Privacy Notice

PWS-OSRI (“we,” “us,” or “our”) understands and shares your concerns about safeguarding the integrity and privacy of personal information collected on the internet. Our commitment to protecting your privacy is unwavering, and this comprehensive privacy policy (“Policy”) is designed to elucidate our practices regarding the collection and dissemination of information related to the PWS-OSRI family of websites situated at www.pws-osri.org or any other website or service that links to or refers to this Policy, collectively referred to as the “Sites.”

We encourage you to thoroughly review the entirety of this Policy and do not hesitate to reach out to us using the contact information provided below if you have any inquiries. By using the Sites, you express your consent to the collection, utilization, and disclosure of your information in alignment with the principles outlined in this Policy.

I. HOW WE OBTAIN YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

When you interact with the Sites, we may gather the following types of information:

Information You Provide Directly to Us: On specific occasions, such as when you register, subscribe to our alerts, download our datasets, or engage in direct communication with us, we may request and collect some or all of the following categories of information:

Contact information, including your full name, email address, mobile phone number, and physical address.
User credentials, like your username and password.
Any additional information you voluntarily choose to furnish.

We may combine this information with any existing data we may already possess about you.

Information We Collect Automatically: While you navigate our Sites, we may automatically gather certain data, including but not limited to your Internet protocol (IP) address, device and advertising identifiers, browser type, operating system, Internet service provider, pages visited before and after using the Sites, timestamp of your visit, information about the links you click, pages viewed, your typical navigation pattern within the Sites, and other standard server log information. Furthermore, we may collect location-based data when you use our Sites, such as your computer’s IP address, your mobile device’s GPS signal, or information about nearby WiFi access points and cell towers.

Both we and third parties who provide content or functionality on our Sites may employ technologies such as cookies, pixel tags, Local Shared Objects, and comparable mechanisms to automatically collect this data. You can find more information about cookies, pixel tags, Local Shared Objects, and related technologies in the “Cookies” section below.

Moreover, to troubleshoot technical issues and enhance the functionality of our Sites, we may also collect technical data. This could encompass details about your device’s memory state during an app or system crash while using our Sites. You may have the ability to manage the collection of such technical data through your device or browser settings. This technical data might include fragments of documents you were working on when a problem occurred or the contents of your communications. By utilizing our Sites, you grant your consent to the collection of this technical data.

Furthermore, we may obtain information about you from other sources, including third-party services and organizations. For instance, if you use third-party services like Facebook, Google, or Twitter to log into the Sites or to share your experiences on the Sites with others, we may retrieve information from these third-party services.

II. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Our primary purposes for utilizing the information we collect online are:

To provide and enhance the functionality of the Sites.
To communicate with you, which may include fundraising efforts.
To fulfill your requests for products, services, and information.
To send you promotional materials on our behalf or on behalf of our affiliates and trusted third-party partners.
To analyze the utilization of the Sites and user data, allowing us to comprehend and enhance the Sites.
To personalize the content you encounter when using the Sites.
To prevent potentially prohibited or unlawful activities in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.
For any other objectives disclosed to you at the time of information collection or in accordance with your consent.

III. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will retain your personal information for as long as required to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and for any other legally permissible purposes, adhering to our data retention policies. This entails retaining and using your personal information as necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as retaining data to adhere to applicable laws, resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

IV. SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES

We are dedicated to maintaining your trust and aspire to make you aware of when and with whom we may share the information we collect. The scenarios under which we share your information include:

Authorized Third-Party Vendors and Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors and service providers who assist us in delivering specialized services. These services may encompass billing, payment processing, customer support, email delivery, business analytics, marketing, advertising, performance monitoring, hosting, and data processing.
Corporate Affiliates: We may share your information with our corporate affiliates who are subject to this Policy.
Business Transfers: Your information may be shared in conjunction with significant corporate transactions, such as the sale of a website, a merger, consolidation, asset transfer, or in the rare event of bankruptcy.
Legal Obligations: We may disclose information in response to subpoenas, court orders, legal processes, requests from law enforcement authorities, legal claims, government inquiries, or to protect and defend the rights, interests, health, safety, and security of PWS-OSRI, our affiliates, users, or the public.
With Your Consent or at Your Direction: We may share information for other purposes if disclosed to you during the information collection process or pursuant to your consent or instructions.

If you choose to use third-party services, such as Facebook, Google, or Twitter, to access the Sites or share your experiences on the Sites, these third-party services may potentially collect information about you, including details about your activity on the Sites. Additionally, they may notify your connections on these third-party services about your usage of the Sites, following their individual privacy policies.

If you decide to engage in public activities on the Sites, please exercise caution when sharing personal information in these public areas. It’s important to note that any information you voluntarily disclose in these areas can be viewed, collected, or utilized by other users of these spaces. We hold no responsibility for the information you choose to submit in these public spaces.

V. SECURITY

We employ reasonable measures to safeguard information from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Nevertheless, it’s essential to understand that no data storage system or data transmission over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please be aware that information collected by third parties may not possess the same security protections as information submitted to us, and we are not responsible for the security of such information.

VI. YOUR CHOICES

Email Newsletters: You have the option to opt out of receiving our email newsletters by clicking the “unsubscribe” link located at the bottom of each newsletter and following the subsequent instructions. Additionally, you may opt out of all communications from PWS-OSRI by contacting us using the provided contact information.
Cookies: Depending on your web browser settings, you may be able to refuse or disable cookies. Each web browser functions differently, so please consult the instructions available in your web browser’s “help” section. Please note that disabling or refusing cookies may result in certain functionalities of the Sites becoming unavailable.
Updating Personal Information: You may update the personal information you have provided to us at any time. For instance, you can review, correct, update, and delete specific account information by logging into your account. If you wish to review, correct, update, or delete personal information you have directly provided to us or that we have collected automatically or from other sources, you can contact us using the information provided in the Contact Information section. We will respond to your request as mandated by applicable laws. In certain situations, we may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
Complaints: If you are dissatisfied with how we have handled your request, you have the option to lodge a complaint with us using the contact details provided in the Contact Information section below.

California residents have the entitlement, once a year and free of charge, to request and receive specific information about our disclosure (if any) of particular categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. We do not share personal information with third parties for their independent direct marketing purposes.

VII. THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING, LINKS, AND CONTENT

Certain sections of the Sites may incorporate links to content maintained by third parties that we do not oversee. We grant third parties, including business partners, advertising networks, and other advertising service providers, the ability to collect information about your online activities through technologies like cookies, pixels, local storage, and similar mechanisms. These third parties may utilize this information to display advertisements on our Sites and other online platforms tailored to your interests, preferences, and characteristics. It’s important to note that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties, and their information practices are not covered by this Privacy Policy.

Additionally, some third parties gather data about users of our Sites to provide interest-based advertising on our Sites and elsewhere, spanning across browsers and devices. These third parties may utilize the information collected on our Sites to make predictions about your interests, thus delivering you advertisements (from us and other companies) across the internet. Several of these third parties may be affiliated with an industry organization that offers users the opportunity to opt out of receiving personalized ads based on their online activities. As for mobile devices, you might need to follow specific steps to deactivate targeted ad technologies within mobile apps, which varies from using apps and websites on other devices. Many mobile devices grant the option to opt out of targeted advertising for mobile apps through the settings within the mobile app or the device itself. For additional information, please consult your mobile settings. Additionally, you can uninstall our apps using the standard uninstall procedure accessible through your mobile device or app marketplace.

VIII. COOKIES

Cookies are tiny pieces of data stored by your computer’s web browser, while pixel tags are minuscule images or data fragments embedded within images, also known as “web beacons” or “clear GIFs.” They are capable of recognizing cookies, the date and time when a page is viewed, a description of the page containing the pixel tag, and analogous data from your computer or device.

We employ cookies, Local Shared Objects, and similar technologies for technical reasons to facilitate the efficient operation of the Sites, enhance the user experience, and collect statistics on how you interact with our Sites. By utilizing the Sites, you express your consent to our utilization of cookies and similar technologies. While you do have the option to opt out of cookies and similar technologies in accordance with the “Choices” section above, it’s essential to note that certain functionalities on the Site may become unavailable if you choose to do so.

IX. INTERNATIONAL USERS

We store and maintain information in the United States of America, following the laws of the United States. These laws may not offer the same level of protection as the laws in your jurisdiction. By using the Sites and providing us with information, you acknowledge and consent to the potential transfer and storage of your data on servers located outside your resident jurisdiction. In the event that you reside in a country other than the United States, this implies that you consent to the transfer of such data to the United States for processing by us, in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

X. CHILDREN

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent, unless permitted by law. In cases where we become aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it in compliance with applicable law.

XI. CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to update this Policy periodically. When we do so, we will revise the “Effective Date” at the top of this Policy and post the new Privacy Policy. We recommend that you review the Privacy Policy each time you visit the Sites to stay informed about our privacy practices.