Qatar Foundation International LLC Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies and other similar technologies (such as logfiles and pixels). Please read this Cookie Policy carefully as it contains important information about who we are and how we use cookies and other similar technologies on our website. This policy should be read together with our Privacy Notice which sets out how and why we collect, store, use and share personal information generally, as well as your rights in relation to your personal information and details of how to contact us and your local supervisory authority if you have a complaint.

Who are we?

This website is operated by Qatar Foundation International LLC (“QFI”). We are a US-based organization dedicated to advancing the learning and teaching of Arabic as a valuable, professional, and accessible global language. For more information, please see the ‘About’ page on our website (https://www.qfi.org/about/).

Our Website

This Cookie Policy only relates to your use of our website (https://www.qfi.org/).

Our website includes plugins and embedded links to other websites such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn. If you use these links or plugins to access content on these other websites, the social media provider may place cookies etc. on your device. Further information can be found in the relevant social media operator’s own privacy notice or cookie notice. This notice does not apply.

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small text file which is placed onto your device (e.g. computer, smartphone or other electronic device) when you use our website. We use cookies on our website. These help us to recognize you when you come back to our website and display what you want to see on our website and store some information about your preferences or past use of the website.

We use cookies on our website to:

• ensure a smooth connection of the website;
• recognize you when you return to our website and to automatically remember your settings and preferences (e.g. your choice of language);
• recognize your device or browser and personalize our website to you by showing you the content we think you will be most interested in based on your account information, your purchase history and your browsing activity;
• retrieve recently viewed content or third-party account IDs (for example, when you pay via PayPal or sign in via a third party social media account);
• improve and maintain our system security and monitor website usage; and
• target our marketing and advertising campaigns more effectively.

This information helps us to build a profile of our users and a single customer view. Some of this data will be aggregated or statistical, which means that we will not be able to identify you individually.

For further information on our use of cookies please see below. For further information on cookies generally, including how to control and manage them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Your privacy or data protection regulator may also have information on cookies.

What types of Cookies do we use and how long do they last for?

The cookies we place on your device fall into the following categories – please see the table below for which are applicable:

• Necessary (or essential) cookies – These cookies are essential for a smooth-running site. They allow core functionality for your account login. They also support security, network management and accessibility.
• First party functional cookies – These cookies mean we can personalize the content you see, and allow features on our site to work as they should. The personal data collected by these cookies is first party. This means that the personal data collected by these cookies is used only by QFI.
• Analytical and performance cookies – These cookies help us to understand how visitors move around our website. They help us improve the way our website works so we can optimize performance. All information these cookies collect is anonymous.
• Social media cookies – These cookies are set by a range of social media services we use to embed content into our site. They can track your browsing across other sites, and build-up a profile of your interests. If you don’t allow these cookies, you won’t be able to see embedded content on our site.
• Marketing cookies – These cookies may be set through our website by our advertising partners. They uniquely recognize your browser and internet device, and build a profile of your interests to provide you with relevant adverts on other sites you may visit. If you choose to reject these cookies, you’ll experience less personalized offers and products.

The cookies we place on your device are stored for the following duration – please see the table below for which are applicable:

• Session cookies – these allow our website to link your actions during a particular browser session. These expire each time you close your browser and do not remain on your device afterwards.
• Persistent cookies – these are stored on your device in between browser sessions. These allow your preferences or actions across our website to be remembered. These will remain on your device until they expire, or you delete them from your cache. Details of their duration are set out below.

If you have any questions about the cookies we use or how we use them, please contact us at info@qfi.org or our EU and UK Representative at info@verasafe.com.

Detailed cookie information

The Cookies we use: Google Analytics

Name: _ga*
Domain: qfi.org
The type of cookie: Analytical and performance
Session/Persistent: Persistent
How long do they last?: 2 years
What do they do?: used to identify unique users

The Cookies we use: Google Analytics

Name: _gat
Domain: qfi.org
The type of cookie: Analytical and performance
Session/Persistent: Session
How long do they last?: 1 minute
What do they do?: Its primary purpose is to throttle the request rate, limiting the collection of data on high-traffic sites. This helps to ensure that the analytics service can handle high volumes of requests without performance issues.

The Cookies we use: Google Analytics

Name: _gid
Domain: qfi.org
The type of cookie: Analytical and performance
Session/Persistent: Session
How long do they last?: 24 hours
What do they do?: The purpose of the _gid cookie is to distinguish users by generating a unique ID for each user.

The Cookies we use: Google Analytics

Name: ncc_*
Domain: qfi.org
The type of cookie: Functional
Session/Persistent: Persistent
How long do they last?: 1 year
What do they do?: The purpose of the ncc_* cookie is to determine and control script execution in compliance with the user's cookie consent choice.

Please note that Google Analytics anonymizes the IP address of visitors by default so that data is processed anonymously.

We periodically review the cookies we use and update our cookie table, this Cookie Policy and our Privacy Notice accordingly.

What other similar technologies do we use?

When you visit our website, we will also collect information related to the browser you use and about your device. This information is collected automatically and temporarily stored on our systems in a so-called logfile and contains the following:

• IP address (automatically deleted after 14 days);
• date and time of access;
• name and URL of the webpage accessed;
• the website from which the access was made ("referrer URL");
• the search engine you used (if applicable);
• the browser you used; and
• the operating system of your device.

We use this information to:

• perform statistical analysis using a pseudonym in order to optimize our website;
• monitor traffic data, location data, and the originating domain name of your internet service provider;
• detect fraudulent use, i.e. when a login request is placed from your account with an IP address in a country from which you have not yet logged in; and
• perform error analysis should our system crash or result in a loss of data.

This information is stored until it expires automatically at the end of each browser session, and at the latest after seven days, unless their further storage is necessary or required by law.

Our Legal Basis for using Cookies and other similar technologies

We will ask for your consent (Article 6(1)(a) of GDPR and UK GDPR) to place cookies or other similar technologies on your device, except where they are necessary or essential (see above for examples of what we mean by necessary or essential). There is a cookie banner on our homepage which asks for your consent to place cookies on your device.

Where the cookies or other similar technologies placed on your device are necessary or essential, we will use your personal information on the basis that it is in our legitimate interests to do so (Article 6(1)(f) of GDPR and UK GDPR).

You can withdraw any consent you have given to the use of cookies and control and/or delete cookies being placed on your device by configuring your browser or by visiting our Cookie Preference Center. The Cookie Preference Center can be found and accessed by clicking the cookie icon located on every page of our website.

You can also delete cookies that are already on your device and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed – please see below.

Third Party Access to the Cookies

The cookies and other similar technologies we use will only be accessed by us and those third parties named in the table below for the purposes referred to in this Cookie Policy. Those cookies will not be accessed by any other third party.

When you visit our Social Media Fanpages, the social media provider processes your personal information using social media cookies. You can find more detailed information on data processing in the privacy policy of the respective social media provider listed below. Some social media providers also offer the option to object to certain data processing. Please note that according to the social media providers, user data is also processed in the USA or other third countries.

Platform: Facebook/Meta

Postal address:

If you live outside the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK:

Meta Platforms, Inc.,
ATTN: Privacy Operations
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025

If you live in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK:

Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd,
4 Grand Canal Square,
Grand Canal Harbour,
Dublin 2, Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/

Platform: Instagram

Postal address:

If you live outside the EU/ EFTA States, Switzerland or the UK:

Meta Platforms, Inc.
ATTN: Privacy Operations
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025

If you live in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK:

Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd,
4 Grand Canal Square,
Grand Canal Harbour,
Dublin 2, Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy: https://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy

Platform: LinkedIn

Postal address:

If you live outside the EU/, EEA or Switzerland:

LinkedIn Corporation,
1000 W. Maude Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
USA

If you live in the EU, EEA or Switzerland:

LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company,
Wilton Place,
Dublin 2,
Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy:

General Privacy Policy - https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy Privacy Policy for California Residents - https://www.linkedin.com/legal/california-privacy-disclosure

Platform: Pinterest

Postal address:

If you live outside the EEA, Switzerland or the UK:

Pinterest, Inc.
651 Brannan St.,
San Francisco, CA 94107,
USA

If you live in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK:

Pinterest Europe Ltd
Palmerston House, 2nd Floor
Fenian Street
Dublin 2, Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy:

General Privacy Policy - https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy

Privacy Policy for California Residents - https://policy.pinterest.com/en/notice-at-collection

Platform: X/Twitter

Postal address:

If you live outside the EU, EFTA States, or the UK:

X Corp.
1355 Market St #900,
San Francisco, CA 94103,
USA

If you live in the EU, EFTA States, or the UK:

Twitter International Unlimited Company
One Cumberland Place,
Fenian Street Dublin 2, D02 AX07,
Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy

Platform: Youtube

Postal address:

If you live outside the EEA or Switzerland:

Google LLC
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway,
Mountain View, CA 94043,
USA

If you live in the EEA or Switzerland:

Google Ireland Limited
Gordon House,
Barrow Street, Dublin 4,
Ireland

Link to the Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

How to turn off all Cookies and the consequences of doing so

If you do not want to accept any cookies, you may be able to change your browser settings so that cookies (including those which are necessary or essential) are not accepted. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit our website and some services and functionalities may not work or may stop working properly.

For further information on cookies generally, including how to disable them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Your privacy or data protection regulator may also have information on cookies.

How can You contact us?

Please contact us at info@qfi.org if you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or the information we hold about you.

Changes to this Policy

We may change this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update our website with the new version of this Cookie Policy.

Country Specific Issues

This section is relevant to those based in Germany. In addition to what we have said above, we have set out in more detail below our legal basis as required under the Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG).

For German visitors

Our legal basis for using cookies and other similar technologies

In addition to our legal basis under GDPR set out above, we rely on Section 25 para. 1 TTDSG for use non-essential cookies and other similar technologies. We rely on Section 25 para. 2 no. 2 TTDSG for use of necessary or essential cookies and other similar technologies.