The Society of Physics Students ("SPS"), Sigma Pi Sigma, and the American Institute of Physics ("AIP") are committed to protecting your privacy and value your trust. This Privacy Policy describes the information that we collect from you on our websites, how we collect this information, and what we do with it after we collect it.
What information is collected
Personal information. We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, such as your name, mailing address, and email address when you sign up to receive services such as email alerts and newsletters, set up an account, or make a purchase.
We may also use page tags (a.k.a. “web beacons”) in html-based emails which allow us to see whether specific users have opened, forwarded, or clicked on a link in an email. Information about what users are interested in helps us to improve our offerings.
Third-party partner websites. We partner with third parties to collect, store, and process the personal information that you provide when you become a member of SPS or Sigma Pi Sigma, apply for a scholarship or award, or make a purchase or charitable contribution. These third parties are bound by contract with AIP not to use your personal information for their own purposes or to provide it to anyone else. AIP has chosen its third-party agents with care and works to ensure that they uphold best-practice privacy and security standards. Please refer to the respective privacy policies posted on these sites.
Non-personal information. We use cookies to track user activity on our sites and also to collect non-personal information, such as your browser type, operating system, and the URL of the previous website you visited. We anonymize Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Knowing more about who uses our sites and how they use them helps us to make improvements. This information is maintained and used in aggregate form only and does not contain personally identifiable information.
Notice to EU and other non-U.S. users: The main servers for www.aip.org and its subdomains, www.gradschoolshopper.com, www.insidescience.org, www.spsnational.org, and www.sigmapisigma.org are located in the United States. If you reside outside the United States, please be aware that any information you provide to us, including personal information, will be transferred to, collected, processed, and stored in the United States. Privacy and data protection laws differ from country to country, and the laws in the United States may offer less protection than the laws of your country. When you provide your information to us, you consent to the transfer of your data to, and the processing of your data in, the United States.
How collected information is used
We primarily use the personal information we collect in order to improve your experience on our websites, to provide you with services and content, and to communicate with you about information that you have requested. We may use your email address to contact you about new offers or product enhancements.
AIP has a policy to use its lists only for the delivery of content you requested or marketing deemed of potential relevance or interest to you. Individuals who receive marketing communications from us and wish to opt-out may do so by following the instructions on the emails.
We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties who are not acting as our agents. We may, however, share aggregated (i.e., non-individual) information with our partners and advertisers. This aggregated information cannot be related to identifiable individuals.
How we keep information secure
AIP is committed to safeguarding your information both online and offline.
Data security. To maintain data security we have put in place appropriate procedures to safeguard all sensitive information. Any online purchases you make with AIP are secured with SSL (secure socket layer) encryption using encryption certificates issued to AIP by well-known and reputable certificate authorities. (Look for "https" and a closed padlock icon in the URL box of your browser that indicate the site is secure.)
While AIP continually monitors the security status of its networks, it cannot guarantee that any transmission of data made over the Internet is totally secure. You have a responsibility as well to help protect the information you provide by keeping your account information confidential and not using unsecured or unencrypted networks.
Ecommerce. AIP and its third-party agents adhere to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard developed to protect account and transaction information of cardholders. We partner with secure and reliable payment system providers and employ industry-standard anti-fraud measures.
Opt-out for European Union and other users
In accordance with EU and other guidelines, you may decline to provide the information requested by AIP. Please be advised, however, that AIP may be unable to provide certain services unless such information is provided for security and identification purposes.
Cookies
AIP uses session cookies which are not permanent or persistent. The session cookie is designed so that, once you close your browser, the cookie will simply terminate.
If you configure your browser to reject cookies, you may still use some, but not all, portions of our site. We recommend closing browsers on publicly available machines (such as those in libraries) after use.
Links
AIP sites contain links to other sites, and other sites have links to AIP. Please be aware that AIP is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites that we do not operate or control. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each website that you visit.
User-generated content
User-generated comments and postings to AIP sites will be moderated by editorial staff who retain the right to edit and to remove inappropriate submissions. By commenting or participating in an online discussion, you consent to our use or disclosure of any content you submit.
Protection of children's personal information
AIP sites are general audience sites and do not knowingly collect any personal information from children.
Notification of changes
If we make material changes to our privacy policy, these changes will be posted to this page. You should review this page regularly for updates.
Contact information
If you have any questions about how we use your information, or if you wish to have your information corrected or deleted, please contact us at:
dataprivacy [at] aip.org
Last updated: May 21, 2018