Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Updated July 30, 2021

Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs have created this Privacy Policy to explain why we collect particular information, what information we collect, how we process the information we collect, and how we will protect your personal privacy. The following policy also discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for websites we operate at discovery.org, cascadia.center, evolutionnews.org, intelligentdesign.org, discoveryinstitutepress.com, centerforintelligence.org and elsewhere. The term “Websites” will be used to refer to these and other websites owned and maintained by Discovery Institute.

In order to fully understand your rights we encourage you to read this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use. Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs reserve the right at any time and without notice to change this Privacy Policy simply by posting such changes on our Websites. Any such change will be effective immediately upon posting.

Because we want to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy, this Privacy Policy notifies you of:

  1. What personally identifiable information of yours is collected through the Site;
  2. Who collects such information;
  3. How such information is used;
  4. With whom your information may be shared;
  5. What choices you have regarding collection, use and distribution of your information;
  6. What kind of security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under our control;
  7. and, how you can correct any inaccuracies in your information.

Questions regarding this statement should be directed to Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs by sending an email to privacy@discovery.org. Please reference this Privacy Policy in your subject line.

What Information We Collect and How We Use That Information

Our registration, donation, and product ordering forms require users to give us contact information that may include name, email address, format preference (HTML vs. Text), address, interests, donation and payment amounts, and similar information. We do not store sensitive information from our visitors like credit card or social security numbers on our own servers and software. We do utilize 3rd party PCI DSS compliant vendors to handle payments and donations. See the sections on Security and Donor Privacy Policy below for more information.

We use the information you provide in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. If you provide information for a certain reason, we may use the information in connection with the reason for which it was provided. For instance, if you sign up for an email newsletter, we will use the information to send you said newsletter.

We generally retain personal data for so long as it may be relevant to the purposes identified herein. To dispose of personal data, we may anonymize it, delete it or take other appropriate steps. Data may persist in copies made for backup and mission continuity purposes for additional time.

We use email addresses and mailing addresses to send updates about various program activities. To exclude yourself from any of these mailings, electronic or postal, please contact us at privacy@discovery.org. You may also opt out of electronic mailings by clicking the unsubscribe link included in each mailing, and you may modify what types of electronic mailings you receive by clicking on the “update profile” link in each mailing.

Sharing Information with Third Parties

We do not sell or share the mailing or email addresses of our site-users or constituents with any other organization, unless that information is gathered for a co-sponsored event for which we are handling registration. In that case, your contact information may be shared with co-sponsoring organizations for purposes related to the event for which you registered. However, such co-sponsoring organizations will not be authorized to add you to their regular communications lists unless you specifically opt-in to be added to those lists during the registration or survey process. If the user does opt-in during the registration or survey process, their information will be shared and can only be deleted by calling the co-sponsoring organization directly.

On occasion we will send out an email to our constituents on behalf of another organization. We do not share or sell any constituent information to that organization.  Users who respond to any links contained in those emails may have their information collected by that organization.

We contract with companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf, typically sending postal mail or shipping products. These third parties use constituent information only to fulfill the task we have hired them to perform and do not store the information.

Also, from time to time we acquire details about people who are in our database from third parties to enhance the data we already have. This information is not sold to or shared with any other organization.

Internet Protocol Address

We collect an IP address from all visitors to our Websites. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer by your Internet Service Provider when you use the Internet. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our Site, analyze trends, track users’ movement, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use in order for us to improve the site, and deliver customized, personalized content.

Use of “Cookies”

Our Websites may use cookies to enhance your experience while using our Websites. Cookies are pieces of information that some websites transfer to the computer that is browsing those websites and are used for record-keeping purposes at many websites. Use of cookies makes web-surfing easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords, your personal preferences regarding your use of the particular website and to make sure you don’t see the same ad repeatedly. Many consider the use of cookies to be an industry standard.

Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our Websites will not function properly when you view them.

Website Analytics

Our Websites use Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage. By using our Websites, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy and for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.

Our Websites use the Google AdWords remarketing service to advertise on third party websites (including Google) to previous visitors to our site. This could be in the form of an advertisement on the Google search results page, or a site in the Google Display Network. You can opt-out of these kinds of ads from Google and other providers by visiting the Ad Choices website.

Our Websites also use interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and others. If you choose to “like” or “share” information from our Websites through these services, you should review the privacy policy of those services. If you are a member of a social media site, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your visits to our sites with other personal information.

Security

All information provided to Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. SSL is a proven coding system that lets your browser automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before you send it to us. We also protect account information by placing it on secure portions of our Websites that are only accessible by certain qualified employees of Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs. Unfortunately, however, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.

All online donations and other financial transactions completed through Click & Pledge powered pages on our Websites are PCI DSS compliant. PCI DSS is the payment card industry security requirement for entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data, and has been endorsed by all the major card brands — Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Network, American Express and JCB. PCI DSS compliance gives consumers the confidence they need to know that organizations accepting electronic payments or donations are doing so in a verified, secure, and consistent fashion. Click & Pledge, our main software provider for processing online donations, received Level 1 PCI compliance – the highest level validation. This means that the processes, procedures, network configuration and overall environment used to process your financial support of our organization have met the stringent guidelines of a third-party audit and are in compliance with the high standards set by the industry. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations such as ours proactively protect your account data, a responsibility we take very seriously.

We may use other 3rd party PCI DSS compliant vendors for data hosting, credit card processing, registration forms, online purchases, and content delivery.

Tell-A-Friend

If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our Site, we ask them for the friend’s name and email address. Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the Site. Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs store this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email.

Other Websites

Our Site contains links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another  website for which Discovery Institute and its affiliated programs have no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may be different than ours.

Residents/Citizens of European Union Countries

If you are a resident or citizen of a European Union country, you may have additional rights about accessing the personal data we hold about you and/or obtaining its correction, update, amendment, or deletion. You may also have a right to object to or restrict how we use your data. If you wish to exercise any of these rights or want to raise any concerns, please write us at privacy@discovery.org.

Donor Privacy Policy

In addition to the data privacy policies already outlined, Discovery Institute is committed to respecting the privacy of its donors, whether the donation is made online, by mail, or any other method. Discovery Institute has vendors that assist with processing and managing donations and donor data. Our vendors are PCI DSS-compliant, which means they are bound by strict confidentiality rules and are permitted to use our donor data only to support Discovery Institute operations.

We do not store your credit card or bank information for online donations made by credit/debit card or ACH transactions, or for checks and wire-transfers. Your personal information is stored behind a secure network, is only accessible by designated staff, and is used for the purpose for which you provided the information.

Names and other personal information provided will not be shared for any reason unless the donor grants permission to Discovery Institute. In addition:

  • Discovery Institute will never sell or trade donor information.
  • Discovery Institute will always honor a donor’s request to remain anonymous to the extent permitted by law.
  • Donors will be contacted periodically for solicitation purposes and/or regarding upcoming events unless the donor has opted out of communications.
  • Discovery Institute will honor all donor requests to opt out of mail, email, or phone solicitations. Donors can modify their communication and solicitation preferences by contacting the Development office via email, phone or postal mail. Please contact Development at 206-826-5548, or via email to info@discovery.org. Postal inquiries should be addressed to: Discovery Institute, Development Operations, 208 Columbia Street, Seattle, WA 98104-1508.

To assure donors and prospective donors can have trust and confidence in donating to nonprofit organizations, the Association of Fundraising Professionals in conjunction with other philanthropic organizations has created A Donor Bill of Rights. To learn more about your rights please visit: https://afpglobal.org/donor-bill-rights. Discovery Institute complies with this Donor Bill of Rights, except that we are more protective of donor information than is stated in Article IX as we DO NOT share mailing lists.

Contacting the Web Site

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of our Websites, or your dealings with this our Websites, you can contact: privacy@discovery.org.