Effective Date: 08.01.2024
The National STEM Honor Society (NSTEM) is committed to maintaining your privacy. This policy describes how NSTEM collects, uses and protects your personal information when you interact with us.
How and Why We Obtain Personal Information: NSTEM may receive or collect personal information such as first and last name, email address and mailing address. Examples of when we receive or collect this information are when you apply for and establish an NSTEM membership; complete a scholarship application; or make a purchase in our online store. NSTEM uses this information to support your membership and the management of our organization. We also use this information to communicate directly with our members, their parents or guardians, and Chapter advisors through email, our newsletters, and social media; and to provide access to additional content on our website. NSTEM uses a third party service provider to handle credit card transactions. Although payment information is provided through our website to our service provider, NSTEM does not have access to or retain this information.
How We Share Information with Third Parties: NSTEM may share some personal data with unaffiliated third parties who provide services to NSTEM at our direction. For example, we may share some personal data with our fulfillment partner to produce student member certificates or fulfill merchandise orders from our online store.
Cookies and other Online Technologies: NSTEM and our third party service providers use cookies and similar technologies to support our online operations. For example, when you access our website from a computer or other device, we may collect certain information from that device about your browser type, location and Internet Protocol address through cookies. Cookies are small amounts of data that a website sends to a web browser or other device. Cookies help us collect information about your use of our website including date and time of visits and pages viewed. Cookies are also used for security purposes. We also use tools, such as Google Ads and Google Analytics, to help us advertise our website, analyze how you and other visitors use our website and social media accounts, track the success rate of our ads, and improve our website’s functionality. We do not provide any personal information about you to Google, and any information collected by Google is done anonymously without identifying an individual user. We do not associate information collected by Google with information you may have provided to us. For more information on Google Analytics and Google Ads, including how to opt out, click here. (ie., https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout). The social media platforms used by NSTEM also use cookies. The information collected by these cookies is governed by the privacy policies of those platform providers.
Social Media: NSTEM has social media accounts that enable online sharing and collaboration among users who have registered to use these services. We may collect information you provide when you interact with us on our social media accounts, such as photographs, videos or opinions you post, or your social media account ID. If your local NSTEM Chapter has a social media account, then we may collect information you post on those accounts as well. Your Chapter may choose to submit a “Shout-Out” to share what is happening within your NSTEM Chapter. NSTEM may use this information on its website, and in its newsletters and emails to support its programs and mission. Any content you post, such as pictures or opinions, or any personal information that you make available to other participants on these social platforms, is also subject to the terms of use and privacy policies of those platforms.
Links to Other Websites: Our website contains links to the websites of other resources. We do not share your information with these resources and they are not subject to this Privacy Policy. Please review the privacy policy of these websites to understand their privacy practices.
Legal Requirement to the Disclosure of Data: NSTEM may disclose your personal information as required by law or as needed in legal proceedings when NSTEM believes in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
Security of Data: The security of all personal data is important to us. While we cannot guarantee absolute security, we take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. NSTEM web data is stored by our web host, Green Geeks whose data center is located in Chicago, IL. Our local data is stored on the Airtable servers which are located in the US and hosted using AWS servers (US-East-1) Amazon Web Service. Personal data (name, email, address) is stored on our Wordpress website and can be requested to be removed using the Remove Personal Data request form located at the bottom of this page. Student’s data is destroyed by deleting them off the Wordpress server and removal of any reference to their name from the NSTEM Google Drive.
Data Retention Policy: NSTEM is committed to protecting and respecting personal data. We wish to be transparent on how we process personal data and demonstrate that we are accountable in compliance with national and international regulations in relation to not only processing personal data but ensuring that such data is retained for no longer than is necessary i.e., for as long as required under legal or regulatory requirements, or for as long as required for legitimate business purposes. NSTEM requires that all personal data is stored for up to 20 years, depending on the age of the member. Data will be stored for all members until they reach the age of 22 years old. Personal data (name, email, address) is stored on our Wordpress website and can be requested to be removed using the Remove Personal Data request form located at the bottom of this page.
Data Breach Security Response Plan: NSTEM adopted a comprehensive Data Breach Security Response Plan in accordance with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. NSTEM’s Data Breach Security Response Plan is a framework that sets out the roles and responsibilities involved in managing a data breach. It also describes the steps an entity will take if a data breach occurs. The plan is regularly reviewed and tested to make sure it is up to date and that our staff know what actions they are expected to take.
Children’s Privacy: NSTEM is sensitive to the need to protect the personal information of children under 13. NSTEM does not intentionally collect personal information through our website from those we know are under the age of 13 and we request that these individuals do not provide information through this website. If one of our members is identified as being under the age of 13, then unless NSTEM obtains verifiable parental consent, NSTEM will not contact that individual via the Internet. If a parent or legal guardian has provided such consent, the parent/guardian subsequently may review or have deleted any personal information obtained from their child via our website, and refuse to permit its further collection or use by notifying NSTEM in writing at the address or email address set forth below.
Compliance Policies: NSTEM is fully compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ensuring the privacy and protection of student education records. NSTEM adheres to these regulations by implementing robust data security measures and restricting the release of personally identifiable information without proper consent. This compliance underscores NSTEM’s commitment to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of student records, aligning with federal standards to protect student privacy.
Changes to this Privacy Policy: We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time by posting a new version of the Privacy Policy on our website and updating the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.
Contact Us: If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
National STEM Honor Society,
127 Eastern Ave, Suite #236
Gloucester, MA 01930
info@nstem.org
