Privacy policy

Last updated: 16 June 2025

Overview

TM Forum is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of our members and stakeholders. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal data. It also explains your rights regarding your personal data and how you can exercise them. 

Who We Are 

TM Forum is a trade association dedicated to serving the telecommunications industry. We provide our 800+ member companies and their employees with various services, including organizing events, facilitating collaboration, and offering training and certification programs. 

Information We Collect 

We collect personal data to provide our services effectively. This includes: 

1. Identity Data: First name, last name, username or similar identifier, and profile pictures.  
2. Contact Data: Includes address, phone number, and email address. 
3. Employment Data: Includes employer name, job title, and business contact data. 
4. Training Data: When you participate in our training courses, we will collect data about your educational qualifications and the results you obtain when doing the course.  
5. Financial Data: If you purchase services from us, we collect your card details to process payments. 
6. Usage Data: Details of interactions with us, including phone calls, and emails. We will also collect information that you post for publication on our websites and in connection with your collaboration activities. 
7. Transaction Data: Details of activities such as event registration, webinar participation, content downloads, and engagement.  
8. Technical Data: includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, device ID and other technology on the devices you use to access this website. 
9. Profile Data: including, but not limited to, your username and password, your photo, purchases or orders made by you, your interests, employer and position, social media handles, preferences, feedback and survey responses. 
10. Marketing and Communications Data: includes your preferences in receiving marketing communications from us and our third parties and your communication preferences. 

How We Collect Your Data 

We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including through: 

Your interactions with us. You may give us your personal data by filling in online forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you: 

• create an account on our website; 
• upload your photo or other personal information for your profile; 
• register for an event or webinar; 
• purchase or attend online training; 
• download a white paper, industry report or other similar content; 
• subscribe to our service or publications; 
• request marketing to be sent to you; 
• complete a survey; or 
• give us feedback or contact us. 

Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. Please see our Cookie Policy for further details. 

Third parties or publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below: 

Technical Data is collected from the following parties: 

• analytics providers (such as Google based outside the EEA); 
• advertising networks (such as Google Ads based outside the EEA); and 
• search information providers (such as Google Search based outside the EEA). 

Contact, Financial and Transaction Data is collected from providers of technical, payment and delivery services based inside or outside the US. 

Identity, Contact and Employment Data may be collected from your employer if your employer is a member of TM Forum. 

How We Use Your Personal Data 

Legal basis 

The law requires us to have a legal basis for collecting and using your personal data. We rely on one or more of the following legal bases: 

• Performance of a contract with you: Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you. 
• Legitimate interests: We may use your personal data where it is necessary to conduct our business and pursue our legitimate interests. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights (both positive and negative) before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). 
• Legal obligation: We may use your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to. We will identify the relevant legal obligation when we rely on this legal basis. 
• Consent: We rely on consent only where we have obtained your agreement to use your personal data for a specified purpose. 

Purposes for which we will use your personal data 

We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use the various categories of your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.  

Direct marketing 

You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased goods or services from us, and you have not opted out of receiving the marketing. 

We may also analyze your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view, which products, services and offers may be of interest to you, so that we can then send you relevant marketing communications. 

Third-party marketing 

We will obtain your consent before we share your personal data with any third party for their own direct marketing purposes. 

Opting out of marketing 

You can ask us to stop sending you marketing communications at any time:  

1. by logging into the website, clicking the "My Profile" icon, and checking “Do not send me email alerts and communications,” or  
2. by following the opt-out links within any marketing communication sent to you, or  
3. by contacting us at [email protected]. 

If you opt out of receiving marketing communications, you will still receive service-related communications that are essential for administrative or customer service purposes. 

Cookies 

For more information about the cookies we use and how to change your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy. 

Sharing Your Personal Data 

We may share your personal data with: 

1. Group Companies: We may share your personal data with any member of our group of companies (including our subsidiaries) in so far as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy 
2. Sponsors: To facilitate your participation in events and programs (including webinars, whitepapers and access to similar sponsored content hosted on our website), we may share relevant data with sponsors including your communication preferences.  
3. Service Providers: Agents, consultants, and service providers who assist us in delivering our services. We do not allow third parties to use personal data except for the purpose of providing these services. A current list of subprocessors is available here: Subprocessors. 
4. Legal and Regulatory Authorities: As required by law or to protect our rights and interests.  
5. Insurers and Professional Advisers: We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and professional advisers for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice and managing legal disputes.  
6. Your Employer. We may share your personal information along with information on your use of our websites and services with your employer if they are a member of TM Forum. 

International Transfers 

When we transfer personal data outside of the EEA, we rely on the Standard Contractual Clauses under Article 46.2 of the GDPR and the UK GDPR. 

Children’s Data 

This website is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children. 

Data Security 

We are committed to safeguarding your personal data through: 

1. Technical and Administrative Safeguards: Regular updates and testing of our security technology. 
2. Access Restrictions: Limiting access to personal data to authorized personnel only. 
3. Training: Educating our staff on the importance of confidentiality and data protection.  

Data Retention 

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect of our relationship with you. 

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements. 

In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data: see Your Rights below for further information. 

In some circumstances, we will anonymize your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you. 

Third-Party Links 

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit. 

Your Rights 

You have several rights concerning your personal data, including: 

1. Access: Request access to the personal data we hold about you (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). 
2. Rectification: Request corrections to any inaccurate data. 
3. Erasure: Request deletion of your data under certain conditions. We may not always be able to comply with your request for erasure for specific legal reasons, which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.  
4. Restriction: Request limitations on how we use your data.  
5. Data Portability: Request transfer of your data to another service provider. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information that you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you. 
6. Objection: Object to the processing of your data for specific purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information, which override your right to object. 
7. Withdrawal: Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent. 

 If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us as set forth in the Contact Us section. 

 Time limit to respond 

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated. 

Amendments to this Privacy Statement 

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes we make will be posted on our website, and we encourage you to review these updates periodically. Your continued use of our services following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of those changes. 

Contact Us 

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at: 

• Email: [email protected] 
• Postal Address: 181 New Road, Suite 304, Parsippany, NJ 07054, USA 
• Phone: +1 862-227-1648 
• Website Contact Form: https://www.tmforum.org/about-tm-forum/contact-us/  

 We are committed to addressing your inquiries promptly and ensuring your privacy is protected.