Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Updated February 3, 2020

We appreciate your interest in ASMS. When you visit and navigate our site and when you communicate with us via our web platforms, we do not collect personal information about you unless you provide the information voluntarily. By "personal information," we mean data unique to an individual such as name, address, or telephone number. We strive to make users aware of the kinds of information we collect, why we collect that information, how we use it, and whether it will be shared with others.

From time to time, we may request personal information from you in order to deliver requested materials to you, respond to your questions, or deliver a product or service. The concept of online privacy includes the right to decide what personal information you choose to submit online, and if that information may be used, if at all.

When you voluntarily provide personal information to us, we do not sell, license or transmit that information outside of ASMS except for arrangements with other publishers who, in our reasoned, best judgment, improve the value of your membership through their related offerings and/or when required to do so by legal, judicial, or governmental proceedings, or unless we do so in accordance with express authorization you have given us.

We may disclose information to our strategic collaborators to add value to your membership with additional publication offerings, as well ascontractors or agents for the purpose of enabling them to perform certain functions for us. We will disclose information in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and will require the recipient to protect the information through appropriate safeguards and   and use it only for the purpose provided.

This policy covers the following topics:

  • Information Collected Automatically on Asms.org
  • When and how we share information with others
  • Information Collected via Members.ASMS.org or Abstracts.ASMS.org
  • Annual Conference Exhibitors
  • Information Collected via ASMS Correspondance
  • Purposes for processing your data
  • Payment and Information
  • What happens if you don't give us your data
  • Data storage and retention
  • Changes and updates to this Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use
  • How to Ask Questions or File a Complaint

Information Collected Automatically on Asms.org

As is true of most other websites, asms.org collects certain information automatically and stores it in log files. The information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, the region or general location where your computer or device is accessing the internet, browser type, operating system, and other usage information about the uses of asms.org, including a history of the pages you view. We use this information to help us design our site to better suit our users' needs. We may also use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website, analyze trends, track visitor movements, and gather broad information that helps us to identify visitor preferences. Asms.org also uses cookies and web beacons. It does not track users when they cross to third party websites, does not provide targeted advertising to them, and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals.

When and how we share information with others

Information about your ASMS purchases are maintained in association with your membership or profile account. The personal information ASMS collects from you is stored in one or more databases hosted by third parties located in the United States. These third parties do not use or have access to your personal information for any purpose other than cloud storage and retrieval.

Information Collected when you Create an ASMS Profile

When you create an ASMS profile, we collect information about you including (but not limited to) your name, your professional or academic affiliation, your work mailing address (including your country location), and your email address. Users may voluntarily use their personal physical address, personal email address, or personal telephone number in their ASMS profile. Profile account holders may edit their profile at any time to change, add, or remove personal information by signing into www.members.asms.org and clicking 'Edit my profile'.

We process personal information for membership administration, to deliver member benefits, abstract submission administration and communication, and to inform you of ASMS-related events and news, and other benefits or opportunities associated with ASMS membership or its conference programming. ASMS may also use this information to help us understand our users' needs and interests to better tailor ASMS services (conferences, educational offerings, general content, membership benefits) to meet your needs.

Information Collected in Members.ASMS.org or Abstracts.ASMS.org

If you register, pay member dues, or purchase an item (such as a book or t-shirt), we will access the information in your account to provide you with information and services associated with the event, membership, or item as well as keep a record of your purchase history on the platform. We do not store your payment information.

If you submit an abstract for one of our events, we will collect personal information about you in order to create the event program and communicate with you about your submission. We may also collect information provided by event attendees who evaluated your performance as a presenter. We may also make and store a recording of your voice, presentation, and likeness in certain instances. 

We keep a record of your participation (attendance and presentation in the form of proceedings). Annual conference proceedings specifically remain available indefinitely to members of ASMS and are available to search, read, and download. Annual conference proceedings are available to non-member conference attendees for the remainder of the calendar year of the conference.

Annual Conference Exhibitors

Some of our events are sponsored by exhibitors. ASMS may provide an attendee list to sponsors and exhibitors of our events. This attendee list never contains email addresses, but contains only the names and mailing addresses provided by attendees. Bar codes appear on attendee badges at our annual conference. Attendees may agree to voluntarily have their badges scanned by an exhibitor at the annual conference. By agreeing to have their badge scanned an attendee is voluntarily sharing their information with a sponsor or exhibitor which includes their email address connected to their asms.org profile. If an attendee does not wish to share their information with an exhibitor they may decline to have their badge scanned by an exhibitor.

Information Collected via ASMS Correspondance

If you correspond with us by email, the postal service, or other form of communication, we may retain such correspondence and the information contained in it and use it to respond to your inquiry; to notify you of ASMS conferences or services; or to keep a record of your complaint, accommodation request, and the like. As always, if you wish to have ASMS "erase" your personal information or otherwise refrain from communicating with you, please contact us at info [at] asms [dot] org.

Note: if you ask ASMS not to contact you by email at a certain email address, ASMS will retain a copy of that email address on its "master do not send" list in order to comply with your no-contact request.

Purposes for processing your data

As explained above, ASMS processes your data to provide you with the goods or services you have requested or purchased from us, including membership services, events, publications, and other content. We use this information to refine our goods and services to better tailor them to your needs and to communicate with you about other services ASMS offers that may be of benefit to you.

Payment and Information

You may choose to purchase goods or services from ASMS using a credit card. Typically credit card information is provided directly by users, via members.asms.org, into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which ASMS subscribes, and ASMS does not, itself process or store the card information. We strongly encourage you not to submit this information by email. When the ASMS receives credit card information from users or members by email, fax, or mail, it is entered as instructed and then deleted or destroyed.

What happens if you don't give us your data

You can enjoy much of the ASMS website without providing your personal information (creating a profile). Members of ASMS do need to provide personal information to create a profile in order to access member-only content, pay dues, receive dues payment receipts, and copy of the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Conference registrants do need to provide personal information to create a profile in order to register for a conference, receive payment receipts, a name badge for the conference, and to receive information pertinent to the conference. This personal information is necessary to supply members or conference registrants with the services you have purchased or requested, and to authenticate you so that we know it is you and not someone else. You may manage your ASMS subscriptions and you may opt-out of receiving specific marketing from ASMS at any time. To do so, signin to www.members.asms.org to open Your Summary page. Look at the bottom of this page for ASMS email opt-outs. Also, know that if you do not provide us with at least an email address, you will not be able to login to any of the ASMS web platforms.

Security of your information

To help protect the privacy of data and personally identifiable information you transmit through use of this Site, we maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. We restrict access to your personal data to those who need to know that information to provide benefits or services to you. In addition, all contractors that we engage to provide services to you are instructed on the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information.

Data storage and retention

Your personal data is stored by ASMS in our database, a cloud-based database management system that ASMS developed specifically and exclusively for its use. ASMS retains data for the duration of your business or professional relationship with ASMS. For more information on where and how long your personal data is stored, and for more information on your rights of erasure (or right to be forgotten), please contact info [at] asms [dot] org.

Changes and updates to this Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use

As our organization, membership, benefits, and conferences change from time to time, this Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use is expected to change as well. We reserve the right to amend the Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use at any time, for any reason, without notice to you, other than the posting of the amended Privacy Notice and Conditions of Use at this Site. We may email periodic reminders of our notices and terms and conditions, but you should check our Site frequently to see the current Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use that is in effect and any changes that may have been made to it.

How to Remove Your Profile and Personal Data from Asms.org

Please contact us directly any time to request your data records, to request a purge of your profile (data) from Asms.org records. We can also help users and members that wish to edit their personal information but have difficulty doing this online themselves:

American Society for Mass Spectrometry
2019 Galisteo St, Bldg i-1
Santa Fe, NM 87505
info [at] asms [dot] org
Telephone: (505) 989-4517

Questions or Complaints about this ASMS Privacy Policy

Please contact Jennifer Watson in the ASMS Office:

Jennifer Watson
American Society for Mass Spectrometry
2019 Galisteo St, Bldg i-1
Santa Fe, NM 87505
jennifer [at] asms [dot] org
Telephone: (505) 989-4517