Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
iFlood
PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: Friday June 28, 2019

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (“WHOI,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is providing the iFlood service (described below) to you through the website located at www.iFlood.org (the “Site”) or through its mobile applications and related services (collectively, such services, including any new features and applications, and the Site, collectively the “Services” or “Application”). 

This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Data (defined below) we collect, how we use and share that data, and your choices concerning our data practices.

Before using the Service or submitting any Personal Data to WHOI, please review this Privacy Policy carefully and contact us if you have any questions. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS THE APPLICATION, SERVICES, OR SITE.

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason.  We will alert you about any changes by updating the “Last updated” date of this Privacy Policy.  You are encouraged to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed of updates. You will be deemed to have been made aware of, will be subject to, and will be deemed to have accepted the changes in any revised Privacy Policy by your continued use of the Application after the date such revised Privacy Policy is posted. 

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the third-party online/mobile store from which you install the Application or make payments, including any in-game virtual items, which may also collect and use data about you.  We are not responsible for any of the data collected by any such third party.

• PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

We collect information that alone or in combination with other information in our possession could be used to identify you (“Personal Data”) as follows:
Personal Data You Provide: We collect Personal Data when you submit a photograph, answer a survey question, provide comments within a designated area for comment submission, enter information into the Services, or give access to the Services, or manually input your location or give Services access to your mobile device. The Personal Data collected during these interactions may vary based on what you choose to share with us, but it will generally include location, photographs you submit, and information you enter into the comment box when submitting flood information.
Personal Data We Receive Automatically From Your Use of the Service: When you visit, use and interact with the Service, we may receive certain information about your visit, use or interactions. For example, we may monitor the number of people that visit the Service, peak hours of visits, which page(s) are visited, the domains our visitors come from (e.g., google.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and which browsers people use to access the Service (e.g., Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), broad geographical information, and navigation pattern. In particular, the following information is created and automatically logged in our systems:

• Log data: Information that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Site (“log data”). Log data may include your Internet Protocol address, browser type and settings, the date and time of your request, and how you interacted with the Site.
• Cookies: Please see the “Cookies” section below to learn more about how we use cookies.
• Application data: The information we may collect via the Application depends on the content and materials you use, and includes: 

Device information: Includes the model and manufacturer of the device, version of your operating system, and browser you are using. Information collected may depend on the type of device you use and its settings.

Geo-Location Information: We may request access or permission to and track location-based information from your mobile device, either continuously or while you are using the Application, to provide location-based services. If you wish to change our access or permissions, you may do so in your device’s settings.

Derivative Data: Information our servers automatically collect when you access the Application, such as your native actions that are integral to the Application, including answering survey questions, submitting photographs, as well as other interactions with the Application and other users via server log files.

Mobile Device Access: We may request access or permission to certain features from your mobile device, including your mobile device’s camera, microphone,  sensors, SMS messages, social media accounts, storage, and other features. If you wish to change our access or permissions, you may do so in your device’s settings.

Mobile Device Data: Device information such as your mobile device ID number, model, and manufacturer, version of your operating system, phone number, country, location, and any other data you choose to provide.

• Usage Information: We collect information about how you use our Service, such as the types of content that you view or engage with, the features you use, the actions you take, and the time, frequency and duration of your activities.

Cookies: We use cookies to operate and administer our Site, gather usage data on our Site and improve your experience on it. A “cookie” is a piece of information sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies can be stored on your computer for different periods of time. Some cookies expire after a certain amount of time, or upon logging out (session cookies), others survive after your browser is closed until a defined expiration date set in the cookie (as determined by the third party placing it), and help recognize your computer when you open your browser and browse the Internet again (persistent cookies). For more details on cookies please visit All About Cookies.

            Analytics: We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use the Site and enhance your experience when you use the Site. For more information on how Google uses this data, go to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.  

Online Tracking and Do Not Track Signals: We and our third party service providers may use cookies or other tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities over time and across different websites following your use of the Site. [Our Site currently does not respond to “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) signals and operates as described in this Privacy Policy whether or not a DNT signal is received. If we do respond to DNT signals in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy to describe how we do so.

Your Choices. If you use the Service via our Site, on most web browsers, you will find a “help” section on the toolbar. Please refer to this section for information on how to receive a notification when you are receiving a new cookie and how to turn cookies off. Please see the links below for guidance on how to modify your web browser’s settings on the most popular browsers:

• Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Apple Safari

Please note that if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may be unable to access certain parts of the Site and you may not be able to benefit from the full functionality of the Site.
If you access the Site on your mobile device, you may not be able to control tracking technologies through the settings.

• HOW WE USE PERSONAL DATA

We may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

• To provide the Service and gather information of flooding patterns in various areas;
• To validate flooding models for various areas;
• To respond to your inquiries, comments, feedback or questions;
• To send administrative information to you, for example, information regarding the Service, and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies;
• To analyze how you interact with our Service;
• To maintain and improve the content and functionality of the Service;
• To develop new products and services;
• To prevent fraud, criminal activity, or misuses of our Service, and to ensure the security of our IT systems, architecture and networks; and
• To comply with legal obligations and legal process and to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you or other third parties.

Aggregated Information. We may aggregate Personal Data and use the aggregated information to analyze the effectiveness of our Service, to improve and add features to our Service, and for other similar purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may analyze the general behavior and characteristics of users of our Services and share aggregated information like general user statistics with prospective business partners. We may collect aggregated information through the Service, through cookies, and through other means described in this Privacy Policy.

• SHARING AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL DATA

In certain circumstances we may share your Personal Data with third parties without further notice to you, unless required by the law, as set forth below:

• Vendors and Service Providers: To assist us in meeting business operations needs and to perform certain services and functions, we may share Personal Data with vendors and service providers, including providers of Firebase, a Google Cloud storage platform, hosting services, other cloud services and other information technology services providers, event management services, customer relationship management and customer support services, and web analytics services (for more details on the third parties that place cookies through the Site, please see the “Cookies” section above). Pursuant to our instructions, these parties will access, process or store Personal Data in the course of performing their duties to us. We take commercially reasonable steps to ensure our service providers adhere to the security standards we apply to your Personal Data.
• Organizational Transactions: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of all or a portion of our assets, or transition of service to another provider, your Personal Data and other information may be shared in the diligence process with counterparties and others assisting with the transaction and transferred to a successor or affiliate as part of that transaction along with other assets.
• Legal Requirements: If required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements, (ii) protect and defend our rights or property, (iii) prevent fraud, (iv) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services, or the public, or (v) protect against legal liability.
• Affiliates:We may share Personal Data with our affiliates, meaning an entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with WHOI. Our affiliates may use the Personal Data we share in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.
• Town Offices: We may share Personal Data with government officials and agencies involved with incident response and policy planning. These officials and agencies may also distribute Personal Data regarding flooding information to the public in their respective regions or may incorporate these data into local policy reports.
• Academic Publications and/or Presentations: We may incorporate the Personal Data within academic publications and/or presentations. These publications and/or presentations may be broadly disseminated.
• Site: We may publish Personal Data provided by users on the Site to illustrate location, and show photographs and survey responses from flood reports.

• DATA RETENTION

We keep Personal Data for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, while we have a business need to do so, or as required by law (e.g. for tax, legal, accounting or other purposes), whichever is the longer.

• UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION

Please contact us if you need to change or correct your Personal Data.

• CHILDREN

Our Service is not directed to children who are under the age of 13. WHOI does not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Data to WHOI through the Service please contact us and we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases.

• LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

The Site may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by WHOI, including social media services (“Third Party Sites”). The information that you share with Third Party Sites will be governed by the specific privacy policies and terms of service of the Third Party Sites and not by this Privacy Policy. By providing these links we do not imply that we endorse or have reviewed these sites. Please contact the Third Party Sites directly for information on their privacy practices and policies.

• SECURITY

You use the Service at your own risk. We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational measures to protect Personal Data both online and offline from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. However, no Internet or e-mail transmission is ever fully secure or error free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from us may not be secure. Therefore, you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via the Service or e-mail. Please keep this in mind when disclosing any Personal Data to WHOI via the Internet. In addition, we are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Service, or third party websites.

• YOUR CHOICES

In certain circumstances providing Personal Data is optional. However, if you choose not to provide Personal Data that is needed to use some features of our Services, you may be unable to use those features. You can also contact us to ask us to update or correct your Personal Data.

• CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

The Service, and our business may change from time to time. As a result we may change this Privacy Policy at any time. When we do we will post an updated version on this page, unless another type of notice is required by the applicable law. By continuing to use our Service or providing us with Personal Data after we have posted an updated Privacy Policy, or notified you by other means if applicable, you consent to the revised Privacy Policy and practices described in it.

• CONTACT US

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or information practices, please feel free to contact us at mobileapps.whoi.edu.