Privacy Policy

Museum of Science Online Privacy Policy

An educational institution that serves 1.7 million adults and children each year and receives 2 million visits to its website — the Museum of Science, Boston, is dedicated to providing the best possible experience for our visitors. To that end, we are committed to protecting the private information of those who interact with us online. The Museum of Science website adheres to the following policy for ensuring the privacy of your — and your children's — personally identifiable information (such as full name, address, email address, telephone number, and/or other identifiable information). Gathering and Use of Information

1. We will not collect personally identifiable information from you, other than what you supply to us on a voluntary basis.

2. You might be asked to provide some personally identifiable information in order to participate in some online activities. This could be in connection with the following: * contest or sweepstakes registration * subscription registration for services such as email newsletters * transactions in our Online Ticket Store * content submissions, community postings (i.e., forums or bulletin boards), comments and suggestions, voting, or online surveys

3. The Museum of Science may use your personally identifiable information to extend promotional offers (such as invitations to Museum events) or to provide information requested by users.

4. When you are asked to provide personal information, we will explain the extent of its use, for example, to complete an online transaction.

5. When you disclose personal information on the Museum website, we may use your address internally to inform you of events and opportunities at the Museum.

6. If you do not wish to receive these communications, you may choose to "opt out." Under certain circumstances, opting out may prevent your participation in activities for which personal information is needed (such as contests).

7. We may use personally identifiable information in order to prevent improper use of our site, or as otherwise necessary to defend against or assist in the investigation of improper or illegal activity on the website.

Children (persons 12 years old or younger)

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) restricts the collection of personal information of children aged 12 or younger.

If your child submits stories, artwork, comments, or anything else that is posted on our site, he or she will be identified only by first name, age, and state.

Before we collect or allow the submission of any personally identifying information, we require the user to specify his or her age. When a user indicates an age of 12 years old or younger, a parental consent form appears on the user's screen. This form describes the personal information to be collected from or to be submitted by the child, and the proposed uses of such information. No personal information is collected from children 12 and under except in accordance with parental consent as required by law.

A consent form is not required when a child subscribes to email newsletters from the Museum of Science. If a child 12 years old or younger provides his or her email address to receive an email newsletter, the child is also required to submit the email address of a parent or guardian. The parent or guardian is sent a notice by email and given the option to unsubscribe the child from the email newsletter.

Users under 18 years of age cannot make credit card purchases on our website.

By contacting us at privacy@mos.org at any time, parents or guardians of users 12 years old or younger may review any personal information we have regarding their children, require us to change such information, or prohibit us from collecting or maintaining any such information. Cookies

The Museum of Science website uses a technology tool called a "cookie." The cookie is a small text file that our website temporarily stores on your hard drive. When you return to our site your Web browser passes the cookie from your computer back to our website, so we can recognize you as you move through our site (for instance, the cookie tells our website which shopping basket is yours). At no time will the cookie reveal to others your name, email address, street address, or telephone number (even if you have submitted this information to other areas of our website). Aggregate Information

The Museum of Science website automatically logs information such as IP address and browser type of all visitors for measuring the usage of our website. We use this information to analyze how visitors use our website, which helps us modify the site and improve our visitors' experiences. Museum of Science Website Security

To ensure that that your credit card transaction with the Museum of Science has the highest level of security available, the information you submit to the Online Ticket Store is protected by a technology called the Secure Sockets Layer Protocol. This security software encrypts your credit card information so that it cannot be read as your ticketing order travels over the Internet. This means that no one outside the Museum has access to your information. To ensure that you are on a secure page, look for the closed key or lock on the bottom of your Web browser during the Museum of Science ticketing checkout process. Links

The Museum of Science site may contain links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are clicking to the site of another organization. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of other websites, as their policies may differ from ours. Policy Changes

As our website grows, it may be necessary for us to change our privacy policy to reflect new online activities and programs. Any changes will be posted here. To keep informed about our information practices, please check this page periodically. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy statement, our online practices, or your dealings with this website, please contact:

Museum of Science Online Privacy 1 Science Park Boston, MA 02114

617-723-2500

privacy@mos.org