AIA Privacy Policy

The Archaeological Institute of America (“AIA”) is committed to dealing with your personal information responsibly and in accordance with the requirements of applicable data protection laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This notice explains how we do that and summarizes our current information gathering and dissemination practices.

This policy applies to all services available on our website and does not apply to services or products offered by other companies or individuals, including third party sites made available through our website. 

For further information about our privacy policies and procedures, please contact the AIA Membership Coordinator  – membership@archaeological.org; Archaeological Institute of America, Attn: Membership, 44 Beacon Street, 2^nd Floor, Boston, MA 02108, USA; 857-305-9350.

Information that the AIA Collects

The AIA may collect personal information from you in the course of its activities, including through your use of our website, when you contact or request information from us, or when you subscribe to publications from us.

The personal information that the AIA processes includes:

• Basic identifying information, such as your name, your preferred form of address, the company you work for, and your job title or position.
• Contact information, such as your postal and email addresses, and phone and fax number(s).
• Financial information, such as bank account information needed to process payments and social security numbers (or their equivalent) needed to process grants.
• Technical information, such as information from your visits to our website (including cookies or your IP address) or in relation to electronic communications sent to you. Please refer to the end of this privacy policy for information regarding the use of cookies and IP addresses.
• Other demographic information, such as your educational background and professional expertise.

The AIA also collects limited “special category” information in certain situations. In connection with ensuring that AIA events are accessible and inclusive, the AIA may collect information about whether an event attendee has a disability or dietary requirements.

How We Collect Personal Information

The AIA collects information in the following ways:

• From monitoring use of our website, including our registration and membership renewal forms, which require users to give us contact information (e.g., name and email address), payment information, unique identifiers (such as AIA membership numbers), and, sometimes, other demographic information such as educational background and professional expertise.
• From monitoring email communications that we send and receive.
• When receiving personal information provided to us directly, for example when you speak on the telephone with any of our employees.
• Through third party services which we may use, such as registration service providers.
• From membership and subscription forms sent to us by mail.
• By collecting or receiving information about you from other sources. For example, the AIA may use publicly available sources to maintain the accuracy of the contact details we hold for you.

Failure to provide information requested by the website may make it impossible for the website to function properly. For example, the cookie function on your browser may be disabled or the contents erased, and certain functions of the AIA website may depend upon cookies being accepted by your browser. Consult your browser help for instructions.

How We Use Personal Information

 The AIA uses the information that it collects in a number of ways, including:

• To circulate by email or mail, information to our subscribers and members, including newsletters, listservs, new title notifications, periodic member notifications (e.g., dues renewal information or information about subscribing).
• To notify you by text of offers to support the AIA and its programs.
• To contact you, and when necessary, verify your identity.
• To provide and improve this website, including, for example, to record the number of hits on a page and to compile usage statistics, to keep track of your shopping cart, and for general auditing and monitoring.
• To verify access by a licensed subscriber (for publications that require license agreements, such as AIA publications).
• To ensure that our events are accessible for individuals with disabilities, and that catering (where provided) is suitable for individuals with dietary requirements.

The Grounds on which the AIA Process Personal Information

The AIA processes personal information on one or more of the following grounds:

• For the legitimate purposes described above
• On the basis of consent from the relevant individual
• To perform a contract, including providing our publications to you
• For the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or proceedings
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations

Security

The AIA uses a variety of technical and organizational measures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction consistent with applicable data protection laws. The AIA website uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer, the industry-standard security protocol used to communicate with browsers). Data are strongly encrypted during transmission to ensure that personal and payment information are secure. SSL is used on the AIA website where individuals register for meetings, purchase products, renew membership, join the AIA, make contributions, and/or subscribe to services.

Once your information is received at the AIA, procedures are in place to protect it from loss, misuse, or alteration.

Sharing your Personal Information and Third-Party Use

The AIA may also share your personal information with third parties in accordance with contractual arrangements in place with them, including suppliers or vendors who provide support services to us, such as accountants, IT service providers, and organizations who assist us or work alongside us in hosting or organizing events or seminars. In some circumstances, the AIA may be required to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

AIA will implement appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information nevertheless remains protected and secure in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  Our agreements with outside entities that process personal data include appropriate contractual protections for your personal data.

The AIA collects names, mailing addresses, job title, and areas of archaeological interest from members, customers, and meeting attendees. This information may be rented in the form of a mailing list to third parties (e.g., professional societies, commercial publishers, marketing partners) for commercial purposes. Only the information of U.S. based individuals is rented in the form of mailing lists. Promotional and informational materials are subject to approval by the AIA prior to rental of a mailing list. You may choose to not receive promotional mailings by contacting membership@archaeological.org.  Email addresses and phone numbers are never included in mailing lists.

Individuals’ Rights Regarding their Personal Information

The GDPR and other applicable data protection laws may provide certain rights for individuals, depending on where the individual is located. Broadly speaking you have, or may have, the right (as more fully provided in applicable data protection laws)   

• to request details of the information the AIA hold about you and how it processes the information
• to have your personal information rectified if it is inaccurate or deleted
• to restrict our processing of your personal information
• to withdraw a previously provided consent to processing of your personal information
• to stop unauthorized transfers of your personal information to a third party
• to have your personal information transferred to another person
• to complain about our processing of your personal information to a local supervisory authority

It is important to be aware that these rights may not be absolute.  For example, if you withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information, the AIA may be able to continue to process your personal information to the extent required or otherwise permitted by law, in particular in connection with exercising and defending our legal rights or meeting our legal and regulatory obligations.

Retention of Information

In the event that you request that the AIA delete your information, the AIA shall make all efforts to comply to the extent required by applicable data protection laws. This is subject to any applicable rights or obligations requiring the AIA to keep the information.

Opting Out

You may easily contact the AIA to opt-out of sharing your personal information, or receiving emails or text messages.

To opt-out of sharing your information, emails or text messages:

• By email: membership@archaeological.org
• By mail: Archaeological Institute of America, Attn: Membership, 44 Beacon Street, 2^nd Floor, Boston, MA 02108, USA
• By telephone: 857-305-9350
• By fax: 857-233-4270

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a tiny amount of code that is stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. The AIA uses cookies for the purpose of maintaining user session identity while using specific services. In the future, cookies may also be used to keep track of your shopping cart.

The cookie function on your browser may be disabled or the contents erased. Consult your browser help for instructions. Certain functions of the AIA website may depend upon cookies being accepted by your browser.

Use of IP Addresses

The AIA uses IP addresses for two purposes: to help diagnose problems with our server in order to best administer our website, and to verify access by a licensed subscriber (for publications that require license agreements, such as AIA publications).

Aggregate data such as domain names (not email addresses) are collected to record the number of hits on a page and to compile usage statistics.

External Links

The AIA website provides links to other sites as a service to the archaeological community. The AIA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. That the AIA has provided a link to a site should not be interpreted as an endorsement, authorization, sponsorship, or affiliation with respect to that site, its owners, or its providers.  Your interactions with the linked site are governed by the privacy policies of that site, and the AIA is not responsible for the privacy practices of any other sites even if they are linked to from the AIA website.