Privacy Policy

Elsevier is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust with respect to the privacy of the personally identifiable information we collect from you. This privacy policy sets forth our practices regarding collection, use and disclosure of information collected through or in connection with this website ("Site").

Collection and Registration of Personal Information

We sometimes request users of this Site to provide personal information. The information collected from a user is strictly voluntary and may include contact information such as the user's name, e-mail address, and postal address.

In order to access certain content and to make use of the full functionality and advanced personalization features of the Site we ask you to register by completing and submitting a registration form, which may request additional information, such as work setting or principal professional field.

Automatic Collection of Information

This Site automatically collects certain information from your web browser regarding your use of the Site. Examples of information collected automatically from all users include the Internet Protocol ("IP") address used to connect your computer to the Internet; computer and connection information such as browser type and version, operating system, and platform; and full Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") click stream data, including date and time, and content you viewed or searched for on the Site.

This Site also collects information through the use of "cookies" or similar technologies. Cookies are anonymous, unique alphanumeric identifiers sent to your browser from a web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. The type of information collected as a result of a cookie being stored on your computer is specific to your computer. "Session" cookies collect information about your use of the Site (e.g., whether you are logged in) and to give you a more personalized browsing experience and help you navigate the Site more efficiently from page to page. These cookies are temporary and are deleted when you close your browser. "Persistent" cookies gather statistical information about repeat usage from your computer or workstation.

We, our affiliated group companies, service providers, advertisers and partners may use cookies, "web beacons" or clear .gifs, or similar technologies to collect and use this information but only as anonymous, aggregated user data for the purposes of usage analysis (including for the purposes of reporting and paying royalties and license fees to third-party providers, such as authors, societies and other copyright holders and content distributors as well as tracking and analyzing user preferences and trends), delivery and management of advertising, promotions and surveys, quality control and administering, customizing and improving the Site.

You can prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or disable cookies altogether by accessing your browser's preferences menu. If you choose to disable cookies altogether, you can use the Site but may not be able to register, login to the Site, or make use of the full functionality and advanced personalization features of the Site, although the basic features and functionality offered to unregistered users of the Site will be possible to use.

How Personal Information Is Used

We use the personal information that you provide for such purposes as:

Completion and support of the activity for which the information was provided, such as allowing access to or delivery of our products or services, processing or fulfilling an order, or responding to your requests or inquiries;
Website and system administration, such as for the technical support of the Site and its computer system, including processing computer account information, information used in the course of securing and maintaining the Site, and verification of Site activity by the Site or its agents;
Tailoring or customizing content or design of the Site during a single visit to the Site and individualized personalization of the Site on repeat visits;
Research and development to enhance, evaluate and improve the Site and our products and services;
Pseudonymous analysis to create a profile used to determine the habits, interests or other characteristics of users for purposes of research, analysis and anonymous reporting; and
Communicating with you about changes or updates to the Site and our products and services and special offers, promotions or market research surveys.

We may on occasion also match or combine the personal information that you provide with information that we obtain from other sources or that is already in our records, whether collected online or offline or by predecessor or affiliated group companies, for such purposes.

Disclosure of Personal Information to Third Parties

Access to your personal information is restricted to our employees, agents, representatives, service providers, and entities for which we are acting as an agent, licensee or publisher, such as societies, for the purposes set forth above. Your personal information may be used by all of our trading names and affiliated group companies and transferred to other countries for processing. These countries may not have similar data privacy laws, but if we transfer your information in this way, we will take steps to ensure that your information continues to be protected.

We also may share your personal information with our affiliated group companies worldwide and/or with non-affiliated third parties that wish to send you information about their products and services that may be of interest to you. We will not pass your personal information to such third parties if you indicate that you do not wish us to do so.

If this site offers an online content database or learning service ("Service") and you access the Service through an institution-sponsored subscription, your personal information and certain usage data gathered through the Service, such as the number of items you downloaded, any non-subscribed items you accessed, and test scores, may be shared with your institution for the purposes of usage analysis, subscription management, course management, and testing and remediation. If you institution is a corporation or other business entity, additional usage data, such as types of records you viewed and the number of searches you ran, also may be shared for the purposes of cost attribution and departmental budgeting.

We will not otherwise disclose any personal information without your consent except under the following circumstances:

in response to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our rights to defend against legal claims;
if we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, safety of person or property, violation of our policies, or as otherwise required by law; and
if Elsevier, this Site, or a related asset or line of business is acquired by, transferred to or merged with another company.

Access and Changes to Your Registration Information and Preferences

Registered users may access their identified contact information and other registration information and correct any discrepancies or update information upon log in at any time. The accuracy of such information is solely the responsibility of the user. No access is given to other data that may have been collected about users.

If you wish to receive alerts, newsletters, special offers or promotions from us, please indicate your preferences when you register or amend your preferences upon log in at any time. If you wish to cease receiving any of this information, amend your preferences either upon log in or by using the "opt-out" or unsubscribe option or other means provided within the communications you receive. We reserve the right to notify you of changes or updates to the Site whenever necessary.

Third-Party Advertisers

We may contract with third-party advertisers and their agents that post on the Site banner ads, which may link to other websites not under our control. These third-party advertisers and their agents may use cookie technology to measure the effectiveness of their ads or may otherwise collect personally identifiable information from you when you leave this site. We are not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials offered from such advertisers and their agents. Transactions that occur between you and the third party are strictly between you and the third party and are not our responsibility. You should review the privacy policy of any third-party advertiser and its agent, as their policies may differ from ours.

Retention of Personal Information

We retain the personal information we collect from you for as long as the information is relevant to our business purposes or until you request that we remove the data.

Our Commitment to Data Security

We endeavor to keep your personal information confidential and protected against unauthorized access, loss, misuse or alteration through the use of appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards. The personal and demographic information about each user is stored on systems that are subject to appropriate physical and electronic security measures, and we limit employee access to and use of such information.

About This Privacy Policy

The foregoing is the current privacy policy of the Site. We reserve the right to change this policy at any time without notice. Any changes to this policy will be posted on this webpage. Our policy does not create a contract or any legal rights.

This privacy policy applies solely to the information you provide while visiting this Site. The terms of this privacy policy do not govern personal information furnished through any means other than this Site (such as via telephone or postal mail).

This Site may contain links to other web sites that are beyond our control. Other web sites to which you link may contain privacy policies that are different from this privacy policy. This privacy policy will not apply to data collected by or provided to other web sites.

Questions, Complaints, and Dispute Resolution

If you have any questions or comments regarding this privacy policy, please contact:

Elsevier Data Protection Officer
Elsevier Limited
The Boulevard
Langford Lane
Kidlington
Oxford OX5 1GB
United Kingdom
Email: DPO@elsevier.com

If at any time you believe that we have not adhered to this privacy policy or you have a complaint regarding the way your personal information is being handled, please contact the Elsevier Data Protection Officer. Disputes under this privacy policy will be resolved by the Elsevier Data Protection Officer, who will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly investigate and, if necessary, to correct any problem.

Last revised: 19 August 2010