The Sonoran Desert Institute is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you a powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the Institute Web sites and governs data collection and usage at all the Institute sites and services. Please read the complete Statement of Privacy below to learn additional details about how some of these sites and services protect your personal information.

Collection of your Personal Information
At some pages on our site, the Institute collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work addresses or telephone numbers. At other sites, anonymous demographic information is collected, which is not unique to you, such as ZIP code, age, gender. Some sites collect a combination of the two types of information.

Information about your computer hardware and software is automatically collected by The Institute as by other internet entities. This information may include your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. This information serves to provide operational and statistical feedback.

Use of your Personal Information
The Institute keeps track of visits to Institute Web sites and pages in order to deliver customized content and to gauge the popularity and efficacy of sites, sections and services.

The Institute does not sell, rent, lease or lend its lead, applicant, Student, or Instructor lists to third parties. The Institute may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to the Institute and are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

The Institute will not disclose your personal information, except as required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on the Institute; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of the Institute; or, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Institute, its web sites, or the public.

Under the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 a Student’s academic and financial files at the Institute will not be released to any third party without the written consent of the Student.

Use of Cookies and Web Beacons
A “cookie” is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page and help the Institute to recall your specific information on subsequent visits.

A “web beacon” is typically a small transparent graphic image that works with cookies to count and recognize users and track movement from point to point within a server network.

The Institute Web sites use cookies to help you personalize your online experience. When you return to the same the Institute Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Institute services or Web sites you visit.

Control your Personal Information
The Institute offers its Students choices for the collection, use and sharing of personal information. You may go to the Profile page to proactively make choices about the use and sharing of your personal information.

Security of your Personal Information
The Institute secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. The Institute secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Web sites through the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encrypted protection.

Changes to this Statement
The Institute may occasionally update this Statement of Privacy and encourages you to periodically review this Statement to remain informed of how the Institute is protecting your information.