Terms and Conditions

Discussion Rules and Etiquette

Thank you for being part of the NASCIO Community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to the NASCIO staff via the "Contact Us" link on this site.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. Most importantly, please refrain from forwarding or sharing messages from the Community with anyone outside of the group. The beauty of the NASCIO Community is that members are able to speak freely with other members, and we do not want this privacy taken away. If you have questions, contact the NASCIO staff. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

The Rules

  • Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may. 
  • Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
  • Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. 
  • Defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you. 
  • Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted. 
  • Remember that other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this site unless you specify otherwise. 
  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
  • All messages must add to the body of knowledge. We reserve the right to reject any message for any reason.

Discussion Group Etiquette

  • Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location and agency. NASCIO is subject to edit signatures if it does not correctly align with the information provided in our database.
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject. 
  • Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting. 
  • Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from. 
  • Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals -- not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as "remove me from the list." Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, please contact Lori Rempe (lrempe@nascio.org) with your new contact information.
  • Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "long message."  

Blogs Contributed by Members and Non-Members

The NASCIO Community encourages all NASCIO members to create and post guest blogs on the NASCIO Community. You agree by using the NASCIO Community to only post material that is appropriate and relative. You also agree to not advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose. NASCIO reserves the right to moderate materials posted on the Community and to edit or remove any blogs, discussions posts, or other materials in its sole discretion.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for NASCIO members. NASCIO is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by NASCIO or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall NASCIO be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants NASCIO and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

NASCIO does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of NASCIO, we will take all appropriate action.

NASCIO reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines. 

NASCIO's Guiding Principles for Privacy Protection

At NASCIO, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our association members, business partners, and others who choose to share personally-identifiable information (PII) with us in the normal course of business. In order to effectively protect the PII that is entrusted to us, we understand and recognize that we must address all modes of information that is captured, whether in written or electronic form. NASCIO’s privacy policy addresses the personal data (i.e. information that could identify you) we collect, how we use that information, and how we aim to protect the information you choose to share with us. Our privacy policy is guided by the following principles:

  • The security of your information is of the utmost importance to us.
  • We limit the collection of personal data to what is volunteered and what is required for legitimate business purposes.
  • We only use your data for the purposes with which it was collected.
  • We do not sell personal data to third parties for profit.

Privacy Policy

  • Collection of Personal Data that You Choose to Share with NASCIO: NASCIO collects information from our association members, business partners, and others who choose to share their information with us. Typically, personal data is collected when you sign up for a webinar, register for a conference, sign up for newsletters or otherwise request a product or service offered by NASCIO. Personal data that is collected could include: name, email, company name, job title, phone numbers, dietary requirements and/or physical accommodations. We may also ask you for credit card information or similar financial information if you are seeking a paid-service like registering for our conferences.
  • How NASCIO Uses Your Personal Data: By accessing NASCIO online, you are accepting our privacy policy and agreeing to its terms. It also means that you agree not to hold NASCIO or its staff responsible for any legal claims, damages, or expenses that may arise from your use of NASCIO resources or your breach of our privacy policy.

NASCIO does NOT sell your personal data nor do we sell web analytics information to third parties. When we use third parties who provide certain services (e.g. conference and webinar registration, communications) to help us meet business operation needs, we may have to share your data with them. Member data can be located on-premise or off-premise or on cloud services hosted by third parties. We do not link data collected from the web to individuals unless it is for a legitimate business purpose and/or necessary to protect the NASCIO website from compromise.

As a federal grant recipient, NASCIO may be required to report on the number and types of organization that download federal grant-related products. We may also be required to disclose your personal data in the unlikely event that it is required by law or court order.

NASCIO does use session cookies and persistent cookies to offer a better user experience. Users of the NASCIO website and online offerings have to agree to our privacy policy before accessing our material. Details on cookies are below:

  • What is a Cookie: Cookies are pieces of data sent to your browser when you visit a website and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. For example, cookies can store your session information for easy log-in to a website or platform, or your language or other preferences and may allow websites to record your browsing activities (e.g. number of page views, number of visitors).
  • Session Cookies: NASCIO uses session cookies, which stay on your computer until you close your internet browser. This information is aggregated and used for web analytics purposes only to ensure that NASCIO's website is relevant for members and other visitors. Information collected may include the following:
    • Source site (the site from which a user traveled to the NASCIO website, such as a search engine or link from another website)
    • Aggregate information about which pages are visited the most
    • Browser and operating system used, and
    • Home country of the visitor.
  • Persistent Cookies: NASCIO uses persistent cookies that are only stored on our server to log website visitors' IP addresses. We do this to improve the experience of members who choose to authenticate themselves via a username and password to our website. We then link the IP address to the username and password of those members.
  • NASCIO Community: NASCIO members and invited guests have the option of joining the NASCIO Community which enables you to interact with other NASCIO members online. NASCIO members who choose to use the NASCIO Community are prohibited from abusing the directory function and must not share the personal data of others on the NASCIO Community without their consent. The NASCIO Community platform is supported by our third-party contractor, Higher Logic. In addition to NASCIO’s privacy policy, Higher Logic’s privacy policy also applies when members choose to use the NASCIO Community platform.
  • How NASCIO Aims to Secure Your Personal Data: We try to only collect information that is necessary to better serve our members, business partners, and those that use our online resources. When you are no longer a NASCIO member or business partner, please let us know so that we may dispose of your information to prevent any mishandling. We regularly review our privacy policy, provide privacy protection training to our staff, and use technical protections (e.g. https:// for website traffic, firewall, anti-spam, anti-virus, anti-spyware) to ensure the privacy of those that choose to share their personal data with us.
  • NASCIO Guidance on Sharing Your Personal Data: NASCIO discourages you from sending us sensitive personal information such as financial information or Social Security Numbers via email. If there is a need for such information, we will request it in a way that minimizes the risk of identity theft and fraud.
  • EU Data Subjects: This section applies to individuals located in the European Union.
  • Data Controller. NASCIO is the data controller for the processing of your Personal Data. When using the NASCIO Community, Higher Logic is the Data Controller.
  • Your Rights. Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights in relation to your Personal Data:
    • Right of access: If you ask us, we will confirm whether we are processing your Personal Data and, if so, provide you with a copy of that Personal Data (along with certain other details). If you require additional copies, we may need to charge a reasonable fee.
    • Right to rectification: If your Personal Data is inaccurate or incomplete, you are entitled to have it rectified or completed. If we have shared your Personal Data with others, we will tell them about the rectification where possible. If you ask us, where possible and lawful to do so, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data so that you can contact them directly.
    • Right to erasure: You may ask us to delete or remove your Personal Data and we will do so in some circumstances, such as where we no longer need it (we may not delete your data when other interests outweigh your right to deletion). If we have shared your data with others, we will tell them about the erasure where possible. If you ask us, where possible and lawful to do so, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data so that you can contact them directly.
    • Right to restrict processing: You may ask us to restrict or ‘block’ the processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances, such as where you contest the accuracy of that Personal Data or object to us processing it. We will tell you before we lift any restriction on processing. If we have shared your Personal Data with others, we will tell them about the restriction where possible. If you ask us, where possible and lawful to do so, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data so that you can contact them directly.
    • Right to data portability: Effective 25 May 2018, you have the right to obtain your Personal Data from us that you consented to give us or that is necessary to perform a contract with you. We will give you your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. You may reuse it elsewhere.
    • Right to object: You may ask us at any time to stop processing your Personal Data, and we will do so:
      • If we are relying on a legitimate interest to process your Personal Data — unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing; or
      • If we are processing your Personal Data for direct marketing.
    • Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: You have the right to be free from decisions based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data, including profiling, that affect you, unless such processing is necessary for entering into, or the performance of, a contract between you and us or you provide your explicit consent to such processing.
    • Right to withdraw consent: If we rely on your consent to process your Personal Data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on your prior consent.
    • Right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority: If you have a concern about our privacy practices, including the way we have handled your Personal Data, you can report it to the data protection authority that is authorized to hear those concerns.
    • You may exercise your rights by contacting us as indicated under “Contact Us” link on this site.
  • Point of Contact: For questions about this policy or to raise a concern, please contact NASCIO Executive Director, Doug Robinson, at drobinson@nascio.org or by calling us at 859.514.9150.