The Golden Spread Council (GSC) is committed to respecting and protecting the personal privacy of its members and those who visit its Web site. It is our policy to acquire personal information from users only by overt and voluntary means, only when it is in the interest of the user to provide it, and to utilize this information only for the purpose it was provided.

The information that follows explains the kinds of information the GSC Web site collects, how it is used, the conditions under which it is made available to third parties, how information is maintained, and our compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

NOTE: This privacy policy applies only to www.goldenspread.org. This privacy policy does not apply to any council or unit Web site, as their content is not controlled by the Golden Spread Council. Please contact the administrator of any council, unit, or other Scouting-oriented Web site for information about their own privacy policies and the information they collect about their site visitors.

What information does this site collect?
This site collects anonymous data that is not indicative of and cannot be traced to an individual without the cooperation of their Internet Service Provider. This data includes information about the user's remote IP address, referral data (which page "linked" to the present request), and the browser software's user-agent string. This information is accepted passively from the HTTP headers that are sent from the user when requesting any file from the server. Other anonymous data entered by the user may be collected in a common repository, including terms entered into the search engine, ZIP codes entered into the council locator, etc.

Personally identifiable data is collected only by means of form interfaces on the site, into which the user must voluntarily enter the information requested. This information is requested only when it is necessary to accomplish the overt purpose indicated by the interface containing the form that requests it. Such for interfaces require only the information reasonably necessary to accomplish the overt purpose indicated on the interface.

No attempt is made to covertly or "quietly" collect personally identifiable information, nor are cookies or any other tracking technology used for the purpose of coordinating information that a user may opt to enter in various interfaces on the site.

What organization is collecting the information?
Information entered by site visitors is retrieved directly by the Golden Spread Council, 401 Tascosa Road Amarillo, TX, 79124 - telephone (806) 358-6500.

How does the GSC use the information it collects?
The anonymous information collected is used to monitor the usage of this Web site and the interests of those who use it. Data such as the volume of traffic to the server, the number of visitors a certain section of the site receives each month, or the most popular search terms are analyzed to derive general statistics about the site's reach and the audience's usage patterns.

Personally identifiable information is used only for the express purpose for which it was submitted. For example, if a user enters their contact information in the "change of address" form for Scouting magazine, the information will be used only to change their address or to correspond with them regarding the change of address.

With whom does the GSC share the information that is collected?
The GSC does not share personally identifiable information about its web site visitors with anyone.

Reports, statistics, and other analyses of aggregate anonymous information may be shared within the organization or provided to third parties at the sole discretion of the Golden Spread Council. This information does not include any personally identifiable information.

Exception: the Golden Spread Council reserves the right to use all information at its disposal and to share this information with ISPs and other third parties as necessary to investigate any incident of misuse or abuse of its site, server, or information systems.

How does the GSC maintain the information it collects?
In most cases, personally identifiable information is not maintained. Once it has been used for its intended purpose, it is deleted. Because of the brevity of this interval, no mechanism is provided to enable users to alter or delete information they have submitted.

How does the GSC comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998?
This legislation applies only to Web sites of a commercial nature. However, the Golden Spread Council considers it to provide sound advice for any Web site that is intended for use by children.

Therefore, the Golden Spread Council does not use its Web site to collect any personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. Any input form that requests personally identifiable information that appears on an interface that is expected to be viewed by children under 13 years of age is accompanied by a notice that submissions cannot be accepted from users under 13 years of age. Where "age" or "date of birth" is requested, no information will be stored or transmitted unless the response indicates that the user is 13 years of age or older.

Providing personal information is never a prerequisite for accessing any of the content or resources on this Web site. Specifically, refusal to provide personal information via a Web interface will never result in a user being denied access to any on-line content or resource he would be able to access were the information submitted.

Policy Modifications and Deviations
We may modify this privacy policy and will post those changes here. If the privacy policy changes in the future, we will not any personal information you have submitted to us under the current Privacy Policy in a manner that is materially inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, without your prior consent.

It may be necessary to deviate from this general policy in unique instances and for specific purposes. In such instances, a link will be provided to a description of the deviation. This link will be placed where it can be reasonably expected to be noticed prior to submitting any information for which this privacy policy is modified or exempted in any way.