Privacy Policy

Last updated: February, 2013

The Young Scientist Foundation (“YSF”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of visitors to our website, whether registered or unregistered. Here is our online privacy policy for information collected through our websites and through e-mail lists.

YSF expects it may need to revise its privacy policy as it develops the features of its website, but the spirit of this policy will be maintained, and our policy to never sell, exchange, rent, trade, or give e-mail lists to unaffiliated third parties will never be altered.

By using our website, you agree to be bound by the version of the privacy policy then in effect.  If at any point you no longer agree to our privacy policy, please discontinue your use of the website.

Use of YSF’s website is not restricted to registered users, and we expect to provide a robust experience to all users.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us at: info@youngscientistfoundation.com.

You can also reach us via U.S. mail at:
The Young Scientist Foundation
26800 Amhearst Circle, Apartment 111
Beachwood, Ohio 44122

What YSF Will Do with Your Information

YSF will not sell or share the personal information you provide or we collect through our website to any commercial or unaffiliated organization without your permission, with the following exceptions.  We may share personal information with third parties who provide services, such as website hosting or other services of an administrative or technical nature, solely for the purpose of providing such services and subject to confidentiality obligations.  In addition, YSF sometimes forms coalitions with like-minded organizations, and if we collect personal information through a coalition website or page we host, we may share that information with coalition member organizations.  Finally, we reserve the right to disclose personal information about visitors: if we believe in good faith that the law permits it; to protect the rights, property, safety or security of YSF, our visitors, our registered users, or the public; to respond to an emergency; or to enforce any terms of use agreement governing use of a website controlled or operated by us.

From time to time, we may send you information from other like-minded organizations whose products or services we think subscribers might find interesting, but we do not exchange, trade, rent, or give e-mail lists to unaffiliated third parties.

If You Sign Up for One of Our Mailing Lists

YSF is committed to providing timely updates to our users by e-mail.  We will request information from you to enhance our ability to customize our communications with you so you get the information you want.  We will collect relevant contact information and enable you to self-select the type of information that you’d like to receive. You will be able to unsubscribe from communications you receive from us by following the directions included in each such communication.

If You Submit Information to Public Areas of an YSF Site

Please be aware that if you decide to disclose personally identifiable information on a publicly-accessible areas of an YSF site (such as a blog), this information may become public.  YSF does not control the acts of other visitors to its sites, so please be cautious when deciding to reveal personal information a public area of any site.  Please contact us if you believe a visitor to an YSF site is improperly collecting or using information about you or other users.

If You Submit Information to Share with Elected Officials

From time to time, YSF will circulate on-line petitions or conduct similar activities, where we will ask you to submit personal information and/or photographs to influence elected officials (“Petitions”). For Petitions you’ve signed or completed, we will transmit to elected officials some or all of the information and/or photographs you provided. However, we cannot control what an elected official will do with your information or photographs.

If You Contribute Money Online

YSF appreciates and will accept online contributions. Users will be asked to submit contact information for verification purposes.  Contact information will be stored in a secure location, and financial information will not be stored except when it is needed for record-keeping purposes.

Contributions or gifts to YSF are 100% tax-deductible, less the fair market value of any goods or services the donor receives in return.

Refund Policy

Any request for refund of contributions already donated to YSF by a sponsor/donor will be considered and determined on a case by case basis.

When a request for a refund is received, an assessment of the reason given for the refund request is undertaken. The following reasons will usually be considered favorably: an error has been made by YSF; a sponsor/donor decides within the first 1-3 weeks of providing contributions that they have changed their mind and the funds have not already been allocated to a project; banking details of a sponsor/donor are fraudulently obtained and used; contributions of a sponsor/donor are paid in advance.

The following reasons will not usually be grounds for a refund to be given: the financial circumstances of the sponsor/donor; the sponsor/donor denies or disputes having made a decision with YSF to provide financial contributions; or disagreement by the sponsor/donor with the nature of the programs provided by YSF.

If it is agreed that a refund is to be made, the sponsor/donor will be sent a payment within five working days of the decision, which shall be in the absolute discretion of YSF.

Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of information that a website can store on a computer and later use to recognize a user.  The purpose of cookies is to enhance your ability to receive the information you want.  YSF may use cookies to enhance the experience of users.  A session cookie expires when a user closes the browser in which YSF’s website was viewed.  As with all cookies, users can personalize their browser settings to reject session cookies.

IP Addresses and Log File Data

IP addresses are ID numbers for the location of your computer or network on the internet.  Log files are recordings of the traffic to and from a server.  YSF servers log IP addresses for systems administration and troubleshooting.   We track page hits in the aggregate to track the popularity of pages that people visit.  With that information we can improve the quality of the site.

Children’s Privacy

YSF is concerned about the safety and privacy of children online.  Because of this, we will make all efforts to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA and its accompanying FTC regulations establish United States federal law that protects the privacy of children using the Internet. We do not and will not knowingly contact or collect personal information from children under 13. Our site is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under 13.

It is possible that by fraud or deception by others we may receive information given to us or pertaining to children under 13. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the information, we will immediately delete the information from our servers. If you want to notify us of our receipt of information by children under 13, please do so by contacting us at: info@youngscientistfoundation.com.

Security

YSF has measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of visitor personally identifiable information that is under our control.  For example, only select YSF staff and contracted individuals have access to personally identifiable information provided by visitors to non-public areas of our sites.  Further, we use industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving sensitive financial data from our site. Please note, however, that security breaches can occur even if reasonable steps are taken to prevent such breaches; for example, we cannot guarantee that information provided through our sites will not be illegally accessed on our servers or intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet.  Please contact us if you believe there has been any breach of the security of our sites at: info@youngscientistfoundation.com.

Please Note

YSF plans to regularly update and add new features to its websites.  Because of this, YSF expects to revise its privacy policy as its site develops.  Such amendments will be posted in the privacy policy section of the site.  You can determine whether privacy policy has been modified since your last visit by checking the “Last updated” legend at the top of the policy.  As stated above, the spirit of this policy will be maintained, and our policy to never sell, exchange, rent, trade, or give e-mail lists to unaffiliated third parties will never be altered. YSF links to other like-minded websites, but is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of those websites.