Privacy policy

Last updated: September 8, 2025

The International Accreditation Center of the United States (IACUS) operates this website and provides accreditation, certification, and certificate issuance services (the “Services”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website, use the Services, make an application or purchase, or otherwise communicate with us. If there is a conflict between our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy governs with respect to personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By accessing or using any of the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described here.

Personal Information We Collect or Process

“Personal information” means information that identifies or can reasonably be linked to you. It does not include anonymized or de-identified information. Depending on how you interact with the Services and applicable law where you live, we may collect or process the following categories of personal information (including inferences drawn from them):

Contact details (name, organization, title/role, postal address, billing/shipping address, phone number, email address).
Identity & compliance data (government ID details provided for verification, tax numbers where legally required, signatures, publicly available registry data about organizations).
Financial & transaction information (payment card type, last 4 digits, payment token, transaction ID, payment confirmations, invoices, refunds; note: we do not store full card numbers).
Account information (username, password, security questions, preferences, settings, communication preferences).
Application & service records (accreditation/certification application data, supporting documents, scope details, certificate issuance logs, verification events).
Device & technical data (IP address, device identifiers, browser type, operating system, language, referring URLs).
Usage data (pages viewed, features used, time stamps, clickstream, interactions with verification tools and portals).
Communications (support requests, emails, messages, feedback, survey responses).
Marketing & cookies data (cookie identifiers and similar technologies used for analytics, site performance, and (where permitted) marketing).

Sources of Personal Information

Directly from you when you create an account, submit an application, complete payment, upload documents, or contact us.
Automatically via cookies and similar technologies when you use the Services.
Service providers that perform functions on our behalf (e.g., payments, hosting, email delivery, cloud storage, analytics, customer support).
Partners and third parties (e.g., identity verification providers, public registries, or your organization).

How We Use Personal Information

Provide, operate, and improve the Services, perform our contract with you, process applications and payments, issue and verify certificates/accreditations, and maintain your account.
Compliance & verification to assess applications, verify organizations and documents, prevent misuse, and maintain integrity of accreditation/certification.
Customer support & communications including service notices, updates, and responding to inquiries.
Security & fraud prevention including detecting, investigating, and mitigating fraudulent, illegal, or malicious activity.
Analytics & service improvement to understand usage, enhance features, and improve performance.
Marketing (where permitted) to send information about our services, events, and updates; you can opt out at any time.
Legal obligations to comply with laws, respond to lawful requests, and enforce our terms.

How We Disclose Personal Information

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances:

Service providers that host our systems, process payments, deliver emails/SMS, provide cloud storage, analytics, customer support, document and identity verification, or website operations.
Business & integration partners that help deliver parts of the Services or verification capabilities (subject to their privacy terms and applicable law).
Your direction or consent, including when you ask us to share information with a third party (e.g., for listing your accreditation in a directory).
Affiliates within our corporate group for the purposes described in this Policy.
Legal & safety to comply with law, respond to lawful requests, enforce terms, or protect rights, safety, and security.
Corporate transactions (e.g., merger, acquisition, restructuring) where permitted by law.

International Transfers

We may transfer, store, and process your personal information in countries other than your own. If you are in the EEA/UK and your information is transferred outside your jurisdiction, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or the UK International Data Transfer mechanisms) unless the destination country has an adequacy decision.

Security

We implement technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please avoid sending sensitive information over unsecure channels.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, maintain records of accreditation/certification decisions and certificate verification, and enforce our agreements. Retention periods vary based on the type of data and legal/regulatory requirements.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, analyze usage, improve performance, and (where permitted) support marketing. You can manage cookie preferences via your browser settings or applicable consent tools. Disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality.

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including the right to access/know, delete, correct, and port your data. Where applicable law provides, you may also have the right to object to or restrict certain processing and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. You may manage marketing preferences by using the unsubscribe link in our emails. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

If your jurisdiction recognizes the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we will treat it as a request to opt out of certain processing for the device/browser sending the signal, where required by law.

To exercise rights, please contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity (and, if applicable, authority of an agent) before processing a request.

Children’s Data

The Services are not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals below the age of majority in their jurisdiction. If you believe a child has provided personal information, please contact us so we can delete it where required by law. As of the effective date of this Policy, we do not have actual knowledge that we “sell” or “share” (as defined by applicable law) personal information of individuals under 16.

Third-Party Websites and Links

The Services may link to third-party sites or services. Their privacy and security practices are governed by their own policies, and we are not responsible for them. Information you share on third-party platforms may be visible to others according to those platforms’ settings and terms.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the updated version on this page and update the “Last updated” date. Where required by law, we will provide additional notice.

Contact

For questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or to exercise your rights, please contact us:

Email: support@iacus.org
Website: https://iacus.org
Postal: 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA

For purposes of applicable data protection laws, IACUS is the data controller of your personal information in relation to the Services described in this Policy.

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