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:

• Websites (OSA owned or managed), including osa.org, osapublishing.org and prism.osapublishing.org where you create accounts to access products and services.
• Mobile applications; for example, a conference planner app.
• OSA-contracted vendors who provide a specific service related to the delivery of a product or service, including those for which you provide registration information such as, paper submissions, conference registrations, career searches, grant applications.
• Third-party individuals, including
  • Corresponding authors providing information about you as a co-author or potential reviewer
  • Nominators submitting information about you as a nominee for an award or potential reference
• OSA-contracted partners, including co-sponsors for meetings and peer societies.
• Your correspondence to us via mail, email or fax.

What Personal Data We Collect

The personal data collected by OSA falls into these categories:

• Identifying data, including name, ORCID ID and photo.
• Contact data, including email addresses, physical addresses and telephone numbers.
• Demographic data, including nationality, birth year, gender, dietary restrictions, family member names and emergency contact.
• Financial data, including transaction details about purchases you have made, and payments to and from you.
• Professional data, including CVs, technical and research interests, educational background, and employers.
• OSA-related activity data, including author and reviewer history, volunteer activities, customer service communications, and video interviews.
• Technical data, including internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, broad geographic location, device type, operating system and other technical information. We may also collect information about how your device has interacted with our websites, including the web pages accessed and links clicked on.

How We Use Personal Data

OSA uses your personal data to:

• Process and deliver a product or service you have ordered.
  • In some cases, this will require OSA to share your data with a third-party provider.  In these cases, a contractual arrangement is in place to ensure the protection of the data and the minimal transfer of data necessary to complete the task that is shared.  For example, accepted manuscripts – which include author contact information – are shared with our publishing vendors to prepare the article for publication. 
  • In other cases, OSA contracts with a partner to provide a product or service and data is shared with or received from the partner.  For example, a co-sponsor of a meeting, a peer society that processes joint memberships, or a sister society that provides a member benefit (e.g., Physics Today).
• Provide information to you about other relevant OSA programs and services based on your interests.
• Consider you for an award, grant or recognition.  For example, membership and OSA-related activity data may be shared with the review committee along with the nomination/application materials.
• Include your information in our online directory. 
• Improve your online experience.  For example, we keep track of what’s in your shopping cart or keep you logged in to our network as you read online journal content.
• Share conference registration lists with other attendees.
• Monitor OSA content and services to prevent potentially abusive activities.
• Share mailing addresses with OSA Industry members.
• Respond to a competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third party where we believe disclosure is legally required; to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights; or to protect your vital interests or those of any person.

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