Security 
Edinburgh Natural History Society logo

EDINBURGH NATURAL
HISTORY SOCIETY

Security

Like all who publish information on the web, we are concerned that we can trust our users AND that our users can trust our web site.

Your web browser may flag our domain as "not secure". This is provided largely as a warning to users who are making online payments or passing sensitive information. Almost everything you are likely to do within our web - browsing through news, events, etc. - is publicly available. No sensitive data is being passed, and there is no need for a secure connection.

We have carried out a thorough review of the functionality of our web site and can confirm that we do not handle any payment-related information. We will never ask you to enter details of your payment card within our site. Where we do have an online payment facility, this is carried out by our payment gateway provider, which is PayPal. If we ask you to make a payment, you will be taken to the PayPal web site, and all aspects of your payment are done within their secure system.

We ask you to provide your personal data when you join us, and we require you to check and update it one each year, when you renew your membership. Your data is divided into a number of "chunks", which are kept separate throughout the process. It is almost impossible for a hacker to intercept your complete profile. Nonetheless, while working with our membership system, we would recommend that you make sure that you use a wired network connection or a secure wi-fi connection.

Our web site includes many security features, all of which are designed to safeguard the information it stores and provides. Your own computer system should therefore be unaffected by your use of our web site.

Unfortunately, its a fact of life that no system can ever be entirely immune from penetration by the ‘baddies’ of this world. If hackers can break into the CIA and NASA, they can get into anything. Nonetheless, we are not complacent and our web site does include countermeasures that will protect against attack by all but the most determined of attackers. However, if we are subjected to a significant attack, we cannot accept liability for the consequences of actions by the perpetrators.

It is also possible that ‘baddies’ could try to send you malware via an email that claims to come from Edinburgh Natural History Society. Please treat all emails with suspicion - particularly if they include an attachment or links to web sites that you don't know about. We normally only send emails to members and those who register with us. If we do send you an email, the visual style and the content should make it recognisable as ours. If an email which claims to come from us doesn’t seem to be right, don’t open any attachments or follow any links. You may, if you wish, contact us to check whether we have sent you a message. We’ll be happy to co-operate with you.

Our web site might include contact information for related organisations. We try to check that this information is up to date.

We do not store any information about non-registered users. If you have not registered with our web site, we will never normally contact you. The only way that we would be able to contact non-registered users is if we are invited to do so by another organisation. For example, an association that you belong to might invite us to send emails with details of forthcoming events. This would be unusual and we would always state why we were contacting you. Thus, if anyone ever does approach you to gain personal data under our identity, you can be sure that they do not represent us. Please be careful not to disclose any information that might prejudice your security.

We do store some personal data about members and registered users. If you have registered with our web site, we may contact you, but only using the details that you provided. Thus, if anyone ever does approach you in any other way, you can be sure that they do not represent us. There is no charge for using our web site. Even if we do contact you, we will never ask for personal data or any other information relating to your property, finances or similar. Please be careful not to disclose any information that might prejudice your security.