The following privacy policy applies to the sites of the UW Aquatic Sciences Center and its Sea Grant and Water Resources programs.
The UW Aquatic Sciences Center is committed to protecting the privacy and security of its online visitors. This policy statement provides our visitors (including children, parents, and teachers) with an overview of the measures we have taken to provide a safe environment for everyone.
Personally Identifiable Information
Personally identifiable information will only be used by staff for administrative purposes such as programmatic reports and newsletters. E-mail addresses are never posted on Web sites. We only collect personally identifiable information (for example: the visitor’s name, e-mail address, age, school, town and country) from our visitors when our visitors voluntarily submit such information. We always request that children ask their parents or teachers for approval before sending us any personally identifiable information. We may request such personally identifiable information in connection with our contests, games, surveys, forums, content submissions, chats, bulletin boards, requests for suggestions, visitors’ requests for free educational products (such as our bookmarks), and visitors’ requests for additional information. In addition to our request that children ask their parents or teachers for approval before sending personally identifiable information to us, we also recommend that parents and teachers spend time online with their children and participate in the interactive activities offered on our sites.
Nonpersonally Identifiable Information and the Use of Cookie Technology
We collect nonpersonally identifiable information through the use of a software technology called “cookies,” and through our visitor’s voluntary submissions to us and/or upon our request. The use of cookies is an industry standard – you can find them on most major Web sites. By nonpersonally identifiable information, we are referring to information about our visitor’s browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer), operating systems (e.g., Windows or Macintosh), Internet service providers (e.g., AOL or NET.COM) and other similar information which we track in aggregate form. This means that the nonpersonally identifiable information that we track is anonymous and will never be identified with or lead us back to any of our visitors. Cookie technology also helps us to know how many people visit us and where visitors go on our sites. Among other things, this nonpersonally identifiable information allows us to know which areas are favorites, which areas need a bit of improvement, or what technologies and Internet services are being used by our visitors so that we may continually improve our visitor’s online experiences.
Security
The importance of security for all information associated with our visitors is of utmost concern to us. We ensure that all personally and nonpersonally identifiable information that we receive via the Internet is secure against unauthorized access. This information is kept in a safe and secure system isolated from direct connection to the Internet. This means that no eyes but ours will ever see the information that our visitors send to us, unless we indicate otherwise.
Links to Other Sites
Visitors will find links from University of Wisconsin Web sites to independently owned, controlled and/or managed World Wide Web sites whose content we have found of possible interest to our visitors. In many cases, the links represent cooperative projects or mutual links established with the organizations connected with these sites. While we initially visit these sites to which we directly link, please note that we do not control the content that appears on these sites and such content may be constantly changing. We recommend that children check with their parents or teachers before clicking off to any new sites.
Please note that we may revise our above policy as the content on our sites continues to change. We hope that you enjoy and feel comfortable exploring our sites. Your comments are welcome.