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Privacy Policy

Table of Contents

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. and its related companies ("Britannica") recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of Personal Information collected about its Users. "Personal Information" includes, but is not limited to, usage data, along with the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and credit card and salary information of Britannica Users. Therefore, Britannica does not sell or otherwise permit third parties to use any individually identifiable Personal Information about any User without an express and informed consent of such User. Nor does Britannica include in Britannica.com or EB.com any functionality for performing "reverse searches" to identify Britannica Users from their e-mail addresses. However, Britannica reserves the right to analyze and utilize Personal Information in order to more effectively optimize the User experience and to present certain opportunities to Users for their benefit. Britannica also reserves the right to share with its partners and third parties some Personal Information provided that such use of Personal Information does not violate any expectations of privacy of or agreement with any Britannica User. Britannica has adopted this Privacy Policy to inform Britannica Users how it does collect, store, and use Personal Information. Britannica's intent is to balance its legitimate business interests in collecting and using Personal Information against the reasonable expectations of privacy of its Users.

Our Commitment to Privacy.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ("Britannica") is committed to respecting the privacy of visitors to its family of Web sites (collectively, the "Britannica sites" and each, a "Britannica site") and parties related to them. Except as otherwise provided, this Privacy Policy applies to all of the Britannica sites, which include, but are not limited to, Britannica.com and EB.com. To better protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used at this Britannica site.

The Britannica sites are general audience Web sites, intended for Users of all ages. Personal information of all Users may be collected, used, and disclosed as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy contains a section with specific details regarding personal information collected from children. See "Protection for Children" below.

The Information We Collect.

To help us achieve our goal of providing the highest quality services, we collect and apply information from our interactions with visitors and subscribers (each a "User") to the Britannica sites, as well as from other parties. Because we respect your privacy, we have procedures to ensure that your personal information is handled in a safe, secure, and responsible manner. The information we receive and collect depends on what a User does when visiting one of the Britannica sites.

  • Your Personal Information.

    Britannica recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information collected about its Users and other third parties. In general, our Users are able to visit many of our Web pages without telling us who they are or revealing any information about themselves. As discussed under "Usage Data" below, we may track the Internet domain or "Internet protocol" addresses from which Users visit us and analyze this data in the aggregate to determine usage for trends and statistics. Individual Users will remain anonymous, unless they voluntarily tell us who they are.

    There may be times, however, such as when subscribing to our services or making purchases from the Britannica Store, when we ask Users to provide certain Personal Information about themselves. "Personal Information" may include, but is not limited to, the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and credit card information of Britannica site Users. Whether or not a User provides such information is completely his or her own choice. If a User chooses not to provide the Personal Information we request, he or she may be unable to access certain services and content on our Britannica sites or purchase products from us.

  • Demographic Information.

    There will also be opportunities for subscribers to provide us with demographic or profile information regarding their preferences and interests. This information may include, but is not limited to, age, gender, household income, level of education completed, number of children in the household, and personal-interest information. This demographic information, however, is not required and is completely optional on a subscriber's part.

  • Prospect and Referral Information.

    If a User visits Britannica.com and submits an e-mail address to Britannica but fails to complete the registration process, we may use such "prospect" information to contact the prospective User from time to time with Britannica offers and information about new features, new services, and special discounts we think they may see as valuable. Similarly, if a User forwards a Britannica e-mail to a friend, we may use the "referral" information provided to contact the friend from time to time with Britannica offers and information about new features, new services, and special discounts we think the friend may see as valuable. All of our "prospect" and "referral" communications contain clearly marked opt-out instructions. The types of personally identifiable information that may be collected in relation to "prospects" or "referrals" include: name and e-mail addresses. We do not sell or rent any contact information for such "prospects" or "referrals."

  • Cookies.

    To help you personalize your online experience, Britannica uses "Cookies." "Cookies" are pieces of information that Britannica transfers to the hard drives of Users for record-keeping purposes. One of the primary purposes of Cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. For example, Cookies allow us to recognize you when you re-enter a Britannica site so that you will not have to log in each time you visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of unique and return visitors who use the Britannica sites. In addition, Britannica places Cookies with Users visiting from advertising banners and hyperlinks on other Web sites to track the success of a particular advertising campaign or marketing program. Most browsers are initially set up to accept Cookies. If you prefer, you can reset your browser to notify you when you've received a Cookie or, alternatively, to refuse to accept Cookies. It is important to note that you may not be able to use certain features on a Britannica site if you choose not to accept Cookies. The use of Cookies is an industry standard and occurs at most major Web sites.

  • Beacons.

    We currently contract with several online partners to help manage and optimize our Internet business and communications. We use the services of a marketing company to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and how visitors use our site. To do this, we use Web beacons and cookies provided by our marketing company on this site. The type of information we collect includes pages visited, search terms, referrers, campaigns, anonymous user identifier, and anonymous account identifier. By supplementing our records, this information helps us learn things like what pages are most attractive to our visitors, which of our products most interest our customers, and what kinds of offers our customers like to see. Although our marketing company logs the information coming from our site on our behalf, we control how that data may and may not be used. If you do not want to help us learn how to improve our site, products, offers and marketing strategy, you can “opt-out” of this website analysis tool by clicking here.

How We Use the Information We Collect.

  • Personal Information

    Britannica uses Personal Information for: allowing Britannica site Users to obtain an account and to receive communications they request; making ongoing enhancements to the Britannica sites; marketing and promotional purposes (for example, offering Users the opportunity to take advantage of special promotions for Britannica products and services (See "Subscriber Communications" and "Offers from Our Business Partners" below)); and evaluating Web site usage by analyzing and otherwise using Personal Information and related data in the aggregate, but not with respect to any individual Britannica site User. In addition, with respect to Britannica site Users located outside North America, we may share pertinent Personal Information with our local subsidiaries. Please click on the following links to review privacy policies of our local subsidiaries:

    UK Privacy Policy

    Australian Privacy Policy

    Britannica does not sell or otherwise permit third parties to use any individually identifiable Personal Information about any Britannica site User without an express and informed consent of such User. Nor does Britannica include in any of the Britannica sites any functionality for performing "reverse searches" to identify Web site Users from their e-mail addresses. However, as discussed below, Britannica reserves the right to analyze and utilize Personal Information in order to more effectively optimize the User experience and to present certain opportunities to Users for their benefit. Britannica also reserves the right to share with its partners and third parties some Personal Information provided that such use of Personal Information does not violate any expectations of privacy of or agreement with any Britannica site User. Britannica has adopted this Privacy Policy to inform Britannica site Users of how it collects, stores, and uses Personal Information. Britannica's intent is to balance its legitimate business interests in collecting and using Personal Information in order to continuously improve Britannica products and services against the reasonable expectations of privacy of its Users.

  • Demographic Information.

    In an ongoing effort to improve its services, Britannica may use aggregated demographic information to draw conclusions about Users' wishes and preferences. Britannica may also provide demographic information in the aggregate regarding Britannica site Users to third parties in connection with Britannica advertising campaigns and marketing programs; however, no demographic information relating to any individual Britannica site User is disclosed without the express consent of such User. In addition, any such User may withdraw his/her consent at any time by following the instructions provided under the heading "How to Opt Out, Correct, Update, or Remove Personal Information" below. As stated above, submitting such demographic information is not required and is completely optional on a subscriber's part.

  • Prospect and Referral Information.

    As discussed above, we may use prospect and referral information to contact a prospect or referral from time to time with Britannica offers and information about new features, new services, or special discounts we think such prospect or referral may see as valuable. We do not sell or rent any contact information for such prospects or referrals.
  • Usage Data.

    We only use Usage Data in the aggregate -- that is, we look at the data on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual basis. This data helps us determine the extent to which our visitors use certain parts of a Britannica site, which, in turn, enables us to make the Britannica sites as appealing as possible. We may also provide statistical "ratings" about how our visitors collectively use our Web sites to advertisers and other companies with which we do business ("Business Partners"). We do this so they, too, can understand how often people use their areas of the Web sites in order for them to provide you with the best possible experience. These statistical ratings do not contain any personally identifiable information about any of our individual Users.

Disclosure Exceptions.

We will disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law; for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency's request.

Subscriber Communications.
As a benefit of membership, Britannica site subscribers may receive the following communications from us:

  • Communications related to subscription maintenance activities. These communications may include, without limitation, notices regarding material changes to Britannica site policies, service updates, service enhancements, and account management procedures. Since these communications are necessary to ensure Britannica provides its subscribers with the highest quality of services, our subscribers are not permitted to opt out from receipt of these communications.

  • Newsletter Communications. As a benefit of a Britannica subscription, we may send our Britannica subscribers our exclusive Britannica Newsletters. These newsletters are full of useful Britannica content. To unsubscribe to a newsletter, a User can either (i) follow the instructions at the bottom of any newsletter or (ii) follow the instructions set forth below in "How to Opt Out, Correct, Update, or Remove Personal Information."

  • Communications containing information about Britannica products and services. We may send promotional e-mails and other outbound communications to Britannica site subscribers regarding products and services from Britannica. Any Britannica site subscriber that does not wish to receive such product and service communications can choose to remove his or her contact information from our contact list at any time by (i) following the instructions at the bottom of any promotional e-mail or (ii) following the instructions set forth below in "How to Opt Out, Correct, Update, or Remove Personal Information."

Offers From Our Business Partners.

Britannica also offers its Users the opportunity to receive money-saving offers, discounts, and promotions from our Business Partners. These communications may come from Britannica or directly from the Business Partners themselves. This program is conducted strictly on an opt-in basis. In order to receive or decline the offers, you must follow the clearly marked instructions on the relevant page. If you leave the box unchecked, you will not receive any offers. If you do sign up for the program, but later change your mind, you are free at any time to opt out by (i) following the clearly marked instructions at the bottom of any such communication or (ii) following the instructions set forth below in "How to Opt Out, Correct, Update, or Remove Personal Information."

Protection for Children.

Children should always ask parents for permission before providing any Personal Information to Britannica or purchasing any products or services from Britannica. Britannica expressly adheres to all laws and policies related to children's privacy. Britannica does not knowingly collect or solicit personally identifying information from or about children under 13, except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe Britannica has any information from or about anyone under 13, please contact us in the manner provided for below.

Our Commitment to Security.
Britannica only collects information from Britannica site Users to the extent deemed reasonably necessary to serve its legitimate business purposes, and it uses state-of-the-art security technology to ensure the security, integrity, and privacy of all collected information. In addition, Britannica uses security measures in connection with the collection and transmission of Britannica site User information during each Britannica site's registration process. Nonetheless, Britannica is not responsible for any breach of its security or for the actions of any third parties that may obtain any Britannica site User information, including Personal Information or demographic information.

How to Opt Out, Correct, Update, or Remove Personal Information.
Users may opt out of certain services or correct, update, or remove Personal Information that Britannica has collected about them through any of the means listed below. Please be sure to include the following information in your correspondence:

  • Your e-mail address
  • Your first and last name
  • The name of the Britannica site to which the request applies
  • The service or section of the site to which you are registered/subscribed

  • Online: Visit our main Help page at http://corporate.britannica.com/help/and submit a message to us using our online forms or simply respond to the pertinent e-mail with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. (Please note: "Unsubscribe" is an automatic process. We will not respond to these messages.)

  • Call us at: (800) 323-1229 (within the United States), or
    (312) 347-7159 (outside the United States)
    Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (U.S. Central Time).

  • Send a fax to: (312) 294-2104

  • Write us at:
    Britannica Customer Service, Attn: Removal from Mailing List
    331 North La Salle Street
    Chicago, IL 60610

Please allow up to six (6) weeks for your opt-out and other requests to be processed.

Third-Party Advertising.
The Britannica sites use the services of third parties to present or target the advertisements, promotions, and other marketing messages that you may see on any of the Britannica sites' Web pages and to conduct research about such advertisements, promotions, and other marketing messages. Our Privacy Policy does not cover any use of information that such third parties may have collected from Users or the method used by such third parties to collect that information (e.g., Cookies).

Links to Other Web sites.
The Britannica sites each contain links to other Web sites. Britannica is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party Web sites. We urge all Britannica site Users to follow safe Internet practices: Do not supply personal information to these Web sites unless you have verified their security and privacy policies.

Your Consent and Changes to Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy was last changed on June 29, 2005. By using any one of the Britannica sites, you consent to the collection and use of your information by Britannica in the manner specified in this Privacy Policy. Britannica reserves the right to change or amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the revised Privacy Policy on the Britannica sites. Britannica encourages each Britannica site User to periodically review this Privacy Policy to be informed of how we are protecting their information.

 

 
© 2007 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.