Web Privacy Policy
The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, governed by a Board of Directors. As the national archives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its primary historical research center, our mission is to collect, preserve, and share the story of the American Presbyterian experience with Presbyterians, the scholarly community, and the general public.
This Privacy Policy applies to use of the PHS website, history.pcusa.org. The policy of PHS is to respect and protect the privacy of visitors to this site. This policy is posted to explain our information practices. Your use of the site constitutes agreement with the terms laid out in this policy.
What information do we collect from you?
Information you give us voluntarily
We collect personal information that you voluntarily submit through catalog registration, online reference requests, newsletter subscriptions, and other contact and submission forms. This information may include but is not necessarily limited to your name, address, telephone numbers, email, and user ID.
Information we gather from your use of our site
PHS tracks web browsing patterns to help improve the content and services we provide through our website.
Cookies: A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies.
Google Analytics: PHS uses Google Analytics to collect and analyze information about the website. Google Analytics uses cookies, which enables Google to capture information about each user session. The information gathered through Google Analytics allows PHS staff to see how visitors are using and interacting with the website, providing important information that lets us optimize the site to make it more helpful and accessible to all users.
Users can disable cookies on their web browsers if they do not wish to have information about their use of the site captured by Google. If cookies are turned off, the majority of the PHS website will still work as designed, but some advanced features may not.
For more information about how Google Analytics uses cookies, please see Google's website at https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage?csw=1. Google's privacy policy, at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, explains how Google gathers, maintains, and shares information about its users.
How do we use your information?
We gather your information for internal use only. PHS uses the personal information you give us voluntarily to provide you with the services you request. PHS also analyzes aggregate information from users about site traffic and site interaction to improve our content and services and to provide a better experience for future visitors to our site.
Do we share or sell your information?
PHS will not share or sell your personal information with any outside party unless we have your consent to do so or unless we are required to do so in response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process.
How do we keep your information safe?
The security of your personal information is very important to PHS. We use physical, electronic, and managerial security measures consistent with industry best practices to protect our networks, website, and email.
PHS makes every reasonable effort to ensure the security of your data. Please note, however, that data transmission over the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, PHS and its employees, agents, officers, directors, legal representatives, predecessors, successors, and assigns are not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the Internet. You assume the sole and complete risk for using this website and must make your own determination as to these matters.
Third party websites
PHS may provide links to third-party sites from www.history.pcusa.org. This policy applies solely to sites on the history.pcusa.org domain. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. We encourage you to be aware when leaving our site of the privacy statements of other sites that may collect your personal information.
Contact for questions
If you have any questions about this Website Privacy Policy, contact: technicalservices@history.pcusa.org.
Changes to this policy
This policy is effective as of January 2015. Please note that changes in the site’s content, services, or technology may require the society to review and revise its policies, including this Website Privacy Policy. Any changes will be effective as soon as they are published on this page.
