Privacy Policy
Prepared for: Cleveland Museum of Natural History (cmnh.org)
Updated: March 2026
Privacy Policy
Effective Date: April 1, 2026
Welcome to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you have a secure, educational experience on our website (cmnh.org) and our associated ticketing portals. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website. For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), CMNH is the "data controller" of your personal information.
1. Information We Collect
A. Personal Information You Provide
While we respect your privacy and strive to protect your data, we do collect certain personal information when you voluntarily provide it to us (such as when purchasing tickets, registering for events, or signing up for memberships). We use this information to process transactions, improve our services, and deliver relevant communications and advertisements. This information may include your name, email address, phone number, billing address, and payment information.
B. Information Automatically Collected
When you access our website, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. This may include your IP address, browser type, operating system, pages viewed, the links you click, and the dates/times of your visits.
2. Cookies, Analytics, and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audience is coming from.
Third-Party Analytics: We use tools like Google Analytics (GA4) to collect information about how visitors use our site. This information is used to compile reports and help us improve the website. These tools collect information such as your IP address, device information, and geographic region.
Third-Party Advertising and Retargeting: We partner with third-party advertising networks, such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google Ads, to display relevant museum advertising on other websites and platforms. Our partners use cookies and pixels to collect information about your activities on our website to provide you with targeted advertising based upon your interests.
Enhanced Conversions: In some instances, we may share hashed, non-readable customer data (such as a securely scrambled email address) with our advertising partners to help us measure the effectiveness of our campaigns and improve our digital offerings. This data is transmitted securely and is only used for matching and measurement purposes.
3. How We Use Your Information & Legal Basis
We use the information we collect to:
Process your ticket purchases, donations, and membership applications.
Communicate with you about upcoming exhibits, events, and museum news.
Understand website traffic patterns and improve our digital user experience.
Measure the return on investment (ROI) of our digital marketing and advertising campaigns.
Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR): If you are an individual in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, we collect and process your personal data only where we have legal bases for doing so under applicable EU laws. Our legal bases include:
Contractual Necessity: To provide you with services (e.g., processing a ticket or membership).
Consent: Where you have explicitly given us consent (e.g., opting into marketing emails or cookie tracking).
Legitimate Interests: To operate our business, improve our website, and measure marketing performance, provided these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights.
4. Data Security & Retention
We implement a variety of industry-standard security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. All sensitive payment transactions are processed through secure, PCI-compliant third-party gateways (such as Blackbaud) and are transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.
Data Retention: We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our legal agreements.
5. How We Share Your Information & International Transfers
CMNH does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following situations:
Service Providers: We share information with trusted third-party vendors who assist us in operating our website, processing payments, and executing our marketing campaigns, provided those parties agree to keep this information confidential and secure.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.
International Data Transfers: CMNH is based in the United States. If you are accessing our website from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where our servers are located. By using our services, you consent to the transfer of your information to the US.
6. Your Choices and Opting Out
You have choices regarding how your data is tracked:
Google Analytics: You can opt-out of having your site activity available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Targeted Advertising: You can opt-out of many third-party targeted advertising networks by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Opt-Out page or the Network Advertising Initiative’s Opt-Out page.
Browser Settings & Do Not Track: Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences. Please note that at this time, our website does not respond to automated browser "Do Not Track" signals.
7. State-Specific Privacy Rights
Depending on your state of residence (such as California, Virginia, Colorado, etc.), you may have specific rights regarding your personal data, including the right to request access to, deletion of, or correction of your personal information. To exercise any applicable state privacy rights, please contact us using the information provided below.
8. Notice to European Users (GDPR Rights)
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, you have the following data protection rights under the GDPR:
The Right to Access, Update, or Delete: You can request copies of your personal data or ask us to delete it (the "right to be forgotten").
The Right of Rectification: You have the right to have your information corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
The Right to Object & Restrict Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data or request that we restrict its processing.
The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable format.
The Right to Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where CMNH relied on your consent to process your personal information.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below. You also have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your personal data.
9. Children's Privacy
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is dedicated to the education of children. However, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or 16 in certain EU jurisdictions) without verifiable parental consent. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under the applicable age threshold without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, or if you wish to exercise your data privacy rights, please contact us at: 216.231.4600 x3287.
