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NSTA's Privacy Policy

Revised 2023.04.06

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) respects your privacy. We will make every reasonable effort to ensure that any personal information you provide to us is used only for the purposes stated below. While the policy presented here concentrates on information collected by the NSTA website, it also applies to personal information submitted by other means (E-mail, postal mail, fax, phone, sign-up sheets, and so on).

Personal Information Collected

Several areas of the NSTA website require that you send us personal information:

  • User Account creation
  • Membership applications
  • Conference registrations
  • Conference session applications
  • Information requests
  • Award, grant, and contest applications
  • Store purchases
  • E-Newsletter subscriptions

This information is received offline as well (mail, fax, phone). NSTA uses the demographic, personal and professional information collected on membership, conference, and other forms for aggregate analysis, to personalize our member records for better service, marketing purposes, and to create targeted postal and email lists. 

In addition to the primary purpose stated or implied at the time the information is collected, we may use your postal mailing address to send you information about NSTA programs or products, surveys, etc. We also make our customer and member mailing addresses available to companies offering NSTA member benefits and to other responsible third parties. If you supply an email address, we use it to confirm your order, follow up on a request, etc., as the context determines. We may also use it to keep you informed about NSTA programs, products, services, resources and other initiatives. With the exception of the conference attendee data, NSTA does not make email lists available to any third party with the exception of authorized service providers that provide services on NSTA’s behalf. If you supply a phone number, NSTA may use it to contact you via voice or text regarding NSTA member benefits, membership renewal information, etc.

Information collected online

Generally speaking, you can visit the NSTA website without revealing any personal information about yourself. We do keep a record of all server activity, which means that every page, image, or other type of file requested by your browser is written into a log file. Each entry in the log contains, among other things, information about the computer you’re using to connect to the Internet (its "IP address") and about your browser (e.g., which version of Firefox you’re using). It does not, however, tell us anything about you personally. We use aggregate data from the web logs to determine how the site’s resources are being used and to refine its navigational structure. If the need arises, we may use the logs to trace the source of abusive or illicit activity. 

Additionally, NSTA utilizes tracking pixels for services such as retargeted advertisements and integration with social media platforms. Through use of the NSTA website, you are granting NSTA the right to maintain this information.

For logged in users to the NSTA website, NSTA collects information on pages visited, forms filled out, etc. to refine marketing efforts and send information on relevant opportunities based on user activity. When creating a user account on the NSTA website, you are consenting to our use of this data.

Cookies

A "cookie" is a text file, stored on your computer, that includes information that identifies that computer and can be retrieved by our server to create a seamless browsing session. Most cookies used on the NSTA site are deleted when your browser is shut down or in a fixed amount of time, whichever occurs sooner. Members-only pages and other restricted areas use this type of cookie.

Several areas of the NSTA website use so-called “persistent” cookies. These files are retained on the user’s hard drive after the browser is shut down. For example, the member login uses cookies so that a member doesn’t need to log in again upon returning. The online store uses persistent cookies that contain some personal information that a user has supplied (e.g., first and last name) and shopping cart data (to allow one to resume an interrupted shopping session).

Most browsers accept cookies by default. If you set your browser to reject all cookies, these areas and others may not function properly. Most browsers have a setting whereby the browser alerts you when a server attempts to place a cookie on your hard drive; you are given the option of accepting or rejecting it.

NSTA’s web server also places a persistent cookie used by our web log analysis software to identify returning visitors (actually, returning computers—see “Anonymous information collected (https://www.nsta.org/nstas-privacy-policy#anon)” above). This is valuable to us in assessing the website’s effectiveness.

For more information on cookies, visit this US government site (https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy/internet-cookies).

Material submitted online

Some areas of the NSTA website allow you to submit questions or express your opinions (e.g., the NSTA Blog). As stated in our legal notice (https://www.nsta.org/nsta-website-terms-use), all submissions become the property of NSTA.

Keep in mind that any information you post on the NSTA Blog is immediately available to anyone with a web browser. Don’t give out more information than what you would like everyone in the world to know. You can, of course, edit or delete the messages you post there.

It should be noted that the e-mail address you submit as part of the registration process for the NSTA Blog is not visible and cannot be retrieved by a member of the public. When posting a comment, if you supply a web address (which is optional), that URL will, of course, be publicly visible.

Links to other websites

The NSTA website contains links to other websites. NSTA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Check the privacy policy of a website before revealing any personal information.

Exceptions

In certain circumstances, and as an exception to this privacy policy, we may, without notice to you, release information to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order, or in other special cases, such as, for example, suspected fraudulent or criminal activity, or an attempt to breach the security of NSTA or its website.

Children’s Privacy

We do not knowingly collect or distribute personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 unless in relation to servicing participation in one of NSTA’s administered student competitions. Each competition has its own privacy policy which you can access via the respective competition website. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under the age of 13 and believe that we have collected personally identifiable information contrary to this policy or, in the United States, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), please contact us by e-mail so that we may delete such information. You can learn more about COPPA at the United States Federal Trade Commission website:

http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html

Data Privacy Rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

  • The right to know about the personal information we collect and how it is used and shared;
  • The right to delete personal information (with certain exceptions);
  • The right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information;
  • The right to non-discrimination for exercising your data subject rights;
  • The right to correct inaccurate personal information; and 
  • The right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information.

You may exercise your rights by contacting us as indicated in the “Communication Preferences” section below.

Opt-Out of NSTA Communications

At any time you can choose to no longer receive commercial or promotional emails or newsletters from us by modifying your email preferences. To do so, click Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences within the footer of the email or newsletter. Should you opt-out of commercial or promotional emails or newsletters, NSTA reserves the right to send you transactional emails in order to fulfill a service, complete an order, or respond to an inquiry, etc.

At any time you can choose to no longer receive direct mail from NSTA. Please contact us via one of the options in the “Communication Preferences” section to opt-out. Should you opt-out of direct mail, NSTA reserves the right to send you transactional mail in order to fulfill a service, complete an order, or respond to an inquiry, etc.

Communication Preferences

Users can change their email communication preferences at any time by clicking this link (http://www.nsta.org/account/opt_out.aspx). This includes consenting to, or removing consent from, all of our email subscriptions.  Alternatively, users can communicate their wishes regarding all communications to NSTA via the following:

  1. By sending an email to support@nsta.org
     
  2. By sending a letter via postal mail to:

            Service Central

            National Science Teaching Association

            1840 Wilson Boulevard

            Arlington, VA 22201

            USA
 

  1. By sending a letter via Fax: (703) 243-7177
     
  2. By calling the following telephone number: (703) 524-3646

Privacy policy updates

We have tried to create a privacy policy that is comprehensive, readable, and durable. Despite our best efforts, we may find it necessary to revise it. Any changes will be made without prior notice. The current NSTA privacy policy will continue to be posted at this address (https://www.nsta.org/nstas-privacy-policy). If you have questions or comments about our privacy policy, please send them to support@nsta.org.

How May Parents Raise Other Questions or Concerns?

If a parent has any questions or concerns about his/her child's use of the NSTA Reader or NSTA’s privacy policy, we encourage the parent to contact us at ebooks@nsta.org.

 

National Science Teaching Association
1840 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 243-7100
ebooks@nsta.org

 

NSTA Reader hosting company:
Magic Software
9th floor, Tower C, Tech Boulevard, Plot No. 6, Sector 127,
Noida 201301, U.P, India +91 120 4036 800 support@magicsw.com

 

 

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