Last Updated: November 22, 2022

The National Women's History Museum (“NWHM,” “the Museum,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) researches, collects and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic and political life of our nation in a context of world history. The Museum will use innovative and engaging means including permanent and online exhibits, educational programs, an online store, and outreach efforts to communicate the breadth of women's experiences and accomplishments to the widest possible audience. The sharing of this knowledge will illuminate and encourage women and men, people of all classes, races, and cultures to move into the future with respect, equal confidence, greater partnership, and opportunity.

Contributions from NWHM Board members, individual donors, corporations, and foundations (“Contributors”), as well as profits from our online store make up approximately 100% of NWHM's base of support. Our relationship with our Contributors and individuals who shop on our online store (“Customers”) is the highest expression of our mutual commitment to the mission of mainstreaming women's history.

NWHM respects the privacy of our Contributors and Customers and has put in place this Privacy Policy to honor these rights. Specifically, this Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared by NWHM when you visit websites or services controlled by NWHM where this Privacy Policy is posted (the “Site”). We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, as detailed below. You should not use the Site if you have any objections to our Privacy Policy, which is binding upon all users of the Site. If you have a question about how your personal information is being used, you can contact us through the methods provided in the “Contact Us” section at the end of this Privacy Policy.

For a printable version of this Privacy Policy, please click here.
 

Personal  Information

The types of information we collect when you use the Site depend on the features you use on the Site. “Personal information” is information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual, device, or household.

NWHM collects and maintains the following types of personal information from Contributors:

• Contact information such as name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
• Giving information
• Information on events attended and for which you have registered, publications received, and special requests for program information
• Information provided by the Contributor in the form of comments and suggestions

This confidential information is kept on file for tax  purposes. It is also used to analyze overall giving patterns in order to make more accurate budget projections, as well as to understand Contributors' interests in our mission and to update them on the organization's plans and activities. This information is shared with certain staff members, Board members, and consultants only on a confidential and need-to-know basis. Each person has signed a Confidentiality Agreement to further protect the privacy of the personal information collected from Contributors.

All the above information is collected to help us tailor our content and personalize our Contributors' experience. The Museum may use this information to send our Contributors email announcements, mailings, or updates on our programs and scholar activities. Contributors  may opt-out of these communications at any time.

NWHM collects and maintains the following types of personal information from Customers:

• Contact information such as name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
• Financial information such as debit and/or credit card number
• Records of products purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies

All the above information is collected and used to help us perform services on behalf of the online store, provide customer service, process or fulfill orders and transactions, verify customer information, and for advertising and marketing purposes. The Museum may use this information to send our Customers email announcements, mailings, or updates.

You have choices about the information we collect. Your decision to provide any personal information is voluntary. However, please note that, if you do not provide certain personal information, we may not be able to accomplish some purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy and you may not be able to use or access certain services on our Site.
 

Disclosure

We may disclose your personal information in the following instances and to the following parties for the following purposes:

• NWHM occasionally rents or exchanges information for list sharing with other like-minded non-profit organizations. We honor the request of anyone who has asked that NWHM not rent or exchange their name and address information and their records are so marked on our database and excluded from this rental process. NWHM never sends out mailings on behalf of other organizations;
• In the event of a direct or indirect reorganization process including, but not limited to, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, bankruptcies, and sales of all or a part of our assets, NWHM may disclose your personal information following completion of such transaction and/or during the assessment process pending transfer. If transferred in such a case, your information would remain subject to this Privacy Policy or a privacy policy that, at a minimum, protects your privacy to an equal degree as this Privacy Policy;
• To affiliates, strategic partners, and service providers for payment processing, digital fundraising, and to perform other services on behalf of NWHM;
• To comply with the law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the requirements of law or comply with legal process served on us, protect and defend our rights or property, or act in urgent circumstances;
•  To protect against potential fraud;
• To fulfill a service to you; and
• To complete your purchase
   

Discontinuing contact upon request

It is the policy of NWHM to communicate with you according to your expressed preferences whenever possible. NWHM will discontinue or change the method used to contact any person upon that person's oral or written request directed to the organization, its professional fundraiser, online store, or other agent.

NWHM shall maintain a record of all requests by persons who indicate to the Museum, its professional fundraiser, or other agents, that they do not wish to be contacted by or on behalf of the Museum.

The Museum does not knowingly collect information from children. See our Web Privacy and Use Policy for details on information collected during web browsing and Site terms of use.
 

Security and Enforcement

NWHM takes reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial measures to safeguard and protect your personal information from loss, misuse, alteration, or unauthorized disclosure by encrypting the data which you provide us with current encryption tools, including HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) and SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocols and by requiring employees with access to personal information to comply with our Privacy Policy. We operate secure data networks protected by industry standard firewall and password protection systems. Our security and privacy policies are periodically reviewed and enhanced as necessary and only authorized individuals have access to the information provided by our donors.

Please understand, however, that no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure due to the inherent risks of data transmission over the Internet. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you understand that any information that you transfer to us is done at your own risk. If we learn of a security system breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the Site or providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Site. We may post a notice via our Site if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to you at the email address you have provided to us in these circumstances. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.

Online Tracking

The “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) privacy preference is an option that may be made in some web browsers allowing you to opt-out of tracking by websites and online services. At this time, global standard DNT technology is not yet finalized and not all browsers support DNT. We therefore do not recognize DNT signals and do not respond to them.

Cookies, Online Tracking, And Ads

Like many other sites, we use “cookies,” which are files stored on your computer's hard drive by your browser. We use cookies to collect information such as the server you are logged onto, the domain name of your internet service provider, your browser type and version, and your IP address. We may also derive the general geographic area associated with an IP address.

Sometimes, we use cookies in combination with “web beacons” or similar technology to collect information about how our Site is used, such as: your IP address and location data, weblogs, time zone, date, your language preferences, browsers used, web addresses visited, other communication data, searches conducted, pages visited, and any other relevant information about your online experience.

We use Google Analytics for aggregated, anonymized website traffic analysis. In order to track your session usage, Google drops a cookie (_ga) with a randomly-generated ClientID in your browser. This ID is anonymized and contains no identifiable information like email, phone number, name, etc. We also send Google your IP Address. We use GA to track aggregated website behavior, such as what pages you looked at, for how long, and so on. This information is important to us for improving the user experience and determining site effectiveness. If you would like to access what browsing information we have – or ask us to delete any GA data – please delete your _ga cookies, reach out to us via email, and/or install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On.

Additionally, we use advertisers, third-party ad networks, and other advertising companies to serve advertisements on and off our sites. These third parties use cookies and similar technologies to collect or receive information from our websites and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide you with targeted ads. Additionally, you may remove yourself from the targeted advertising of companies within the Network Advertising Initiative by opting out here, or of companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance program by opting out here.

The use of online tracking mechanisms by third parties is subject to those third parties’ own privacy policies, and not this Privacy Policy. Again, we do not endorse and are not responsible in any way for the privacy practices of third-party websites.

If you prefer to prevent third parties from setting and accessing cookies on your computer, you may set your browser to block cookies. Please note, blocking cookies may affect the functioning of our Site.

Shine The Light

If a company shares “personal information” (as defined in California’s “Shine the Light” law, Civil Code § 1798.83) with third parties for their direct marketing purposes (e.g., to send offers and information that may be of interest to you), California law requires either providing a mechanism by which consumers can obtain more information about such sharing over the prior calendar year, or providing a mechanism by which consumers can opt out of such sharing. We do not share your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

External Links

Our Site contains links to other third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third-party websites. To better protect your privacy, we recommend that you review the privacy policy of any third-party website you visit.

Record Retention

We will retain your information for as long as needed to fulfill the purpose for which it is collected and to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Keep Passwords Private

If you register with our Site, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your password at all times. You may gain access to and review your personal information by accessing your account. You are responsible for activity occurring while logged into your account.
 

Public Posting Areas

Please note that any information you submit, post, or otherwise make available to any public posting area is available to anyone with internet access. If you don’t want people to know your email address, for example, don’t include it in any message you post publicly. PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHEN DISCLOSING ANY INFORMATION IN PUBLIC POSTING AREAS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DISCLOSE IN PUBLIC POSTING AREAS.

Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Any new change and/or amendments will be noted on this page. We will also update the Last Updated date above. If we make material changes to our Privacy Policy, we will notify you by prominently posting the changes on our Site or by using the contact information you have on file with us. By continuing to use our Site you are agreeing to be bound by any changes or revisions made to this Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by email or by mail using the details provided below:

By email: info@womenshistory.org

By mail: National Women’s History Museum, 205 S. Whiting Street, Suite 254, Alexandria, VA 22304

By phone: 703.461.1920