Security Statement

The Authors Guild, Inc. (“Authors Guild”) intends to make accessible to the general public its website www.authorsguild.org (the “Website”). The Website takes commercially reasonable precautions to protect our Users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Website, including credit card information, the users’ information will be protected both online and off-line, using commercially reasonable precautions.

When our membership application page or membership renewal page asks current Members or Members who have applied for membership but are still waiting for approval (“Pending Members”) for their credit card information, the information provided by the Member or Pending Member will be encrypted and protected using industry-standard encryption technologies for transferring and receiving such data. While on a secure page, including but not limited to, our membership application page, membership renewal page, and login pages, the lock icon on internet browsers, such as the lock icons on Firefox and Google Chrome , become locked. While we use encryption protection to protect sensitive information online, we also take commercially reasonable efforts to protect this information off-line. All of the information provided by Members and Pending Members, not just sensitive credit card information referred to above, has restricted access within our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment with limited access.

Privacy Policy

The Authors Guild believes that privacy is important to the success and use of the Internet. This statement sets forth the Authors Guild’s Privacy Policy for www.authorsguild.org and describes what information is collected, how it is used and with whom it is shared.

Summary

The general public will have access to certain pages contained on the Website that contain general information about the Authors Guild, Inc. and the services it provides. The Website will also contain 1) an Application Section and Renewal Section, where prospective members may apply for or renew membership by giving certain identifying personal information, as well as credit card information (EU Residents, please see below), 2) an Events Calendar, where events of Authors Guild members in good standing (“Members”) may be posted, 3) a Member Directory where Members may enter information about themselves and their books. The Authors Guild may expand the Website, including the Events Calendar, the Member Directory, and other portions, to encompass any additional services it deems fit at its own discretion. Both Members and Pending Members may be permitted to upload or otherwise provide certain materials and other data to the Website, including the Event Calendar, and Member Directory. While some of those uploaded or provided materials may be shared with the general public, such as information on the Event Calendar and the Member Directory, much of the information provided will be viewable only by Members, Potential Members, and Authors Guild Staff.

What Personal Information We Gather

In order to provide Members and Pending Members with quality services, the Authors Guild gathers the following types of information:

Information Members and Pending Members Give Us

We collect the contact and other information you provide (such as name, physical address, billing address, email address, telephone number) when, for instance, you join the Authors Guild as a member, create an account to access the password protected Members and Pending Members Only Section (“the Website”) content, or purchase a new membership or renew an existing membership. We use this information to keep in contact with you and provide you with newsletters and other information about the Authors Guild, to provide you with marketing communications about our news, events, authors or books that we believe may interest you, or tell you about new website features or services. We may also use your information to provide services and support, including reviewing your contracts and answering your legal and other questions.

Automatically Collected Information

The Authors Guild will also automatically gather information including:

  1. The Internet domain from which you access the Website;
  2. The IP address from which you access the Website;
  3. The type of browser used to access the Website;
  4. The operating system used to access the Website;
  5. The date and time you access the Website;
  6. The URLs of the pages you visit;
  7. Your username to log into the Website; and
  8. If you visited the Website from a third-party site, the URL of that third-party site.

This information is only used to help the Authors Guild make the website more useful to the general public as well as Members and Pending Members. The Website may also utilize “cookie” technology to collect information about how the Website is used.

With this data, the Authors Guild learns about the number of visitors to the Website, the information and materials that users are most interested in, and the types of technology Members and Pending Members use.

When Do We Share Personal Information?

While some parts of the Website, including the Event Calendar and the Member Directory, will be publicly accessible, the Authors Guild does not willfully provide the personal information of Members and Pending Members to third parties unless it discloses its intention to do so prior to asking Members and Pending Members to provide such information. The Authors Guild reserves the right to disclose any personal information about you or your use of the Website without your prior consent if the Authors Guild has a good faith belief such action is consistent with our mission and is necessary to: 1) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process; 2) protect and defend the rights or property of the Authors Guild or its affiliated organizations 3) enforce the Privacy and Copyright Policy; or 4) to protect the interests of Members.

You have the right to request access to personal information that we hold about you to confirm its accuracy, to ask us to correct it, or to transfer your information to another service provider. If you are an EU resident or if your state or local laws give you the right to delete your personal information, please follow the procedure set out below.

With Whom Do We Share Personal Information?

Our Service Providers

We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers

Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

Use of the Website by Minors

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires that we not knowingly collect or share personal information from children under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent or guardian. If you are aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided personal information without such consent, please contact us at the address below so that we can delete such information.

Withdrawal of Consent

If you are a resident of the EU, you may withdraw your consent to the Authors Guild’s retaining of your personal information at any time by emailing staff@authorsguild.org and requesting that specified personal information be removed from our records. If you request that all information be removed, such a withdrawal request will be deemed resignation from the Authors Guild, since we will not be able to continue to provide you with services without being able to contact you. If you ask for certain personal information to be deleted, that may limit the services that the Guild can provide you.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

From time to time, we may change this privacy policy to accommodate new technologies, industry practices, regulatory requirements, or for other purposes. We will provide notice to you if these changes are material and, where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent. Notice may be by email to you at the last email address you provided us, by posting notice of such changes on our sites and applications, or by other means, consistent with applicable law.

Cookie Policy

Cookies are pieces of information that a website places on your device when you visit a website. Cookies may involve the transmission of information from us to you and from you directly to us, to another party on our behalf, or to another party in accordance with its privacy policy. We may use cookies to bring together information we collect about you. You can choose to have your device warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. If you turn cookies off, you won’t have access to many features that make your guest experience more efficient, and some of our services will not function properly. Please see the last section of this Cookies Policy for more information about how to manage or disable browser cookies.

We use several categories of cookies and each performs different functions. You can learn more about cookies and their functions generally by visiting an informational website.

What Categories of Cookies May Be Used?

The cookies that may be used on this website fall into the four categories described below. These descriptions can help you determine if and how you would like to interact with our websites and other online services.

Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to navigate this website and use certain features. Without these strictly necessary cookies, the online services you have asked for cannot be provided.

We also use cookies to manage Login for Members. If you disable cookies for authorsguild.org, you will not be able to access Members Only pages of our website.

Preferences Cookies

We (or service providers operating on our behalf) may place our preferences cookies on your device. We do not share information collected using our preferences cookies with our advertisers or other third parties.

Our preferences cookies are used to remember choices you make (such as language preference, country location, or other online settings) and provide the personalized or enhanced features that you select. Our preferences cookies can be used to provide online services to you, or to prevent online services from being offered to you if you previously indicated you did not want to receive such services. Our preferences cookies collect anonymous information.

If you delete these preferences cookies, any preferences or settings you selected will not be retained for later visits.

Statistics Cookies

We may place our statistics cookies on your device. The information collected using our statistics cookies is used by us or for our benefit to improve website experience or for other statistics-gathering purposes.

Our statistics cookies are used to generate aggregated, anonymous information about how you and other users use this website and its features. For instance, our statistics cookies collect information about which pages on this website you visit most often, if you open or read the communications we send, and if you receive any error messages. The information collected may be used to improve users’ online experience generally, to collate statistics, or customize your online experience by showing you content we think you will like. Our statistics cookies don’t collect information that identifies you personally; however, if you have with us, the information collected by us using our statistics cookies may be associated with your account.

You can delete or manage performance cookies as instructed in the last section of this Cookie Policy.

Marketing or Advertising Cookies

We do not install cookies for purposes of marketing or advertising.

Disabling/Enabling Cookies via Your Browser

There are a number of ways for you to manage cookies and other tracking technologies. Through your browser settings, you can accept or decline cookies or set your browser to prompt you before accepting cookies from the websites you visit. You should be aware that you may not be able to use all our interactive features if you set your browser to disable cookies entirely.

If you use different computers in different locations, you will need to ensure that each browser is adjusted to suit your preferences.

You can delete any cookies that have been installed in the cookie folder of your browser. The various browsers provide different procedures to manage your settings. Click on any of the browser links below for instructions.

If you are not using any of the above-listed browsers, then you should select “cookies” in the “help” function for information on where to find your cookie folder. It may not be possible for you to selectively opt out of all third-party advertising cookies placed on our website. You should also be aware that disabling cookies does not disable other types of analytics products which we may use to collect generic information about how you and other visitors use our website.

Do Not Track Signals

We do not respond to the “Do Not Track” signal that may be activated on your browser. There is no uniform or consistent standard or definition for responding to, processing, or communicating Do Not Track signals.

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted above.

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet

While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the Cookie Policy or the Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, please contact us.

Updated 4.23.2023