Oceanic Society (OS) is committed to protecting your privacy. Our privacy policy covers what information OS collects on its Web site and how we use that information. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us via e-mail at administrator@oceanicsociety.org.

What information do we collect?

OS collects information volunteered by visitors, such as information collected when booking an expedition, requesting a publication, purchasing an item, or making a donation. Information that OS collects in these interactions include personally identifiable information, information about organizational affiliation, and possibly information about your interests. No personally identifiable information is collected about individuals without their knowledge.

Your IP (Internet Protocol) address may be used to gather broad demographic information such as the geographic regions most interested in our site and what type of browser most of our visitors prefer. This information helps us to better maintain and update our site. IP addresses do not provide us with any identifiable personal information such as your name, address, or email address, thus keeping visitors anonymous.

How is this information used by OS?

Oceanic Society has a strict policy against buying, selling, or sharing mailing lists and donor information. Under this policy, personal information provided to OS is never shared or sold to any other organization—public, private, or nonprofit—without your express permission.

E-mail policy

OS provides forms on its Web sites where users can sign-up to receive e-mail newsletters and periodic notices. OS limits communications by e-mail to users who have opted in to receive e-mail communications or in the course of business for online transactions including confirmation of contributions and expeditions or other purchases. Each email sent contains an easy, automated way for you to cease receiving email from us, or to change your expressed interests.

Security of your information

OS takes the following measures to ensure that information collected on OS’s Web site is kept secure and is used as intended.

Sensitive data, such as credit card and other financial information, is collected on secure forms and transmitted using industry-standard Secure Socket Layer Encryption (SSL) technology. Credit card information is retained by OS only as long as necessary to complete the donation or purchase request of the user.

OS may use a third party, such as Stripe and PayPal (donation and payment processing), Checkfront (expeditions reservations), or Square (purchases), to process certain transactions. Those transactions are subject to the Stripe Privacy PolicyPayPal Privacy PolicyCheckfront Privacy Policy, or Square Privacy Policy.

OS takes the utmost precaution to protect credit card information. But users who prefer not to use credit cards for online donations can download any of our forms, print them, and mail them to:

Oceanic Society
P.O. Box 844
30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Ross, CA 94957

Links to Third Party Sites

Oceanic Society’s Web site may provide links to third party sites. While we make efforts to choose our links carefully, we cannot take any responsibility for the content of linked Web sites, or for the privacy policies of Web sites we link to. Since we do not control these Web sites, we encourage you to review the privacy policies posted on these third party Web sites prior to any use.

Privacy Policy Changes

We may change or amend this privacy policy from time to time. Your continued use of our website after the date that such notices are posted will be deemed your agreement to the changed terms.