Privacy Policy

We at Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. (“Mystic Seaport”, “we” or “us”) respect your privacy and are therefore committed to protecting your privacy when you visit our website (the “Website”), including shopping at our online store, purchasing tickets or a Mystic Seaport membership, or making a donation. In recognition of your need for appropriate protection and proper management of any personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and credit/debit card numbers (“Personal Information”) that we may receive from the Website, we have established this privacy policy (as it may be revised from time to time, this “Privacy Policy”). We do not collect Personal Information, unless the individual visiting our Website voluntarily provides it. By visiting and using the Website, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy, which shall take effect immediately on your first visit to the Website. By providing Personal Information, you consent to our collection and use of it as described in this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy please e-mail us at privacy@mysticseaport.org.

Privacy Policy Updates

Due to the rapidly evolving nature of web-based technology, we may need to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If so, we will post our updated Privacy Policy on this page. We encourage you to frequently check this page for any changes to our Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Website and/or continued provision of Personal Information to us will constitute your acceptance of any such changes and will be subject to the terms of the then-current Privacy Policy.

Information Collection and Use

Non-Personal Information

Like most websites, we may collect non-Personal Information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, the pages visited, and the date and time of each visitor request. This non-Personal Information does not identify you personally. Our purpose in collecting non-Personal Information is to better understand how our visitors use the Website and to consider potential improvements to the Website. From time to time, we may release non-Personal Information, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Website.

IP Addresses

We may also collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for logged in users and for users leaving comments on the Website. We only disclose logged-in user and commenter IP addresses under the same circumstances that we use and disclose Personal Information as described below, except that blog commenter IP addresses are visible and disclosed to the administrators of the blog where the comment was left. We may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer the Website. Your IP address may be used to help identify you as a returning visitor so that we can make your visit as useful as possible. We may investigate our log files to understand visitor usage patterns.

Personal Information

You may access and use the Mystic Seaport website without registering or submitting any Personal Information.  However, to use certain features of the Website (e.g., commenting on blog posts), you must provide your name and e-mail address and other contact information that you voluntarily transmit to us. Additionally, we may collect Personal Information that you provide when you contact us or when you voluntarily provide us with feedback, post in blogs, chat rooms, forums or message boards available from the Website. Other users will be able to see any information that you post to such blogs, chat rooms, forums and message boards.

Online Store

When you order a product online from Mystic Seaport, you will be asked to provide certain Personal Information, which may include a user name and password, your name, membership status, billing and shipping addresses, telephone number, fax number if you have one, e-mail address, and credit/debit card information to process your order. Your credit card information will be used only as needed to process your transaction. This is the same information requested when you place an order by telephone, fax, or mail. We will retain your order information for our records so we can track your order and facilitate customer service.

Online Tickets, Memberships, and Donations

When you purchase a Mystic Seaport membership or make a donation, we will ask you to provide us with the Personal Information we need to process your membership and/or to acknowledge your contribution. This information includes your name, billing and shipping addresses, telephone number, e-mail address, and credit/debit card information. Your credit/debit card information will be used only as needed to process your transaction.

Online Sweepstakes and Contests

Mystic Seaport may sometimes offer Website visitors the opportunity to participate in contests or sweepstakes. If you choose to enter, you will need to provide your name and e-mail address so that we may contact you in connection with the contest. We may also request that you provide us with certain other information, such as your zip code, state of residence, and grade in school.

Information from Children Twelve and Under

Mystic Seaport does not solicit Personal Information from children. Visitors twelve years of age and under should remember that they are required to obtain an adult's permission before submitting any Personal Information to this Website or any other website. Accordingly, if you are under the age of 13, please do not attempt to register with our Website and please refrain from sending any information about yourself to us (including without limitation your name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address). If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a person under the age of 13, we will delete that information as soon as reasonably practicable. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a person under the age of 13, please contact us at webmaster@mysticseaport.org.

Cookies

We may use small text files called “cookies” to improve your overall Website experience. A cookie is a piece of data stored on your hard drive by your web browser.   Cookies generally do not permit us to personally identify you. We may use cookies to, among other things, access your information and user preferences when you sign in to the Website. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can change the preferences of your web browser so that it does not accept them. In order to use all the features to make purchases online at Mystic Seaport, however, we recommend that you accept cookies. We encourage you to logout whenever you leave your computer in order to better protect your information.

Aggregate Information

We may track the total number of visitors, the number of visitors to each page of the Website, browser type, IP addresses, external websites linked to (“Aggregate Information”) but such information will be maintained, used, and disclosed in aggregate form only and it will not contain any Personal Information. We use such aggregate information to analyze trends, administer the Website, track users’ movement through the Website, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

Security

All of the transactions that take place on the Website are protected by a secure server. Mystic Seaport uses commercially reasonable security standards to protect your Personal Information. Our secure server software uses industry-standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology. SSL encodes your Personal Information as it travels over the internet so that all transactions are secure.

We will not be liable for any breach of the security measures on the Website or any loss, misuse or alteration of information resulting therefrom or from communications through the Internet.

Disclosure

We will not sell, trade, or rent your Personal Information to any company or organization.

We may disclose Personal Information (as well as Aggregate Information and the data generated by cookies) to those employees, contractors, and affiliated organizations that (a) need to know that information in order to process it on our behalf or to provide services available on the Website; and (b) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. We may also disclose Personal Information to the vendors and service agencies that we engage to assist us in providing our services to you. For example, we may provide your Personal Information to a credit card processing company to process your payment.

We will disclose your Personal Information: (a) when we believe we are required to do so by law, regulation, or other government authority or when we deem it appropriate or necessary to provide such information to law enforcement authorities; (b) to protect and defend the rights or property of Mystic Seaport; or (c) to protect the safety of our employees, agents, or users of the Website.

Finally, your Personal Information may be transferred to a third party successor organization as a result of a sale, acquisition, merger, or bankruptcy of Mystic Seaport.

Linked Websites

The Website may include links to websites operated by third parties over which we have no control. Mystic Seaport is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our Website and to read the privacy policies of each and every website that collects any Personal Information. Once you leave our Website, you access such sites at your own risk.

Ads

Ads appearing on the Website may be delivered to users by advertising partners, who may set cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by Mystic Seaport and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Interactive Features

We may offer chat rooms, message boards, comment features, and other means of communicating to other users of the Website. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information, and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your Personal Information. Contributions in public discussions may also be republished on the Website and in any Mystic Seaport publications without compensation to, or express permission from, the original contributor.

Choice and Opt-Out

If you give us permission, we may use any Personal Information you submit for Mystic Seaport’s marketing and promotional purposes. For example, we may wish to send emails to inform users of new exhibitions or events we think may be of interest to them. You will not receive such communications unless you have willingly provided the Personal Information required. In some cases, you will be required to “opt in” to join a mailing list, and if you do opt in, you may later opt out. If for any reason you do not wish to receive emails from Mystic Seaport, please follow the instructions included in the body of the email message that was sent to you.

Disclaimer

Mystic Seaport takes commercially reasonable precautions to protect your Personal Information, but absolute security cannot be guaranteed. It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. Mystic Seaport shall not be liable for the transfer or use of any Personal Information resulting from the corruption of storage media, power failures, natural phenomena, acts of hacking, vandalism, sabotage, terrorism, or any other event beyond our reasonable control.

Contact Us

Send your questions, comments, or concerns about our Privacy Policy or any other aspect of our Website to:


Mystic Seaport
75 Greenmanville Ave.
P.O. Box 6000
Mystic, Connecticut 06355
USA
Email: privacy@mysticseaport.org
Tel: 860-572-5383