Privacy Policy

EN ESPAÑOL: POLÍTICA DE PRIVACIDAD

USP respects the privacy of customers and visitors accessing this website and other websites maintained by USP (“USP Websites”), and takes seriously its responsibilities regarding the privacy and security of information related to visitors of any USP Website. USP has established this privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) to inform you, a user of the USP Websites, about how USP collects and uses any personal data that will be collected about you as you are using this website.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; an “identifiable natural person” is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. The term “processing” (when used in reference to personal data) refers to any operation performed on personal data, including collecting, storing, using, disclosing, combining or erasing such data.

I. Data Collection 

USP may collect personal data including, but not limited to, your name, title, employer, address, telephone number, payment or billing information, and email address, along with information about the computer or device you use to access USP Websites, in various ways, including:

• You may provide personal data to USP directly, such as when you register for newsletters or services, contact USP via web forms or email, volunteer to participate as an expert, or purchase our products or services.
• USP may also collect certain information automatically when you use the USP Websites, including through the use of cookies, pixels, and similar technologies. This includes your internet protocol (IP) address, device and advertising identifiers, browser type, operating system, Internet service provider, pages that you visit before and after using USP, the date and time of your visit, information about the links you click and the pages you view within USP, and other standard server log information. We may also infer information from the information above.
• We also may collect other information about you, your device, or your use of the USP Websites in ways described to you at the point of collection or otherwise with your consent or at your direction.

We may also receive information about you from other sources, including through third-party services and organizations, and publicly available information (as permitted by law). For example, if you interact with our social media pages (such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X), we may collect information about you from these third-party services.

Please see the USP Cookie Policy at the end of this page for information about USP’s and third parties’ use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

II. Data Use 

USP may use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To provide, manage, and improve our services, products, or materials you request, such as to process transactions, complete registration, analyze the use of our products and services, customize and make more relevant our products, services, and marketing and determine the effectiveness of our offers and marketing.
• To communicate with you about our services, products, or other materials or offers, such as to respond to customer service inquiries or conduct customer surveys and, where permitted by law, to send you offers and other promotions that you may find of interest (in performing direct marketing, USP follows the Market Research Association’s Code of the Ethics).
• To protect the security and integrity of our website and other products and services and enforce our and others’ legal rights, including to detect and prevent fraud or other potentially illegal activity.
• Otherwise with your consent or at your direction.

USP may also use cookies, pixels, and other technologies on its websites (please see our Cookie Policy at the end of this page for more information), for purposes including to enhance your browsing experience, analyze traffic to our site, and customize content and advertising. Aggregate data which has been de-identified may be used by USP and by third parties to perform analytics on the use of USP's Websites.

Please note that the data you provide on the USP Websites may be processed, as necessary, for USP to comply with its contractual obligations (e.g., to provide you with USP products and services) and respond to your queries, and for USP to comply with its legal obligations.

III. Data Sharing 

USP will not sell, trade or rent your personal information to third parties, but may share your personal data for the purposes described above, including with:

• Authorized third-party vendors and service providers. USP may share your information with third-party vendors and service-providers that provide USP with specialized services, including billing, payment processing, customer service, email deployment, business analytics, marketing, advertising, performance monitoring, hosting, and data processing.
• Corporate affiliates. USP may share your information with its corporate affiliates for the purposes set out above.
• Business partners. USP may share your information in connection with a completed or proposed corporate transaction, such as the sale of all or part of the USP group of companies, a merger, consolidation, asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.
• Authorized courts or authorities. USP may disclose information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, law enforcement requests, legal claims or government inquiries, or as otherwise may be required or permitted by applicable law.
• With your consent or at your direction. USP may share information for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time USP collects the information or pursuant to your consent or direction.

This website is maintained by USP in the United States, but the information you provide will be accessible to USP partners and service providers that may be located in other countries. Therefore, your personal data may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the country in which you are resident, including the United States if you are not a U.S. resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country.

IV. Third-Party Links

USP Websites may link to third-party websites and services that are outside of USP’s control. USP is not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by other websites or other services. You should exercise caution and review the privacy policies applicable to the third-party websites and services you use.

V. Security

USP has implemented technical and organizational security measures intended to prevent unauthorized or unlawful disclosure or access to, accidental or unlawful loss of or destruction, alteration or unauthorized disclosure of or access to, or other damage to your personal data. These measures are intended to ensure an appropriate level of security in relation to the risks inherent in the processing and the nature of the personal data to be protected.

Nevertheless, you understand and agree that perfect security does not exist anywhere, including on the Internet. When you send credit card information to USP over the Internet, USP encrypts this information between your computer and our server. Other information you send to USP, including email messages, will not be encrypted unless USP advises you otherwise.

VI. Data Retention

USP only keeps your information for as long as we are either required to by law, or as is relevant for the purposes for which it was collected.

VII. Your Rights

Under applicable law, you may have certain rights over your personal data. In particular, you may have the right to request access, rectification, erasure and portability of your personal data, and the right to object to or request restriction of processing of your personal data. Where USP is using your information on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of the processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Requests should be submitted in writing to the address listed below in the “Contact USP” section. You may also “opt-out” of receiving e-mails and other communications from us by using the unsubscribe feature included in the e-mails we send.

You may exercise any of the rights granted to you under applicable law at any time by contacting us as described under the “Contact USP” section below. USP will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

VIII. Contact USP

You may contact USP at any time if you would like to correct, update, supplement or delete personal data. You may also contact USP at any time to opt-out of receiving communications from USP at the point where USP requests information about you. You may send us an email at privacy@usp.org, or you may send us mail to the following postal address:

Privacy, USP – Global Legal Affairs 
12601 Twinbrook Parkway 
Rockville, MD 20852

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please email USP at privacy@usp.org.

IX. Updates to this Privacy Policy 

USP reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes to the Privacy Policy shall be announced via this website. You are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Your continued use of this website will be subject to the then-current Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy was last updated on July 24, 2025.  

Cookie Policy

To enhance your experience on USP’s websites, many of USP’s web pages use cookies, pixels, and other similar technologies (“Cookies”). This Cookie Policy describes the different types of Cookies that USP uses in connection with the website it owns and controls, from which you are accessing this Cookie Policy (the “Website”), and how you can manage them. Note that to the extent information collected through Cookies constitutes personal data, the provisions in USP’s Privacy Policy (provided above) apply and complement this Cookie Policy.

I. What are Cookies? 

The types of Cookies used on the Website may include browser-based cookies, pixels, and other similar technologies. Browser cookies are small text files that are placed in your computer’s browser and pixels are snippets of code.

Cookies, by themselves, do not provide personal information like your email address to USP, although you may otherwise choose to provide this information to USP—for example, by registering for e-newsletters or completing a web form. Once you choose to provide personal information to a web page, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie. A cookie is like an identification card. It is unique to your computer and can be read only by the server that gave it to you.

Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work in a better, more efficient way. They can do this because websites can read and write these files, enabling them to recognize you and remember important information that will make your use of a website more convenient (e.g., by remembering preference settings).

Certain types of Cookies may be placed or activated through browser add-ons. While these types of technologies may be stored differently, their functionality and purpose is generally similar to other Cookies.

For more information about Cookies, please see www.allaboutcookies.org.

II. Cookies on the Website

USP and its partners use Cookies on the Website, for a variety of purposes. You will find below the list of the different types of Cookies that are or may be used on the Website and the purposes for which they are or may be used.

You may also find embedded videos from external sites such as YouTube or Vimeo. Cookies that come from other sites like YouTube but work on USP.org are third-party Cookies and are governed by such third-party’s privacy policy. Visitors may learn about third-party Cookie policies on the third-party website’s privacy pages.

Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some Cookies are “session cookies”, which means they only exist when your browser is open and are automatically deleted when you close your browser or quit the app. Other Cookies are “persistent cookies”, meaning they survive after your browser or app is closed and can be used by websites or apps to recognize your computer when you re-open your browser or app later.

III. How to Manage Cookies

You can set your browser settings so that you will not receive cookies and you can delete existing cookies from your browser. Information about the procedure to follow in order to enable or disable cookies can be found on your Internet browser provider’s website via your help screen. You may wish to refer to http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/index.html for information on commonly used browsers. You may find that some parts of this site will not function properly if you have refused cookies. In addition, you may opt out of receiving certain advertisements from participating companies by visiting the websites of the Network Advertising Initiative and Digital Advertising Alliance.

IV. Updates to this Cookie Policy

We may change this Cookie Policy at any time. Any changes in this Cookie Policy will become effective when we make the updated Cookie Policy available on or through the Website. This Cookie Policy was last updated on July 24, 2025.