Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the Aspen Institute (“Institute,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). The Institute is a non-profit organization that hosts conferences, meetings, and policy programs to provide fellowship opportunities and educational content to achieve Institute’s organizational goals. This Terms of Use agreement (“Agreement” or “Terms”) is applicable to the websites located at www.aspeninstitute.org, www.aspeninstitutestore.com and any other websites, apps or digital properties under the control of the Aspen Institute, in whatever manner the properties are accessed and/or used, whether via personal computers, mobile devices, or otherwise, and other interactive features, applications (including mobile applications), or downloads that are operated by Institute that are made available by us to users of the sites and applications (the “Site(s)”). Access and use of the Sites is provided to visitors and users of our websites for the purpose of providing information to you. The following Terms of Use are a legal contract between you (“you,” “your,” and “User”) and the Institute regarding your use of the Site.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY. BY ACCESSING, BROWSING, OR USING THE SITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE FOLLOWING TERMS IN THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING THE PRIVACY POLICY (COLLECTIVELY, THE “TERMS” OR “AGREEMENT”). IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE.
These Terms apply to your use of the Site. By accepting these Terms, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your jurisdiction (i.e., 18 years of age).
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE TERMS INCLUDE A BINDING ARBITRATION PROVISION, INCLUDING A CLASS ACTION WAIVER. BY AGREEING TO BINDING ARBITRATION, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO LITIGATE DISPUTES THROUGH A COURT AND TO HAVE A JUDGE OR JURY DECIDE YOUR CASE.
Acceptance and Consent. I have read these Terms and Conditions of Use Agreement and have read and acknowledged the Privacy Policy before using the Site. Accordingly, I give my affirmative consent to and accept this Agreement.
Updated: October 4, 2022
The Aspen Institute (the “Institute”) is a global nonprofit organization committed to a free, just, and equitable society that drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. The Institute understands the importance of your personal information and provides our Privacy Policy below so you can understand our privacy practices and our efforts to protect your information. Personal information includes information that can be used to identify you individually and as it is defined by applicable law (referred to throughout as “personal information”).
This Privacy Policy applies to the website located at www.aspeninstitute.org, and any other websites, mobile applications, and other platforms or services (the “Digital Properties”) that are owned and controlled by the Institute (hereafter referred to as the “Institute,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), where this Privacy Policy is posted (collectively, with the Digital Properties, referred to throughout this Privacy Policy as the “Services”). This Privacy Policy applies to all users of any of the Services (“you”, “your”, “user”). Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the Services, you agree to our Terms of Use for the Services and to be bound by this Privacy Policy.
Below are more details about how the Institute collects, uses, and stores personal information from and about you, and your rights related to your personal information.
The Institute collects information voluntarily given by users as well as automatically collected information as you navigate the website and any Services. For example, if a user signs up for a newsletter, we will collect an email address. If a user contributes to the Institute, we will collect a name, billing address, and information needed to complete a donation transaction.
The types of personal information we collect includes:
Sensitive personal information: You may voluntarily choose to share sensitive forms of personal information with us, such as information regarding race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, political opinions, or disability information. We may collect this type of “sensitive personal information” for event registration, employment/independent contractor agreements, surveys, or program participation. In some instances, such as for contractors, and where required by applicable laws or regulations, we require you to provide financial and tax information (i.e., W-8s) and COVID-19 or other vaccination and testing information. We collect this sensitive personal information as required by applicable law, such as with your consent or pursuant to another lawful basis for processing
Site Use Information: Like many organizations, we place a “cookie” (a small data file) or similar technologies such as web beacons on your computer when you connect to our Digital Properties. This allows us to recognize your computer’s IP address on return visits and helps us understand traffic patterns on our Digital Properties so we can operate and improve them. For more information about cookies and similar technologies, and guidance about how to refuse cookies, see the below section, “How we use cookies and similar technologies.” In addition to providing our Digital Properties to you, for security and fraud detection purposes, and to detect and evaluate malware and spam, we may scan, collect, and store data including emails, attachments, email addresses, metadata, and URLs, and traffic data from these Digital Properties and our social media services.
Information collected from third parties: Your personal information that you provide to us to sign up for newsletters, to register for our programs, make a donation, and for other purposes, is stored in our third party service provider’s platforms or systems, and this data may be enriched or updated to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date to achieve the purpose for which it was collected. We also may use third party services to help us develop prospect lists for members and donors and obtain personal information about you from them. We also may purchase email mailing lists for certain groups of individuals that we would like to send our program and membership information. These lists are provided to us in compliance with applicable laws and any of our marketing communications include an unsubscribe option so you can opt out if you do not want to receive such communications. For more information on how we use information collected from third parties, see the section “Combining of Information” below.
How we use personal information:
We use the personal information collected to operate our Services including the Digital Properties, administer our programs and events, provide our products and services, and to help us personalize and continually improve your experience with our Services.
We use your personal information when you use the Services as follows:
The Institute may also use your personal information to protect the safety, rights, property, or security of the Institute, the services, or the general public; to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; to prevent or stop activity which the Institute may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical, or legally actionable activity; to use as evidence in litigation; to enforce this privacy statement, our Terms of Use, or our Legal Notices; to comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations; or as part of an investigation or request from law enforcement or a governmental authority.
The Institute may disclose your information in the following ways:
Please note that we may also use and disclose information about you that does not identify you individually. For example, we may conduct research and publish reports that contain aggregated and statistical data about our programs, members, participants, donors and others. We may also disclose aggregated, anonymized information about users for marketing, advertising, research, compliance, or other purposes.
We may combine personal information into a single data record in our CRM system gathered from our Services with information that we have received, gathered, acquired, or stored from other sources, both information collected offline by the Institute and information received from third parties—including information that currently exists in our files. We also use and/or combine information that we collect offline or receive from third-party sources (e.g., contact information from government funders or grantor information) to edit, enhance, and/or check the accuracy of your relationship record. For example, we obtain contact details and other personal information regarding media contacts and influencers from a variety of sources including Cision. If you wish to know more about how Cision collects and uses such information, please refer to Cision’s privacy notice.
The Institute may also use combined information and third-party tools (e.g., donor and member prospect services) for the purpose of finding prospective donors or members. We may also use email marketing lists provided by third party services to help us send communications related to membership, event participation or other program activities. We may also use this list information for list hygiene and other administration purposes.
Aspen and its service providers may use cookies and other tracking technologies to better understand your use of our Digital Properties and the Services. Some of our programs may work with third parties such as Google and Facebook to target advertisements to users across the Services and other websites for purposes consistent with our nonprofit mission. We or third parties may combine this information with other information, including personal information, we or they collect about you. Some cookies allow us to make it easier for you to navigate our Digital Properties, while others are used to enable a faster log-in process or to allow us to better understand usage of our Digital Properties and interactions with content (e.g., page or post views). Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can edit your browser options to block non-essential cookies. See below for more details on how to block certain cookies.
Pixel tags display tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your device, pixels are embedded on pages. We may use pixel tags (also referred to as clear GIFs or beacons), in connection with our Digital Properties to understand the activities of users of our Digital Properties, help us manage content, and compile statistics about usage of our Digital Properties. We or our third-party service providers may use similar methods in emails to help us understand email response rates and identify when our emails are viewed.
Cookies we use include:
You may set your email options to prevent the automatic downloading of images that may contain technologies that would allow us to know whether you have accessed our email and interacted with the content. For example, web beacons in emails may be blocked by setting your email preferences to “Plain Text Only”.
Ways to Manage Cookies:
There are several ways to manage cookies. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. The Help feature on most browsers provide information on how to accept cookies, disable cookies, or to notify you when receiving a new cookie. Please note, however, that many of the cookies we use are “strictly necessary” cookies. By blocking or deleting them, you will not be able to access certain features of the Digital Properties. For more information about cookies and how to block them, please visit allaboutcookies.org.
In the U.S., the Network Advertising Initiative also offers a means to opt out of a number of targeted advertising cookies. Please visit www.networkadvertising.org to learn more. Note that opting out does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the company or companies from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns. See here to opt out of Google targeted ads and here to opt out of Facebook targeted ads.
The Institute has taken steps to help protect the personal information we collect and use; and we review the security practices of service providers trusted to process data for the Institute. We use physical, technical, organizational, and administrative safeguards for our Services designed to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of the information we collect through our Services. Our security controls are designed to maintain data confidentiality, integrity, and an appropriate level of availability. But no transmission and storage of data is completely secure and submissions are at your sole risk. As such, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit or provide through our Services.
Messages that you send to us by email, including by use of the contact us form on the Digital Properties, may not be secure, and use of email is not recommended for sending us confidential or sensitive information. DO NOT SEND ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, W-8S, W-9S, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, DRIVER’S LICENSE INFORMATION, OR PAYMENT CARD INFORMATION TO US VIA EMAIL.
Please remember that any information you share in public areas, such as comment areas, message boards, social media platforms, or feedback sections, becomes public, and therefore this Privacy Policy does not apply to information you choose to make public. Please be careful about what you choose to disclose. Do not post any personal information that you expect to keep private.
You are responsible for notifying us immediately of any known or suspected unauthorized use(s) of your account, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your account credentials, or any other personal information. Any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity on your account may be reported to appropriate law enforcement agencies by us. In the event of a confirmed security incident that involves Service user’s personal information, we will notify you, the respective regulator, law enforcement, and/or individuals of such incident as required by applicable law or where the Institute deems appropriate.
Our Services may contain links to sites operated by third parties (“Third-Party Sites”). Please be advised that the practices described in this Privacy Policy do not apply to information gathered through these Third-Party Sites. The Institute does not endorse, review, or have any control over the content, products, or services of linked websites or their privacy policies, and the Institute is not responsible for the privacy practices of unaffiliated companies or organizations, and once you leave the Services, you should read the applicable privacy policy of the other company. If you decide to access any of the linked websites, you do so at your own risk.
Personal information collected by or through our Services will be used for the purpose it was collected and as described in this Privacy Policy. When personal information is no longer reasonably necessary for our legitimate business purposes, we will destroy, archive, deidentify, anonymize or aggregate the personal information in accordance with our record retention and destruction policies. We retain your personal information for only as long as there is a lawful basis related to the use of your personal information. Some jurisdictions (state, federal, national and international), such as the European Economic Area and certain U.S. states provide individuals with certain rights regarding their Personal Information.
European Union and European Economic Area:
For individuals located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) may apply and is a European Regulation concerning the use and processing of personal information. We are committed to processing your personal information (aka “personal data”) in compliance with the GDPR. We will use reasonable efforts to securely process all personal information in line with the rights specified under the GDPR, including the right:
Certain U.S. states have consumer privacy laws that may provide you with similar rights or additional rights as found in the GDPR. The Institute is a nonprofit organization and is not subject to some of these laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act but follows many of the requirements. The Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) does apply to nonprofit organizations and regulates the use and processing of Colorado residents’ personal information. When applicable, we are committed to processing your information in compliance with the CPA. including the right:
How to Exercise Your Rights:
To exercise applicable rights your jurisdiction may provide, including the rights to opt-out of targeted advertising and profiling, contact us as specified in the Section “Contact Us” below or by emailing us at [email protected]. We will require that you verify your identity before exercising your individual rights.
*For your information, Profiling is defined in applicable laws generally as “any form of automated processing of personal data to evaluate, analyze, or predict, personal aspects concerning an identified or identifiable individual’s economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.”
The Institute will provide you with the information requested free of charge once in a twelve-month period. The Institute will inform you of any action taken, and if the Institute refuses to take action in response to your request to exercise a right, will provide you with a written explanation of its reasoning. You may appeal this response by contacting us as described in this Section. If you have concerns about the result of your appeal, you may contact the Colorado Attorney General if you are a Colorado resident. If you are in the EEA, you may file a complaint with the appropriate supervisory authority.
Please note that these rights are not absolute. Your request does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal, as the content or information may be retained subject to applicable law.
California Shine the Light Law: The Institute does not share information that identifies you personally with non-affiliated third parties for their own marketing use without your permission.
Do not track signals and requests: Do not track signals and requests are sent from your browser to websites you visit indicating you do not want to be tracked or monitored. Websites are not required to accept these requests and many do not. At this time, our Digital Properties do not honor do not track signals or requests.
We will send marketing and informational communications to individuals if they have affirmatively indicated they want to receive them by providing their contact information and selecting the appropriate boxes to confirm their choices. You may opt-out of these mailings, future marketing, and informational materials at any time by contacting us as noted below in the “Contact Us” Section, or by emailing us at [email protected] and indicating you changed your preference or clicking the unsubscribe or opt-out feature at the bottom of electronic marketing and informational materials. If you choose to no longer receive marketing information, we may still communicate with your regarding transactional or administrative topics such as your account and service requests.
We rely on one or more of the following legal bases to process personal information:
The Institute is located in the United States including Aspen, Colorado, Washington, D.C. and New York City. We may store information received through or by our Services in the United States. If you are providing the information from another country, you give affirmative consent to this transfer and understand that the information will be transferred, stored, and used by the Institute and its service providers in the United States.
Consistent with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), our Services are not targeted to children under thirteen (13) years of age and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will promptly delete such personal information from our systems, unless we are legally obligated to retain it. If you believe we have mistakenly or unintentionally collected information from a child under the age of 13, please contact us as noted below.
This privacy statement is current as of the Effective Date set forth above. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy in the future, we will post or provide an appropriate notice on the home page of the Digital Properties. If we make material changes to the Privacy Policy, we will provide notice or obtain consent regarding such changes as may be required by law. The date on which the latest update was made is indicated at the top of this document. Your continued use of our Services following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy will mean you accept those changes.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use are meant to be read together.
Questions and comments should be directed to [email protected].
If you have any questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, if you would like to change your preferences, if you no longer wish to receive e-mail updates from the Institute, or if you believe the Institute has erroneous or incomplete information about you, please send an e-mail to [email protected].
Data Privacy – The Aspen Institute
2300 N Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20037
(202) 736-5800
[email protected]