Our Privacy Policy
The MotherJones.com website is operated by the nonprofit Foundation for National Progress (the "Foundation"), which also publishes Mother Jones magazine.
The Foundation provides MotherJones.com to you subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy. By registering with or using the MotherJones.com site (the "Site"), you accept and agree to this Privacy Policy.
We respect your privacy. We allow you to "opt out" of providing us with certain information. However, choosing to share information with us will help make your experience at MotherJones.com and other interactions with us more pleasant and successful for you, and will help us continue to provide outstanding investigative journalism.
Most of the information we collect on our website is aggregated to track general patterns, such as browser and platform usage and overall traffic patterns. We use name, address, and email information primarily to deliver items you request, such as magazines or email newsletters. We may also use your email address to remind you to renew your subscription, notify you about new products or upcoming events, or send you donation appeals and sponsored messages with offers from other organizations. You may always opt out of receiving these communications.
Upon request, we provide our users, including subscribers to the magazine, with access to any personally identifiable information that we maintain about them. Users may correct this information or have themselves removed from any list of users or subscribers that we may share with others by contacting us by postal mail at our San Francisco offices. (For more information on contacting us, please see below.)
1. CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY AND REVISION DATE
This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. The Revision Date below will show you when the Privacy Policy was last revised. By continuing to use this Site, you agree to all terms of the most recent version of this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy was last revised on June 17, 2009.
2. REGISTRATION AND ACCOUNT INFORMATION
You can access and post comments on the Site without having an account and without submitting personally identifiable information. However, some features of the Site are available only if you register and establish an account with MotherJones.com.
In order to register you will need to provide a valid email address and create a password. We need this information to communicate with you and to ensure the security of your account. You will also be required to create an identity for the Site (a "username"). You may be asked to provide additional, optional information, including whether you are a Mother Jones donor or subscriber, a photograph or other image, a signature (consisting of whatever test you choose to use), and biographical information.
Your username, any image you provide, and any biographical information you submit will appear on your user profile page ("Profile Page"). In addition, your Profile Page will show when you joined the Mother Jones discussion community, how many comments you have posted, recent comments you have posted on the Site, and your recommended comments. When you post a comment, your signature and your status as a donor or subscriber will appear along with the text of your comments.
You may also choose to permit other users to contact you by e-mail through your Profile Page. If you do, other users will be able to send you e-mails but your e-mail address will not be publicly displayed.
The information you provide to establish an account and in creating your Profile Page is referred to as "Account Information." Information that appears on your Profile Page is public. We will not provide other individually identifiable Account Information to any third party, except as set forth in Sections 4, 7, and 10 below.
3. CONTENT YOU SUBMIT
The Site uses the Mollom service to block spam. Information you submit by posting comments, using the contact forms, or registering for a user account will be sent to Mollom. For information on how Mollom stores and uses this information, see Mollom's privacy policy.
The Site allows you to submit and post comments and to recommend comments posted by others (collectively "User Content"). User Content that you submit to Mother Jones or post on the Site, including any personal information included in your User Content, becomes publicly available and can be seen, collected, and used by others.
The Site may also allow you to send email messages to other users. While the content of such messages will not be publicly displayed on the Site, the Foundation has no ability to control how the content of messages sent to other users is used or disseminated. You should assume that anything you put into an email message to another user may become public.
4. HOW WE USE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
We use your email address for administrative purposes (such as notifying you of changes to the Site or customer service). We may also use your email address to remind you to renew your subscription, to contact you about new products or upcoming events, and to send you newsletters or other editorial content, donation appeals, and sponsored messages with offers from other organizations. If you make a donation, we may use your email address to send you occasional messages about our projects or ways that you can support Mother Jones.
In order to send you some of these communications, we may provide your email address to Convio, Inc., which will then be subject to Convio’s Privacy Policy. You may opt out of receiving these communications by contacting us at the postal address below with your request, along with your full name, address, and email address. In addition, electronic messages to you will provide you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving similar messages in the future. For information on how to opt out, see Section 11 below.
5. SITE USAGE INFORMATION?COLLECTION AND USE BY THE FOUNDATION
The Site uses cookies. (A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard drive that may be accessed when you use a website.) Cookies are used primarily as follows: (1) to help deliver advertisements, in particular to spare users the irritation of seeing the same pop-up ads repeatedly in the same visit; (2) to store information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Site; (3) to track usage throughout the Site (e.g., tracking where traffic comes from, how traffic flows within the Site, etc.); and (4) to monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, pages viewed, etc. Most Web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your Web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, certain features of the Site may not work if you delete or disable cookies.
In addition, when you visit the Site some basic technical information may be collected by us or by a third party that provides us with Site usage information, including your IP address, domain name (e.g., whether you logged on from aol.com or whitehouse.gov), referral data (e.g., the address of the last website you visited prior to clicking through to the Site), and browser and platform type (e.g., a Firefox browser on a Macintosh platform).
Information about users and usage of the Site may be merged into aggregated data, which may then be used by the Foundation and/or shared with our advertisers and others. We generally receive only aggregate information about Site usage, which is not linked to any identifiable individual. If we provide aggregated information to outside companies, they will be not able to identify you or contact you based on that data. We will not disclose personally identifiable information about you, except to the degree that you disclose it through your comments or Profile Page, or as provided in Sections 4, 7, and 10.
6. USAGE INFORMATION?USE BY ADVERTISERS AND OTHERS
The Site includes advertisements placed by advertisers or ad networks. These companies use technology to deliver advertisements you see on the Site directly to your browser. In doing so, they automatically receive your IP address. Companies that place advertising on the Site also have the ability to use cookies or Web beacons to collect information, such as your "click stream" (your viewing and/or purchasing behavior) and information about your usage of the Site. We do not control the processes that advertisers use to collection information. However, cookies and Web beacons alone generally cannot be used to identify individuals, only computers. Therefore, advertisers generally will not know who you are unless you provide additional information to them, by responding to an advertisement, by entering into an agreement with an advertiser, or by some other means.
The Site may also contain links to sponsor, advertiser, or other third-party websites that are not owned or controlled by the Foundation. We have no control over, and we assume no responsibility for, the conduct, practices, or privacy policies of others. You should review the privacy polices of the companies who operate those websites.
7. INFORMATION REGARDING SUBSCRIBERS AND DONORS
When you subscribe to our magazine (either the print or the digital edition), subscribe to our online newsletter, or make a donation, you may provide us with your name, physical address, and email address. You may also provide credit card account information.
The Foundation does not retain or use any credit card or other financial account information. That information is conveyed to third-party payment services, and is used only to clear the payment for your subscription or donation. When sending or receiving credit card information, we automatically direct users to a secure transaction server.
When you subscribe, we use the information you provide to deliver the magazine or newsletter, and to send you periodic reminders to renew your subscription. We may also use it to contact you about new products or upcoming events, to send you donation appeals, or to send you sponsored messages with offers from other organizations. In addition, we may share your information with reputable companies who may contact you via mail or email with products or services we think will be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive such communications, you can contact us at the postal address below with your request, along with your full name, address, and email address. In addition, electronic messages to you will provide you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving similar messages in the future.
When you donate, we use the information you provide to process your donation. Online donations made to Mother Jones are processed by Convio. We do not share your name, address, email address, or any other personally identifiable information about your donation with anyone else. If you provide us with your postal address or email, we will use that information for the purpose of delivering any benefit or information you have requested, such as your magazine subscription, newsletter, or other premium. We may also use that information to send you occasional messages about our projects or ways that you can support Mother Jones. If you do not wish to receive such communications, you can write to us at the postal address below with your request, along with your full name, address, and email address. In addition, electronic messages to you will provide you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving similar messages in the future.
8. PROMOTIONS AND SURVEYS
From time to time, we may sponsor promotions, contests, surveys, or other events which require the collection, processing, and storage of individual contact information (e.g., name and mailing or email address) and demographic information (e.g., your age and state of residence) to be used for the event. We may cosponsor these events with other companies. In that case, your individual contact and demographic information is likely to be shared with other sponsors.
Demographic information may be compiled and reported or shared in the aggregate with others, but no personal details that can be linked to specific individuals will be provided. We will not release personally identifiable contact or demographic information to any third party other than named sponsors without your consent (except as provided in Section 10).
We request that cosponsors uphold the privacy of your information by not distributing or sharing such information with any other businesses or organizations. However, we do not control the information practices of others, and cannot guarantee that they will not disclose your information. You should review the privacy policy of any cosponsor before participating in a promotion or survey.
9. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
Protecting the privacy of young children is important to us. For that reason, we do not collect or maintain information at our Site from those we know are under 13, and no part of our Site is designed to attract anyone under 13. If you are under 13, you should not submit or post any personal information on our Site.
10. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We will not use or disclose your personal information (personally identifiable data such as your name, email address, password, and the content of your communications) except: (1) as described in our Terms of Service or this Privacy Policy; (2) after obtaining your permission to a specific use or disclosure; (3) if we are required to do so in order to comply with any valid legal process or governmental request (such as a court order, search warrant, subpoena, civil discovery request, or statutory requirement); or (4) as otherwise required by law.
11. ASKING QUESTIONS, MAKING CHANGES, OR OPTING OUT
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or about our privacy practices, or if you want to review and correct any personal information we may have about you, please contact us at privacy (at) motherjones (dot) com, with "Privacy" in the subject line.
If you want to opt out of receiving messages regarding new products or upcoming events, requests for donations, messages about our projects or ways that you can support Mother Jones, or advertisements from our partners, please write to us with your request, including your full name, address, and email address, at:
Foundation For National Progress
222 Sutter Street Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94108
If you want to opt out of having your personal information provided to a third party so that other companies can offer you their products or services, please write to us at the address above, including your full name, address, and email address, and specify that you do not want your information shared with others for direct-marketing purposes.