PRIVACY POLICY
INTRODUCTION
The Idaho Museum of Natural History (also herein referred to as
“IMNH” or “the Museum”) is strongly committed
to protecting the privacy of its online guests, customers, members,
donors, and friends. We believe that maintaining privacy on the
Web is very important, and that informing our visitors about the
types of information we collect and how we use it is crucial.
TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED
The Idaho Museum of Natural History does not collect any personal
information about individuals—such as names and postal or e-mail
addresses—except when such information is knowingly provided
to the Museum. Personal information might be obtained from online
transactions such as purchases, subscriptions, registrations, or
membership pledges. Additionally, personal information may be transmitted
as part of a form submission or in connection with other activities,
services, or resources made available on our site. Any personal
identification information retrieved by the Museum must be voluntarily
submitted by the user. The Museum’s Web site does collect some anonymous “non-personally
identifiable” aggregate information about visitors automatically
when pages on our Web site are requested through a browser. This
information is used for statistical purposes and to help us monitor
how guests navigate our site, allowing us to tailor our services
for the majority of visitors. Non-personally identifiable information
may refer to information about our visitors’ browsers (e.g.,
Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer), operating systems (e.g.,
Windows or Macintosh), Internet Service Providers (e.g., AOL or
NET.COM,) and other similar information. The Museum’s Web site collects IP addresses as a component
of the non-personally identifiable aggregate information. An IP
address is a number assigned to your computer by a Web server when
you’re on the Internet. This information is used only for non-user-specific
purposes such as determining how many users visited a specific area
of our site. Such information could, if necessary, be used to identify
a user in order to comply with safety and/or security issues or
with legal requirements. HOW INFORMATION IS USED
Any personal information provided to the Idaho Museum of Natural
History is maintained and accessible only by the Museum unless the
Museum explicitly states otherwise. The following are examples of how the Museum might use the personal
information it collects: If you made a purchase at the Museum’s online store, the required
personal information (similar to that provided during a telephone
or mail-order purchase) will be used to complete your order.
If you indicated that you were interested in receiving Museum-related
news and information, you might receive e-mails that we feel may
be of interest to you.
The following is an example of how the Museum may use the non-personally
identifiable information it collects: Aggregate data could be analyzed to describe the collective characteristics
and behaviors of online visitors and subsequently be used to further
optimize the effectiveness of our site. WITH WHOM INFORMATION IS SHARED
The Museum will never intentionally disclose any personal information
about you as an individual user (such as your name, street address,
telephone number, credit card number, or e-mail address) to any
third party without having received your prior permission. THIRD PARTY PARTNERS
The Idaho Museum of Natural History has teamed up with reputable
third-party vendors in order to provide certain services to its
online users. The Museum has taken all possible precautions to insure
that the privacy of its online visitors is protected by any online
partners. In cases when users leave the Museum’s site to visit
one of its partners’ sites, users are encouraged to become
familiar with the privacy statements of each site they visit. SECURITY
The Idaho Museum of Natural History protects all personal and non-personally
identifiable information that it receives via the Internet against
unauthorized access. In addition, the Museum’s Web site uses Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) encryption to process purchases made on its online store and
ticketing systems. By using this technology, online customers can
feel confident that their personal information is protected from
interception by any third party. Sensitive credit card information
is not permanently stored on any IMNH Web server and though your
order information is retained for our records, this information
is never shared with other companies or persons. What is a secure connection?
When a secure connection is established between your browser and
a Web site, any data that is transferred over the connection will
be encrypted to prevent it from being viewed by a third party. Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, the standard for most browsers and
servers, makes it very difficult for anyone to intercept or decode
messages exchanged over this type of secure connection. Browsers such as Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer display
an image of a locked padlock in their status bar when connected
to a secure site. Secure transactions are also indicated when the
prefix in the location bar of your browser switches from http://
to https://. If you do not see the padlock at the bottom of your
browser’s window, if the padlock is unlocked, or the protocol
in the location bar is not listed as https://, then any data exchanged
with the Web site is potentially visible to others. Depending on your browser, you may be able to view authentication
information about a secure page by double-clicking on the locked
padlock in the status bar. For more information on how your software
establishes a secure connection, see the help files for your particular
browser. COOKIES
A cookie is a small text file that is sent to your browser from
a Web site and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies
can’t read data from your hard disk or read cookie files that
were created by other sites—the Web site that creates a cookie
is the only one a browser will permit to access it. Examples of ways in which the Idaho Museum of Natural History might
use cookies would be to control access to certain user features,
to customize content areas, or to analyze site activity and user
behavior. The Museum also reserves the right to use cookies in the
future in conjunction with new content or extended functionality. If you are concerned about the use of cookies, the Museum suggests
that you explore your browser’s options to notify you whenever
a cookie is set, or to disallow cookies altogether. Users should
be aware, however, that prohibiting the use of cookies may restrict
the user’s access to certain types of content or features. LINKS TO OTHER SITES
Users may find content on the Museum’s site that links to the
sites and services of our partners, sponsors, or other third parties.
In many cases, these links represent cooperative projects or are
established with persons or entities that have a significant connection
to or relationship with our site. Although every effort is made
to ensure that any referrals are to reputable and relevant sources,
the Museum does not control the content or links that appear on
these sites. In addition, these sites or services, including their
content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services
may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies,
or no policy at all. The Museum maintains a policy against the non-consensual
collection or sharing of personal information and encourages visitor’s
to review the privacy policies of any sites they visit to insure
their personal information is being protected. CHILDREN
The Museum does not knowingly collect personal information from
children under 13 years of age. Kids should always ask parents for
permission before providing personal information to any Web site
or purchasing any products or services online. The IMNH urges all
parents to participate in their children’s exploration of the
Internet and to teach them about protecting their personal information
while online. PROMOTIONAL E-MAIL, NEWSLETTER AND LIST-SERVE POLICY AND “OPT-IN/OPT-OUT”
ELECTIONS
If you give us permission, we may use any personal identification
information you submit for Museum marketing and promotional purposes.
For example, on occasion the Museum may wish to send e-mails to
inform users of new exhibitions or other events we think might be
of interest to them. You will not receive such communications unless
you have willingly provided the personal information required. In
some cases, you will be required to “opt-in” by joining
a newsgroup or mailing list. If you do “opt-in,” you will
always have the option to “opt-out” at any time by “unsubscribing”
to that particular list or following the “opt-out” instructions
included within the body of the e-mail message. If for any reason you do not wish to receive e-mail from the Museum,
please follow the instructions for “unsubscribing” included
within the body of the message that was sent to you. POLICY CHANGES
Occasional changes may be made to this document as new services
and content are added to our site or to reflect changes in the Museum’s
policies. Visitors to the Museum’s Web site are encouraged
to check this document periodically to stay informed of current
IMNH privacy guidelines. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
By using any of the Idaho Museum of Natural History Web site(s),
you signify your acceptance of our Privacy Policy. If you do not
agree to this policy, please do not use our sites. Your continued
use of any IMNH site following the posting of changes to these terms
will indicate your acceptance of those changes. CONTACT INFORMATION
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