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RUC North America Alumni Association

RUC alumni, hand in hand forever

Privacy & Cookie Notice

Effective September 3, 2026. This notice replaces the Privacy Statement and Cookie Notice dated January 1, 2021.

The RUC North America Alumni Association ("RUC NAAA", "we") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York. This notice explains what personal information this website collects, why, who it is shared with, and the choices you have. We collect only what a small alumni association needs to run its programs — and we never sell personal information.

  1. 1. Who we are

    This website (rucnaaa.org and its official mirrors) is operated by the RUC North America Alumni Association. The information you provide is handled by the association's volunteer secretariat and information-technology team, under the oversight of the Board of Directors.

  2. 2. What we collect and when

    Messages and applications: when you write to us through the contact form or apply to the Yi Shi Yi You mentorship program, we receive what you type — typically your name, email address, optional WeChat ID, class year, school or major, city, industry and your message.

    Event registration: when you register for an event we collect your name, email address and, for paid events, the ticket you chose. Payments are processed by Stripe; we receive the order status, amount and a receipt reference, never your full card number.

    Donations: donors provide a name and email address so that we can issue a tax receipt and, where you opt in, list you on the donor honor wall in the way you chose (full name, class year only, or anonymous).

    Newsletter: subscribing stores your email address and preferred language. We use double opt-in — nothing is sent until you confirm from your inbox — and every issue carries a one-click unsubscribe link.

    Member accounts (where offered): creating an account stores your email address, password (hashed), profile details you choose to fill in, and the visibility settings you pick for each of them.

    Technical data: our hosting providers keep standard server logs (IP address, browser type, requested pages, timestamps) for security and troubleshooting.

  3. 3. How we use it

    To answer your message, process your application, registration or donation, send the confirmations and receipts you asked for, and deliver the newsletter you subscribed to.

    To run the association's programs and events, keep attendance and donor records the law requires a nonprofit to keep, and report to our alma mater in aggregate.

    To keep the site secure and working — for example rate-limiting abusive requests and diagnosing errors.

    We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not sell, rent or trade it.

  4. 4. Cookies and analytics

    This site sets only strictly necessary cookies: a language-preference cookie, and — if you sign in to a member account — session cookies that keep you signed in for a limited time. These cookies are not used for tracking across other sites.

    For visitor statistics we may use Plausible, a privacy-friendly analytics service that works without cookies and does not identify individual visitors. If it is enabled, only aggregate figures such as page views and referring sites are recorded.

    You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the site remains usable, though you may need to choose your language again.

  5. 5. Service providers and international transfers

    We rely on a small number of service providers to run the site: Vercel (web hosting), Fly.io (application and database hosting, United States), Cloudflare (image and file storage), Stripe (payment processing) and an email delivery service for confirmations and newsletters. Each processes data only on our instructions and under its own security commitments.

    Because the association and its providers are based in the United States, information you submit is stored and processed there. Visitors from Canada and elsewhere should be aware that U.S. law applies to that processing.

    We share personal information beyond these providers only when the law requires it, or with your consent — for example when you ask us to introduce you to a mentor.

  6. 6. Retention and security

    Messages and applications are kept for as long as needed to respond and follow up, and are reviewed for deletion after two years. Event, donation and receipt records are kept for the period U.S. nonprofit and tax rules require. Newsletter addresses are removed when you unsubscribe. Account data is deleted when you close your account, except where a legal obligation requires us to keep a record.

    Data is transmitted over HTTPS, stored with access limited to the volunteers who need it, and passwords are stored only in hashed form.

  7. 7. Your choices and rights

    You may ask us at any time to see the personal information we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it. You may withdraw consent to the newsletter or the donor wall listing at any time, and you may close a member account yourself from your profile settings.

    Depending on where you live you may have additional rights under laws such as PIPEDA (Canada) or state privacy laws in the United States. Write to us and we will respond within 30 days.

  8. 8. Children

    This site is intended for adults — alumni, their families and friends of the association. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with information, contact us and we will delete it.

  9. 10. Use of the website

    The site exists to help alumni connect. Please do not use it for unlawful or fraudulent activity, for unsolicited mass mailings or commercial solicitation, to impersonate the association or Renmin University of China, or to collect other members' information for purposes they did not agree to. We may restrict access for anyone who does.

  10. 11. Changes to this notice

    We will update this page when our practices change and note the new effective date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced in the newsletter.

  11. 12. How to reach us

    Website and data questions: rucnaaaorg@gmail.com (the association's day-to-day website contact). Official correspondence: ruc_naaa@ruc.edu.cn. Postal correspondence can be addressed to the RUC North America Alumni Association, New York, NY.