Privacy Policy

Last Updated: April 22, 2025

Please read this Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) carefully to learn how World Coatings Council, Inc. (“WCC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and otherwise processes information relating to individuals who interact with WCC as described below. WCC is the controller of the personal data we collect (“Personal Data”) and is responsible for the collection, use, and storage of Personal Data, as specified herein.

  1. How We Collect Information

We collect information about you when:

  • You visit our website located at https://worldcoatingscouncil.org/ and other websites that link to this Privacy Policy and the mobile and social media versions thereof (“Website”);
  • You visit our offices;
  • You register for and/or attend our events;
  • You purchase and/or sign up for our products and services, including any publications and membership benefits;
  • You subscribe to our newsletters or other communications; and
  • Our affiliate organizations or service providers share information about you with us.

Our Website or forms may contain links to other websites or services that are managed by a third party and governed by that party’s own privacy policies. We cannot control the information you supply directly to these sites or services. We encourage you read the privacy statements of each party that collects your information.

The Website also includes integrated social media tools or “plug-ins,” such as social networking tools offered by third parties. If you use these tools to share personal information or you otherwise interact with these features on the Website, those companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with the general public.

Your interactions with third-party companies and your use of their features are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide those features. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policies of any accounts you create and use.

  1. Types of Information Collected

The Personal Data that we collect directly from you or from others includes the following:

  • If you visit our offices, you may provide us with your full name, email address, and other basic contact information;
  • If you contact WCC, sign up for one of our events, or subscribe to one of our newsletters or other communications, you may provide us with your basic contact information, such as your full name, email, company name, job title, phone number, mailing address, business address, and log-in information for the WCC Website;
  • If you attend an WCC event, we may collect a photo or video of you;
  • If you visit the WCC Website, WCC may collect your IP address, the date and time of access, the web pages accessed, your log-in information, and the type of computer, browser, or operating system used by you;
  • If you register for one of our events or membership groups or make any purchase on the WCC Website, you may also be asked to provide us with financial information and billing information, such as billing name and address, payment card number, and bank account information; and
  • Any other information you choose to provide when you contact us or interact with us for any purpose.

We use cookies and other similar technologies to understand Website usage, to improve or customize our Website, and to help us offer you products, content offerings or services that may be of interest to you and deliver relevant advertising. For more information about our use of these technologies and the choices available to you, please see the “Digital Advertising & Analytics” section of this Privacy Policy.

  1. Our Purposes for Collecting Information

We process Personal Data for any lawful purpose and pursuant to the following legal bases:

Performance of a Contract

  • Membership communications and providing access to membership benefits, including members-only resources, notifications, and industry-specific features: We may process Personal Data to manage your membership account for the purpose of providing you with membership services that you have purchased and/or requested;
  • Managing event registrations and attendance: We may process Personal Data to enable you to fully participate in the events you have registered for and to adequately operate such events; and
  • Managing paid transactions: We may process your financial Personal Data, as provided, to verify the financial qualifications and collect payments to complete transactions with you.

Consent

Depending on the laws of your jurisdiction, we may seek your permission to process Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • Managing subscriptions: We may process Personal Data to ensure that you receive subscriptions and correspondence you have elected to receive;
  • Marketing: We may process Personal Data to market products, events, or other services to you; and
  • Allowing fellow event participants to contact you: We may share Personal Data with event participants to allow them to engage with you directly.

Legitimate Interests

  • Managing office visitors: We may process Personal Data to keep a record of who has visited our offices based on our legitimate business interests, including security purposes;
  • Handling contact and user support requests: We may process Personal Data to communicate with you as necessary to respond to your inquiry based on our legitimate interest to fulfill your request;
  • Investigating a crime: We may process Personal Data to investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft;
  • Enforcing WCC’s Terms and Conditions: We may process Personal Data to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of the WCC Website;
  • Maintaining data security safeguards: We may process Personal Data to assist with security or fraud prevention or response measures and to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Website;
  • Assessing and mitigating WCC’s legal risk: We may process Personal Data to limit legal liability, protect or defend our rights, property, or interests, or protect the safety, rights, or property of others;
  • Managing WCC’s information systems: We may process Personal Data to help diagnose problems with our servers, analyze Website usage trends, track user movements on the Website, and to otherwise improve, manage, and monitor our Website; and
  • Assisting in business transactions: In the event that WCC goes through a business transaction, such as a bankruptcy event, merger, investment transaction, or acquisition by another entity involving the sale of all or a portion of its assets, we may process Personal Data in the transfer or review of our assets.

Legal Obligations

  • Complying with legal obligations: We may process Personal Data to respond to a court order or subpoena or to otherwise comply with the law.

Where we intend to process Personal Data for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was collected, to the extent required by applicable law, we will provide you with information regarding the purpose for the processing, as well as other relevant information, prior to processing Personal Data for the new purpose.

  1. Sharing Information

We share Personal Data with third parties, including the following:

  • WCC’s affiliate organizations and joint venture partners to ensure continuity and efficiency in our operations;
  • Our contracted service providers and third-party business partners that provide services such as IT and web-hosting, credit card processing, marketing, advertising, subscription and order fulfillment, and cloud services;
  • If you attend an event organized by us, we may share your information with exhibitors, registrants, and/or sponsors of the event;
  • As part of a corporate sale, merger, or acquisition, or other transfer of all or part of our assets, including as part of a bankruptcy proceeding;
  • Pursuant to a subpoena, court order, governmental inquiry, or other legal process or as otherwise required by law, to protect our rights or the rights of third parties, or to protect the safety or security of any person or entity; and
  • With your consent or as otherwise disclosed at the time of data collection or sharing.

We may share information that has been de-identified or aggregated without limitation.

  1. Digital Advertising & Analytics

We may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) that serve ads on behalf of us and others on non-affiliated platforms. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your use of the Website and other sites or apps over time, including information about relationships among different browsers and devices. This type of advertising is known as interest-based advertising.

You may visit the DAA Webchoices tool at www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt out of this advertising on websites by companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program.

If you delete your cookies or use a different browser or mobile device, you may need to renew your opt-out choices exercised through the tools above. Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications. It may make the ads you see less relevant to your interests.

We may also work with third parties that collect data about your use of the Website and other sites or apps over time for non-advertising purposes. We may use Google Analytics to analyze the use of our Website and marketing purposes. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and uses data when you use our Website, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Users can personalize their browser settings to reject cookies, although certain features of the WCC Website may not function as intended.

  1. How Long We Store Information

We will determine how long we will retain Personal Data by factoring the time needed to achieve the purposes of processing Personal Data, the nature and sensitivity of the data, whether such data is required to be retained by law, and whether we can achieve the same data processing purposes through other means. After weighing these factors, if we determine that the Personal Data is no longer needed for the purposes discussed herein, we will delete your data. If there is any information that we are unable, for technical reasons, to delete entirely from our systems, we will put in place appropriate measures to prevent any further use of the data.

  1. Data Rights of Individuals from the EEA, Switzerland, and United Kingdom

This section applies to those individuals from the European Economic Area (“EEA”), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (“UK”). Subject to the laws of your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights over Personal Data:

  • to access Personal Data held by us (right to access);
  • to correct inaccurate Personal Data and ensure it is complete (right to rectification);
  • to erase/delete Personal Data to the extent permitted by other legal obligations (right to erasure);
  • to transfer Personal Data to another data controller to the extent possible (right to data portability);
  • to object to and restrict any processing of Personal Data by us (right to object); and
  • to the extent we base the collection, processing, and sharing of Personal Data on your consent, to withdraw your consent at any time (right to withdraw consent).

To exercise these rights, contact our Data Protection Officer using the information in the “Contact Us” section below. Please be aware that WCC may be unable to afford these rights to you under certain circumstances, such as if we are legally prevented from doing so.

Additionally, you have the right to lodge a complaint against us. To do so, contact the supervisory authority in your country of residence.

Personal Data may be collected, stored, and processed by us in the United States and by our service providers and third-party business partners in other countries where they operate. The laws of the United States and other such countries may not offer the same level of data protection as those in the jurisdiction where you live.

  1. Photography/Videography Disclosure

WCC may use photographs/video taken at WCC-sponsored events in publications or other WCC (or its affiliates) media materials, including brochures, invitations, books, magazines, and websites. A person attending an WCC event who does not wish to have their image recorded for distribution should make their wishes known to the photographer and/or the event organizers. By entering an WCC event, you consent to WCC and its affiliated companies for the use of your image, voice, and/or likeness.

  1. Your Choices

To opt out of our email marketing, you can use the link provided at the bottom of each marketing message. If you opt out of our email marketing, we will still send you messages related to our transactions and relationship with you, such as event confirmations.

For choices with respect to third-party interest-based advertising activities, please see the “Digital Advertising & Analytics” section above.

  1. Changes in Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change or modify this privacy statement at any time. If we revise our privacy statement, we will post these changes on the WCC Website. We encourage you to visit this page periodically to learn of any updates.

  1. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your rights regarding Personal Data, please contact us in our role as data controller at:

World Coatings Council, Inc.
901 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 300 West
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 462-6272

To contact our Data Protection Officer, please send an email to dataprotectionofficer@paint.org.

To contact our webmaster regarding any other concerns, please send an email to webmaster@paint.org.