Privacy Statement
This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices for www.astho.org, the web site of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
ASTHO is an independent, nonprofit organization that is building users’ trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. Because ASTHO wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices.
ASTHO agrees to tell you:
- What personally identifiable information of yours or third-party personal identification is collected from you through the web site
- The organization collecting the information
- How the information is used
- With whom the information may be shared
- What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information
- The kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under ASTHO control
- How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
If you feel ASTHO is not abiding by its posted privacy policy, you should first contact ASTHO at helpdesk@astho.org.
Information Collection and Use
ASTHO is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement. ASTHO collects information from our users at several different points on our web site.
Cookies
There are two types of cookies. The standard cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. The second type of cookie is called a "per-session" cookie. These cookies also store information about a user. However, these cookies are not stored on the user's hard drive. These cookies are only used while the user is actively using a website. Once the user closes their browser, these "per-session" cookies are destroyed.
ASTHO uses both types of cookies on the web site.
ASTHO uses permanent cookies in two ways. When a visitor arrives at our site, a unique cookie is written to the user's machine to allow analysis software to differentiate between new and returning users. This cookie is written automatically to the user's machine. The second way a permanent cookie is written is only when a user opts to save their logon information. This saves time for users by not having to enter security information on each visit to the site. If a user rejects the cookie, they may still use our site but they will have to manually login to access our "member areas."
Finally, "per-session" cookies are used while a user is active on the ASTHO site. These cookies allow the user to navigate freely through the site once they have logged in to the site. Without these cookies, the user would have to login each time a "member area" page was requested. These types of cookies are also used while a user is joining, renewing, or altering account information. This allows the web site to keep track of a user's activity before any data is committed to a database.
Log Files
Each view of a page on the ASTHO site is logged. We record information such as the user's IP address, time of day, duration of activity on the site, and other activity information. This information is used by ASTHO to analyze trends, administer the site, track users' movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.
IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information unless any illegal activity is detected on our site. Only under such circumstances would ASTHO attempt to connect an IP address to personal information.
Sharing
We will share aggregated demographic information with our affiliates and partners. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person.
Links
The ASTHO web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that ASTHO is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.
Surveys
From time-to-time our site may request information from users via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Contact information may be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site.
Security
This web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When you submit sensitive information via the web site, your information is protected both online and off-line.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, a billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment, in a locked room. Only a very limited number of employees have access to this room. Furthermore, our servers are all password protected.
If you have any questions about the security at our web site, you can send an email to helpdesk@astho.org.
Correcting/Updating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your zip code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove that user's personal data provided to us. Please contact helpdesk@astho.org for assistance.
Choice/Opt-out
Users must opt-in to receive ASTHO periodicals or newsletters. Users who no longer wish to receive our e-mail newsletters or promotional materials may opt-out of receiving these communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the e-mail.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on our site so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of e-mail. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.