United Certification Services LLC (“UCS”, “we”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we process when you use this website or contact us, why, and what rights you have. Where you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, we process your data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent UK law.
1. Controller
United Certification Services LLC, 777 Brickell Avenue, Suite 500, Miami, FL 33131, USA. E-mail: info@unitedcert.org.
2. What we collect and why
a) Website hosting and server logs. This website is hosted by Vercel Inc. (USA); the domain and its DNS are managed through IONOS. When you visit this website, Vercel automatically processes technical data that your browser transmits: IP address, date and time of the request, the page requested, referrer URL, browser type and operating system. This is necessary to deliver the site securely and to detect and prevent misuse. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a secure, functioning website). Logs are retained by the hosting provider for a short period and then deleted or anonymised. IONOS does not process personal data of website visitors; it only resolves the domain name.
b) E-mail. If you write to us, we process the data you provide (name, organisation, e-mail, phone if given, your message and chosen topic) to handle your enquiry. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (steps prior to entering into a contract) or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in responding to enquiries). We keep this correspondence for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and any follow-up, and in line with statutory retention periods.
c) Certification activities. If your organisation applies for or holds certification, we process contact and professional data about the individuals involved (for example applicants, management representatives, audit contacts) to carry out and maintain certification. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the certification agreement) and Art. 6(1)(c)/(f) GDPR (compliance with ISO/IEC 17021-1 and accreditation requirements). Certification records are retained for the period required by those rules (currently the duration of a full certification cycle plus one further cycle).
d) Public certificate register. Where you hold a certificate, limited information (certified organisation name, certificate number, standard, scope, site(s), status and validity dates) is published in our Certificate check so that certification can be verified. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
3. Provision of personal data
Providing certain personal data is necessary to use parts of this website or to work with us. For example, we cannot process a certification application without contact and professional details for your management representatives and audit contacts, and we cannot respond to an enquiry sent by e-mail without a way to reach you. Where data is required to enter into or perform an agreement with us, we indicate this at the point of collection; without it, we may be unable to provide the service you have requested.
4. Recipients
We disclose personal data only where necessary: to our hosting and IT service providers acting as processors under Art. 28 GDPR, including the provider of our info@unitedcert.org mailbox; to auditors and technical experts engaged for a specific certification; to our accreditation body (for example during witnessed audits or file reviews); and to public authorities where legally required. We do not sell personal data.
5. International transfers
We are established in the United States. Our website is hosted by Vercel Inc. (USA), which is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; transfers of personal data of individuals in the EU/UK in this context rely on that adequacy decision (Art. 45 GDPR).
If you contact us directly, we collect your data directly as a controller established in the United States and process it there.
6. Your rights
Subject to the conditions in the GDPR, you have the right to: access your data (Art. 15); rectification (Art. 16); erasure (Art. 17); restriction of processing (Art. 18); data portability (Art. 20); and to object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21). Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time with future effect.
To exercise any right, contact info@unitedcert.org.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the EU/EEA member state of your habitual residence, place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.