HKS Privacy Policy

HKS’ Privacy Policy describes how HKS, Inc., together with its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “HKS”, “we” or “us”), process the personal information of our website visitors, clients, subconsultants and other third parties. It is not the exclusive description of how HKS processes personal data of individuals.

Information You Provide Directly

HKS typically collects personal data directly from the individual to whom it relates, except where that individual has consented to HKS collecting the personal information from a third party or the law otherwise permits HKS to do so. You may voluntarily provide information, including personal information, to us by:

1. Signing up for our mailing list;
2. Emailing HKS about our services, employment opportunities, media requests, research requests and other business matters;
3. Commenting on our website content via the commenting platform;
4. Registering to attend an HKS-sponsored event;
5. Downloading one of our online publications; or
6. Applying to job postings through our applicant tracking system.

Information We Collect Automatically

HKS will automatically collect and store limited information about you when you interact with hksinc.com and stories.hksinc.com (collectively, “our website”) via the following methods:

1. Google Analytics is a third-party service that uses cookies to measure, collect, analyze and report web data for purposes of optimizing the experience of users. Cookies are files with small amounts of data, which are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your computer’s hard drive. HKS does not make any attempt to use Google Analytics to find out the identity of those visiting hksinc.com and stories.hksinc.com
2. Log data is information your browser sends us whenever you visit our website. Log data may include information such as your computer’s browser type, the browser version, the pages of our site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other statistics.

Information from Third Parties

We may receive additional information about you from other publicly and commercially available sources, as permitted by law.

We may combine all of the information we collect or receive about you and use or disclose it in the manner described in this Privacy Policy.

Personal Data

Personal data means any information relating to a person which enables them to be directly or indirectly identified. Personal data that we hold about you may include your contact details (e.g. name, phone number, address and email address), IP address, language and geolocation.

Job Applicant Data

If you are a job applicant, personal information we may hold about you may include the same data listed above in Personal Data, along with your education and work history, work authorization, professional licenses and/or certifications with your registration number(s), professional references, and confirmation that you are above the age of 18. We may seek to collect this information from you or from an employment agency acting on your behalf.

Client, Vendor and Consultant Data

If you are a client, vendor or consultant, personal information that we hold about you may include the same data listed above in Personal Data, along with your social media accounts, business address, email address, phone number and fax number, function/job title, company, and types of services provided.

HKS may request that you provide additional information such as your company’s legal status, date of incorporation, place of incorporation, your company’s related entities, your company’s shareholding details, your relationship to any government official, your company’s tax identification numbers, country of origin, business and professional licenses, your company’s insurer, broker and insurance policies, and other information you consent to provide us for purposes of performing contracts or services.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information that we store is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

We use your personal data, and may share your personal information with other parties acting on our behalf, for one or more of the following:

1. To conduct research about the use of our website;
2. To improve services provided by HKS;
3. To perform services or carry out our contract with you;
4. To make informed decisions about business relationships and to prevent inadvertent engagement in illegal or corrupt practices;
5. To assess your suitability for employment;
6. To comply with HKS’ regulatory and legal obligations;
7. To assess and respond to a complaint you might make to us;
8. For our own administrative purposes, including training our staff, conducting internal audits, or transferring assets as part of a sale, purchase or investment in the business;
9. For market research purposes;
10. To conduct investigations of suspicious or harmful activity;
11. To manage risks related to HKS’ contracts and services; and
12. For communications and other marketing purposes.

If we wish to use your personal information for a purpose beyond that for which it was originally provided, we will ask for your consent or seek to rely on another valid legal ground to process your personal information in accordance with the applicable law. HKS does not sell personal information to others.

Where you have consented to us using your personal data for marketing purposes, we may use your information to conduct marketing and data analysis or to send you updates and news concerning HKS and our business partners. If you wish us to stop using your information for these purposes, please contact us by email at [email protected].

HKS does not engage in solely automated profiling or automated decision-making activities that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals.

HKS must have a valid lawful basis to process your personal data. The lawful bases we may rely upon include:

1. Consent: when you have given clear consent for HKS to process your personal data for a specific purpose.
2. Legitimate interests: when the processing is necessary for HKS’ legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party (except where your interests or fundamental rights override these).
3. Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract HKS holds with a client, consultant or vendor, or because HKS has been asked to take specific steps before entering into a contract.
4. Legal obligation: when the processing is necessary for HKS to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).

In instances where we may wish to disclose, or be required to disclose, your personal data to third parties, the disclosure of your data will take place only in accordance with the applicable law. These scenarios include disclosure to:

1. HKS’ subsidiaries and affiliates.
2. Vendors or consultants to facilitate the provision of our services.
3. Third-party service providers and consultants in order to protect the security or integrity of our business, including our databases and systems and for business continuity reasons (including cloud service providers).
4. Another legal entity, on a temporary or permanent basis, for the purposes of a joint venture, collaboration, financing, sale, merger, reorganization, change of legal form, dissolution or similar event.
5. Attorneys in connection with negotiation of a contract, dispute resolution, and other legal advice.
6. Tax advisors for purposes of tax filings, obtaining tax credits, negotiating tax liabilities, and other tax advice.
7. Public authorities where we are required by law to do so.
8. Any other third party where you have provided your consent.

Further, we may disclose your information to any person as required by law and specifically to any government agency if we believe in good faith that we must do so to comply with the law or that doing so is required to prevent, detect, investigate or remedy improper conduct potentially affecting HKS.

HKS retains your personal data for as long as it is necessary to carry out the purposes set out in our Privacy Policy, and according to retention periods required by law.

HKS seeks to safeguard all personal data that we hold in a confidential and secure manner, and takes reasonable steps to respect personal privacy. We maintain industry standard security measures to protect your personal information from misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure and loss or corruption by computer viruses and other sources of harm.

The General Data Protection Regulation provides certain rights to individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. Those individuals may contact HKS regarding those rights via email at [email protected].

If you are an individual residing within the European Union and the European Economic Area, you have the right to:

1. Obtain a copy of your personal information. You have the right to obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us as directed above.
2. Correct your personal information. You may request that we rectify any inaccurate and/or complete any incomplete personal information by contacting us as directed above. If we disagree and believe the information to be accurate and complete, we will advise you and include a notation on the record that you dispute the information’s accuracy.
3. Withdraw your consent to processing. You may, as permitted by law, withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal information at any time by contacting us as directed above. Such withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on your previous consent. Please note that if you withdraw your consent, you may not be able to benefit from certain service features for which the processing of your personal information is essential.
4. Object to processing. You may, as permitted by law, request that we stop processing your personal information by contacting us as directed above.
5. Request erasure. You may request that we erase your personal information by contacting us as directed above. We will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so.
6. Lodge a complaint. We suggest that you first contact us as directed above regarding any questions or complaints in relation to your rights or how we process your personal information. However, this does not limit your right to contact your local data protection authority directly.

Where you submit information on behalf of another person, you confirm that you have made that person aware of how we may collect, use and disclose their information, the reason you have provided it, how they can contact us, the terms of this policy and that they have consented to such collection, use and disclosure.

Our website may provide hyperlinks to websites owned and controlled by other parties. HKS is not responsible for the privacy practices of any website that it does not own or otherwise control.

HKS complies with the data protection and privacy laws to which it is subject.

Due to changes in technology, legal requirements, and our services, we may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of changes by posting changes here, or by other appropriate means.