Privacy Policy

The Forté Institute Privacy Policy

Our mission is to provide integrated and evidenced-based interpersonal productivity tools for improved communication.

To assist us in carrying out our mission, we collect and process certain information you provide us. We work hard to be good stewards of your information. This Privacy Policy is meant to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.

What do we collect and how?

Anonymous and Aggregated Web Traffic Information.

General traffic, site usage, browser information, length-of-stay information, and location data, is collected and stored in log files. This type of information is collected and shared on an anonymous, aggregated basis meaning that we do not connect this information to your name or other personal information.

Personal Information (non-financial).

We collect all or some of the following personal information: first and last name, gender and email address, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone number, fax number, and subject of inquiry, in the following contexts:

Forte Communication Style Surveys: To participate in a Forte Communication Style Survey, we require name, gender and email address.  Other contact information such as phone, address, etc. are optional. We assign you a unique Forte identifier to log into our website.

Client Information: If you are a Forte client, we may collect business contact information which may include your personal contact information.

Requests: We collect information volunteered by users, including from requests via “Contact Us.” We also may collect email addresses of those who communicate with us via email.

Online Products/Programs: We may collect some contact information you’re explicitly asked to provide in connection with certain Institute products or programs.

Financial Information.

We do not collect payment information from individuals.  For Forte business clients, we collect payment information by phone or in connection with your contract with the Institute and in the Corporate section of our website.  For Corporate clients, standard credit card information (card number, card type, expiration date, etc.) is collected through a third-party payer who is compliant with Payment Card Industry data security standards.

Protected Health Information.

The Institute does not collect “protected health information” as defined by the regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 via the website.

Opt-In Chat Areas.

We may offer opt-in chat areas.  Any information you share in an opt-in chat area will be displayed for other users with access to the chat area.

As we continue to develop our business, we may buy or sell businesses or assets.  In such transactions, confidential customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets.  In the event of a transaction involving the sale of some or all of Forte’s businesses, customer and site visitor information may be one of the transferred assets and may be disclosed in connection with negotiations relating to a proposed transaction.  In such case, the transferred information may become subject to a different privacy policy.

What we do with the info we collect:

We process your information for the legitimate interest of enabling individuals to identify and understand their natural interpersonal communication style preferences through Forte Institute Communications Style Surveys and Reports. Processing your information for the purposes described is necessary for us to do what we do and it’s in both of our interests.  When we use your information based on our legitimate interests, we conduct a balancing test based on the legitimate interest, necessity of processing your information, and how such processing impacts you.

If you have any questions or concerns with us processing your information for this legitimate interest, please email us at ClientServices@theforteinstitute.com.

We’ll ask for your consent before using your information for a purpose that extends beyond what you may reasonably expect from a communication guidance service provider and that has a more significant privacy impact.

The Institute works with trusted vendors in the following categories to help fulfill our mission and process your information for the purposes described: packaging, delivering or mailing, answering customer questions about products or services, sending postal mail, and storing data. We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service, and they are contractually prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.

What are Cookies and how do we use them:

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, we use cookies and other online tracking technologies to store and sometimes track information about you to:

  • Provide you with personalized content based on your use of our website
  • Enable you to more easily use our website by remembering and using contact information, purchasing information, and registration information
  • Evaluate, monitor and analyze the use of our site and its traffic patterns to help improve our website and services

The types of technologies we use include:

Cookies. 

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive.  Cookies enable us to identify your browser as a unique user.  Cookies may involve the transmission of information from us to you and from you to us.  Cookies may also be used by another party on our behalf to transfer information to us in accordance with their privacy policy.  Some cookies are “persistent cookies.”  They are used by us each time you access our Website.  Other cookies are called “session cookies.”  Session cookies are used only during a specific browsing session.  We may use a session cookie, for example, to remember that you have already navigated through a particular menu, or that you have entered in age information for a portion of a site that is restricted by age.  We may also use “analytics cookies” that allow web analytics services to recognize your browser or device and, for example, identify whether you have visited our Website before, what you have previously viewed or clicked on, and how you found us.  This information is provided anonymously for statistical analysis only.  Analytics cookies are usually persistent cookies.

You may disable browser cookies in your browser or set your browser to warn you when a cookie is being sent.  You may lose some features or functionality when you disable cookies.  Remember, also, that disabling cookies is browser specific.  If you log on using Microsoft Edge, you must also disable cookies in Safari if you use that browser at a different time.

Choices you have about your info:

If you are a registered user of the Institute’s website you can review, correct and change your personal information and your communication preferences by logging into the website and visiting your account profile page.

You may also send us an email at ClientServices@theforteinstitute.com to request access to, correct, or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. Please note, we may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

You may have heard about “Do Not Track” (DNT), which is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers.  Our website does not support DNT codes.

How we protect your information:

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorized way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorized manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

  • We use encryption technology for credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords and registration information.
  • All client data is stored offline. All Forté databases are on servers that may not be accessed by any other means than Forte personnel and contractors.
  • Forté Institute portal server and software, which interacts with the database servers by software code, not internet address protocol. Forté databases may not be accessed directly through the Internet.
  • There are no open, unencrypted FTP ports on the Forté servers.
  • There is no secondary access to the Forté servers.
  • The online servers are for program execution only.
  • The Forté servers are password protected with a 14-digit/1024-bit encrypted process.
  • All sensitive interactivity is protected by SSL 256-bit encryption.
  • Only the proprietary Forté logic can process the Forté data.
  • Each Forté client is provided with a unique 19-digit identification number (ID) and randomly generated personal identification number (PIN). The client may change the PIN at any time. This is the same technology used by the global credit card companies.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

How long we keep your information:

We keep your information only so long as we need it to provide the service you’ve requested of us and fulfill the purposes described in this policy. When we no longer need to use your information for the purpose we collected it and there is no need for us to keep it to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, we’ll either remove it from our systems or depersonalize it so that we can’t identify you.

Our policy on children’s information:

If you are under 18 years of age, you may not purchase products or services from, and you should not provide information to, the website without the involvement of a parent or guardian. We do not collect online contact information without prior parental consent or parental notification, including an opportunity for the parent to prevent use of the information and participation in the activity. We do not knowingly solicit personal information online from, or market online to, children under the age of 13.

 For our friends in the EU:

This Privacy Policy includes information applicable to European Union (“EU”) residents or users accessing the website in the EU. If you are an EU resident, this Privacy Policy provides you with information regarding your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

Transfer of Personal Data.

The Institute and our websites are based in the United States and, regardless of where you access the website, the information collected as part of that use will be transferred to and maintained on servers located in the United States. The European Commission has determined that the US lacks an adequate level of protection for personal information of EU data subjects. The Institute is not currently certified under the Privacy Shield. By logging into your Forte account and clicking on “I have read this Privacy Policy” you are consenting to the transfer of your personal data to the U.S.

Although there is risk in transmitting your information to a country that does not have adequate protection, the Institute does take steps to secure your personal data.

Your Choices.

The GDPR provides you with certain privacy rights.  If you wish to access or update your personal information, contact us at the address or number below.  You may also request to have your information deleted, although we may retain information for backups, prevention of fraud and abuse, satisfaction of legal obligations or other ongoing legitimate interests.  You may decline to share certain personal data, in which case we may not be able to provide you with some features and benefits.

Right to Object.

If you are an EU resident , you have the right to object to our processing that is based on legitimate interests by contacting us at the address or number below.

Right to Lodge a Complaint.

If you are an EU resident and you believe that Institute has infringed your rights under the GDPR, please contact us by sending an email to ClientServices@theforteinstitute.com or calling us at +353.22.20923.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in your applicable Member State.

 For our friends in CA:

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our website visitors who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to ClientServices@theforteinstitute.com. Please make sure to state that you are a California Resident.

How we make changes to this policy:

We may change this policy from time to time and if we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. If you continue to use our website after those changes are in effect, you agree to the new policy. If the changes are significant, we may provide a more prominent notice or get your consent, as required by law.

Contact us:

If you have any questions about this policy or need to contact the Institute to exercise your rights as a data subject under the GDPR, please contact the Institute’s Privacy Officer at: ClientServices@theforteinstitute.com or calling us at 910.452.5152 in the United States, +353.22.20923 in the European Union or +82.2.760.8800 in Korea.

Last Updated: January 17, 2023