This privacy policy was last updated on May 3, 2023. This policy explains how the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) uses and protects any information we collect through our website (www.usfashionindustry.com) or by other means. By using our website or providing information to us for communications, events, or any other purpose, you agree to this privacy policy.
This privacy policy applies to any information we collect about:
- Visitors to the USFIA website
- USFIA members/subscribers (including former members/subscribers)
- USFIA event attendees
If you have questions about USFIA’s collection of your data, please contact the USFIA Data Privacy Officer Stephanie Gauzens at
Why do we collect your information?
The information you provide to USFIA may be used at any time for any of the following reasons:
- To improve our website and your user experience
- To improve our member/subscriber benefits and your member/subscriber experience
- To improve our events and your attendee experience
- To process transactions, such as seminar and webinar registrations
- To send periodic email updates, including (but not limited to) news and publications, event information, communications about dues or renewals, and communications from our trusted partners and sponsors
How do we collect your information?
We collect your information when you do any of the following activities:
- Sign up for USFIA membership/subscription personally or via your company. We ask the main contact at every member/subscriber company to provide a list of employees who should have access to membership benefits. We collect and store employee names, job titles, and company email addresses only until you provide additional information (such as by registering for an event).
- Register for an account on the USFIA website
- Register for an event or attend an event as a guest of another company/individual
- Participate in a survey or fill out a form
- Apply for a job or internship at USFIA
- Otherwise voluntarily provide your information through a business card, email, social media, or other means
You may visit our website anonymously if you do not register for an account or fill out any form.
What information do we collect?
We collect the following information:
- Digital and printed personally identifiable information about members and other industry professionals who voluntarily share this information. This information may include your name, company, job title, business email address, business telephone number(s), and business address.
- When registering for paid seminars/webinars, your billing information, including billing contact, billing address, and credit card number.
- Other information about your engagement with USFIA, such as your previous employers, event history and interests, statistics about email opening/clicks, or how we acquired your information.
If you create an account or otherwise voluntarily provide your information to us, your name, company, job title, business email address, business telephone number(s), and business address, will be stored in our secure, encrypted database.
How do we store and protect your information?
If you register for a paid event, your billing contact and address will be stored in our secure, encrypted database. We never store credit card information and we do not have access to your credit card information after the transaction is complete. We have partnered with Authorize.Net, a leading payment gateway since 1996, to accept credit cards and electronic check payments safely and securely for our customers.
The Authorize.Net Payment Gateway manages the complex routing of sensitive customer information through the electronic check and credit card processing networks. See an online payments diagram to see how it works.
The company adheres to strict industry standards for payment processing, including:
- 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology for secure Internet Protocol (IP) transactions.
- Industry leading encryption hardware and software methods and security protocols to protect customer information.
- Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
For additional information regarding the privacy of your sensitive cardholder data, please read the Authorize.Net Privacy Policy.
In our database, you may be categorized into groups based on your membership status, event history, and interests. You may opt-in or opt-out of groups by logging into your account and navigating to the dashboard on our website.
We retain digital and paper data for 2 years following your last action. We permanently delete data 3 years and older.
We retain records of financial payments for 7 years for tax purposes. As a reminder, we do not retain credit card information.
Because USFIA is a membership organization for companies only, we encourage users to provide business information only. We actively discourage users from providing personal addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and billing information. We may delete this type of personal information from our database without notice.
What is our cookie policy?
USFIA uses cookies on our website to help us remember and process your registrations, understand and save your preferences for future visits, and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.
We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.
The use of cookies is a common practice adopted by most websites to better serve their visitors. While most internet browsers accept cookies, they can be modified to block cookies if you so choose. Please refer to your browser’s help section to delete stored cookies and/or block them entirely. Please note, however, that the use of cookies improves user experience on our website, and choosing to block or remove them may cause certain website functions to be unavailable to you.
Do we disclose any information to outside parties?
As a reminder, we collect and use your information to enhance your member/user experience. While we will never sell or trade your data without your consent, we may share personally identifiable information to service you or to store/use your data securely and efficiently.
We frequently work with sponsors, partners, and other industry organizations when we host events. By registering for an event on our website (or attending an event as a guest of another company/individual), you agree that your name, company, job title, and company email address may be provided to event co-hosts, speakers, and sponsors for reasons including event planning/security, program planning, or pre-event and post-event communications. We ask these companies/individuals to keep your information confidential and to use it only in relation to the event.
From time to time, we may need to provide information to trusted vendors, partners, and other third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting business, and servicing our members and users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. These third-parties include Authorize.net, Go2Meeting, Go2Webinar, and SurveyMonkey. While we only work with third-parties who maintain privacy policies and agree to keep this information confidential, we are not responsible for any data breaches on these third-party websites. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, protect our rights or others’ rights, property, or safety.
Non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
What are my rights?
If you would prefer not to receive email communications from us, click the UNSUBSCRIBE button at the bottom of our emails to remove yourself from our email distribution lists. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any group/bulk emails from us, including member news/communications, though you may receive individual emails from an individual staff member regarding your membership or other transactions. We will retain your information in our database per the retention policy unless you request otherwise.
If you would like to change or correct any of your information or want to see what information we have stored, you can either login to your account at www.usfashionindustry.com or contact the USFIA Data Privacy Officer Stephanie Gauzens at
If you do not consent to your information being collected, used, or stored in the above ways or would like to be removed from our database, contact the USFIA Data Privacy Officer Stephanie Gauzens at
Third-Party Links
We may link to third-party websites or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate, independent privacy policies. We have no responsibility or liability for the content or activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these third-party sites.
California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance
Because we value your privacy, we have taken the necessary precautions to be in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. We therefore will not distribute your personal information to outside parties without your consent.
As part of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, all members of our site may make any changes to their information at any time by logging into their control panel and going to the 'Edit Profile' page.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance
We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), we do not collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.
How can I contact you if I have additional questions?
If you have any additional questions or concerns, contact:
United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA)
1730 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Suite 312
Washington, D.C., 20036
202-419-0444