Privacy Policy

Like the vast majority of websites, context.org (the “Website”) collects certain kinds of information from its users (“you”). We (Context Institute) do so for the sole purpose of providing you with better services. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully since your use of the Website constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy explains:

  • What information we collect and why we collect it.
  • How we use that information.
  • The choices available to you as to what information you provide us.

Information we collect

We collect information in two ways:

Information you give us. For example, if you subscribe to our email newsletter by providing us with an email address or fill in a comment form, you have given us information from and sometimes about you.

Information we get from your use of the Website. Visiting the Website involves an exchange of information between your device and the server that hosts the Website. For example:

  • Your web browser, as it requests information from the Website, also sends information about about your browser and your device.
  • If you reach the Website through a search engine, your browser sends us the search terms you used.
  • We may send your device a small file, often called a cookie [link], that contains information such as that you visited the Website or preferences that you may have set. If your browser is set to accept cookies from the Website, the cookie will be stored on your device so that the next time you visit the Website, the Website will remember your information that was stored in that file.

Information collected from children. In observance of the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13.

How we use information we collect

We use the information we collect for the sole purpose of providing you with better services.

We use personal information as follows:

With third parties. We do not sell or trade any of the personally identifiable information we collect from you to third parties. When we do share personal information with third parties, it is only to the extent necessary to complete transactions that you request. For example, if you make a donation using a third-party payment service (such as PayPal), some information must be shared between us and that service to process the transaction. Similarly, if you choose to follow or friend us on a social network, that network shares your user name with us.

For communicating with you. We use contact information that you provide us, such as an email address, to communicate directly with you. We do not share such contact information with any third party. We may use additional information you have provided us, such as your name, to customize the content of such direct communications with you.

For Website content. With your explicit consent we may use, in whole or part, content that you provide us, such as comments you send us, as content on the Website.

For customizing the Website content you see. We may, for example, use the search terms that brought you to the Website to suggest additional content on the Website that might interest you. We may also use a cookie to keep track of whether you have visited the site before and only display a welcome message on your first visit.

For legal reasons. We will share personally identifiable information we collect from you with appropriate third parties if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:

  • meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.
  • enforce applicable Terms of Use, including investigation of potential violations.
  • detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
  • protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Context Institute, our users or the public as required or permitted by law.

We view such sharing of personally identifiable information for legal reasons as a serious step and we will do so only if convinced of its necessity and legality. If time permits, before any such sharing of personally identifiable information for legal reasons, we will make a good-faith effort to determine if the cause for concern is a result of a misunderstanding or miscommunication between you and us. This good-faith effort may include direct communication with you, and, where appropriate, may provide you with the opportunity to challenge such sharing before it occurs.

We use aggregate information that is not personally identifiable, such as statistics from the Website server logs or from a service such as Google Analytics, as follows:

To improve the Website. We use such aggregate information to analyze the performance of the Website, including changes we make to the Website over time. This analysis in turn influences future changes we make to the Website.

For Website content. We may publish some of this aggregate information, such as the number of Website visitors per month or our number of social-network followers, on the Website.

With third parties. We may share some of the aggregate information with third parties. For example, we may include some aggregate information in a grant application.

This aggregate information contains no personally identifiable information and so raises no personal privacy issues.

Your privacy choices

If you do not want us to have your personally identifiable information, such as your email address, simply do not provide it to us. We will not obtain this information in any way other than what you provide.

If you do not want us to store cookies or similar small files on your device, use the preferences in your browser to block cookies from the Website. Realize, however, that doing so will diminish the quality of material and types of services that we can provide to you.

If you wish a copy of whatever personally identifiable information we have for you, please request it via our contact form.

If you wish to change personally identifiable information you have provided us, such as updating an email address, please notify us via our contact form.

Notice to International users

Context Institute is located in the United States. If you provide information to us, the information will be transferred to the United States. By providing personal information to us, you are consenting to its storage and use as described herein.

How the information is stored

The information we collect is stored on our secure server in a secure facility.

Changes to this privacy policy

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy as we deem necessary or appropriate. If you have provided us with an email address, we will endeavor to notify you, by email to that address, of any material change to how we will use personally identifiable information. However, it is your responsibility to check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Questions or comments?

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please use our contact form.