Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting and using our website, www.awwa.org (the “Site”), or one of our affiliate websites, which are owned and operated by the American Water Works Association, headquartered in Denver, Colo., U.S.A., or one of its business affiliates. This Privacy Policy details AWWA’s policies and practices intended to protect the privacy of its members, customers, staff, and others who use this Site or engage in offline interactions with AWWA.  We are committed to the highest standards of personal privacy, including but not limited to compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”).  Accordingly, you must affirmatively consent to the uses of your personal information described in this Policy before creating an account on the Site. 

You may choose to decline some or all of those uses or any of the other privacy practices described in this Policy by completing this form.  If you do not accept all the privacy practices described in this Policy, you may continue to use the Site but you will not be allowed to register and create an account because doing so requires us to gather personal information about you. Some AWWA sites and functionality require an account.

We are committed to respecting your privacy and recognizing your need for appropriate protection of your personal information, such as your name, postal address, telephone number, fax number, email address, credit card information, and personal or business interests that you voluntarily share with us. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to let you know what personal information we may collect from you, how we use such information, and the choices you have regarding the use of, and your ability to review and correct, your personal information.

This Policy may be updated or changed at any time in AWWA’s discretion.  Updates to this Policy are effective when posted on the Site.  Unless we materially change our uses of your personal information, your continued use of the Site following the posting of any changes to this Policy means that you agree to the changes.  You always retain the right to withdraw your consent to any of our uses of your personal information or our other privacy practices by completing this form.

All content of this website is copyrighted. For details, please see the AWWA Copyright Notice.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or have reason to believe AWWA has not adhered to it, please contact

AWWA Customer Service
6666 W. Quincy Ave.
Denver CO 80235

You can also email us at Customer Service or call us at 800.926.7337  (303.794.7711 if calling from outside the U.S and Canada).  For purposes of the GDPR, AWWA may be deemed to be the “controller” of your personal information.  AWWA may engage one or more third parties to assist AWWA in the gathering, compilation or use of your personal information, as described elsewhere in this Policy.  Some of those third parties may be deemed to be “processors” of your personal information. 

How AWWA collects your information

We collect your personal information when you give it to us through the use of our services, by registering on the Site, your purchase of goods or services from us or your other interactions with us, including your membership application and related communications with us.

Information We Collect from Your Use of Services. You can visit some AWWA pages anonymously, without providing any personal information. However, we automatically collect and store logs of non-personal electronic data, such as the device, browser type, and online activity data of all website visitors. Some AWWA sites and functionality require an account.

We also use cookies and various technologies that are sent to your device when you visit our website. A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the Site again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other non-personal information. Our website does not recognize automated browser signals regarding tracking mechanisms, such as ‘do not track’ instructions but you may set your browser to block certain cookies, require your consent before a cookie is placed in your browser, or block all cookies. By allowing us to use cookies, we believe your experience on our website may be enhanced. When you go on the Site, you are asked to consent to our use of cookies. Read our Cookie Policy to learn more.    

Information You Give Us. When you interact with AWWA on the Site or otherwise, we may ask you to provide certain personal information voluntarily. AWWA collects some personal information, like demographic characteristics, to help us understand and better serve the interests and needs of our members, customers, and website visitors. We also collect personal information you provide to us in connection with a variety of authorized transactions. If you choose not to provide some of the personal information requested, you may be unable to access and use certain services and content on the Site or receive information from us that we believe will be of interest to you.

Examples of when AWWA may collect your personal information include:

  • Creating an account on our website.
  • Submitting forms or inquiries.
  • Purchasing or downloading AWWA products and services.
  • Submitting papers or abstracts for presentation at conferences.

Children. AWWA does not intentionally or knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. AWWA may sell products intended for use by children, but does not target its marketing, communications, or the Site toward children. If a child has provided AWWA with any personal  information, a parent or guardian of that child should contact AWWA Customer Service if the parent or guardian would like this information deleted from AWWA’s records. AWWA will then take all reasonable steps to delete the information from AWWA’s records.

How AWWA uses your information

Improve Browsing Experience. AWWA utilizes some of the personal information we collect to improve your experience on the Site, such as automatically logging you into the site upon your return. We regularly review the non-identifying data of all website visitors to determine how we can improve your experience with the site, the services we offer, and troubleshoot any issues with the site.

Provide You Services. Some of our services require the use of your personal information to determine appropriate access. Many of these services require an account and for you to be logged on the Site to verify appropriate security access. As an example, you must be logged in and an AWWA member to read full articles of Journal AWWA. Other services require your personal information to complete operational activities, such as shipping purchased products and responding to your questions/comments. AWWA also publishes directories or rosters that may include personal information intended for member networking and for AWWA’s operational purposes.

AWWA Marketing Purposes. We generally use your personal information for our own business and administrative purposes, including but not limited to responding to your questions or comments; identifying products, programs, and events that might interest you; tracking your membership and online purchases; and coordinating volunteer opportunities. Your name, postal address, fax and phone numbers, email address, affiliations, job title, gender, age and other similar information is used by AWWA to understand its audiences and to offer member benefits and products to those members, customers, and website visitors whom we believe are likely to be interested in them.

Information utilized by third parties

AWWA uses carefully selected third parties to provide certain AWWA services, including administrative support for certain functions on the Site, including but not limited to product purchases, payment processing, event registration, reservations, content and knowledge distribution, and broadcast email services. In connection with providing these services, we may share your information with these third-party service providers.   In some cases, these third parties may collect certain personal information such as your name, postal address, telephone number, email address, and interests. Although we select only reputable service companies that share our commitment to user privacy and we require their agreement to this Policy when providing services to us, we are not responsible if their actions or policies with respect to personal information that you provide to them contradict this Privacy Policy.

AWWA may from time to time provide personal contact information (name, postal address, or email address) submitted voluntarily by members and customers, including attendees at AWWA events, to carefully selected third-party organizations and partners who may provide you with information on technical products and services related to your profession or that we believe furthers AWWA's or its members’ overall interests and is consistent with AWWA's mission. 

AWWA may also rent postal addresses collected from members and customers to third parties. In such cases, the third party must provide AWWA with the exact intended use of the information and a sample of the mailing piece before AWWA shares the information. AWWA's decision to provide postal addresses to a third party is based on the educational/informational nature of the mailing piece, whether it furthers AWWA's or its members’ and customers’ overall interests and whether it is consistent with AWWA's mission. AWWA does not rent to third parties telephone numbers, fax numbers or email addresses.  

AWWA may receive financial consideration or in-kind benefits from any third party in exchange for AWWA’s consent to the use of your personal information.   

In certain instances, we may also disclose your personal information when we have reason to believe that it is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against persons or entities that may be causing injury to you, us, or others; as necessary to respond to requests from law enforcement authorities, subpoenas, court orders, or legal process; or to establish or exercise AWWA’s legal rights or defend against legal claims, or as otherwise required by law. 

Credit/debit card account information. AWWA does not retain or disclose to third parties the credit or debit card information provided by members and customers. When members and customers pay online    using a credit or debit card, that information is processed directly through a third-party clearinghouse using appropriate security processes and data encryption. Member and customer credit and debit card information from online transactions is not stored or maintained by AWWA.

Other websites. For your convenience, our website contains links to some third-party websites which are not under our control. We do not endorse nor are we responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such sites.

Opting out of or into this Privacy Policy

Even after opting in to some or all of the uses of personal information described in this Privacy Policy, AWWA members, customers and visitors to the Site may later choose to limit or withdraw AWWA's rights to use their personal information. That decision may occur after such information is provided to AWWA, via our website or otherwise. In addition, AWWA members and customers may voluntarily update their account information at any time by logging in to their online account and selecting “My Account.”  Members and customers may also contact AWWA Customer Service by telephone at 800.926.7337 (303.794.7711 if calling from outside the U.S and Canada).  All visitors to the Site may change, modify or withdraw their consent to any of the uses of their personal information described in this Policy.  You also have the right to direct us to erase, delete and remove any of your personal information.    

Opting out of the privacy practices described in this Policy, including our communications with you, can affect AWWA members’ ability to receive benefits of membership.  The ability of all Site visitors to receive information and offers we believe will be of interest to you, and interacting with AWWA generally, can also be limited by logging in to their online account and selecting "My Account."

Accessing, Changing or “Porting” Personal Information  

Everyone who provides personal information to AWWA, including members, customers and other individuals from whom we collect personal information on the Site or otherwise, have the right to access their personal information and make any necessary corrections or edits.  If we have processed your personal information, you may also request that we “port” some or all of your personal information directly to another website or online database in a commonly used electronic format.  Any such request to “port” your information must be in writing and submitted to us.  We will take all reasonable steps to honor your request to port your information as you request but we cannot guarantee that the recipient will be able to successfully access that data.  

If you are uncertain whether we have any of your personal information, you can always ask us for a copy of your information.  If you do make such an inquiry, we will immediately discard any personal information you provide in the form. As noted above, you always have the right to withdraw your consent to our retention of your personal information, to our uses of that information or to request that we erase, delete or remove any of your personal information.  

Data security

AWWA utilizes Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption for all commerce transactions to protect your personal information, including name, address, and credit card information. Our payment systems are also fully compliant with Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations to further protect personal information.

Site security

To prevent unauthorized access to website users' personal information, we have put in place commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial measures to safeguard and secure the personal information we collect through the Site or otherwise. You acknowledge, however, that no data or information transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of personal information transmitted to third parties, at your request or otherwise. and cannot be responsible for loss, corruption or unauthorized acquisition of information or data submitted to our website, or for any resulting damages. You agree that AWWA will have no liability for disclosure of any such information due to errors in transmission or unauthorized acts of third parties.

AWWA HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY GUARANTEE AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. AWWA MAKES NO GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY REGARDING THE OPERATION OR PERFORMANCE OF ANY SECURITY MEASURE OR DEVICE INSTALLED ON THE SITE OR USED IN PROCESSING ONLINE TRANSACTIONS OR THAT ALL DATA WILL REMAIN COMPLETE, ACCURATE, SECURE, OR INTACT. IF YOU BECOME AWARE OF A SECURITY BREACH ON THE SITE OR THAT THE SECRECY OF YOUR ACCESS LOGINS HAVE BECOME COMPROMISED, PLEASE NOTIFY AWWA PROMPTLY BY CONTACTING AWWA CUSTOMER SERVICE.  IN SUCH CASE, AWWA WILL ENDEAVOR TO CONTAIN THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF SUCH COMPROMISE. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU MAINTAIN BACKUP OF YOUR OWN DATA AND INFORMATION SINCE AWWA CANNOT GUARANTEE THEIR ONGOING AVAILABILITY OR ACCURACY. THE FOREGOING STATES THE ENTIRE OBLIGATION OF AWWA WITH RESPECT TO DATA THEFT OR CORRUPTION FOR WHICH AWWA OTHERWISE DISCLAIMS ALL RESPONSIBILITY. YOU RELEASE AND DISCHARGE AWWA FROM ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY FAILURE TO TAKE ANY OTHER ACTIONS IN THIS REGARD.

GDPR Compliance

By adopting this Policy, AWWA intends to abide by all potentially applicable laws, including but not limited to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), for all visitors to the Site.  By so complying, AWWA does not mean to confirm that AWWA, an Illinois corporation with its headquarters in Colorado and no offices in the European Economic Area, is legally bound by the GDPR.   Even if the GDPR does legally bind AWWA, new state or federal laws in the United States may supersede the GDPR in the future.  AWWA reserves the right to change this Policy and its privacy practices to comply with such applicable laws, which may not be consistent with the GDPR.     

Changes to this Policy 

We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we will also revise the "last updated" date at the bottom of this Policy. Therefore, you should periodically review this Policy to stay informed of our most current policies and practices.  If we make fundamental changes to this Policy, we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on the Site or otherwise.  In such a case, we may ask you to affirmatively consent to the changes the next time you visit the Site.

Last updated: October 23, 2018
 

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