Effective Date: September 29, 2022

National Council for the Social Studies (“NCSS,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy. We provide this policy to describe how we collect, use, and share the information of individuals who visit the NCSS website at www.socialstudies.org (the “Site”) as well as personal information submitted by other means (mail, fax, phone, sign-up sheets, and so on).

Information Collection

Several areas of the NCSS website require that you send us personal information, which may include your name, contact information, log-in information, and any other information you choose to provide. Those areas are:

• Membership application;
• Convention registration;
• Convention session applications;
• NCSS Email Bulletins;
• NCSS Email List Subscriptions;
• NCSS Communities websites.

This information is received offline as well via mail, fax, and phone.

We (and other entities) also automatically collect information relating to your interactions with us and our Site, including browser type, IP address, pages visited and other activities on the Site, device type, and time and date of visit, and other information we collect through the use of cookies and similar technology. See the “Digital Advertising & Analytics”  section of this privacy policy to learn more about the use of this information and the choices available to you.

Material Submitted Online

Some areas of the NCSS Communities section of the Site allow you to submit items for discussion or share information with other members. All submissions become the property of NCSS. Keep in mind that any information you post on any of the NCSS Communities sites are immediately available to anyone with a web browser. Don’t give out more information than what you would like everyone in the world to know. You can, of course, edit or delete the messages you post there.

Information Use & Sharing

NCSS uses the demographic and professional information collected on membership, convention, and other forms for aggregate analysis, to personalize our member records for better service, and to create targeted mailing lists. Aggregate demographic information may be shared with third-parties.

In addition to the primary purpose stated or implied at the time the information is collected, we may use your postal mailing address to send you information about NCSS programs or products, surveys, etc. We provide our convention attendee data to convention exhibitors and make it available to others. We also make our member data available to companies offering NCSS member benefits and to other responsible third parties.

If you supply an email address, we use it to confirm your membership application or registration, follow up on a request, send membership renewal reminders, etc., as the context determines. We may also use it to keep you informed about NCSS programs, services, and initiatives. On occasion we may use your email address for a purpose indirectly related to the original context (e.g., emailing a customer satisfaction survey to members or those who have attended the NCSS Annual Conference.) NCSS does not make its email lists available to any third party, with the following exceptions: NCSS shares member contact information, including email addresses, with Affiliated Councils; NCSS may allow third parties to email information to you regarding their products, services or conference events. You may opt out of these emails at any time. If you do not wish to receive emails from NCSS, please email optout@ncss.org. If a California resident, please also review the “For California Residents” section of this policy below.

Additionally, we may share the information we collect with other parties, including the following:

• With any affiliates or joint venture partners that we may have in the future;

• As part of a corporate sale, merger, or acquisition, or other transfer of all or part of our assets, including as part of a bankruptcy proceeding;

• In certain circumstances, we may, without notice to you, release information to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order, or as otherwise required by law, to protect our rights or the rights of third parties, or to protect the safety or security of any person or entity;

• To detect or address suspected fraudulent or criminal activity, or an attempt to breach the security of NCSS or its website;

• With your consent or as otherwise disclosed at the time of data collection or sharing.

NCSS Members

Because of the special relationship we seek to maintain with our members, NCSS sends them periodic updates and announcements by email. We may also make an occasional phone call (e.g., to clear up a problem or inquire about a lapsed membership). NCSS members have their own online profile page where they can specify their preferred phone number and mailing address.

NCSS provides as a service to its members the ability to search for other members through the member services website. Your contact information will be available to other members through this directory.

NCSS also makes available to members and other parties contact information for members who serve on committees, task forces, are Affiliated Council leaders or Associated Group leaders, or are Special Interest Community chairs or contact persons.

Digital Advertising & Analytics

We may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) that serve ads on behalf of us and others on non-affiliated platforms. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your use of the Site and other sites or apps over time, including information about relationships among different browsers and devices. This type of advertising is known as interest-based advertising.

You may visit the DAA Webchoices tool at www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt out of this advertising on websites by companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program.  If you delete your cookies or use a different browser or mobile device, you may need to renew your opt-out choices exercised through the DAA Webchoices tool.  Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications.  It may make the ads you see less relevant to your interests.  

We may also work with third parties that collect data about your use of the Site and other sites or apps over time for non-advertising purposes. NCSS uses Google Analytics and other third-party services to improve the performance of the Site and for analytics and marketing purposes. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and uses data when you use our Site, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Additionally, your browser may offer tools to limit the use of cookies or to delete cookies; however, if you use these tools, our Site may not function as intended.

Third-Party Links and Tools

The Site may provide links to third-party websites or apps. We do not control the privacy practices of those websites or apps, and they are not covered by this privacy policy. You should review the privacy policies of other websites or apps that you use to learn about their data practices.

The Site also includes integrated social media tools or “plug-ins,” such as social networking tools offered by third parties. If you use these tools to share personal information or you otherwise interact with these features on the Site, those companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with the general public.

Your interactions with third-party companies and your use of their features are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide those features. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policies of any accounts you create and use.

For California Residents

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (also known as the “Shine The Light” law) permits California residents to opt out of sharing with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please email ca-optout@ncss.org.

Privacy Policy Updates

We have tried to create a privacy policy that is comprehensive, readable, and durable. If our information practices change, the changes will be posted at www.socialstudies.org/privacy. We encourage you to visit this page periodically to learn of updates.

Contact

If you have questions or comments about our privacy policy, please email privacy@ncss.org.