PBS PRIVACY POLICY

Nothing is more important to us than protecting the private information of our visitors. From the PBS homepage to more than 85,000 pages of content produced by our affiliates, the “pbs.org” domain remains a safehaven. All PBS affiliated web sites adhere to a strict policy for ensuring the privacy of your—and your children’s—personally identifiable information (such as full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number and/or other identifiable information) and preserving the integrity of this online medium.

Gathering and Use of Information

  1. We will not collect personally identifiable information from you, other than what you supply to us on a voluntary basis.
  2. In order to participate in some activities, you might be asked to provide some personally identifiable information. This could be in connection with the following:
    • contest or sweepstakes registration
    • subscription registration for sites or services which require subscription (such as e-mail newsletters)
    • requests for membership information to local television stations
    • transactions in shopPBS
    • content submissions, community postings (i.e., forums or bulletin boards), comments and suggestions, or voting
  3. PBS Online will not willfully disclose your personal information to any third party without first receiving your permission.
  4. PBS Online may use your personally identifiable information for activities explained above, for internal and marketing promotional purposes, or when shopPBS customer mailing lists are made available to carefully screened companies whose products or services might interest individuals who have shopped on the PBS web site (this is the only case where such information is provided to third parties, at your approval).
  5. We will always explain the extent of its use at the time you are asked to provide personal information. If you do not want this information to be collected or used by us for these purposes, you can simply "opt out." Under certain circumstances, opting out may prevent your participation in activities for which personal information is needed, as in contests.

Tracking and Use of Cookies

Special computer code allows PBS Online to track user activity on our site. This computer code, when implemented, is called a “cookie.” PBS Online uses cookie technology through our localization options. When you enter your zip code and then select your station, a cookie will assign you a unique number (with no meaning whatsoever outside the customization process) that recalls this information each time you visit. As a result, you are able to customize your browsing experiences for your local PBS station, putting your local public television schedule, community events, calendars and a link to your local station site at your fingertips every time you visit PBS Online. At no time will this cookie reveal to others your name, e-mail address, street address, or telephone number (even if you have entered these in other areas of PBS Online). Please note that if you arrive at PBS.org from a local station Web site, you will be automatically localized to that station. If you wish to change your local station preference, please visit Station Finder.

PBS Kids Privacy Policy

Because PBS Kids speaks to a special audience, web sites that provide components for children must follow additional guidelines above and beyond the PBS Online policies. For complete guidelines on information collection and sponsorship, please visit the PBS Kids Privacy Policy.

Acceptance of PBS Online Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions

By using this site, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of this PBS Online Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, please do not use the site. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for any changes. Your continued use of PBS Online following the posting of any changes to these terms shall mean that you have accepted those changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail us at www@pbs.org.

Rules of the Road

Please also make sure to read PBS Online’s Rules of the Road to understand the additional terms and conditions which apply to your use of our sites.

Last modified on 7/30/2002