Free Software Foundation Privacy Policy

by Free Software Foundation Contributions — Published on Jan 12, 2015 12:07 PM

Your trust is important to us, and we take privacy and security very seriously. We will never share your information with parties outside the FSF, unless we have explicitly made you aware that we will before you give it to us. If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy or our use of data, please get in touch with us at info@fsf.org or +1-617-542-5942.

The restrictions described here on the dissemination of personal information are not subject to change. This policy is updated occasionally but the changes will not reduce the privacy protection of visitors. If there are changes made in the future, the changes will not affect information already collected.

We maintain strict internal policies against unauthorized disclosure or use of customer information.

Analytics

We installed the Piwik analytics system in November, 2012. We now geolocate visitors to our sites and record their movement within the sites. The system still preserves anonymity. Read more below.

The FSF uses Piwik, a free software web analytics system, to monitor traffic on our Web sites. Piwik records the general geographical vicinity of visitors as well as their browser and operating system, and records their navigation within the sites. This helps us gauge the impact of our materials and improve our work.

Our Piwik system preserves privacy by anonymizing visitors' IP addresses. This means that we will not store any personally identifiable information about you, even though your visit produces a record that our site was visited by someone.

Piwik also respects the "Do Not Track" preference offered by some browsers, so if you have this option set, Piwik will ignore your visit.

If you're not using "Do Not Track" and you would rather that we don't record your visits at all, please opt out of analytics by unchecking the box below. If you choose to opt out, the system will set a "piwik_ignore" cookie, which indicates to Piwik that it should completely ignore your computer.

Customer Information

All information related to financial transactions and member logins is handled through a secure connection.

The FSF does not store credit card numbers on our servers. We retain only the last 4 digits of the card.

Sales

Contact information is requested at the time of a sale in order to complete the sale and deliver the products. It is also used to verify the credit card transaction when a credit card is used. Customer lists are not sold or distributed to third parties. The Free Software Foundation uses these customer lists to send occasional solicitations and its biannual newsletter.

Donations

Contact information is requested at the time of a donation. This information is used to verify the initial credit card transaction. Donor lists are not sold or distributed to third parties. The Free Software Foundation uses these donor lists to send occasional solicitations and its biannual newsletter. Donors can opt out of all contact or specify only print or e-mail contact at the time of the donation. Donor names are posted on our Thank Gnus page as a recognition of their support. At the time of the donation, the donor can ask to be anonymous, so that their name will not be publicly recognized.

Membership

Contact information is requested at the time of a membership sign-up. This information is used to verify the initial credit card transaction and future transactions if the member signs up for monthly deductions. Customer lists are not sold or distributed to third parties. The Free Software Foundation uses this member list to send a membership packet, occasional solicitations, and its biannual newsletter. Members can opt out of receiving the newsletter when they sign up.

User Registration

Free Software Foundation uses registration lists to send news updates, occasional solicitations and its biannual newsletter. You can be removed by writing to privacy@fsf.org.

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