EBSCO Information Services Website Privacy Policy

EBSCO Information Services

Post Office Box 1943

Birmingham, AL 35201-1943

Inside US: 1-800-815-9627

Outside US: 1-205-991-1299

Facsimile:  1-205-995-1518

EBSCO Information Services wants you to have a positive experience at the websites operated by the EBSCO Information Services group and its two divisions, EBSCO Subscription Services and EBSCO Publishing. We want you to know that we respect the privacy and security of our users.  Our goal is to provide you with an experience that delivers the information, resources and services that are helpful to you.  In order to achieve this goal, we may collect information from you.  We discuss our information collection practices below.

This Privacy Policy sets forth the privacy practices in effect at the EBSCO Information Services group websites. If you do not agree to these terms, do not access this website.

Information about Children's Areas at Section C of this Policy

What Information Is Collected and How is it Used?

A.      General Collection and Use of Personal Identifying Information
We will only collect and use personal identifying information (such as a first and last name, physical address including a street name, e-mail address, telephone number, etc.) when a user voluntarily provides it to us. In order to use some portions of our websites, or in order to undertake certain actions (such as setting up an account to make a purchase of an article), a user must first complete a registration form or provide an e-mail address that will require disclosure of personal identifying information. Such disclosure is strictly voluntary.  In order to contact us by e-mail, however, you must provide an e-mail address.

For example, the EBSCOhost service available at the EBSCO Publishing website employs a Personalization feature that requires completion of a registration form before a user can use that feature. The Personalization feature of EBSCOhost is a powerful tool that provides users with the means to create and save histories of searches they have conducted. We believe the Personalization feature is a useful tool that will enhance the user's experience at the site, but it does require the user to provide personal identifying information to us.

We will use the personal identifying information we collect for limited internal purposes that may include, but are not limited to, processing your transactions, establishing the identity of account holders, customer service, development, content processing, content classification, and providing you with information concerning our services. We will retain this information. We also may use that personal identifying information to improve and customize our content.

We reserve the right to disclose your personal identifying information if we are required to do so by law, or in the good faith belief that disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process, to respond to claims, or to protect or advance the rights, property, safety, or well-being of our company, our employees, customers, or the public.

B.      Collection of Non-Personal Identifying Information
We collect and use non-personal identifying information, including IP addresses and web server log files to track trends, administer the website, track user movement, and gather demographic information. We use this non-personal identifying information in the aggregate. We do not combine these types of non-personal identifying information with personal identifying information. We may also share aggregated demographic information with our business partners, sponsors, advertisers, and companies that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with EBSCO Information Services.

C.      Cookies and Web Service Log File Data
We may place a "cookie" or other tracking or information gathering device used in the industry in the browser files of a user's computer. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our website. We are able to access only the cookies that our sites set on your computer and we are only able to determine the type of computer operating system and browser that you are using. We collect information from cookies and other information gathering devices and log files in the aggregate. We do not link the information collected through cookies or other devices to personal information that users submit online while participating in our activities. Users can set their browsers or third party software to reject cookies. If a user rejects the cookie, the user may be unable to use portions of our website. Some of the websites we provide links to also may use cookies. As noted in the "Links to Third Party Sites" section of the Legal/Trademark section of our site, we have no control over these linked websites or access to or control over cookies or other technology used by linked websites.

D.      Security
EBSCO Information Services has taken steps to ensure that personal identifying information collected in the future is secure, and we have limited the number of people who have access to the information, by electronic security systems and password protections that guard against unauthorized access. EBSCO Information Services provides links to websites outside of EBSCO Information Services. These websites may not have the same privacy policies as EBSCO Information Services. EBSCO Information Services takes reasonable care in recommending these websites but is not responsible for their content or privacy policies. We urge users to read the privacy statement of an outside website when leaving our site and linking to an outside website.

We always use industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving consumer data exchanged with our site.  We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.

E.      Collection and Use of Information from Children: Information for Parents
Most of the EBSCO Information Services sites are not directed toward children. These sites are not designed to collect personal identifying information from children. On our sites that are designed to be used by children, we comply with the provisions of the Children's On-Line Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"):

EBSCO Websites for Children and Teens:
Users of these services may participate in many activities without providing any personally identifiable information. We do not condition children's participation upon disclosure of any more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity.

We collect the following information:

§       If a user wants to use our Personalization features, we ask the user to register with their first name only. [This is not considered personal information by the FTC.]

§       If a user makes a specific request for a one-time e-mail, we request the user's email address to respond once, but the email address is deleted immediately after responding. [Section 312.5(c)(2)]

§       Where we do collect a user's email address to respond more than once to a specific request (alerts), we do not allow children under 13 to participate.

We only use the non-personal identifying information we collect for internal uses, such as improving and customizing our content. We do not link the information collected through cookies or other devices to personal information that users submit online while participating in our activities.

We will not share or distribute this information to any outside third parties not bound by this Privacy Policy.

At the remaining EBSCO Information Services sites, children should not provide information on these sites, and should ask a parent help them. We urge parents to experience the World Wide Web with their children.

If you are a parent and would like to

§       review any personally identifiable information that we have collected online from your child,

§       have this information deleted, and/or

§       request that there be no further collection or use of your child's information

§       or if you have questions about these information practices,

you may contact us at the address or telephone numbers listed above.

F.      How to Correct Information.  Customers may correct information or prevent their information from being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected by contacting us by written request, phone or e-mail at the contact information stated above.

G.     Questions.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the EBSCO Information Services privacy policy or practices, please go to our Feedback/Comments page and send us an e-mail or write to us at the addresses found at that page or listed above.

H.      Changes to Privacy Policy.  We will notify you of changes to the EBSCO Information Services Website Privacy Policy by posting an updated policy on this page with a notification link to this page from the home page or by a "News Box." You agree that continued use of the web site is an acknowledgment and consent to any terms contained in the EBSCO Information Services Website Privacy Policy, current at the time of use.

I.        Effective Date.  This policy was last updated on May 18, 2005.