Privacy

Privacy

If you are covered by the jurisdiction of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), please click here >

This Privacy Policy is a legal notice about how Oceans5.org (henceforth “the website”) will use personal information collected on this website. The information below outlines what information is collected, how we may use that information, the persons to whom the personal information may be disclosed and the security measures taken to protect the personal information. Please review the website’s Terms of Use in conjunction with this Privacy Policy.

Summary

We take the privacy of our visitors and members very seriously. Please read this Privacy Policy to learn more about how we treat personally identifiable information. We provide this Privacy Policy because you have a right to know what information we collect, how it is protected and used and the circumstances under which it may be disclosed. If you have comments, suggestions, questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Compliance Officer via email at [email protected]. While there are no official standards governing privacy practices on the Internet, the website follows the principles supported by the Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Information Practices Principles, currently available here >

What This Policy Covers. This policy covers the website’s treatment of personally identifiable information that we obtain when you visit the website. The website regards personally identifiable information as information that someone can use to identify or contact you in person. 

What This Policy Does Not Cover. This policy does not cover the privacy practices of third parties that we do not own or control, such as social networking and social sharing services you can use from our website. In addition, we may provide links to other services and on occasion to other sites that may interest you. All of these sites operate independently of the website, and they have their own privacy or security practices. For your best online experience, the website encourages you to review their policies before submitting any personal information to them. Please review Section 5 of our Terms of Use for links to these third party website policies.

1. Information You Provide

No Required Information. The website does not require users to register or submit any personally identifiable information to engage in the website. As such, you are fully in control of any information you submit on the public features of the website. Additionally, you are responsible for any personally identifiable information you supply to third party websites that we may link to or connect through, such as Facebook Connect, Instagram and Twitter. Please visit these websites for their Terms of Use and Privacy Policies. The website is not responsible for providing their current policies or changes thereof. 

Access to Your Personal Information. In general, the website makes it easy for you to view the personally identifiable information the website may collect from you, where you can add, edit or delete it as you see fit.

2. Information We Do Not Collect

Children. As explained further in our Terms of Use, available at https://www.oceans5.org/terms/, you must be 13 years of age or older to use our website. Consistent with this requirement, the website does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information about children. If you believe that the website has information from or about anyone under 13 years of age, please notify us at [email protected].

3. Information We Track

Log Files. Similar to many websites, the website gathers certain anonymous, non-personal information automatically and stores it in web server log files. This information includes Internet protocol addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), site entry/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp and clickstream data. The website uses this information to improve our site, analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movements around the site and gather aggregate information about our user base as a whole. Aggregate information is data the website collects about a group or category of services or users from which individual member identities have been removed, and therefore does not include your personally identifiable information. 

Cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. It can also help us understand how the website site visitors click to our site, and what pages they view during their visit. Similar to many websites, the website stores an encrypted cookie on your computer so the website can remember you when you come back to the website without requiring you to log in every time. Cookies also allow the website to track and understand the interests of our users to enhance the overall experience on our site. 

You can set your web browser software (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) to disable cookies. To do so, please refer to the help section of your specific browser for more information on how to manage or disable cookies. If you disable cookies, you may still view our site, but some areas of the website site may not work properly. 

Some website partners and other third parties, such as potential advertisers, may also set and access their own cookies on the website site. The website has no access to or control over these cookies, and, as noted above, this Privacy Policy does not govern the use of cookies by the website’s partners or advertisers. Such third parties’ use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, which may differ from this one. Such third parties do not have access to the website’s cookies.

How Information Is Used

Promotional Announcements. In order to improve the experience for our users, the website may offer you the ability to sign up for optional email communications, such as updates from the website, periodic newsletters or invitations to events. These communications are enhancements to the website service and are entirely optional. The website will ask for your consent, and then confirm this consent, before sending you promotional communications and will make it easy for you to unsubscribe from these communications. 

On the website. Identification of Authors. The website may offer opportunities for users to comment on content found on the website, engage in dialogue, share information and submit original content. This means that to some extent, the website depends on the contributions and actions of our users to improve the quality of the site experience. When you make a contribution to the site (such as posting a comment), you will be identified by whatever social network or social sharing profile you provide if using a feature offered by a third-party website, or you can elect to remain anonymous. Site Statistics. As noted above, the website may use information collected from our web log files to calculate and publish anonymous, non-personal, aggregate statistics that we believe our users are interested in viewing. For example, the website may track and publish the total number of users who have viewed a particular web page. The website may publish this data in aggregate form only and will not tie it to any personally identifiable information. For Internal Reporting and Analysis. As noted above, we use information gathered from log files and cookies to improve our site, analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movements around the site and gather aggregate information about our user base as a whole. We do not tie this data to personally identifiable information.

How Information Is Shared and Disclosed

On the Website. Public Messages. Some of our features may allow you to communicate with other users by posting public messages (such as when you make comments on a blog post or respond to comments about an article). Please be aware that what you write in these public messages, as they can be viewed, collected or used by anyone who visits our website. The website is not responsible for any personally identifiable information that you submit or permit others to submit through public messages. 

With Third Parties. Linked Services. In some cases, the website allows you to access or link to other web services through our website. The website makes it easy for you to determine when you are accessing or linking to these other web services through or website. In all of these cases, these third-party websites may choose to collect your personal information as they deem appropriate. As noted above, the website is not responsible for or in control of how these sites collect, use or disclose your information obtained through these linked services. The website encourages you to be aware when you are using these services and, for your best online experience, the website encourages you to review their policies before submitting any personal information to them. As Necessary in Certain Legal Circumstances. Legal Requirements. The website reserves the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when the website believes that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order or legal process served on our website. 

Acquisition or Other Transfer. If the website is acquired, all of our assets, including user information, may be transferred to the acquiring company. At that time, your user information, including any personally identifiable information you have selected to provide, may become subject to the acquiring company’s privacy policy. In addition, in the event that the website must liquidate our assets due to bankruptcy or other event, the website will consider our user information, including personally identifiable information, as a unique asset subject to sale or other transfer. Before the website transfers your information under any of these scenarios, the website will notify you by posting a notice on our site, and the website will remind you of your ability to add, edit or delete your personally identifiable information from the website in advance of any such transfer.

How Information Is Kept Secure

Network Security. The website has implemented a variety of commercially standard encryption and security technologies and procedures to protect information, including your personal information, stored in our computer systems from unauthorized access. Please be aware that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. The website strives to use all commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, but the website cannot guarantee its absolute security. Management Procedures. The website also maintains standard physical and electronic procedural safeguards that limit access to your personally identifiable information to our employees (or people working on our behalf and under confidentiality agreements) who, through the course of standard business activities, need to access your personally identifiable information.

Your Personal Choices

Sharing Information with Other Users. You are able to control what personal information about you is shared with other users and what information you choose to keep private in your use of the site. Receiving Communications. If you subscribe to any optional promotional communications, you will be able to unsubscribe from them through the emails we send you.

Special Notice to International Users

The website is intended for and directed to users in the United States. If you are accessing the website from the European Union, Asia or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use and disclosure that differ from United States laws, please be advised that through your continued use of the website, which is governed by U.S. law, this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, you are transferring your personal information to the United States and you consent to that transfer, consistent with our further compliance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.

Updates to Our Privacy Policy

The website is evolving and developing. From time to time, we will review and make changes to our Privacy Policy. When we do so, we will place a notice on the website. The most recent version of our Privacy Policy is always available from a link on our homepage. If you are a member of our mailing list when these features become available, you consent to Privacy Policy updates been sent to you to put you on notice of changes. The website encourages you to visit this site frequently to stay up to date on our current Policy. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to keep yourself informed of both the contents of this Privacy Policy and the website Terms of Use.