About Us

Privacy Policy, Copyright Protection, and Disclaimer

Last Updated: November 2019

The New York Society Library (“we”, “our”, or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.

This policy describes the types of personal information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website http://nysoclib.org (our “Website”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information.

This policy applies to personal information we collect:

  • On this Website.
  • In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this Website, such as membership registrations and renewals, donations, events registrations, and book purchase suggestions.
  • In connection with membership registrations made in person at The New York Society Library.

Except as set forth above, this policy does not apply to personal information collected by:

  • Us offline or through other means, including any other website operated by us or any third party; or
  • Any third party, including through any application or content that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website.

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may hold and process the following types of personal information about you:

a. Personal Information Provided by You

We collect personal information that you provide to us on or through our Website. For example:

  • If you register to become a member or renew your membership, we process:

o Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, emergency contact information, and login credentials;
o Information about the type of membership you’re signing up for;
o In the case of a dual or family membership, the names and email addresses of any additional adult users included as part of your membership and/or the names and dates of birth of any children under eighteen (18) years of age included as part of your membership; and
o Member identification numbers.

  • If you make a donation, we process:

o Information about your donation, such as how much and how often you would like to contribute; 
o Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, and email address; and
o Necessary payment information, such as your credit card details and billing address.

  • If you register for or attend any events at or sponsored by The New York Society Library, we process:

o Your contact information, such as your name and email address;
o Your guests’ names, as applicable; and
o Necessary payment information, such as your credit card details and billing address.

  • If you want to hear from us or otherwise contact us through the Website, we process:

o Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number;
o Information about how you would like to be contacted; and
o The contents of your correspondence with us.

b. Personal Information We Collect Automatically

We use certain technologies, such as web logs and cookies, to automatically collect information about visitors to our website. This information helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:

  • Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
  • Provide an enhanced experience to visitors of our Website.
  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.
  • Use Google Analytics, which allows us to understand how our Website is used and to report on usage statistics.

The technologies that we use for this automatic data collection may include the following:

  • Web Logs. Like most websites, we automatically gather certain information about our Website traffic and store it in log files. This information may include Internet protocol (IP) addresses, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, browser type, and date/time stamps.
  • Web Beacons. Pages of our Website and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or open an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content).
  • Cookies and Other Data Collection Technologies. We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies to manage the Website and make your experience better. For more information, see the Cookies section set forth below.

2. WHY WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The main reasons for retaining, collecting and using your personal information are to manage your membership with The New York Society Library, administer any service or product you have requested or purchased, and to maintain the security of the collection. We also want to ensure that we offer you a personalized experience and inform you of events or updates you have asked to hear about or any additional information you need to know. We also use your personal information to understand our members, donors, visitors, prospective donors and customers, and to tailor our communications appropriately.

3. WHEN AND HOW WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may, from time to time, need to share your personal information with third parties under the following circumstances:

  • Service Providers and Business Partners. We may share your personal information with our service providers and business partners that perform services and other business operations for us for the purposes set forth above. For example, we may share your personal information with: mailing houses, printers, event organizers, or event venues; organizations providing tools such as relationship- or event-management systems, databases and reporting/analysis tools, email or survey tools, and payment services; and organizations assisting with activities such as market research, marketing and communications, organizational effectiveness, strategy and planning, auditing, business intelligence and analysis, and customer experience.
  • Where Required by Law. We may share your personal information with law enforcement agencies, courts or other government authorities or other third parties where we believe necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation, or otherwise to protect our rights or the rights of any third party.


4. MANAGING COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES

The New York Society Library uses email addresses to send information regarding events and news via e-newsletters; and program registration and book request confirmations from our integrated library system. We may also send direct mail information or other communications regarding products or services. At any time, you may elect to discontinue receiving commercial messages from us by following the unsubscribe instructions in the form of the communication you received or by submitting an opt-out request to the contact information set forth in the Contact Us section below.

  • Printed Materials. To opt out of receiving printed marketing materials at your postal address, such as advertisers, flyers or postcards, please email the contact information set forth in the Contact Us section below. Please be sure to include your name and mailing address exactly as they appear on the printed marketing materials you received.
  • Emails. You may unsubscribe from our e-newsletters at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link or by emailing us at events@nysoclib.org. To opt out of program registration and book request confirmations, please email membership@nysoclib.org.

You can update or change your personal information by sending us an email or by calling us at the contact information set forth in the Contact Us section below. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect. Additionally, we must keep certain pieces of personal information, such as your name and address, in order to maintain your membership with The New York Society Library.

5. COOKIES

Cookies are small, often encrypted, text files that can be placed on the browser of your computer or mobile device and subsequently read as you visit a website. They are used to help visitors navigate websites efficiently and perform certain functions. A cookie may be a session cookie, that is, a cookie that remains on your browser while you are logged on to a particular website and then disappears when you close your browser, or it may be a persistent cookie, a cookie that remains on your browser over a period of time.

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance the online experience of our visitors and to better understand how our Website is used. For example, we use:

  • Functionality Cookies. These cookies allow our Website to save choices you make and provide enhanced, more personalized features.
  • Analytics Cookies. We use Google Analytics to collect information on how our Website is used and to report on usage statistics. More information, including details on how to opt-out, is available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. 
  • Social Media Cookies. These cookies are set by a range of social media services, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, that we have added to the Website to enable you to interact with our social media presence and share our content with your friends and networks. Social media cookies are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit.

You can review your Internet browser settings, typically under the sections “Help” or “Internet Options,” to exercise choices you have for certain cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

For further information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

6. BLOGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION

If you make information public through certain areas of our Website, such as by posting a comment on our blog, other people will have access to it. Please think carefully before making information public as you are solely responsible for any information you make public. Once you have posted information, you may not be able to edit or delete such information.

7. LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Our website contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by The New York Society Library. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy policies of such other sites or how these sites operate or treat your personal information. We encourage you to be aware of this when you leave our Website and to read the privacy policies and terms of use associated with each of these third-party sites that collect personally identifiable information.

8. DATA SECURITY

All personal information provided by you to us through online forms for membership registrations and renewals, donations and all online payments is handled through a secure server using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. This information, including credit card numbers, is encrypted while it is transmitted over the Internet.

9. CHILDREN

Our Website is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under thirteen (13) years of age. The New York Society Library does not knowingly collect personal information as defined by the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) in a manner that is not permitted by COPPA. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that The New York Society Library has collected such information in a manner not permitted by COPPA, please contact us as set forth in the Contact Us section below.

10. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to update this privacy policy at any time. Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted to this page. The date the privacy policy was last updated is identified at the top of this page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

11. CONTACT US

If you have questions about this privacy policy or concerns about the way we process your personal information, or require assistance managing your privacy choices, please contact us at:

53 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
212.288.6900
reference@nysoclib.org