Privacy Policy
Welcome, this website is owned and produced by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM is the leading membership association for the human resource profession. Our websites are available to all visitors, although some content and features are restricted to SHRM members.
There are forms for visitors to request information and these forms may ask for contact information (such as your phone number or e-mail address), unique identifiers (usually your SHRM membership number, if one is available), or demographic information (for example, your age, location, PHR/SPHR designation, etc.). Contact information from these forms is used to provide the products and promotional materials that you request.
This Online Privacy Policy discloses SHRM's privacy practices and contains detailed information about the following:
- What information of yours does SHRM Online collect?
- What are "cookies" and how does SHRM use them?
- What organization collects the information and who has access to it?
- How does SHRM use the information it collects?
- How can you modify your SHRM member information?
- What is the opt-out policy for SHRM Online?
- What types of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?
- How does SHRM Online use bulletin boards, discussion lists, and moderated chats?
All products and services on SHRM are made available subject to this Privacy Policy. By using the products and services, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy.
Questions regarding this statement should be directed to:
The Society for Human Resources Management
1800 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia, 22314
703-548-3440 or 800-283-7476
shrm@shrm.org
SHRM Online will update this policy from time to time, so please check back periodically.
Frequently-Asked Questions
1. What information of yours does SHRM collect?
Our goal is to become your destination for HR-related information by providing information, services, and product offerings that are most relevant to you in the most convenient way. To achieve this goal, SHRM collects information about site visitors.
Information collected online is usually defined as being either anonymous or personally identifiable.
Anonymous information refers to data that cannot be tied back to a specific individual. SHRM collects some information each time a visitor comes to a SHRM website, so we can improve the overall quality of the visitor's online experience. For example, SHRM collects the visitor's IP address, browser, and platform type (e.g., a Netscape browser on a Windows platform). Gathering this data helps us to learn what browsers we need to support. Other anonymous information helps us determine what sections of SHRM Online are most popular and how many visitors come to our site(s). You do not have to register with SHRM Online before we can collect this anonymous information.
Personally identifiable information refers to data that tells us specifically who you are (e.g., your name and postal address). You are only required to provide such information if you want to take advantage of optional products and services provided through our website(s).
SHRM collects personal information in the following ways from different parts of its website(s):
- Other Registration: You may be asked for personal information when registering for specific services. For example, if you submit the Affiliate Agreement, you will be asked to provide your e-mail address.
2. What are "cookies" and how does SHRM use them?
A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a website to the hard drive of your computer. This unique number identifies your web browser-but not you-to SHRM computers whenever you visit SHRM Online. A cookie will not provide personally identifiable information about you, such as your name and address. The use of cookies is now an industry standard, and cookies are currently used on most major websites. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can reset your browser to notify you when you have received a cookie. You can also set your browser to refuse to accept cookies altogether. While SHRM does not require you to use cookies, keep in mind that certain services will not function properly if you set your browser to refuse all cookies.
To help serve you better, SHRM generally uses cookies to:
- Display advertisements. SHRM uses an outside ad company to display SHRM-approved ads on our website. While we use cookies on other parts of our website(s), the cookies received with banner ads are collected by our ad company. These cookies allow SHRM to manage the delivery of ads and do not collect personally identifiable information. For more information about our third party ad company, their cookies, and how to "opt-out" of those cookies, please click here.
3. What organization collects the information and who has access to it?
Data collected through SHRM's website(s) is generally collected and maintained solely by SHRM. More specifically:
a.) Personally identifiable information.
(i) Information provided when you register for services or products. When you provide personally identifiable information on SHRM Online to register for a service, buy a product, or take advantage of a promotion; effective as to information you provide SHRM on or after May 1, 2009, SHRM sells to selected third parties, mailing lists (names, postal addresses, and or e-mail addresses) derived from such registrations. If you wish to opt out of such list sales at any time, you may do so by following the directions in Item 6 below.
b.) Anonymous information.
We disclose to third-party sponsors/advertisers aggregate statistics (i.e., impressions and click-throughs on a company's advertisement). Also, we may share aggregate website statistics with the media or other third parties. No personally identifiable information is disclosed to these sponsors/advertisers or other third parties as part of this process-only information in an aggregate form.
Be aware that SHRM's sponsors, advertisers, and third-party content providers have links on our site(s) that take you to other websites. For example, when you click on an ad displayed on SHRM Online, you are linked to another site. Please note also that links to other websites are provided throughout SHRM Online for users' information and convenience. SHRM hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding the privacy of our users. However, SHRM's Online Privacy Policy does not cover third-party data collection practices, and SHRM Online does not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties.
4. How does SHRM use the information it collects?
SHRM collects information to provide you with the services you request and to improve our website(s).
As mentioned above, SHRM uses the aggregate, anonymous data collected to let our sponsors/advertisers know the number of impressions or views and the number of "click throughs" on their advertisement(s). SHRM also uses this aggregate, anonymous data to perform statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our site visitors; to measure user interests regarding specific areas of the SHRM Online; and to analyze how and where best to use our resources. Without such data, we would not know which parts of SHRM Online are the most popular, and we would not be able to change and update the content and services appropriately.
SHRM may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to provide information on individual users to the appropriate governmental authorities. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, SHRM may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities.
5. How can SHRM members modify their personal information?
SHRM members have the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided.
E-mail: shrm@shrm.org
Visit: www.shrm.org/memberrecord
Send mail to the following postal address: SHRM, 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314, ATTN: Customer Service Department.
Call: 703/548-3440 or 800-283-7476.
6. What is the opt-out policy for SHRM Online?
SHRM provides members and customers the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us and our partners. If you no longer wish to receive specific communications or services, you have the following options:
You can send an e-mail to: shrm@shrm.org
You can send mail to the following postal address: SHRM, 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314, ATTN: Customer Service Department.
You can call the following telephone numbers: 800-283-7476 or 703-548-3440.
Instructions for opting out of any SHRM e-mail newsletter you receive are included with each e-mail.
7. What kinds of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?
SHRM has security measures, such as firewalls, in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of your user data under our control. While we cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration to data will not occur, we take reasonable precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences. Any other particularly sensitive information, such as your credit card number, collected for a commerce transaction is encrypted prior to transmission.
Privacy Policy Effective May, 2002. Updated September 21, 2009.
Click here to learn more information about how we use a third party service to collect and use information on this Web site.
