Our intent
CWEA is committed to protecting your privacy, as a member of CWEA or as a non-member visitor to this Web site. This statement is intended to disclose how CWEA uses its Internet presence to gather and disseminate information. It is also intended to invite your questions or comments on any privacy issues of concern to you.  While this disclosure is meant to be thorough and is at times technical, it is hoped this statement will not appear threatening or inhibiting to you. Rather, it is meant to empower you to make maximum productive and informed use of this Web site. The Internet is a powerful tool, which CWEA is committed to using effectively and responsibly.

Guiding principles
CWEA is guided by an overall mission statement, a list of objectives, a vision statement and a list of organizational values, which together make an overall statement that we are proud to live by. (Click here to read them.) These documents guide the operation of this Web site. 

Member information
When members join CWEA, they provide the association with certain information about themselves.  Non-members who make purchases from CWEA, attend conferences or otherwise transact business with CWEA also share some identifying information. Some of this information, which might include your name, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, employer identification and CWEA membership number, is placed in a database that is an internal part of this Web site. The database is used to

• help the site itself identify members of CWEA for access to members-only functions,

• help CWEA staff and officers communicate official business of the association with the members, and

• facilitate appropriate communications between members themselves and between members and CWEA staff.

Your private membership number
Most of your transactions with CWEA will call for you to use your unique membership number. That number will never be displayed on this site for anyone else to see. (Exception: Once you have logged in to a members-only function, the site will record your number, and may be enabled in some cases to use it to help you fill out forms, but only until you leave the site on that same visit. If you return later, you will have to enter your number again to identify yourself before that feature can work for you again.) If you do not remember your membership number, please contact CWEA to obtain it.

Who sees what?
If you are a member of CWEA, by visiting the password-protected members-only section, you can learn another member's name, employer (or affiliate organization), work address, work phone number and e-mail address, if that information is available for display.You can check the information stored about you and you can change it through the members-only section. (You can go there now by clicking here.) Simply click the word "edit" to change the information as you wish it to appear, or to delete it. You can also check a box in the edit section to opt to keep your information private. When you do this, the information will  stored for use by CWEA staff, or for the function of the Web site, but it will not be displayed to any Web site visitors. You can still access it yourself in order to help CWEA stay up to date, as your contact information may change from time to time. Private member information is accessible only to appropriate CWEA staff and to those members and consultants who are entrusted to administer this Web site. Each time these persons access the database, they must agree to respect the privacy of the data found there.

Credit card information
Credit card numbers and other information used to complete a financial transaction submitted through this Web site are transmitted in secure encrypted form using SSL 1,024-bit encryption technology, authenticated by VeriSign, the leading provider of Internet trust services in the world. Transactions are processed by CWEA staff.

Monitoring how well the site works, and how it is used
As a part of its ongoing operation, this Web site records certain information about how the site is used, for the purpose of monitoring that use and improving the functionality of the site by and for CWEA members. The data collected includes, but is not limited to the origins of all visits to the site, including the referring domain and URL, IP address and machine identity of the visitor, where available; the activities of all visitors while on the site; and information about the use and function of the site itself, intended to help monitor its effectiveness and performance.

Cookies
Records known as "cookies" are delivered from this Web site to your browser for the purpose of identifying you and making repeat functions simpler and quicker, in hopes of enhancing your experience using the site. In particular, if you are a CWEA member, it is this cookie that allows you to use the members-only section of the Web site, once you have supplied the appropriate username and password. If you do not wish to allow us to deliver the information necessary for this function to your browser, you can set an option in your browser program to disable its ability to accept cookies from any site. However, if you do so, you will no be able to use the members-only portion of the site.  Alternatively, if you have already set your browser not to accept cookies but you DO want to use the members only section, you will need to return to your options menu to allow the browser to accept cookies. You can return to the previous setting once you have left the site.

E-mail
From time to time, CWEA may elect to send e-mail messages to you as a part of the general membership or as a part of another group. In every case, you have the option to notify CWEA if you do not wish to receive similar group e-mail distributions in the future. Options to discontinue future mailings will usually be included within the body of any such message sent. In addition, you may click here to have your e-mail address removed from the list for all future mailings. (You must, of course, supply your e-mail address in order for it to be removed.) Your request for removal will be stored in the database and further use of the data for group e-mail purposes will not be allowed.

An e-mail address is not required to use this site
While the use of e-mail offers tremendous advantages in the sharing of information that is central to the mission of CWEA, the association does not require you to have or share e-mail addresses or receive e-mail to enjoy the benefits of membership or the essential benefits of visiting the Web site. However, in order to change your profile in the members-only section, you will have to supply an e-mail address so that we can send a confirmation message when the changes are complete. You may indicate that this e-mail address is not to be displayed or used for group e-mails, if you wish. See the immediately preceding paragraph, marked “e-mail.”

Links
This site contains links to other sites. CWEA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other Web sites. CWEA local sections maintain the content of their own portions of this site or, in a few cases, they may maintain local sites that are hosted independently. Local sections are required to abide by all the principals and requirements of this privacy policy and of the CWEA board's current Web site policy. Local sections are entirely responsible for the contents found on their own sites. Links to the local section sites and to all other sites outside CWEA are provided solely as a service to CWEA members and visitors. If you discover a problem with a site that is linked to this Web site, please notify CWEA immediately at info@cwea.org.

We will NOT sell your data to anyone
CWEA does not sell, rent, trade or give any of the information collected through the Web site or e-mail list to other organizations, companies or individuals, except as may be necessary to complete an individual  transaction that you have specifically requested and authorized.

Using message boards means going public
This site may from time to time make message boards or similar publicly posted message displays available to its users, either directly on this site or through links to other sites. Please remember that any information you choose to disclose in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise reasonable caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.  You should be aware that posting to any message board might result in your name and email address being acquired by other parties.  Message board posts may also be accessed as the result of a Web search. If you're going to post it, post it for the world to read.

Questions and Comments
Please direct questions regarding this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, the practices of the e-mail list or your dealings with the e-mail list to the Webmaster at info@cwea.org.