Introduction and who we are
The Privacy Policy is issued on behalf by Hong Kong Sinoexpo Informa Markets Limited, a
joint-venture company between Informa Markets Asia Holdings (HK) Limited and Hong Kong Sinoexpo
International Ltd, established as an event organiser and reseller of exhibition space. In this
Privacy Policy where “the organisers”, "we", "us" or "our" appears, it refers to Hong Kong Sinoexpo
Informa Markets Limited.
We take the privacy and protection of data and information seriously and are committed to handling
the personal information of all those we engage with, whether customers, suppliers, colleagues or
any other community, responsibly and in a way that meets the legal requirements of the countries in
which we operate.
As part of using our products and services, browsing our websites and WeChat mini-programs, and
contacting the business, data and information is collected. This Privacy Policy sets out our
approach to safeguarding and maintaining the privacy of that personal information, and explains what
data is collected, how it is used, the legal basis for its use, and the rights individuals have over
that data.
What we collect
This section tells you what personal information we may collect when you use our products and
services, and what other personal information we may receive from other sources.
In this Privacy Policy, the term ‘personal information’ refers to the types of personal information
that may be collected and used, including:
·Contact details, such as name, email address, postal address and telephone number；
·Educational, nationality and professional information；
·Usernames and passwords；
·Payment information, such as a credit or debit card number or bank account details；
·Device information related the security of orders and other necessary information required by
anti-money laundering regulations；
·Images processed for use in virtual event profiles and in live event advertisements；
·Comments, feedback, posts and other content submitted, including survey information；
·Interests and communication preferences including marketing permissions where appropriate,
including products, stores, channels, live broadcast rooms, content (graphics, text, short videos)
whether you expressed interest；
·Location information such as provided through a mobile app；
·Identity verifying information such as passport details to comply with legal obligations in certain
countries and to provide visa invitation letters where requested；
·Personal identity numbers and scanned copy of the identity documents, during in-person events in
China, in order to fulfill legal obligations such as epidemic prevention and public security
management. We may retain this information for the time necessary and within the retention period
stipulated by laws and administrative regulations. We may also share that information with
government authorities；
·Website, WeChat mini-programs and communication usage information, such as correspondence and
details of your use of our website and services obtained through cookies or other tracking
technologies.
This personal information relates to the following categories of people：
·Prospects, customer contacts, subscribers and users in respect of our services and products；
·Visitors, sponsors, exhibitors and speakers at our events；
·Contacts of our service providers and business partners.
Sensitive personal information
If collecting or storing sensitive personal information, such as information relating to health,
financial details, beliefs or political affiliation, we will typically ask for your explicit
consent. However, there are some limited situations where this will not occur such as if you have an
accident. If this does occur, we will ensure your privacy rights are protected.
Children’s personal information
Our services and products are directed at business professionals. They are not intended for children
under the age of sixteen. We do not knowingly collect personal information from users in this age
group and reserve the right to delete such information if we become aware of having collected it.
Business Information
If you are registering as a merchant or other roles which required additional identity
authentication, on our websites and WeChat mini-programs, we may collect business information such
as business license, the scope of business, etc. for verification, registration, sharing and other
related purposes to facilitate transactions.
How and why personal information is used
This section explains how and why we use personal information.
In product enquiries, sales and administration
If you have made an enquiry about us or our products or services, either online or over the phone,
your personal information will be used to respond to the enquiry or to take other steps at your
request, prior to you entering into a contract with us.
If you have purchased or registered for one of our products or services, including on a trial basis,
we will use your personal information, including bank or card details, to provide you with the
product or service, communicate with you about it, handle payments and recover any debts.
In call monitoring for training and quality monitoring purposes
Where one of our sales representatives speaks to you over the phone, the calls may be recorded for
training and monitoring purposes.
For event and exhibition management
If you participate in one of our events as a speaker, sponsor, exhibitor or attendee, your personal
information will be used in connection with the running of the event, to handle payments and recover
debts.
We will also use your personal information to maintain databases that allow us to assess your
qualities as a speaker or sponsor/exhibitor, promote events and encourage further engagement at our
events.
In addition, photos and videos are taken at our events, which may feature attendees, speakers,
sponsors or exhibitors. Where we have taken photos and videos at our events that feature you as an
attendee, sponsor or exhibitor, to the extent permitted by applicable data protection laws, those
photos and videos may be used for promotional purposes.
Where events and exhibitions use badge scanning technology your personal information will be used to
identify you at certain access points, such as to VIP areas, seminars, entry and exit and other
areas of the event. This will provide certain location information. Badges cannot be read remotely.
The personal information obtained from badge scanning will be used for access control, security and
analysing visitor traffic with a view to improving the event experience for visitors and others.
You can also allow your badge to be scanned by event exhibitors. When you do so your contact details
will be shared with the relevant exhibitor and used in accordance with applicable data protection
laws, the exhibitor’s privacy policy and any other notices or consents you are provided with or
given at the event.
Where we are hosting and managing a virtual exhibition or event the organisers (and any third party
platform provider acting on our behalf) will use your personal information provided during the
registration process to host and manage this digital event and for analyzing visitor interactions
and traffic with a view to improving the event experience for visitors and provide you with a
personalized experience.
When you entering a virtual spaces, zone or room such as an exhibition booth your personal
information may be shared with the sponsor and exhibitor to allow them to engage with you subject to
the attendee privacy notice you may have been provided during the registration and login process.
For marketing
We may use your personal information to send you newsletters, offers or other marketing emails that
keep you up to date with our news, events and products that may be of interest. Depending on the
nature of your interaction with us and applicable data protection laws, you may have actively given
us your consent (i.e. opted in) or we may be entitled to rely on your implied consent or legitimate
interests to market to you. The opportunity to opt out of future marketing will always be provided
and you have the right to amend your marketing preferences at any time (see Your Rights section).
Some of our events, products and marketing are co-branded or sponsored by third party exhibitors or
sponsors. We may share your details with these third-party partners. Where this happens, a clear
notice will be provided that gives the opportunity to opt out or opt-in to such sharing as required
by applicable data protection laws. The third-party partner’s use of your details will be in
accordance with the notice provided and its Privacy Policy and is not covered by this Privacy
Policy.
For customer and prospects management (including analytics and product management)
The personal information held about you, combined with other personal information legitimately
obtained and shared with us by third parties or publicly available data, may be used to better
understand our customers and their preferences and to improve the products and services delivered.
This may include automated profiling and campaign management techniques.
Data may also be used in advertising campaigns on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram
and Facebook in order to provide information about upcoming events or new products and to ensure you
only receive relevant advertising about our products and services.
For mobile applications and website analytics
We may combine visitor session information or other information collected through tracking
technologies, whether you are logged in or not, with personally identifiable information to
understand and analyse your online experiences and determine which events, products and services are
likely to be of interest to you.
Where you consent to the use of your location data, certain mobile applications may use location
data to assist you to navigate around events and bring exhibitors’ and sponsors’ products to your
attention whilst you are using the app.
Our marketing related emails contain a single, campaign-unique “web beacon pixel” to tell us whether
emails are opened, and combined with other technology, to verify any clicks through to links within
the email. We may use this information for purposes including determining which emails are of more
interest to you and to query whether users who do not open our emails wish to continue receiving
them. The pixel will be deleted when you delete the email.
Where you subscribe to an online service, the accompanying emails similarly include a pixel. We
track interaction with these emails and our online services to validate attendance for accreditation
purposes, to help determine which information is of interest to you and to customise the
advertisements seen on our sites.
If you do not wish the pixel to be downloaded to your device, you should choose not to click links
that we send or to opt out of email marketing or online events. This information may be connected to
your personal identity.
While we strive to offer choice when using our website and mobile applications, we do not promise
that we will be able to receive or honour web browser Do Not Track signals.
Within online membership communities, bulletin boards and chat areas (including WeChat groups)
You may choose to participate in WeChat groups organized by our Enterprise WeChat account and online
membership communities on our sites that allow you to create and publish a profile and other
personal information. These communities may provide privacy controls that allow choice in how much
of your profile and other information to make public or to share with others within the community.
Privacy controls are usually found on the page on which you edit your profile, and each individual
is responsible for understanding how those controls work, including default settings, and choosing
how the information provided is shared and protected. By participating in these WeChat groups and
online membership communities you may be contacted by other participants using the information
provided.
When you disclose personal information on any public community boards, WeChat groups or chat areas
of this website, your personal information can be collected and used by anyone who views that board,
WeChat group or area. This may result in unsolicited messages from other participants or other
parties, which are outside of our control or responsibility. In addition, the information you
disclose may include your or others' personal information or even sensitive personal information.
Please exercise extra caution when sharing or disclosing relevant information when using our
services.
Where you engage with us in customer enquiry chat areas or WeChat groups, we will use any
information provided to help recommend products and/or assist with confirming any order you wish to
place.
For enquiries
Any personal information provided on the Contact Us page will be used only to provide a response or
to service the request or enquiry made. The information provided will not be added to the marketing
or customer prospect databases of our operating divisions.
For news alerts
The information collected when you sign up for news alerts is used only to provide that service, and
to understand the background and interests of our subscriber list.
In providing the service we gather statistics about how many emails are opened, using industry
standard technologies including image downloads. This is to help us monitor and improve the news
alerts service and information is collected and analysed at an aggregate level only.
With your permission, from time to time we may use your registration details to contact you about
the news alerts service. You can unsubscribe from the service at any time using links provided
within our emails.
In automated decision-making, including profiling
We use fully automated algorithm-based technologies to personalise dynamic web content based on your
explicit and/or implicit interests. General profiling, such as segmentation, is carried out for the
purpose of providing a more relevant experience. Automated decision making is never used in any way
that produces a legal or similarly significant effect.
When we use these techniques we use measures to avoid legally discriminatory biases and
inaccuracies. These automated processes may result in different content being shown to you.
For fulfilling legal obligations including anti-fraud measures and screening, pandemic prevention
and Public Security
We and other organisations may also access and use certain personal information to prevent fraud as
may be required by applicable law and regulation and best practice at any given time. If false or
inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified or suspected, details may be passed to
fraud prevention agencies and may be recorded by us or by them.
To ensure we comply with international trade sanction laws and regulations, where appropriate
customers, vendors and suppliers are screened against US, OFAC, BIS, UN, EU and UK sanctions lists.
In order to comply with the epidemic prevention requirements of the People's Republic of China, we
will collect personal identity numbers and scanned copy of the identity documents of attendee
(Chinese ID card, passport and other ID document information) at in-person exhibitions and provide
them to the relevant Chinese authorities. Those authorities or us may also store this information.
How we protect personal information
We recognise the importance of protecting and managing personal information. Any personal
information provided will be treated with the utmost care and security. This section sets out some
of the security measures in place.
We use a variety of physical and technical measures to keep personal information safe and prevent
unauthorised access to, or use or disclosure of it. Electronic data and databases are stored on
secure computer systems with control over access to information using both physical and electronic
means. Our colleagues receive data protection training and there is a set of detailed security and
data protection policies which colleagues are required to follow when handling personal information.
While we take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information will be kept secure from
unauthorised access, we cannot guarantee it will be secure during transmission by you to a website
or other services, as we do not control that transmission. We make use of HTTPS (HTTP Secure)
whereby the communication protocol is encrypted via Transport Layer Security (TLS) for secure
communication over a computer network. The website is loaded via HTTPS, represented by the lock icon
in your web browser ensuring the transmission is secured with a certificate issued by an official
security certificate authority to the Controller operating it.
When using our B2B WeChat mini-program for transactions, you will inevitably disclose your personal
information to potential trading parties, please properly protect your personal information and
provide it to others only when it’s necessary. If you find that your personal information has been
leaked, please contact our customer service immediately
International transfer of personal information
In principle, your personal information will be processed within China. However, as a global
company, your personal information may be provided to Informa affiliates (including companies
established outside of China) for global management and business planning purposes. For such
cross-border transfers, we will obtain your separate consent and meet the requirements and
procedures in accordance with applicable Chinese law.
In some cases, we may also use service providers outside of China to assist us in processing your
personal information. We will take necessary measures in accordance with the law, including but not
limited to obtaining your separate consent, and ensuring the transfer complies with the requirements
and procedures stipulated by applicable Chinese laws. We will provide additional information on the
cross-border transfer on the relevant pages of specific products, services and activities, and seek
your separate consent.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or complaints about the cross-border processing of
personal information described above, you can contact us or contact overseas recipients through the
contact details listed in this policy or Informa's Group Privacy Policy.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identifier that is automatically placed on a
user’s computer or other device when the user visits a website. In general, cookies may be disabled
by the user controlling and/or amending the browser settings according to the instructions made
available by the relevant suppliers at the links listed here below：
1.Internet Explorer
2.Mozilla Firefox
3.Google Chrome
4.Apple Safari 5.Opera
Third-party links
This website contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of
these websites and do not accept any liability in connection with their content. We recommend
reviewing the privacy policy of each third-party site linked from this website to determine its use
of your personal information.
Who personal information is shared with
To provide you with services and products, your information may be shared for specific reasons. This
section explains how and why personal data is shared.
We will only share your personal information if we have obtained your separate consent as required
by PIPL or in circumstances where your consent is not required according to laws and regulations.
Sharing with affiliates
We may share your personal information with our affiliates.
If we are sharing personal information with affiliates outside of China, we will also ensure the
compliance with the requirements and procedures set forth in the "International Transfer of Personal
Information" section. We only share personal information when it’s necessary, and within the
purposes stated in this policy, if we share your sensitive personal information or the affiliates
that we share personal information with changes the purpose and/or the way of processing of personal
information, we will seek your authorization and consent again.
We will ensure the security of your personal information transmission and processing when it is
shared with others, through well-define standards, agreements, and technical controls
Sharing with Service Providers
We may share your personal information with third parties who assist in providing our products and
services and administering our business. These include IT and marketing technology host suppliers,
web and data hosting providers, mailing houses, ad servers, logistics and general services
contractors, debt collection agencies, onsite health and safety partners, event registration
partners, sales platform providers, communication tool providers, stand designers/builders/fitters,
suppliers of sponsorship/marketing/PR collateral and other event collaboration partners. Personal
information will only be shared with third parties if and to the extent it is necessary for them to
provide our products and services to you.
In particular, in order to improve the strength and stability of our WeChat mini-programs, we might
embed application program interfaces (APIs) and software tool development kits (SDKs) or other
similar applications of authorized partners (including WeChat companies, online banking or
third-party payment platforms, etc.). We will conduct strict security testing on the APIs and SDKs
from authorized partners to obtain relevant information and establish strict data protection
agreements which require authorized partners to process personal information in accordance with
applicable laws and regulations, as well as this Policy and any other relevant confidentiality and
security measures, unless authorized partners obtain your consent separately.
We use web chat services including that allow us to connect with you and answer sales and customer
services questions quickly and directly. We ensure these service providers protect your data but
these chats are intended to provide you with quick answers to basic service questions only and you
should not provide any sensitive information such as bank or credit card details in these chats.
These data processors are bound to compliance through contracts in place that protects the personal
information you have shared with us.
Sharing with other Organisations
We may share your personal information with trusted partner organisations for their marketing
purposes in accordance with local data protection laws and where required, with your permissions.
If you use one of our virtual products, such as a virtual exhibition, directory site or webinar, or
choose to allow your badge to be scanned at an event, we may pass the information you provide to
third parties. Generally, this will be via a process whereby you, as the user, visit or interact
with a third party such as by visiting a stand at an online exhibition, having your badge scanned or
clicking an asset branded and provided by a third party. In some instances, for example, a product
listing site, you may reach out directly to a supplier or exhibitor, who may contact you in return.
In other instances, our virtual products are sponsored and, in these cases, the data provided will
be given to the sponsor. Generally, we will let you know at the time of collection if a product is
sponsored.
We may also share your personal information or business information, if we determine that you have
violated laws and regulations or seriously violated the relevant agreements and rules of the
platforms you signed up to, to protect the personal and property safety of other users from
infringement.
We may share big data analysis of personal information with third parties, when such information has
gone through statistical processing and therefore cannot be linked to personal identity.
To reorganise or make changes to our business
In the event that we are subject to negotiations for the sale of all or a part of our business to a
third party, are sold to a third party or undergo a re-organisation, we may need to transfer some or
all of your personal information to the relevant third party or its advisors as part of any due
diligence process. We will put reasonable controls on your personal information by signing
confidentiality agreements with relevant third-parties.
Any information that is transferred to that re-organised entity or third party and will be used for
the same purposes as set out in this policy, or for the purpose of analysing any proposed sale or
re-organisation. If the third party changes the original processing purpose and processing method,
your consent will need to be obtained again.
In connection with legal or regulatory obligations
We may process your personal information to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements or to
respond to regulators where applicable. This may include disclosing your personal information to
third parties, the court service and/or regulators or law enforcement agencies in connection with
enquiries, proceedings or investigations by such parties anywhere in the world or where compelled to
do so.
In some circumstances, we may be legally required to disclose your personal information because a
court, the police, another judicial or law enforcement body or government entity has asked us for
it.
How long information is kept
We will only retain personal information for as long as is necessary and as permitted by applicable
laws.
We will retain personal information while we are using it, as described in the section above. We
may continue to retain it after we have ceased such uses for certain legitimate business purposes.
For example, if you have opted out of marketing communications from us, we will retain limited
details about you to ensure we can honour your opt-out request. We may also continue to retain your
personal information to meet our legal requirements or to defend or exercise our legal rights.
The length of time for which we will retain your personal information will depend on the purposes
for which we need to retain it and whether we can achieve these purposed by other means, as well as
the volume, nature and sensitivity of the personal information, the risks that may arise from
unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information and applicable legal requirements,
including but not limited to the Personal Information Protection Law and the E-Commerce Law of the
People's Republic of China. After the expiration of the retention period, we will delete or
anonymize your relevant personal information unless we obtain your explicit consent.
Your rights
If you have any questions in relation to our use of your personal information, contact us. Under
certain conditions, you (Or in limited circumstances, your next of kin) may have the right to
require us to:
·Provide you with further details on the use we make of your information
·Provide you with a copy of information that you have provided to us
·Update any inaccuracies in the personal information we hold
·Delete any personal information that we no longer have a lawful ground to use, of the collection or
use of the personal information violates the applicable law or our agreement with you
·violates the applicable law or our agreement with you
·Cease direct marketing to you
·Request the transfer of your personal information to another personal information processor
·Restrict or refuse others to process your personal information
Please contact us if you would like to exercise any of the above rights. You may find our contact
information at the end of this policy.
For security reasons, we may verify your identity before processing your request. After verifying
your identity, we will respond to your request in a timely manner and give a reply and reasonable
explanation within the time limit stipulated by applicable laws and regulations or inform you of
external ways to resolve disputes.
However, we may not be able to respond to your request in some circumstances, such as those in
connection with:
- our performance of our obligations under laws and regulations;
- national security, national defense and security;
- public safety, public health, or major public interests;
- criminal investigations, prosecutions and trials;
- evidence of malice or abuse of rights;
- protection of the life, property and other major legal rights and interests of you or other
individuals;
- issues where responding to your request will cause serious damage to the legitimate rights and
interests of you or other individuals or organizations;
- trade secrets.
In connection with requests for deletion of personal information, due to applicable legal and
security technical restrictions, we may not be able to immediately delete the corresponding
information from backup systems. In such cases, we will securely store your personal information and
restrict any further processing of it until the backup can be erased or anonymized.
Your exercise of these rights is subject to certain exemptions to safeguard the public interest
(e.g. the prevention or detection of crime) and our interests (e.g. the maintenance of legal
privilege). If you exercise any of these rights we will check your entitlement and respond in most
cases within a month.
Updating your information and marketing preferences
We want to ensure you remain in control of your personal information. We try to ensure the personal
information held about you is accurate and up-to-date. We will always provide the opportunity to
unsubscribe or opt out of future marketing communications.
Information on how to unsubscribe or opt out will be provided on every marketing email we send you.
However, if at any stage you would like to update and/or correct such personal information, or
opt-out of future marketing communications, request this by sending an email to groupdpo
Contacting us
For any questions about this Privacy Policy contact:
Group DPO5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG
E-mail: groupdpo
We hope we will be able to resolve any privacy concerns you may have. However, you always have the
right to complain to the competent court at the registered address of Hong Kong Sinoexpo Informa
Markets Limited or any supervisory authority or other public body with responsibility for enforcing
privacy laws in your country.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
To keep up with changing legislation, best practice and changes in how we process personal
information, we may revise this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a revised version on this
website. In the event of any material change to this Privacy Policy, we will provide notice via
email or our website or by other means. To stay up to date on any changes, check back
periodically. You acknowledge that your continued use of our products or services after we publish
or send a notice about our changes to this Privacy Policy means that the collection, use and sharing
of your personal data is subject to the updated Privacy Policy, as of its effective date.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on Dec-28, 2022.
