Cookie Policy

Effective July 25, 2018

This Cookie Policy explains how Society for Science and the Public uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our websites and applications. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.

In some cases, we may use cookies to collect personal information, or that becomes personal information if we combine it with other information. In such cases our Privacy Policy, https://www.societyforscience.org/privacy-policy , will apply in addition to this Cookie Policy.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners in order to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.

Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Society for Science and the Public) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g. like advertising, interactive content and analytics). The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.

Why do we use cookies?

We use first and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Websites to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” or “strictly necessary” cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Online Properties. Third parties serve cookies through our Websites for advertising, analytics and other purposes. This is described in more detail below.

The specific types of first and third-party cookies served through our Websites and the purposes they perform are described below (please note that the specific cookies served may vary depending on the specific Online Properties you visit):

Analytics and customization cookies:

We may use a web analytics service, such as Google Analytics, to record and analyze activity on our Websites.  These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help the Society understand how our Websites are being used, how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our Websites and applications in order to enhance the user experience. The Websites or any such service may track browsing across web sites that use the same service, may collect statistical data and/or IP address.

Advertising cookies:

These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

Social networking cookies:

Our Websites interface with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and may include social media features such as the Facebook “like” button, widgets or interactive mini-programs that run on our Websites. These features may collect your IP address, the type of browser you use, browsing information, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. These cookies are also used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on our Websites through third party social networking and other websites. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the party providing it. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes too.

What about other tracking technologies, like web beacons?

Cookies are not the only way to recognize or track visitors to a website. We may use other, similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons (sometimes called “tracking pixels” or “clear gifs”). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enable us to recognize when someone has visited our Websites or opened an e-mail that we have sent them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within our Websites to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to our Websites from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to improve site performance, and to measure the success of e- mail marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies are reliant on cookies to function properly, and so declining cookies will impair their functioning.

Do you serve targeted advertising?

Third parties may serve cookies on your computer or mobile device to serve advertising through our Websites. These companies may use information about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide relevant advertisements about goods and services that you may be interested in. They may also employ technology that is used to measure the effectiveness of advertisements. This can be accomplished by them using cookies or web beacons to collect information about your visits to this and other sites in order to provide relevant advertisements about goods and services of potential interest to you. The information collected through this process does not enable us or them to identify your name, contact details or other details that directly identify you unless you choose to provide these.

How can I control cookies?

You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.

How often will you update this Cookie Policy?

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.

Do Not Track Response.

Certain web browsers may allow you to enable a “do not track” option that sends signals to the websites you visit indicating that you do not want your online activities tracked. This is different from blocking cookies as browsers with the “do not track” option selected may still accept cookies. Right now, there is no industry standard for how companies should respond to “do not track” signals, although one may be adopted in the future. We do not respond to “do not track” signals at this time. If we do so in the future, we will modify this Cookie Policy accordingly

Where can I get further information?

If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at privacy@societyforscience.org or by mail to:

Society for Science & the Public
1719 N Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036