Our Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you use the SCL website (https://www.scicommlab.org), the iBiology Courses website (https://courses.ibiology.org), the iBiology Archives website (https://www.ibiology.org), and any other websites, social media platforms including, without limitation Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and services that are owned and/or controlled by us (collectively, the “Website”).
Your Consent
By using our Website, you consent to the collection and use of information by us as set forth in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy was last updated December 15, 2023. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on this page so that you will always be aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what limited circumstances, if ever, we disclose it. Continued access or use of our Website shall constitute your express acceptance of any modifications to this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy does not cover information that you submit on other websites, even if we communicate with you on those sites. For example, if you post something on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, that information is governed by the privacy policies on those websites, and is not governed by this policy.
Privacy Policy Sections
What Information Do We Collect?
How Do We Use This Information?
Steps We Take to Protect Your Privacy
We Collect Four Kinds of Information:
- Personal information that you directly provide to us, which includes information you supply when you you sign up for our newsletter, register as an educator and/or save items to your profile, and/or register as a participant on our course platform and/or save items to your profile (some of these fields are optional). This information might include your name, username, email, institution, country, address, gender, year of birth, and career stage.
- Information that’s automatically gathered as you use scicommlab.org or YouTube, which includes tracking information for our Website. This can include IP addresses that are tracked by our mailing list management software and the Open edX course platform.
- Cookies (explained further below), to help us understand what areas of the Website are most useful and interesting to our audience.
- Information you provide directly to us for example if you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses.
Account Information
When you register an account with us, we might ask for basic information such as email, name, username, gender, career stage, and password, and give you the option to provide additional information.
Non-personal Information Collected Automatically
This type of information relates to how many views are associated with each video, how materials are accessed on the Website, and/or other areas of the Website that automatically store non-personal information about the Website’s usage, popularity or positive or negative impact. We perform statistical analyses of users of the Website, and their viewing and participation patterns, for our own analysis and to present to our funders.
Device Information
We may collect information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access the Website, such as IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language and other transactional information.
Information Collected with Cookies and What are Cookies?
A cookie is a very small text document, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier. When you visit a site, that site’s computer asks your computer for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies. Each site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it.
Note that your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to sites and online services you visit. There is no consensus among industry participants as to what “Do Not Track” means in this context. Like many websites and online services, we currently do not alter our practices when we receive a “Do Not Track” signal from a visitor’s browser. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” you may wish to visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.
Tracking Usage
We use various technologies, including Google Analytics and ActiveCampaign, to manage SCL and track use of the content we provide, including:
Standard Web Analytics Information
We collect aggregated data about email click-through rates, website page visits and video viewing through HTML cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies; and demographics and other details that are provided to SCL to help us customize the Website based on your preferences. Cookies provide a mechanism for us to understand how you use the Website over time so that we can provide you the best user experience according to your expressed preferences. We do not sell this information to any third party, but may provide information to partners that assist us in updating, managing or maintaining our Websites. On iBiology Courses you may elect to disable the cookies and tracking code for Google Analytics and ActiveCampaign.
Location Information
We may collect and use information about your location (such as your country and city) and the type of device you are using. You can change the settings on your computer or mobile device to prevent your location information from being shared with us.
How Do We Use This Information?
We use the information gathered to improve the Website and do not sell it to any third parties. Further specific uses are outlined below.
Providing Requested Services
We may use the information that we collect to fulfill your requests for services and information. For example, using your contact information to respond to your email requests, or to enable registration for services on our Website.
Communication
We use the information we collect to send email newsletters (if you have signed-up for this information), to be able to provide online courses, and to be able to grant educators access to our educator resources. We may also use the information that we collect to send you email communications, such as information about your account or changes to the Website. We use the information we collect in educator sign ups to understand how educators use our resources, and to determine how we can serve them better. The Website uses email automations to send you custom emails after certain interactions with Website content.
Enforcement
We may use the information that we collect to prevent illegal activities, to enforce the SCL Terms of Use, or as otherwise required by law.
When Permitted
In addition to the uses identified above, we may use the information that we collect for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your information or pursuant to your consent.
Sharing Your Information
We may share your personal information with a trusted third parties, including service providers under contract who help with our operations. If you donate to SCL through our website, your donation will be processed through Stripe. We encourage you to learn more about Stripe’s privacy policy by visiting Stripe’s privacy policy page.
Steps We Take to Protect Your Privacy
We take reasonable steps to have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in place to help protect your Personal Information. This includes use of Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) encryption. We also limit access to any personally identifiable information we receive to employees who need access to that information in order to do their jobs. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information collected through our Website.
Children Under the Age of 13
Our Website is intended for a general audience over 18 years of age and not directed to children under 13 years of age. We do not intend to collect personal information as defined by the U.S. Children’s Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) (“Children’s Personal Information”) in a manner that is not permitted by COPPA. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected Children’s Personal Information in a manner not permitted by COPPA, please contact us by sending a letter to the address listed below (Attention: Legal) and we will remove such data to the extent required by COPPA.
Deactivating Your Account and Managing Privacy Settings
You can request that your account be deactivated at any time by contacting us. When your account is deactivated, your user profile and all public activities (such as comments) will be hidden. If you subscribed to our newsletters and wish to unsubscribe, please click on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of a newsletter you have received.
Third Party Agents Acting On Our Behalf
Website applications and data are hosted using third party hosting services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is an industry-leading network of data centers located around the world, including in the United States (“U.S.”). Relying on AWS services and infrastructure helps us protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer data, something of the utmost importance to AWS. For more details of AWS’s privacy and security processes, please visit http://aws.amazon.com/privacy/ and http://aws.amazon.com/security/. By using the Website’s service, you consent to your personal information being transferred to our services hosted on AWS servers, as set out in this policy.
Third-Party Websites and Social Media Features
Our Website may contain links to other sites, including those of third parties or business partners. While we seek to link only to sites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we cannot be responsible for the privacy practices other websites use. By accessing other third party websites or applications through our Website, you are consenting to the terms and privacy policies of those websites. It is possible that other parties may collect personally identifiable information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you use our Website.
Visitors from the European Economic Area
The Website is hosted and operated in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. By using the Website, you are consenting to the transfer of your personal information to the U.S. If you are accessing our Website from outside the U.S., please be advised that U.S. law may not offer the same privacy protections as the law of your jurisdiction.
We also protect all data transferred to the third parties by entering into contracts with the third party ensuring that your data is only processed for the limited and specified purposes consistent with your authorization.
Upon request, we will provide a summary or a representative copy of the relevant privacy provisions of our contract with the third-party recipient.
How to Review, Change and Update Information You Provided that We Collected
You can login to your profile on the Website and edit or update your information. You may also ask to have your data deleted. Please contact us at info@scicommlab.org to have your data deleted.
If your information has been shared with a third party, as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, then that third party has received its own copy of your data. If you have been contacted by one of these third parties and wish to correct or delete your information, please contact them directly.
Right to Portability and Right of Access
Upon request, we will collect any information we have stored in our system from your use of the Website, and provide it as one or more file downloads in a secure location.
Contact Us
We are always interested in what you have to say. If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us online at info@scicommlab.org or by mailing a letter to:
Science Communication Lab, Inc.
1936 University Ave, Suite 330
Berkeley, CA 94704.
