Privacy Policy

This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how we handle the personally identifiable information that you provide to us on this website (the “Web Site”) and wherever else this Privacy Policy is posted or linked (including our ticketing kiosks). This Privacy Policy does not govern any other Company website that has a different privacy policy or any third-party website, including those accessible or linked to from this Web Site. After reading this Privacy Policy, you will know:

1. What information the Company collects from you.
2. How the Company uses and shares your information.
3. Choices you have about how the Company uses your information.
4. How the Company protects your information.
5. How the Company handles third-party websites.
6. What the Company does about children under the age of 13 using the Web Site.
7. How you can contact the Company.
8. How the Company handles information about our donors.

Please be sure to carefully read this Privacy Policy before using our Web Site or submitting information to us. Please note that by submitting information to us or accessing or using the Web Site, (i) you agree to be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy, and (ii) you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of any information you provide to us.

At times, it may be necessary for us to make changes to this Privacy Policy. We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice. Your continued use of the Web Site or submission of information to us after we have made any modifications to this Privacy Policy indicates your agreement with the terms of the revised Privacy Policy.

1. Information the Company Collects From You

Information You Provide. We may collect information directly from you that either directly identifies you or could be reasonably used in combination with other publicly available information to identify you (“personal information”). We may aggregate that personal information and certain non-personally identifiable information as well.

From time to time, we may ask you to provide personal information. Such circumstances may include, for example,

• When you sign up for our email newsletters or other mailing lists.
• When you request a reservation or inquire about programming.
• When you sign up for a membership by clicking on the “Become a Member” button on our Web Site and creating an account.
• When you purchase a ticket for general admission or an experience on our Web Site or by using an onsite computer kiosk.
• When you reserve a free or discounted ticket for general admission or an experience on our Web Site or onsite computer kiosk. (Please note that we may scan your driver license ID or non-driver ID to confirm your eligibility for a discount, but do not collect or store your license or ID information.)
• When you make a donation.

Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, the following data:

• First name and last name
• Web Site account credentials (e.g., email and password used for log in)
• Email address
• Street address
• Country of residence
• Phone number
• Transaction and payment information.

If you are a teacher, we may also collect information about the grades and subjects that you teach, as well as general information about your school. Depending on how you use the Web Site, you might not need to provide some of the aforementioned information, but in some cases, you may not be able to access parts of our Web Site if you choose not to provide your information. In circumstances where you provide information to make a purchase or a donation, please note that we limit our collection of transaction and payment information to include only the information that is necessary to enable you to make such purchase or donation.

Information We Collect Automatically. As you utilize the Web Site, certain information can be passively collected (that is, gathered without you actively providing the information) using various technologies and means, such as navigational data collection. Like most website operators, we track IP addresses during your visit and we use session, persistent, and flash cookies, and may use any other similar or successor tracking technology. Our system also automatically gathers information about your use of the Web Site and collects operational information about the technology you use, such as your browser, type of computer, operating systems, and Internet service providers.

We passively collect and use information to generate statistics and measure Web Site activity in order to understand what areas of the Web Site are most popular, which areas may require improvement and what technologies our visitors are using. This information helps us to update and improve the Web Site and enhance the usefulness of customer visits. We also collect and use this information for security purposes, to detect and to block security breaches and to provide you with a safe online environment.

We reserve the right to use electronic images known as web beacons, also referred to as single-pixel gifs, and any other successor technology, that permit us to count users who have visited certain Web Site pages and for other related statistics (e.g., recording the popularity of certain Web Site content and verifying system and server integrity).

2. How the Company Uses and Shares Your Information

We collect and use your personal information to respond to your requests for information or process your donations or purchases. We may use the non-personally identifiable, de-identified data, or aggregated data we collect for any purpose. We may send you information about events and features that we believe may be of interest to you. We also may use your contact information for marketing and other purposes.

We may share your personal information, as necessary, with agents and service providers who provide services or administer activities on our behalf, such as Web Site maintenance, payment processing, and information technology services. We only share your information with service providers when such disclosure is necessary for the service providers to perform their duties. We also will disclose any information about you or collected from you that it is required to be disclosed by law.

We do not otherwise sell, exchange, or share your personal information with any third parties, except with other local non-profit organizations, but only if these organizations agree to not sell or otherwise share your personal information. If you do not want your personal information shared with other non-profit institutions, please contact our membership hotline at 312-692-3284 or email us.

In the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, or reorganization of the Company, or in connection with a transfer of the assets related to the Web Site, we may transfer some or all of the information we maintain on you to the applicable successor(s), but such transfer will be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

3. Your Choices

If you want to opt-out of receiving marketing emails from us, you may click the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of emails, (which is located at the bottom of the page when you click “View in Browser”), or email us directly. Please note that you will continue to receive non-marketing communications (including, but not limited to, order confirmations, donation receipts, and pre-program information) and any legally required notices from us via email.

You may contact us to request access to, correction or deletion of any personal information that you have provided to us. You may also ask us to delete your account. To protect your privacy, we will only respond to e-mail messages sent from the e-mail account you specified when you gave us your contact information. Please note that we may not be able to fully grant your request if we need your information to provide the services you request or where we are required by law to retain data. We will also retain a record of your request.

You may opt out of having your e-mail address used for promotional purposes by the Company, but this opt out will not apply to non-promotional purposes.

If you no longer wish to receive or promotional materials from us by e-mail, you may opt out of receiving these communications by using one of the following methods:

• Send us an email asking to be omitted from future e-mail distributions.
• Visit the Web Site and enter your email address in the Unsubscribe area.
• Follow the instructions contained in the promotional email or newsletter.

If your browser permits, you may set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Web Site may be inaccessible or may not function properly.

Please note that we do not send the communications you may receive from our online shop (https://shop.shedd.kastlfel.com/). If you wish to unsubscribe from those emails, please review the shop’s privacy policy.

4. How the Company Protects Your Information

We work hard to protect your personal information. We have both technical and procedural security measures in place to protect personal information under our control against loss, misuse, and alteration, including but not limited to, SSL and encryption for data transfer, firewalls, restricted access to data, employee training, and other methods. When you submit your payment information, we offer the use of a secure browser and data encryption. Only those employees who need access to your information to perform their duties are allowed access.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Never share your password with anyone else, and notify us promptly if you believe your password security has been breached.

5. Third-Party Websites

The Web Site may contain links to other websites operated by third parties that may be of interest to you. We cannot control these third-party websites, which may collect personally identifiable information from you. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices or content of such websites. When you follow a link and leave the Web Site, you do so at your own risk.

We do not have control over the privacy policies applied by any other party to whom you may disclose information. We are not responsible for their content or privacy policies. If you would like information on another party's privacy policy, you should contact that party directly, and we encourage you to do so.

6. What the Company Does About Children Under the Age of 13 Using the Web Site

On our Web Site, we offer many features, such as the ability to view information about our exhibits and animals, which do not require a child to provide any personal information. We will not condition a child’s participation in any online activity on the child’s disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in that activity.

During the registration process, we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13, without first providing the parent or legal guardian with notice and obtaining prior verifiable consent. We encourage parents to talk to their children about their use of the Internet and the information they disclose online. If a child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, a parent or guardian of that child may contact us via e-mail if they would like this information deleted from our records. We will use reasonable efforts to delete the child’s information from our databases.

7. How You Can Contact the Company

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of the Company, or your dealings with the Company, or if you wish to know what personal information the Company is storing about you, you can contact us.

8. Additional Donor Privacy Policy and Our Commitment to Our Donors

This Additional Donor Privacy Policy applies to all information received by the Company, both online and offline, on any platform (including, without limitation, the Web Site and our mobile applications), as well as any electronic, written, or oral communications.

We will not sell our donors' names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. Donors’ printed mail addresses may be included in list shares with peer non-profit cultural institutions; if you would like to exclude your contact information from a shared list, you may contact us at [email protected] to adjust your preferred contact settings.