Privacy Policy

Date last modified: 24 May 2018

The Optical Society and the OSA Foundation (collectively “OSA”) is committed to protecting your personal data.  This notice outlines how we collect, share and use your personal data, and how you can exercise your privacy rights involving your data.

Where We Collect Personal Data From

OSA receives your personal data from these sources:

What Personal Data We Collect

The personal data collected by OSA falls into these categories:

How We Use Personal Data

OSA uses your personal data to:

In connection with any proposed purchase, merger or acquisition of any part of our business, your data may be sold or transferred as part of that transaction with the stipulation that the conditions of this privacy policy transfer with the data.

Your Data Rights

You may access the majority of the information that OSA maintains on you in our database in the My Account feature of our system (account.optica.org).  Author and reviewing information is contained in OSA Publishing Digital Library and Prism. Questions or concerns about your data may be sent to custserv@optica.org.  If you are an individual covered by European data protection rules and wish to exercise a specific data right, contact privacynotice@optica.org.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

To enhance the performance and functionality of our site, we use session, persistent and third-party “cookies” that store a small text file on your computer and collect certain information about your visit to our site. We also use cookies to understand users’ browsing and buying activities so that we can measure the success of online advertising campaigns we run on the site. Our site may use web beacons, flash cookies and other tracking technologies (either directly or from our partners or service providers), along with cookies, to determine if a user has visited a particular webpage. These beacons help us to provide you more relevant information, as well to measure the success of a marketing campaign. To find out more information about cookies and other tracking technologies and to manage your preferences please see our Cookie Notice.

Log Files

Web site log files store information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks. Normally, an IP address will change each time you connect to the internet; in some cases, however, you may have a static address, and your IP address may be deemed identifiable.  Log files are used to analyze trends, administer the site, track users' movements within the site and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. The log files are used by utility tracking software to analyze user movement.

Transfer of Information to Other Countries

OSA is a global organization headquartered in the United States but with activities, members, customers, vendors and consultants around the world.  In the course of normal business, OSA may transfer information to other countries as necessary for us to provide our products and services.  By submitting your information to OSA (electronically or in hard copy), you consent to such transfers and to the processing of this information in other countries.

Modifications to this Notice

OSA may modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Notice at any time. Where such changes are material in nature, OSA will provide additional notice via email or notification on the Websites. The date of the last update is displayed at the top of this Privacy Notice.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this Privacy Notice, please contact OSA at:

The Optical Society (OSA)
2010 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
+1.202.223.8130 Ph
+1.202.223.1096 Fax
email: privacynotice@optica.org