Apex Refinery Solutions, Inc. ("Apex," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you visit our website at apexrefineries.org (the "Site"), contact us, or engage with our services.
Please read this policy carefully. If you disagree with its terms, please discontinue use of the Site. For questions, contact us at privacy@apexrefineries.org.
1. Who We Are
Apex Refinery Solutions, Inc. is a corporation incorporated in the State of California. Our principal place of business is:
Apex Refinery Solutions, Inc.
1800 Harrison Street, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
United States
Phone: (510) 558-5993
General inquiries: info@apexrefineries.org
Privacy inquiries: privacy@apexrefineries.org
For the purposes of applicable US privacy law, Apex is the data controller for personal information collected through this Site.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information in three ways: information you provide directly, information collected automatically, and information obtained from third parties.
2.1 Information You Provide Directly
When you interact with us through our Site or directly, you may provide:
- Contact information — your first and last name, company name, job title, business email address, and business phone number, submitted through our contact or inquiry forms.
- Project information — descriptions of your facility, project type, project timeline, facility location, and how you heard about us, as submitted in our inquiry form.
- Communications content — the content of emails, messages, or other communications you send to us.
- Call records — if you call us at (510) 558-5993, we may record the call for quality assurance and training purposes. You will be informed at the start of the call if recording is in use.
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
When you visit our Site, we automatically collect certain technical information through standard web technologies:
- Log data — your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time and date of visit, and time spent on pages.
- Device data — device type, screen resolution, and browser language settings.
- Cookie data — information stored by cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5).
We collect this information to operate and improve the Site, analyze visitor traffic, and ensure technical security. We do not use this data to identify individual visitors unless combined with information you provide.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
We may receive limited information about you from third parties in the following circumstances:
- From professional contact databases or business directories, where you have made your professional information publicly available.
- From industry partners or event organizers where you have requested to be contacted about our services.
- From referrals by our existing clients or business partners, subject to those parties' own privacy obligations.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
3.1 Responding to Inquiries and Providing Services
The primary purpose for collecting your contact and project information is to respond to your inquiry, evaluate your project, prepare proposals, and — if you engage us — to manage your project. Without this information, we cannot effectively respond to you or deliver our services.
3.2 Communications
We use your contact information to:
- Respond to messages you send us.
- Send project updates, proposals, contracts, and related business communications to active and prospective clients.
- Send periodic industry updates or company news, only if you have consented to receive such communications or where permitted by applicable law. You may opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in any such email or by contacting us directly.
3.3 Site Operations and Improvement
We use automatically collected technical data to operate the Site reliably, diagnose technical problems, analyze how visitors use the Site, and improve the Site's content and functionality.
3.4 Legal Compliance and Protection
We may use your information to comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal proceedings; to enforce our contractual agreements; to protect the rights, property, and safety of Apex, our clients, and the public; and to detect or prevent fraud, security incidents, or other illegal activity.
3.5 Business Operations
We use your information for internal business operations including accounting, audit, record-keeping, insurance, and quality management purposes. We retain business records in accordance with our record retention schedule and applicable legal requirements.
4. Sharing Your Information
We do not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties. We do not share your information for third-party advertising purposes. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:
4.1 Service Providers
We engage trusted third-party companies and individuals to facilitate certain aspects of our business, such as website hosting, email delivery, document management, accounting software, and project management platforms. These service providers are authorized to use your information only as necessary to provide services to us, and we require them to maintain appropriate security and confidentiality safeguards.
4.2 Professional Advisors
We may share information with lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurers, and other professional advisors as necessary to receive professional services or fulfill legal and compliance obligations, subject to applicable professional confidentiality obligations.
4.3 Project Subcontractors
Where you engage Apex for project services, we may share your facility and project information with pre-qualified subcontractors, specialty consultants, or equipment vendors who participate in your project. We share only the information necessary for project performance. These parties are bound by confidentiality terms in their contracts with Apex.
4.4 Legal Requirements and Safety
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, subpoena, or other government or regulatory process; or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of any person, prevent fraud, or protect the rights or property of Apex.
4.5 Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email or prominent notice on our Site if such a transfer occurs and your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our Site uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate and improve the site experience. A cookie is a small data file placed on your device by your browser when you visit a website.
5.1 Types of Cookies We Use
- Strictly necessary cookies — These are required for the Site to function (e.g., security tokens, session identifiers). You cannot opt out of these without disabling the Site.
- Analytics cookies — These help us understand how visitors use the Site by collecting aggregate, anonymized information about pages visited, time on site, and traffic sources. We use this data to improve the Site.
- Preference cookies — These remember choices you make (such as your preferred language or region) to provide a more personalized experience.
We do not use advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not enable third-party ad networks to collect data from our Site.
5.2 Managing Cookies
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through browser settings. You can set your browser to refuse all cookies, alert you when cookies are being sent, or delete existing cookies. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Site. Instructions for managing cookies in common browsers are available at allaboutcookies.org.
5.3 Do Not Track
Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. Our Site does not currently respond to DNT signals because there is no uniform industry standard for DNT compliance. We will reconsider this position as industry standards develop.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
- Inquiry records — If you contact us but do not engage our services, we retain your contact and inquiry information for up to 3 years, after which it is deleted or anonymized.
- Client records — For active or past clients, we retain project records, communications, and related personal information for a minimum of 7 years following project completion, in compliance with professional standards and applicable law.
- Marketing communications — If you subscribe to receive communications from us, we retain your contact information until you unsubscribe, after which we retain a minimal suppression record to ensure we do not re-add you.
- Site analytics data — Anonymized or aggregated analytics data may be retained indefinitely as it does not identify individual users.
7. Your Rights and Choices
Depending on where you are located and applicable law, you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information:
- Access — You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction — You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Deletion — You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to our legal retention obligations and legitimate business needs.
- Objection / Restriction — You may object to or request restriction of certain processing activities.
- Portability — Where processing is based on your consent or a contract, you may request a machine-readable copy of your information.
- Withdraw Consent — Where we rely on your consent to process your information, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@apexrefineries.org or at the mailing address in Section 1. We will respond to your request within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request, and we may deny requests that are manifestly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive.
You may also opt out of marketing emails at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any such email or by contacting us directly. We will process your opt-out within 10 business days.
8. Security
We implement and maintain reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include:
- Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS) for all Site communications.
- Access controls limiting employee access to personal information to those with a legitimate business need.
- Secure document management systems with audit logging for client project records.
- Regular security assessments of our systems and third-party service providers.
However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you believe your information has been compromised in connection with our Site, please contact us immediately at security@apexrefineries.org.
9. Third-Party Links
Our Site may contain links to third-party websites, industry organizations, regulatory agencies, or professional resources. These links are provided for your convenience and do not constitute our endorsement of those websites or their content. When you leave our Site, you are subject to the privacy practices of the destination site, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you visit.
10. Children's Privacy
Our Site and services are directed exclusively to business professionals and commercial entities. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are under 18, do not use or provide any information on our Site.
If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have collected information from a child, please contact us at privacy@apexrefineries.org.
11. California Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).
11.1 Categories of Information Collected
In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (name, email, phone, IP address); professional or employment-related information (company name, job title, project details); commercial information (services inquired about or purchased); and internet/electronic activity information (Site usage data).
11.2 California Rights
California residents have the right to:
- Know what categories of personal information we collect and for what purpose.
- Access specific pieces of personal information we hold about you.
- Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
- Correct inaccurate personal information.
- Opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information as defined under the CCPA/CPRA.
- Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.
To exercise California rights, submit a verifiable consumer request to privacy@apexrefineries.org or call us at (510) 558-5993. We will acknowledge your request within 10 business days and respond within 45 calendar days.
You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, provided the agent can demonstrate authorization to act on your behalf and you verify your identity directly with us.
11.3 Shine the Light
California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request certain information about the disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the prior calendar year. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes, so no such disclosure has occurred.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or by placing a prominent notice on our Site.
Your continued use of the Site after any changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
Prior versions of this policy are available upon request.
13. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:
Apex Refinery Solutions, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
1800 Harrison Street, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
Email: privacy@apexrefineries.org
Phone: (510) 558-5993
We take privacy inquiries seriously and will respond to your inquiry within 30 days.