From DiscoverWorks.org
DiscoverWorks Privacy Policy
Effective: November 11, 2007
By using the www.discoverworks.org website or any other DiscoverWorks.org (“DiscoverWorks”) Web-based service, you agree to the terms of this DiscoverWorks Privacy Policy, as outlined below. This Privacy Policy is part of the DiscoverWorks Terms of Use applicable to the use of DiscoverWorks’ Web-based services. This Privacy Policy describes how DiscoverWorks treats information, including personal information, that we collect and receive from users of the DiscoverWorks services.
Collection of Information
Users may access and read some material on DiscoverWorks’ Web sites without registering or providing DiscoverWorks with any personally identifying information. In such cases, no more information will be collected from such users than is typically collected in server logs by websites. This includes your network Internet protocol (IP) addresses, cookie information and the pages you request. More information about the collection of these types of information is provided below. Use of Cookies and Other Technologies. When you register with DiscoverWorks, however, we may ask you to provide certain personal information, such as your name, organization name, e-mail address and other identifying information. While it is completely optional for you to provide this information, you will not be able to access or participate in certain aspects of the DiscoverWorks website and services unless you provide the requested registration information.
DiscoverWorks collects this information in order to record and support your activities and those of other DiscoverWorks users. For example, we may use the information you provide to keep you informed about new developments or services relating to DiscoverWorks. We may also supplement or combine the information you provide with commercially available demographic and address information in order to enhance our ability to serve you.
Your Submissions and Edits Are Not Anonymous
When you register with DiscoverWorks and sign in to use the DiscoverWorks website, you are not anonymous. DiscoverWorks is, in part, a wiki, which means you and other users can post and edit content. When you submit content or comments, or edit a page, you are publishing a public document and granting a license to DiscoverWorks and other users to view and use your contributions in accordance with the DiscoverWorks Terms of Use. When you remove text or other content from a Works Page, that content is not permanently deleted. DiscoverWorks administrators and other registered users may access previous versions of such pages and see what was there. DiscoverWorks reserves the right to permanently delete content in response to legal action or under other circumstances it deems appropriate, but has no obligation to do so. You should assume that whatever you submit will be retained forever, and that you will be identified as the source of anything you submit.
If you are not logged on to the website, you will be identified by your network IP address. If you are logged on, you will be identified by your user name. Your user name may be your real name or a pseudonym chosen by you when you register, provided that the user name may not be deceptive or misleading. It may be possible for others to connect your network IP address with your identity, so if you are very concerned about privacy, you may wish to utilize a pseudonym for your user name. To further preserve your privacy and account security, you should remember to log out after each DiscoverWorks session, particularly if you are logging on from a public computer.
Each registered user will have the option to create a Creator Page that is personal to such User. You may choose to post additional information about yourself, including personal information such as your email address, on your Creator Page. Other users will not have direct access to your email address or other personal information unless you make it available through your Creator Page or otherwise; however, other users may still contact you by email using the Web form provided on the DiscoverWorks site. You should be mindful that anything you post on your Creator Page will be available for viewing by other DiscoverWorks users, so you should exercise good judgment when posting any personally identifying or other sensitive information.
If you subscribe to any mailing list offered by DiscoverWorks, your address may be visible to other subscribers on that list. Further, archives of such lists and their contents may be maintained and made public.
Passwords
All users who register are required to select a password. Since you are responsible for all activities that take place under your user account(see the DiscoverWorks Terms of Use), it is vital that you maintain the security of your password. You are encouraged not to share your own password, and you may not knowingly directly or indirectly share another user’s password with anyone else.
Use of Cookies and Other Technologies
In order to improve our sites and our services, we use "cookies" to track your visits to the DiscoverWorks website. A cookie is a small string of data that is transferred to your browser from a website and can only be read by the site that gave it to you. If you have identified yourself to the website, the cookie acts as an identification card, recording your passwords and preferences. The cookie cannot be executed as software code or used to deliver viruses. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies or to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the option to accept it or not. However, our Web-based offerings that require registration and log-in to be accessed are inaccessible without a cookie. Choosing not to accept cookies will not affect your ability to use other parts of our Web-based offerings. In the event that DiscoverWorks decides to create or designate other Web-based offerings that are inaccessible without a cookie (which DiscoverWorks reserves the right to do), you will be given the option to accept the cookie necessary for such access.
As with most websites, DiscoverWorks also gathers certain information automatically and stores it in log files. This information includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, a date/time stamp and clickstream data. We may use this information, which does not include personally identifiable information, to analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movements around the site and gather demographic information about the DiscoverWorks user base as a whole. We may also use log data to solve technical problems with the DiscoverWorks website or to correlate user names and IP addresses with activities that violate the DiscoverWorks Terms of Use, such as harassment, offensive postings, vandalism or disruption of the DiscoverWorks website.
We also employ a software technology called pixel tags (also known as Web beacons) that help us better manage content on our Web site and in other electronic communications by indicating what content is most effective. Pixel tags are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer's hard drive, pixel tags are embedded invisibly in Web pages and in other electronic communications.
When you accept our cookies, we use them to track your visit to the DiscoverWorks website. In addition, we use log files and clear gifs to help manage our website and other electronic communications. However, none of this information, other than your user registration and log-in information, identifies you personally or is tied to any of your personally identifiable information.
Children
We do not permit registration by or collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. Children under 13 years of age should not use the DiscoverWorks website. Information from children between the ages of 13 and 17 will be collected and used by DiscoverWorks in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Patents who do not wish to allow us to further collect or use the information of a child who is between the ages of 13 and 17 may delete their child's account, as described below in the section entitled Changing Your Account Information.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
DiscoverWorks does not share personal information about you with others except when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:
- In order to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
- 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 DiscoverWorks’ Terms of Use, or as otherwise required by law.
- In the event that DiscoverWorks is acquired by or merged with another company or if we sell or otherwise transfer the portion of our business to which this Privacy Policy relates.
- Where the relevant information pertains to page views generated by a spider, bot or the like, to the extent reasonably necessary to illustrate or resolve technical issues.
- To third parties engaged by DiscoverWorks or who volunteer to provide any DiscoverWorks services, including DiscoverWorks moderators, provided such disclosure is incidental to the service being provided and otherwise subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
DiscoverWorks recognizes and appreciates the importance of the responsible use of your personal information. Except as described above, we do not release, sell or otherwise distribute the personal information of our users to outside organizations or individuals. Please be advised that the DiscoverWorks website may contain links to third party websites. DiscoverWorks is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of any other websites to which the DiscoverWorks website may link.
Changing Your Account Information
You have the right to correct your account information at any time. This may be accomplished directly on our website on those screens that allow you to edit your account information. When you contact us please include your name, address and/or e-mail address, account number and a detailed explanation of your request. DiscoverWorks reserves the right to terminate access to your user account in accordance with the Terms of Use.
If access to your account is terminated for any reason, please note that any information that we have copied may be retained even after such termination. In particular, note that we will not delete your DiscoverWorks account history even after your account has been deactivated.
Opting Out Of Receiving Certain Information From DiscoverWorks
DiscoverWorks follows industry standard safe unsubscribe practices. In the event DiscoverWorks or its affiliates send you any marketing or other communications that are not considered part of your DiscoverWorks account, you have the right to opt out of receiving such communications by following the "unsubscribe" instructions that come with each such message from us, or by e-mailing us at info@discoverworks.org.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to the DiscoverWorks service, such as service announcements, administrative messages and newsletters that are considered part of your DiscoverWorks account, without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them.
Security
The security of your personal information is important to us. DiscoverWorks adheres to generally accepted industry standards to protect this information, both during transmission and once we receive it. These standards include the use of leading hardware and software applications. However, no 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 applicable information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
You should also be mindful that our security measures do not apply to and will not protect any information or content that you post to a publicly accessible area of the DiscoverWorks site, such as your Creator Page, or that you otherwise make publicly available.
If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can e-mail us at info@discoverworks.org.
Changes To This Privacy Policy
We may from time to time make changes to this Privacy Policy, and the revised Privacy Policy will be posted at the following location: http://discoverworks.org/wiki/index.php/DiscoverWorks.org:Privacy_Policy. After any such change, we will change the date on this page noting when the policy was last updated.
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