Texas Authors Museum Privacy Policy

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Effective date: January 1, 2025
Last updated: December 5, 2025

The Texas Authors Museum and Institute of History (“Texas Authors Museum,” “TAMIH,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share information when you:

  • Visit our websites (including [insert primary domain] and related subdomains),

  • Interact with our programs, events, and membership services,

  • Make donations or purchases,

  • Communicate with us in person, by email, phone, or through social media.

By using our services or visiting our sites, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Important: This document is for informational and planning purposes. It is not legal advice. Before publishing, you should have it reviewed by a qualified attorney licensed in Texas.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to:

  • Online interactions with TAMIH (websites, forms, newsletters, online stores, event registrations, donations, and membership sign-ups), and

  • Offline interactions (museum visits, in-person events, paper forms, and direct communications).

It does not apply to third-party websites, platforms, or services we don’t control, even if we link to them (for example, external ticketing platforms, payment processors, or social media sites).

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in three main ways:

2.1. Information You Provide Directly

You may provide personal information to us when you:

  • Join as a member or renew membership

  • Register for events, programs, or contests

  • Make a donation or purchase (online or onsite)

  • Sign up for newsletters or email updates

  • Apply as a volunteer, partner, or vendor

  • Submit manuscripts, books, or materials for inclusion in the museum or related programs

  • Contact us with questions, feedback, or support requests

This information can include:

  • Contact details – name, mailing address, email address, phone number

  • Professional information – author biography, pen name, titles published, organization name, role

  • Transaction information – donation amounts, membership level, purchases, event registration details (note: payment card data is generally handled by third-party processors; see Section 4 & 6)

  • Demographic information – city, state, country, and (optionally) other demographic data if you choose to provide it in forms or surveys

  • Content – messages, survey responses, manuscripts, reviews, applications, submissions, or other material you choose to send us.

2.2. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our websites, we and our service providers may automatically collect certain information using cookies and similar technologies (see Section 7):

  • IP address

  • Browser type and version

  • Device type and operating system

  • Referring and exit pages

  • Pages viewed and links clicked

  • Date/time of visit and approximate geographic location (city/region level, not precise GPS)

This information is generally used in aggregated form and does not directly identify you, but it may be treated as personal data where local law requires it.

2.3. Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from:

  • Payment processors (confirmation of payments, limited billing information)

  • Email and marketing platforms (subscription status, engagement metrics)

  • Event platforms and ticketing services

  • Social media platforms (if you interact with us or log in via those services)

  • Publicly available sources (e.g., author websites, public bibliographic databases).

We use this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  1. To operate and improve our services

    • Manage memberships, donations, programs, and events

    • Maintain museum records, archives, and collections

    • Run contests, festivals, and awards

    • Provide customer service and respond to your requests

  2. To communicate with you

    • Send confirmations, receipts, and administrative messages

    • Provide updates about museum activities, programs, events, and initiatives

    • Send newsletters and marketing communications (where permitted by law and your preferences)

  3. To support authors and readers

    • Feature authors and books in our programs, events, and communications

    • Administer review, verification, or rating programs (e.g., book reviews, curated collections)

    • Build and curate collections and educational resources.

  4. To analyze and improve our outreach

    • Understand how our sites and campaigns are used

    • Improve user experience and content

    • Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing, fundraising, and educational efforts.

  5. To protect our organization and comply with the law

    • Detect, prevent, or investigate fraud or security issues

    • Enforce our terms, policies, and museum rules

    • Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from authorities.

Where required by law (e.g., for individuals in the EEA/UK), we rely on legal bases such as: consent, performance of a contract, compliance with legal obligations, and legitimate interests (such as operating and improving TAMIH, supporting authors, and serving our mission) when processing personal data.

4. Payments and Financial Information

We use third-party payment processors to handle donations, membership fees, purchases, and other financial transactions. These processors collect and process your payment card details directly; we do not store full credit card numbers on our systems.

We may retain limited transaction records (e.g., date, amount, last four digits of card, method, and your contact details) for accounting, tax, reconciliation, and donor record purposes.

You should review the privacy policies of our payment processors for more information on how they handle your payment information.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share your information in the following situations:

  1. Service Providers and Vendors
    We engage third parties to help us operate our services (e.g., website hosting, email delivery, payment processing, analytics, marketing tools, event registration platforms, data backup). These providers are allowed to use your information only as necessary to provide services to us.

  2. Partners and Collaborators (Limited Cases)
    In some programs (for example, co-sponsored events, festivals, or reading initiatives), we may share limited information (such as your name and email) with trusted partners only when:

    • You register for a co-branded event/program; or

    • You have given consent or reasonably expect that your information will be shared for that purpose.

  3. Legal, Security, and Protection
    We may disclose information if we believe it is necessary to:

    • Comply with laws, regulations, or legal processes

    • Respond to lawful requests by public authorities

    • Protect the rights, property, or safety of TAMIH, our staff, visitors, authors, donors, or the public.

  4. Organizational Changes
    In the unlikely event of a major structural change (such as merger, reorganization, or transfer of museum assets), your information may be transferred as part of that process, subject to continued protection consistent with this Policy.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We and our service providers may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to:

  • Recognize your browser or device

  • Remember your preferences (e.g., language, cookie choices)

  • Understand how visitors use our sites

  • Improve site performance and content

  • Support basic marketing and outreach analytics.

You can usually set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being used. However, some site features may not function properly if you disable cookies.

If we use third-party analytics or advertising tools (e.g., Google Analytics), those providers may also collect or receive information from our sites and other sites and use it to provide measurement services and targeted ads, subject to their own privacy policies.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

  • Fulfill the purposes described in this Policy,

  • Maintain accurate membership, donor, and archival records,

  • Comply with legal, tax, and accounting obligations, and

  • Protect our rights and maintain historical records central to the museum’s mission.

When information is no longer needed, we will delete it or anonymize it, subject to any legal or archival obligations that require longer retention.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our primary audiences are adults, educators, librarians, and authors, but some programs may involve children and young people.

  • We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent, as required by applicable law.

  • If we discover that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

  • Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided personal information to us without consent may contact us at the email listed in Section 13.

On-site programs for minors may collect limited information via paper forms, subject to parental/guardian consent and applicable laws.

10. Email Communications and Marketing Preferences

You may receive emails from us regarding:

  • Membership, donations, or purchases

  • Event registrations and confirmations

  • Newsletters, updates, and marketing related to the Texas Authors Museum and its programs.

You can opt out of non-essential marketing emails at any time by:

  • Clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the email, or

  • Contacting us at [insert contact email] with your request.

We may still send you transactional or service-related emails (e.g., receipts, confirmations, important notices) even if you opt out of marketing communications.

11. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

  • Access – Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

  • Correction – Request that we correct or update inaccurate or incomplete information.

  • Deletion – Request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal and archival obligations.

  • Restriction or Objection – Request that we limit or stop certain types of processing.

  • Opt-Out of Marketing – Opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 13. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. Some rights may be limited where we have overriding legitimate interests or legal obligations (for example, archival or tax records).

If you are in the EEA, UK, or another jurisdiction that grants additional data protection rights, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

12. International Visitors

Our primary operations and data storage are located in the United States, specifically in or under the laws of the State of Texas.

If you access our services from outside the U.S., you understand that your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. We will take appropriate steps, where required by law, to ensure a suitable level of protection.

13. Third-Party Links

Our sites and communications may contain links to third-party websites, services, or social media platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third parties.

We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or organizational structure.

When we do, we will:

  • Change the “Last updated” date at the top of this Policy, and

  • Post the updated Policy on our website.

In cases of material changes, we may also notify you by email or by a notice on our sites, as appropriate.

Your continued use of our services after any changes take effect will signify your acceptance of the updated Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, or if you wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Texas Authors Museum and Institute of History
Attn: Privacy
[Street Address]
[City], Texas [ZIP]
United States

Email: [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.] (replace with your actual email)
Phone: [XXX-XXX-XXXX]