PricewaterhouseCoopers' Privacy Commitment 

Introduction

The privacy of information you provide at this site is important to us.  The following Privacy Statement governs the collection and use of personal data submitted to PricewaterhouseCoopers Hong Kong (pwchk.com) or through the Hong Kong pages of pwc.com.  PricewaterhouseCoopers' information handling practices are in accordance with current privacy and data protection legislation in Hong Kong.  
 
For more information about our recruitment privacy practices, please refer to our Recruitment Privacy Statement.
 
By submitting identifying data, a visitor to our Web site is agreeing to PricewaterhouseCoopers' use of such data as described in this privacy statement.  Personal data collected by PricewaterhouseCoopers may be transferred internationally to other PricewaterhouseCoopers' entities world-wide, where it is necessary (i) to meet the purpose for which the visitor has submitted the information; or (ii) to enable the visitor to be provided with information at a later date which may be of relevance and interest to the visitor based on the nature and purpose of their voluntary requests.  By submitting data on PricewaterhouseCoopers' Web site, the visitor is providing explicit consent to trans-border transmission of data collected on the Web site for the fulfilment of their voluntary requests.
 
We have created this Privacy Statement to govern our commitment to protecting the privacy of your information.  However, should you have any further questions, please feel free to direct these to our Web Services Team.

Data Collection

Generally, PricewaterhouseCoopers only collects personal data such as contact details and when required credit card details that are specifically and voluntarily provided by visitors to our Web site.  Typically, personal data is collected to: 

• Register for certain areas of the Web site (including an event or seminar);
• Participate in surveys;
• Inquire for further information;
• Request or purchase publication or reference materials;
• Join our email updates, unsubscribe from them, or change subscription details;
• Apply for a job online or submit resumes.

Visitors are also able to send email through the site.  Their messages will contain the user's name, email address and phone, as well as any additional information the user may wish to or is requested to include in the message. 
 
PricewaterhouseCoopers' intention is not to seek any sensitive information through our Web site unless legally required.  Sensitive information includes a number of types of data relating to: race or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or other similar beliefs; trade union membership; physical or mental health; sexual life or criminal record.  We suggest that you do not provide sensitive information of this nature.  If you do wish to provide sensitive information for any reason, PricewaterhouseCoopers accepts your explicit consent to use that information in the ways described in this privacy statement or as described at the point where you choose to disclose this information. 

Cookies may be used on some areas of our site.  A cookie is a small software application which allows a Web site to recognise a previous user and to observe how a user navigates within a Web site.
   
Cookies are now used as a standard by many Web sites to improve users' navigational experience.  If you are concerned about cookies, most browsers now recognise when a cookie is offered, and permits users to opt-out of receiving it.  If you are not sure whether your browser has this capability, you should check with the software manufacturer or your Internet service provider.  It is PricewaterhouseCoopers' policy to use cookies to make the use of our Web site easier for visitors and to facilitate efficient registration procedures.  In most cases, a visitor can refuse a cookie and still fully navigate our Web sites.
 
In order to properly manage our Web site and related email services, we may anonymously log information on our operating systems about the number and duration of visits to the site and identify categories of visitors by items such as domains and browser types, and to track document identification number by way of email acknowledgement or return receipt.  These statistics are reported in the aggregate to our webmaster and system administrators.  This is to ensure that our Web site presents the best web experience for visitors and is an effective information resource.
 
Whenever a registered member visits this site, they must identify themselves in order to gain entry.  This data is logged by PricewaterhouseCoopers purely for measuring site performance and in assisting to resolve any site technical difficulties. 

Information attained by the site is used only for the intended purpose stated at the time that the information is collected.  Depending on the purpose of the information submitted (e.g., Join our Email Updates), some information may be stored in our Contacts Database system.  Some or all of this information may be available to the Partners and authorised staff of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 
Where we have obtained your consent we may also send you communications from time to time, for example to advise you of information, technical updates, upcoming events/seminars, or surveys which may be of interest to you.
 
PricewaterhouseCoopers will not use personal data collected from our Web site to facilitate unsolicited marketing activities.

Information will not be disclosed to third parties except when required by law, when we have your explicit consent or in cases where the third party is a contractor or supplier whom we have engaged specifically to assist with our firm's activities, e.g., a supplier engaged to assist with management of a PricewaterhouseCoopers event.  All such contractors will be bound contractually to keep all information confidential.  

Information that is kept by us will be destroyed or permanently de-identified after a reasonable period from the time when it becomes outdated or is no longer required.  

To update your contact details (e.g. email, company, title/role, address, phone number), please send your request via our Email Webmaster form.  If you believe that information we hold about you is incorrect, if you have concerns about how we are handling your personal data, or if you changed your mind about our usage of your data, please email us and we will try to resolve those concerns.  

The information submitted is stored in either email boxes or databases.  This information is only available to authorised staff and contractors.
 
PricewaterhouseCoopers has implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction.  All PricewaterhouseCoopers employees follow a firm wide security policy.  Only authorised PricewaterhouseCoopers personnel are provided access to personal data and these employees have agreed to ensure confidentiality of this information.  PricewaterhouseCoopers' policy is to use secure socket layer technology for the protection of credit card information submitted through web forms.  This policy is also required for any fulfilment agents of our firm.

Personal data collected by PricewaterhouseCoopers may be transferred internationally to other PricewaterhouseCoopers' entities world-wide, where it is necessary (i) to meet the purpose for which the visitor has submitted the information; or (ii) to enable the visitor to be provided with information at a later date which may be of relevance and interest to the visitor based on the nature and purpose of their voluntary requests.  By submitting personal data on PricewaterhouseCoopers' Web site, the visitor is providing explicit consent to trans-border transmission of such data collected on the Web site for the fulfilment of his/her voluntary requests.

Because PricewaterhouseCoopers wants your Web site experience to be as informative and resourceful as possible, we provide a number of links to third party sites.  PricewaterhouseCoopers assumes no responsibility for the information practices of these third party sites that a user is able to access through ours.  When you link to these sites, PricewaterhouseCoopers' privacy practices no longer apply.  We encourage visitors to review each site's privacy policy before disclosing any personal data.

Changes to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Privacy Statement

PricewaterhouseCoopers reserves the right to modify or amend this Statement at any time and for any reason.  However, PricewaterhouseCoopers commits to ensure that the privacy rights of individuals are maintained.  Nothing contained in this Statement is intended to create a contract or agreement between PricewaterhouseCoopers and any user visiting the site, or provide personal data in any form.
    
In order to keep visitors informed, PricewaterhouseCoopers will ensure that we notify users of changes to our Privacy Statement by identifying the alteration for a period of not less than two weeks on the our home page and identifying the effective date at the beginning of this statement. 

We welcome your enquiries or comments about our Privacy Statement and any queries or concerns that you may have about this Web site.