Last updated: September 13, 2013
The Open Science is the publisher of this website. Open Science is committed to safeguarding your privacy. All Open Science-affiliated websites, including this one, adhere to a policy for ensuring the privacy of any personally identifiable information (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, occupation, etc.) and sensitive data (defined below) that may be collected through our websites. By using the Site, you agree to the terms and conditions of this privacy policy (the "Policy"). If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Policy, please do not use the Site. We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time, for any reason and without prior notice. You can determine when this Policy was last revised by referring to the "Last updated" legend at the top of this page. Any changes to the Policy will become effective upon the posting of the revised Policy on the Site. Use of the Site constitutes your acceptance of the Policy then in effect.
Use of certain parts of the Site, and certain services offered by Open Science, require registration, subject to explicit consent to the Policy upon registration.
The Site is controlled and operated by Open Science from the United States, and is not intended to subject Open Science to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than that of the United States. Open Science does not represent or warrant that the Site or any part thereof is appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction. Those who choose to access the Site do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations.
Please be aware that any Personally Identifiable Information that you provide and we collect through the Site shall be transferred to the United States and might be transferred to other countries that might not provide the same level of data protection as your home country. By using the Site, you consent to such collection and transfer of your Personally Identifiable Information to the United State and such other countries.
1. What Types of Information Does Open Science Collect From Me?
Open Science gathers two basic types of information through the Site: "Personally Identifiable Information" (or "PII") and "Non-Personally Identifiable Information" (or "Non-PII"). PII is information that identifies you as an individual; that is, your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, profile information and user name. PII also includes additional personal data you may be required to provide us upon registration to be able to use certain parts of the Site and/or to apply for or benefit from opportunities offered by Open Science, including, for example, grants, fellowships and scholarships. Such additional information may include (subject to context), but is not limited to, your date of birth, contact information, biographical information, including education and work experience, data about family members, employment-related information, images of your signature, expenses, the amount and intended purpose of grants in which you are involved, and information about your participation in a specific program. PII may also include (subject to context), but is not limited to, information revealing national or ethnic minority origin, political opinion or party affiliation, religious or ideological belief, or membership in any interest-representing organization as well as your state of health, pathological addictions, sexual life or criminal personal data. Non-PII may include, but is not limited to, aggregated information, demographic information, IP addresses and any other information that does not reveal specific identifying information about you. Non-PII, if linked to your PII, will also qualify as Personal Data under European data protection legislation and will be treated as PII.
1.1 Personally Identifiable Information.
In order for you to take advantage of particular opportunities provided through the site (e.g., to register to use the Site for posting), we may require that you furnish PII. We collect PII from you only when you voluntarily provide it to us. We will use certain PII, including Sensitive Data, only after you have completed the relevant registration and have provided your explicit consent.
1.2 Non-Personally Identifiable Information.
When you visit and interact with the Site, Open Science and third parties with whom Open Science has contracted to provide services to Open Science may collect Non-PII (e.g., a catalog of the Site pages you visit). Non-PII is generally collected from four different sources: server log files, pixel tags and aggregated information.
1.3 Server Log Files.
Your Internet Protocol ("IP") address is an identifying number that is automatically assigned to your computer by your Internet Service Provider ("ISP"). This number is identified and logged automatically in our server log files whenever you visit the Site, along with the time(s) of your visit(s) and the page(s) that you visit. IP addresses can be used to calculate Site usage levels, to help diagnose problems with the Site's servers, and to administer the Site. Collecting IP addresses is standard practice on the Internet and is done automatically by many websites.
1.4 Pixel Tags.
We and our service providers may also use so-called "pixel tags," "web beacons," "clear GIFs" or similar means (collectively, "Pixel Tags") in connection with some Site pages and HTML-formatted e-mail messages to, among other things, compile aggregate statistics about Site usage and response rates. A Pixel Tag is an electronic image, often a single-pixel (1x1), that is ordinarily not visible to Site visitors and may be associated with cookies on the visitors' hard drives. Pixel Tags allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Site and to deliver branded services, and to help determine the effectiveness of promotional campaigns. When used in HTML-formatted e-mail messages, Pixel Tags can tell the sender whether and when the e-mail has been opened.
1.5 Aggregated Information.
We may aggregate PII in a manner such that the end-product does not personally identify you or any other user of the Site, for example, by using PII to calculate the percentage of our users who have a particular telephone area code. Such aggregate information is considered Non-PII for purposes of this Policy.
2. How Is Information Collected on the Site Used?
2.1 Personally Identifiable Information.
Open Science may use your PII in the following ways:
Fulfillment of Requests. We use your PII to fulfill any request you make at the time you provide the PII, including when you register through the Site in order to benefit from certain services or opportunities, such as grant, fellowship or scholarship applications.
Administrative Communications. From time to time, in our sole discretion, we may use your PII to e-mail to you important information regarding the Site, or changes to our terms, conditions, and policies. Because this information may be important to your use of the Site, you may not opt-out of receiving these e-mails.
Forums. Open Science and/or our third party service provider(s) may make available through the Site interactive services (including, without limitation, message boards, blogs and wikis) to which you are able to post information and materials (each, a "Forum"). Please note that any information you disclose in a Forum becomes public information, and may be available to other visitors to the Site and to the general public. In addition, when you choose to make a posting to a Forum, certain PII, such as your name, will be available for other users to view. Information regarding your activities in Forums is also available for view by other users. For example, other users may be able to view a list of all the postings you have made in all available Forums. We urge you to exercise discretion and caution when deciding whether to disclose your PII, or any other information, in any Forum. OPEN SCIENCE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DISCLOSE IN FORUMS..
2.2 Non-Personally Identifiable Information.
Because Non-PII does not personally identify you, we (including our affiliates) may use such information for any purpose. In addition, we reserve the right to share such Non PII, which does not personally identify you, with third parties, for any purpose. Please note that to the extent any Non-PII is linked with PII, such linked information will be treated as PII as long as it is so linked.
3. For What Purpose is Open Science Using your Personally Identifiable Information?
Your PII will be used solely for these purposes: (a) to enable your use of the Site; (b) for the review, evaluation and administration of grant, scholarship and other Open Science programs; (c) to monitor progress of and compliance with these programs; (d) to make recommendations, proposals or notices to you about opportunities you may potentially be interested in, and to administer the legal relationship between Open Science and you, including with respect to any financial transaction. Open Science may use your PII for so long as Open Science remains active in conducting any of the above purposes. Your PII will be archived in compliance with relevant data-protection laws applicable to archives.
4. How Does Open Science Disclose Personally Identifiable Information Collected Through the Site?
4.1 Third Party Service Providers.
We work with trusted third parties who provide services including, but not limited to, web site hosting, data analysis, transaction processing and other services of an administrative nature. Unless you explicitly consent to other uses, we reserve the right to share your PII with these third parties solely for the purpose of enabling these third parties to provide such services.
4.2 Assignment.
We reserve the right to transfer any and all PII that we collect from users of the Site to a third party in the event of any sale, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of Open Science's assets.
4.3 Law enforcement; emergencies; compliance.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Policy to the contrary, we reserve the right to disclose your PII as we believe to be appropriate: (a) under applicable law; (b) to comply with legal process or governmental requests; (c) to protect our operations or those of any affiliates; (d) to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of Open Science, its affiliates, you or others; and (f) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
5. Other Important Notes Regarding Our Privacy Practices.
5.1 Notice Regarding Security.
We seek to have security measures and tools in place to help protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as perfect security in an online environment. As a result, we cannot, and do not, guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us through or in connection with the Site or that we store on our or our agents' systems... If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (e.g., if you feel that the security of any account you might have with us has been compromised), you must immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us
openscience.article@gmail.com
5.2 Third-Party Sites.
The Site may contain links to third-party websites. These linked sites are not under Open Science's control and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of any such linked site, or any link contained in any linked site. We provide such links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of a link on the Site does not imply endorsement of the linked site by Open Science. If you provide any PII through any such third-party website, your interaction will occur on such third-party's websites (not on our Site) and the PII you provide will be collected by, and controlled by, the privacy policy of that third party. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies and practices of any such third parties. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POLICY DOES NOT ADDRESS THE PRIVACY OR INFORMATION PRACTICES OF ANY THIRD PARTIES.
5.3 Transfer.
Please be aware that we may transfer any PII we collect through the Site to countries that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home country. By using the Site, you consent to such transfer of your PII.
5.4 Contacting Us for Information and Remedies.
If you have any questions regarding this Policy, or if you wish to obtain a copy of your PII controlled by Open Science, a description of the purposes for which it was collected and processed and the recipients, please contact us by e-mail at
openscience.article@gmail.com. In addition, you have the right to request correction of any inaccurate PII or deletion of your PII. We will honor requests to delete PII to the extent possible and required by applicable laws; this might be in the form of anonym zing your data but retaining information that does not identify you. Please note that e-mail communications will not necessarily be secure; accordingly, you should not include credit card information or other sensitive information in your e-mail correspondence with us.
