As responsible members of the Internet Community we are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors. Unless you specifically provide it to us, we collect no personal or identifying information about you when you visit our Web site, however some information about you - and your visit - is routinely gathered by the server automatically.

Here is how we handle information about your visit to our Web site:

Information is Collected and Stored Automatically -- If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site, read pages or download information, we will still gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information is collected by the Web server, and consists largely of statistical data, not information to identify you personally. The server of our hosting company automatically collects and stores information like the following concerning your visit:

• The Internet domain name that you connected from -- for example, if you connected to the Internet via Verizon, your computer may be assigned an IP address with corresponding name just for your current session.
  
  Imagine that the server at Verizon assigned your computer the IP address 10.10.192.113 and that address is assigned the name host113.verizon.net by their service. Our server would record your name "host113.verizon.net" in its log files for your visit;
  
  
• Your IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you connect to the Inernet through your provider) from which you access our Web site.
  
  
• The type of browser and operating system you used to access our site;
  
  
• The date and time you access our site;
  
  
• The pages you visit; and
  
  
• If you linked to our Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web site.

This information is recorded in the log files of the web server at our hosting company, and is provided by that server to us in a special file that can be accessed via the web. Access to this file requires a specific account name and password, and is not available to the public.

We collect and use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors—to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use.

Information Protection -- For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, our hosting company employs software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. If such monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this server is strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act, Title 18 of the US Criminal Code, or other laws.

Information That You Voluntarily Provide -- We do not collect personally-identifiable information unless you choose to provide it to us. If you provide us with personally identifiable information, for example by sending an e-mail or by filling out a form and submitting it through our Web site, we use that information only to respond to your message and to help us provide you with the information and services that you request.

Submitting voluntary information constitutes your consent to the use of the information for the stated purpose. When a user clicks the "Submit" button on any of the Web forms found on our site they are indicating voluntary consent to use of the information they submit for the stated purpose. We do not collect or use information for commercial marketing. We do not give, sell, or otherwise provide your name, email address, or any other contact information to third party entities.

How Information is Used -- The information we collect is used for a variety of purposes (e.g., validating comments, to respond to requests for information , or to fill orders for reprints, books, and other merchandise). We make every effort to disclose clearly how information is used at the point where it is collected so that our users can determine for themselves whether they wish to provide the information.

Sharing of Information -- Under very limited circumstances we may share the information you give us with third-party service providers in order to fulfill orders for reprints, books, or merchandise. Some of the books sold through our site are provided by Publish-On-Demand (POD) services that also provide drop-shipment services. Therefore we will provide such service partners with your name and mailing address, and the order numbers for the products that you purchase . We may be required by law to disclose information you submit if we are required by a court order to do so. Before you submit personally identifiable information, such as on an online form, you will be advised as to the purpose and how the information will be used.

Retention of Information -- We destroy the information we collect when the purpose for which it was provided has been fulfilled unless we are required to keep it longer by statute or tax policy.

Links to Other Sites -- This site may have links to the Web sites of other agencies, companies, and individuals. There may be links to private organizations, with their permission. Once you go to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site. It is always a good idea to read the Privacy Policy of any Web site that you visit.

Cookies -- Web "Cookies" are small bits of text/data that are either used for the duration of a session ("session cookies"), or saved on a user's hard drive in order to identify that user, or information about that user, the next time the user logs on to a Web site ("persistent cookies"). This Web site does not use persistent cookies or any other persistent tracking technology. When we use session cookies, these session cookies are deleted from the component's server after your session ends and information from them is not collected or saved.