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Privacy & Cookies
IRS takes your online privacy very seriously. Therefore, unless you explicitly state otherwise, or we explicitly state otherwise, any data that we collect as a result of your use of the site remains confidential.

Why do we collect ANY data on our users? Like many web sites, we collect non-personally identifiable information about our users primarily for three purposes:
  • to analyze our traffic patterns
  • to target advertisements
  • to personalize our service for individuals or groups of users
In this statement, we let you know all of the ways that we collect data on our users, and how we use that data. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail us at [email protected].

Log Files

In almost all cases, when you go to a web site, web servers log your interaction with the site in something called a log file. Standard log files like ours contain basic information like what time what pages were viewed, and the IP address of the visitor. We use this information to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. We make no effort to identify IP addresses with individual users.

When and if we share log file information with our advertisers, partners, or anyone else, we only do it in the aggregate. For example, "Our average user looks at x number of pages on each visit."

Cookies

We do not currently use "cookies". However, we may do so inthe future. If we implement the use of cookies, it will be to allow you to customize certain aspects of the site and to measure overall traffic patterns on our site. For example, cookies can tell us which sections ofInstitute for Responsible Science are most popular with our users. Cookies served byInstitute for Responsible Science do not gather demographic information about our users.

(A cookie is a small piece of information that our web servers send to your browser and that is stored on your computer. That small piece of information allows our computers to say, "Aha. We have seen this person before," and it also allows our computers to remember things about your past interaction with the site, like, "This person told us that they like to see the weather in Celsius, not Fahrenheit.")

Cookies & Advertising

Cookies may also be used to provide our advertisers with targeted advertising opportunities, and advertising vendors that serve ads on our site may also use their own cookies. Online advertising vendors use cookies in order to, among other things, determine automatically whether you have seen a particular advertisement to avoid sending you duplicate advertisements. It also enables advertisers to serve you advertisements tailored to things you have shown interest in based on other sites you have visited. Some people are uncomfortable with these types of advertising cookies. If you are one of those people, you can easily "opt-out" of this feature.

You may choose not to accept any cookies from any party by changing the settings on your browser. Please be aware that this will disable any cookies delivered to your browser by any party, not just the cookies delivered by advertisers, and or third-party vendors.

Please note that, as with most other sites, sometimes ads being viewed on our site are being served by ad networks other than advertisers. In that case, an independent cookie may be used by the third-party vendor. We do not have a mechanism to allow visitors to opt-out of cookies served by vendors with whom we do not have a contractual relationship.

For more information about advertisers's use of cookies, and to "opt-out" of its cookies, visit http://www.privacychoices.org/

Newsletters

If a user wishes to subscribe to any of our newsletters, we ask for some basic demographic information. We use this information to learn more about what kind of person is using our site, and we share that information-again, only in the aggregate-with our advertisers, partners and potential partners. In the future, we may use the demographic information that we gather to send youInstitute for Responsible Science content that may be of special interest to you; for example, to subscribers in Japan, we may let you know about special features we have on the subject of Japan.

You may choose not to give us any information other than your e-mail, and you will be able to benefit from the service.

Surveys & Contests

From time-to-time, our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose any information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), demographic information (such as zip code, age level), and more subjective questions about how you use our site. With surveys, the information that you give us will not be associated with you, and that information will be aggregated and used to allow us to monitor and improve the use and satisfaction of the site. We may also share this aggregated information - again, not information that is associated with you - with our partners, potential partners, advertisers and other relevant parties. As for contests, contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes.

In some cases, we may run contests in conjunction with sponsors. When this is the case, we may wish to share the information that you give with that sponsor, but if this is the case, you will be clearly notified.

Security

This website takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and off-line.

When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when you are just 'surfing'.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also protect user-information off-line.

Special Offers

For thoseInstitute for Responsible Science users who have registered for any of our special services, we periodically send out updates about new features and sections of our site. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. If there is a change to one of the services that you are subscribed to, we may send you a service update that it is not possible to opt out of.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that IRS 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 site.
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