Last updated: February 15, 2022
American Film Institute (“AFI,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) has created this Privacy Policy (“Policy”) to explain why we collect certain information and how we protect your personal privacy within our website or associated mobile applications. The following Policy describes our information gathering and dissemination practices for all of our websites located at the URL AFI.com including the websites for AFI Conservatory, AFI Fest, AFI Docs and AFI Silver Theater, as well as our associated mobile applications (each a “Site” and collectively, “Sites”).
In order to fully understand your rights, we encourage you to read this Policy as well as our Terms of Use. AFI reserves the right at any time and without notice to change this Policy simply by posting such changes on our Sites. Any such change will be effective immediately upon posting.
Because we want to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy, this Policy covers the following:
- information that we collect
- our use of cookies and similar technologies
- how we use the information that we collect
- who we may share your information with
- our email policy
- how to review and update your personal information
- how we handle the data of children under 18 years of age
- links to other websites and third parties
- our policy on donor privacy
- our information security practices
- where we are located and process information
- changes to this Policy
- how to contact us
- Information We Collect
In general, we collect certain information, including some personal information, from you when you use our Sites and interact with us. When we use the term “personal information,” we mean information that we directly associate with a specific person, or that can reasonably be used to identify a specific person, such as a name, address, telephone number, email address, or username. We may collect some information that is voluntarily provided by you and other information that is collected by our Sites automatically.
- Information You Provide to Us
Through your use of our Sites and interactions with us, you may provide us with the following personal information:
- name
- contact information (for example an email address, mailing address, or phone number)
- username and password
- transaction and payment information (such as billing address, donation frequency, and preferences)
- event or program registration information (such as the attendee’s name, email address, company, affiliation with AFI, or mailing address)
- application for the AFI conservatory (for example, the applicant’s name and contact information)
- Information We Collect Automatically
When you visit our Sites, certain information about your visit is automatically collected, which may include information about your:
- browser type
- language
- referring site
- IP address
We may also collect information about your location when you access or use our Sites. This could include information regarding your general location using your IP address. Please keep in mind that if you access or use our Sites from a mobile device or use one of our associated mobile apps, we may gather more precise geolocation information from your mobile device. You can disable geolocation services in the settings on your mobile device.
We may collect this information from our use of cookies or similar tools, as described in Section II(a) below.
- Social Media
If you choose to access, visit, and/or use any third-party social networking service(s) that might be integrated with our Sites or our programs, we may receive personal information from those services. To make sure you are comfortable with the personal information third-party social networking services may make available to us, visit those services’ privacy policies and/or modify your privacy settings directly with those services.
- Information You Provide to Us
- Use of “Cookies” and Other Similar Tools
- How We Use Cookies
Like many websites and mobile applications, our Sites may use cookies and similar tools (collectively, “cookies”) to enhance your experience while using our Sites. Cookies are pieces of information that some websites store on a visitor’s computer that are used to collect information. Use of cookies makes browsing easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords, personal preferences regarding your use of the particular website, and ensuring that you don’t see the same ad repeatedly. Some of these cookies are necessary for our Site to function. Other cookies allow us to collect information about browsing activities to help us analyze trends, track users’ movements, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use in order to improve our Site and deliver customized content.
Specifically, our Sites use Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors to our Sites are using AFI.com. This tool can also tell us which websites linked users to our Sites, when they visited, and whether they have visited our Sites before. To find out more about how Google Analytics collects and processes data, please click here.
Our Sites also use certain advertising tools through Facebook. These include “pixel tags” that collect information like IP addresses, the URL of the page that featured the pixel tag, and the amount of time that a user spent looking at that particular page. AFI takes this information and combines it with other information gathered by cookies and similar tools to create content, offers, and advertisements that might be of interest to a particular user. If you would like to opt out of pixel tags, please review the settings in your Facebook account.
We will occasionally share this information collected through cookies with third parties. For more information about this, see Section IV below.
- How to Control Cookies
Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive them, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our Sites will not function properly when you view them.
As noted above, if you would like to opt out of Google Analytics or Facebook settings, please follow the instructions provided at the links below:
- How We Use Cookies
- How We Use the Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, including when you create an account, we may ask for information like your name, email address, mailing address, and general profile preferences. This information may be requested from you on a voluntary basis and you do not have to provide this information. However, if you choose not to submit the requested information, you may not be able to fully participate in all of the activities available through our Sites.
We use information collected about you to:
- enable you to log into and use our Sites
- communicate with you and respond to your questions
- enable you to register for events
- collect and process donations and other purchases or transactions
- administer assistance to you when requested
- maintain the security and integrity of our systems
- notify you of particular services or new features provided by our Sites
- request monetary contributions
- process or service transactions and donations, and send related communications
- facilitate registration and applications for programs and courses
- personalize or enhance your use of our Sites
- provide you with information that you request from AFI
- facilitate your participation in commenting on articles on our Site
- conduct user polls or surveys
- monitor user traffic patterns, profiles, and site usage to assist in the marketing, planning, development, and design of our Sites
- complete a transaction or perform any related function
- perform any other service which you authorize and give consent for
We will also use your information as otherwise permitted or required by applicable laws, rules, or regulations, or the Terms of Use applicable to our Sites.
- With Whom We May Share Your Information
We may engage third-party vendors or service providers to help us develop, operate, and improve AFI, including entities who help us maintain and operate our Sites. We may provide these vendors and service providers with information about our users. We may provide third parties statistics and other aggregate information regarding users of our Sites. Additionally, AFI may allow a vendor or service provider to use certain information about online activity for general improvement or benchmarking purposes. AFI may occasionally share user information with non-profits AFI selects. See Section IX below for more detail.
AFI may release personal information of users of our Sites when it believes in good faith that such release is required by law, requested by subpoena or court order, and/or necessary to assist in discovery of valid legal claims. Additionally, in the event of a corporate restructuring (such as a sale, merger, or other asset transfer), we may share your personal information with a third party.
- Email Policy
AFI regularly sends emails to our members and registered users with information about events and features. You may update your email preferences or unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the “Update email preferences” link at the bottom of every email or, if you have an account, by logging into your account and updating the email settings on your profile. You can also contact us at [email protected] to change your email or contact preferences. When emailing us, please include “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.
- How to Review and Update Your Personal Information
Users are encouraged to update and edit their personal information to keep it current. If you do not have an account with us but would like us to update or correct information maintained about you in our records, please send your request to [email protected].
If you have an account or membership with us, you can log in here and click on “MY PROFILE,” use our online contact form, or write to us at the address below with both your old and new contact information.
- Children Under 18 Years of Age
AFI does not knowingly collect personal information from minors under the age of eighteen (18). If a minor has submitted personal information to AFI, we will delete such information upon request in writing from a parent or guardian.
- Other Websites and Third Parties
Our Sites may contain links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website for which AFI has no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may be different than ours.
- Contests and Sweepstakes
Should you enter a contest or sweepstakes affiliated with or run by AFI, we will collect your name and contact information. Those contests and sweepstakes that are run by third parties have their own terms of use and privacy policies. We will also publish terms of use and privacy policies for any sweepstakes competitions we run. We recommend that you read the privacy and terms statements of any sweepstakes you enter.
- Contests and Sweepstakes
- Donor Privacy
AFI maintains a membership database with personal information such as email address, name, postal address, telephone number, and other donor information of persons who have provided such information to AFI by mail, telephone, or email in connection with their membership applications. By becoming a member of AFI, you may receive future communications from AFI via email or mail.
AFI, like many non-profits, occasionally shares its address lists with companies and organizations not affiliated with AFI. If at any time you do not wish to have such information provided to other companies or organizations, or you do not wish to receive any further information or contact from AFI, you may notify us at [email protected] or calling 800.774.4234.
- Information Security
AFI is committed to keeping your data safe. We have adopted reasonable and appropriate digital as well as physical safeguards for the data that we store. If you have a question about security on our Sites, please contact us using the information in Section XII below.
- Visitors Outside the United States
We are located and operate in the United States. If you are located in another jurisdiction, please be aware that information you provide to us will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. Data protection laws in the United States may be different from those of your country of residence. By using our Sites or services or providing us with any information, you consent to this transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the United States.
- Changes to This Policy
Should we make changes to our Policy, we will update this page accordingly. If you use AFI.com after these updated Policies are posted, you will have accepted the updated Policy.
- How to Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of our Sites, or your dealings with our Sites, please contact us in writing at:
American Film Institute
2021 North Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027You can also send an e-mail to: [email protected]. We request that when you contact us via email, you use the subject line: “Privacy Policy.”
