Privacy And Security Statement
Last Updated: 7/10/2024
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
This is the Privacy and Security Statement (“Statement”) for the website located at asme.org and other websites operated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers or ASME (“Our Sites”). This Statement describes how we collect your information through Our Sites and other sources, the types of information we collect, what we do with that information, and your choices regarding that information. By using Our Sites, you consent to our collection and use of information about you in accordance with this Statement.
- (A) This Statement does not apply to websites not directly operated by ASME, including: (i) websites operated by individual ASME sections, subsections, groups, student sections, divisions, subdivisions, boards, committees, districts and other ASME-related groups for the benefit of their members or participants; (ii) websites operated by individual ASME Members; (iii) websites operated by ASME affiliates; (iv) the websites of those who sponsor portions of Our Sites ("Sponsors"); or (v) any third-party websites linked to on Our Sites. You should review those sites' privacy policies before using them or submitting any personally identifiable information to them.
- (B) This Statement is part of the Terms of Use ("Terms") that govern your use of Our Sites, so be sure to read those Terms. Please check the Terms (including this Statement) regularly, because we may modify them from time to time. We will notify you of a material change to the Terms in a manner commensurate with the nature of the change. Your continued use of Our Sites after we have posted amended Terms constitutes your consent to the amended Terms. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us by sending an email to CustomerCare@asme.org.
- (C) This Statement contains the following six sections:
- This Introduction is the first section.
- The Visitors section describes how we collect information from all visitors to Our Sites (who are referred to in this Statement as "Visitors"), how we use Visitors' information, and the choices Visitors can make with regard to that information. All users of Our Sites, including the classes of users described below, are Visitors.
- The Subscribers section describes how we collect, use, and share information pertaining to individuals that have agreed to receive marketing communications from us or our affiliates (“Subscribers”), and how Subscribers can make choices regarding our use of that information.
- The ASME Members section describes how we collect and make ASME Members' information available through Our Sites, how ASME Members can make choices regarding our use of that information, and information related to services we provide to ASME Members.
- The ASME Sections, Units, Programs, and Groups section describes how we use the information of leaders, volunteers, and other participants in ASME Sections, Units, Programs, and Groups on Our Sites and the choices those people can make with regard to that use.
- The General section contains provisions that apply to all users of Our Site and all information collected through Our Site.
All users of Our Site, including Participants and ASME Members, are Visitors. Users of Our Site may also fall into one or more of the other classes of users described in this Statement (i.e., they may be Participants, ASME Members, participants in ASME Sections, Units, Programs, and Groups, or ASME Peerlink users, if they have taken part in those activities).
- (D) Accounts. You must create a single-sign on (SSO) ASME Account on Our Sites if you wish to (i) become an ASME Member (ii) make a purchase or register for an event on Our Sites, (iii) access certain ASME Member benefits, (iv) access some previously purchased ASME products and services, or (iv) access volunteer tools and applications.
2. Visitors
This section describes how we collect information from Visitors, how we use that information, and the choices Visitors can make with regard to that information. This section applies to all Visitors to the site, whether or not they are also Subscribers and/or have created accounts to become ASME Members.
Please read this entire Statement, because Sections 3-6 contain additional provisions that may also apply to you. For example, Section 3 specifically describes how we collect and use Subscribers' information and Section 4 specifically describes how we collect and use ASME Members' information.
- Collection of Information
- Submissions
We collect the information you voluntarily submit through ecommerce purchases (shopping cart), ASME account creation, online forms, surveys, and event registrations on Our Sites, such as your name, contact information, employment information, age, and any other information you provide to us. We also collect the information that you provide to us about other people on certain parts of Our Sites. For example, you may provide information about others when referring them for membership or registering them for an event. - Customer Service
We collect the information you provide to us when you interact with our customer service team to identify and respond to your inquiries - Information Collected Automatically
Our Sites automatically collect certain technical information from your device via web cookies, web beacons, and log files. The information collected includes the URL of the website from which you arrive, links that you click, your IP address, and the type of device and browser that you are using.
Our Sites use cookies to track site usage and trends, to improve the quality of our service, and to customize your experience on Our Sites. These cookies enable us to recognize you when you return to Our Sites using the same computer and web browser. The information collected through cookies does not identify you personally. You can remove or block cookies using the settings in your browser, though doing so may affect your ability to use Our Sites.
Our Sites also use log files to track site usage and trends. When you visit Our Sites, we automatically retain certain information that your computer or device sends to us, such as the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave ASME, your IP address, and the type of web browser you are using. We use this information to analyze usage of Our Sites and to improve the user experience. This information does not identify you personally.
Our Sites also use a website analytics tool that provides session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, feedback campaigns, and similar features/functionality. We may record clicks, mouse movements, scrolling, pages visited and content, time on site, browser, operating system, device type (desktop/tablet/phone), screen resolution, visitor type (first time/returning), referrer, anonymized IP address, location (city/country), language, and similar meta data. The tool does not collect any information on pages where it is not installed, nor does it track or collect information outside your web browser. We use this information to analyze usage of Our Sites and to improve the user experience.
Our Sites also collect information via web beacons and pixels, which are invisible images that collect information about your interaction with Our Sites and the data that you input when you are visiting Our Sites.
- Submissions
- Uses of Your Information; Sharing With Third Parties
- Uses of Your Information
We use the information we collect from you via submissions to respond to your submission or provide services pertaining to your submission. We use the information we collect from you during customer service communications to provide customer service to you. Our other uses of your information may include the following:- To fulfill your order for membership or goods or services.
- To facilitate your organizational role for or attendance at an ASME-sponsored conference or other event.
- To process registrations for events, courses and other ASME activities.
- To conduct surveys and polls.
- To develop and improve our services and activities.
- To provide you with information on events, products and services, or other news that we think might interest you (see Subscriber).
- To enhance onsite communications and content delivery.
- To solicit new Members.
- Sharing Information with Third Parties
We may share the information we collect from you via submissions and customer service communications with our affiliates and other third parties for the following purposes: (i) for the purposes for which you provide the information to us, (ii) to comply with legal processes which apply to ASME, including civil and criminal subpoenas, court orders or other compulsory disclosures, (iii) to enforce this Statement, (iv) to respond to claims of violation of the rights of third parties, (v) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of ASME, our users, or the public, and (vi) other purposes of which we inform you and from which you do not choose to exercise any of your rights which may apply to our use of your information.
ASME uses third-party service providers (“Service Providers”) to provide certain services, such as hosting, software maintenance, database maintenance, address verification and credit card processing, which are necessary for ASME operations, including the operation of Our Sites. These Service Providers may be supplied with or have access to the information you provide through Our Sites, but only for the purpose of providing these services to ASME or on our behalf. These Service Providers are obligated to keep confidential the information you provide through Our Sites. Certain portions of the information you provide through Our Site may also be made available to ASME volunteers in the course of their assisting us with communications or surveys.
We use and share information that we collect automatically from cookies, log files, web analytics tools, and web beacons (i.e., tiny images that communicate to us and to our Service Providers your usage of Our Sites) to analyze usage of Our Sites, improve Our Sites, optimize our services (such as internal site search and navigation), and optimize our marketing and advertising activities (for example, by profile management and experience customization). Our Sites use web beacons and cookies that are placed on your device to track site usage and trends, to improve the quality of our service, and to customize your experience on Our Sites. These cookies allow us to recognize you when you return to Our Sites using the same computer and web browser. You can remove or block cookies using the settings in your browser, though doing so may impact your ability to use Our Sites.
- Uses of Your Information
3. Subscribers
ASME sends promotional and educational communication on behalf of itself and third parties to “Subscribers” – individuals who request or sign up for such communications directly through ASME or through a third party. Subscribers may always change their preferences for communications by following the “unsubscribe” prompt in any communication from ASME, by modifying your preferences on Our Sites, by contacting ASME at CustomerCare@asme.org, or by contacting the third party to which the Subscriber had initially submitted a request to receive promotional and educational communications.
In addition to the information collected from Subscribers when they act as Visitors, ASME also collects the additional information that is provided by Subscribers manually, when Subscribers request or sign up for communications.
ASME uses Subscriber information for the following purposes:
- To fulfill your request to download or access gated content, whether free or paid.
- To process registrations for events, webinars, and other ASME activities.
- To activate a subscription to ASME newsletters, digital publications, or content alerts.
- To access “Subscriber only” features and/or sections of Our Sites.
- To conduct surveys and polls.
- To develop and improve our services and activities.
- To deliver promotional and educational communications.
- To analyze the performance of promotional and educational campaigns.
- To respond to communications from Subscribers.
If you prefer that we do not share your Subscriber information with third parties, please contact us at CustomerCare@asme.org, and we will respect your request. Please include your name and registered email address number for identification purposes.
4. ASME Members
You can apply to be an ASME Member by registering and paying on ASME.org or by submitting your application by mail. For more information on membership and how to join, please click here.
With regard to ASME Members in leadership or volunteer positions, ASME provides selected portions of those ASME Members' information for use in connection with the activities of the groups to which they belong. If you would like more information about ASME's policies concerning the use of Member data, click here.
ASME may also disclose information Members have provided to us through Our Sites as described in Sections 2 and 3.
If you prefer that we do not share your Member information with third parties, please contact us at CustomerCare@asme.org and we will respect your request. Please include your name and ASME Member number for identification purposes
5. ASME Sections, Units, Programs, and Groups
If you serve as a leader or volunteer for an ASME section, division, board, committee, district or any other ASME Member group, or if you are a Member or non-Member who has assumed a leadership role in any activity or program that ASME conducts or sponsors, then ASME may display limited portions of the contact information you have provided to ASME in sections of Our Sites so that fellow group Members or participants may contact you. In addition to your name, shared portions of your contact information may include your email address, employer, job title, employer address, telephone number, and photograph (if applicable). Also, participants in ASME groups, programs or activities may have access to the information of other group Members or fellow participants in the respective program or activity for information sharing purposes. This information is not collected through Our Sites, but it is displayed on Our Sites. ASME may also disclose this information as described in above Sections.
If you no longer wish to have your contact information displayed on Our Sites to identify you as a leader, volunteer or participant in a particular group or activity, please send an e-mail to CustomerCare@asme.org with a subject line of “Remove Personal Information from asme.org.” In the body of the email, identify yourself and the address of the page that lists your contact information.
Note that while we may make the information of participants in ASME sections, divisions, boards, committees, districts or any other ASME Member group available on Our Sites as described in this Section, those groups may have their own websites, which are separate from Our Sites and are not governed by this Statement.
6. General
- (A) Disclosures to Others as the Result of a Change in Control
In addition to the other disclosures described in this Statement, we may also disclose the information you provide through Our Sites as part of a sale of the assets of ASME, a subsidiary or division, or as the result of a change in control of ASME. Any third party to which ASME transfers or sells its assets will have the right to continue to use the personal and other Visitor, Subscriber, and Member information that you provide to us in accordance with the Terms. - (B) Children Under 13
ASME does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under 13 years of age, unless it is necessary to respond to a one-time request. Once the request has been answered, ASME will delete the requesting child's personally identifiable information. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that your child under age 13 may have provided his or her personal information to us through Our Site, please contact us at CustomerCare@asme.org - (C) Security
Except as specified herein, when ASME collects your information you provide through Our Sites, all forms are secured through Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption, the most widely accepted and tested form of data encryption. Of course, no transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, you provide us with your information at your own risk. - (D) Location of Servers and Transfer of Your Information to the United States
Our servers are located in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you submit to us through Our Sites will be transferred to and stored on a server located in the United States and potentially other jurisdictions where we or our affiliates or subcontractors have operations. By submitting information to us through Our Sites, you consent to the transfer of any such information outside of the country in which you live or where the personal data has been collected or processed, including specifically to the United States, for the purposes described above, even where the country or territory in question does not maintain data protection standards which are equivalent to those which apply in your home country. - (E) Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your state of residence, you may have a legal right to access the information we have about you, receive a copy of such information, request that we delete such information, request that we stop sharing information with third parties, request that information about you be amended or corrected, and request to opt-out of sales.
California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
To make such a request, please send an email to DelliVenneriJ@asme.org or write to ASME:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Attn: John Delli Venneri
Re: CA Privacy Rights
2 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10016
You may make such a request up to once per calendar year. Upon the submission of a request, we will use your account information to verify your identity. We will do our best to fulfill all requests pertaining to your information. - (F) How to Contact Us
If you have questions or comments about this Statement, please contact us here or contact us at: customercare@asme.org. - (G) Review of this Policy
We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in June 2024.