1. OUR PRIVACY POLICY A. General. The Professor Garfield Foundation, Inc. ("PGF") is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, and is the operator of this site, ProfessorGarfield.org. We at ProfessorGarfield.org ("PGF.org")are determined to ensure that our visitors, customers and friends will have a fun experience while visiting this Web site, without sacrificing their peace of mind as to the protection of their identity and other personal information. This policy statement tells you how we collect information on you, how it's used, and the steps we are taking to protect it from any unauthorized use. 2. WHAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY COVERS A. General. This policy covers how PGF.org treats personal information that PGF.org collects and receives, including information related to your past use of PGF.org. Personal information is information about you that is personally identifiable like your name, address, e-mail address, or phone number, and that is not otherwise publicly available. B. Companies Not Controlled. This policy does not apply to the practices of companies that PGF.org does not own or control, or to people that PGF.org does not employ or manage. Some of these companies have provided content viewable on this site, such that your use of such content will be governed by the Privacy Policies and Terms of Use of the Respective Companies: Scholarshop SparkTop C. Links to Other Sites. This site contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by PGF. Please be aware that PGF is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that you visit. 3. CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY A. No Information Sought. Because many visitors to this site are children, we take the utmost care to make certain that our content is appropriate for kids of all ages. We do not ask children to disclose personal information. Children should obtain permission from a parent or guardian before contacting PGF.org in any regard, especially before entering any personal information (which we expressly discourage) or requesting information. B. COPPA. PGF.org does not solicit personally identifiable information from children. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") requires Web sites that cater to children - or know that a visitor to their site is a child under the age of 13 - to follow specific Federal Trade Commission rules. In our attempt to fully comply with these rules, we would like you to know that: 1. Personally identifiable offline contact information will not be collected without prior parental consent. 2. Personal online contact information will not be solicited and collected without prior parental consent or parental notification, which will include an opportunity for the parent to prevent use of the information and the child's participation in the activity. 3. Without prior parental consent, online information will only be used to (i) respond directly to the child's email comment or request for information, (ii) to protect the security or integrity of PGF.org; (iii) to respond to judicial or other legal process; and (iv) to the extent permitted by law, to provide information to law enforcement agencies or for an investigation on a matter related to public safety, and will not be used for any other purposes. 4. PGF.org will not entice any child or adult, regardless of their age, to divulge more personal information than is needed to use the site or participate in any online activity by offering any special game, prize, incentive or other similar activity. 4. PGF.org's USE OF 'COOKIES' A. Purpose of Cookies. Many people are confused about cookies, how they are used, and what they can do. Cookies are very small text files written by an Internet server to a customer's browser when information is exchanged. Cookies only contain information that the server computer "knew" in the first place and can only be read by the serving domain that placed them. Cookies are an essential part of how the Internet works today and allow servers to recognize your computer's browser when you return. If you have ever gone to a Web page that automatically provides personalized content to you without requiring that you "log in," this is accomplished through the use of cookies. Since cookies are only text files, they cannot "run" on your computer and have no ability to search your computer for other information or transmit it to anyone. Cookies are implemented as part of the technology implemented by your Web browser. B. Cookies. To enable many of the features available on our Web site, we may assign cookies to your Internet browser. This unique identification number automatically identifies your browser (but not you) to our computers whenever you interact with one of our Internet domain names. C. Function of Cookies. When you visit our site, a cookie in effect says to our server computers "Hello, I'm browser #6426, what do you do just for me?" Only if you agree to provide information on yourself, which we normally discourage, would we be able to know anything about you other than the random number that our server computers assign to your browser in the first place. Cookies assist you, by assisting us in creating a record of your unique preferences. PGF.org would only use cookies to determine how many visitors we have and how often they have visited particular pages on this site. We would not use cookies to indirectly obtain a personal profile on individual visitors, as some Web site Operators choose to do through the assistance of profiling software. 5. INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE A. General 1. Collection. PGF.org does not require the disclosure of any personal information. Personal information voluntarily disclosed by persons aged 13 or over may be used by PGF.org for any legitimate purposes associated with the mission and purpose of the Professor Garfield Foundation. 2. IP Address and Cookies. PGF.org automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, PGF.org cookie information, browser type, referring/exit pages, operating system, and the pages you request. B. Information Sharing and Disclosure 1. Sharing of Personal Information. PGF.org does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except to provide products or services you've requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances: (a) We provide the information to non-profit educational entities who work with PGF. This information is used to evaluate and improve PGF.org and to further the mission and purpose of PGF. (b) We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; and (c) We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of PGF.org's terms of use, or as otherwise required by law. 2. Aggregate Information. Aggregate information from PGF.org, and which is not specific to any particular person, is used to analyze, assess, and improve PGF.org, and is shared with interested third parties. 6. CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY A. Limited Access to Information. We limit access to personal information about you to employees who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information in order to do their jobs. B. Security and Limitations. In certain areas PGF.org uses industry-standard SSL-encryption to protect data transmissions. PGF.org follows generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us; however, not method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we can not guarantee its absolute security. 7. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY A. Updates to the Policy. PGF.org may update this policy. We encourage you to periodically return to review our Privacy Policies. 8. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS A. Address. If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy, you can contact us at: PGF.org |