Preface
Effective April 2016
The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science ("UCGIS") is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of our members, website visitors and other individuals who communicate with UCGIS. We wish to help you better understand the information we gather, how we handle it, whether we disclose it to anyone, and your options regarding our use of, and your ability to correct, this information. The following Privacy Policy applies when you join UCGIS as a member, either online or otherwise, register for an account, and when you visit the websites located at www.ucgis.org, ucgis.org/gis-projects, and all other websites owned and operated by UCGIS (collectively, the "Website"), or otherwise share your personal information with UCGIS as discussed below. By visiting the Website, you are accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not approve of any part of this Privacy Policy, please do not visit the Website. UCGIS may revise this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended Privacy Policy on www.ucgis.org and/or ucgis.org/gis-projects. Your continued use of the Website after changes have been posted will constitute your acceptance of such changes.
What Information Do We Collect?
We collect information from you when you join as a member, register for an Account on the Website, fill out a form, or subscribe to receive communications or newsletters. When registering to use the GIS&T Project Portal located at ucgis.org/gis-projects (the "Project Portal"), or joining as a member, you will be asked to provide personally identifiable information including your name, email address, mailing address or phone number. You may, however, visit many portions of the Website anonymously.
How Do We Use Your Information?
Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:
- To provide services for which you have registered, such as the Project Portal;
- To enforce the Terms of Use
- To improve the Website or the services we provide to our members or users;
- To offer you additional services in which you may be interested;
- To send periodic emails or communications;
- To provide to our service providers, agents or sub-contractors providing services on our behalf in order to accomplish the above-described purposes;
- To provide to the government or to third parties in response to law enforcement inquiries, court orders, subpoenas and similar requests, or when we otherwise believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate in connection with any activity that violates the law or may expose UCGIS to liability.
However, we do not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with third parties to use for marketing purposes.
"Do Not Track" Settings
Some browsers offer "do not track" settings that enable users to restrict the personal information that websites collect. Since UCGIS does not collect personal information other than personal information that you voluntarily and expressly provide, and UCGIS does not share your personal information with third party external websites other than as described above, your use of "do not track" settings will not affect the functionality of the Website, and the Website will not override your "do not track" preferences.
Non-Personal Information Collection and Use
Non-personal information includes technical information or demographic information, such as your age, gender, location or interests. Some examples of the non-personal information that is collected via the Website and how it is used include:
Internet Protocol (IP) address and referrer URL: We automatically collect a number of types of information, including information from your browser such as browser type, version and time zone. We collect your IP address which is a number that lets computers attached to the Internet know where to send you data - such as the web pages you view. We also collect a "referrer", the information passed along by a web browser that references the Web URL you linked from to visit the Website. Our uses of these types of information include delivering our web pages to you upon request, tailoring the Website to the interests of our users, and measuring traffic within the Website.
Cookies: A "cookie" is a small text file that may be used to collect information about your activity on the Website. For example, when someone visits a page within the Website, a cookie is placed on the user's machine (if the user accepts cookies) or is read if the user has visited the Website previously. You may set most browsers to notify you if you receive a cookie, or you may choose to block cookies with your browser, but if you do, you may not be able to take advantage of the personalized features enjoyed by other users to the Website. Some of the cookies we use may be flash cookies or Adobe cookies which may contain Demographic Information (defined below) and, depending on your browser, these cookies may not normally be deleted when your cookies are deleted. Please note that the "do not track" settings on your browser generally do not block cookies. Check your browser to determine where these types of cookies are stored and how they may be blocked and/or deleted.
Demographic Information: "Demographic Information" may be your gender, age, zip code and interests or other similar information, which you voluntarily provide to us on the Website or which we collect from third parties. We use this information to provide you with personalized services and to analyze trends to ensure the information provided by the Website meets your needs and fulfills our mission. Please note that we also consider aggregated information, which is not personally identifiable, to be non-personal information.
Other Websites
The Website may contain links to other websites. Your use of such links is voluntary, and UCGIS is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of any third party.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about our policies, or wish to correct or update your personal data, you may contact us by email at dianasinton_at_ucgis.org or manageucgis_at_gmail.com