Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy — Golden Women Awards

Last Updated: January 2026 | Effective Date: January 1, 2026

Golden Women Awards ("we," "our," or "us"), operated by Golden Tree Events LLC, is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you visit our website at goldenwomenawards.com, submit a nomination, contact us, or otherwise interact with our services. Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with its terms, please discontinue use of our site.

1. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information in connection with our awards program and website:

Nomination Data: When you submit a nomination — whether self-nomination or a third-party nomination — we collect information including name, job title, company name, business address, country, industry sector, professional biography, business achievements, supporting documentation, and payment information required to process nomination fees. This information is essential for evaluating nominations under our judging process.

Contact Information: When you contact us via our website forms, email, or WhatsApp, we collect your name, email address, telephone number, and the content of your communication. This enables us to respond to your queries promptly and accurately.

Newsletter and Marketing Data: If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and, optionally, your name and professional role. This data is used exclusively to send you updates about nominations, winners, events, and women leadership content relevant to the Golden Women Awards program.

Usage Data: We automatically collect technical data when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, pages visited, time spent on pages, referring URLs, and click patterns. This data helps us improve website performance, user experience, and content relevance.

Cookies Data: Our website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. See our Cookies Policy section below for full details.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

Processing Nominations: To receive, review, evaluate, and manage award nominations. This includes sharing nomination details with our independent judging panel under strict confidentiality agreements. Judges are provided only with the nomination information necessary for evaluation purposes.

Communications: To communicate with you about your nomination status, shortlisting announcements, winner notifications, event invitations, and any administrative matters related to your participation in the awards program. We also use contact information to respond to inquiries and support requests.

Winner Recognition: With the consent of winners, we publish winner profiles, photographs, and achievement summaries on our website and across our social media and media partner platforms. Winners are notified in advance and can request modifications or opt out of public profiling.

Improving Services: To analyze usage patterns, website performance, and program effectiveness so that we can continuously improve the nomination experience, website functionality, and the quality of our awards program.

Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, and legal obligations, including financial record-keeping requirements under UAE law.

Marketing Communications: With your explicit consent, to send newsletters, updates, and promotional communications about our awards programs. You may opt out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us directly.

3. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their commercial purposes under any circumstances. We share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

Judging Panel: Nomination data is shared with our independent expert judging panel members who have signed strict confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. Judges access only the information necessary to evaluate nominations in their area of expertise.

Service Providers: We engage trusted third-party service providers for website hosting, payment processing, email delivery, and analytics services. These providers access personal data only to the extent necessary to perform their contracted services and are bound by data processing agreements consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Media Partners: With winner consent, we share winner profiles and achievements with our media partners for press release distribution and editorial coverage. This sharing occurs only after explicit winner consent has been obtained.

Legal Requirements: We may disclose personal information if required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our legal rights, prevent fraud, or ensure the safety of our users.

4. Cookies Policy

Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to enhance functionality and improve your experience. We use the following types of cookies:

Essential Session Cookies: These are strictly necessary for the website to function and cannot be disabled. They manage your login session, remember form progress, and ensure secure navigation throughout the site. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information and are deleted when you close your browser.

Analytics Cookies: We use Google Analytics and similar tools to understand how visitors interact with our website. These cookies collect aggregated, anonymized data about page views, session duration, traffic sources, and user journeys. This data helps us improve website content and performance. You can opt out of analytics cookies at any time through our cookie preference center.

Preference Cookies: These cookies remember your settings and preferences (such as language selection or region) to provide a more personalized experience on return visits.

You can control cookie settings through your browser settings at any time. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

5. Your Rights Under GDPR and Applicable Law

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comprehensive data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will respond to access requests within 30 days.

Right to Correction: If any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that we correct or complete it.

Right to Deletion ("Right to Be Forgotten"): You may request that we delete your personal data. We will comply unless we have a legitimate legal basis to retain it (such as ongoing legal obligations).

Right to Restriction: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your data in certain circumstances, such as while you contest its accuracy.

Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format and to transfer it to another data controller.

Right to Object: You have the right to object to processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes at any time.

Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at awards@goldentreeawards.com. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy:

Nomination Data: Active nomination data is retained throughout the awards cycle and for up to three (3) years following the relevant awards year for record-keeping, legal compliance, and program improvement purposes.

Winner Profiles: Public winner profiles remain on our website indefinitely as part of our historical record of recognition. Winners may request removal of their profile at any time.

Contact Records: Records of communications are retained for up to two (2) years following the last contact to facilitate follow-up and resolve any disputes.

Financial Records: Payment and transaction records are retained for seven (7) years as required by UAE commercial law and international accounting standards.

Analytics Data: Aggregated analytics data is retained for up to two (2) years. Individual-level session data is retained for a maximum of fourteen (14) months in line with Google Analytics default settings.

7. Security Measures

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect against unauthorized access, loss, destruction, or alteration. Our security measures include SSL/TLS encryption for all data in transit, secure cloud storage with access controls, regular security assessments and penetration testing, staff training on data protection practices, strict access controls ensuring only authorized personnel can access personal data, and incident response procedures in the event of a data breach.

While we implement industry-standard security practices, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but commit to notifying affected individuals and relevant authorities promptly in the event of a data breach as required by applicable law.

8. International Data Transfers

Golden Women Awards is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your country of residence, including the UAE, where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. When transferring data internationally, we implement appropriate safeguards including Standard Contractual Clauses where required by GDPR, and we ensure all transfers comply with applicable data protection law.

9. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately at awards@goldentreeawards.com and we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. Contact for Privacy Inquiries

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our Privacy team:

Golden Women Awards — Privacy Officer
Email: awards@goldentreeawards.com
Address: The Binary by Omniyat, Office 1909-203, 19th Floor, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE
WhatsApp: +971 585 856 2014

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days of receipt.