Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 29, 2024

The New York Society Library (the “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 Users (each a “User” or “you”) or that you may provide when you visit the website http://nysoclib.org (our “Website”) or in connection with your accessing or using any of our services or otherwise in any transaction or engagement with us and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information, irrespective of where the User is located. 

This privacy policy applies to the Website and all services that we offer. It also applies to all information we collect 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, or any other communications with us. Please note that the Website may contain links to other third-party websites that are not controlled or operated by us. This privacy policy does not apply to such third-party websites, and we are not responsible for the content of such third-party websites or the privacy practices of such parties.

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect the following types of personal information about you:

a. Personal Information Provided by You

We collect personal information that you provide to us online, in person, or otherwise. For example: 

• If you register to become a member or renew your membership, we may collect:
  • Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, emergency contact information, and login credentials;
  • Information about the type of membership you’re signing up for;
  • 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
  • Member identification numbers.
• If you make a donation or pay for any service or event, we may collect:
  • Information about your donation, such as how much and how often you would like to contribute; and
  • Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, and email address.
  • Other transaction-related information, such as credit card or financial information, as further described below.
• If you register for or attend any events at or sponsored by The New York Society Library, we may collect:
  • Your contact information, such as your name and email address; and
  • Your guests’ names, as applicable.
• If you want to hear from us or otherwise contact us through the Website, we may collect:
  • Your contact information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number;
  • Information about how you would like to be contacted; and
  • 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.

c. Financial Information 

We may require billing and payment information such as credit and debit card information in connection with certain services, such as paying membership fees, making a donation to the New York Society Library, or registering for events at or sponsored by the New York Society Library. However, all payment transactions entered into on the Website or in person at the Library are processed by third-party payment processors, including PayPal and Bank of America (each individually a “payment processor”). At check-out, you will provide your payment information to the payment processor, and that payment processor’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Use will govern use and disclosure of that information. We encourage you to read carefully the payment processor’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Use which can be access from its website. We do not use or store your financial information. 

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 we share personal information with third-party service providers or business partners, we ensure that such third parties have technical and organizational measures to protect the confidentiality and security of any personal information shared with them. 
• 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.

We do not sell, rent, distribute or otherwise make personal information commercially available to 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 [email protected]. To opt out of program registration and book request confirmations, please email [email protected].

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. WEB BROWSER 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.

Our Website may 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 may adjust your web browser settings to notify you when a cookie is about to be sent or you may configure your web browser to refuse cookies automatically. Please review your web browser’s internal settings to learn the proper way to modify your cookie settings. Please note that if you do not accept cookies some parts of the Website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

We do not engage in any third-party “interest-based” or targeted advertising. 

6. GRANTING US PERMISSION TO USE COOKIES

By clicking the “Accept” button on the cookie banner on our homepage or by continuing to use our Website after you have received this cookie notification, you give us your permission to use cookies. However, removing or changing settings may limit the accessibility and functionality of our Website. 

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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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. While we use security measures to protect personal information transmitted online, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. Please do not send via the Website any electronic communications or general inquiries that contain confidential or sensitive personal information.

We maintain reasonable physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to guard your personal information.  We restrict access to personal information about our members to our personnel who need to have the information to provide services to you. 

We do not store or retain your personal information or member files (whether in paper or electronic form) for any longer than is reasonably necessary or required by applicable laws.  Files may be destroyed at any time after the expiry of the applicable retention period, except those files you ask to be delivered to you.

10. 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. Children should not send any Personal Information to us via the Website.

11. DO NOT TRACK SIGNALS

Certain web browsers provide users with an option by which you may have your browser send a “Do Not Track” signal to websites that you are visiting, advising the recipient websites that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. However, the way browsers communicate such “Do Not Track” signals are not yet uniform and, accordingly, our Website does not take any action in response to such signals. In the event a final standard is developed and accepted, we may reassess how we should respond to such signals.

12. PUBLIC COMPUTERS AND CONNECTED DEVICES

The New York Society Library does not keep a record of your activities on any Library-provided computer or laptop. Any records of browsing history and activities are removed when you log out. The next patron cannot see any of your information. However, use of the Library’s computer systems does not provide the user with any expectation of privacy. The information on these systems may be monitored or disclosed at any time by authorized personnel. 

13. DATA AND NETWORK SECURITY

The New York Society Library uses software programs that monitor network traffic and computer activity to identify and prohibit unauthorized attempts to compromise Library technology, including preventing malware, viruses, and bad actors from entering the Library’s network, or otherwise disrupt Library operations. No attempts are made by the Library to identify individual patrons or their usage habits.

14. 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.

15. YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS

By using our Website, you signify your acceptance of this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Website. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of changes to this policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes. 

16. 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
[email protected]