ITHAKA is committed to protecting the privacy of users of its websites and services, including users of JSTOR and JSTOR-branded services (Current Scholarship Program, Individual Access, Publisher Sales Service) and Portico (collectively, “ITHAKA Websites”). To better inform you of our policy concerning user privacy, we have adopted the following terms, which adhere to the Safe Harbor Principles published by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Please note that these terms are subject to change, and any such changes will be included on this page and shall become effective 30 days following their posting on our website.
The personal information ITHAKA collects will depend on how you are using ITHAKA Websites. To enable your access to the JSTOR and Portico services through your library or institution, we may collect information concerning the institution’s internet protocol address, your username and password, or other authentication methods, such as Shibboleth. To facilitate your order through the Publisher Sales Service (a service through the JSTOR archive that facilitates the purchase of articles from publishers), the Current Scholarship Program, and Individual Access, as well as your purchase of ITHAKA and its services’ brand merchandise, we collect your name, postal address, email address, credit card details, and transactional information. In connection with your creation of a MyJSTOR account, we collect your name, email address, username, and password, as well as other information you may provide. We also may collect certain non-personally identifiable information, such as the type of browser you are using (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer), the type of operating system you are using (e.g., Windows or Mac), and the domain name of your Internet service provider. In addition, we may collect personally identifiable information through correspondence you send to us and through optional surveys we may post on ITHAKA Websites. However, unless you provide us with personally identifiable information, you remain anonymous to us other than by association with an internet protocol address or other authentication mechanism.
ITHAKA does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13. We assume that minors 13 years of age or older have received permission from their parents or guardians before using ITHAKA Websites and services. Parents or guardians may contact us at privacy@ithaka.org with questions or concerns about our privacy policy.
We use the personal information collected in ways that are compatible with the purposes for which it was intended to be used: to enable your use of ITHAKA Websites and ITHAKA’s services; to facilitate the Publisher Sales Service; to create your MyJSTOR account; to respond to your inquiries; for system administration, customer support, and troubleshooting purposes; for targeted marketing and product service announcements, including announcements about services provided by our affiliate organization, ARTstor, (directed at institutional participants of ITHAKA’s services); for sending newsletters; to improve the design of ITHAKA Websites; to enable us to enforce our Terms and Conditions of Use; and in aggregate form, to track and analyze site usage. ITHAKA will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is relevant to its intended use, accurate, complete, and current.
ITHAKA employs “cookie” technology. Cookies are small pieces of text that are stored on your computer and act as a tool for controlling certain system variables and storing system configuration information in the WWW environment. ITHAKA uses cookies to store user preferences for viewing and printing and to store authentication information. No personal information is extracted in the cookie setting process, and we do not use cookies to identify what other sites or pages you have visited. We do not involve advertisers, who may place a cookie on your browser, in the operation of our site. For further information, please see Use of Cookies.
ITHAKA may work with other organizations that provide specific services for us, such as credit card processing. We will provide only the personal information necessary for the third party to provide these services for us. These organizations may not use personal information except for the purpose of providing these services.
ITHAKA occasionally may share institutional contact information with our affiliate organization, ARTstor, to enable institutions to learn about services related to those provided by ITHAKA which we think may be of interest.
Except in the following special circumstances, ITHAKA does not sell or share personal information about or the purchasing history of individual users:
In addition, ITHAKA shares general usage data in aggregated form so that no personal information is identifiable to participating institutions, content providers, researchers, and the general public. ITHAKA will provide you all of your retained personal information provided at registration (where applicable) on request.
By using ITHAKA Websites, you consent to the collection and use, in accordance with this policy, of the information you provide to us. We will remove you and your personally identifiable information from our records or refrain from using your personally identifiable information in connection with certain services on request if you contact us with your request at privacy@ithaka.org. Please note that this may prevent you from accessing.
ITHAKA’s services, including JSTOR, MyJSTOR, and the Publisher Sales Service.
We protect your personal information from unauthorized access and disclosure through the use of passwords, physical security measures, managerial measures, and (in connection with credit card information for order sales through the Publisher Sales Service, Current Scholarship Program, Individual Access, and for purchase of ITHAKA and its services’ brand merchandise) encryption. We nonetheless recognize that third parties may obtain access to information through unlawful actions, and thus do not promise that your information always will remain private, despite our efforts and the importance we place on maintaining your privacy. In addition, we do not claim any responsibility for information collected by or from websites linking to or from ITHAKA Websites.
If you would like to review or update your information, you may contact us using the contact information below. We will take reasonable steps to permit you to correct, amend, or delete information that is demonstrated to be inaccurate. Please note, because of the way we maintain certain services, after you delete or amend your information, residual copies may take a period of time before they are deleted from our active servers and may remain in our backup systems.
You will need to provide sufficient identifying information, such as your name and email address and possible additional identifying information as a security precaution. We may limit or deny access to personal information where providing such access would be unreasonably burdensome or expensive under the circumstances, or as otherwise permitted by the Safe Harbor Principles.
We engage in periodic self-assessment to ensure compliance with our Privacy Policy. We verify that the policy is accurate, comprehensive for the information intended to be covered, prominently displayed, completely implemented, and in conformity with the Safe Harbor Principles. We encourage interested persons to raise any concerns with us using the contact information below. We will investigate and attempt to resolve complaints and disputes regarding use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the principles contained in this policy.
Any claim arising out of or relating to our adherence to the Safe Harbor Principles, or the breach thereof, that cannot be resolved through our internal processes will be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its applicable commercial rules. Any arbitrator will be either an attorney or retired judge having significant and recognized experience with and knowledge of privacy issues and information technology. The arbitration panel should apply New York law, without regard to its conflict of laws principles, as well as the Safe Harbor Enforcement Principles issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, the exclusive location for such arbitration will be New York, New York. All decisions of the arbitration panel will be final and binding on the parties, which waive any right to further appeal the arbitration award, to the extent an appeal may be lawfully waived.
As a not-for-profit organization, we are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the implementation of Safe Harbor Principles; however, we agree to adhere to the Safe Harbor Principles in recognition of their importance in ensuring the protection of user information.
If you have any inquiries about this Privacy Policy or its implementation, you may contact us at privacy@ithaka.org.