Important Information for PEF Members & Retirees
Thank you for visiting pefmbp.com, the official website of the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) (hereinafter referred to as the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) or “We”). Because we share your concern about privacy and are committed to protecting your privacy online, we have created this Privacy Statement to explain our information gathering and dissemination practices for this website.
Use of cookies
Uses “cookies” which are small files that allow us to track aggregate statistics and measure site activity, including the number of monthly visitors, the number of repeat visitors, the most popular web pages and other information valuable to improve the usefulness of the site. The PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) will also use cookies to facilitate your online visit by maintaining data that you provide for member services, so that you will not need to re-submit certain information. Cookies do not contain any personal identifiable information; we cannot track the specific pages an individual site visitor views or access any information stored in a cookie by other, non-web sites. If you are concerned about the potential use of information gathered from your computer by “cookies,” you can set your browser to prompt you before it accepts a cookie. Most Internet browsers have settings that let you identify or reject cookies.
Data collection
The type and amount of information received depends on how you use the site; you may provide (1) non-personal information that is collected on an aggregate basis from all users, OR (2) personal information you voluntarily choose to disclose through registering, filling out a profile form, or joining an email list. Members are required to log-in, for validation purposes, to view or use specific member-only features and services.
Collection and use of non-personal information
If you do nothing during your visit but browse, read pages, or download information, our site’s operating system will automatically record the following information about your visit without reference to your personal identity:
- The Internet domain for your Internet service, such as “xcompany.com”
- The type of browser that you use
- The type of operating system that you use (e.g., Windows or Macintosh)
- The date and time of your visit and the web pages that were viewed
- This information is used to help us diagnose technical problems, and track user interests so that we can provide content and special offers of interest to our sites’ users. We gather this information in the aggregate—as a total, not linked to individual users—and we may share it with our affiliates, and certain other reputable entities that share our interests.
Collection and use of personal information
The PEF Membership Benefits Program (MBP) collects and uses personal information that you voluntarily provide for the purposes described below. By “personal information,” we mean information that, on its own, can specifically identify you. This includes your name, email address, and zip code. Any information you provide is collected and stored by the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP).
Membership Information: Certain “Member-Only” sections of the site contain significant information and services exclusive to active and retired members. In order to verify your membership status, we must compare the data that you provide against the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) records. In addition to creating a website profile, a member wishing to access these areas must fill out the required fields on the member-validation page. The information gathered on this page is used only to verify your membership and ensures that your web account grants you access to member-only features. They will not share the personal information gathered on this page with any affiliates or third-party organizations.
Online Purchases: In order to process and fulfill any purchase orders, courses, events or products, you must provide your credit card number, expiration date, security code and billing information. This is standard information required by all credit card processing vendors. For your protection, we use state-of-the-art security protocols to protect sensitive data, such as personal information and credit card numbers. The privacy of this data is ensured with a keyed symmetric encryption algorithm. While this data is being transferred, it is protected by the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) using a 128-bit signed certificate. Additionally, the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) does store your credit card information once the transaction has been accepted.
Third Party Websites: pefmbp.com may link to third-party websites in order to provide you with additional news and services. This Privacy Statement applies only to pefmbp.com website(s) and does not cover sites we may link to. These linked-sites will have their own policies and practices that may be different from ours. We therefore encourage you to familiarize yourself with the policies and practices of the linked-sites, especially if you provide personal information to them. The PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those other sites.
Email Lists: If you choose to sign-up to receive program benefits and email communication from PEF MBP, we ask for your email address and interest-preferences. We use this information to administer the email lists and provide relevant content for your interests and geographic area.
Email unsubscribe process
- Follow the instructions provided at the bottom of all emails; OR
- If you have any problems unsubscribing, email Member Service.
- Feedback and Other Contact Forms: From time-to-time, we may invite you to participate in surveys, polls, contests or other action-oriented type programs. Your opinion matters to us and we want your input. If you choose to participate in these activities, we may need to acquire additional personal information. Generally, we will only use aggregate statistics to produce survey or poll results. However, while we do not ordinarily share personal information that you provide to us on feedback and other contact forms with third parties, depending on the nature of these activities or reason(s) for your contact, it may be necessary to share personal information with third parties to comply with your request.
- Legal Enforcement: PEF MBP fully cooperates with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to release information about individuals who we believe are in violation of our content guidelines, and to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we reasonably believe to be unlawful.
Special notice for parents
We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. You should be aware that this site is not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13. Consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without prior verifiable parental consent.
Security online and offline
This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect the transmission of information you submit to us when you use our secure online forms. You are on a secure page when the lock icon in your Web browsers become locked, as opposed to unlocked, or open, when you are just “surfing.” All the information you provide us through these forms is stored securely off-line, as defined by our Data Collection methods.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also protect user information off-line. All user information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need information to perform a specific job (e.g., Accounting or Member Services) are granted access to personally identifiable information. All employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers that store sensitive information are kept in a secure environment.
If you send us email, you should know that email is not necessarily secure against interception. So, if your communication contains sensitive information (e.g., your account numbers, charge card, private information or social security numbers), and you prefer not to use one of our secure online complaint forms, please contact us by mail or by telephone rather than by email.
How to contact us
- If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, the information we have collected from you online, the practices of this site, or your interaction with the website, please send an email.
- If you experience technical problems with the operation of this web site email us.
- If your personal information changes, such as your name or mailing address, please make changes online via the eStore.
Amendments and consent to this privacy statement
As our website evolves, our Privacy Statement will also undergo changes. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to make changes to this statement at any time. We encourage you to check our Privacy Statement periodically or when you notice new features on the website. All amended terms are effective immediately upon posting. By using this site, you signify your agreement to this Privacy Statement and consent to the collection and use of your information by the PEF Membership Benefits Program (PEF MBP) as described herein.
Additional steps you can take to protect your privacy and security
PEF MBP/pefmbp.com makes every effort to protect your privacy and the security of any information that you provide to us. But we urge you to remember that privacy and security begin with you. You can help avoid cyber crime and identity theft by being vigilant in maintaining the secrecy of any passwords, always use caution when disclosing information online, and make sure you log out of the site before closing you web browser.
Governing law/jurisdiction
This site is created and controlled by the State of New York. As such, the laws of the State of New York will govern this Privacy Statement, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consent and agree that the Federal and State Courts located in County in the State of New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all actions and disputes in connection with this Privacy Statement or arising out of or relating to the use of this site.
