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Privacy Notice
Effective Date: April 13, 2007
We at Scientific American, Inc. respect your concerns about privacy and value the relationship we have with you. This Privacy Notice describes the types of personal information we collect on our websites and for our print products, how we may use that information, and with whom we may share it. Our Privacy Notice also describes the measures we take to protect the security of the information we collect. In addition, we describe the choices you can make about how we use the information you provide to us. We also tell you how you can reach us to update your contact information, contact us with general questions or comments, inquire about our company and its products and services, or answer questions you may have about our privacy practices.
Safe Harbor for Our European Consumers
Scientific American, Inc. participates in the Safe Harbor Program as outlined by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commissions. This policy covers such information collection, use, sharing and protection practices for our European and American consumers.
If you are a European resident and have a data privacy inquiry regarding our sites or services, you may contact us at privacy@sciam.com. If your data privacy inquiry was not satisfactorily resolved by us then you may contact the DMA Safe Harbor Program at:
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Safe Harbor Line
Direct Marketing Association
1615 L Street, NW - Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
Fax: 202-955-0085
Telephone: 202-861-2410
Email: safeharbor@the-dma.org
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Information We Collect
You may choose to provide personal information (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, credit card information) on our websites or when subscribing to our print products. The ways you may provide information and the types of information you may submit include the following:
Subscriptions
In order to properly process subscriptions, we collect email address, full name, billing address and credit card information.
Gift Subscriptions
In order to properly process gift subscriptions, we collect sender full name, sender billing address, sender email address, sender credit card information, recipient full name, recipient billing address, and recipient email address.
Newsletters & Alerts
In order to properly deliver consumer requested newsletters and alerts, we collect email address, country and occupation.
Blogs
For participation on our blogs, we collect name and email address.
Surveys & Panels
We may occasionally ask visitors to our website to complete online surveys or participate on panels. These surveys and panels help us understand the needs of our visitors. For participation on panels, we may collect full name, email address, phone number, city and state.
Passive Collection of Information
Cookies are small text files that websites often store on the computer hard drives of visitors to their sites. A cookie contains a unique code, which is used to recognize a computer when a user of that computer returns to a Web site that was visited previously. The "help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies. However, in order to use certain features of our websites, users must have the "cookie" function on their browsers enabled.
We use cookies to store visitors preferences, record session information, such as items that consumers add to their shopping cart, alert visitors to new areas that we think might be of interest to them when they return to our site, record past activity at a site in order to provide better service when visitors return to our site, ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads and customize Web page content based on visitors' browser type or other information that the visitor sends.
How We Use Information We Collect
When we collect information, we'll use that information in connection with the purpose for which you submitted it (for example, to fulfill your subscription, to deliver your newsletter or alert or to allow your participation in our blogs, surveys or panels). We may also use the information we collect to send you information or products we think may be of interest to you and to customize our contacts with you. Finally, the information we collect is used to improve our Web site, used to customize the content and/or layout of our page for each individual visitor and used to notify consumers about updates to our Web site.
Information We Share
We may share the information you provide with companies that are affiliated with Scientific American, Inc. We also share information with service providers we have retained to perform services on our behalf. In addition, we may share information about you with non-affiliated third parties whose products or services we believe may be of interest to you. These third parties may contact you about their products and services or we may contact you on their behalf. We will not share your information with these third parties for their own marketing purposes if you request that we not do so. We may, however, engage in joint marketing activities, such as contests or promotions, with selected third parties and may share personal information about you with them. In addition, we may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law, (ii) in response to legal process, (iii) to law enforcement authorities or other government officials, or (iv) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.
We reserve the right to transfer any information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets. Should such a sale or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to try to ensure that the transferee uses personal information you have provided in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Notice.
Links to Other Websites
We provide links to other websites for your convenience and information. These sites may operate independently from our websites and may not be under our control. These sites may have their own privacy notices in place, which we strongly suggest you review if you visit any linked websites. We may not be responsible for the content of these sites, any products or services that may be offered through these sites, or any other use of these sites.
To try and bring you offers that are of interest to you, we have relationships with other companies that we allow to place ads on our Web pages. As a result of your visit to our site, ad server companies may collect information such as your domain type, your IP address and click-stream information. For further information, consult the privacy policies of the advertiser sites you are visiting.
Security
We use technical, physical and administrative methods to protect your personal information. When you submit information for a credit card transaction through our subscription pages, we use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software to encrypt the information during transmission.
Your Choices
Upon request we provide site visitors with access to financial information (e.g., credit card account information) that we maintain about them, unique identifier information (e.g., customer number or password) that we maintain about them, transaction information (e.g., dates on which customers made purchases, amounts and types of purchases) that we maintain about them and contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number) that we maintain about them.
We give you the option of requesting that we not contact you for marketing purposes. We also give you the option of requesting that we not share personal information about you with third parties for their own marketing purposes. Finally, we offer visitors the ability to have inaccuracies corrected in contact information, financial information and unique identifiers.
If you feel this site is not following its stated information policy or would like to request we not contact you or not share your personal information with third parties, you may contact us at: privacy@sciam.com.
Updates to this Privacy Notice
Note that by using the services and/or the sites you signify your agreement to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when those changes are posted to the Site. Your continued use of the services and the sites subsequent to any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes. Please review this statement periodically to ensure continuing familiarity with its most current provisions.
How To Contact Us
If you have any general questions or comments, would like to inquire about our company and its products and services, ask any questions you may have about our privacy practices, or if you'd like to update your contact information, please contact us by:
Scientific American Magazine and Scientific American Mind (print subscribers)
Scientific American Newsletters and Alerts
Scientific American Digital
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Profit Tears
