Privacy Policy
Grist ("we" or "us") respects your privacy and has adopted policies and procedures for ensuring that personal information about visitors ("you") is handled responsibly. This statement describes the privacy practices of the Grist website (on the Internet at www.grist.org, www.gristmagazine.com, www.gristmagazine.org, www.gristmagazine.info, www.gristmagazine.biz, www.grist.info, and www.gristmagazine.net). This statement outlines:
Information Collection
Grist collects information from our visitors at several different points on our website.
Browsing
Visitors may browse our website, subject to our website Terms of Service, without providing any individually identifiable information.
Registration
Visitors must register in order to use certain features of our website, such as our chat rooms, online discussion forums, and bulletin boards. During registration, a visitor is required to provide contact information such as name, email address, and mailing address. We use this information to contact visitors about features and services that we believe may be of interest. Registration data may also include demographic information (such as gender or age) and subject matter preferences so that we can effectively tailor editorial content according to interest.
Requests and Orders
When a visitor asks us to provide information or a service, we request information to enable us to respond to the visitor. This information could include contact information (such as name, email address, and mailing address) and, if applicable, financial, payment, or billing information.
Information Use
Profile
Each time you visit our website, our web server receives some basic technical information from your computer, including your Internet protocol (IP) address, domain name, referral data (e.g., the address of the website you visited before clicking through to our website), and browser and platform type. We store this technical information using cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our visitors. A profile consists of stored technical information that we keep on individual visitors that details their viewing preferences. These profiles do not contain information that identifies any visitor as an individual person. This information is used to provide offers and improve the content of the site for a visitor, and may be used to customize portions of our website for a visitor or direct certain types of information to a visitor. We may share profile information (without individually identifying information) with third parties.
Cookies
A cookie is a small data file stored on a visitor's computer that contains information about the visitor. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once visitors close the browser, the cookie simply terminates and is not retained. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the visitor's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.
We use cookies to count the number of visitors to our website; the cookie enables us to distinguish repeat visitors from new visitors. If visitors decline to accept cookies, they may still use our site, but some portions of our site may be inaccessible or slower to access. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our visitors so we can enhance the visitor experience on our site.
Log Files
Like most standard website servers, we use log files to track visitors' access to our website. This includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track visitor movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc., are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use two tracking utilities called Web Trends and SmarterStats that use log files to analyze visitors' movements on our website.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
We employ software technology called "clear gifs" (also known as "web beacons" or "web bugs") that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is most popular and most effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of website visitors. Clear gifs are invisible on the page and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are not tied to visitors' personally identifiable information.
Communications from Grist
Grist by Email
If a visitor wishes to subscribe to our Grist by Email newsletter, we must collect registration information including the visitor's name and email address. Subscribers may unsubscribe to stop receiving these email communications. Please see the "Choice" and "Opt-Out" sections of this policy below.
Announcements
We occasionally send registered visitors email messages about features on our website, promotions, events, or other information that may be of interest to them.
Customer Service
If we need to communicate with a registered visitor, we generally use email, but may use other methods of communication as appropriate, if the visitor supplies such information to us.
Sharing of Information
Legal Requirements
Though we make every effort to preserve visitor privacy, we may need to disclose personal information as required by law or if we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding or a court order or legal process served on us, or to assert or defend our legal rights, or to protect us or others from harm to persons or property.
Non-Personally Identifiable Aggregate Information
We may share aggregated demographic information with other entities such as our funding providers, Do-Good partners, or third parties with whom we have marketing alliances.
Public Postings
Our website provides numerous opportunities for visitors to express their opinions and views, in accordance with the standards of conduct in our Terms of Service. Visitors submit information to these forums with the understanding that the information will be made publicly available. For example, letters to the editor, letters to Grist's advice columnist, bulletin board postings, chat room postings, and statements made in an online discussion forum may be posted as we determine to be appropriate, and this content may be attributed to you. Grist exercises its discretion in determining what to post and what to remove. In most cases, Grist does not actively monitor visitor-submitted content, so visitors should be careful not to post anything that they do not wish to be publicly available. Once information is made publicly available on our website (no matter how long it may remain available), it may be copied or downloaded by other persons, and Grist has no control over who may obtain the information or what they may do with it.
Service Providers
We share personally identifiable information with the companies that provide services for us or our website. For example, the companies that operate our website, maintain our computers, and prepare our mailings need access to information necessary to perform their tasks. Likewise, the companies that administer features on our website, or that provide professional or logistics services to us, need access to information about visitors in order to perform their work for us.
Business Transitions
Visitor information may be transferred in connection with a business transition -- for example, if Grist merges with another entity, is acquired by another entity, or sells a portion of its assets.
Choice/Opt-Out
Our visitors are given the opportunity to "opt out" of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for the information. For example, our order form has an opt-out mechanism so visitors who request something from us can keep their email address off of our lists for future mailings.
Visitors who no longer wish to receive information from us may opt out of receiving communications by sending an email message to grist@grist.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Visitors may also opt out by visiting our unsubscribe page, by calling 206.876.2020 ext. 202, by faxing 253.423.6487, or by writing to Webmaster, Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.
Surveys, Sweepstakes & Contests
We occasionally conduct surveys, sweepstakes, or contests. Participation in these is completely voluntary and visitors have a choice of whether to disclose personally identifiable information in order to take part. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as gender or age). Contact information will be shared with the survey, sweepstakes, or contest sponsors or used by Grist internally to notify the winners and award prizes. Non-identifying survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of Grist's website. Visitors' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties involved in surveys, sweepstakes, or contests unless we give prior notice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys, sweepstakes, or contests, these third parties may not use visitors' personally identifiable information for any other purposes.
Other Information
Security
We take precautions to protect our visitors' information, including physical, technical, and administrative measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to or use of personally identifiable visitor information.
Links
This website contains links to other sites that offer their own products, services, and features that may be of interest to Grist visitors. However, Grist is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our visitors to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.
Third-Party or Co-branded Features
Grist periodically collaborates with other companies to offer special features through our website, such as The Gristmill, our online discussion forum. Because these offerings are not provided by Grist, they are subject to the third party's privacy policies and procedures.
Correcting and Updating Personal Information
If a visitor's personally identifiable information changes (such as email address, mailing address, or phone number), or if a visitor wishes to remove their information from our systems, we provide a way to correct, update, or delete/deactivate visitors' personally identifiable information. This can be done by making a written, telephone, or email request to Grist using one of the methods of contact described below under "Contact Information."
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, and to other places we deem appropriate so our visitors are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
In some cases when we post a notice of privacy-policy changes, we will also email visitors who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you may contact Grist's privacy officer by email at grist@grist.org, by telephone at 206.876.2020 ext. 202, by fax at 253.423.6487, or by mail at Webmaster, Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.
- What personally identifiable information Grist collects through the Grist website.
- What personally identifiable information third parties collect.
- How Grist uses visitor information.
- With whom Grist may share visitor information.
- What choices are available to visitors regarding collection, use, and distribution of their information.
- What types of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of visitor information under Grist control.
- How visitors can correct any inaccuracies in their information.
Information Collection
Grist collects information from our visitors at several different points on our website.
Browsing
Visitors may browse our website, subject to our website Terms of Service, without providing any individually identifiable information.
Registration
Visitors must register in order to use certain features of our website, such as our chat rooms, online discussion forums, and bulletin boards. During registration, a visitor is required to provide contact information such as name, email address, and mailing address. We use this information to contact visitors about features and services that we believe may be of interest. Registration data may also include demographic information (such as gender or age) and subject matter preferences so that we can effectively tailor editorial content according to interest.
Requests and Orders
When a visitor asks us to provide information or a service, we request information to enable us to respond to the visitor. This information could include contact information (such as name, email address, and mailing address) and, if applicable, financial, payment, or billing information.
Information Use
Profile
Each time you visit our website, our web server receives some basic technical information from your computer, including your Internet protocol (IP) address, domain name, referral data (e.g., the address of the website you visited before clicking through to our website), and browser and platform type. We store this technical information using cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our visitors. A profile consists of stored technical information that we keep on individual visitors that details their viewing preferences. These profiles do not contain information that identifies any visitor as an individual person. This information is used to provide offers and improve the content of the site for a visitor, and may be used to customize portions of our website for a visitor or direct certain types of information to a visitor. We may share profile information (without individually identifying information) with third parties.
Cookies
A cookie is a small data file stored on a visitor's computer that contains information about the visitor. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once visitors close the browser, the cookie simply terminates and is not retained. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the visitor's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.
We use cookies to count the number of visitors to our website; the cookie enables us to distinguish repeat visitors from new visitors. If visitors decline to accept cookies, they may still use our site, but some portions of our site may be inaccessible or slower to access. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our visitors so we can enhance the visitor experience on our site.
Log Files
Like most standard website servers, we use log files to track visitors' access to our website. This includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track visitor movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc., are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use two tracking utilities called Web Trends and SmarterStats that use log files to analyze visitors' movements on our website.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
We employ software technology called "clear gifs" (also known as "web beacons" or "web bugs") that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is most popular and most effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of website visitors. Clear gifs are invisible on the page and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are not tied to visitors' personally identifiable information.
Communications from Grist
Grist by Email
If a visitor wishes to subscribe to our Grist by Email newsletter, we must collect registration information including the visitor's name and email address. Subscribers may unsubscribe to stop receiving these email communications. Please see the "Choice" and "Opt-Out" sections of this policy below.
Announcements
We occasionally send registered visitors email messages about features on our website, promotions, events, or other information that may be of interest to them.
Customer Service
If we need to communicate with a registered visitor, we generally use email, but may use other methods of communication as appropriate, if the visitor supplies such information to us.
Sharing of Information
Legal Requirements
Though we make every effort to preserve visitor privacy, we may need to disclose personal information as required by law or if we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding or a court order or legal process served on us, or to assert or defend our legal rights, or to protect us or others from harm to persons or property.
Non-Personally Identifiable Aggregate Information
We may share aggregated demographic information with other entities such as our funding providers, Do-Good partners, or third parties with whom we have marketing alliances.
Public Postings
Our website provides numerous opportunities for visitors to express their opinions and views, in accordance with the standards of conduct in our Terms of Service. Visitors submit information to these forums with the understanding that the information will be made publicly available. For example, letters to the editor, letters to Grist's advice columnist, bulletin board postings, chat room postings, and statements made in an online discussion forum may be posted as we determine to be appropriate, and this content may be attributed to you. Grist exercises its discretion in determining what to post and what to remove. In most cases, Grist does not actively monitor visitor-submitted content, so visitors should be careful not to post anything that they do not wish to be publicly available. Once information is made publicly available on our website (no matter how long it may remain available), it may be copied or downloaded by other persons, and Grist has no control over who may obtain the information or what they may do with it.
Service Providers
We share personally identifiable information with the companies that provide services for us or our website. For example, the companies that operate our website, maintain our computers, and prepare our mailings need access to information necessary to perform their tasks. Likewise, the companies that administer features on our website, or that provide professional or logistics services to us, need access to information about visitors in order to perform their work for us.
Business Transitions
Visitor information may be transferred in connection with a business transition -- for example, if Grist merges with another entity, is acquired by another entity, or sells a portion of its assets.
Choice/Opt-Out
Our visitors are given the opportunity to "opt out" of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for the information. For example, our order form has an opt-out mechanism so visitors who request something from us can keep their email address off of our lists for future mailings.
Visitors who no longer wish to receive information from us may opt out of receiving communications by sending an email message to grist@grist.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Visitors may also opt out by visiting our unsubscribe page, by calling 206.876.2020 ext. 202, by faxing 253.423.6487, or by writing to Webmaster, Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.
Surveys, Sweepstakes & Contests
We occasionally conduct surveys, sweepstakes, or contests. Participation in these is completely voluntary and visitors have a choice of whether to disclose personally identifiable information in order to take part. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as gender or age). Contact information will be shared with the survey, sweepstakes, or contest sponsors or used by Grist internally to notify the winners and award prizes. Non-identifying survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of Grist's website. Visitors' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties involved in surveys, sweepstakes, or contests unless we give prior notice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys, sweepstakes, or contests, these third parties may not use visitors' personally identifiable information for any other purposes.
Other Information
Security
We take precautions to protect our visitors' information, including physical, technical, and administrative measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to or use of personally identifiable visitor information.
Links
This website contains links to other sites that offer their own products, services, and features that may be of interest to Grist visitors. However, Grist is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our visitors to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.
Third-Party or Co-branded Features
Grist periodically collaborates with other companies to offer special features through our website, such as The Gristmill, our online discussion forum. Because these offerings are not provided by Grist, they are subject to the third party's privacy policies and procedures.
Correcting and Updating Personal Information
If a visitor's personally identifiable information changes (such as email address, mailing address, or phone number), or if a visitor wishes to remove their information from our systems, we provide a way to correct, update, or delete/deactivate visitors' personally identifiable information. This can be done by making a written, telephone, or email request to Grist using one of the methods of contact described below under "Contact Information."
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, and to other places we deem appropriate so our visitors are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
In some cases when we post a notice of privacy-policy changes, we will also email visitors who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you may contact Grist's privacy officer by email at grist@grist.org, by telephone at 206.876.2020 ext. 202, by fax at 253.423.6487, or by mail at Webmaster, Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.
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