Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through www.abaeawards.com and ABAE-controlled pages, forms, communications, winner-verification tools, nomination workflows, award-order processes, press and media intake, sponsorship inquiries, and annual Grand Finale communications.

It does not govern an unrelated third-party website, platform, publication, payment service, social network, or external link that maintains its own privacy practices.

2. Information We Collect

Information you submit

• Name, email address, telephone number, company or organization, title, city, state, and mailing address.
• Nominee and nominator information, category selection, reason for nomination, website links, achievements, impact statements, and supporting materials.
• Winner-related information, including winner name, display name, verification code, recognition year, quarter, category, state, city, website, logo, description, and press information.
• Award-order information, including package selection, engraving details, shipping information, payment status, visibility add-ons, and fulfillment instructions.
• Contact, sponsorship, media, press, interview, and Grand Finale inquiry information.
• Communications, correction requests, verification requests, attachments, and other information you choose to provide.

Information collected automatically

• Internet Protocol address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring page, pages viewed, timestamps, and interaction data.
• Cookie, analytics, form-performance, security, and website diagnostic information.
• Approximate location derived from an Internet Protocol address where enabled by a service provider.

Information received from other sources

ABAE may receive business or professional information from nominators, public company websites, professional profiles, press sources, referral partners, service providers, sponsors, media organizations, or other sources used to review a nomination or maintain an accurate winner record.

3. How We Use Information

ABAE may use information to:

• Receive, review, organize, and evaluate nominations.
• Support review by ABAE industry judges.
• Create, verify, update, and display winner records.
• Issue verification codes, digital badges, certificates, directory listings, and recognition information.
• Process award orders, engraving, shipping, digital assets, press features, interviews, and related fulfillment.
• Respond to contact, verification, correction, media, sponsorship, and Grand Finale inquiries.
• Send confirmations, service notices, winner communications, event information, and requested marketing communications.
• Operate, protect, troubleshoot, measure, and improve the website and ABAE services.
• Prevent fraud, misuse, duplicate records, unauthorized access, and other harmful activity.
• Comply with legal obligations, enforce agreements, and protect ABAE, users, winners, and third parties.

4. Public Winner Records and Recognition Information

If a nominee is selected, certain business or professional information may become public as part of the ABAE Winners Directory, Verify Winner page, Press Room, published recognition announcement, certificate, badge, or other recognition material.

Public information may include the winner or business name, display name, verification code, year, quarter, category, city, state, website, logo, recognition description, status, and approved press link.

Do not submit confidential personal information, private financial information, government-identification numbers, medical information, trade secrets, or other sensitive material for public winner-record use.

5. How Information Is Disclosed

ABAE may disclose information to:

• Website, hosting, form, CRM, automation, email, SMS, telephone, analytics, security, storage, and technical service providers.
• Payment processors, award manufacturers, engraving providers, shipping carriers, certificate and digital-asset providers, and fulfillment partners.
• Industry judges, reviewers, contractors, media collaborators, interview teams, event providers, and authorized ABAE personnel.
• Sponsors or partners only where disclosure is necessary for an approved program, benefit, event, or service, and subject to applicable restrictions.
• Government authorities, courts, regulators, or other parties when disclosure is required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, property, or the integrity of ABAE services.
• A successor or related party involved in a merger, restructuring, financing, asset transfer, or similar business transaction.

ABAE does not currently sell personal information for monetary consideration or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. ABAE may disclose information to service providers and contractors that process information on ABAE’s behalf.

6. Cookies and Technical Data

ABAE and its service providers may use cookies, pixels, scripts, local storage, and similar technologies to operate forms, remember preferences, measure website performance, understand traffic, prevent fraud, and improve the user experience.

You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect form functionality, embedded services, winner verification, payment processing, or other website features.

7. Payments and Award Orders

Payment information may be collected and processed by an authorized payment provider. ABAE may receive transaction identifiers, amount, status, billing details, package selection, and limited payment-related information needed to confirm or fulfill an order.

ABAE does not intend to store complete payment-card numbers or security codes on its website. Payment-provider terms and privacy practices also apply to the transaction.

8. Email, SMS, and Telephone Communications

ABAE may use submitted contact information to send service messages, nomination confirmations, winner notices, verification updates, award-order information, event communications, press or sponsorship responses, and other requested communications.

Where required, marketing messages are sent based on consent or another lawful basis. You may unsubscribe from marketing email using the unsubscribe method included in the message. You may reply STOP to an applicable automated SMS message to opt out of further automated texts from that messaging program. Transactional or service-related messages may continue where permitted.

9. Information Retention

ABAE retains information for as long as reasonably necessary to review nominations, maintain winner and verification records, fulfill awards and media services, respond to inquiries, maintain business records, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, enforce agreements, and comply with legal obligations.

Public winner records may be maintained as a historical recognition archive unless a correction, restriction, legal obligation, or ABAE records decision requires a change.

10. Information Security

ABAE uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures intended to protect information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. No website, transmission method, storage system, or service provider can guarantee absolute security.

Do not send sensitive financial, medical, government-identification, or confidential legal information through general website forms.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the right to request access to personal information, correction, deletion, a portable copy, restriction of certain processing, or information about categories of information collected and disclosed.

You may also have the right to opt out of certain sales, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling activities, and to appeal a denied request where applicable. ABAE may need to verify your identity and authority before completing a request.

ABAE may retain or continue processing information where permitted or required, including records needed for legal compliance, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, public recognition history, or completion of a requested transaction.

12. Children’s Privacy

ABAE services are intended for businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders, organizations, nominators, sponsors, media representatives, and adult users. They are not directed to children under 13.

ABAE does not knowingly collect personal information online from a child under 13 without legally required authorization. A parent or guardian who believes a child submitted information should use the Privacy Request link above.

13. Third-Party Websites and Embedded Services

The ABAE website may contain embedded forms, payment tools, videos, maps, social-media features, articles, company websites, press links, and other third-party services. ABAE does not control every external site or provider and is not responsible for its independent privacy practices.

Review the privacy terms of a third-party service before submitting information directly to that provider.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

ABAE may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in website features, services, data practices, providers, legal requirements, or organizational operations. The revised policy will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.

15. Contact ABAE Awards

Use the official ABAE Contact page for privacy questions, access requests, corrections, deletion requests, consent questions, or concerns about this Privacy Policy.

Contact ABAE about privacy