Website Policies

AOA Privacy Policies

AOA.org is the web site of the American Optometric Association (“AOA”). The AOA respects the privacy of our members and other users of our web site. This Privacy Policy addresses our use of information about you collected by virtue of your membership or other relationship with the AOA, or through your use of AOA.org.

By visiting our web site or maintaining a membership or customer relationship with the AOA, you are accepting the practices described in this privacy policy (the "Privacy Policy").

The AOA reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by posting such change here. Your continued use of the web site or relationship with the AOA after such change is made constitutes acceptance of and agreement to be bound by the terms of the Privacy Policy as modified.

Please continue to check our website for any changes to this policy, as such changes will only be posted on our website, even if the changes affect use of non-electronically submitted information.

In addition to our own web site, we provide links to other third party web sites that are not under the AOA's control. The AOA is not responsible for the privacy policy or content of any web site linked to from the AOA web site. Please be sure to review the privacy policies of any third party websites to ensure you are familiar with that organization’s policies.

You may contact us about this Privacy Policy:

Address: 243 North Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141
Web: Message us
Phone: 800.365.2219
Fax: 314.991.4101

Information we may collect about you

Website Visitors

The information we collect via our web site is used to improve the content of AOA.org and to advance the AOA’s mission.

We collect the Internet protocol (IP) address of visitors to our web site, aggregate information on what pages users access or visit, user-specific information on what pages users access or visit, and information volunteered by users, including from surveys, purchases, contact, and update forms, login data, and/or registrations. We also may collect the e-mail addresses of those who communicate with us via e-mail. This information is used to better understand how visitors use the AOA web site and make improvements.

With respect to cookies, we use cookies to authenticate users requesting members-only content. When a user logs in, a cookie is written for the duration of the session. This is not a persistent cookie. The cookie is destroyed once the user leaves the site. We also use cookies on the web site for specific functions not related to authentication. No personally identifying information is used with these cookies. We use only first-party cookies.

If a user does not allow cookies to be written on their computer, the web site will not be able to authenticate them as a member, which may result in an inability to access protected information.

AOA member and customer information transmitted through means other than the website

This policy also applies to information we collect via other means, including, but not limited to email, paper correspondence and oral conveyances. This includes various types of personally identifying information you provide to us including your name, telephone number(s), address, preferred email address, third party or emergency contact names and information, credit card numbers or other information. The policies listed herein apply to all such information submitted to AOA.

How we may use information we collect

The AOA, its subsidiaries, and its affiliates may use your contact information to alert you to new information, products and services, events, and other opportunities. Please be advised that from time to time, we may also make your contact information available to other reputable organizations whose products or services we think you may find helpful or interesting.

Data in the Aggregate: We may disclose “blinded” aggregated data and user statistics to prospective partners and other third parties and for other lawful purposes. Blinded data is data that does not identify an individual person.

A particular AOA subsidiary or affiliate may have certain privacy policies different than noted here, which may be indicated on its own site.

Your rights

AOA endeavors to keep your information secure while using it to complete requests. AOA reserves the right to retain and use information collected on its websites or through its membership signup and renewal process, or through other transactions with AOA, to conduct necessary business. This includes sharing information with vendors other organizations providing services to AOA or AOA customers or members. We may be required by law to disclose information you have provided in obtaining our services. We may also disclose information against someone who poses a threat to our interests (such as customer fraud) or whose activities could bring harm to others. In addition, it may be necessary for us to provide customer information to third parties, such as credit card companies, for the purpose of resolving disputes that arise in the normal course of business.

AOA adheres to federal laws concerning phone calls, e-mail and fax distributions. Unsubscribe methods are available in all AOA e-mail publications. Specific opt-out requests for AOA communications may be sent to the contact information above.

Upon request, we also offer visitors the ability to have inaccuracies corrected in contact information, financial information, unique identifiers, transaction information and communications that the visitor has directed to the site.

You may also contact us if you believe your information is being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected.

Please contact the AOA if you wish to view, edit or delete your personal information from our database, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to accommodate your request.

Meeting and lodging reservations

When you book a meeting or lodging reservation through our website, we ask you to provide personally identifiable information. We use this information to process and book your registration and/or reservation and to notify you of your registration/reservation status.

We may also ask you for personally identifiable information about other people for whom you may be booking reservations. We use this information only to register and/or reserve the room with the hotel.

We provide information about lodging reserved through our web site to the suppliers who will fulfill your lodging reservation. As such, we have not placed limitations on these suppliers from using or disclosing your information without your permission. Therefore, we encourage you to review the information privacy policies of any lodging suppliers whose products or services you may reserve on our web site. In addition, these travel suppliers may also contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about your confirmed reservation.

We may ask you to provide us with emergency contact information, i.e., the names and contact information of third parties who you would like us to contact in case of an emergency. Please be sure to inform your emergency contact that this information is being submitted to AOA and that if they have any questions about our Privacy Policy, they should either visit our website or contact us.

Data security

With respect to security: we use industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving consumer data exchanged with our site. When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information, such as financial information, we redirect visitors to a secure server and will notify visitors through a pop-up screen on our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site. When users choose to make payments via credit cards, we submit the information needed to obtain payment to the appropriate clearinghouses.  

Your member account information and profile are password-protected. Please remember to sign out of your account and close your browser window when you have finished using your profile. This is to ensure that others cannot access your account by using your computer when you are away from it.

Health information you may share via AOA.org is neither private nor confidential and should be shared, if at all, only in accordance with applicable laws. The AOA is not a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Due to security issues inherent in the use of internet accessible computer networks, the AOA cannot guarantee complete security of information submitted to it by users. However it is the AOA’s intention by use of commercially reasonable efforts, described in more detail in this privacy policy, to protect data in its position.

Exceptions

Notwithstanding anything else in this privacy policy to the contrary, the AOA may collect personally identifiable information and use such information in ways other than those described above if the AOA is required to do so by law or if the AOA deems it advisable in the course of assisting law enforcement activities or protecting its web site(s) or other property.

Website content

The American Optometric Association (AOA) website contains information, communications, software, photos, graphics and other materials collectively known as "Content." This Content is posted for the benefit of the general public and AOA members.

Unless otherwise indicated, the AOA reserves full title and ownership of all Content. Such Content is protected by copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual and proprietary rights.

The Content is provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permissible by applicable law. The AOA makes no representations about the suitability of this Content for any purpose. Nor will the AOA, its employees, contractors, officers, and directors be liable for any damages or injury that may result from the use of the AOA website or its Content.

All AOA Content is made available subject to the following terms and conditions:

• Content (one copy only) may be used and/or downloaded for personal, non-commercial, lawful purposes.
• Further transmission or distribution without written consent is prohibited. Content may not be modified or altered in any way.
• Users may not delete or change any copyright or trademark notice.
• Content, including names, trademarks, service marks, and logos may not be used in any advertising or publicity without the AOA's prior express written permission.
• The content does not, and may not be used to, indicate AOA endorsement of, or affiliation with, any product or service.