Privacy Policy
This online privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes the kinds of information we may gather during your visit to the websites belonging to NBBJ L.P. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively “NBBJ”) located at nbbj.com, nbbj.cn, meanstheworld.co, any website branded NBBX, or any affiliated network of websites (including any versions optimized for viewing on a wireless or tablet device); all email newsletters published or distributed by NBBJ; all applications published by NBBJ; our Jobvite career site; and all other interactive features, services, and communications provided by NBBJ (“Sites”), why we gather your information and how we may use it. The practices described in this Privacy Policy apply only to information gathered online at our Sites. It does not apply to information that you may submit to us offline or to sites maintained by other companies or organizations to which we may link or who may link to us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any website that we do not own or control.
By visiting our Sites, you are accepting the practices described in our online Privacy Policy. As we work to improve our practices and policies, we may review our Privacy Policy from time to time. We reserve the right to modify or amend our Privacy Policy at any time and to notify you of those changes by posting an updated version of this policy on our website. To ensure you are aware of such changes, it is your responsibility to review our policy each time before you access any of our Sites.
What Information is Gathered?
We may collect two types of information from you in conjunction with your use of the Sites, personal information and non-personal information. Personal information is information that you may supply to us and which can individually identify you, including, but without limitation, your name, e-mail address, username, telephone number, postal address, billing and contact information (“Personal Information”). Non-personal information includes information that does not personally identify you, but may include, as examples, tracking and usage information about your location, demographics, browser type and version, use of the Service and the Internet (“Non-Personal Information”).
We collect the Personal Information from you in the following circumstances:
- When you register for an account on the Sites
- When you request customer support or submit content to the Sites or to NBBJ
- When you apply or are hired for a job at NBBJ
- When you contact us to discuss potential projects or with a view to finding out more about us.
If you contact us to apply for employment, we will hold the following information about you:
- Your name, contact information, and other Personal Information
- Your résumé/CV, including qualifications, education and previous experience and employers and your referees contact details, as well as anything else you choose to tell us
When you interact with the Sites, we may collect certain information that does not identify you individually, and our servers may automatically keep an activity log of your use of the Sites (“Non-Personal Information”). We may collect and store the following categories of Non-Personal Information:
- Analytics and usage information about your use of the Sites. This information includes a reading history of the pages you view. We use this information to provide a more customized experience on the Sites.
- Additional “traffic data” and log files such as time of access, date of access, software crash reports, session identification number, access times, and referring website addresses.
- IP address assigned to you or, more likely, to someone who provides you with Internet access.
Use of Cookies and/or Web Storage
Like many websites, we may use “cookies,” which are small text files that are stored on your computer or equipment when you visit certain online pages that record your preferences and actions. We may use cookies to track use of our Sites and online services. We may also use cookies to monitor traffic, improve the Sites and make it easier and/or relevant for your use.
We may also use “Web Storage” to store data about your use of our Sites. Web Storage is a feature in some browsers that permits websites to store data within your browser rather than using a cookie. This should make this data more secure and make your browser perform better. We do not share or provide information we may store in Web Storage.
Do We Use Information We Gather?
Except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose your Personal Information collected online to any companies not part of NBBJ or its subsidiaries or related entities. We may and will use your Personal Information to respond to your inquiries and process your requests (e.g. job applications). In no event will we sell or rent your Personal Information as part of a customer list or similar transaction. We may have third party agents who perform functions on our behalf who may have access to your Personal Information as necessary to perform their functions. We may also use or disclose Personal Information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on us or the Sites; (b) protect and defend our rights or property, the Sites or our users, and (c) act under emergency circumstances to protect the personal safety of us, our affiliates, agents, or the users of the Sites or the public.
Our use of your Personal Information is on the basis that (i) it is necessary to conclude or perform a contract with you or for your benefit; (ii) it is in our legitimate interest as part of the efficient and effective operation of our business; or (iii) to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
In other circumstances we will ask for your consent to use your Personal Information, which you may give or withhold as you wish, but if you decide to withhold consent, then this may affect our ability to comply with any request you have made or service you have requested. By sending us Personal Information, including your résumé/CV, to support an application for employment, you consent to our use of the information to process this application; if you withdraw this consent, then you will be of necessity withdrawing your application.
We may use your Personal Information to contact you to tell you about NBBJ’s products and services. This activity is conducted on the basis of our legitimate interests in marketing our business to prospective customers and intermediaries. You can ask us to stop using your information in this way by contacting us as shown in the ‘How to Contact Us’ section below.
We use the Non-Personal Information we gather to help us improve the Sites. We may use the information to perform statistical, marketing analyses and viewing patterns. We may disclose or share Non-Personal Information (or other information, other than Personal Information) in any other manner that we deem appropriate or necessary. We may disclose Non-Personal Information to third parties to help us determine how parts of the Sites are used so we can improve our Sites. We may retain information for a commercially reasonable time for backup, archival, and/or audit purposes.
How Can We Transfer Your Personal Information?
This Policy is published in the United States and is targeted to United States citizens and our policies are directed at compliance with those laws. Your information collected through the Sites may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which NBBJ, its clients, affiliates or service providers maintain facilities. NBBJ, its clients, affiliates, or service providers may transfer information that we collect about you, including Personal Information across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are located in the United States or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from US law, please note that we may process or transfer information, including Personal Information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction. However, in doing so, we must rely on one or more valid legal grounds. The grounds we may rely upon include:
(a) your consent to particular transfer or processing activities, for example where you have consented to allowing us to consider you as a candidate for a job on one of our Sites;
(b) the transfer or processing is necessary for purposes of our legitimate interests as a business (except where your interests or fundamental rights override these), for example it is within our legitimate interest to use your Personal Information to prevent or detect fraud or abuses of our Sites;
(c) the transfer or processing is required in order for us to comply with our legal obligations, for example we have a duty to investigate and respond to complaints made against us and may need to process your Personal Information as part of such investigation;
(d) if you are a UK employee, client, vendor, or consultant, because processing your Personal Information is necessary for the performance of our contract with you; or
(e) where we have entered into legally binding agreements which comply with applicable law.
How We Transfer International Personal Information
NBBJ complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (Privacy Shield) as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and the United Kingdom to the United States in reliance on Privacy Shield. NBBJ has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles with respect to such information. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/.
Participating organizations are deemed to have “adequate” privacy protection for the transfer of personal information outside of the EU under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). For Privacy Shield purposes, NBBJ refers to NBBJ LP and “Other Covered Entities” refers to each of the following: NBBJ Design, LLP; NBBJ Partnership LLP; NBBJ Architecture PLLC; NBBJ LLC; NBBJ Design LLC; NBBJ Hawaii, Inc.; NBBJ Architects of New Jersey, LLC; NBBJ East, LLC; NBBJ East Limited Partnership; and NBBJ North Carolina, Inc.
As a result, EU member state requirements for prior approval of international data transfers to NBBJ and its Other Covered Entities are waived. In cases of onward transfers of data, received pursuant to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, NBBJ is potentially liable under the GDPR.
In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, NBBJ commits to resolve complaints about our collection or use of your personal information. EU individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our Privacy Shield policy should first contact NBBJ at: privacy@nbbj.com or by mail at NBBJ LP, 223 Yale Ave. N, Seattle, Washington 98109; Attention: Assistant General Counsel.
NBBJ has further committed to refer unresolved Privacy Shield complaints to JAMS Privacy Shield Program, an alternative dispute resolution provider located in the [United States]. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your complaint to your satisfaction, please visit https://www.jamsadr.com/eu-us-privacy-shield for more information or to file a complaint. The services of JAMS Privacy Shield Program are provided at no cost to you.
For residents of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”)
Your Personal Information may be shared with the recipients for the abovementioned purposes. This list is updated periodically. To request the most up-to-date information, you may submit a request to privacy@nbbj.com.
How Long Will We Retain Your Personal Information?
NBBJ will retain the information you provide in an identifiable form only for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. Most information we will retain for a period of six to ten years pursuant to the terms of NBBJ’s Retention Policy which is available on request. We will not retain any of your Personal Information beyond the period reflected in our Retention Policy, and the retention of your Personal Information will be subject to periodic review. We will not process the Personal Information you provide in a way that is incompatible with the purposes stated above unless subsequently authorized by you.
NBBJ’s Compliance with Laws
NBBJ complies with data and privacy laws which apply to us. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with those laws and any exceptions to them. That said, privacy laws in various jurisdictions may change from time to time, and NBBJ has no obligation to abide by privacy laws in countries having no jurisdiction over us or our business.
NBBJ’s Commitment to Confidentiality and Security
NBBJ is committed to safeguarding all Personal Information we receive from you and ensuring that it remains confidential and secure. We take all reasonable measures to ensure that personal privacy is respected. All data is stored in written or electronic form on our servers and computers and in or various offices. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your Personal Information from misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, loss or corruption. We also restrict access to Personal Information to those staff members and third parties on a need to know basis in order to legally process your Personal Information as provided in this policy.
Rights Specific to European Union Residents
The following applies to data collected from individuals residing within the European Union.
For Users accessing the Sites within the European Union (“EU”), all processing of Personal Information is performed in accordance with privacy rights and regulations contained in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679. NBBJ processes Personal Information as a Controller, as defined in the GDPR. If you are a resident of EU, you have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information:
(a) Obtain a copy. You have the right to obtain a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you by contacting our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below.
(b) Correct your Personal Information. You may request that we correct any inaccurate information or complete any information that is incomplete by contacting our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below. If we disagree with you, we will advise you and note the disagreement in our records.
(c) Withdraw your consent to processing. You may withdraw your consent to our processing of your Personal Information by contacting our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below. Any withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of our processing based upon your prior consent. Any withdrawal of consent may impact your ability to benefit from certain services that require processing of your Personal Information.
(d) Object to processing (in particular to use of Personal Information for the purposes of direct marketing). You may request that we cease all processing of your Personal Information by contacting our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below.
(e) Erase. You may request that we erase your Personal Information by contacting our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below. We will comply with your request provided there is no lawful reason preventing us from doing so.
(f) File a Complaint. If you have any questions or complaints regarding how we are processing or holding your Personal Information, please contact our Data Governance and Privacy Advisor as directed below. This does not limit your right to address your concerns directly with your local data protection authority.
(g) Portability. If you have consented to processing of your Personal Information and we process it using automated means, you have the right to receive your Personal Information in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format. You also have the right to transmit your Personal Information to another controller without hindrance.
Additional rights for PRC residents
In addition to the data subject rights in (a) – (g) above, if you are a resident in the PRC, you also have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information and any other rights under the PRC Personal Information Protection Law and any other applicable law:
(h) Right to Information
The right to information about your Personal Information processed by us and certain other information (such as that given in this Privacy Policy).
(i) Right to restriction of processing
You have the right to limit or refuse the handling of your Personal Information, unless otherwise set out under applicable laws or administrative regulations.
(j) Right regarding automated decision-making
You have the right to request information on our automated decision-making process and the right to deny results solely made by the automated decision-making process when the results could significantly impact your rights and interest.
All rights are subject to exceptions and limitations as provided by applicable law.
How to Contact Us
To exercise any of your rights outlined in this Privacy Policy or to review and update your Personal Information, or if you do not understand this Private Policy or any part of this Private Policy, please contact us by email at privacy@nbbj.com or by mail at NBBJ 223 Yale Ave. N, Seattle, Washington 98109; Attention: Assistant General Counsel.
If we reject your requests to exercise your rights, we will provide you with an explanation as required by law.
Last changes to Privacy Policy: July 10, 2024