Privacy Statement

RCSB Protein Data Bank (hereafter RCSB PDB) cares about privacy. Please read below to see how we use your data and how we protect your privacy.

Data We Collect

IP Address, inferred geographic location down to a metropolitan level, time of access and service accessed. When provided by you: first and last name, email address, country, organization affiliation, role, and research interest.

How We Use your Data

We use your data for the purpose of understanding interests and trends to better develop and refine our services to meet user needs.

Who do We Share your Data With

We may share anonymized data with the NSF, NIH, DOE, and other funding agencies and private foundations. We may use anonymized data with scientific collaborators, presentations, and publications. We do not sell or otherwise share your data.

How we Protect your Data

Industry best practices, such as encryption and limited internal staff access.

Your Rights

Request to see and/or correct the information we hold about you
Request we delete the information we hold pertaining to you
Opt out of mailing lists and other communications

How to Contact Us

All requests should be emailed to [email protected]

For more detailed information, please read our full statement below.

How to Remove Your MyPDB Account and Related Data

To remove your MyPDB acount and related data, please log into your account (using Google, Facebook, or ORCID). Go to “Account Settings” either from the “MyPDB” menu at the top right of the RCSB PDB site or using the link at the top right of the MyPDB page. Select “Delete Account” at the bottom left. Please note that this action cannot be undone. However, you can create a new account at any time by signing in again using any one of the providers.

Full Privacy Statement

Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (hereafter RCSB PDB) knows you care about the privacy and confidentiality of your information. Please read the following to learn more about how we treat your information collected as part of RCSB PDB operations.

RCSB PDB operates an open-access portal for public domain information about the 3D shapes of proteins, nucleic acids, and complex assemblies that helps researchers, educators, and students understand fundamental biology, biomedicine, and bioenergy. As a member of the Worldwide Protein Data Bank partnership (wwPDB; wwpdb.org), RCSB PDB validates and biocurates data deposited into the global PDB archive.

RCSB PDB is hosted by Rutgers and UC San Diego/San Diego Supercomputer Center.

Who Controls your Personal Data and How to Contact Us?

The RCSB PDB Data Controller is Stephen K. Burley, Director RCSB Protein Data Bank.

Contact Information:

RCSB Protein Data Bank
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
174 Frelinghusyen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States
Email: [email protected]

Privacy Practices Coverage / Applicability

This Privacy Practices statement covers our treatment of personal information gathered when website visitors or other users of our tools and services (“you”) utilize RCSB PDB websites or other RCSB PDB services.

These Privacy Practices do not apply to information practices or services offered by other organizations or individuals (“Third Parties”). For example:

wwPDB https://wwpdb.org/about/privacy and https://wwpdb.org/documentation/policy
Google https://policies.google.com/privacy
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/policy.php
ORCID https://orcid.org/privacy-policy

Key Terms

General User Access Data: General Users Access Data is personal information that we gather when you use RCSB PDB websites or other RCSB PDB services. Collected personal information includes the following: IP Address, inferred geographic location down to a metropolitan level, time of access, and service accessed.
Identifiable data: Any data that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, either alone or combined with other easily accessible sources.
Anonymized data: Data that does not identify a specific individual; that is, data from which all identifiers, such as name, email address, phone number, have been removed.

Information RCSB PDB Collects

In order to use RCSB PDB websites or services, certain personal information pertaining to you must be collected. We obtain this information from you in one or both of the following two ways:

Information you provide:

Using our “Contact Us” feature, personal information collected includes first and last name, email address, country, organizational affiliation, role, and research interest. (Email addresses are collected to response to user requests and send notification when issues have been resolved.) Other data collected includes web browser information and page visited.
To enroll in a MyPDB account, personal data collected includes password, first and last name, email address, country, and organization affiliation.
To subscribe to RCSB PDB email lists (e.g., Quarterly Newsletter or Education News), you provide us with your email address.

Information we gather:

Using any of our websites, FTP or rsync services; we collect General User Access Data, including IP address, time spent on the site, and web browser type.

Why and How We Use Your Information

We will only use your data as described below or as required by law.

We will use your data primarily for the purpose of understanding user interest and trends so that we may develop and refine RCSB PDB services to meet public demand. Your personally identifiable data is accessible only by RCSB PDB staff, their university-approved partners or vendors, and IT personnel that maintain the data and websites. We consider the processing of your personal information for the above purposes to be either necessary for us to take steps with a view of creating a contractual relationship with you (e.g., to create a collaborative scientific resource), or necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (e.g., reporting to the federal government and funding sponsors).

As part of our quality control process, your data will be checked for accuracy and may be corrected as necessary.

We will use your data for the following purposes:

To respond to you if you contact us (identifiable data)
To statistically analyze our usage data to determine user demand and adjust our services accordingly (anonymized data) and prepare scientific presentations and publications
To report to the funding agencies the usage of our services (anonymized data)
To communicate with you via mailing lists or direct email (identifiable data)
To solicit feedback about the RCSB PDB as via user surveys (identifiable data and anonymized data)

Information We Share with Third Parties and Transfers to Other Countries

RCSB PDB shares your anonymized data with our funding sponsors. RCSB PDB also includes your anonymized data in scientific presentations and publications. RCSB PDB does not sell or license your identifiable data to any third parties for any other purpose.

We use Google Analytics to better understand RCSB PDB website usage. Google, and other third parties, may use cookies, web beacons and similar technologies to collect information from our websites and use that information to provide measurement services and targeted ads. For more information on Google Analytics, consult their Terms of Service, Privacy Practices, and Ads Settings.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

RCSB PDB is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We maintain safeguards to protect the security, integrity, and privacy of your data, including the following practices:

storing personal information we collect on computer systems located in controlled facilities with limited access
protecting the transmission of your personal information over the Internet, through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol
using a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosures
limiting access to your personal information to authorized personnel

We endeavor to protect the privacy of the personal information we hold in our records, but we cannot guarantee complete security. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors, may compromise the security of your personal information.

How Long We Keep Your Identifiable Data

Any personal information obtained directly from you will be retained even if the service is withdrawn. We will keep the personal data for the minimum amount of time possible to ensure legal compliance and to facilitate internal and external audits should the need arise.

Knowing Your Choices and Rights

You may choose not to visit the RCSB PDB website or use RCSB PDB services.

You may choose to set your web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you choose to reject cookies, some parts of the website may not function properly. The parts of the website that will not function properly are aspects that require you to login (such as MyPDB) or aspects that are tailored to provide you with a custom experience (such as search).

You may contact us to access, correct, and in some cases request removal of personally identifying information. You may submit any questions or concerns using our “Contact Us” service or by emailing [email protected] directly. When contacting us, title the subject of the message as a “Privacy Request” and in the body of the message outline what you are requesting.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy will be updated periodically to reflect any material changes in our programs and practices. These changes will be evident by inserting a new “Effective Date” (see below) and are effective when they are posted to our website at: https://www.rcsb.org/privacy. Treatment of information we collect now is subject to the version of the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is used.

Contacting Us

If you have any general questions about how your personal information is used by the RCSB PDB, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact the RCSB PDB by email at [email protected]