At kalahari-meerkats.com, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
kalahari-meerkats.com is the website of the Kalahari Meerkat Project (KMP, operated by University of Zurich and University of Cambridge) and the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project (FKMP) society. This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website or register as users (“Friends”) or research volunteers, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
We may change this Policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.
Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to friends @ kalahari-meerkats.com.
Information we collect from you
When you register with our site, or contact us by email or by using a web form, we may collect personal information you are sharing about you including but not limited to: contact information, such as your name, email address, home or other physical address and any other information you choose to provide e.g. as part of your membership enrollment, volunteer application, in our forum (Friends only) or in a field site visit preparation questionnaire.
We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.
Information we collect automatically
Our site and the software it runs on may also automatically collect information regarding how website visitors, including registered users, interact with the site, which may include pages you view, links you click, your web browser type and version, the operating system type and version of the device you are using to access the site, the Internet protocol (IP) address of the device you are using to access the site, general physical location, and Internet service provider. Most of that information is anonymous, but logged-in Friends may leave links between their login information and the data collected automatically. We currently do not use this information in any personalised form nor do we use cookies or analytical tools (e.g. Google analytics) and have no plans of doing so.
How we use the information we collect
In addition to uses describes elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we may use the information collected to:
- Provide Friends access to restricted parts of the website (i.e. content requiring a login);
- Provide volunteer applicants with information to the application process, and put them in contact with the hiring team;
- Communicate with you and respond to your inquiries, requests or orders;
- Provide you with information you request from us and promotional materials regarding our projects;
- Engage in marketing activities;
- Improve the content on our site based on inputs and feedback of our users;
- Prevent fraudulent activity.
The Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project (FKMP) currently do not send newsletters or mass mailings for marketing purposes. Please visit our homepage or our facebook site for information about updates to our site.
How we store the information we collect
Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. Furthermore, we use industry standard measures and precautions provided by our website hosting provider and the website software to protect and secure the personal data we store and process. Our site and the corresponding databases are hosted, operated and stored in Switzerland. A backup is stored in a Dropbox account.
User and personal data submitted by you (e.g. account details for your Friends account) are kept stored up to 3 years after your membership ends. Emails sent to us are kept for up to 10 years. We do not actively delete your contributions in our forum (registered Friends only) once you do not renew your Friends membership; you may request a deletion of any forum entries however by contacting us via the email address above.
How we share the information collected
We will share personal information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this Privacy Policy. We do not sell or rent personal information to third parties other than for the purposes below, and have no plans of ever doing so.
We may share personal information about you in the following situations.
- You pay your Friends membership fee or donation via Paypal: We solely use the email address you provide with your registration in order for Paypal to identify you, send the invoice and process the payment. We will see the billing address you submitted with Paypal but do not store it in our systems. We do not see nor collect your banking or credit card details.
- You send a contribution via bank transfer: We will see your name, contact, payment and bank details provided by you when initiating the payment. We do not store these data in our systems, but it will be stored in the bank statement.
- You send a donation for a special purpose: We will share your contact details with the recipients within the KMP or affiliated organisations (e.g. the research groups at University of Cambridge or University of Zurich, or single researchers) if you mark your donation for a special purpose/project, unless you ask us to remain anonymous.
- You send us personal information as part of a volunteer enquiry: We will share the information with the volunteer hiring team of the KMP.
- You send us personal information in a filming enquiry or a questionnaire related to a field site visit: We will share the information with the field site staff and the project management.
- You visit our merchandising store (Zazzle Inc.), either via a link from our site or directly, buying or not buying anything: We do not see nor collect any personal data in correlation with the items we sell via Zazzle.
- You visit our facebook site either by clicking a link on our website or directly: We may see anything you decide to share with us on our facebook site or elsewhere on facebook, but will not store this information in our systems.
- If you explicitly request or authorise us to do so, or as otherwise required by law.
Linked websites
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.
How you can access, change or delete the information
The accuracy of your information is important to us. We’re working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that we hold about you. In the meantime, if you wish to review, change or delete the information we hold about you, please email us at friends @ kalahari-meerkats.com.
Review of this Policy
We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in May 2018.