Privacy Policy

EFFECTIVE DATE: 1/22/2016

DLA Piper values your privacy. In this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), we describe how we collect, use, and disclose information that we collect about you through your use of Ascendant, http://ascendant.dlapiper.com (the “Site”). This Policy solely pertains to the use of this Site; if you submit information to www.dlapiper.com, your information will be used in accordance with the privacy policy posted on that website, which may differ from this one.

By visiting the Site, or using any of our services, you agree that your personal information will be handled as described in this Policy. Your use of our Site or Services, and any dispute over privacy, is subject to this Policy and our Terms of Service, including its applicable limitations on damages and the resolution of disputes. Our Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into this Policy.

The Information We Collect About You

Information We Collect Directly From You

Information We Collect Automatically

How We Use Your Information

How We Share Your Information

Our Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms

Clear GIFs, pixel tags and other technologies

Third Party Analytics

Third-Party Links

Security of My Personal Information

What Choices Do I Have Regarding Use of My Personal Information?

Changes to this Policy

The Information We Collect About You

Information We Collect Directly From You. The purpose of our Site is to enable companies to evaluate bids from prospective suppliers; to that end, DLA Piper will assign log in credentials to companies and their respective bidders. We will collect information that both companies and bidders submit through our Site.

Information We Collect Automatically. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to automatically collect information about your use of our Site, including, your domain name; your browser type and operating system; web pages you view; links you click; your IP address; the length of time you visit our Site and or use our services; and the referring URL, or the webpage that led you to our Site. Where permitted by applicable law, we may combine this information with other information that we have collected about you, including, where applicable, your user name, name, and other personal information Please see Cookie Policy for additional information.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information, including your personal information, for the following purposes:

Information from Companies Seeking Bids: we use the information that you provide to us to provide our Site and services to you, to enable you to evaluate competing bids in a transaction, and to communicate with you about the transaction. As permitted by applicable law, we also may use your information to send you news and newsletters (such as our client advisories) on areas that we believe might be of interest to you.
Information from Bidders: When you respond to a bid request, we use the information that you submit through the Site as part of the overall evaluation of your bid submission.
Information from Companies Seeking Bids and Bidders: We will use information submitted through this Site to respond to inquiries that you submit through this portal, to understand how users access and use our Site and services, both on an aggregated and individualized basis; to improve our Site and our services; and for research and analytical purposes, both research of our Site as well as to assess market trends, including through the aggregation of other data sources.

How We Share Your Information

We may share your information, including personal information, as follows:

Companies Seeking Bids/Bidders. Bidder information will be available to the company(ies) that requested the bid.
Affiliates. Because DLA Piper is a global firm, your information may be transferred to DLA Piper personnel outside of your home country. Please see Special Notice to Non-US Users below.
Service Providers. We may disclose the information we collect from you to third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform functions on our behalf.

We also may disclosure your information to comply with the law, a judicial proceeding, court order, or other legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena, as well as to protect ourselves and others, such as where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our Terms of Use or this Policy, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

Our Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms

Our website uses cookies and other tracking mechanisms, including cookies placed by third party service providers on our behalf.

Cookies. A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number.

We may use cookies in the following ways:

Where they are essential to make our site work
To enable the personalization features on our site (which give you the ability to recall recently viewed pages and see information which you have input on line)
To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use our Site and to help us improve the structure of our Site.

For detailed information about cookies and how they are used on our website, see our Cookie Policy.

Disabling Cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can edit your browser options to block them in the future. The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Visitors to our Site who disable cookies will be able to browse certain areas of the Site, but some features may not function.

Clear GIFs, pixel tags and other technologies. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer’s hard drive, clear GIFs are embedded invisibly on web pages. We may use clear GIFs (a.k.a. web beacons, web bugs or pixel tags), in connection with our Site to, among other things, track the activities of Site visitors, help us manage content, and compile statistics about Site usage. We and our third party service providers also use clear GIFs in HTML e-mails to our customers, to help us track e-mail response rates, identify when our e-mails are viewed, and track whether our e-mails are forwarded.

Third Party Analytics

We use automated devices and applications, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate usage of our Site. We also may use other analytic means to evaluate our Services. We use these tools to help us improve our services, performance and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies to perform their services.

Do-Not-Track

Currently, our systems do not recognize browser do-not-track requests. You may disable cookies by following the instructions set forth above.

Special Notice for Non-U.S. Users

Any information that you submit through this Site will be stored on servers hosted in the United States, which may not be deemed to have the same level of protection as your home country. By submitting your personal information or by using our Site, and without limitation to any other rights or obligations we have, you consent to the transfer and processing of your information in, the United States, and you acknowledge that your information may be subject to access by law enforcement and other government entities, including courts and tribunals, in accordance with laws in those jurisdictions.

Third-Party Links

Our Site and Services may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third party websites.

Security of My Personal Information

We have implemented commercially reasonable precautions to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no data security measures can guarantee 100% security.

You should take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone, and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared computer, choosing a robust password that nobody else knows or can easily guess, and keeping your log-in and password private. We are not responsible for any lost, stolen, or compromised passwords or for any activity on your account via unauthorized password activity.

What Choices Do I Have Regarding Use of My Personal Information?

You may opt-out of advertising emails by following the opt-out instructions contained in the e-mail. Please note that it may take up to 10 business days for us to process opt-out requests. If you opt-out of receiving emails about recommendations or other information we think may interest you, we may still send you e-mails about your account or any services you have requested or received from us.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy policy for DLA Piper or its implementation, you may contact us at web.enquiries@dlapiper.com. If at any time you decide that we should no longer hold any of your personal data, or wish to change the use to which any such data can be put, please let us know by emailing us at web.enquiries@dlapiper.com.

Revisions to our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to revise this policy or any part of it from time to time. Please review the policy periodically for changes.