Privacy Policy

The International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) is committed to protecting your privacy and the personal information you provide us. This information is defined as any data with which you could be personally identified. This Privacy Policy clearly describes what information we collect, how we use it, how long we keep it, and how you can access it, modify it, or request its deletion.

This Privacy Policy applies to data collected through:

all IHSS websites: http://humic-substances.or https://ihss.humicsubstances.org
the US Postal Service, by phone, by fax, or by email.

Your Consent

By using these sites, or by sending us information via telephone, fax, email, or paper copies (of, for example, membership or grant applications, award nominations, or other forms), you are consenting to the collection, use, and transfer of your personal information you supply as described in this Policy.

If you do not consent to the collection, use, and transfer of your personal information as described in this Policy, you may not use these sites. IHSS will be unable to provide the services for which such information is needed.

What information does IHSS collect and how is it collected?

Your personal information is collected directly from you when:

Becoming an IHSS member: when you become a member, we collect your name, email address, postal address, billing address, organization, field(s) of research and if applicable your proof of student or retired status.

Submitting an award nomination (Honorary Member or Distinguished Service Member): we collect the name, postal address, email address, institution address, nomination and supporting letters, the CV of the nominee, and the name, postal address, email address, and institution address of the nominator.

Submitting an application for grants (Travel Support Award, Training Award, or Young Investigator Research Grant): we collect your name, postal address, email address, institution address, research proposal, and CV, as well as the name, postal address, email address, and institution address of two people familiar with your work. If a successful applicant

selects to have the grant sent to them directly rather than their institution, IHSS requires the applicants Social Security Number for IRS Form 1099.

Making a donation: we collect your name, email address, postal address, billing address, and when you provide information through one of the mediums described above, we will process the data.

How does IHSS use the information collected?

The use of your personal information is limited to the purposes for which it was collected. This includes delivering the member services described in the bylaws of IHSS, grant applications, or other items you may request. We also use your information to communicate with you. To fulfill some of these services, we contract third-party organizations and vendors (listed below) and need to share some of your personal information with them. These organizations and vendors are committed to protecting the privacy of your data, they do not process it in any way nor disclose it and use it only for the purpose of the contract we have with them. They are equally committed to complying with data protection regulations.

Society administration

To fulfill all services related to the administration of memberships, postings, or various purchases, IHSS uses web platforms either developed and maintained by IHSS, or contracted from the Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly Virginia, USA; SiteGround Web Hosting, Sofia, Bulgaria and Summit Hosting, Alpharetta, Georgia USA.. The data you provide is directly entered and stored on these platforms and is only accessible by IHSS. We use your and postal and email addresses to send you information about your membership (welcome message, renewal notices, election, etc.). If you are a current member and we receive notification that your postal or email address has changed, we may contact you at your new email address.

Grant applications and award nominations

Personal information submitted to apply for one of the IHSS research grants, travel awards or to nominate an individual for an award is shared with and reviewed by the relevant IHSS committees

Credit card payments

IHSS uses Authorize.Net, San Francisco CA USA to process credit card payments for purchase of samples from the of Humic Substances Collection and PayPal to collect dues payments. IHSS does not keep records of any credit card details.

Other third parties

In certain, limited circumstances we may share or transfer personal information to unrelated third parties. For example, we may provide personal information to a third party (i) at your request; (ii) to comply with a legal requirement or court order; (iii) to comply with a warrant from a law enforcement agency; (iv) to investigate a possible crime, such as identity theft; or (v) in connection with the sale, purchase, merger, reorganization, liquidation or dissolution of IHSS. If such an event occurs, we will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information.

Other uses

If a complaint is made by you, or by another member or by an authorized legal representative, regarding your IHSS account, IHSS reserves the right to use some or all of your personal data to determine our response to the complaint, but we will not share it with another third party or service unless required or absolutely necessary and will always aim to share the minimum amount of data possible.

How can you access your personal information, modify it, or request its deletion?

If you would like to review, correct and update the personal information, you have provided to us:

log in and check the information in your IHSS membership profile, you can modify, correct, change, or update personally identifiable information while logged in;
contact the IHSS Business Office (+1 (612) 625-1204)
contact IHSS by postal mail at the address below; or
contact IHSS by email at the address below.

If you choose, you may request to delete or make inactive your account with us (be forgotten). You must contact IHSS in writing at the address below. Be aware that we may be required by law or business practice to retain some portions of your information and interactions with us and we will retain your request in case we are questioned about why we did remove your information.

How long does IHSS keep your information?

IHSS retains the personal information collected as long as necessary to provide the services, products, and information you request or as required by applicable business practice or law. The length of time for which we keep the data depends on its nature and purpose.

IHSS keeps the backup documentation permanently for:

Federal Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax

IHSS keeps the backup documentation seven (7) years for:

accounts payable ledgers and schedules
checks (canceled, general)
invoices

IHSS keeps the backup documentation three (3) years for:

general correspondence

IHSS keeps the backup documentation one (1) year for:

correspondence with customers or vendors

Where is your data stored?

The data you provide on IHSS websites is stored on servers contracted from the Mineralogical Society of America; SiteGround Web Hosting and Summit Hosting. All of the servers are located in the United States of America.

Security of Personal Information?

We have implemented reasonable physical measures and administrative procedures to safeguard against unauthorized access and help prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. However, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you transmit to us; any data transmission is at your own risk. Should a data breach of IHSS systems occur, IHSS will notify you within timeframes required by applicable data protection laws.

IHSS offers either an opt in or opt out option in a limited number of cases. Members may restrict the publication of selected elements of their personal information in the online IHSS Membership Directory.

Every IHSS officer, volunteer, member of staff, and member who has access to data or personal information collected by IHSS is charged with respecting the privacy of those who provided it and is expected to respect and follow the IHSS Privacy Policy.

Website users

When you browse our websites, IHSS does not collect any personal information, only statistical data on an aggregated basis. We use cookie technology to analyze traffic to our websites. We gather information such as the number of visits and page views, the popularity of each page, or the location of our visitors. The purpose of this is to help us understand which information is useful to you and how we might improve your experience when navigating our websites, but again, no personal information is collected through this process.

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may set your browser to reject cookies or to alert you when a cookie is placed on your computer. Although you are not required to accept cookies when you visit IHSS sites, you may be unable to use all of the functionality of the site if your browser rejects our cookies.

Children under the Age of Thirteen

IHSS sites wherein personal information is collected are not intended for children or minors under the age of thirteen years without the permission of a parent or guardian.

If you believe that a child has submitted personal information on or through IHSS sites a without the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian, please contact us at the address below so that we can take appropriate action.

Protection of Intellectual Property

Protection of intellectual property is the responsibility of IHSS and IHSS members. Violation of intellectual property rights are legally covered through intellectual property laws, and not privacy laws. Members and authors are asked to contact the legal officers at your home institution or organization, and contact IHSS in writing at the address below; if you believe, you have experienced an intellectual property violation related to IHSS programs.

External links on IHSS websites

IHSS websites contain links to other websites for the convenience of visitors to the sites. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies, and IHSS has no control, responsibility or liability for the content and

Activities of this liked site. This Policy does not apply to personal information collected on any of these third-party websites. When you access third-party websites through a link on IHSS sites, please take a few minutes to review the privacy policy posted on that site.

IHSS does, however, wish to protect the integrity of our site and we welcome any feedback about these linked sites.

This Privacy Policy may change

The International Humic Substances Society reserves the right to update or modify this Policy and any Privacy Notice, at any time and without prior notice, by posting the revised version of the Policy or Privacy Notice on these sites. If we modify this Policy or any Privacy Notice, the modifications will only apply to the personal information we collect after we have posted the revised Policy or Privacy Notice on these sites. For your convenience, when we modify this Policy we will post a notice informing users of the change for thirty (30) days on the home page of IHSS sites.

Governing Law

IHSS is a United States not-for-profit, tax-exempt (501(c)3) corporation incorporated in State of Colorado USA, and has its business office in the State of Minnesota USA. This policy shall be governed under the laws of the United States of America, the State of Colorado and the State of Minnesota.

Questions about this Policy or our Data Practices

If you have questions or concerns about this Policy or any Privacy Notice, please contact at:

International Humic Substances Society
1991 Upper Buford Circle, Rm 439
St. Paul MN 55108
Phone: +1 (612) 626-1204

Fax: +1 (612) 626-1929
E-Mail: ihss@umn.edu

This Policy was last revised on 11 July 2018 and is effective as of that date.