Introduction

The SmartSchoolBoards.org Web site (the “Web site,” or “SMarT”) is a professional resource designed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to provide support to local school board members as they address issues related to science, mathematics, and technology education. We have developed privacy tools necessary to control how and with whom you share your information. If you have questions or ideas, please send them to privacy@smartschoolboards.org.

Information in the Network

The SMarT default privacy settings limit the information displayed in your profile to other users of the site. You choose what information you put in your profile, including contact and personal information.

Privacy Policy

Through this Privacy Policy, we describe how the SMarT Web site collects and uses the information that you decide to share, to help you make informed decisions when using SMarT, located at www.smartschoolboards.org, and its directly associated domains (collectively, "SMarT" or "Web site"). By using or accessing SMarT, you accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Questions regarding this statement should be directed to our privacy staff at privacy@smartschoolboards.org.

The Information We Collect

When you visit SMarT, you provide us with two types of information, both of which are collected by us: personal information that you knowingly choose to disclose, and Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with our Web Site.

When you register with SMarT, you provide us with certain personal information, such as your name, your email address, your telephone number, any other personal or preference information that you provide to us. When you enter SMarT, we collect your browser type and IP address. This information is gathered for all SMarT users.

In addition, we store certain information from your browser using "cookies." Cookies are pieces of data stored on a user's computer tied to information about that user. For example, we use session ID cookies to confirm that users are logged in. These cookies automatically terminate once the user closes the browser. By default, we use a persistent cookie that stores your login ID (but not your password) to make it easier for you to login when you come back to SMarT. You may block or remove this convenience feature through the settings in your Web browser.

When you use SMarT, you will be required to set up your personal profile. The information entered by you in your personal profile is collected so that we can provide you the service and to facilitate making connections with other Users.

By using this Web site, you agree and acknowledge that your posting of User Content (as defined in the SMarT Terms of Use) on the Site is done solely at your own risk. We cannot control the actions of other Users, including Group Administrators, with whom you may choose to share information, nor can we guarantee that our security system will not ever be breached. We cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Any improper collection or misuse of information provided on SMarT is a violation of the SMarT Terms of Use and should be reported to privacy@smartschoolboards.org.

By using SMarT, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Children Under Age 18

SMarT is designed for career-aged scientists, and does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under 18, please do not attempt to register for SMarT or send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address. No one under age 18 may provide any personal information to or on SMarT. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at info@ScienceCareers.org.

Use of Information Obtained by SMarT

When you register with SMarT, you create your own profile and privacy settings. Your profile information is displayed to other Users of SMarT. Further, information shared by you with Groups may be displayed to other members of that Group. Your profile information will be available in search results across the Web site and will be available to third-party search engines.

We may occasionally send you notifications regarding new services offered by SMarT. We may also send you service-related announcements from time to time through the general operation of the service. Generally, you may opt out of such notifications and announcements from the Notifications page, though AAAS reserves the right to send you notices about your account even if you opt out of all voluntary email notifications.

SMarT may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people in the Network are part of a certain scientific discipline. This benefits the Network and you by helping us attract more users to this professional Network, thus expanding the opportunities for engagement with others of interest to you.

Sharing Your Information with Third Parties

SMarT is designed to faciliate sharing information within the Network We will not provide contact information to third-party marketers without your permission. We will share your information with third parties where such sharing is: 1) permitted by you; or 2) legally required.

Except for content posted to or contained in private Groups, all information on the SMarT Web site is available for access by third-party search engine "crawlers" (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask). We also occasionally provide demonstration accounts that allow non-users access to SMarT.

We may provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any personal information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the SMarT-specified purposes.

We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We may reveal information if we have a good faith belief that an information request by regulatory or law enforcement officials or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the SMarT service or using the SMarT name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies.

Through interactions with third-party sites, we may inadvertently receive some information about you or your use of the third party site even if you are logged out from SMarT, or that pertains to non-SMarT users, from those sites in conjunction with the technical operation of the system. In cases where SMarT receives information on users that are not logged in, or on non-SMarT users, we do not attempt to associate it with individual SMarT accounts and will discard it.

If the ownership SMarT were to change, your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations. In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to this Privacy Policy, including its provision for revisions.

Certain information you post to the Network or share with members of a Group, such as personal information, comments, messages, or other information, may be shared with other users beyond these privacy policies. All such sharing of information is done at your own risk. Please keep in mind that if you disclose personal information in your profile or when posting comments, messages, or other items, this information may become publicly available.

Links

SMarT may contain links to other Web sites. We cannot be and are not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by SMarT.

Changing or Removing Information

Access to your user profile is available through the profile editing tools. SMarT users may modify or delete any of their profile information at any time by logging into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Individuals who wish to deactivate their SMarT account may request to have their account disabled by emailing privacy@smartschoolboards.org. Removed information will not be generally available to Users of the Network, but may be maintained in back-up copies of the Site.

Generally, User Submissions may be removed only by AAAS or, if posted to a Group, by a Group Administrator or AAAS.

Security

SMarT takes appropriate precautions to protect our users' information. We request that you not send private information to us by email or instant messaging services. If you have any questions about the security of SMarT Web Site, please contact us at privacy@smartschoolboards.org.

Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions

Your use of SMarT, and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. We may modify this Privacy Policy effective immediately upon notice to you either by: (1) electronic mail or conventional mail; or (2) posting to the site (which shall be deemed constructive notice). Your continued use of the site following notice of any modification to this Privacy Policy shall be conclusively deemed an acceptance of all such modification(s). We encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current privacy policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.

Contacting SMarT

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at privacy@smartschoolboards.org. You may also contact us by mail at 1200 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC  20005.