AAVSO DATA PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: 6 May 2020
The American Association of Variable Star Observers (“AAVSO”) takes your privacy seriously. We want you to know how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information.
This Privacy Policy applies only to personal information that we collect on the website https://www.aavso.org/ as it may be modified, relocated and/or redirected from time to time (the “Site”). If you do not want us to handle your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Site.
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
Personal information you disclose to us
In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us such as name, address, contact information and passwords to our pages.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when registering at the Site, expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and services, when participating in activities on the Site (such as posting messages in our online forums or entering competitions, contests or giveaways) or otherwise contacting us.
The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Site, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect can include the following:
Personal Information Provided by You. We collect your responses to forms, observations, contact information, web page usage statistics, data collected from surveys, and other similar data.
Credentials. We may collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
Payment Data. Payments take place through PayPal and Elavon. You may find their privacy policies here:
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full
Elavon: https://www.elavon.com/privacy-policy.html
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
Information automatically collected
In Short: Some information — such as IP address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Site.
We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Site. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Site and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Site, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.
Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.
Online Identifiers. We collect cookie identifiers, or others such as the ones used for analytics and marketing; devices; tools and protocols, such as IP (Internet Protocol) addresses; and other similar data.
2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.
We use personal information collected via our Site for a variety of business purposes described below.
We use the information we collect or receive:
- To facilitate account creation and logon process. If you choose to link your account with us to a third party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process for the performance of the contract.
- To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time.
- To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
- To post testimonials. We post testimonials on our Site that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at aavso@aavso.org and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information.
- Request Feedback. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Site.
- To enable user-to-user communications. We may use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user's consent.
- To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for Business Purposes, Legal Reasons and Contractual.
(Our policies are listed here < https://www.aavso.org/aavso-policies>)
- Legal compliance and prevent harm. Compliance with the law or to protect the rights, property, or safety of AAVSO, our users, or others, including to maintain network and information security, for fraud prevention, and to report suspected criminal acts.
- To manage user accounts. We may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order.
- To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Site.
3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?
In Short: We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.
We may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:
- Vendors, Consultants and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking
technology on the Site, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the Site over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organization apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.
- Other Users. When you share personal information (for example, by posting comments, contributions or other content to the Site) or otherwise interact with public areas of the Site, such personal information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside the Site in perpetuity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of your activity, communicate with you within our Site, and view your profile.
4. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.
We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information, or to track your online activities over time and across different websites. For example, we might use web beacons to help us determine what links or advertisers brought you to our website. We do not permit third parties to use the Site to collect online activities over time and across third-party websites.
5. DO WE USE GOOGLE MAPS?
In Short: Yes, we use Google Maps for the purpose of providing better service.
This website uses Google Maps APIs. You may find the Google Maps APIs Terms of Service here. To better understand Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this link.
By using our Maps API Implementation, you agree to be bound by Google’s Terms of Service. You agree to allow us to obtain or cache your location. You may revoke your consent at anytime.
6. IS YOUR INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTERNATIONALLY?
In Short: We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own.
Our servers are located in United States. If you are accessing our Site from outside United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed by us in our facilities and by those third parties with whom we may share your personal information, in United States, and other countries.
If you are a resident in the European Economic Area, then these countries may not have data protection or other laws as comprehensive as those in your country.
9. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. The Site is directed to people who are at least 18 years. By using the Site, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Site. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at aavso@aavso.org.
10. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.
Account Information: If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:
- Log into your account settings and update your user account.
Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, some information may be retained in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with legal requirements.
Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Site. To opt-out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Site visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.
Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or by contacting us using the details provided below. You will then be removed from the marketing email list – however, we will still need to send you service-related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account. To otherwise opt-out, you may:
- Contact us as aavso@aavso.org.
11. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. No uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy policy.
13. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS POLICY?
In Short: Yes, we will update this policy as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you prior to making the changes either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
14. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS POLICY?
If you have questions or comments about this policy, you may email us at aavso@aavso.org or by post to:
AAVSO
49 Bay State Rd
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA