Protecting your privacy is a priority for us.
What This Privacy Policy Covers
- This policy covers how the ANES Online Commons treats personal information that we collect and receive. Personal information is information about you that is personally identifiable.
Information Collection and Use
- The ANES Online Commons collects personal information when you register.
- We ask for information such as your name, email address, university or professional affiliation, and faculty or student status. Once you register with the ANES Online Commons, you are not anonymous to ANES staff.
- The ANES Online Commons automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address and the page you request. ANES uses this information to monitor and improve the effectiveness of the Online Commons.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
- ANES does not rent, sell, or share personal information from the Online Commons about you with anyone else, except under the following circumstances:
- In response to subpoenas, court orders, or legal processes, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
- To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of the ANES Online Commons' terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
- We may transfer information about you if ANES is merged with another academic entity, though we do not anticipate such an occurrence.
Cookies
- The ANES Online Commons may set and access cookies on your computer.
- ANES uses these cookies to enhance the Online Commons experience, and to monitor and to improve the website's effectiveness. It does not release this information to others.
Your Ability to Edit and Delete Your Account Information and Preferences
- You can edit or update your ANES Online Commons membership information at any time. Your username and timezone can be updated within the Online Commons itself. For other requests, please email "anes@electionstudies.org" from the email address we have on file for you. Please mention your username in all correspondence.
- We may send you certain communications relating to the ANES Online Commons, such as service announcements and administrative messages, without offering you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving them.
- You can delete your ANES Online Commons membership by emailing "anes@electionstudies.org" from the email address we have on file for you. Please include in the email your username and the request to be deleted. Please note that even though your account will be deleted from the Online Commons website, the information will be retained indefinitely in ANES internal files, and any messages you posted using the account will remain on the Online Commons.
Confidentiality and Security
- We will limit access to personal information about you to ANES staff who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information. The staff members include the ANES employees, the ANES Principal Investigators, and the ANES Board.
- All staff members who have access to this information have signed confidentiality agreements. From time to time, we also provide information about OC users to the National Science Foundation to keep them appraised of project operations. This information will be provided in aggregate form unless otherwise requested by NSF.
- We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in place to protect personal information about you.
- If you choose to have your public postings listed anonymously, we will do everything within our means to preserve your anonymity.
Servers
- The ANES computers (called "servers") that send your web pages store an enormous amount of information every day. These computer records are called "log files."
- Log files are used for analysis, research, auditing, and other purposes, as described above. After this information has been used, it is stored in a location separate from the Online Commons. Until the information is stored, your ANES Online Commons registration information may remain in our active server log files.
Account Information
- When you register with the ANES Online Commons or submit information to one of our boards, a temporary copy of that information is routinely made to prevent accidental loss of your information through a computer malfunction or human error.
- ANES keeps your account information active in our user registration databases, which are stored separately from other Online Commons information.
Passwords
While ANES endeavors to keep the Online Commons website safe and secure, the site is not as secure, for instance, as sites that are developed to facilitate financial transactions. Therefore, we suggest that you choose a unique password for the Online Commons, particularly if your username is not anonymous. Here are a few tips for creating a good password and keeping it safe:
- Choose a password that's easy enough to remember so you don't have to write it down.
- Never tell anyone your password.
- Change your password periodically.
- Don't choose a dictionary word as your password. Be creative! Include punctuation marks. Mix capital and lowercase letters, and use numbers.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
- ANES may update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your ANES Online Commons membership application or by placing a prominent notice on our site.
- By registering with the Online Commons, you agree to accept all risks associated with participation and to abide by the Code of Conduct.
Questions and Suggestions
If you have questions or suggestions, please contact us at "anes@electionstudies.org".