Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 25 February 2021
Transparency and informing our membership and the public about how their data is being used are two basic goals of this privacy policy. This privacy notice is intended to help our membership make informed decisions about the data the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation collects and uses.
When this Policy Applies
This Privacy Policy applies to all services offered by Alumni Association and Foundation (AAF) as well as services offered by affiliated third-party companies and partners who have agreed to abide by the AAF Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information provided to the Naval Academy Athletic Association, United States Naval Academy, or other private or government entities that have separate privacy policies.
Effective Date and Changes to this Policy
The date of this Privacy Policy is indicated as the “Effective Date” at the top of this page. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any material changes to the privacy policy will be communicated and access to the current privacy policy and immediate prior version will be available at www.usna.com.
Data Collection and Storage
The data we collect and store depends on the context of your interactions with AAF and the choices you make to provide personal information and data, including the programs you use. AAF collects and stores information within the following categories:
• Biographical and demographic Information: name, address(es), phone number(s), email address(es), social media account(s), website(s), current and past military assignment(s), legacy relationships, marital status(es), civilian sector employment history, ethnicity, income, gender and date of birth.
• Academic: USNA degree, major (where applicable), and class year; sports, clubs, and activities as a midshipman; degree(s), class year(s), and major(s) for other institutions attended (if reported).
• Gifts and Payments: Philanthropic affinity donations, event registration fees, merchandise purchases, etc.
How We Use the Information
The information we collect through our website may be used to satisfy your requests for products and services, process your donations, respond to your inquiries, provide you with more targeted content, and send you information about the Alumni Association & Foundation. We may use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, and to improve the content and navigation of our site so that it is more useful to visitors. In addition, we may also use the information to contact you regarding changes to our privacy policy or other policies that may affect you and your use of our website, products, and services. Authorized parties and purposes include but are not limited to:
• Achieve the mission of the AAF by informing and notifying members, parents and associates of Alumni Association events, programs, and news.
• Provide leadership of supported alumni groups such as Alumni Association chapters, classes, shared interest groups, and officially recognized affinity groups for communication regarding the official business of these groups.
• Support reunion coordinators for reunion planning and communications.
• Enable AAF affiliated third-party companies and partners for specific engagement, fundraising, solicitation and marketing purposes as outlined in contractual agreements.
We may combine the information we collect with information available from other sources, including information received from promotional partners or other third parties.
We may use the services of affiliated third-party companies, partners, agents and contractors to assist us in providing our products and services. Such affiliated third-party companies, partners, agents, and contractors who have access to personally identifiable information are required to protect this information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.
We may, from time to time, share certain personally identifiable information (e.g., name, address) with affiliated third parties (e.g., retailers, marketers) or affinity companies to enable them to provide you with opportunities to learn of products or services in which you may be interested. Please see the “Your Preferences” section below for more information on how you can express your preferences regarding our sharing of information to these parties.
We may disclose personally identifiable information in response to legal process (e.g., a court order or a subpoena). We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency's request or where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required or permitted by law. In addition, we may transfer information about you if we are acquired by or merged with another entity.
Alumni Directory
The information contained in the alumni directory listing is the property of the AAF. The information is provided to facilitate alumni with contacting one another on a personal basis. Use of this listing for any other purpose, including, but not limited to, reproducing and storing in a retrieval system by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying or using the addresses (electronic or otherwise) or other information contained in this listing for any private, commercial, political or religious mailing, or other form of communication, is strictly prohibited and is in direct violation of copyright and constitutes misappropriation of corporate property. Such unauthorized use may also violate the rights of privacy and/or publicity of individuals listed herein and result in significant legal action.
Collected Information and Analytics
When using USNA.com we log and additionally use third-party tracking services such as Google Analytics to obtain non-personally identifiable information about your use of our websites and store it in log files. This information may include IP addresses, browser information, operating system, internet service provider, referring pages, date and time accessed. This information is used to improve end-user experience on the USNA.com website.
To opt out of Google Analytics tracking please visit: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Cookies
As a standard practice, the AAF uses cookies to better serve website visitors. An HTTP cookie (also called web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie or simply cookie) is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's web browser while the user is browsing. Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember stateful information (to record the user's browsing activity, including clicking particular buttons, logging in, or recording which pages were visited).
Web Beacon - A web beacon is a small object embedded in a web page or email, which (i.e. 1 pixel image) allows checking that a user has accessed the content. Common uses are email open rate tracking and page tagging for web analytics. Alternative names are web bug, tracking bug, tag, or page tag.
Session Information
During a session with USNA.com, your selections are retained while using the website. During this time, preferences during that session that you have chosen are retained to improve user experience so that information such as searches are retained during your use of our services.
California Do Not Track Notice
We do not respond to Do Not Track signals sent by your browser because AAF does not track our users across third party websites.
Links to Other Sites
Our site may contain links to other sites whose information practices may be different than ours. We do not have control over the information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties. You should consult the privacy policy of these other sites to determine how your information is used.
Data Protection
We use processes as well as technical and physical mechanisms to protect the personal information provided to AAF against unauthorized/unlawful alteration, destruction, access, disclosure or misuse.
Preferences and Privacy Settings
You have the following choices available to limit use of or access to your information via the Your Preferences section of usna.com:
1. You may ask AAF to annotate your record in the database as “Staff Use Only.”
a. This note REMOVES your name and contact information from the alumni directory on the AAF website and from rosters provided to alumni groups supported by AAF. You WILL NOT receive routine communication from your class, society, or other shared interest groups, which includes reunion information.
b. You WILL still receive communications generated by AAF staff such as Shipmate magazine, fundraising letters, and offers from authorized vendors and business partners.
2. You may ask AAF to add a “No Affinity Program Use” note to your record. This will REMOVE your name and contact information from lists shared with authorized partners who work closely with AAF to offer benefits and services to USNA alumni and friends.
3. You may request “Unsubscribe from all USNA emails.” This means you WILL NOT receive ANY email communications from the AAF, trusted business partners, or volunteers including class and chapter leadership who use the AAF communications tools.
4. You also have the option to exclude yourself from particular communications, such as travel program emails, solicitations, or class/society mailings, as well as particular communication methods such as correspondence by email, mail, or phone.
For More Information or to Update Your Profile
To access the information collected about you through this website or to correct inaccuracies in your contact information or other information, please log onto Online Community (www.usna.com) and go to My Profile, send an email to onlinecommunity@usna.com, or call membership services at 410-295-4000.
Link to Former Privacy Policy (2008).