At the Botanical Society of America, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Policy explains when and why we collect personal data about the people who visit our web sites (www.botany.org, www.botanyconference.org, www.plantingscience.org, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15372197, and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21680450), how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.

Who are we?

The Botanical Society of America (BSA) is a "not-for-profit" 501 (c) (3) scientific membership society whose mission is to: promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere.   The BSA is a home for ALL botanists and plant scientists. We support the breadth and diversity of botanical research and education by organizing scientific meetings, publishing research in our Society-owned journals, providing awards and grants, newsletters, and important information about happenings in the field of Botany.

What type of personal data do we collect? We obtain information from you when you join and renew your membership with the Society; apply for awards; register for a scientific meeting; make a donation; volunteer to participate in our education and outreach programs; and/or submit your manuscript for publication or your abstract for presentation at a conference.   The personal data we collect varies based on the services we are providing and might include your name, company name, address, email address, your areas of expertise, and other personal preferences you voluntarily provide to us to assist us in providing the right type of Society benefits and opportunities to you. If you make a payment or donation online, your card information is not held by us; it is collected by our third-party payment processors, who specialize in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions.

How do we use your personal data? We use your personal information to provide you with products you have ordered and services provided by the Society. This includes but is not limited to email newsletters; print and online journals and newsletters; email reminders about Society benefits including voting privileges, award and educational outreach opportunities, meetings and donation solicitations; email correspondence regarding our publications; and to facilitate your engagement with the broader botanical community. If you correspond with the Botanical Society of America via e-mail, the postal service, our web forms, or other form of communication, we may retain the correspondence and the information it contains for business purposes.

We may also compile, anonymize, and/or aggregate personal data that was voluntarily given by you in order to understand our scientific community so that we can serve its legitimate interests, apply for grants to further to Society’s mission, and analyze gaps in our membership community, our publications, or our services.

BSA does not sell or trade postal or email addresses to third parties.

Disclosure of Personal Data

BSA shares your personal data with third parties that provide certain services to assist us in meeting business operation needs. These parties are authorized to process your personal data on BSA’s behalf and pursuant to BSA’s instructions, only as necessary to provide these services. Your personal data is shared with the following service providers:

• Providers of payment processing and accounting, as necessary to process payment

• Providers of back-office database and marketing systems

• Contracted vendors for certain events, including the annual scientific conference

BSA may also disclose personal data to third parties in the following circumstances:

• If you request or authorize
• The information is provided to comply with the law
• To respond to a government request or to lawful requests by public authorities
• To address emergencies or acts of God

If BSA is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale or transition of service to another provider, your personal data and other information may be transferred to a successor of an affiliate as part of that transaction along with other assets.

BSA collects, stores, and processes the information in the U.S. If you are outside the U.S., your personal data and other information will be transferred to the U.S. The data privacy and data protection laws outside your country may offer less protection than the laws in your country. By using BSA services, you agree to the transfer of your personal data. If you do not agree to such cross-border transfers of your personal data, please do not submit it through the website.

How you can access and change information

BSA acknowledges that you have the right to access your personal data.  On the BSA website, which requires you to use your login and password, you may access and edit some of your Personal Data directly. Personal data may also be changed by sending an email to BSA Customer Service at bsa-manager@botany.org. In case you request us to remove data, contact us at bsa-manager@botany.org and we will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

If you are an EU Data Subject, please see the “EU Data Subjects Privacy Addendum” for information on your rights in relation to the Personal Data we hold about you.

Our Security Measures to Protect Your Personal Data

We are committed to taking reasonable efforts to secure the information that you choose to provide us, and we use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect against unauthorized access to or alteration, disclosure, or destruction of personal data. We restrict access to personal data to our employees, contractors, service providers, Board of Directors and Committee leadership, who need to know the information in order to operate, develop, or improve our services.

Unfortunately, no transmission of personal data over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, and despite our efforts, The Botanical Society of America cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, or to or from our online products or services. The BSA has no responsibility or liability for the security of information transmitted via the Internet. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or the security of your personal data, please contact us as indicated under the “Contact Us” section below.

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our treatment of the information you provide us, please contact as at:

Address: 4475 Castleman Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110 Phone: 314-577-9566 Email:  bsa-manager@botany.org

If you have contributed to our journals by being an author, reviewer, or editor, please also see the Website Privacy Policy for our manuscript submission and peer-review system, Aries Systems Corporation: https://www.ariessys.com/about/privacy-policy/.