PRIVACY

OSET Institute Online Privacy Policy Statement

The Open Source Election Technology Institute (hereinafter, “OSET”) has created this privacy statement (“Statement”) in order to demonstrate our commitment to community of developers, participants, and supporters. Privacy on the OSET website (osetinstitute.org and the TrustTheVote® Project site (trustthevote.org) individually and collectively the “Site”) is important to us. We do gather limited important information from our visitors, Project members, registered developers, subscribers, and other participants, and are deeply committed to handling it with the utmost responsibility and integrity. Accordingly, we have established this Policy Statement to communicate our information gathering and dissemination practices. We reserve the right to change this Statement and will provide notification of the change at least thirty (30) business days prior to the change taking effect and will include directions on how users may respond to the change.

Collected Information

OSET requires Visitors who register (including "Join" for purposes of contribution, donation or TrustTheVote Project (“Project”) membership) to become OSET participants, Project members, or developers (“Registrants”) to use OSET Site resources (“Resources”) to provide us with certain contact information, such as their name and eMail address. We may ask for additional contact or interest information to help us determine how the Registrant can best help the efforts of OSET and vice versa.  Such information can include, but is not limited to, areas of technical competency, areas of design interests, knowledge of election and voting processes, procedures, policy and law, company name, surface address, a contact phone number.

For Registrants interested in making a contribution, donation to the Institute, or joining the Project to further the causes of OSET, we use Anedot, a partner payment processor which will ask for a credit card account number, billing information, and other authentication data associated with the credit or debit card strictly for the purposes of the Registrant, Donor, Contributor, or Project member processing a donation transaction.

For Registrants interested in professional staff opportunities with OSET we may ask for their resume or curricula vitae and personal and professional character references and their contact information.

Registrants can opt out of providing this additional information by not entering it when asked. To distinguish the data types, required fields are so designated. Project members can update or remove their personal information at any time by logging into the TrustTheVote Project website and editing their Personal Information within designated member management pages or by contacting OSET directly at “drm” at osetinsitute dot org.

OSET may also use the information to contact Registrants to further discuss interest in the Institute, the benefits, services, and work that it provides, and to send information regarding our Institute, such as fund raising efforts and Institute events. Registrants may be invited to receive an eMail newsletter by providing an eMail address.

REGISTRANT CAN OPT OUT OF RECEIVING ANY COMMUNICATION BY RE-SETTING THEIR PREFERENCE IN THE DESIGNATED ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT PAGES OF THE WEB SITE, OR BY SENDING A MESSAGE TO “DRM” AT OSETINSTITUTE.ORG (WHICH WILL OFTEN BE SUPPLIED AS A MAIL LINK WITH THE COMMUNICATION) AT THE TIME IT IS DISTRIBUTED.)

Except as we explicitly state at the time we request information, or as provided for in the Legal Notices & Terms of Use, we do not disclose to any third-party the information provided. Any financial and billing information that we collect through the Site is used solely to conclude a donation transaction. The Registrant can opt-in to have credit card and billing information retained for future donations through our transaction processing partner, Anedot (see above).

THIS BILLING INFORMATION IS NOT USED BY OSET FOR ANY MARKETING OR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES WHATSOEVER.

OSET uses a third-party processor, Anedot to manage credit card processing. This processor is solely a link in the distribution chain, and is not permitted to store, retain, or use the information provided, except for the sole purpose of credit or debit card processing.

SUBSCRIBERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THE CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY OF THEIR REGISTRATION AND PASSWORD.

OSET may also collect certain information from Visitors to and Registrants of the Site such as Internet (IP) addresses. This information is logged to help diagnose technical problems, and to administer our Site in order to constantly improve the quality of the Service. We may also track and analyze non-identifying and aggregate usage and volume statistical information from our Visitors and Registrants, and provide such information to third parties for our own performance analysis, and site productivity, traffic, or usage metrics purposes only.

If a Registrant elects to use any referral service we may offer for informing a friend about our Website or the Institute, we ask them for the friend’s name and e-Mail address. Thereafter, OSET will automatically send the identified friend a one-time e-Mail inviting them to visit the site. OSET does not store this information.

Cookies

When you use the OSET Site, we continually work to make that experience engaging, useful, and simple. When you connect our Web servers may send a cookie to your computer. Cookies are files that Web browsers place on a computer’s hard drive and are used to tell us whether Subscribers, Users, and visitors have visited the Site previously.

STANDING ALONE, OUR COOKIES CANNOT AND DO NOT IDENTIFY YOU PERSONALLY. THEY MERELY RECOGNIZE YOUR WEB BROWSER.

Unless you choose to identify yourself to OSET, you remain anonymous to OSET.

Cookies come in two flavors: session and persistent. Session cookies exist only during an online session. They disappear from your computer when you close your browser software or turn off your computer. Persistent cookies remain on your computer after you’ve closed your browser or turned off your computer. They include such information as a unique identifier for your browser.

OSET may use session cookies containing encrypted information to allow the system to uniquely identify you while you are connected. Session cookies help us make sure you are who you say you are after you’ve logged in and may be required in order to access certain aspects of OSET Services. Should OSET use persistent cookies, they can only be read by OSET and will be used to identify the fact that you are a Registrant or prior OSET Site Visitor (whatever the case may be). We are especially careful about the security and confidentiality of the information stored in persistent cookies. For example, we do not store passwords in persistent cookies.

USERS WHO DISABLE THEIR WEB BROWSERS’ ABILITY TO ACCEPT COOKIES WILL BE ABLE TO BROWSE OUR SITE BUT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY ACCESS ALL ASPECTS OF THE SERVICES.

3rd Party Web Sites & Services

The OSET Site(s) may contain links to other websites. OSET is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other non-OSET websites. Registrants and Visitors will need to check the policy statement of these others websites to understand their policies. Registrants and Visitors who access a linked site may be disclosing their private information through no action or fault on our part. It is the responsibility of the user to keep such information private and confidential.

Sharing of Your Personal Data With Other Organizations

We may share information about you as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

  • With vendors, consultants and other service providers or volunteers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf;

  • With organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar viewpoints, principles or objectives or share similar goals and with organizations that facilitate communications and information sharing among such groups;

  • When we believe in good faith that we are lawfully authorized or required to do so or that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to comply with the law or legal processes or respond to lawful requests, claims or legal authorities, including responding to lawful subpoenas, warrants, or court orders;

  • If we believe your actions are inconsistent with the spirit or language of our user agreements or policies, or to protect the rights, property and safety of OSET Institute, Inc., its employees, volunteers or others;

  • With your consent or at your direction, including if we notify you through our Sites that the information you provide will be shared in a particular manner and you provide such information.

We may also share aggregated or anonymized information that does not directly identify you.

Online Petitions

If you sign an online petition, you understand that such petition is public information and that we may make the petition, and your name, city, state, and any comments provided in connection therewith publicly available.  In addition, we may provide such petitions or compilations thereof, including your comments, name, city, and state to national, state or local leaders.

Social Sharing Features

The Sites may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools (such as the Facebook “Like” button), which let you share actions you take on our Sites with other media, and vice versa.  The use of such features enables the sharing of information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the entity that provides the social sharing feature. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.

Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others

We may allow third parties to use cookies or other technologies to collect information about you in order to provide analytics services and to serve ads on other sites based on your visits to the Sites and other sites across the Internet and across various mobile applications.  These entities may collect or receive information about your use of the Sites and other websites and mobile applications, including your IP address, browser, device information, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information. This information may be used by OSET Institute and/or TrustTheVote Project and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests and better understand your online activity.

For more information about Internet-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.

Security

Our Site has security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the Data under our control. When our Site is accessed using Netscape Navigator versions 6.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox versions 1.07 or later, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5.0 or later, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology protects information using both server authentication and data encryption to help ensure that Data is safe, secure, and available only to you. OSET may also implement advanced security methods that may be based on dynamic data and encoded session identifications. OSET hosts its websites in a secure server environment that uses firewalls and other advanced technology to prevent interference or access from outside intruders. 

Finally, OSET provides unique user names and passwords that must be entered each time a Registrant or Member logs on to certain aspects of the Site. These safeguards help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of Data.

Opt-Out Policy

OSET offers its Visitors and Registrants a means to choose how we may use information provided. If, at any time after registering to become an Institute Participant or Developer, you change your mind about receiving information from us or about our potentially sharing your information with 3rd parties, send us a request specifying your new choice. This may be achieved either through the designated Account Management pages, or simply send your request to “drm” at osetinstitute dot org or “legal” at osetinstitute dot org.

Correcting & Updating Your Information

If Registrants of the OSET Site need to update or change any personal information they may do so by editing their registration record. To update a record, connect to the OSET Site’s designated account management pages or refer to the Site contact page.

Questions or Additional Information

Questions regarding this Statement or the practices of this Site should be directed to the OSET Privacy & Security Administrator by sending an eMail of such questions to legal at osetinstitute dot org.

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