Toxic Sites Privacy Policy

Effective date: May 21, 2016

The owners and operators this website (“Toxic Sites”) are committed to preserving your privacy and being transparent about information collected on ToxicSites.us and any related services (“Toxic Sites Services”). The following privacy policy is intended to inform you about Toxic Sites’s policies and procedures for collecting and storing information.

1. Information Collected by Toxic Sites
   
   When you use the Toxic Sites Services, Toxic Sites may collect the following information:
   
   
   1. Information you provide – When you use the Toxic Sites services, you will have the opportunity to provide us with some information directly. For example, you have the option to submit a story about a Superfund site, and contribute your name, email address, and other information. If elected, this information will be published, along with your story, on the Toxic Sites Services. This means that this information will be publicly available, viewable to others, and may appear in the search results of third-party search engines. Toxic Sites recommends that you do not post any sensitive personal information, such as your address, phone number, information about website accounts, credit card numbers, or your Social Security number.
   2. Automatically collected information – As with most online services, when you access and use the Toxic Sites Services, we may automatically collect and record certain types of information, even if you do not upload your own content. This information may include your IP address, the content and pages that you access, the dates and times of your access, and information automatically provided by your web browser concerning your software, geographic location, and referring websites.
   3. Toxic Sites may also use “cookies” or other automated mechanisms to collect information or personalize your service. Cookies are small files that services like Toxic Sites can send to your browser for storage on your computer. They make services easier to navigate by saving preferences and other information. Most browsers allow you to disable cookies, and you can configure your browser accordingly.
      
      
2. Use of Collected Information
   
   The information we collect is used to operate, maintain, and develop the Toxic Sites Services. As you can see from browsing Toxic Sites’ website, some of this information will be visible to the public, including your uploaded information using the “Add Story” feature.  We may also use your e-mail address to communicate with you about your content, and/or to inform you of changes to the Toxic Sites Services.
   
   The automatically collected information may be used to personalize your experience, facilitate certain functions of the Toxic Sites Services, and track user trends and preferences so as to identify areas for future development or improvement. Toxic Sites may also use this information to develop its own operation and seek additional funding from individuals, foundations, or other benefactors.
   
   Toxic Sites reserves the right to retain data and content for archival, restorative, or research purposes. If you delete any content you upload, Toxic Sites will disable public access to that content and delete it from its servers. Please note that some content will may still be preserved for research or development purposes, or in anticipation of any legal action concerning the Toxic Sites Services.
   
   
3. Sharing of Collected Information by Third Parties
   
   Except as set forth in this policy, Toxic Sites does not share user information with third parties without content. Nevertheless, some amount of sharing is necessary in order to provide the Toxic Sites Services. The following individuals or entities may have access to your information:
   
   
   1. Toxic Sites staff, volunteers, or agents – members of the Toxic Sites team may have access to user information as is needed for the operation of the Toxic Sites Services, or to preserve the business and legal interests of Toxic Sites.
   2. Third-party service providers – Toxic Sites may work with third-party service providers in order to research, operate, or improve the Toxic Sites Services, and may share information with its third-party services solely as is needed for those third-party service providers to provide such services to Toxic Sites.
   3. Business transfers – if the Toxic Sites Services are acquired by a foundation, university, partnership, business, or other individual or organization, or if Toxic Sites dissolves or otherwise sells or transfers its assets, Toxic Sites will transfer any user information in its possession to the other individual or organization as part of this transaction.
   4. Legal compliance – Toxic Sites may share user information when we believe in good faith that release is necessary to comply with a governmental or court order; to comply with applicable law; to comply with a subpoena from a third party; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Toxic Sites, its employees, its users, or others. If we believe a user’s right to anonymous speech are implicated by the disclosure of such information, Toxic Sites will to the extent practicable provide the user with advance warning, in case the user would like to challenge the request.
   5. Data analysis – Toxic Sites may use, transfer, and share aggregated, anonymized data derived from user information for any purpose, including for purposes of analyzing usage trends. This data will not include any personally identifiable information.
      
      
4. Changes to This Policy
   
   Toxic Sites may amend this policy at any time. The use of information we collect is subject to the privacy policy in effect at the time such information is used. We will update the effective date at the top of this policy when there are changes, but it is your responsibility to check this page periodically for updates to this policy.
   
   
5. Contact Us
   
   If you have any questions about this Agreement, please contact us at info@toxicsites.us.