The Innovation Center (NIIC) is committed to protecting any personal information that you may provide to us. In particular, we believe it is important for you to know how we treat information about you that we may receive from this Web site.

We want to thank you for visiting the Innovation Center's (NIIC) Web site and reviewing our privacy policy. Our privacy policy is clear:

NIIC will collect no personal information about you when you visit our Web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.

The following explains how we handle information about your visit to our site:

If You Just Browse or Download Information

If your visit to our site consists only of browsing, reading pages, or downloading information, then we will automatically gather and store just the following generic information (information that does not identify you personally) about your visit:

• The Internet domain (for example, "yourbusiness.com: if you use a private Internet access account) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our site;
• The type of browser and operating system you use to access our site (for example, Internet Explorer 6.0 and Windows XP, or Safari and OS X);
• The date and time you access our site;
• The pages you visit; and
• If you linked to our site from another Web site, the address of that site.

This information helps us improve our site and tells us the number of visitors to it and the types of technology they use.

Information Collected from Emails and Forms

If you choose to provide us with personal information through an email, form, or publication order, we store the question and the email address information so that we can respond electronically. NIIC does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement or by statute. We permit third-party contractors access to your personal information only when we use them for the initial sorting of emails, forms, or publication orders. We require these contractors to handle your personal information in accordance with NIIC privacy protection guidelines.

You may decide to send us personally identifying information through email messages or through on-line forms. Electronic communication allows us to collect information that will improve our Web site for you, and we encourage it. We use personally-identifying information from you in various ways to further your protection and to provide better service. This may be to correct broken links that you have identified or provide additional information that you have requested.

Cookies

You may occasionally encounter an NIIC Web page that employs "cookies." A cookie is a small file that a Web site transfers to your computer in order to "remember" specific information about your browser "session" (a browser session begins when you open your browser and ends when you close it) while you are connected.

NIIC does not employ cookies to collect personal information about you, but only about your browser session. The cookie makes it easier for you to use the dynamic features of certain pages. The cookie and the information about your session will be automatically destroyed shortly after you close your browser - it is not permanently stored on your computer.

To protect your privacy, be sure to close your browser completely after you have finished conducting business with a Web site that uses cookies. If you are concerned about the potential use of information that cookies gather from your computer, you can set your browser to ask for your permission before it accepts a cookie. Most Internet browsers have setting that let you identify and/or reject cookies.

NIIC's Website Security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this Web service remains available to all users, this organization's computer system employs software programs that monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that 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 NIIC's servers are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.

Endorsement Disclaimer - General

NIIC does not endorse or recommend any commercial products or services. Inclusion of an author's views or opinions on our Web site does not mean they state or reflect those of NIIC or its directors, officer, funders/donors, and private parties may not use them for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Endorsement Disclaimer - Links to Other Sites

Thank you for visiting this NIIC Web site. NIIC may provide links to Web pages that are not part of the NIIC Web family. These sites are managed by organizations, companies, or individuals and not under our control, and we are not responsible for the information or links you may find there.

NIIC provides links to these sites merely as a convenience and the presence of these links is not a NIIC endorsement of the sites. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site, and you should read that site's policies on privacy and information collection.

Endorsement Disclaimer - POP-Up Advertisements

When visiting our site, your Web browser may product "pop-up" advertisements (advertisements that spontaneously appear on your computer screen). The most likely source of such an advertisement is another Web site you visited or third-party software installed on your computer. NIIC does not endorse or recommend products or services featured in advertisements that "pop up" during your visit to our site.

Endorsement Disclaimer - Site Disclaimer

With respect to documents available from this Web server, or documents from other servers made available through this Web server, neither the NIIC, nor any of their employees, directors, or officers, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Any person relying on any of the information contained on this Web site or making any use of the information contained herein, shall do so at their own risk.

The information contained on this Web site may be changed or updated at any time without notice.

NIIC IS unable to prevent children under the age of thirteen (13) from visiting www.niic.net. Children under the age of thirteen (13) are not allowed to use www.niic.net without parental consent or supervision. In order to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, NIIC will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen (13). By providing personal identifiable information through www.niic.net including, but not limited to your name and email address, you represent and warrant that you are at least thirteen (13) years of age and that you agree to comply with NIIC's Privacy Policy.

Questions about NIIC's Privacy Policies

You should send questions about NIIC's privacy policies to:

Chris Pelz,
Director of Finance and Administration and
NIIC's Privacy Officer at
cpelz@niic.net