Last Updated: May 17, 2022

Introduction

In short: This Privacy Policy describes how The GEO Group, Inc. and its U.S. subsidiaries collect, use, maintain, and protect personal information.

The GEO Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “GEO,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through the implementation of this privacy policy (the “Policy”).

This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you, the user, or that you may provide when you visit any of our websites, which include www.geogroup.com, www.georeentry.com, www.georeentryconnect.com, www.wearegeo.com, and www.bi.com (collectively, the “Websites”), and it describes our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.

This Policy applies to information we collect:

•  on the Websites;
• from you, whether received in person, by e-mail, text, or other electronic messages between you and any of the Websites;
• through any download you may make from the Websites or by uploading information to the Websites; 
• when you interact with third-party websites or services linked to the Websites; 
• from others such as vendors and service providers that assist us with our business operations.  

The Policy does not apply to information we receive or collect as a contractor or service provider on behalf of detaining authorities and/or other government partners that are our “Clients”.  Please refer to the applicable Client’s policy.  

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you may elect not to use Websites. However, by accessing or using any of the Websites, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Policy, which we may change from time to time with or without notice. Your continued use of the Websites following any changes is deemed to be your acceptance of those changes, so please check this Policy periodically for updates.

Information We Collect

In short: We collect personal information that you provide to us, certain information about your use of the Websites is collected automatically, and we receive personal information from Clients and third parties such as suppliers and service partners that facilitate our business operations. 

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Websites, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically.  We also collect information that you provide directly to us, such as when you sign up on one of the Websites to receive newsletters, submit a vendor application, or share your success story with us, for example.  Information collected may include your name, contact information (such as email address, postal address, and phone number), and any other information you choose to provide. 

We also receive personal information from third parties such as suppliers or service providers to facilitate our business operations.  In the course of our business we also regularly receive and collect personal information about individuals as a contractor or service provider for detaining authorities and/or other government partners who contract with us to provide them services.    

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

 When you access or use one of our Websites, we automatically collect and store information like the following concerning your visit:

• Log and usage information related to your visit, including the type of browser you use, application version, access times, pages viewed, and if you linked to the Websites from another website, the address of such site.
• Device information for the computer or mobile device you use to access the Websites, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information. 
•  Information from Cookies and Similar Technologies. We (and our service providers) use cookies, web beacons, and other technologies to collect information about your visit and use of the Websites.  For more information about cookies and how to disable them if desired, see the Cookies and Analytics section that follows.  

As described below, we use this information to help us make the Websites more useful to visitors and to learn about the number of visitors to the Websites and the types of technology our visitors use, among other uses. 

Cookies and Analytics

We use “cookies,” web beacons, and similar technologies for automated data collection and tracking of your usage of the Websites.  Cookies consist of a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that may be used on our Websites that help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage of the Websites. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain portions of the Websites. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Websites.  Some portions of the Websites require the use of cookies for full functionality.

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic.  Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Websites. This data is shared with other Google services.  Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.  You can opt-out of having your activity on the Websites available to Google Analytics. For more information about the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. 

Information You Provide to Us

Except for Information Collected and Stored Automatically described above, we do not collect your personally identifiable information on the Websites unless you choose to provide it to us. If you provide us with personally identifiable information by, for example, sending us an e-mail or filling out a form and submitting it through the Websites, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us provide you with the information and services that you request. When you submit information voluntarily through the Websites, you are indicating your voluntary consent to use of the information you submit. In addition to Information Collected and Stored Automatically, the information we collect on or through our Websites may include (i) information that you provide by filling in forms on our Websites; (ii) documents such as correspondence or resumes that you submit through the Websites; and (iii) your search queries, if any, on the Websites. 

Information We Receive from Others

We regularly receive and collect personal information about individuals during the course of our business as a contractor and service provider for detaining authorities and/or other government partners (“Clients”).  Such personal information that we collect in connection with our provision of services to our Clients is collected and processed only on behalf of such Clients and in accordance with our agreements with them.  Our Clients generally make the decisions about how or why such personal information will be processed, including any disclosure or transmission to third parties.  As a result, if you have questions about your personal information that we may have received from or collected on behalf of a Client, please contact the applicable Client.  We also receive personal information from vendors and service providers that facilitate our operations.  

How We Use Your Information

In short: We use personal information to provide you with information, services, or products, to verify identities and communicate with you, to provide services to our Clients and others, to comply with our legal obligations, and to provide safety and security. 

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information for various business purposes, including to:

• Present our Websites and their contents to you, and to notify you about changes to the Websites.
• Provide you with information, services, or products that you request from us.
• Verify your identity.
• Fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
• Carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts involving you and us, as applicable.
• To provide safety and security.

 

Disclosure of Your Information

In short: We share personal information with Clients for which we provide services and with vendors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and secure, and as necessary to comply with our legal and contractual obligations.

We may disclose aggregated information about our users and information that does not identify any individual without restriction. We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this Policy:

• To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it. 
• To vendors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and secure, and to use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
• To our Clients for which we serve as a contractor or service provider.
• To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of GEO’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by GEO is among the assets transferred.
• To our affiliates and subsidiaries that are also covered by this Policy or that provide substantial similar privacy protections.

We may also disclose your personal information:

• To comply with any court order, law or legal process, including to respond to government or regulatory requests.  
• To comply with and enforce legal obligations, including assessing compliance with regulatory requirements and to enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
• If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of GEO, our customers, or others.

 

Retention of Information

In short: We retain personal information until it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it has been provided unless we are required to keep it longer by law or policy.

We destroy the information we collect when the purpose for which it was provided has been fulfilled unless we are required to keep it longer by law or official policy. In some cases information that that we receive or collect as a contractor or service provider for a Client may become an agency record and may be subject to a Freedom of Information Act or similar request directed to that Client.

Information Security

In short:  Although transmission of information electronically is never completely secure, we protect your personal information through the implementation of commercially reasonable security measures designed to protect against accidental loss of information and from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure. 

We have implemented commercially reasonable security measures designed to protect your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. However, the safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we take commercially reasonable measures to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to our Websites. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Websites.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, GEO’s systems employ software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. If such monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this server are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other federal and state laws.

Links from and to other Sites

Our Websites contain links to various federal agencies and private organizations, and other sites not associated with us may link to the Websites. GEO is not responsible for the privacy practices employed by such third party websites or pages that have links to or from the Websites. Once you link to another site, you are then subject to the privacy policies of the new site. It is always prudent to read the privacy policy of any site you visit.

We also partner with third parties to provide links to third-party websites to offer you additional information and services, including links to Careers at  https://jobs.geogroup.com/join and our Investors page at http://investors.geogroup.com/.  You may see our logo on these third-party partner websites.  Users should review the applicable privacy policy for such third-party partner website before submitting personal information.  We may not have control over third-party partners’ use of your information submitted to them.

Accessing and Correcting Your Information

In short: You can review and change certain personal information by logging onto the Websites and visiting your account profile page.  You can also contact us to request revisions.

With respect to those portions of the Websites where your personal information may be stored, you can review and change your personal information by logging into the Websites and visiting your account profile page.

You may also send us an e-mail at [email protected] to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

If you delete your user contributions from the Websites, copies of your contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages, or might have been copied or stored by other users of the Websites. Proper access and use of information provided on the Websites is governed by our Terms of Use.

Children

In short:  Our Websites are not intended for use by children under the age of 18.

The Websites are intended for use only by adult residents of the United States and its territories. If you are not 18 years of age or older, you are not permitted to use our Websites.  We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of eighteen (18) years.  If you think that we have collected information from a child under the age of eighteen through our Websites, please contact us.  If we learn that we have collected the information of a child under the age of eighteen years, we still take reasonable steps to delete such information.

Special Notice to California Residents

In short: California law affords California residents certain rights with respect to their personal information, including the right to access and delete information, subject to exceptions and verification, and the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information. 

Individuals who reside in California have specific rights with respect to their personal information, as that term is defined under California law.  This Special Notice is a supplement to the Policy and applies to California residents. 

Over the previous twelve months, we have collected or received personal information described by category below for business purposes, including:

•   Identifiers such as your name and contact information, account name(s), social security number, A-number and other similar identifiers, are used to verify your identify, to communicate with you, to provide services to you and our Client(s), and to provide safety and security within our facilities.
•   Personal information as described in Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e), which in addition to Identifiers also includes other identifying information not publicly available such as insurance policy number(s), education, employment and employment history, financial information, and medical information.  We use this type of personal information to verify identities, to communicate with you, to provide services to you and our Client(s), for billing and collection purposes, and to provide safety and security within our facilities.
•   Characteristics of protected classifications such as age, sex, religious affiliation, etc., are used to verify your identify, provide services to you and our Client(s), to provide safety and security within our facilities, and for reporting and compliance with laws and regulations.
•   Biometric information such as facial images and fingerprints is used to verify identities, provide services to you and our Client(s), and to provide safety and security within our facilities.
•   Geolocation data about physical movements and location is used provide services to you and our Client(s), and to provide safety and security within our facilities.
•   Commercial information about prior and prospective transactions is used to provide services to you and our Client(s).
•   Internet and similar network activity such as Log and Usage Information, Device Information, Information from Cookies and Similar Technologies, and other interactions with the Websites is used by us and by third party analytics service providers: to verify identities; to maintain and improve the Websites, their functionality, and our products and services; to detect, prevent, or investigate security incidents or fraud; and to maintain records for administrative and security purposes.
•   Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, and similar information is used to verify identities, provide services to you and our Client(s), and to provide safety and security within our facilities.
•   Professional or employment-related information is used verify identities, for employment purposes, and to provide services to individuals and our Client(s).
•   Education information is used to verify identities and to provide services to individuals and our Client(s).
•   We also draw inferences from personal information collected in certain circumstances to create profiles for purposes of safety and security within our facilities.

We collect or receive such personal information from the following sources:

•  You, either in person, through your use of the Websites, or through other forms of communication; and
•   Our vendors and service providers that assist us with our business operations; and
•   Our Clients.

Your Rights under California Law

Access to Your Personal Information

You may request access to the personal information that we have collected and maintained about you (along with information concerning its use and disclosure) over the past twelve months after receipt of appropriate verification.  You may only make two such requests during any twelve-month period. 

Deletion of Personal Information

You have the right to request that we delete personal information collected and maintained about you, subject to certain exceptions. Once your request is verified and we have determined that we are required by law to do so, we will delete your personal information accordingly.  Any request to delete personal information may be denied if it is necessary for us to retain your information under one or more exceptions recognized by California law.  Please note that a record of your deletion request may be retained.

Opting Out

You have the right at any time to direct us not to sell your personal information, which is your right to opt-out.  We have not sold personal information within the previous twelve months.

Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights under California law.

Exercising Your Rights

To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise your right to opt-out of any sale of your personal information, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us addressed to:

Chief Privacy Officer
4955 Technology Way
Boca Raton, Florida 33431.

Alternatively, send the request by e-mail to [email protected].

Verifying Your Request

Only you, or a person that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a request concerning your personal information.  For requests to access or delete personal information, your request must be verified before we can fulfil it.

Verifying your request will require you to provide sufficient information for us to reasonably verify that you are either the person about whom we collected personal information, or a person authorized to act on your behalf.  Such verification information may include non-public Identifier information and other personal information that you have previously provided to us.

We use the personal information that you have provided in a verifiable request in order to verify your request.  If we cannot verify your identity or authority, we may deny your request.  Please also note that we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to act on a request if such request is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded.

Your Right under the California “Shine the Light” Law

Residents of California also have the right to obtain certain information about the types of personal information that companies with whom they have an established business relationship (and that are not otherwise exempt) have shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. If you wish to submit a request, please contact us at [email protected].  We have not shared personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes within the preceding calendar year. 

Do Not Track

The Websites currently do not respond to browser Do Not Track signals or similar signals.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions regarding our privacy practices related to the personal information of California residents, please contact us by email at [email protected].

Special Notice to Users Outside of the United States

In short:  The Websites are intended for use by adult residents of the United States. Information provided by you and collected during your use of the Websites is processed within the United States subject to its data protection and other laws.

The Websites are intended for use only by adult residents of the United States and its territories. If you access the Websites from outside of the United States, Information Collected and Stored Automatically and Information You Provide to Us on the Websites will be transferred to and processed within the United States subject to laws that may be deemed to provide inadequate data protection by certain other countries or foreign data protection authorities.  By accessing the Websites and submitting personal information to us, you consent to the general use of and disclosure of such information as provided in this Policy and to the transfer and storage of such information in the United States.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

In short: We will notify you of material changes to this Policy by notice on the Websites.

We post any changes we make to this Policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users' personal information, we will notify you through a notice on the Websites.  The date this Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page.

Contact Information

In short:  Contact us through the methods indicated.

To ask questions or comment about this Policy and our privacy practices, contact us at:

Chief Privacy Officer

The GEO Group, Inc.
4955 Technology Way
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
Email: [email protected]