Data Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Summary

The Data Privacy Policy is intended to provide the greatest possible access by SPE members to information in the Society’s database. It also is prepared to be in compliance with applicable law. It is intended to ensure that SPE protects and ensures such data is used only within the framework of the SPE Data Use Policy.

By accessing material on any of the SPE online platforms, you:

  • Acknowledge that SPE owns the copyright in or has permission to use all materials displayed on this site. You are authorized to read and use this information for your personal use. You are not authorized to share the materials on SPE Online with others by copying or sending it to them. You can tell colleagues where they can find this material for themselves. The materials displayed on the SPE web site are protected by federal copyright law.
  • Agree that if you choose to use the communications tools provided, including email and list servers, you give SPE full and unrestricted permission to use and republish any materials that you post to the site in any way SPE deems fit, without compensation to you. You may not post anything to the site that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, or offensive. You may not use this site to exploit any commercial venture with which you are involved, including mass email solicitations (spamming) of any nature. You understand that if SPE, in its sole discretion, believes you are abusing the privileges in any manner, SPE will delete your postings and may terminate without notice or liability your right to access the site.
  • Understand that THE CONTENTS OF ANY SPE ONLINE PLATFORM AND YOUR ABILITY TO ACCESS THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” SPE DOES NOT WARRANT OR GUARANTEE THAT ANY FILES THAT YOU DOWNLOAD FROM ITS SITE ARE VIRUS FREE. You are encouraged to use virus-checking software. You may find links from SPE Online to sites maintained by others. SPE has no responsibility for the contents on linked sites.
  • Agree, as a condition of being granted the right to access and use any SPE online platform, that SPE is not liable to you for anything that happens to you as a result of using any for the SPE online platforms.
  • Understand that in the event of any conflict between this Data Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service will control.

Web links to SPE are subject to the permission of SPE. SPE has adopted this policy on linking to SPE:

  • Links may not use the SPE logo without the prior permission of SPE.
  • Links may not state or imply that SPE endorses any product of service of the linking organization or that there is any relationship between the organizations without the prior permission of SPE.
  • The link must attach to the SPE server. SPE content may not be mirrored or stored on any other site without prior permission.
  • SPE content may not be framed on a linking site. The link must exit the linking site or open the SPE content in a new window.
  • All references to SPE must accurately identify the Society.
  • All links must be to the front page of the relevant topic. Deep links to specific content are not permitted (specific content pages may expire or be deleted without notice).

For more information or to seek permission to link, contact info@4spe.org

Terms of Service

By accessing materials on any SPE online platform, you :

  • Acknowledge that you understand that this site is owned and operated by SPE and that it contains copyrighted material for which SPE owns the copyright or has permission to use. You are authorized to download material from this site for your personal, non-commercial use only as long as you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, publish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute any material from this site, including any programming code and software in any manner, without the express written permission of SPE. Your rights are personal and may not be assigned or transferred by you to anyone else. You are solely responsible for all access to the site originating with your identification and any password needed for site access.
  • Agree that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading any material.

License to SPE

If you post a message by email or on any communitiy, or other area on this site permitting such messages, if you upload files, input data, or engage in any other form of communication through this service, you grant SPE a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to:

  • Use, copy, publish, distribute, adapt, transmit, or publicly perform or display any such communications; and
  • Sublicense others to exercise any of the foregoing rights granted with respect to a communication.

The foregoing grants shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such communication, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark, service mark, or patent laws under relevant jurisdiction.

Disclaimer

THE MATERIALS ON THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT POSSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, SPE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SPE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTION PERFORMED ON THIS WEB SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE, INCLUDING LIST SERVERS OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

SPE may provide links and pointers to Internet sites maintained by others. SPE has no control or responsibility in any respect for any information, products or services on these third-party sites.

SPE DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON THIS SITE OR IN THIRD-PARTY SITES IN TERMS OF THE CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. YOU ASSUME THE RISK IN USING THIS MATERIAL AND THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

SPE Communities/Discussion Boards

This service may include email lists and discussion boards that allow feedback to SPE and real-time interaction among users. SPE does not control the messages, information, or files delivered to the online commmunities. As a condition of use of SPE Communities and this site you may not:

  • restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the list server.
  • post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, or indecent information of any kind, including, without limitation, any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, provincial, national, or international law.
  • post or transmit any information, software, or other material that violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material that is an invasion of the privacy or publicity rights or that is protected by copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto without first obtaining permission from the owner or right holder.
  • post or transmit any information, software, or other material that contains a virus or other harmful component.
  • post, transmit, or in any way exploit information, software, or other material for commercial purposes, or that contains advertising.

You understand that SPE has no obligation to monitor the communities on SPE Communities, but reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation, or governmental requests, or to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part that in SPE’s sole discretion are objectionable or in violation of these terms and conditions.

Subscribers

By subscribing to our publications in print or digitally, you consent to the collection and use of your personal data as described herein. If you do not agree with the terms set out herein, please do not subscribe to our publications. If required by applicable law, we will seek your explicit consent to process Personal Data collected on this website or volunteered by you. Please note that any consent will be entirely voluntary. However, if you do not grant the requested consent to the processing of your Personal Data, the use of this website may not be possible.

Actions we may take on your personal data:

  • SPE will send you magazines or emails containing our digital editions.
  • SPE may send you related e-newsletters as a benefit of subscripting to our brands.
  • SPE occasionally will send you email and mail invitations to participate in industry-related events or to learn more about products or services. This would include relevant webinars, trade shows, conferences and meetings.
  • SPE will send you e-mail and/or use a third party to call the phone number you provide us to reconfirm your subscription. This includes renewal / expiration notifications, new subscription solicitations and account information e-mails. As our products are offered free of charge but supported by advertisements, accurate and current subscription information is important to us.
  • SPE may occasionally send invitations to participate in industry-related surveys. All survey responses are compiled and reported anonymously.
  • SPE may retrieve publicly available information about you from social media and other third-party sources.
  • SPE may supplement your personal data with behavioral information, subscriber information, event information or website information we have about you.
  • We may sell your information to relevant third parties for direct mail purposes.
  • We may send you relevant third-party emails from our domains.
  • We may offer your address data to interested third parties for a fee.

Limitation of Liability

AS A CONDITION OF USE OF THE CHAIN, YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER SPE, ITS AFFILIATES NOR ANY SUBSIDIARIES SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, CAUSED BY THE USE OR POSTING OF ANY MATERIAL ON THE SPE SITE BY SPE OR ANY SPE USER.

Termination

This agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate at any time simply by no longer using the site. SPE may terminate SPE Online or any of its services at any time without notice. Additionally, SPE may terminate your right to access SPE Online for violation of any of these terms of service by you at any time without notice. In the event of termination, you will no longer be authorized to access the terminated services. The disclaimers and limitations of liabilities based on prior use of the site as set forth in this agreement shall survive.

Data Privacy Policy

In providing service to you, SPE collects certain information, such as your address, phone number(s), and other contact, profile, demographics, and billing information. SPE collects this information only by voluntary disclosure directly from you. This type of personal information may be requested on a variety of transactional forms, including the SPE Membership Application, product order forms, and event registrations. These forms may be either traditional paper-based forms in catalogs, brochures, or fliers, or electronic-based forms on our web site or at events. The information SPE collects is intended to allow SPE to process your transaction and better serve you and your interests.

To help you understand how SPE uses your personal information, SPE has developed a Data Privacy Policy which is based on the following principles:

  • SPE will disclose how it uses the information it collects;
  • SPE will give you an opportunity to restrict SPE’s use of this information;
  • SPE will give you an opportunity to tell us not to give the information to others;
  • SPE will use commercially reasonable means to maintain the information accurately; and
  • SPE will give you an opportunity to correct the information in our records when it has been erroneously recorded. 
  • SPE will give you an opportunity to delete your information.

These principles and SPE’s policy apply whether SPE collects the information by paper or in electronic form.

The SPE database contains information on members and nonmembers, including authors, exhibitors, advertisers, service providers, for the purpose of conducting SPE official business. SPE makes available information, other than for the SPE Membership Directory, to certain SPE individuals as determined by SPE policy on data use. As an example, SPE may provide access to data to SPE committee chairs, section and division chairs or SIG chairs and others for the purpose of conducting SPE business. The determination of data groups made available to various SPE groups is dictated by SPE Data Use policy.

How SPE Uses Your Personal Information

SPE uses the personal Information that we collect generally to fulfill any orders or memberships placed through our online platforms or printed mailings (including processing your payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations).  Additionally, we use this personal information to:

  • Communicate with you (emails, print, telephone calls, texts)
  • Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud; and
  • When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services
  • By registering for an SPE virtual event, your reported demographics may be used in the event platform for networking purposes and/or AI matching. In the platform, the registrant will have the ability to choose what information they want to make public.

We use the computer information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our online platforms (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the platforms, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns). Please note that SPE does not disclose any financial information of their users on any of the SPE online platforms.

Use of Likeness

By participating in an SPE Virtual Event, you acknowledge and agree to grant SPE the right to record, film, livestream, photograph, or capture your likeness in any media now available or hereafter developed and to distribute, broadcast, use, or otherwise globally to disseminate, in perpetuity, such media without any further approval from you or any payment to you. This grant to SPE includes, but is not limited to, the right to edit such media, the right to use the media alone or together with other information, and the right to allow others to use or disseminate the media.

Web Site Specific Issues

IP Addresses – SPE’s web site automatically records the Internet address of the computer accessing the site as well as the time and date of access. This information does not identify you personally, nor does it contain your name or email address. SPE uses this information solely for the purpose of diagnosing problems with the SPE server and to administer the web site.

Cookies – SPE’s site uses “cookies” to deliver content specific to your interests and to keep track of your preferences. “Cookies” are small text files that help identify you and your preferences when you return to SPE Online. When your browser accesses the site, SPE’s server asks if you can store this identification information on your computer. “Cookies” are not programs and are not known to be damaging to your computer. The ‘cookies’ set by SPE do not personally identify you, they simply permit SPE’s web site to know what your preferences are. “Cookies” are also used to help determine how many unique users access pages on the web site and may direct specific advertising content to you on selected pages. Most browsers have an optional setting to deny “cookies.” If you use this setting, however, you may not be able to use SPE’s site to its fullest capability, and you will lose the benefit of many special features provided via the SPE online platforms.

Email Lists – SPE operates a number of email list servers that, while not tied directly to the SPE web site, are useful in communicating technical and non-technical information. If you disclose personal information on any SPE email list, that information is available to anyone with access to this area. SPE cannot control what others may do with this information. You should refrain from disclosing anything you do not want publicly known in such areas.

Links – This site contains links to other web sites. SPE is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such sites.

Limits of Use on Collected Information – SPE provides members and customers the opportunity to request that SPE restrict the use of this personal information collected for purposes other than the current transaction. This request may be made when the information is requested or at a later time. Members and customers may choose to restrict use or disclosure of their name, address, telephone number, or email address by SPE to others. Members and customers may also elect to have SPE not use their telephone or email address for SPE communications. Users may choose to restrict use of their data by editing their profile preferences upon login to the SPE website and editing the field to NO for the “I Consent to the SPE Data Privacy Policy and Terms of Use” in the Demographics tab.

In addition, users may choose to opt out(unsubscribe) of SPE communications on the Contact Info tab of their profile page upon login. Also, users may choose to unsubscribe from communications using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of all SPE communications.

To request a limit on the use of your information, contact SPE at: customerrelations@4spe.org; postal mail: SPE Customer Service,6 Berkshire Blvd, Bethel, CT 06801 U.S.A.;phone: +1 203-775-0471; fax: +1 203-775-8490

If you make a choice to restrict use of your information, this information will be marked as non-consented on SPE’s functional database. Depending on the choice you make, you may not receive future communications from SPE or others.

Change/Modify – Members or customers may change or correct information on their record by contacting Customer Service at the above address or by logging into their profile page on the SPE website. 

Questions

SPE reserves the right to modify its data privacy policies and practices at any time without notice. This statement is not intended to create any contractual or other legal rights.

If you have questions about SPE’s Data Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, the practices of the SPE web site, or your dealings with SPE, contact the SPE at customerrelations@4spe.org

Secure Transactions

SPE uses industry standard measures to protect your submission of membership, ordering, and credit card and financial (including credit card) information to SPE. SPE uses a secure server and encrypted date of transmission using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Technology. SSL Technology encrypts the transmitted information to make it very difficult for anyone other than SPE to decode the information. SPE’s implementation of SSL has been authenticated by VeriSign.

You can verify that you are in a secure transmission portion of SPE’s web site in one of two ways:

  • Look for an unbroken key symbol or lock symbol at the bottom status bar of your browser. This shows that you are in a secured mode.
  • Look at the URL. When in secured mode, the address changes from http to “https.”