Smithsonian Folkways® privacy policy
Smithsonian Folkways is committed to protecting user privacy online. We believe that strong electronic privacy is crucial for the ongoing success of the Internet.
We pledge to give you as much control as possible over your personal information. We will not disclose personally-identifiable information about you to any third party without your consent, except as required by law or legal process.
For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server recognizes and collects the consumer's domain name. We recognize when possible but do not collect the consumer's email address. We do collect email addresses of those who communicate with us directly via email and we collect information volunteered by the consumer such as survey information and/or site registrations.
The information we collect is used to improve the content of Smithsonian Folkways and used to customize the content and/or layout of our page for each individual visitor. It is not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes.
With your permission, you may receive information about: Smithsonian Folkways, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage's annual Folklife Festival; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings new releases; news from our partner music archives and information from other Smithsonian museums, programs, and offices. When you receive any email, you will always have the option to decline future electronic communication.
Secure Ordering Online
Your online credit card transactions are secure with Smithsonian Folkways. We use industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving consumer data exchanged with our site. We use Secure Socket Layering (SSL), the industry-standard encryption technology (128-bit encryption) that ensures safe Internet transmission of your personal information. Typically, your browser will provide an indication that you are entering a secure area (e.g. an icon on the browser window; a popup message on your monitor or an "https" in the URL indicator on the browser). A credit card purchase on our Web site is as safe as it is by telephone, mail or in person.
Cookies
Like many websites, we use "cookie" technology. "Cookies" are small pieces of information attached to your browser by a website that you visit. Cookies are used to track usage patterns, traffic trends and customer behavior, as well as to record other information from the Website. When you register on the Web site, cookies also allow us to save information so that you will not have to re-enter it the next time you visit. The cookies that we use do not reveal any personal information about you, except perhaps your first name so we can welcome you on your next visit. Cookies help us understand which parts of our websites are the most popular, where our visitors are going, and how long they spend there. Many content adjustments and customer service improvements are made based on the data derived from cookies. Information that we collect from cookies will not be used to create profiles of users and will only be used in aggregate form. You may set your browser to refuse cookies from any website you visit. If you do so, you will still be able to enjoy shopping at Smithsonian Folkways, though you will forfeit some of the interactive features.
We may employ third-party companies to provide marketing services on our behalf and otherwise assist us in improving our website. These companies will not have access to personal information, but may have access to non-personal information about your visit or transaction, such as the URLS which lead you to and around our site, pages visited, the product(s) purchased, and the amount spent. The information is used in aggregate for analysis purposes only and these companies will only have access to the information needed to perform their services, but will be prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
Links
This website contains links to other sites. We do not share your personal information with those websites and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to learn about the privacy policy of those companies.
Children
Smithsonian Folkways does not market knowingly to children or collect personally identifiable information from children. Children may neither make purchases nor submit any personal information, unless a parent or guardian has provided written authorization by use of a verified e-mail address, fax or ordinary mail.
Comments
At Smithsonian Folkways we are interested in your comments and feedback. Please help us respond to your comments and inquiries by sending them to the appropriate department. E-mail us at
smithsonianfolkways@si.edu.
Smithsonian Folkways
600 Maryland Ave. SW
Suite 2001
Washington DC 20024 USA
Phone 1-888-FOLKWAYS or 1-202-633.6450
Email smithsonianfolkways@si.edu
This privacy policy is subject to change at any time. We encourage you to review the privacy policy regularly for any changes.