The American Academy of Optometry and American Academy of Optometry Foundation (“the Academy” or “we” or “us” or “our”) respect the privacy of our users (“user” or “you”). The following statement has been designed to better help you understand how the Academy collects, uses, and safeguards the personal information you provide to us when you visit aaopt.org. Please read this statement carefully and if you do not agree with this privacy policy, please do not access the site.
INFORMATION COLLECTION
We may collect information about you in a variety of ways when you visit our website. These guidelines do not apply to external websites which may be linked to aaopt.org, but do not reside on our domain.
Personal Data
Personally identifiable information, such as your name, mailing address, email address and telephone number, and other demographic information such as your age, gender, OD graduation year, that you voluntarily give to us [when you become a member, register for the meeting, or sign up for information about a program or service]. You are under no obligation to provide us with personal information of any kind, however your refusal to do so may prevent you from accessing member benefits such as your Optometry and Vision Science journal subscription, and may keep you from receiving transactional notices such as membership dues renewal notices, annual meeting registration information, and receipts. All individuals have the option to opt-out or unsubscribe from having information stored or used by the Academy at any time by emailing membership@aaoptom.org, calling our office, or managing preferences in the user’s “My Account” section of the Academy’s website.
Derivative Data
Our servers automatically collect information when you access our website such as your IP address, your browser type, your operating system, your access times and duration, and the pages you have viewed directly before and after accessing the website, and the device you used to access the website. We use Google Analytics to collect and store this information and may utilize cookies to gather additional information. However, this information is kept at an aggregate level and cannot personally be attributed to you directly in any way unless you have chosen to allow this.
Minors
The Academy does not knowingly solicit data or information from individuals under the age of 18. No information should be submitted to, or posted at the Academy’s website by guests under 18 years of age without the consent of their parent or guardian.
INFORMATION USE
Data Security
We keep a limited amount of personal information on each of our members, annual meeting attendees, exhibitors and sponsors, and other constituents. We do not collect nor do we store highly sensitive information. Our membership database is hosted by Nimble AMS and secured at their data center using standard industry-accepted protocols and all electronic based transactions that involve the transfer of credit card information adhere to the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliance program. Our fundraising database is hosted by Nimble AMS and secured at their data center using standard industry-accepted protocols and all electronic based transactions that involve the transfer of credit card information adhere to the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliance program.
Solicitation
If you provide us with your contact information, or have done so in the past, our legitimate interests are to use this information to send you offers or information about programs we think you will be interested in. We may use information you have given us to, for example, provide a service, measure interest in our various services, and inform you about new products and services. Member mailing addresses are also periodically rented to third-parties for a fee, at the discretion of the Academy, when the information to be distributed is of value to advancing the profession.
Third Party Vendors
Data is shared with some of our third-party vendors for technical or functional purposes such as mass email marketing, meeting badge printing, mail houses for dues letters, meeting app features, etc. We also share your information with the schools and colleges of optometry and Academy local chapters, upon request and significant consideration, to help them advance their missions. In addition to chapters and schools, our current third party vendors with access to user data include:
- A2Z – exhibitor sales software.
- AS Creative– website vendor that houses our Fellow and Diplomate Directory.
- ATS – responsible for onsite badge printing and registration check-in at the annual meeting.
- Blackbaud – fundraising and prospecting software used primarily by the Foundation.
- Bross Group – houses and maintains the Candidate for Fellowship application portal, Maintenance of Fellowship portal, and Diplomate Application portal.
- CommPartners – online education portal provider.
- Constant Contact – mass email service used for promotional and general communications purposes.
- Nimble AMS – overall database provider storing all member and nonmember data (AMS).
- Scholar One – submission system software used for education abstract and awards application submissions.
- Survey Monkey – survey software used to survey members and constituents on a variety of issues.
- Wolters Kluwer Publishing – produces and manages subscription services for Optometry and Vision Science journal.
- Wufoo – a simple form collector used to collect prospect contact information for those wishing to receive more information about our services.
The data processing vendors with whom we have written agreements have specified in the agreement that they comply with applicable federal and international laws. Any data processing vendors with whom we do not have written agreements have provided policy statements indicating that they also comply with federal and international laws.
Public Directory
We house a public “Fellow and Diplomate Directory” on our website for the purposes of patient referrals and the identification of members who have achieved those certifications. The information displayed includes the person’s name, degree designations, mailing address, telephone number, Diplomate status, email address and whether or not the person sees patients. Members have access to select which personal information is displayed publicly and may make changes at any time in the Member Portal.
Meeting App
Individuals who have registered for the Academy’s annual meeting are automatically imported into the Academy’s mobile meeting app attendee list for that year. The purpose of this feature is to allow attendees to direct message each other while onsite at the meeting. The only information displayed in the attendee directory is the person’s name and degree designations. Only individuals who are currently logged into the app are able to receive in-app messaging. All attendees have the option to opt-out of the attendee list in advance of the meeting by managing preferences in the settings section. All speakers and presenters who have provided bios, CVs, and other personally identifiable information to the Academy will have this information displayed alongside his/her course descriptions.
COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS
We comply with current United States of America federal laws pertaining to the gathering and use of personal data. We comply with Canada’s Law on Spam and other Electronic Threats. We also comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effective May 1, 2018, that applies to users from the European Union.
ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
When you visit the Academy website, join as a member of the Academy, apply for a grant or award, submit a lecture or scientific abstract to be considered for the Academy’s annual meeting or register to attend the Academy’s annual meeting, you agree to this Privacy Policy unless you expressly opt out. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions from this policy at any time. We will alert you to any changes to this policy by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy. If you have questions or concerns about how your data is being used by the Academy or if you are interested in opting out, please contact us at membership@aaoptom.org.
