and updates from us, our representatives or our authorized third party service providers (except where prohibited by law).

Personal information that we might collect includes:

  • Your contact details to communicate with you, such as  your email address, mailing address, and phone number.
  • Your academic information, such as your transcript and educational background to forward to our affiliated institutions so that you may further your education.
  • Your health and medical information, to ensure your specific needs are addressed (e.g. allergies, prescriptions, disabilities, etc).
  • Your national identification information (i.e. social security number), passport, and related data to fulfill international immigration regulations, register you with the proper local institutions and authorities, and organize logistics essential to your program.

Non-personal Information

When you access our website, information of a general nature is automatically recorded. We use web analytics tools that rely on cookies, web beacons, and other automated tracking technologies to help us analyze how users interact with our website, how we can improve our website, how we can personalize your website experience and provide you with information we believe may be of interest to you. This information does not individually identify you as a person. Anonymous information of this kind is statistically evaluated by us to optimize our internet presence and the underlying technology.

Non-personal information that we might collect automatically includes:

  • The type of web browser you are using
  • The operating system you are using
  • The name of your internet service provider
  • Your anonymous IP address in our access and error logs

Our website uses third-party tracking technologies like Google Analytics and Google Conversion Tracking. In both cases, these technologies rely on the use of “cookies” and “web beacons.” A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a website you visit and is stored on your computer’s hard drive.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies as the default setting. You can modify your browser setting to reject our cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie by editing your browser options. However, if a browser is set not to accept cookies or if a user rejects a cookie, some portions of the website and services may not function properly.

A web beacon is an electronic image, also called a “gif,” that may be used on our web pages to deliver cookies, count visits, and compile statistics on usage and campaign effectiveness or in our emails to tell if an email has been opened and acted upon.

To better understand how Google may use the information collected through Google Analytics to evaluate Users’ and Visitors’ activity on our Site see Google Analytics Privacy and Data Sharing. You can obtain more information about cookies by visiting http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

How We Collect Your Information

As stated above (The Information We Collect), we collect your information for:

  • Operations: To operate, maintain, enhance and provide all the features of our programming to provide the services and information that you request.
  • Improvements: We use the information, not including customer data, to understand and analyze the usage trends and preferences of our visitors and users, to improve our products, services, website, and to develop new products, services, features, and functionality.
  • Communications: For administrative purposes such as customer service, to address intellectual property infringement, right of privacy violations, or defamation issues related to the customer data or personal data posted on the service or to provide updates on promotions and events, relating to products and services offered by us and by third parties we work with.

None of the information we gather is sold, rented, traded, modified, or shared with any third parties who are not directly involved in the delivery of your program. This information is used only internally by company administrators and administrators of any company partners in the locations where you sign up so that they may better understand your needs and provide a better service.

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. As an example, if you purchase any product or service available through the Website, you may be transferred to a website operated by a third party processor and be required to provide financial and other Personal Information to that third party processor.

As another example, you may decide to connect with us through various social media tools, such as Facebook or Twitter, that are provided by third parties. Any collection, processing, or use of information by such a third party is subject to that third party’s terms of use and privacy policy. We only work with companies who adopt the same practices and standards as we do; however, those companies remain responsible for their internal enforcement of those practices and standards.

Please check the privacy statements of these other websites for more information about their policies on collection and use of personal information. We seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Payments

We may provide paid products and/or services within the Service. In that case, we use third-party services for payment processing (e.g. payment processors).

We will not store or collect your payment card or bank details. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of payment information.

The payment processors we work with are:

PayPal and Stripe. PayPal’s Privacy Policy can be viewed at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full and Stripe’s Privacy Policy can be viewed here https://stripe.com/privacy

GDPR Information Rights and Practices

As of May 25th, 2018, all European Union residents and citizens are granted personal privacy as a fundamental human right. This also applies to our participants while they are residing in Europe during our various programs. As such, under these regulations, the company will not hold onto participant data for longer than is legally necessary and only for as short as possible to protect individual privacy as well as business interests.

You also have the right to rectify any mistakes or incomplete information that may have been provided in order to ensure accurate and complete records. You may also object to the processing of data relating to themselves except in the cases of a specific legal obligation. The company agrees to not collect more personal data than necessary for its legitimate business interest of providing safe and rewarding international programs. All customers have the right to revoke consent to the onward transfer of their personal information or to be forgotten, so long as there is no conflicting legitimate business or individual interest.

In addition, customers may request to have a copy of their personal data sent to them. All of these rights are afforded free of charge. However, we are not responsible for removing your personal information from the lists or systems of any third party who has previously been provided your information in accordance with this policy. Once data is no longer relevant to our legitimate business purposes, it is pseudonymized or anonymized based on the kind and caliber of information. The information that we keep exists strictly for analytical purposes to better serve the interests of future customers.

Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Keeping Your Information Secure

We consistently destroy hard copies of personal information that is no longer required. This destruction is undertaken by secured means. When in digital form, your personal information is contained within secured networks (i.e. HTTPS, AES Encryption, etc) and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.