Legal
Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy describes how The Public Contracts & Grants Institute of Washington D.C. (“we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Institute,” as further defined below), collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information in connection with pub-k.org and related websites, publications, events, research tools, and community features (the “Services”).
If you purchase a paid Offering, the Member Agreement also applies. If this Policy and the Member Agreement conflict as to personal-information practices, this Policy controls. If they conflict as to confidentiality of Member Content, the no-training covenant, privilege, or security commitments, the Member Agreement controls.
1.Who we are
The Institute is a leadership institution for public contracts and grants professionals. The Institute processes account, billing, publication, website, Event, and community information. Ask Pub K Inc. may process personal information in Ask Pub K workspaces. A third-party event or payment platform may act as an independent controller of information you submit directly to that platform.
2.Scope
This Policy applies to personal information collected when you visit Institute websites; subscribe to Pub K Weekly or a paid Offering; create an account; register for, sponsor, or attend an Event; use Ask Pub K; use community features; or communicate with the Institute. It does not apply to third-party sites the Institute does not control. The Services are intended for professionals and are not directed to children.
3.Personal information we collect
You may provide identity and professional details (name, title, organization, role); contact details; account credentials; subscription and billing data (plans and seats; payment-card numbers are handled by the payment processor); Event registration details, including dietary or accessibility requests you choose to provide; communications; and User Content or Member Content you submit.
The Institute collects automatically device and usage data (IP address, browser, pages viewed, log data), cookies and similar technologies, and approximate location derived from IP address.
The Institute may receive information from your organization if it administers your access; from event, payment, email, analytics, and hosting providers; and from publicly available professional sources used in reporting. Do not send Social Security numbers, classified information, or similarly restricted government information unless the Institute has arranged a suitable channel.
4.How we use personal information
The Institute uses personal information to provide, secure, and improve the Services; process transactions; send service and, where permitted, professional communications; host Events; operate Ask Pub K; detect abuse and security incidents; comply with law; and support the Institute’s public-benefit educational purpose, including de-identified reporting. The Institute does not use Member Content from Ask Pub K to train, fine-tune, or evaluate foundation models or any other model.
5.How we disclose personal information
The Institute does not sell personal information for money. Disclosure is limited to:
- service providers and subprocessors that offer written confidentiality agreements and use restrictions;
- event or payment platforms you use directly, under those platforms’ own notices;
- your organization, if it purchases or administers your access;
- community features you choose to use (a job listing or speaker listing is public);
- legal, safety, and corporate-transaction disclosures; and
- disclosures you direct or consent to.
Closed-door Benchmarking discussions are not recorded or published. The Institute may disclose aggregated or de-identified information that is not reasonably linkable to you.
6.Cookies
The Institute and its providers use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Services, keep you signed in, remember preferences, and measure audience. You can control cookies in your browser. Blocking certain cookies may affect login. Where a jurisdiction requires a choice before non-essential cookies are set, the Institute will provide that mechanism. Where required, the Institute will honor a legally recognized opt-out for marketing pixels on public pages.
7.Ask Pub K
Ask Pub K is a professional research tool owned by Ask Pub K Inc. and offered through the Institute. Member workspaces, prompts, and output are isolated from other customers. Member Content is not used to train AI models. Connections are encrypted in transit and designated data is encrypted at rest. Logging is limited to what is reasonably necessary to operate, secure, bill, and support the tool, as described in the Member Agreement. You must not enter information that law, contract, or your organization’s policy forbids you to place in the tool.
8.Email
Pub K Weekly is free and includes an unsubscribe method. Paid Briefing and account messages are sent as part of the subscription. Transactional messages (billing, security, Event logistics you requested) may continue after a promotional opt-out.
9.Retention and security
The Institute keeps personal information only as long as needed to provide the Services, keep tax and business records, resolve disputes, and meet legal obligations, including the operational-log schedule and workspace-retention rules in the Member Agreement where that agreement applies. Safeguards include access limitation, encryption in transit, encryption at rest for designated systems, monitoring, and vendor oversight. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.
10.Children
The Services are not directed to children under 16, or under 13 as defined by COPPA. The Institute does not knowingly collect personal information from children. Contact admin@pub-k.org if you believe a child has provided personal information.
11.Your choices and state privacy rights
You may update account information, unsubscribe from promotional email, adjust cookies, and request closure of a free account, subject to legal retention. Depending on your state and whether a particular statute applies, you may have rights to know, access, correct, delete, or obtain a portable copy of personal information, and to opt out of sale or sharing for targeted advertising if the Institute ever engages in those activities. The Institute does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are used in the CCPA.
To make a request, email admin@pub-k.org with the subject line “Privacy Request.” The Institute will verify the request by matching information you provide to information it holds and will respond within the time required by applicable law.
The Institute has collected, or may collect, identifiers (name, email, phone, IP, account ID); customer records (billing address, purchases, seats); commercial information (subscriptions, tickets, sponsorships); internet activity (logs, pages, cookie IDs); professional information (employer, title); user content and Ask Pub K prompts and output; and photos or recordings from public Event sessions. Those categories are disclosed to hosting, email, payment, authentication, event, analytics, security, and support vendors for business purposes.
12.International visitors
The Services are operated from the United States. If you access them from elsewhere, your information will be processed in the United States.
13.Changes
The Institute may update this Policy. The “Last updated” date will change when it does. Material changes will be signaled by a site notice or email to account holders.
14.Definition
The “Institute” means The Public Contracts & Grants Institute of Washington D.C., Inc. PBC, a Delaware public benefit corporation. Ask Pub K Inc., a Delaware corporation and an affiliate of the Institute, is bound by these Terms only to the extent the public Services include content it supplies.
15.Contact
The Public Contracts & Grants Institute of Washington D.C., Attn: Privacy, 655 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 425, Washington, DC 20005. Email: admin@pub-k.org. Telephone: (888) 609-3137.