The National Museum of Dentistry has created this Privacy Policy to explain why we collect particular information and how we will protect your personal privacy within our website.
Information Provided by User
The National Museum of Dentistry does not collect personal information about visitors to our website unless you choose to provide that information to us through surveys, site registration or electronic mail communications. We do not request or store sensitive information from our visitors, such as social security numbers, nor will we request information such as passwords. The National Museum of Dentistry does not sell or exchange your personal information and will not disclose personal information collected from users to private third parties unless the law requires such disclosure.
The information that we collect is used to improve the content of our website, verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our website and applicable laws and/or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website. While we strive to protect your information, we caution that any transmission of data shared over the Internet has some risk.
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
If you visit our website, we may gather and store the following information about your visit:
- The IP address from which you access our website
- The name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account)
- The pages, files, documents and links that you visit
- The Internet address of the website from which you linked to this website
Cookies
Cookies are small pieces of information sent to your browser by a website that you visit. Cookies are used to track usage patterns, traffic trends and customer behavior, as well as to record other information from the website. Many content adjustments and customer service improvements are made based on the data derived from cookies.
The National Museum of Dentistry does not use cookies to collect or store any personally identifying information about users. Any Information that we collect from cookies will not be used to create profiles of users and will only be used in aggregate form.
Linking
The National Museum of Dentistry may link to third-party websites. When you link to third-party websites, you leave our website and no longer will be subject to our Privacy Policy. The National Museum of Dentistry is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of third-party websites, and such link is not intended to be an endorsement of the National Museum of Dentistry.
Use and Disclosure of Personal Information for Children
The National Museum of Dentistry is concerned about protecting children’s privacy. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) restricts the use and disclosure of personal information of children who are under the age of 13. Artwork, stories or any other work posted on our site will identify the child by first name, age and state. We do not collect personally identifiable information from children. If a visitor, known to be a child, sends an e-mail to the National Museum of Dentistry, we will only use it to respond to the writer and not to create profiles or otherwise retain the information.
Online Store Sales
This Privacy Statement addresses the collection and use of information that can be used to identify you or contact you. This type of data is commonly referred to as “Personally Identifiable Information” (“PII”) and often includes such data as name, address, phone number(s), e-mail address(es), identification number(s), etc.
When you access your account information, order a product, make an event reservation, register for a placement, send us e-mail, or register to receive news or information alerts, we may ask you to provide PII to us. Except as otherwise provided in this policy, when you supply information about yourself for a specific purpose, we use the information for that purpose and to manage the internal operations and security of our website consistent with the terms of use and policies established from time to time governing this website. Such purpose may involve the disclosure of such information to unaffiliated companies/vendors where necessary to and for the limited purpose of processing your request, processing a transaction authorized by you or providing you with products or services you requested.
Security
We take reasonable precautions to ensure that all credit card transactions that occur on the website are secure. When you submit your credit card for any purchase at the Smithsonian’s network of websites, that transaction is encrypted using “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL) encryption to prevent your credit card information from being seen as it travels over the Internet to our servers. We monitor network traffic to ensure that our site remains available to all users and to identify unauthorized attempts to access, upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized access is prohibited and punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
Required Disclosures
The National Museum of Dentistry will not disclose personal information collected from users to private third parties unless the law requires such disclosure. Laws do exist in the State of Maryland to ensure government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by a government agency. At the same time, however, there are exceptions to the public’s right to access certain records in order to preserve the privacy of individuals. Such exceptions are authorized by both State and Federal law. Information collected from users by the National Museum of Dentistry, similarly to information collected during in-person visits, may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption exists in law. In the event there is a conflict between this Privacy Policy and a State or Federal law governing disclosure of public records, the applicable law shall control.
Warning About Fraudulent Emails
We will never request your password, user name, credit card information or other personal information through email. If you receive such a communication, do not respond.
Privacy Policy Updates
The National Museum of Dentistry reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement at any time and without notice. Changes will be made in order to address new issues and reflect changes on our website. In the event that it becomes necessary to revise our policy, the updated policy will be posted here and any such change will be effective immediately upon posting. Thus, we encourage you to visit this page periodically.
Contact Us
If you would like to be removed from our e-mail list or have any other inquiries, please contact us by phoning (410) 706-0600, e-mailing
or writing to us at National Museum of Dentistry, 31 South Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.
