Last Updated July 21, 2021
The Illinois State Bar Association (“ISBA”, “we” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy of its members and other users (“you”) of its website and services. All members and users should consult the ISBA's Terms and Conditions before using this website or the ISBA’s services.
The ISBA has created this privacy policy to explain its practices on the gathering and disclosure of information from this website and our services. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it will help you make informed decisions about sharing your personal information with us.
Information We Collect
The ISBA collects information that enables us to identify and contact you as well as to carry out certain business purposes described below and to provide services to our members. For example, we may collect personal information about you when you register for or use an account through our website, purchase items from us, access our CLE or other programs, engage with us on social media, fill out a survey, or participate in a contest. We may also collect information about you if you use the forums on our website.
Information You Provide
The types of information we collect directly from you may include:
- Personal information about you, including personal identifiers (such as your name, physical address, email address, and phone number) and other information you provide (such as your birthday, race and gender)
- Professional and educational background information, including your employer, previous employers, and legal malpractice insurance information, if any
- Financial information, such as credit card information, needed to process your requests such as purchases and donations. As described below, the ISBA does not process these payments, but we may collect this information from you to share it with our third-party payment processors.
- Social media information
In addition to the information you provide to us or that we collect from our interactions with you, the ISBA may also supplement our information about you from public sources or from your interactions with our service providers, such as when you make an online purchase from us.
Automatic Data Collection
When you use our website or services, we automatically collect information about you and the device you use to access our website or services. When you access our website or services, we may collect your IP address, device identifier, web browser type and version, language and information about your usage of our website or services such as the searches you run or the pages you view.
When you view email from us, we may collect information related to clicking on links or downloading a tracking image (to infer opening an email). We use this information to serve our members better including for troubleshooting delivery issues and evaluating the effectiveness of our messages.
The ISBA’s online member directory also collects and uses a third-party geolocation service to help identify matches between ISBA lawyer members and public search results. Read the third party’s privacy policy for the member directory.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that a website can send to your internet browser and may be stored in your browser or elsewhere on your computer. The ISBA’s website uses cookies to allow us to recognize and remember you.
Our Use of Cookies
We use both our own and third-party cookies on our website:
- ISBA Cookies: The ISBA uses cookies on our website to provide basic functionality to the website for purposes such as logging into the system, maintaining session information, and enhancing access to the features of this website.
- Google Analytics: Our website uses Google Analytics to help us analyze how users use the website and target users with appropriate advertisements. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google. Read about Google’s privacy practices.
- Other Third-Party Cookies: Cookies may also be used on our website through advertisements from third parties.
Managing Cookies
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, this may impact your experience using our website.
You can use the methods linked to below to manage cookies. You must take these steps on each browser or device that you use. If you replace, change or upgrade your browser or device, or delete your cookies, you may need to use these opt-out tools again.
If the browser you use is not listed above, please refer to your browser’s help menu for information on how to manage cookies.
How We Use Your Information
We collect information about you for a variety of business reasons, including but not limited to membership registration, the purchase of ISBA products or services, or otherwise interacting with the ISBA. The ISBA collects and uses the information described above in order to:
- Conduct our business and provide services to our members
- Personalize the website and user experience
- Offer information or promotional materials to members about products and services that the ISBA offers
- Research how our members use our website and conduct market research
- Facilitate purchases through our website, including to process and fulfill orders and communicate with users about orders and their status
- Provide users with relevant advertising
In addition to the uses identified above, the ISBA uses member information, which may include information collected on the website, for the following purposes:
E-mails. The ISBA sends e-mails to its members, former members, and others for various purposes, including but not limited to, CLE opportunities, practice information, member benefit information, and more. If you do not wish to receive e-mail communications from the ISBA, please email member services or use the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the e-mails you receive.
Surveys. From time-to-time, the ISBA may ask members, former members, and others to complete membership or other surveys online or in print format. These surveys may ask for contact information or demographic information.
Discussion groups. The ISBA makes discussion groups available to its members. Participation in those discussions is governed by this privacy policy and the ISBA's Discussion Group Policy.
E-Commerce. The ISBA allows members and others to order products and services through our website. Information collected during this process is used to verify membership (if applicable) and to bill for the purchased products and services.
Contests and sweepstakes. From time-to-time, the ISBA hosts contests and sweepstakes to promote and encourage participation in member surveys and on behalf of third-party vendors. Information collected in connection with such contests and sweepstakes is generally used to notify winners and send prizes and may be shared with third parties participating in or hosting these programs.
Legal requests and obligations. We may use your information to comply with our legal obligations. For example, if we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.
User inquiries and support. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our website or services.
Sharing of Personal Information
The ISBA may share your information with third parties as explained in more detail below.
Consent. We may disclose your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.
Compliance with our Terms of Use. We may process or disclose your personal information to ensure compliance with our Terms of Use.
Delivery of the services. We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to provide you with services that you are requesting from us or a related organization (e.g., ISBA Mutual Insurance); investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, and illegal activities; or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved. We also use third-party providers to process donations, purchases and any other financial charges.
Legal obligations. We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).
Vendors, consultants and other third-party service providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work in connection with providing you the services or delivering information to you that you have requested. We share information with these third parties only where (a) the sharing of your personal information is necessary for them to carry out such support services and (b) those service providers agree to use any personal information they receive in accordance with our instructions.
Third-party analytics. We use selected third parties to collect data about how you interact with the ISBA website and our services. This information may be used to, among other things, improve the functionality of our website and services.
Business transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
Third-party advertisers. We may use your personal information for marketing or promotional purposes and may use your information to develop and display content and advertising (and work with third parties who do so) tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.
Other Third Parties. The ISBA does not sell members’ e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or fax numbers. The ISBA does, however, make available for sale its mailing list (which includes the names and physical addresses of members). Where the ISBA sells its mailing list (not including email addresses), it does so only where the third party receiving the list agrees to only use it one time; not to share it with others; not to use it to initiate telephone or personal contact, and not to use it for purposes unrelated to the practice of law or the Association’s operations. If you do not want your information included in this mailing list, you can email member services to opt out.
Keeping Your Information Safe
The ISBA takes reasonable security measures to protect against the loss or misuse of information under its control. Although we will do our best to protect your information, transmission of information to and from the ISBA is at your own risk.
You can also help keep your data secure. Members are responsible for choosing a secure password when creating your account to log into our website. You should keep this password confidential and choose a password that you do not use on any other website.
Managing Your Information
If you register on our website, we store the information that you provide in your user account. You can review, modify, or delete the personal information attached to your account, including your public-facing directory information, any time by logging into your account on our website.
Notice to Residents of California
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.
At present, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) does not apply to the ISBA. If that were to change in the future, we will update this privacy policy.
Notice to Residents of Nevada
If you are a Nevada resident, you have the right to opt out of the sale of certain personal information, including your name and mailing address, to third parties. As noted above, from time-to-time the ISBA may sell certain of your personal information to third parties. To have your information removed from this mailing list, please contact us using the information below.
Where We Store Your Information
The ISBA’s website and services are intended for residents of the United States. However, if you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect through our website and services will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the website and services or by voluntarily providing your information to us, you consent to the transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the United States.
The ISBA does not currently have any programs or operations in the EU. Should we obtain actual knowledge that any information we collect has been provided by a resident of the EU, we will promptly delete that information.
Personal Information of Minors
The ISBA website is not intended for use by minors, and the ISBA does not knowingly collect, maintain, or process personal information submitted online by minors. If we obtain actual knowledge that we have collected information from someone under the age of 18, we will delete that information.
Do-Not Track Signals
Web browsers and other technologies you may use to access the ISBA site or services may include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online.
Third Party Websites and Content
The ISBA’s website and services may contain links to other websites (“Third-Party Websites”) as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information, applications, software, and other content or items belonging to or originating from third parties (“Third-Party Content”). Such Third-Party Websites and Third-Party Content are not monitored, or checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites or Third-Party Content. Inclusion of, linking to, or permitting the use or installation of any Third-Party Websites or any Third-Party Content does not imply approval or endorsement thereof by us. If you decide to leave the ISBA website or services and access the Third-Party Websites or to use or install any Third-Party Content, you do so at your own risk. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any website to which you navigate from the Course Website or Services.
The ISBA has established accounts on social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and others. The ISBA has established these accounts for the benefit of members and our users. These social media platforms are hosted by third parties and are governed by the privacy, terms and conditions, and other relevant policies of those third parties.
Updates to This Privacy Policy
The ISBA may change this privacy policy from time to time. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we will attempt to notify you and/or obtain your consent, as required by law. The ISBA urges members and public users to periodically review this privacy policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this privacy policy or would like to contact the ISBA about it, you may do so via the following avenues:
Illinois State Bar Association
Attn: Legal Department (Privacy Policy Inquiries)
424 S. Second St.
Springfield, Il. 62701
E-mail: privacy@isba.org
Phone: 217-525-1760 or 800-252-8908