Personal Information Collection Statement

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

USThing (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting the personal data of our users. We recognize our responsibilities in relation to the collection, use, and handling of personal data under the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) (the “Ordinance”). This statement explains our practices and your rights regarding your personal data.

2. Purpose of Collection

We collect and use your personal data for the following specific purposes:

• To process and manage your requests for our products and services.
• To provide you with personalized information and features related to your academic progress, such as course enrollment and grade information.
• For our internal operational purposes, such as service improvement, debugging, developing new features, and statistical analysis.
• To manage your registration for events or webinars organized by USThing and send you related communications.
• To process and assess job applications for positions within USThing.
• For any other purposes directly related to the above.

3. Supply of Personal Data

The provision of your personal data is voluntary. However, for us to provide our core services, it is mandatory for you to supply certain personal data, including:

• Personal details (including but not limited to your name, email address, student ID).
• Academic records (including but not limited to course enrollment information and grades).

In the event that you do not provide such mandatory personal data, we will be unable to offer you our products or services.

4. Classes of Transferees

Your personal data will be kept confidential but may, where necessary to satisfy the purposes stated above, be provided to the following classes of transferees:

• Our staff, volunteers, and authorized agents who are involved in operating and maintaining our services.
• Third-party service providers who assist with our operations, including:
  • Cloud Hosting, IT, and Analytics Providers: such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, PostHog, and Cloudflare, for the purpose of hosting our services and analyzing usage to improve them.
  • Transactional Email Service Providers: such as Resend, for sending system-critical communications (e.g., password resets, service notifications).
• Government bodies, regulatory authorities, or law enforcement agencies, as required or permitted by law.
• Third-party auditors or legal advisors for the purpose of receiving professional consultation.

Your personal data may be transferred to, processed, and stored in locations outside of Hong Kong where our service providers operate.

5. Use of Personal Data for Direct Marketing

USThing does not use your personal data for direct marketing purposes. We will not send you promotional materials for unrelated services, nor will we provide your data to any third party for their marketing activities.

6. Your Rights to Access and Correction

Under the Ordinance, you have the right to:

• Check whether we hold personal data about you and request access to such data.
• Request us to correct any of your personal data that is inaccurate.

Requests for access to or correction of your personal data should be made in writing and addressed to:

The Data Protection Officer
Email: usthing@ust.hk

In accordance with the Ordinance, we have the right to charge a reasonable fee for the processing of any data access request.

7. Data Retention

We will retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable legal, statutory, and regulatory requirements. Once the data is no longer needed for these purposes, it will be securely destroyed.

8. Amendments to this Statement

We may amend this statement from time to time. Any changes will be posted on our platform. We recommend you check for updates to this statement periodically.