Greater Houston Black Chamber – Terms & Conditions & User Privacy Policy
Effective Date: May 5, 2025

Membership Consent & Communication Agreement
By applying for membership, you expressly grant the Greater Houston Black Chamber permission to:

Include your business name, logo, and contact details in GHBC’s public member directory.

Send occasional text messages to your provided phone number for urgent, time-sensitive updates related to GHBC programs, events, or advocacy actions.

Add your contact information to GHBC’s email distribution lists to receive newsletters, e-blasts, and event announcements.

Use photos or video content that may include your image, if captured at GHBC events or programs, for promotional purposes on the Chamber’s website, social media, or print materials.

Promote your business, brand, or services via GHBC’s digital platforms, including but not limited to our website, blog, and social media.

You understand that GHBC will use this information solely to support its mission and visibility for member businesses, and that you may revoke any of the above permissions at any time by contacting info@ghbcc.com.

User Privacy Policy
Who We Are
At GHBC, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our members. Member data is stored in our secure Member Portal, a trusted platform designed to protect your information. GHBC values your trust and follows responsible data use practices:

Members retain ownership of their data. You may update or deactivate your member account at any time.

If a member account is deactivated, your data will be protected and not accessible to vendors or technical personnel.

GHBC does not sell or share member data with third-party vendors for unrelated marketing or promotional use.

Website and User Interactions
Comments
When visitors leave comments on our site, we collect the data shown in the comment form, along with the IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. Approved comments may display the user’s profile picture publicly.

Media Uploads
If you upload images to our site, we recommend removing embedded location data (EXIF GPS) to protect your privacy. Other users may be able to download and extract location data from images posted publicly.

Cookies
If you comment on our site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies for convenience.

Cookies may also be used when you visit or log in to our site, including temporary login and display preference cookies.

These cookies will expire based on your login preferences or after 1 year unless removed manually.

Embedded Content
GHBC pages may include embedded content (e.g., videos or articles) from third-party websites. These websites may collect user data and use cookies independently of GHBC.

Data Sharing, Retention & Rights
Data Sharing: We only share your data with trusted services required for technical operations (e.g., password resets).

Data Retention: Comments and their metadata may be stored indefinitely. User profile data is retained as long as the membership remains active.

User Rights: You may request an exported file of the personal data we store or request deletion of your data, with exceptions for data retained for legal or security purposes.

Where Your Data Is Sent
Visitor comments may be checked through automated spam detection services. GHBC takes reasonable measures to ensure your data is protected across our platforms and service providers.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about this policy or wish to change your communication preferences, please contact:

Greater Houston Black Chamber (GHBC)
Email: info@ghbcc.com
Phone: 713-660-8299