Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 23, 2022

Protecting your privacy and the security of your information is important to American Bureau of Shipping (“ABS”).  This Privacy Policy governs all personal information ABS obtains from you through your use of the ABS website (the “Website”), the ABS MyFreedom™ client portal, and the ABS API Library on public web pages that are not password-protected.

We are constantly looking for new ways to improve the ABS Website, and to the extent permissible by law, we reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy periodically, without providing individual notice, by updating this Privacy Policy. All such changes will take effect once they have been posted on the Website. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor such updates and that your continued use of the Website after such revisions have been made will constitute your full acceptance of and agreement with such revised terms and conditions. This Privacy Policy was last updated on the date listed at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to contact ABS in connection with any of the above information, please contact us at csc@eagle.org. 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Site Traffic Monitoring

ABS collects anonymous information about every visit to our Website by tracking internet protocol (IР) addresses on an aggregate basis. We do not link IP addresses to any other personal information associated to the individual visitor. We use this information only for statistical purposes to determine the server load that is used to optimize efficiency and performance to serve you better during your future visits. We also collect browser type, access time, and the URL where a user is entering or exiting the Website. ABS may also use information it collects in aggregated form to monitor Website performance, use of features, traffic patterns, and browser version. Where you submit personal data to ABS, you consent to the processing of that data for the above purposes.

Cookies

To provide better service, better understand user behavior, determine which parts of the ABS Website you visit, and address potential security hazards, ABS uses cookies. A cookie is a small piece of information that a website stores on your web browser or your PC and can later retrieve. Cookies cannot be read by a website other than the one that sets the cookie. Most cookies only last through a single session or visit to our Website. No cookie will contain information that will enable anyone to contact you via telephone, email, or any other means. You can set up your web browser to inform you when cookies are set or to prevent cookies from being set. Please note that if you have chosen to disable cookies on your browser, your use of the ABS Website might be limited. For more information about cookies, visit our cookie policy page.

Submission & Use of Personal Information

If you choose to submit any personal information on any public page of the  Website by completing requests for information or any online contact form (for example, providing your name, company name, street or email address or your telephone number, or by submitting your resume online or signing up for email updates and alerts), ABS may collect, retain, use and share that information in aggregated or unaggregated form in connection with the purpose detailed in the collection form. As appropriate, ABS may use your personal information to respond to your queries,  send you email alerts and updates, or provide you with other marketing information about employment, current projects or opportunities, or related information.

Service Providers

If requested, ABS may use the personal information you provide to provide you with information about ABS and about its projects and services, as well as the projects and services of others. Moreover, if requested, ABS may share your information among ABS affiliates and with third parties that ABS believes may provide services of interest to you. Also, if authorized, ABS may, from time to time, transfer information to third parties who analyze such information on behalf of ABS. Please note that some of these companies and ABS affiliates may reside in countries other than your own. As a result, your personal information may be transferred out of the country in which you reside. We may share your personal information with such ABS affiliates or service providers, subject to obligations consistent with this Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures, and on the condition that these third parties use your personal data only on our behalf and pursuant to our instructions (service providers may use other non-personal data for their own benefit).  . ABS is headquartered in the United States of America.  To the extent you submit any personal information from outside the United States to ABS, by submitting such information to us you agree to it being transferred to the United States of America and from the United States of America to the countries where such ABS affiliates and service providers are located.

Compelled Disclosures

There may be circumstances in which ABS  may be required under the terms of a subpoena or order issued by a court or by a governmental body or pursuant to applicable law, decree, regulation, order, ruling, judgment, injunction, or the like, to use, preserve, share, or disclose information about you and your use of the ABS Website or its Contents.

Disclaimer of Responsibility for Privacy Policy & Content at Linked Sites

The ABS Website may provide you with links to other websites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any information that you may provide to third parties, such as through other sites linked to or from the ABS website. ABS is not responsible for those sites and cannot control the content of what is offered on those sites, or on links from those sites, or the privacy policy or data security, if any, of those sites. ABS (a) does not control the transfer of data to third party websites over telecommunications facilities, including the Internet,  and (b)  despite employing industry-standard practices and safeguards to protect against the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration or unauthorized disclosure of or access to data, ABS cannot commit to particular confidentiality obligations if you have uploaded any information to a third-party website in a public Internet environment or over an unsecured network.

Children's Privacy

No ABS website targets or intends to attract children under the age of 13. ABS does not knowingly solicit personal information from children under the age of 13 or send them requests for personal information. If we learn that a child's personal information was collected without appropriate authorization, it will be deleted as soon as possible.

ABS MYFREEDOM™ POLICY

For those of you accessing the ABS MyFreedom™  Client Portal through the ABS Website, the terms of use for the ABS MyFreedom™ Client Portal, together with the following additional provisions, will govern your exchange of personal information with ABS.

Overview
ABS values your trust and we respect the fact that, in the course of providing services to you through the  ABS MyFreedom™ Portal, we may receive Confidential Information from you. We understand that handling that kind of information with care is one of our most important responsibilities. Accordingly, only ABS agents who are bound by a confidentiality agreement, ABS employees and persons or entities to whom you grant access as customer oversight users are authorized to have access to your Confidential Information (defined below). We use your information primarily to complete transactions that you request.

Confidential Information

As used herein, “Confidential Information” means confidential or proprietary information belonging to you or to a third party who has given you the right to use or provide the same to ABS, and includes, but may not be limited to, contact information, such as names, addresses, ZIP codes, email addresses, phone numbers, design information and information provided by you that is marked as confidential or proprietary. Confidential Information also includes information provided by you, which under the circumstances surrounding the disclosure would be reasonably deemed confidential or proprietary. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the term “Confidential Information” shall not include information which: (1) was or becomes generally available to the public through no fault of ABS; (2) was in АВS’ possession free of any obligation of confidence at, or subsequent to, the time it was communicated to ABS by you: (3) was developed by employees or agents of ABS independently of and without reference to any information communicated to ABS by you; or (4) was communicated by you to an unaffiliated third party free of any obligation of confidence.

Collection of Information

Once logged into the ABS MyFreedom™ portal,  ABS can track certain information regarding user behavior. We may use this information for internal research, so that we may better serve our users. This information may include the address information associated with your access, the address information for computer network accesses subsequent to access to the  ABS MyFreedom portal any applications or programs accessed through the ABS MyFreedom portal, information concerning your access hardware and software and your network address information. You will have the ability to access and update or use any information you submit to ABS through the ABS MyFreedom portal.

Security Policy

We operate the ABS MyFreedom™  portal under policies designed to provide reasonable protection of the security and confidentiality of your information. We have in place physical, administrative, and technical safeguards designed to protect against the unauthorized access to confidential customer information. While we strive to protect your Confidential Information once it reaches us, we cannot ensure the security of the transmission of information to us, and encourage you to take every precaution to protect your personal data when you are on the Internet.

Employee Conduct
We have a strict Code of Ethical Business Conduct (“Code of Ethics”) for all ABS employees and agents involved with the ABS MyFreedom™ portal which requires confidential treatment of your information. Our Code of Ethics expresses our absolute commitment to integrity, our related corporate values and ethical standards, and the associated business conduct we expect from our employees. These include very specific guidelines concerning the safeguarding of confidential information. In general, these guidelines limit employee and agent access to confidential information and limit the use and disclosure of such information to specifically authorized work processes. If it is determined that an employee or agent has violated the Code of Ethics, corrective action may be taken, including immediate dismissal. Further, ABS stands ready to cooperate with any law enforcement authorities in the course of investigation and law enforcement proceedings, where warranted.

Computer Security
To protect your Confidential Information, our computer systems have а variety of technical safeguards in place to control and monitor access. Among those:

Computer anti-virus protection detects and prevents viruses from entering our computer network systems.

Firewalls block unauthorized access by individuals or networks. Firewalls are one way we protect our computer systems that interact with the internet.

Secure transmissions ensure information remains confidential. We use encryption technology, such as a secure socket layer (SSL), to transmit information between you and us. This protects data in three key ways:

1. Authentication ensures that you are communicating with us, and prevents another computer from impersonating ABS. 
2. Encryption scrambles transferred data so it cannot be read by unauthorized parties.
3. Data integrity verifies that the information you send to us is not altered during the transfer. The system detects if data was added or deleted after you sent the message and, if any tampering has occurred, the connection is dropped.

An intrusion detection system (IDS) actively monitors external to internal internet access to ABS systems so that suspicious or Denial of Service attacks can be quickly identified and defended against.

Logging of access into ABS systems is performed to differing extents by both the applications themselves and by ever-present computer system software tools meant to provide the levels of audit trails and monitoring deemed necessary to ensure data integrity.

Advances in security technology are constantly evaluated by our experts to ensure that we provide the right protection for you.

ABS makes no warranties as to the security of your data communications, or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to or monitor your computer(s) or online communications. ABS cannot commit to particular confidentiality obligations if you have uploaded any information to a third-party website in a public Internet environment or over an unsecured network. You agree that ABS will not be liable for any such access.

Communications Regarding Privacy

In the unlikely event that your Confidential Information is accessed, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person (a “breach”) and as required by law, ABS will take commercially reasonable efforts to notify you of the breach by email or fax; or, if ABS is unable to contact you by email or fax, then by US mail. ABS will give you notice promptly, consistent with the reasonable needs of law enforcement and/or ABS to determine the scope of the breach and to investigate and restore the integrity of the data system. Should you suspect there has been a breach of any of your information provided to ABS, please contact ABS immediately with details at csc@eagle.org or 1-281-877-6499. ABS is dedicated to protecting your confidential information and welcomes comments and questions regarding our Privacy Policy.