This policy explains in detail how “Birck Nanotechnology Center” along with its affiliated companies (hereinafter “we”, “us”, “our”, “Birck Nanotechnology Center”, “http://bircknano.com”) and phpBB (hereinafter “they”, “them”, “their”, “phpBB software”, “www.bircknano.com”, “phpBB Group”, “phpBB Teams”) use any information collected during any session of usage by you (hereinafter “your information”).

Your information is collected via two ways. Firstly, by browsing “Birck Nanotechnology Center” will cause the phpBB software to create a number of cookies, which are small text files that are downloaded on to your computer’s web browser temporary files. The first two cookies just contain a user identifier (hereinafter “user-id”) and an anonymous session identifier (hereinafter “session-id”), automatically assigned to you by the phpBB software. A third cookie will be created once you have browsed topics within “Birck Nanotechnology Center” and is used to store which topics have been read, thereby improving your user experience.

We may also create cookies external to the phpBB software whilst browsing “Birck Nanotechnology Center”, though these are outside the scope of this document which is intended to only cover the pages created by the phpBB software. The second way in which we collect your information is by what you submit to us. This can be, and is not limited to: posting as an anonymous user (hereinafter “anonymous posts”), registering on “Birck Nanotechnology Center” (hereinafter “your account”) and posts submitted by you after registration and whilst logged in (hereinafter “your posts”).

Your account will at a bare minimum contain a uniquely identifiable name (hereinafter “your user name”), a personal password used for logging into your account (hereinafter “your password”) and a personal, valid e-mail address (hereinafter “your e-mail”). Your information for your account at “Birck Nanotechnology Center” is protected by data-protection laws applicable in the country that hosts us. Any information beyond your user name, your password, and your e-mail address required by “Birck Nanotechnology Center” during the registration process is either mandatory or optional, at the discretion of “Birck Nanotechnology Center”. In all cases, you have the option of what information in your account is publicly displayed. Furthermore, within your account, you have the option to opt-in or opt-out of automatically generated e-mails from the phpBB software.

Your password is ciphered (a one-way hash) so that it is secure. However, it is recommended that you do not reuse the same password across a number of different websites. Your password is the means of accessing your account at “Birck Nanotechnology Center”, so please guard it carefully and under no circumstance will anyone affiliated with “Birck Nanotechnology Center”, phpBB or another 3rd party, legitimately ask you for your password. Should you forget your password for your account, you can use the “I forgot my password” feature provided by the phpBB software. This process will ask you to submit your user name and your e-mail, then the phpBB software will generate a new password to reclaim your account.