Privacy Policy

We Respect your Privacy!

The Ocean Institute is dedicated to protecting your privacy as you use our web site. Our policy is that no personal information will be collected about you unless you choose to provide it and that any personal information which you provide us will be safeguarded and not shared with others for any reason. If during your visit to our site you only browse, read pages or download material, we can not collect any information that will identify you personally, or determine your e-mail address.

Our Web server automatically recognizes the domain name and Internet Protocol (IP) address of each visitor to our site. An IP address is a code that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. Every computer or network that’s connected to the Internet has an IP address. Like most major sites, we collect and analyze that information to help us improve the site for our visitors. This helps us determine which pages you visit, how long you stay and the site you visited immediately beforehand. Your IP address is used to help identify your computer and your shopping cart and to gather broad demographic information. We provide forms and links in places throughout the site for you to send comments and ideas, to ask for more information and to report problems you may experience on our site. Even if you e-mail us through one of our response forms on the site, we cannot determine your e-mail address unless you include it in your response.

With your permission, we may wish to post your comments on our site. We will not identify you personally, only by first name or initials, and certainly will not disclose your e-mail address. If you purchase goods through this site, you will be asked to provide personal and financial information so that we may process your order. Also, we use “cookies” (including one stored on your computer) to keep track of your shopping cart as you move through the store. Cookies are bits of information that allow our server to recognize your computer. We also use cookies to learn from your visits how you move through the site so that we may continue to improve your Ocean Institute web site experience. We safeguard this information and do not share it with others for any reason. We welcome your e-mail messages and suggestions of ways in which we can improve the site. We will use any personal information you send us only to respond to your message. Please note that any suggestions or ideas you submit to us will become the property of the Ocean Institute and can be used by us for any purpose.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your dealings with this site, please contact us at oi@ocean-institute.org