NFDA Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the NFDA.org website and reviewing our privacy policy. The information we receive depends upon what you do when you visit our site. We will make every reasonable effort to ensure that any personal information you provide to us is used only for the purposes stated below. While the policy presented here concentrates on information collected by the NFDA website, it also applies to personal information submitted by other means (such as fax, mail and telephone calls).

“Anonymous” information collected online
Generally speaking, you can visit the NFDA website without revealing any personal information about yourself. We do keep a record of all server activity using a third-party service, which means that every page, image, or other type of file requested by your browser is written into a log file. Each entry in the log contains, among other things, information about the computer you are using to connect to the Internet (its “IP address”) and about your browser. It does not, however, tell us anything about you personally. We use aggregate data from the web logs to determine how the website’s resources are being used and to refine its navigational structure. If the need arises, we may use the logs to trace the source of abusive or illicit activity. We do not share our web logs with any outside party.

Personal information collected
Several areas of the NFDA website require that you send us personal information including but not limited to:

• Membership application
• Event registration
• Subscription to the NFDA Bulletin
• Subscription to the NFDA Supplier Dispatch
• Professional Resource Store purchases
• Consumer Resource Store purchases
• Build Your Website purchases
• Online Learning Course purchases

This information may also be received by mail, fax or telephone. NFDA uses the demographic and professional information collected on membership, convention, and other forms for aggregate analysis, to personalize our member records for better service, and to create targeted mailing lists. This information is also included in convention attendee lists supplied to convention exhibitors and other third parties.

In addition to the primary purpose stated or implied at the time the information is collected, we may use your postage mailing address to send you information about NFDA programs or products, surveys, etc. We provide our convention attendee data to convention exhibitors and make it available to others. We also make our member data available to the companies offering NFDA member benefits and to other third parties.

If you supply an e-mail address, we use it to confirm your order, provide requested information, and otherwise respond to your communication. We may also use it to keep you informed about NFDA programs, events and news. On occasion we may use your e-mail address for a purpose indirectly related to the original context (e.g., e-mailing a customer satisfaction survey to those who have made purchases from the NFDA Expo catalog or in the online Resource Store).

NFDA Members
Because of the special relationship we seek to maintain with our members, NFDA sends periodic updates and announcements by e-mail. We may also make an occasional phone call (e.g., to clear up a problem or inquire about a lapsed membership).

Restricted-access web pages
The Members Only section of this website is restricted to NFDA members or participants in specific programs. These areas require users to log in, usually by supplying a username and password. This login information is not collected or tracked; it is used solely to verify that a person is authorized to use a particular resource.

Cookies
A “cookie” is a text file, stored on your computer, which includes information that identifies that computer and can be retrieved by our server to create a seamless browsing session. Most cookies used on the NFDA site are deleted when your browser is shut down or in a fixed amount of time, whichever occurs sooner. Members-Only pages and other restricted areas use this type of cookie.

Several areas of the NFDA website may use so-called “persistent” cookies. These files are retained on the user’s hard drive after the browser is shut down.

Most browsers accept cookies by default. If you set your browser to reject all cookies, these areas and others may not function properly. Most browsers have a setting whereby the browser alerts you when a server attempts to place a cookie on your hard drive. You are then given the option of accepting or rejecting it.

NFDA’s web server also places a persistent cookie used by our web log analysis service to identify returning visitors (actually, returning computers – see “Anonymous information collected” above). This is valuable to us in assessing the website’s effectiveness.

Material submitted online
Some areas of the NFDA website allow you to submit questions or express your opinions (e.g., the Discussion Forum). All submissions become the property of NFDA.

Keep in mind that any information you post on the Discussion Forum is immediately available to anyone with a web browser. Do not give out more information than what you would like everyone to know.

Links to other websites
The NFDA website contains links to other websites. Please be aware that NFDA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Check the privacy policy of a website before revealing any personal information.

Exceptions
In certain circumstances, and as an exception to this privacy policy, we may, without notice to you, release information to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order, or in other special cases, such as, for example, suspected fraudulent or criminal activity, or an attempt to breach the security of NFDA or its website.

Privacy policy updates
We have tried to create a privacy policy that is comprehensive, readable, and thorough. Despite our best efforts, we may find it necessary to revise it. Any changes will be made without prior notice. The current NFDA privacy policy will continue to be posted on our website. If you have any questions or comments about our privacy policy, please send them to webmaster@nfda.org.