Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice for Archive Visitors

The International Joshua Slocum Society treats privacy as part of good stewardship. A maritime archive is built from trust: a family letter, a research question, a correction from a careful reader, or a note from someone who has followed Captain Joshua Slocum’s wake for years.

This notice covers information connected with use of joshuaslocumsocietyintl, including visits to pages about Captain Slocum, the Spray, solo circumnavigation history, sailing-alone resources, and Society archive materials.

In plain terms, we collect information you provide directly when using joshuaslocumsocietyintl, and we use collected information to provide and improve our services. We do not write this as a harbor full of fine print. The aim is to say what happens, why it happens, and how you can reach us if something needs attention.

Information You Provide Directly

Most information we receive comes from a deliberate act by a visitor. Someone asks a question. Someone sends a correction about a vessel name. Someone offers context about a voyage, a clipping, or a remembered family connection.

That direct information may include your name, email address, message content, research interest, archival inquiry, or other details you choose to share when contacting the Society or using site features that invite communication.

Common examples

• Questions submitted about Society archive material.
• Corrections or additions related to historical pages.
• Messages about membership, events, publications, or Society work.
• Technical notes sent when a page, link, or form does not work as expected.

We recommend sharing only what the inquiry requires. If you are asking whether a family story connects to a named sailor, the vessel name, approximate date, and source of the story may help. A full scan of unrelated personal documents usually will not.

Like a logbook entry, a good privacy request benefits from clarity. Short, specific messages often let us answer faster and with fewer follow-up questions.

How Information Supports the Society’s Services

We use collected information to provide and improve our services. On this site, that usually means keeping the archive useful, answering correspondence, maintaining pages, and understanding whether visitors can find what they came to find.

Historical societies do not serve readers well by letting context drift. When a visitor points out that a date needs review or a page about the Spray could use clearer navigation, that message becomes part of the work of maintaining a careful public resource.

Practical uses

• Responding to questions, corrections, and archive-related requests.
• Maintaining the website and improving page clarity.
• Protecting the site from spam, misuse, or technical disruption.
• Keeping records of correspondence when follow-up may be needed.
• Managing Society communications that a visitor has requested.

We may keep correspondence when it helps us track an unresolved question or preserve the reasoning behind an archive correction. That does not mean every message becomes a permanent public record. Publication, attribution, and reuse require separate judgment, especially where living people, private families, or donated materials are involved.

One caveat belongs here: archive work sometimes requires interpretation. A privacy request tied to historical material may overlap with authorship, provenance, donor intent, or factual correction. In those cases, we try to separate the personal-information question from the historical-record question before acting.

Third-Party Services and Disclosure Boundaries

Websites rely on some outside services to operate. Hosting, security tools, email systems, and basic site functions may process limited technical information as part of their work.

We do not sell personal information. We also do not treat an archive inquiry as a mailing list invitation unless the visitor clearly asks for that kind of communication.

Where sharing may occur

Information may be shared with service providers that help operate the site or manage communications. Those providers should handle information only for the service they perform. We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the Society’s rights, to address security concerns, or to respond to a legitimate request that we are obligated to honor.

There is a difference between a service provider and a research collaborator. If a question requires consultation with another historian, archivist, or Society volunteer, we avoid sending more personal detail than the question needs. A message about a deck plan does not need a home address. A correction about a citation rarely needs a private family narrative.

Questions, Corrections, and Privacy Requests

You may contact us with questions about this policy or about information you believe the Society holds from your direct interaction with the site.

Requests may include asking us to review, correct, update, or delete information you provided, where appropriate. We may need to confirm the request enough to avoid changing or releasing information to the wrong person.

How to make a useful request

• Use Contact the Society for privacy-related questions.
• Tell us which interaction the request concerns, such as an archive inquiry or correction message.
• Use the same email address if the request concerns prior correspondence.
• Describe the action you are asking for: review, correction, deletion, or clarification.

Some records cannot be changed in the same way as a simple contact message. For example, a published historical correction may need to remain visible because it protects the accuracy of the record. In that situation, we may adjust attribution, remove unnecessary personal detail, or explain why the historical note should stay.

Privacy and accuracy can sit in the same boat. The best answer is often not to erase the record, but to remove avoidable personal exposure while keeping the historical point clear.

For site conduct and permitted use, please also review the Terms of Use.

How Policy Updates Are Handled

We may update this Privacy Policy as the site, archive practices, or legal requirements change. The date at the top of the page shows when the policy was last updated.

Small edits may clarify wording. Larger changes may explain new site functions, new categories of information, or revised handling practices. We aim to keep changes readable, because a privacy policy that only a lawyer can navigate is not much use to a reader standing on the dock with a real question.

What visitors should watch for

• The last-updated date near the page title.
• New language about information collected directly from visitors.
• Changes to how information supports Society services.
• Revisions to third-party service or disclosure language.
• Updated instructions for privacy questions and correction requests.

Continued use of joshuaslocumsocietyintl after a policy update means the current version applies to later interactions with the site. If a change raises a concern, contact us before sending new personal information.

The Society’s work depends on careful readers. Privacy questions are part of that care, and they help keep the archive worthy of the people, voyages, and records it represents.