Farm Commons Privacy Policy
We realize the importance of feeling safe online and are fully committed to ensuring that your privacy is respected and protected. Our Privacy Policy below outlines the type of information we typically request of you while you are within the Farm Commons website, as well as ways in which we process information collected from you. If you have any questions or concerns that we do not answer in this Policy, please send us an email at info@farmcommons.org.
We will notify our registered users when we make any significant changes to our Privacy Policy that affect the use of any personally identifiable information we collect. Please note that this Privacy Policy is also incorporated into Farm Commons Terms of Use.
A. Information That Farm Commons Collects
Farm Commons gathers two basic types of information:
1. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO FARM COMMONS
To use some of the Farm Commons website’s services, we ask you to become a registered user. During this registration process, we will ask you for personally identifiable information such as your name, e-mail address, city, state, country, and password.
In addition, when you send inquiries to Farm Commons via our website, including signing up for our newsletter, we collect your name and e-mail address, any other information you provide about the nature of your business or inquiry, your IP address, and the website referrer that indicates how you found our site.
Farm Commons uses the information we gather to respond to inquiries or questions, or otherwise communicate with you, and to give you a better experience when visiting the Farm Commons website by improving the content and usability of our website (more details below). Farm Commons does NOT share this information with other organizations for commercial purposes.
2. INFORMATION GATHERED BY FARM COMMONS
When you visit the Farm Commons website and use and interact with the services and tools that reside there, we may collect information on your actions. This type of information is generally collected from two sources. One is from the server log files and the other is from cookies. Please read more about them in section B(3) of this Privacy Policy.
B. How Information Is Collected And Disseminated
The information collected by Farm Commons is used to create aggregated portraits of our audience, portraits which present anonymous statistical demographic information but no personally identifiable information. This aggregated information is used, among other things, to determine trends and needs, and to improve the content and usability of our website. Farm Commons may share this statistical information with its partners and/or donors, however we will never share personally identifiable information with any third-party except in the limited circumstances described in section B(4) of this Privacy Policy (“Information Sharing Policy”).
In order to better describe how information is collected and disseminated, please carefully review the list below.
- USER REGISTRATION
- LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES
- INFORMATION COLLECTED BY FARM COMMONS THROUGH IP ADDRESSES AND COOKIES
- INFORMATION SHARING POLICY
- HOW WE PROTECT AND SECURE YOUR INFORMATION
1. USER REGISTRATION
Users who want to download resources, register for events or workshops, and utilize digital tools on the Farm Commons website must become registered users. This is necessary so that Farm Commons can assure the quality of its forums. Registration is free.
The registration form requires you to choose a password and provide Farm Commons with your first and last names, e-mail address, city, state, and country.
The personally identifiable information you provide during membership registration will not be given to third parties without your consent except in the limited circumstances described in the Information Sharing Policy.
2. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY SITES
The Farm Commons website contains links to third-party websites that contain articles or blogs of interest. We cannot be responsible for the terms of use, privacy practices, or the content of such third-party websites, and we do not control the practices of any third parties to whom we are linked. However, we generally will advise you when you are leaving the Farm Commons website through a link, and when that third party’s Privacy Policy controls the collection and dissemination of the information you provide.
Farm Commons does not share personally identifiable information with any third parties except in the limited circumstances described in the Information Sharing Policy. However, in order to view articles and other information provided by third-party websites, you may be required by those third-party websites to provide personally identifiable information to the third party(ies) whose tools and services you have chosen to use. Each third party may request different information from you. If you have additional questions about how a third party uses information about you, we urge you to contact them directly.
3. INFORMATION COLLECTED BY FARM COMMONS THROUGH IP ADDRESSES AND COOKIES
- IP Address
Your IP address is a number that is assigned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to your computer or network to identify its location. We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website. We also sometimes use IP addresses to communicate with members and subscribers and possibly even ban those members who are not complying with our Terms of Use [link]. - Cookies
Our site uses a feature of your browser to set a “cookie” on your computer. Cookies are small packets of information that a website’s computer stores on your computer. The Farm Commons website can then read the cookies whenever you visit our website. We use cookies to save your password so you don’t have to re-enter it each time you visit our site and to track the pages you’ve visited, and when and for how long you visit those pages. These cookies allow us to use the information we collect to improve the content and usability of our website so that your visit to Farm Commons is as relevant and as valuable to you as possible.
You may modify your browser preference to provide you with choices relating to cookies. You have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject cookies you may be unable to use some Farm Commons services and/or will have to log in each time you visit our website.
4. INFORMATION SHARING POLICY
Farm Commons does not sell or otherwise share personally identifiable information with third parties without your consent except in the following instances: (i) when required by applicable law or pursuant to a court or similar order; and/or (ii) as deemed necessary, in Farm Commons’ discretion, to protect the legal rights or the property of Farm Commons, a registered user, or third party, or to prevent personal injury. In addition, Farm Commons reserves the right to allow access to its systems to third parties providing necessary technical services when such access is required to provide those services.
5. HOW WE PROTECT AND SECURE YOUR INFORMATION
Farm Commons has numerous security measures in place to protect you from the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. All of your registration information, as well as use of the Farm Commons website to download resources and utilize on-line tools, require use of your password. We recommend that you do not share your password with anyone.
Farm Commons uses industry-standard tools, such as firewalls, to ensure that your information is secure and confidential.