About Your Privacy and Cookies

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated, including all of its Societies, Chapters, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions and other organizational units (collectively, "IEEE" or "we"), respects your preferences concerning the treatment of personal information that we may collect from your use of the IEEE.org and other IEEE Web sites (collectively, the “Web sites”) and your interactions with IEEE offline. In accordance with IEEE Policies, Section 12.9 IEEE Privacy Policy Statement, this policy lets you know how we collect and use your personal information, and how you can control its use. It describes the broadest potential use of personal information throughout the Web sites and in offline interactions that is consistent with the terms of this policy. However, please note that we may make far less use of your personal information.

General. Except as noted below, this policy takes precedence over and supersedes any other policy concerning the treatment of personal information that we may collect from your use of the Web sites and your interactions with IEEE offline.

Exceptions. It may be necessary for some IEEE Web sites to treat your personal information differently from the ways addressed by this policy. Accordingly, in the event of any conflict between this policy and the privacy policy posted at the following IEEE Web sites, the policy posted at the following IEEE Web sites shall govern: IEEE Job Site.

Personal information. This policy covers the following personal information that IEEE collects through your use of the Web sites and in connection with offline interactions. Specifically, we may collect this information from offline and online registrations and forms, communications and interactions, and sales inquiries and transactions. IEEE also may use third-party sources, such as opt-in lists, as specified below.

• Contact information, such as name, physical address, telephone number, e-mail address, and company/institution. The majority of the information collected under this category is business contact information.
• Transactional information, including information about the products and services you request, purchase, access, or download.
• User preferences, such as product requirements, areas of industry interest, and other information you select in your profile when registering for and using your IEEE Account, or as indicated by your use of the Web sites.
• Financial/credit card and payment information.
• Event and conference participation information.
• Usage statistics relating to your use of IEEE products and services.

Electronic communications protocols and cookies. In addition to the information specified above, we may collect information about your use of the Web sites through electronic communications protocols and cookies. As is true when you visit most Web sites, IEEE may automatically receive information from you as part of the communication connection itself, which often consists of network routing information (where you came from), equipment information (browser type) and date and time. IEEE also uses cookies, embedded URLs, embedded pixels and other similar technologies to capture additional information.

IEEE cookies. IEEE's server will query your browser to see if there are "cookies" previously set by the Web sites. A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a Web server to store with a Web browser so that it can later be read back from that browser. Cookies on the Web sites may collect a unique identifier, user preferences, and profile information and membership information. IEEE also uses cookies to collect general usage and volume statistical information that does not include personally identifiable information. Some cookies may remain on a user's computer after the user leaves the Web site. While we do not offer an opt-out for cookies, browsers provide you with information and control over cookies. You can set your browser to alert you when a cookie is being used, and accept or reject the cookie. You can also set your browser to refuse all cookies or accept only cookies returned to the originating servers. Users can generally disable the cookie feature on their browser without affecting their ability to use the Web sites, except in some cases where cookies are used as an essential security feature necessary for completing transactions.

Third-party cookies and functions. IEEE may use third-party vendors to serve or track advertisements on Web sites. Among other things, these third parties may use cookies, pixel tags and other technologies to enable such third parties to record which ads your browser has loaded and which pages you may have been viewing when the ads were delivered or accessed. The information collected through these functions is subject to the privacy policies of those third parties.

Embedded URLs. IEEE may use a tracking technique that employs embedded URLs to allow use of the site without cookies. Embedded URLs allow limited information to follow you as you navigate the site, but is not associated with personal information and is not used beyond the session.

Embedded pixels. IEEE may use embedded pixel technologies on selected pages for the purposes of identifying unique user visits to the Web sites, as opposed to aggregate hits, and to identify the pages viewed. We may also use embedded pixel technologies to determine whether the recipient of an e-mail has opened a particular message.

The information provided by these technologies may be re-associated with personal information by IEEE.

IEEE uses (and, where specified, shares) your personal information for the following purposes:

To engage in transactions. IEEE may use personal information such as name, physical address, telephone number, e-mail address. and company/institution to engage in transactions with you, including contacting you about your order, subscription or membership.

To process transactions. IEEE may use financial/credit card and payment information to process your order. IEEE may need to share some of this information with delivery services, credit card clearing houses, and other third parties to complete the transaction.

To provide support or other services. IEEE may use your personal information to provide you with support or other services that you have ordered or requested. In addition, IEEE may use your personal information to respond to your inquiries or requests for information.

To tailor marketing to your needs and respond to your requests. IEEE may use your personal information to provide you with notices of new product releases and service developments. IEEE also may use your personal information to respond directly to your requests for information, including registrations for newsletters or other specific requests, or pass your contact information to the appropriate IEEE distributor or reseller for further follow-up related to your interests.

To provide online forums and social networks. Some services available on the Web sites permit you to participate in interactive discussions, post comments, opportunities, or other content to a bulletin board or exchange, or otherwise engage in networking activities. Some of these services are moderated; all may be accessed for technical reasons. IEEE does not control the content that users post to these forums or social networks. You should carefully consider whether you wish to submit personal information to these forums or social networks and tailor any content you submit appropriately and in accordance with the relevant terms of use. You should also review any additional terms and conditions that may govern your use of these services, including terms related to sharing your personal information and receiving communications.

To administer product downloads. IEEE may contact you if you download products to confirm certain information about your order (for example, that you did not experience problems in the download process), discuss the downloaded products or provide marketing or sales information about related products and services. We also may use this information to confirm compliance with licensing and other terms of use and may share it with your company/institution.

To select content, improve quality and facilitate use of the Web sites. IEEE may use your personal information, including the information gathered as a result of site navigation and electronic protocols and cookies (including third-party cookies), to help create and personalize Web site content, facilitate your use of the Web sites (for example, to facilitate navigation and the login process, avoid duplicate data entry, enhance security, keep track of shopping cart additions and preserve order information between sessions), improve Web site quality, track marketing campaign responsiveness and evaluate page response rates.

To assess usage of IEEE products and services. IEEE may track your usage of IEEE products and services (e.g., IEEE Xplore) to determine your level of usage, and those usage statistics may be made available to IEEE’s content licensors and your company/institution.

To communicate with you about a conference or event. We or our business associates may communicate with you about a conference or event hosted or co-sponsored by IEEE or one of our business associates. This may include information about the event's content, event logistics, payment, updates, and additional information related to the event. Information you provide when registering for or participating in a conference managed or co-sponsored by parties other than or in addition to IEEE may be shared with those parties, and the treatment of such information is further subject to the privacy policies of those parties. IEEE and its conference co-sponsors may contact you after the event about the event and related products and services. Please note that IEEE conference co-sponsors, exhibitors and other third parties may directly request your personal information at their conference booths or presentations. Providing your information to them is optional, and you should review their privacy policies to address your particular needs and concerns about how they will treat your personal information.

To comply with legal requirements. IEEE may disclose your personal information to comply with laws, court orders, litigation or other legal process, and/or in response to requests from governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce our rights or protect our operations or users.

As part of a merger or acquisition.  IEEE may disclose your personal information to a successor or acquiring entity as part of a merger, acquisition, reorganization or other transaction involving all or substantially all of IEEE’s assets.

IEEE may share your personal information with agents, contractors and volunteers of IEEE in order to perform the functions listed above.

Membership directories. IEEE memberNet is an online directory and search tool that allows members to connect with other members . This tool can be utilized by members seeking peers who share a common technical interest, membership or affinity. IEEE memberNet is only available to active IEEE members. Each member has control over the profile information that can be displayed about them in memberNet. All profile information can be made searchable to the rest of the IEEE membership via the memberNet opt-in preferences.

Sharing of membership information. From time to time, we may share the IEEE membership e-mail lists, in part or as a whole, with other engineering societies and carefully selected third-party organizations who may provide you with information on technical products and services related to your profession or that we otherwise believe is useful to our members. In addition, the mailing lists may be used in connection with informing you about IEEE services, products, conferences, meetings, and events. You may instruct us to not share your e-mail address with third parties by indicating this preference on your membership application when you join IEEE, on your renewal form when you renew your membership, or by sending e-mail to us at mailingopt-out@ieee.org and including your name and IEEE member number for identification purposes. Your choice to opt-out of third party mailings is effective until the next annual renewal date and you must select the mailing lists opt-out option on your renewal form to keep the opt-out in effect.

Customization of online services. There are IEEE online services that allow for the customization of end user preferences. The user interfaces for some of these services may allow members to create customized views that grant them access to information relating to Society memberships and subscriptions, connecting with their local section, finding upcoming conferences, reading the latest IEEE news, and more. To access these services, your IEEE Account is required for authentication and authorization purposes. Depending on the service, you may be allowed to choose and configure portlets to be displayed when you log in, and you may be able to customize whether and how online directories and search tools share your membership status or information with other IEEE members.

IEEE memberNet customization. You may customize whether and how IEEE memberNet, IEEE’s online directory and search tool, shares your membership status with other IEEE members. Please refer to the membership directories section below.

Opting out. From time to time, IEEE may send you e-mails containing information about products or services that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive further e-mails from IEEE that are promotional in nature, you may follow the opt-out instructions included in the e-mail. Some non-marketing communications are not subject to general opt-out, such as communications related to your IEEE membership; product downloads; sales transactions; product and service updates; event registrations; changes to the IEEE Constitution, By-Laws or Policies; election information for IEEE Societies and administrative bodies; and surveys.

Your California privacy rights. Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (also known as S.B. 27), if you are a California resident and your business relationship with IEEE is primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, you may request certain data regarding IEEE’s disclosure, if any, of personal information to third parties for the third-parties’ direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to privacy@ieee.org with "Request for California Privacy Information" in the subject line. You may make such a request up to once per calendar year. If applicable, we will provide you, by e-mail, a list of the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the third parties' names and addresses. Please note that not all personal information sharing is covered by S.B. 27's requirements.

Third-party sites. The Web sites provide links to non-IEEE sites we believe may be of interest to you. Those sites are beyond our control. You are advised to check the privacy policies and terms of use of any non-IEEE sites before providing your personal information to them.

Transfer of information to other countries. IEEE’s processing of the information that it collects may involve the transfer of that information to various countries around the world. By submitting your information to IEEE via the Web sites or in connection with your interactions with IEEE offline, you consent to such transfers and to the processing of this information in various countries around the world.

Questions and reporting violations: Please send any inquiries or reports of any possible privacy policy violations to privacy@ieee.org.

Policy updates. Changes to this policy require the approval of the IEEE Executive Director. The updated version of this policy will be effective upon its posting on the IEEE Web site on this Web page. Please check this page to review the most up-to-date version of this policy.

Please e-mail member-comments@ieee.org with any questions you have about our Privacy Policy or Terms and Conditions.