Privacy Policy

The American Film Association ("AFA," "we," "us," or "our") is a membership organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 2025. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and transparency. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, with whom we may share it, and the choices available to you.

By accessing our website, creating a membership account, registering for an event, or otherwise interacting with the AFA, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our services.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us, information we collect automatically through your use of our services, and information we receive from third parties.

Information You Provide Directly

• Identity and contact information: Your name, email address, phone number, and mailing address when you create an account, register for membership, or contact us.
• Professional information: Your company name, job title, industry role, and professional background when you complete your member profile or apply for membership tiers.
• Payment information: Credit or debit card details, billing address, and transaction history when you purchase a membership or event tickets. Payment card data is processed by our third-party payment processor and is not stored on our servers.
• Event registration data: Dietary preferences, accessibility needs, and other information you provide when registering for AFA events, the Summit, or the Gala.
• Communications: Content of messages, inquiries, and feedback you send to us via email, contact forms, or other channels.

Information We Collect Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, and navigation paths on our website.
• Device and browser data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.
• Referral data: The URL of the page that referred you to our site and search terms used to find us.
• Log data: Server logs that record access requests, errors, and other system activity.

Information from Third Parties

• Information from our payment processor (e.g., confirmation of successful transactions).
• Information from marketing platforms or event registration partners that you have authorized to share data with us.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Service delivery: To process membership applications, collect membership dues, provide access to member benefits, and manage your account.
• Event management: To process event registrations, communicate event logistics, and administer AFA events including the annual Summit and Gala.
• Communications: To send you transactional emails (receipts, confirmations, account notices), membership updates, newsletters, event announcements, and other communications relevant to your membership or interests. You may opt out of non-transactional communications at any time.
• Membership management: To administer membership tiers, track renewal dates, process upgrades or downgrades, and verify eligibility for tier-specific benefits.
• Customer support: To respond to your inquiries, resolve disputes, and troubleshoot issues.
• Improvement of services: To analyze usage patterns, conduct research, and improve our website, events, and membership offerings.
• Legal and compliance: To comply with applicable laws and regulations, enforce our Terms of Service, protect our rights and the rights of our members, and respond to lawful requests from government authorities.
• Safety and security: To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and other unauthorized use of our services.

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We do not rent, trade, or sell your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers: We share information with trusted third-party vendors who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, email delivery, website hosting, analytics, and customer relationship management. These service providers are contractually obligated to use your information only to perform services for us and to maintain appropriate security measures.
• Event co-sponsors and partners: With your consent, or where disclosed at the time of registration, we may share your name and contact information with event sponsors or partners in connection with a specific AFA event you attend.
• Member directory: Certain membership tiers may include optional listing in a member directory accessible to other AFA members. Participation in any directory feature is opt-in.
• Legal compliance: We may disclose your information if required by applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of the AFA, our members, or the public.
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the successor entity, subject to the same protections described in this policy.

4. Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience and collect usage data. Cookies are small text files placed on your device by your browser at a website's request.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for core site functionality such as session management, authentication, and security. These cannot be disabled without impairing site functionality.
• Analytics cookies: Used to understand how visitors interact with our site, including which pages are most visited and how users navigate through the site. This data is aggregated and used to improve our services.
• Preference cookies: Store your preferences and settings (such as language or display settings) to provide a more personalized experience on return visits.
• Marketing cookies: Used to deliver relevant content and, where applicable, to measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party advertising partners.

You may control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. Most browsers allow you to refuse new cookies, delete existing cookies, and be notified when new cookies are set.

We may also use pixel tags, web beacons, or similar technologies in our emails to track whether emails are opened and links are clicked. You can disable this tracking by setting your email client to not display images.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

• Active members: We retain account information for the duration of your membership and for a reasonable period thereafter to accommodate renewal, reactivation, or inquiry resolution.
• Former members and event attendees: We retain records of past membership and event attendance for our organizational records, typically for a period of seven (7) years following the end of the relationship, unless otherwise required by law.
• Financial records: Payment and transaction records are retained as required by applicable tax and accounting laws, typically a minimum of seven (7) years.
• Marketing communications: If you unsubscribe from marketing emails, we retain a record of your opt-out preference to honor your request and prevent future contact.

When personal information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to securely delete or anonymize it.

6. Your Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the following 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 information. Members may update most profile information directly through their account dashboard.
• Deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information. We will honor deletion requests subject to our legal obligations to retain certain records and our legitimate interests in maintaining records of past transactions.
• Opt-out of marketing: You may opt out of receiving marketing emails at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email or by contacting us directly. Note that you may continue to receive transactional and service-related communications even after opting out of marketing.
• Data portability: Where technically feasible and required by applicable law, you may request a copy of your personal information in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Restriction of processing: In certain circumstances, you may request that we limit the processing of your personal information.
• Objection: You may object to our processing of your personal information where we rely on legitimate interests as a legal basis for processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

7. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

We take all privacy inquiries seriously and will respond as promptly as possible.

8. 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 "Effective Date" at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or through a prominent notice on our website.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of our services after any changes to this policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

Prior versions of this Privacy Policy are available upon request by contacting us at the address above.