Effective Date: January 20, 2011

We value the trust you place in us and we are committed to safeguarding your privacy. www.ncm.museum (the “Site”) is operated by the National Children’s Museum and is designed to bring the organization’s mission – to inspire children to care about and improve the world –to life, and provides substantive content related to the Museum’s six content areas to a variety of audiences including children, parents, teachers, and other caregivers.

This Privacy Policy is designed to inform you about the information we collect and use and your options with regard to that collection and use at the Site through any method.  By use of this Site, communications to or with us or use of any of our services, you are agreeing to these terms. If you do not agree with any of these terms or our Terms of Service, please exit our site and do not submit information to us in any way.

What Information Do We Collect About Our Users and How Do We Use It?
There are two ways we obtain information about you: 1. you voluntarily submit it to us during the MyNCM registration process, when you sign-up for the eNewsletter, when you purchase goods or services at the Site, by completing a form or posting on our site or by communicating with us and providing that information as part of the communication; or 2. we collect it from all our site users electronically to track how the site is used, where our users come from and their preferences.

During our registration process we collect information you provide on our registration form. We also may collect and store information you provide to us in inquiries, reporting forms and customer service communications with us. If you submit information to us to register for an event, program, special offer, contest or for access to select or premium services, that information is collected and stored as well. You may submit information to us offline, as well, through special offers or offline registration processes. All of this information is governed by this Privacy Policy, unless it is indicated otherwise at the time the information is collected or submitted. If special terms are indicated, then those terms, not these, would apply.

This information is not shared with third parties (except those working with us to maintain or operate the Site, handle your financial transactions, provide certain customer services, maintain or improve our site integrity and security, maintain the users’, public’s or Site’s safety, address risks or comply with applicable law, as more fully described below.)
 
Except as set forth herein, we do not collect any personally identifiable information or contact information about our users.

Although as a non-profit organization, National Children’s Museum is exempt from the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), we have chosen to follow the spirit of the statute, if not the letter of law, in designing and operating our site. We ask users who have identified themselves as being under the age of 13 to obtain their parents’ permission before registering for the Site.  NCM is a family museum where parents and children can explore, learn, and create together.  We recommend that parents play an active role in their child’s exploration of the Site and use this as an opportunity to engage with their child and have fun together.

Preteen Users:
We also work closely with WiredSafety.org, the world’s largest and oldest cybersafety organization. WiredSafety provides cybersafety content to us and we recommend that if you have questions or need help with cybersafety issues, you visit and support their site. We have also qualified for the Socially Safe best practices seal, which recognizes our commitment to the safety and security of our users. Socially Safe is a program of WiredTrust. If you believe that our site fails to live up to their high standards, you can click on the seal and be directed to their site to report your concerns. We hope that before you do so, you will report your concerns to us so we can address them and better serve the needs of our users.

Some specific examples of our information management policies are set forth below:
-Purchases: When you purchase goods or services from us or through one of our vendors using our site, we collect information to enable that purchase. This includes shipping, payment, delivery confirmation and any customer service issues. 

-Registered Users:  We collect, track and maintain information about your account and about all communications with us, including reports of abuse received from you or about you, as well as the resolution of those reports.

-Information Provided to Us By Third Parties:  We may acquire (but will not share) demographic information from third-parties online or offline to better direct services and offers to you or may acquire referral e-mail and other contact information from you or others recommending our site or other services. We will use that contact information only to forward an invitation or provide the information for which the referral was made.

In addition to information you voluntarily provide to us through forms, communications and interactions with our staff, we collect certain data automatically when you access the Site. We collect this using cookies and other web-tracking technologies and use this to learn about how our Site is used and how to improve the user experience. This information is not linked to your account or to you, as an individual.

We may also collect information about our users for each Site interaction and visit, including your IP address, your browser and available software and hardware information, whether you were referred to our Site by a search engine (including the search terms used to find us) or link from another Site or offline resource (such as a DVD or CD). This is used to improve our Site and messaging efficiency, learn more about where our users come from and understand how our users use and ways to improve our Site.

We collect additional information from you when you send us an email, submit a form or otherwise request information from us as well as when you report abuses or problems at the Site. We use this information for the purpose for which it was provided and also may track the user abuse reports, including the accuracy or inaccuracy of any abuse reports and may use this to help us determine the users who can help us identify problems or provide help in moderating and self-policing our Site. This information may also be used in identifying users that violate our Terms of Service or are disruptive at the Site.

Sharing Your Information:
We do not sell or license your personally identifiable customer information to third parties without your consent, except as disclosed herein. If we enter into a merger, acquisition or sale of all or a portion of our assets, or transfer (by operation of law or otherwise) the Site or services provided therewith in whole or in part to any third-party, your information will be shared and transferred as part of that transaction.

We use third party vendors to provide certain services or functions necessary to operate our Site and offer and deliver products and services to you.  We share personally identifiable information about our users (to the extent we have such information) only with those involved in providing services, functions or professional advice to us or as outlined below. We share information with those third-parties and vendors to the extent necessary for them to perform their function on our behalf. All of these third-parties must agree to protect the privacy and security of our users and not to use information they receive during the course of their duties for any purpose other than for which it was provided. 

If you apply for a contest or to participate in a special promotion or event that is sponsored by a third-party or co-sponsored with us by a third-party, your information may be shared with that third-party to enable your participation in the contest, promotion or event.  If so, it will only be used for that purpose, unless expressly noted otherwise at the time you apply for participation. If the contest, promotion or event involves a third-party site, you should refer to the third-party’s privacy policy for information about their practices.

We link to outside websites and services, from time to time. While we try to select appropriate sites, note that we are not responsible for the practices, content or the privacy policies employed by third party sites.  Please review those before interacting with those sites.

We may also disclose your personally identifiable information as required or permitted by law, or as we believe may be necessary (as determined in our sole and absolute discretion) to protect the integrity of our Site, ourselves or our affiliates, or the safety, privacy and well-being of our users, ourselves and third-party providers or members of the public including the use of and providing information to third-parties, such as:
 
• To comply with valid legal process including subpoenas, court orders or search warrants.
• To respond to official inquiries of governmental authorities.
• In cases involving risks to any person or other emergencies, Terms of Service violations, and to evaluate and defend against legal claims in any forum.
• To outside auditors, legal professionals, security consultants and regulators.
• To prevent or manage what we, in our sole and absolute discretion, believe to be the unlawful or abusive use of our services or the Site or anticipated harm to our users, the public, the Site or ourselves.

Transfer of Information:
We reserve the right to transfer your personal information in the event of a transfer of ownership of NCM or the acquisition of substantially all the assets of NCM related to the business which collected such information, such as acquisition by or merger with another company or upon transfer of the Site. In such an event, NCM will notify users who have provided email addresses when information about those users is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

The Security of Your Information:
We have systems in place to enforce the terms of this Privacy Policy and secure your data.  But, no matter how careful we are, no system is 100% secure and we cannot guarantee that there will be no unauthorized use or access of your personal information. If we become aware of any information breach that may affect you, we will notify you promptly following our discovery thereof. Should you suspect that there is a security breach or someone is attempting to circumvent our security system, please notify info@ncm.museum.

You should also note that any personal information you post publically can be viewed be others (depending on your privacy settings), and you should exercise care to not disclose more than is advisable.

Changes To and Questions About This Policy:
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Before using this Site, recheck this page and review the “effective date” posted on the top of the Privacy Policy in effect at that time. If it has recently changed, make sure you review it and still agree with its terms. It will apply to any interactions you have at the Site and information you provide to us or at this Site.

If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please contact us at info@ncm.museum. But note that whether or not you have questions or comments, use of the Site indicates your agreement to the terms hereof as written.