GSS Privacy & Cookie Policy

1. Information about the use of your Personal Data on our websit
   • Government Scientific Source, Inc ("GSS") controls and operates www.govsci.com and marketing.govsci.com (collectively, the "Site") from the company's headquarters in Reston, Virginia.
     
   • This privacy policy outlines GSS’s practices regarding the collection and use of individually identifiable information ("Personal Data") that GSS collects about you on or via the Site. Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. By accessing or using the Site, you agree to this privacy policy.
     
   • At GSS, we take the privacy of your Personal Data seriously and comply with applicable data protection law. Personal Data we obtain about you is used to improve our web services and content, to process orders, and to communicate with you.
     
   • This policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of the Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates. You can review this information at any time at the bottom of each page of our website under the heading "Privacy & Cookie Privacy Statement".
     
2. Information You Actively Submit:
   • This is information about you that you give us by filling in forms on our Site or by corresponding with us by telephone, e-mail, or otherwise. It includes information you provide when you register to use our online store, subscribe to our newsletter or product update services, search for a product, or when you report a problem with our Site. The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and the business or organization you work for.
3. Information Passively Submitted:
   • We automatically collect information during your use and navigation of the Site, including the URL of the website you came from, the browser software you use, your Internet Protocol (IP) address, IP ports, date/time of access, data transferred, pages visited, amount of time you spend on the Site, and information about actions and transactions conducted on the Site.
   • We also use “cookies” to enhance and customize your experience of the Site. A cookie is a small text file that may be stored on your computer or device used to access the Site. You may set your browser software to reject cookies, but doing so may prevent us from offering conveniences or features on the Site. To reject cookies, refer to information about your specific browser software.
4. Use of Information
   • The Personal Data you provide through online collection forms may be used by GSS to provide you with the products, materials, and services you request, as well as:
     • To improve, maintain, and protect our Site and to ensure that the content is relevant to your needs and preferences;
     • To improve our Site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
     • To respond to any other inquiries or requests that you might make;
     • To notify you about updates to our Site;
     • To conduct market, customer, and general business analysis for GSS’s internal use; and
     • To administer our Site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical, and survey purposes;
     • To keep our Site safe and secure;
     • To measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you;
     • To distinguish you from other users of our Site. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Site and it also allows us to improve our Site.
   • The Personal Data, if any, collected through cookies may be used by GSS as set forth in Section 1 of this Privacy Policy. If you do not provide your Personal Data to GSS we will not be able to provide you with the products, materials, and services you request or the additional services listed above.
5. Disclosure of Your Information:
   • We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. We will not disclose your Personal Data to third parties, except in the following circumstances and in accordance with applicable law:
     • With your consent;
     • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
     • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
     • To third party shippers (such as UPS, FEDEX, and the United States Postal Service) to deliver your product(s). There also may be instances in which we drop-ship orders directly to you from one of our manufacturers or suppliers. These drop-shippers are given your information, such as your name, email address, postal address, and telephone number, for the sole purpose of fulfilling your order.
     • To comply with any court order, law or legal process, including responding to any government or regulatory request.
     • To enforce or apply our terms and conditions and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
     • As required by applicable law, including, without limitation, in response to any government or regulatory agency request, to cooperate with law enforcement investigations, or upon receipt of any court order;
     • To a prospective or actual purchaser or seller in the context of a merger, acquisition or other reorganization or sale of our business or assets; and
     • To courts and public authorities to protect you, us, or third parties from harm, including fraud or instances where somebody’s physical safety is at risk.
   • Service providers acting on our behalf shall be obliged to adhere to confidentiality requirements no less protective than those described in this Online Privacy Statement and will only receive access to your Personal Data as necessary to perform their functions.
   • Uses and disclosures of Personal Data by third-party individuals and organizations acting on our behalf are governed by agreements that require Personal Data to be protected appropriately. In these cases, Personal Data about you will only be used and disclosed by us and individuals and organizations working on our behalf, in a manner consistent with this policy, other applicable privacy notices, and as explicitly permitted or required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
6. Personal Data Retention and Security
   • Your Personal Data processed by GSS is kept in a form which permits your identification for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the Personal Data are processed. To determine the data retention period of your data, we use the following criteria:
     • Where you create an account, we keep your Personal Data after a period of inactivity defined in accordance with local law and guidance, unless you require us to delete it earlier;
     • Where you contact us for an inquiry, we keep your Personal Data for the duration needed for the processing of your inquiry;
     • Where you have consented to direct marketing, we keep your Personal Data used for direct marketing until you unsubscribe or require us to delete it or after a period of inactivity (no active interaction with brands) defined in accordance with local regulations and guidance. In that case, we will only keep the information necessary to handle your right to object in accordance with local regulations and guidance and if you are a client we can keep your Personal Data but only for client management purpose
     • Where cookies are placed on your computer, we keep it for a period defined in accordance with local regulations and guidance.
   • GSS implements all appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security for the Personal Data appropriate to the risk and, in particular, protect Personal Data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access to. The same level of protection is contractually imposed by GSS on our services providers.
7. Your Rights:
   • GDPR gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with GDPR, and can be achieved by contacting webmaster@govsci.com. We may require you to provide sufficient information to us in order that we can satisfy ourselves as to your identity.
   • You have the right to ask us not to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes including profiling for these purposes. We will inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us at webmaster @govsci.com.
   • You have the right to require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold. You also have the right to object to, request erasure or request the restriction of the processing of personal information concerning you in certain situations.
   • You have the right to receive the personal information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations.
   • You also have the right to object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you (although we do not currently carry out any such decision making).
8. Miscellaneous:
   • GSS’s Site may contain links to other sites not under the GSS domain names or not owned by GSS. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you. We are not responsible for the content, security, or data protection practices employed by non-GSS websites. GSS does not endorse, warrant, or guarantee the products or services described or offered in these other websites.
   • Non-Personal Data you may supply to GSS through GSS websites will not be treated as proprietary or as confidential and GSS assumes no obligation to protect such information from disclosure. GSS may use any such information you supply to respond to inquiries or as part of its marketing activities. Further, the submission of such information to GSS shall not restrict the purchase, manufacture, or use of similar products, services, plans, and ideas by GSS for any purpose whatever and GSS shall be free to reproduce, use, disclose, and distribute the information to others without restriction.
9. Contact:
   • Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to webmaster@govsci.com.