This Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") discloses the privacy practices of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (the "Museum") with regard to your use of all websites and mobile applications owned and operated by the Museum (each, a "Site" or “App”). This Privacy Policy only governs the Museum's privacy practices with respect to information collected on-line or in-app. Please see Section 4 for information on our information collection practices for children under age thirteen.

1.  COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION

(a)  Non-Personal Information. When you access any of our Sites or Apps, the Museum may automatically collect certain information, including but not limited to: 
•  The name of the Internet domain you used to access the Internet;
•  The IP address of the website from which you accessed our Site;
•  The date and time you accessed; and
•  The pages you visited.

This information ("Non-Personal Information") does not identify you personally. We use this Non-Personal Information to monitor the effectiveness of our digital properties and to consider potential improvements.

(b)  Personal Information. To register for access to features or portions of the Site or App restricted to registered users ("Members"), we request that you provide certain personally identifiable information ("Personal Information"), which may include your name, date of birth, e-mail address, mailing address and the like. By providing Personal Information, you consent to our collection and use of it, as described in this Privacy Policy. We use your Personal Information to confirm your identity and administer your participation in the Site or App. We may use your Personal Information to communicate information we think may be of interest to you, but you may opt out of receiving further communications by unsubscribing or contacting us at our Contact Us page. We may use your Personal Information to provide aggregate statistics about our users, traffic patterns, attendance statistics, and related information to our sponsors and partners.

2.  ADDITIONAL USES OF INFORMATION

(a)  Sharing Information With Third Parties. We may use third party service providers and suppliers to facilitate our Content or other services we provide, and they may have access to Personal Information. The Museum may partner with other third parties to provide specific services ("Third Parties"). When you request such services, the Museum will share Personal Information to the Third Parties for them to provide the services. Such Third Parties shall be required to maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of the Personal Information.

(b)  Cookies. We may send cookies, which are small pieces of data, to your web browser to facilitate your use of the Site or App. If accessing via a browser, you can choose whether to accept cookies by adjusting the settings of your browser. If your browser is set to reject cookies, you may still be able to use the Site, but your use may be limited to certain minimal functionality.

(c)  Disclosure to Law Enforcement. The Museum cooperates with law enforcement inquiries, as well as other third parties, to enforce laws and third party rights, such as intellectual property rights and laws relating to fraud. Therefore, in response to a request by law enforcement or other government officials relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity, or other activity that may expose us or you to legal liability, the Museum can (and you authorize the Museum to) disclose your Personal Information and other information about you as the Museum, in its sole discretion, believes necessary or appropriate. Your Personal Information may also be used by the Museum when it is reasonably necessary to: (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request; (ii) enforce applicable sections of any agreement between you and the Museum, including investigation of potential violations thereof; (iii) detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or, (iv) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of Museum, its users or the public as required or permitted by law.

(d)  Transfer of Ownership of Collected Information. The Museum is the sole owner of the information collected on or through the Site or App. Information collected from you may be transferred to a third party as a result of a sale or acquisition, merger or bankruptcy involving the Museum. We will not sell, share, transfer, rent or otherwise provide any Personal Information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy. The Museum reserves the rights to collect, disseminate, sell or otherwise disclose Non-Personal Information provided by you.

3.  HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

(a)  Confidentiality and Security. The Museum takes commercially reasonable precautions to protect your Personal Information both online and off-line, but absolute security cannot be guaranteed. It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. The Museum shall not be liable for the transfer of any Personal Information resulting from loss or distribution of data, the corruption of storage media, power failures, natural phenomena, riots, acts of vandalism, sabotage, terrorism or any other event beyond the Museum's control.

(b)  Links. The Site may contain links to other sites that are not necessarily under the control of the Museum. The Museum is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites and encourages you to be aware when you leave a Museum-sponsored Site and to read the privacy policies of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.

4.  USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR USERS UNDER THIRTEEN 

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") restricts the use and disclosure of Personal Information of children who are twelve years or younger (a "child"). If your child submits artworks, stories or anything else that we post on the Site or use in an App, he or she will be identified by first name, age and state.

Before we collect any Personal Information from a user, we require the user to specify his or her age. When a user indicates an age of 12 years old or younger, we will obtain verifiable consent from a parent or guardian as required by law. We do not collect Personal Information passively. For instance, we will send parents an e-mail when their child registers and enters a sweepstakes or contest or asks the Museum to fulfill your child's request. We provide parents with 48 hours to refuse their child’s registration. If the parent refuses to allow the child's registration, we will delete the information from our database. If we do not hear from the parent, we will assume the parent has consented to the child's registration.

We may use other levels of verification when your child participates in activities where the Personal Information will be disclosed to other individuals or to the public. In such case, we may require parents to provide credit card information, return a signed consent form by mail, or follow another means to provide verifiable consent.

It is our policy not to condition participation in an activity on your child's disclosure of more Personal Information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity.

If your child has submitted Personal Information, you may: (i) review the Personal Information at any time; (ii) require us to delete all Personal Information about your child; or (iii) refuse the further collection or use of the child's Personal Information, by contacting us via one of the contact methods described on the Site, in the App or in this Policy. The Museum reserves the right to make all or portions of the Site or App unavailable to users under thirteen. Parents have the right to consent to the Site's or App’s collection and use of their child's Personal Information while prohibiting disclosure of Personal Information to third parties that are not providing support for the internal operations of the Site.

5.  CHANGES TO YOUR INFORMATION AND TO THE SITE AND ITS PRIVACY POLICIES

(a)  Correction/Updating Personal Information. If your Personal Information changes (such as address or payment information), or if you no longer desire to use the Site or App, you can update your information on the registration pages of the Site or App. The Museum will endeavor to correct, update or remove your Personal Information provided to the Museum.

(b)  Notification of Changes. If Museum decides to change the Privacy Policy for its Sites or Apps, the Museum will post those changes on msichicago.org You agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and any modifications to this Privacy Policy occurring prior to your continued use of the Site or App. You should visit this Privacy Policy from time to time to review the current terms of this Privacy Policy because they shall be equally binding on you. Certain provisions of this Privacy Policy may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular pages at the Site.

(c)  Site and Service Updates. As necessary, the Museum may send you Site or App announcements and updates. The Museum communicates via e-mail with you to provide requested services and to resolve issues relating to your account.

6.  MUSEUM'S CONTACT ADDRESS FOR PRIVACY QUESTIONS

Should you have questions about this policy or Museum's information collection, use and disclosure practices, you may contact us as follows:

Web & Online Programs
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 684-1414
web@msichicago.org

We will use reasonable efforts to respond promptly to requests, questions or concerns you may have regarding our use of Personal Information about you. Except where required by law, the Museum cannot ensure a response to questions or comments regarding topics unrelated to this policy or the Museum's online privacy practices. 

This policy was last updated May 26, 2015.