The Society of Rheology Privacy Policy

Effective on 1 July 2020

This Privacy Policy describes how The Society of Rheology, Incorporated (collectively, “The Society,” “SOR,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and safeguards personal information. This Privacy Policy also tells you about your rights and choices with respect to your personal information, and how you can reach us to get answers to your questions. You can jump to particular topics by going to the Topics bar above.

Types of Information We Collect

The following provides examples of the type of information that we collect from you and how we use that information.

Context Types of Data Primary Purpose for Collection and Use of Data
Account Registration We collect your name and contact information when you create an account. In some cases we collect additional information relevant to your account such as your organization, institution, country and similar information. We also collect information relating to the actions that you perform while logged into your account. We have a legitimate interest in providing account related functionalities to our users. We share information about our events, related scientific conferences/ events and job openings with those of our membership that consent to receive such information.
Conferences, Short Courses, Symposiums, Events, and Meetings If you register for a conference, short course or other event, we will collect your name, contact information and in some cases payment information (if applicable). We may ask you for additional information such as your SOR member number, organization, institution or affiliation and other similar information. We may post your name, abstract, affiliation and address of affiliation in the meeting program and in publicity for the event. We use your information to complete your registration and to process your payment of registration fees (if applicable). We also have a legitimate interest in providing you with information and services associated with the conference or event.
Awards If you are nominated for or nominate yourself for one of The Society’s awards (such as the Bingham Medal or the student Poster Presentation award), we will collect your name, contact information and any content provided to support the award nomination. If you are nominated for the Metzner Award, we will collect the date of your terminal academic degree. If you are awarded a Fellowship status, we will collect your date of birth. Submission of scientific articles to the Journal of Rheology are automatically considered for The Society’s Publication award and name and contact information available on the publication are collected for the purposes of administering the award. We have a legitimate interest in selecting the most deserving recipient for the various awards and contacting that individual regarding their achievement. We also use your information including name and affiliation to announce the winner of the awards. For Metzner nominees, we use the date of your terminal degree to assess eligibility. For SOR Fellows, we use your date of birth to determine whether you are classified as an emeritus or regular awardee.
Inquiries or Support If you send an inquiry or contact a volunteer of The Society for support, we will collect your name, contact information, and any other content that you send to us, in order to reply. We have a legitimate interest in receiving and acting on your inquiries or issues.
Drawings If you enter into a drawing to win a prize, we collect your name and contact information. When you enter a drawing you consent to be contacted regarding the drawing. In some cases, a drawing may be conducted by a third party. In those cases, the third party’s privacy policy may apply.
Email Interconnectivity If you receive email from us, we may use certain tools to capture data related to when you open our message, click on any links or banners it contains and make purchases. We have a legitimate interest in understanding how you interact with our communications to you.
Journals Your information may be processed in connection with a journal or similar publication. You consent to our processing of this information when you provide it to us. In most scenarios, we are the controller of your information processed in connection to a journal or similar publication. However, occasionally another entity (like the publisher) may be the controller of this information.
Mailing List When you sign up for one of our mailing lists we collect your email address or postal address. We share information about our products and services with individuals that consent to receive such information. We also have a legitimate interest in sharing information about our products or services.
Mobile Devices We collect information from your mobile device such as unique identifying information broadcast from your device when visiting our websites. We have a legitimate interest in identifying unique visitors, and in understanding how users interact with us on their mobile devices.
Order Placement We collect your name, billing address, shipping address, e-mail address, phone number, and credit card number when you place an order. We use your information to perform our contract to provide you with products or services.
Partner Promotion We collect information that you provide as part of a co-branded promotion with another company. We have a legitimate interest in fulfilling our promotions.
Surveys When you participate in a survey we collect information that you provide through the survey. If the survey is provided by a third party service provider, the third party’s privacy policy applies to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information. We have a legitimate interest in understanding your opinions, and collecting information relevant to our organization.
Sweepstakes or Contests When you participate in a sweepstakes or contest we collect information about you which includes contact information to notify you if you are selected. We have a legitimate interest in operating the sweepstakes. In some contexts we are also required by law to collect information about those that enter into our sweepstakes, and we have a legitimate interest in complying with those laws.
Website Interactions We use technology to monitor how you interact with our websites. This may include which links you click on, or information that you type into our online forms. This may also include information about your device or browser. We have a legitimate interest in understanding how you interact with our websites to better improve them, and to understand your preferences and interests in order to select offerings that you might find most useful. We also have a legitimate interest in detecting and preventing fraud.
Web Logs We collect information, including your browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (IP) address (a number that is automatically assigned to a computer when the Internet is used), domain name, click-activity, referring website, and/or a date/time stamp for visitors. We have a legitimate interest in monitoring our networks and the visitors to our websites. Among other things, it helps us understand which of our services is the most popular.

In addition to the information that we collect from you directly, we may also receive information about you from other sources, including third parties, business partners, our affiliates, or publicly available sources.

Use and Processing of Information

In addition to the purposes and uses described above, we use information in the following ways:

  • Identify you when you login to one of The Society’s websites.
  • Improve your use of The Society’s websites.
  • Communicate with you about information that you request.
  • Operate The Society’s websites effectively, deliver our products and services, and provide you with a more consistent and personalized experience when interacting with us.
  • Perform timely customer service and communicate important administrative and transactional announcements about The Society’s websites or your account.
  • Enforce our Terms of Use and detect fraud or illegal activities.
  • Conduct surveys and questionnaires about The Society’s websites and services we offer.
  • Provide you, at our partner websites, with editorial, marketing, and advertising information that we think is relevant to your areas of interest, including materials from our third-party business partners.
  • Enable research and promote the innovation of our products and services.
  • Analyze and report on website usage.
  • Manage our business relationships and for internal administrative purposes, such as accounting and recordkeeping.
  • Comply with legal obligations, establish or exercise our rights, and defend against a legal claim.

Although the sections above describe our primary purpose in collecting your information, in many situations we have more than one purpose. As a result, our collection and processing of your information is based in different contexts upon your consent, our need to perform a contract, our obligations under law, and/or our legitimate interest in conducting our business.

Sharing of Information

In addition to the specific situations discussed elsewhere in this policy, we disclose information in the following situations:

  • Other Disclosures with Your Consent. We may ask if you would like us to share your information with other unaffiliated third parties who are not described elsewhere in this policy.
  • Other Disclosures without Your Consent. We may disclose information in response to subpoenas, warrants, or court orders, or in connection with any legal process, or to comply with relevant laws. We may also share your information in order to establish or exercise our rights, to defend against a legal claim, to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding possible illegal activities, suspected fraud, safety of person or property, or a violation of our policies, or to comply with your request for the shipment of products to or the provision of services by a third party intermediary.
  • Public. Some of our websites may provide the opportunity to post comments, or reviews, in a public forum. If you decide to submit information on these pages, that information may be publicly available.
  • Partner Promotion. We may offer contests, sweepstakes, or other promotions with third party partners. If you decide to enter a contest, sweepstakes, or promotion that is sponsored by a third party partner the information that you provide will be shared with us and with them. Their use of your information is not governed by this privacy policy.
  • Service Providers. We share your information with service providers. Among other things service providers help us to administer our websites, conduct surveys, provide technical support, process payments, and assist in the fulfillment of orders.
  • Events, Symposiums, and Meetings. We may share your information with other parties in connection with your registration for, or attendance to, an event, meeting, or similar occurrence.

Cookies and Other Data Collection Technologies

SOR uses some of the following types of data collection technologies:

  • Cookies and Similar Technologies. SOR uses cookies, which are files that are placed on your device or browser when you visit a website, and similar technologies to collect information on our websites. Among other things, cookies allow you to move through our websites more smoothly and enhance your user experience by making it more seamless. The following describes the types of cookies and similar technologies we use:
  • Necessary and Functional Cookies. Some technology is needed for our websites to function properly. Because our use of this technology is needed as part of our websites, it is always active. Note that while you can set your browser to block this type of tracking, doing so may cause some parts of our websites not to work.
  • Web Beacons. Web beacons, or single-pixel gifs, are a form of tracking technology that records user behavior. We may use web beacons on our websites and in emails we send to you. Web beacons collect information such as whether you opened a web page or email, your Internet Protocol (IP) address (a number that is assigned to a computer when the Internet is used), the type of browser you used, etc. This information allows us to measure the effectiveness of our campaigns, target specific content only to those who are most interested, and improve our features and your overall user experience.
  • Web Logs. We collect information in the form of log files that record website activity and gather statistics including your browser type, operating system, IP address, domain name, click-activity, referring website, and/or a date/time stamp for visitors. We have a legitimate interest in monitoring our networks and the visitors to our websites. Among other things, it helps us understand which of our services is the most popular.

Your Choices

You can make the following choices regarding your personal information:

  • Access to Your Personal Information. You may request access to your personal information by contacting us at the address described below. If required by law, upon request, we will grant you reasonable access to the personal information that we have about you. Note that California residents may be entitled to ask us for a notice describing what categories of personal information (if any) we share with third parties or affiliates for direct marketing.
  • Deletion of Your Personal Information. You may request that we delete your personal information by contacting us at the address described below. If required by law we will grant a request to delete information. Please note that in many situations we must keep your personal information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, or for another one of our business purposes.
  • Objection to Certain Processing. You may object to our use or disclosure of your personal information by contacting us at the address described below.
  • Changes to Your Personal Information. You may request that we change or update your personal information using the contact information below and, if required by law, we will honor your request.
  • Online Tracking. We do not currently recognize automated browser signals regarding tracking mechanisms, which may include "Do Not Track" instructions.
  • Promotional Emails. You may choose to provide us with your email address for the purpose of allowing us to send free newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials to you, as well as targeted offers from third parties. You can stop receiving promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions in e-mails that you receive. If you decide not to receive promotional emails, we may still send you service related communications.
  • Mailings. If at any time you do not want to receive mailings from us you can remove yourself from our mailing lists by emailing us (our contact information is below) with "NO SNAIL MAIL" in the subject line along with your name, address and zip code. Please note that our mailings are prepared in advance of their being sent. Although we will remove your name from our mailing list after receiving your request, you may still receive mailings from us that had been initiated prior to your name being removed.
  • Revocation of Consent. If you revoke your consent for the processing of personal information then we may no longer be able to provide you services. In some cases, we may limit or deny your request to revoke consent if the law permits or requires us to do so, or if we are unable to adequately verify your identity. You may revoke consent to processing (where such processing is based upon consent) by contacting us at the address described below.

How We Protect Personal Information

No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is fully secure. While we use reasonable efforts to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information. You have a responsibility as well to help protect the information you provided by keeping your account information confidential and not using unsecured or unencrypted networks. In the event that we are required by law to inform you of a breach to your personal information we may notify you electronically, in writing, or by telephone, if permitted to do so by law.

Some of our websites permit you to create an account. When you do you will be prompted to create a password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and you are responsible for any access to or use of your account by someone else that has obtained your password, whether or not such access or use has been authorized by you. You should notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or account.

Data Integrity and Purpose Limitation

SOR limits the use of information to ways that are compatible and relevant to the purposes for which the information was collected or subsequently authorized, or for which consent was obtained. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that information is reliable for its intended use, accurate, complete, and current.

Records Retention

Typically SOR will retain your information for the period needed to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected as described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. SOR will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our business requirements and legal obligations, resolve disputes, protect our assets, and enforce our agreements. For more information regarding our retention policies with respect to your information, please contact us using the information in the "Contact information" section below.

Information for California Residents

If you would like more information concerning the categories of personal information (if any) we share with third parties or affiliates for those parties to use for direct marketing please submit a written request (once per calendar year) to us using the information in the "Contact Information" section below.

Information for Non-U.S. Residents

If you reside outside the United States, please be aware that any information you provide to us will be transferred to, collected, processed, and stored in the United States. Privacy and data protection laws differ from country to country, and the laws in the United States may offer less protection than the laws of your country. By providing your information to us, you agree to the transfer, storage, and processing of your information in the United States.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may change our privacy policy and practices over time. To the extent that our policy changes in a material way, the policy that was in place at the time that you submitted personal information to us will generally govern that information unless we receive your consent to the new privacy policy. We will note the effective date of the latest version at the beginning of the Privacy Policy.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, comments, or complaints concerning our privacy practices, please contact us at the email address below. We will attempt to respond to your requests and to provide you with additional privacy-related information.

Email Contact for Privacy

If you are not satisfied with our response, and are in the European Union, you may have a right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.