Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 29, 2024

The Israel Innovation and Society Institute (“Institute”, “we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to maintaining the privacy of its users (“user”, “you”). The following information describes how the Institute collects and processes information about you when you use the Institute’s website available at https://www.israelinnovation.org.il/ and other websites that are operated by the Institution:

  • EcoMotion Website | Smart Mobility Community
  • GrowingIL Website | Agriculture Community
  • Health IL Website | Digital Health Community
  • DeserTech Website | Climate Technologies Community
  • PLANETech Website | Climate Change Technologies
  • AquaculTech Website | Blue Technologies Community

For the purpose of the document, all of the above websites will be defined as (“Websites”).

Our privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains:

  • What Information we Collect, and Why we Collect it
  • How we Use that Information
  • How we Disclose and Transfer Information
  • Data Subjects Rights
  • Notice to California Residents
  • CAN SPAM Act
  • Cookies Collection
  • Opt-In or Opt-Out
  • Links to other Websites
  • Data Security
  • Data Retention
  • Children’s Privacy
  • Questions regarding our Privacy Policy
  • Revisions and Modifications to Our Privacy Policy
  • Governing Law and Jurisdiction

By using our Websites, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with the Institute’s relevant Terms of Use for the Websites which constitutes an integral part of this Privacy Policy.

  1. GeneralThe Institute is a non-profit organization that aims at fostering innovation and driving impactful technological advancements in Israel and beyond. Through strategic collaboration with extensive communities comprising over 3000 cutting-edge Israeli startups (each a “Community”), as well as investors, governmental bodies, and international organizations, we strive to empower the development of transformative technologies. The Institute offers a diverse range of opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration and provides a vibrant base for startups to connect with peers and foster collaboration, networking, and synergy exploration. This is achieved through the initiation of events and provision of tools that facilitate the ecosystem of the relevant Community. Moreover, the Institute enhances the impact of these interactions by publishing reports and findings, designed to enrich the collective knowledge base and promote innovation (“Services”).
  2. DeviceUsers can access the Websites through various Devices. A “Device” is any digital device used to access the Websites, including without limitation a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, or other consumer electronic device. This Privacy Policy governs your access to the Websites, regardless of how you access them, and by using our Websites you consent to the collection, transfer, processing, storage, disclosure, and other uses described in this Privacy Policy.
  3. Collecting InformationPlease note that the scope of this Privacy Policy is limited only to information collected by the Institute through your use of its Websites. Some information may be automatically collected, and some is collected when you interact with our Websites. The type of information that may be automatically collected is non-personal information, which includes your session durations, the content you accessed on the Websites, the frequency and scope of your use of the Websites and information about your Device and internet connection including the operating system you use and browser type.Information from which you can be personally identified may also be collected, including but not limited to your name, address, email address, telephone number, company, job title, and the location of the Device through which you used the Websites (hereinafter: “Personal Information”). Personal Information shall be collected only if received voluntarily from you, including, without limitation via the methods mentioned below. Please note that the collection of Personal Information may differ across our Websites, as certain Websites require the collection of specific Personal Information while others may not. We may collect your Personal Information on our Websites via the following ways:
    1. Contacting UsIf you wish to contact us for support and partnership inquiries regarding our Websites and Services, this Privacy Policy, or any other matter, you can do so via e-mail or submitting an inquiry form on the Website and/or by contacting us in the message box via a social network plugin. In these specific cases, we will collect your full name, organization, email address, country, and the content you submitted to facilitate your inquiry.
    2. Subscribing to our NewsletterIf you wish to register to our newsletter and wish to be provided with information on the Institution, a Community, or the Services, we will collect your full name, company, organization or project name, organization type, title, role, phone number, country, your personal or work e-mail, and we will send you the required materials.
    3. Downloading MaterialsIf you wish to download resources regarding our events, we will collect your full name, industry, country, company name, job title, e-mail address, and if you want to join a Community and receive the monthly newsletter (as described above). We will collect this information to furnish you with the requested resource.
    4. Join a Community
      • If you are a part of a start-up, tech company or industry and want to join a relevant Community, we will collect details about you and your company such as your company’s name, company’s website, the country in which your company is based, the city in which your company based, your company’s logo, sector and your contact details (including your full name, email address, phone number, job title, official company e-mail address, LinkedIn profile, your company website, your consent to join our exclusive WhatsApp group and any other content you submitted to facilitate your inquiry).
      • If you are an investor and want to join our Community, we will collect your company’s details such as your company’s name, company’s website, the country and city in which your company is situated, your company logo and additional details regarding your company as well as details you provide so we can we contact you (such as your full name, email address, phone number, job title, official company email address). We will also collect your investment scope and any other content you choose to submit.
    5. EventsIf you wish to participate in our events as an exhibitor or as a guest, we will collect your full name, company name, phone number, and e-mail address. We may also collect your payment details when the event you wish to attend is subject to a registration fee.
    6. Applying for a JobWe will collect your Personal Information when you wish to apply for a job posted on the job board made available on the Websites. Such information includes your full name, phone number, email address, resume or CV, cover letter, cover photo, LinkedIn profile, website, and other related information regarding your job application.
  4. Use of InformationWe use Personal Information we collect from you for a range of different business purposes according to different legal bases of processing. We may use or process your Personal Information for the following purposes. One or more purposes may apply simultaneously.
    1. Providing the Requested Services
      • We collect Personal Information listed in Sections 3(a), (c), (d), (e) and (f) above, to facilitate your inquiry when you choose to contact us, join our Community, participate in our events, and apply for a job via the Websites.
      • The information collected will enable us to provide you with technical and professional assistance regarding the provision of the Websites and Services to you or for the negotiation of a future employment contract we may have with you. We process this information for the negotiation or performance of the contract we have or may have with you.
    2. Improvement and Development of the Services
      • We collect Personal Information to improve and develop our Websites and understand feedback on the Institute’s Services at the Websites and to help provide more information on using the Services quickly and easily.
      • We collect Personal Information for ongoing review and improvement of the information provided on our Websites to ensure they are user-friendly.
      • We collect Personal Information to improve the management and administration of our business and maintain compliance with our internal policies and procedures.
      • We conduct surveys and research, test features in development, and analyze the information we have to evaluate and improve our Services, develop new features, and conduct audits and troubleshooting activities. We process this information in light of our legitimate interest in improving the Services, to allow our users to have the best experience.
    3. Maintain a Safe and Secure Environment
      • We may use your information to detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents in the following ways:
      • Verify and authenticate your identity and prevent unauthorized or illegal activity;
      • Enhance the safety and security of our Websites;
      • Conduct security investigations and risk assessments;
      • Prevent or take action against activities that are, or may be, in breach of our terms of service or applicable law.
      • We process this information in light of our legitimate interest in improving our Websites and enabling our users to browse in a secure environment.
    4. Sending Marketing Materials
      • We collect Personal Information listed in Sections 3(b) above, to enable you to subscribe to our newsletter and provide you with the Institution and relevant Community marketing materials. We process this information subject to your consent when providing your email address for the provision of marketing materials to you.
  5. Disclosure of Information and Transfer of Data

    Please note that the Institution’s operations in many cases are part of an engagement with the State of Israel (“State”) and the Institution collects and processes Personal Information on the State’s behalf. Consequently, Personal Information gathered from the Websites may be shared with the relevant department of the State.

    Notwithstanding, the Institution reasonably attempts to ensure that we never intentionally disclose any of your Personal Information to any third party without having received your permission, except as provided for herein and in this Privacy Policy or otherwise as permitted or required under law.

    In order to perform our contractual and other legal responsibilities or purposes, we may, from time to time, need to share your Personal Information with third parties. We may as well share your Personal Information with our affiliates, subsidiaries, or any third-party service providers and individuals to facilitate our Services or any portion thereof, such as marketing, data management, conference and event management, and more. We may also share your information with analytics service providers for analytics purposes. Such analytics service providers set their own cookies or other identifiers on your Device, through which they can collect information about your usage of our Websites. This helps us compile aggregated statistics about the effectiveness of our Websites and Services.

    The above-mentioned third parties may be located in countries other than your own, and we may send them information we receive. When such third-party service providers process your Personal Information on our behalf, we will assure that they comply with obligations similar to those which are set forth in this Privacy Policy. We will also assure that they will abide by our data privacy and security requirements and will be allowed to use the Personal Information solely for the purposes we set. We will transfer your Personal Information while using appropriate and suitable safeguards, while using a variety of legal mechanisms, including contracts, to ensure your rights and protections travel with your data.

    We may also transfer your information, including Personal Information, in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, the sale of related assets or corporate division, or other fundamental corporate changes. Furthermore, information about you may also be released in order to comply with any valid legal obligation or inquiry or process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order. We will also release specific information in special cases, such as if you use the Websites to perform an unlawful act or omission or take any act or omission that may damage the Institute, its property, and goodwill, or if there is an attempted breach of the security of the Websites or a physical or property threat to you or others. The authority supervising such activities is the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority, and you have the right to file a complaint to it or any other relevant supervisory authority.

  6. Your RightsYou have the right at any time to request to access or modify your information. To exercise these options, please contact us at Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il.
    In some jurisdictions, in particular those located within the European Union (the “EU”) or within the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), you may be afforded specific rights regarding your Personal Information. Subject to such eligibility, you may have the following rights to:

    1. Request a rectification of your Personal Information where the information we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete.
    2. Object to the processing of your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes.
    3. Object to the processing of your Personal Information where our legal basis for that processing is that such processing is necessary for our legitimate interests.
    4. Object to automated decision-making (including profiling) in certain circumstances.
    5. Request the erasure of your Personal Information in certain circumstances, such as where processing is no longer necessary for the purpose it was originally collected for, and there is no compelling reason for us to continue to process or store it.
    6. Receive your Personal Information or ask us to transfer it to another organization that you have provided to us, which we process by automated means, where our processing is either based on your consent or is necessary for the performance of a contract with you.
    7. If you wish to file a request regarding any of the above, you may contact us at: Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il.
  7. Notice to California ResidentsThis section is designated for California residents and is provided under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“California Privacy Laws”). It explains your privacy rights, provides “notice at collection,” and provides certain mandated disclosures about how we handle your Personal Information. This section uses certain terms that have the meanings given to them by the California Privacy Laws, unless otherwise specified. Please note that some of the disclosure obligations required under the California Privacy Laws are satisfied within other sections of this Privacy Policy.
    The California Privacy Laws permit some users to request to exercise certain rights. If these rights are applicable to you, you are afforded the following rights:

    1. Right of accessYou can request the Institute for certain information about our practices with respect to your Personal Information. In particular, you can request to receive information on the following:
      • The categories and specific pieces of your Personal Information that we have collected.
      • The categories of sources from which we collected your Personal Information.
      • The business or commercial purposes for which we collected or share your Personal Information.
      • The categories of third parties with which we shared your Personal Information.
    2. Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal InformationWe do not share sensitive Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not sell sensitive Personal Information.
    3. Exercising your California Law RightsPlease note that we will be required to verify your identity and request before an action is taken to exercise your rights. As a part of this process, government identification may be required. Moreover, you may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We make our best efforts to respond to a verifiable consumer request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12 months period preceding your verifiable request’s receipt. If, for some reason, we cannot reply within such a time frame, our response will include an explanation for our inability to comply. If you wish to exercise your California Privacy Laws rights, please contact us at: Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il.
    4. Right of No Retaliation Following Opt-Out or Exercise of your RightsIf you choose to exercise your rights, we will not charge you different prices or provide a different quality of our Services unless those differences are related to your provision of your Personal Information. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights and unless permitted by the California Privacy Laws, we will not:
      1. Deny you goods or services.
      2. Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
      3. Provide you with a different level or quality of goods or services.
      4. Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.
  8. CAN SPAM ActThe CAN-SPAM Act is a Federal US law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out strict penalties for violations.
    To be in accordance with CAN-SPAM, the Institute agrees to the following:

    • Not use false or misleading subjects or email addresses.
    • Identify the commercial message sent to you as an advertisement when required.
    • Include the physical address of the Institution.
    • Monitor third-party email marketing services for compliance, if one is used.
    • Honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly.
    • Allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email.
    • If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can email us at Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il and we will promptly remove you from ALL correspondence.
  9. CookiesWe may use “cookies” and/or other technologies or files (collectively, “cookies”) to identify how visitors make use of our Websites. This aggregated tracking information may be used to help us improve and enhance our Websites experience for all of our visitors. In addition, cookies are used for adjusting the Websites to your personal preferences. Cookies contain information such as the pages you visited, the length of time you stayed on the Websites, the location from which you accessed the Websites, and more. If you would prefer not to have cookies stored on your Device, you may modify your browser settings to reject most cookies, or manually remove cookies that have been placed on your Device. However, you may not fully access the offerings on these Websites.
  10. Opt-In or Opt-OutYou are always in control of your data, and if you choose to receive information from us, or others, you can change your mind later. If, at any time, you would like to stop receiving such information or opt out of a feature, you may notify us by writing to Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il. You should be aware, however, that it is not always possible to completely remove or modify information in our databases and servers, although we will always make reasonable efforts to do so upon your request.
  11. Links to Other WebsitesOur Websites may provide links to other websites. Please be aware that these other websites are not covered by our Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices exercised by other providers of products or services, advertisers, or other websites, companies, or individuals, which are not owned or controlled by the Institute. We suggest that when linking to another website, you always read that website’s privacy policy before volunteering any personally identifiable information.
  12. Data SecurityWe deploy industry-standard measures to ensure the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Personal Information we process. We maintain physical, technical, and administrative safeguards, and test and update these periodically. We endeavor to restrict access to Personal Information on a ‘need to know’ basis for the provision of our Websites to you. No such measures are perfect or impenetrable. In the event of a security breach, we will take all reasonable action to minimize any harm. Although we will do our best to protect Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to us and transmission is at the user’s own risk.
  13. Data RetentionGenerally, the Institute does not retain information longer than necessary to provide the Websites and Services and for its reasonable business and lawful needs. If you withdraw your consent to us processing your Personal Information, we will erase your Personal Information from our systems, unless the Personal Information is required for the Institute to establish, exercise, or defend against legal claims or it is necessary for the performance of the requested Services.
  14. Children’s PrivacyThe Service or the Websites are not intended for children under the age of 18. We do not, knowingly or intentionally, collect information about children who are under 18 years of age.
    IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YOU MAY NOT USE THE WEBSITES AND SERVICE, UNLESS PARENTAL CONSENT IS PROVIDED ACCORDINGLY.
  15. Questions Regarding Our Privacy PolicyIf you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices described above, you are always welcome to contact us at Hadasgs@israelinnovation.org.il.
  16. Revisions and Modifications to Our Privacy PolicyWe reserve the right to revise, amend, or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. When changing the policy, we will update this posting accordingly. Please review this Privacy Policy often so that you will remain updated regarding our current policies.
  17. Governing Law and JurisdictionThis Privacy Policy will be governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of Israel without giving effect to its choice of law rules. You expressly agree that the exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or action arising out of or relating to this Privacy Policy shall be submitted to the competent courts in Tel Aviv, Israel, to the exclusion of any other jurisdiction.