Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Last Updated: May 25, 2018

The National Communication Association (“NCA”) wants you to know how we address privacy issues.  NCA provides the privacy policy below (the “Privacy Policy”) to explain how NCA gathers information that you submit to us and that we collect about you, and how NCA may use, process, transfer, and share that information. This Privacy Policy applies to information that we collect through the NCA website (the “Site”) as well as off-line collections of information about NCA members, visitors, and other individuals or entities with which NCA interacts or has a professional or customer relationship.

Your use of the Site constitutes your acceptance of the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Site. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly.

Data we collect

Information you provide: Visitors who use the Site to join or renew a membership, register for an event, make a donation, contact NCA, or initiate or engage in any other Site-based process or transaction may be asked to provide personally identifiable information (“PII”). This information is collected through the Site and stored in NCA’s membership database and Site in order for us to provide you with services or engage with you as a member. Information on how NCA uses this PII is found below.

Please note that to create and maintain your membership, some PII must be provided to NCA so that we can provide you with association services. The PII that you may be asked to provide for the above-mentioned processes or transactions may include, but is not limited to: name, mailing address(es), email address(es), phone number(s), and place of employment. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses may be logged by the Site but not stored on NCA servers.

Google Analytics: NCA uses Google Analytics to aggregate web traffic information. This information allows us to enhance and improve the functionality of the Site. Google Analytics anonymizes IP addresses before storing and processing data that have been collected. You may opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the appropriate browser add-on available here for most common web browsers: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Cookies: A “cookie” is a file a Website stores in a user’s computer for future reference. The Site uses a minimal number of cookies to deliver the best possible user experience. You may opt to disable cookies in your browser, although this may impact the quality of the Site experience. NCA does not use cookies to obtain or store PII and information supplied through an NCA cookie is used only by NCA and not shared with others. The first-party cookies used on the Site are: has_js, _ga, _gid, _gat, and tfw_exp.

Site search: When you perform a search within the Site, NCA may record limited information associated with that search request and use that information to, among other things, solve technical problems with Site and calculate overall usage statistics.

How NCA uses the data we collect

NCA may use PII and other information we collect in a number of ways, such as:

• To communicate with you about your membership, event registration, donation, or any other program, product, service, or transaction associated with NCA. Communication methods may include: direct mail, email, or phone calls.
• To analyze, among others, usage trends and interest areas to build higher-quality and more useful services on the Site and throughout NCA’s member services.
• To provide you with prompt and effective customer service, including responding to your inquiries about content and other services.
• To support the operation of the Site, troubleshoot problems, resolve disputes, and enforce our Terms of Use.
• To meet legal, security, processing, and regulatory requirements.
• For internal assessments of NCA programs and the membership.
• In publicly distributed statistical descriptions and studies of the NCA constituency; note that only aggregated data will be used in such reports.

How we share your data

NCA may disclose your PII to third parties as follows:

• With your consent.
• To facilitate a transaction or communication with a third party that you have initiated or requested, or as part of your member benefits fulfillment.
• To NCA’s agents and advisors.  We only disclose the PII necessary for them to provide their services to you or to us, and only under strict confidentiality restrictions.
• To NCA Annual Convention exhibitors as part of their exhibiting agreement with NCA. The information shared includes name and postal mailing address and is shared only if an individual is registered for the NCA Annual Convention.
• As NCA deems necessary to: (a) comply with law; (b) enforce or apply NCA’s Terms of Use and other agreements; or (c) protect the rights, property, or safety of NCA, our users, or others.
• If you partake (or we reasonably suspect that you are partaking) in any illegal or potentially illegal activity.  We may disclose your PII even without a subpoena, warrant, or other court order, to the extent we deem necessary to inform and cooperate with law enforcement agencies or other appropriate authorities.

NCA may share with its partners and other third parties non-personally identifiable information in aggregated form. For example, we may share non-personally identifiable usage trends for the Site for a given timeframe.

Your choices about your data

Opt-Out Right: Every individual who provides information to NCA through this Site is asked to review and agree to the Privacy Policy.  Any individual may decline to provide information requested by NCA by “opting out.”  However, if an individual does opt-out and decline to provide their PII, it may make it impossible for NCA to provide the services for which information is needed for security and/or identification purposes.   By joining NCA, all members agree to provide basic personal information and demographic data as described above to NCA.

You may opt-out of print correspondence by emailing inbox@natcom.org or via postal mail or telephone at the address and phone number below. You may opt out of digital correspondence by using the appropriate links in email communications from NCA, or by contacting the NCA National Office using the contact information below.  When NCA sends emails, such as newsletters, or other mass email letters, all users have the option to “unsubscribe” from future mailings.

Regardless of recorded opt-out preferences, NCA reserves the right to send emails or other communications for administrative or transactional purposes, including, but not limited to, communications related to the user’s membership in NCA.

Access and Update Your Information: Individuals may update their PII stored with NCA by logging in to the Site and using the appropriate profile forms, or by contacting NCA via postal mail, e-mail, or telephone. Upon request, NCA will provide a summary of any PII that is retained by NCA. If you are no longer a member, or if you wish to cancel your membership, and would like us to remove, modify, correct, change, or update your PII that is stored in NCA’s database, you may contact the NCA National Office via postal mail, e-mail, or the telephone number indicated below. Upon request, your information will be updated or removed from NCA servers as soon as possible and in accordance with standard practices.

E-mail: inbox@natcom.org
Telephone: 202-464-4622
Mailing address: 1765 N ST, NW, Washington, DC 20036

Other considerations

Collection of Personal Data from Children: This Site is not intended for use by children under the age of thirteen (13) years of age.  NCA does not knowingly (a) collect or post information from any individual under thirteen (13) years of age without parental or guardian consent, or (b) provide any PII collected from children, regardless of its source, to any third party for any purpose whatsoever, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Security: We have implemented technical, administrative, and organizational measures to safeguard the security and integrity of PII. Although NCA takes these measures to safeguard against unauthorized access and disclosure of PII, NCA cannot fully eliminate security risks associated with the storage and transmission of PII.

Social Media: Although NCA has an active presence on various social media platforms, those platforms are not operated by NCA. Your interaction with those platforms and the use of their features is governed by the privacy policies of those various companies, not this Privacy Policy.

Do Not Track: NCA does not track visitors or members over time and across third-party websites and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Third-Party Web Sites: The Site contains links to other websites.  Unless NCA explicitly states otherwise, we have no control over these third-party sites or their privacy practices, and this Privacy Policy applies only to information you supply (or that we collect) in connection with use of the Site. A link from this Site is not an NCA endorsement for any company, organization, or individual.

Governing Law: This Privacy Policy and the privacy practices of NCA will be subject exclusively to the laws of the District of Columbia within the United States of America. You agree to submit any dispute arising out of your use of this Site to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in the District of Columbia. NCA makes no representation that this Privacy Policy and such practices comply with the laws of any other state or country. If you reside outside of the United States, by using the Site, you consent to the transfer and use of your information outside your country. This data transfer is necessary to provide the membership services to you.

Indemnification: To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless NCA and any affiliates and all of their employees, agents, directors, officers, volunteers, successors, and assigns, from and against any and all claims, proceedings, damages, injuries, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses), relating to or arising from your use of the Site, any violation by you of this Privacy Policy, or any other matter for which you are responsible under law.

Privacy Policy Updates: NCA may change the content of our Site and Privacy Policy at any time and without notice, and your continued usage of the Site indicates your agreement to the changes.  Please revisit our Privacy Policy from time to time to be sure you are familiar with our current policy. The Privacy Policy will list the most recent “last updated” date at the top of this page.