Code of Conduct

Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to our Member Services department via the Contact Us link on this site.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

The Rules

  • Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may. 
  • Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. Contact members by using "Reply Privately" with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
  • Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. 
  • All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you. 
  • Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted. 
  • Remember that other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this site unless you specify otherwise. 
  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
    All messages must add to the body of knowledge. We reserve the right to reject any message for any reason.

Discussion Group Etiquette

  • Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location. 
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject. 
  • Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting. 
  • Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from. 
  • Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals--not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings. 
  • Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message." 
     

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of The National Society for Histotechnology.  The National Society for Histotechnology is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by The National Society for Histotechnology or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall The National Society for Histotechnology be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants The National Society for Histotechnology and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

The National Society for Histotechnology does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of The National Society for Histotechnology we will take all appropriate action.

The National Society for Histotechnology reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Privacy Policy

The National Society for Histotechnology respects the privacy of its members and other visitors to its Website. NSH strongly believes that if electronic commerce and online activities are to flourish, consumers must be assured that information provided online is used responsibly and appropriately. To protect online privacy, NSH has implemented the following policy, which is intended to assist visitors in understanding how NSH collects, uses, safeguards and discloses the information collected on nsh.org, histocovention.org, ce.nsh.org, learn.nsh.org, theblock.nsh.org (the “Websites”) and all other publicly available online services controlled or provided by NSH (collectively, the “Services”).

Applicability
This Privacy Policy applies only to the Services, and NSH’S collection, use, disclosure, and protection of your data. It does not apply to third-party websites, applications, or services. Before accessing, using, or interacting with the Services you should carefully review the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

Eligibility to Use the Services
The Services are not directed to children under the age of 16. You may not use the Services if you are under the age of 16.

What Information Does NSH Collect?

Visitors may generally browse public portions of the Website anonymously without providing any personal information. NSH collects data about you and your use of the Services through various means, including when you provide information, when you become an NSH Member, when you register for events and webinars, when you register to track contact hours, and when we automatically collect information about you when you access, use, or interact with the Services. We use this information for a variety of reasons including to help us better serve our members, improve the Services, and tailor the Services to you. It is our general policy to collect and store only personal information that our members and visitors knowingly provide. NSH processes personal data collected through the Services on the lawful basis of legitimate interests to provide the Services to you. Such processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by NSH or by our Service Providers related to the Services.

From General Users, NSH does not collect any personal information from users browsing its Website. Only aggregate data -- such as the number of hits per page -- are collected. Aggregate data are only used for internal and marketing purposes and do not provide any personally identifying information.

From NSH’s Members, Meeting or Webinar Registrants, and Other Customers.
To gain access to members-only resources and personalization features on nsh.org, members and other users are asked to register and provide some limited information. This information is submitted voluntarily. NSH asks users to provide their name, member number (for members), organization name, address, business phone, and e-mail. Similar information may be submitted to NSH through membership applications, the Contact Hour Portal, conference or webinar registration, publication orders, and subscriptions. Additionally, for some e-mails sent in HTML format by NSH to its members through its listservs and electronic newsletters, we will collect specific information regarding what the recipient does with that email. For those emails, NSH will monitor whether a recipient subsequently clicks through to links provided in the message. Other information collected through this tracking feature includes: email address of a user, the date and time of the user's "click," a message number, name of the list from which the message was sent, tracking URL number and destination page. NSH only uses this information to enhance its products and distribution of those products to its members. This information is not sold or distributed in any other manner.
 

What Information Does NSH Collect and How Do We Use It?

NSH Membership and Event Registration: We collect personal data from you when you register for NSH membership in nsh.org, purchase a subscription, sign up for a webinar, emails, newsletters, white papers, or register to attend the Annual Symposium/Convention. “Personal Data” refers to information about you that may be used to identify you, such as your first name, last name, title, email address, phone number, mailing address, and birthdate. NSH uses this information to provide you membership, register you for events, provide information about membership and events, and administer your registration with NSH.


NSH Account Information:
NSH may require you to register for an account (an “NSH Account”) in order to use certain Services, such as the NSH Contact Hour Portal. We do not require you to register to use all of our Services. However, if you do register for Services offering an NSH Account, you will gain access to those areas and features of the Services that require registration. NSH will collect certain information about you in connection with your registration for your NSH Account, which may include Personal Data and other information such as username, password, personal profile, pictures, your location, and information about your contacts. Some of your NSH Account Information may be displayed publicly. You are not required to provide your Personal Data; however, if you choose to withhold certain Personal Data, we may not be able to provide you with certain Services.

Payment Transaction Information: We may collect, and store information related to purchases made through the Services. You may provide certain information to complete payments via the Services, including your credit or debit card number, card expiration date, CVV code, and billing address (collectively, “Payment Information”), along with your name and billing, delivery, and shipping address, to compete payment transactions through certain Services. Please review the Service Providers’ Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions before using their services.

Form Information: We may use online forms to request certain information from you in order to perform certain Services, such as your location to assist you in locating our products, or your contact information to assist you with contacts or service requests. This information may include Personal Data.

Correspondence Information:
If you sign up for a membership, attend a conference or event, email us, subscribe to our newsletters mailing lists, Contact Hour Portal, publications or blogs, we may keep your message, email address, and contact information to respond to your requests, provide the requested products or Services, and to provide notifications or other correspondence to you. If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, you may let us know by sending us an email or by writing to us at the address below. Please note, requests to remove your email address from our lists may take some time to fulfill. We may also still contact you as needed to provide important announcements or notifications regarding the Services.

What Information Does NSH Automatically Collect?

Cookies, Web Beacons, Links, and other tracking technologies:  NSH may keep track of how you use and interact with the Services through the use of cookies, web beacons, links, and other technologies. We do this to help analyze the use of and improve the Services.  Through these technologies we may automatically collect information about your use of the Services and other online activities, including our email correspondences, third-party services, and client applications, and certain online activities after you leave the Services.  Link information is generally only analyzed on an aggregate basis.  Some Services may not function properly if you disable cookies. Such data may include analytics information, sites visited before visiting the Services, browser type, operating system, and tracking of your interactions with our content and emails.

What Information Does NSH Share?

Please note NSH works with Service Providers (as defined below) to handle payment transactions. NSH does not itself collect or maintain your credit card or other financial account information; this information is handled for NSH by our Service Providers. You are subject to the Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions of our Service Providers when purchasing an NSH membership or shopping for NSH products.

NSH Personnel: NSH’s personnel may have access to your information as needed to provide and operate the Services in the normal course of business. This includes information regarding your use and interaction with the Services.


Service Providers: NSH works with various organizations and individuals to help provide the Services to you (“Service Providers”), such as website and data hosting companies and companies providing analytics information, like Google Analytics. We may share your personal information with our Service Providers for the purpose of providing the Services. The information we share to our Service Providers may include both information you provide to us and information we collect about you, including Personal Data and information from data collection tools like cookies, web beacons, log files, Unique Identifiers, and location data. NSH takes reasonable steps to ensure that our Service Providers are obligated to reasonably protect your information on NSH’s behalf. If NSH becomes aware that a Service Provider is using or disclosing information improperly, we will take commercially reasonable steps to end or correct improper use or disclosure.

Lawful Requests: We may be required to disclose User information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We generally do not disclose User information unless we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. We may share your information when we believe it is necessary to comply with applicable laws, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Services or using the NSH name, or to protect the safety of any person. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents, or government agencies. Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any legal defenses or objections that you may have to a third party’s, including a government’s, request to disclose your information.


Disclosures to Third Parties. NSH also makes member contact information available through the NSH Membership Directory to other members using its Website and to those who register for its conferences. NSH may also provide limited data to third parties that offer products and services, for example vendors exhibiting at our Annual Symposium/Convention. This limited data includes names, job titles, companies and business addresses, and emails but does not include business phone numbers or business fax numbers. Users may request NSH refrain from disclosing the data it collects to third parties on the membership application form, conference registration form or any other form on which they are providing information. To make the request, users should contact us using the information provided below.


Consent to Use Personal Information. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act(s) 1984 and 1998 (as applicable), NSH and its agents must store, host and otherwise process the information (including personal data) supplied by the User when registering for this Website. NSH may send such data outside the European Economic Area for processing. If you reside in the European Union, please indicate your consent that the personal information you have provided may be transferred and stored in countries outside of the EU, including the United States. User supplies as defined above when registering for the Website in order to allow NSH (or its designated agents) to use the information to send the User unsolicited direct mail advertisements, promotions, and solicitations for third parties' products and services.

What are My Rights and Choices Regarding My Information?

Your Rights
Relevant data protection laws provide you certain rights regarding the protection of your data, including:

The right to be informed
The right of access
The right of rectification
The right to be forgotten
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object
The right of automated decision making and profiling

More information about your rights relating to NSH and the Services is provided via this Privacy Policy

How Do I Access the Information NSH Has Collected About Me?

NSH welcomes you to contact us regarding the information we have collected about you, including regarding the nature and accuracy of the data that has been collected about you, to request an update, modification, or deletion of your information, to opt-out of certain Services uses of your information, or to withdraw any consent you may have granted to NSH.

Please note that requests to delete or remove your information do not necessarily ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted, and removed information may persist in backup copies indefinitely. Please note that if you choose to delete your information or opt-out of the collection and use of your information, you understand that certain features, including but not limited to access to the Services, may no longer be available to you.

We may store the information we collect about you indefinitely, but information generally will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected, or as otherwise required by law. Following termination or deactivation of an NSH Account, NSH may retain your information and content for a commercially reasonable time for backup, archival, and audit purposes.

Safety Of Information

NSH takes reasonable efforts to secure and protect the privacy, accuracy, and reliability of your information and to protect it from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alternation and destruction. NSH implements security measures as we deem appropriate and consistent with industry standards. As no data security protocol is impenetrable, NSH cannot guarantee the security of our systems or databases, nor can we guarantee that personal information we collect about you will not be breached, intercepted, destroyed, accessed, or otherwise disclosed without authorization. Accordingly, any information you transfer to or from Services is provided at your own risk.

Please do your part to help us keep your information secure. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and NSH Account and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or NSH Account. NSH specifically reserves the right to terminate your access to the Services and any contract you have with NSH related to the Services in the event it learns or suspects you have disclosed your NSH Account or password information to an unauthorized third party.

Opting Out of Communications From NSH

Users may opt-out of receiving certain communications from NSH by following the unsubscribe process described in an email communication, or by contacting us using the contact information provided below.  However, please note you may not opt out of Services-related communications, such as account verification, changes or updates to features of the Services, or technical and security notices.

Do Not Track

NSH does not currently employ a process for automatically responding to “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals sent by web browsers, mobile devices, or other mechanisms. Per industry standards, third parties may be able to collect information, including Personal Data, about your online activities over time and across different websites or online services when you use Services. You may opt out of online behavioral ads at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. You may also limit certain tracking by disabling cookies in your web browser.

Additional Provisions Regarding the Services and Your Information

Transfer and Storage of Your Information: Please note, information NSH collects about you may be transferred, processed and/or accessed by us in the United States, or another country where we, or our Service Providers operate. Please be aware Personal Data may be transferred to, and maintained on, computers located outside of your state or country where privacy laws may differ from and may not be as protective as those where you live. If you are located outside of the United States and choose to allow us to collect information about you, please be aware that NSH may transfer your Personal Data to the United States and process and store it here.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information to a country or jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction, as disclosed in the Privacy Policy. It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of Service Providers, also as disclosed.


Changes to Our Privacy Policy

NSH reserves the right to revise this privacy statement by posting a revised statement on this Website. Use of this Website after such change signifies the user’s acceptance of the changed terms.

Contact

Privacy Request
National Society for Histotechnology
3545 Ellicott Mills Drive, PMB 204
Ellicott City, MD 21043
histo@nsh.org
Phone: (443) 535-4060