Monsanto Company values the privacy of individuals who visit the
web sites which are operated throughout the world by Monsanto or
its subsidiaries and adheres to the privacy standards which have
been adopted by the countries in which Monsanto companies operate.
This statement sets forth the important information which
individuals who visit these sites need to know about how Monsanto
companies collect and use personal information from web site
visitors.
In this Privacy Policy, "Monsanto" refers to Monsanto Company
and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including the business unit of
Monsanto that operates the web site on which this Privacy Policy is
found.
Please read this policy carefully. By visiting a
Monsanto web site and using the services provided on that site, you
are indicating your agreement to Monsanto's use of your personal
information as set out in this Policy.
This Policy is intended to be in compliance with the applicable
privacy laws and regulations of each country in which Monsanto
operates and from which personally identifiable information is
collected. To the extent the laws of a country may prohibit
Monsanto from using and sharing personal information in a way
described in this Policy, the Policy and Monsanto's practices shall
be deemed modified to be consistent with such local laws.
Table of Contents
Changes to Policy
Children and Privacy
Collection of
Information
Cookies
Contacting Monsanto
Correction/Updating of Personal
Information
Monsanto's Use of Your
Personal Information
Opting In / Opting Out
Retention of Personal
Information
Security
Sharing and Disclosure of Your
Personal Information
Transfers of Information
What does this policy
cover?
What Does This Policy Cover?
This Privacy Policy applies to Monsanto web sites and
information collected by and through those web sites. It does not
apply to any other Monsanto services or dealings with users or
customers and does not apply to third-party sites which may be
linked to the Monsanto site.
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Collection of Information
Monsanto web sites collect personally identifiable information
only from individuals who voluntarily choose to provide the
information through the web site. (In this Policy the foregoing
information is referred to as "Personal Information.") That
Personal Information may be collected in several different
ways:
- Some sites may permit users to request a "user i.d." and
password which can be used on future visits to the site. Visitors
to the site may be asked to supply their name, geographic location
and some information about their business or occupation or other
reason for interest in the site. In addition, some sites permit
users to supply an e-mail address to sign up for Monsanto
newsletters. Other sites may include feedback or comment forms
whereby users can submit questions or comments to Monsanto. (In
this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as "User
Information.")
- Some sites may permit users to enter into transactions with
Monsanto or to take advantage of services provided by Monsanto to
its customers through that site or through its offices around the
world. On such sites, users will be required to provide detailed
information necessary to enable Monsanto to process the transaction
and to provide the goods or services requested by the visitor.
Visitors may be requested to provide financial information,
including credit card or bank information, in connection with such
transactions. Visitors may also be asked to provide information
about the pesticide and other licenses which they hold in order to
determine whether Monsanto can lawfully sell the products requested
by the visitor. (In this Policy, the foregoing information is
referred to as "Transactional Information.")
- Some Monsanto web sites may provide chat rooms or discussion
forums where users may register and post messages or comments.
Participation in such discussion areas is entirely voluntary. No
information which a user posts in such an area is private, inasmuch
as it will be accessible to other users of the same area. Thus, any
Personal Information which a user chooses to post in such an area
will not be subject to this Privacy Policy.
- From time-to-time our site may request additional information
from users by means of surveys or contests. Participation in these
surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore
has a choice whether or not to disclose whatever additional
information may be requested. Information requested through surveys
and contests may include additional demographic information. (In
this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as "Survey
Information.")
In addition to the foregoing Personal Information, each site
automatically logs information about a visitor from the browser
used to access the site (e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.).
This includes information about the I.P. address of the visitor,
the pages in the site which are visited from that address and the
web site which the user visited just prior to the Monsanto site.
(In this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as "Visit
Information.") None of this Visit Information permits personal
identification of the individual user who is accessing the Monsanto
site; thus Visit Information is not considered Personal Information
in this Policy. Visit Information will be used by Monsanto to
diagnose problems with its web servers, to administer, design and
construct its web sites, to track visitor movements on the web
sites and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use
only.
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Cookies
A cookie is a small data file that web sites commonly write to
the site visitor's hard drive when a site is visited. A cookie file
contains information that can identify a return visitor each time
he or she visits our site. The data is encrypted for added
security. Monsanto's web sites may use cookies as a way to measure
activity and traffic patterns on the site in order to continually
improve the visitor's experience. Cookies also provide visitors the
convenience of not having to log in a password more than once on a
Monsanto site, thereby saving the visitor time while on our
site.
A browser can be set to warn the users before accepting cookies.
Users can choose to refuse cookies by turning them off in the
browser. Users do not need to have cookies turned on to visit our
web site, but will need them to use certain customizable features
of our web site such as automatically displaying local weather and
crop forecasts, accessing certain areas of our web site, and
transacting business on our web site.
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Monsanto's Use of Your Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be used to communicate with you
about your use of our sites, to let you know about changes to our
services or our site or to provide services to you or to improve
our understanding of what visitors want and need to see on the
sites. In particular:
- User Information may be used by Monsanto primarily to enhance
the usability and friendliness of the Monsanto web sites and to
ensure that the information which is provided is timely and
relevant and meets the needs of our visitors. Monsanto may also use
the information which visitors voluntarily furnish through these
sites to provide information and promotional material to persons
who have visited the Monsanto sites and to process specific
requests for information which visitors may make. (See "Opting In /
Opting Out" below if you do not wish to receive such materials from
Monsanto.)
- Transactional Information will be used by Monsanto to process
and complete the transaction for goods or services requested by the
visitor.
- Survey Information will be used in a manner similar to User
Information but will be used primarily in aggregate form to provide
Monsanto with information on customer needs, product design, market
demand, etc.
Also, you should know that your Personal Information, as well as
Visit Information collected at a Monsanto site, may be used by
Monsanto security personnel if deemed necessary to protect Monsanto
from a threat or other perceived security risk and such information
may be shared with law enforcement authorities if appropriate.
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Sharing and Disclosure of Your Information
Monsanto may share Personal Information with others for a number
of purposes:
- We may provide contact information to our trade partners,
advertisers and other interested parties so that they may contact
you directly to furnish you information about their products and
services. (As used in this Policy, "Trade Partners" means
businesses not owned or operated by Monsanto but which provide
compatible goods or services which may be desired by or potentially
useful for visitors to the Monsanto web sites.) (See "Opting In /
Opting Out" below if you do not wish to receive such materials from
Trade Partners.)
- We will provide aggregated data about products and services
purchased, visitor interests, demographics and other information
collected from our web site to our Trade Partners, advertisers and
other interested parties so that they can learn what products and
services are most popular to our customers. Aggregated data will be
in anonymous group statistical form and not associated with any
individual person.
- We may use a credit card processing company to bill web site
visitors for products and services which they request.
- We may partner with other parties to provide specific services.
When the user signs up for these services, we will share names or
other contact information that is necessary for the third parties
to provide these services. These parties will not be allowed to use
personally identifiable information except for the purpose of
providing these services.
- We also may share Personal Information about visitors to our
web sites among its corporate affiliates and subsidiary companies
for purposes related to the business of those affiliates and
subsidiaries.
Monsanto may also share Personal Information about web site
visitors with third parties under the following circumstances:
When you consent to disclosure;
- To comply with law, court orders, subpoena or legal
process;
- To enforce or apply Monsanto's agreements or protect Monsanto
and its rights,
- By operation of law, when such Personal Information is
transferred as a part of sale of assets including the assets
represented by this site; or
- In the event that Monsanto, or substantially all of its assets,
are acquired outside of the ordinary course of business, and such
Personal Information may be one of the transferred assets.
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Transfers of Information
Because Monsanto operates from its headquarters in St. Louis,
Missouri in the United States of America and through subsidiary
companies located in many countries around the globe, and because
its web servers which host its web sites are located at numerous
locations inside and outside the United States, it is possible that
Personal Information about visitors may be transferred from one
country to another. Such transfers will only occur in compliance
with the applicable local law relevant to the source of the
information.
When you furnish Personal Information to Monsanto through a
Monsanto web site, you are also giving your consent to a
cross-border transfer of that information unless you specifically
elect not to have the information transferred at the time you
furnish it to us and inform us of your decision according to the
instructions on the site through which the information is
provided.
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Children and Privacy
Monsanto does not knowingly collect information from or about
children age 13 and under.
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Opting In / Opting Out
Upon registering at any Monsanto web site which collects
Personal Information, visitors will be given an opportunity to
determine whether they wish to receive promotional materials from
Monsanto or from Trade Partners. The manner and method in which a
Monsanto site permits users to opt out of receiving such materials
will be described on the individual site collecting that Personal
Information. If the user would like to "opt out" at a later time,
he may do so by following the instructions on the site where the
original request was made or the instructions contained in the
e-mail messages delivering such materials to him.
Likewise, you may withdraw your consent to the collection or use
of your Personal Information at any time by sending an email
message to email.webguru@monsanto.com
identifying yourself and describing the Personal Information which
you believe has been collected through this site.
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Correction/Updating of Personal Information
Each site which collects Personal Information will provide users
with instructions regarding correcting or updating that Personal
Information. Some sites may maintain a user account section where
visitors can make corrections themselves; others may provide an
email link or contact information to request us to make those
changes; generally, user requests for an update of Personal
Information will be honored within a reasonable time after we
receive a request. However, no changes to personal information will
be permitted where the change would result in incorrect information
or would alter a transaction with us already completed.
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Retention of Personal Information
Monsanto will periodically delete Personal Information collected
from visitors to its web sites if it is no longer needed for any
purpose for which the information may be used or disclosed under
the terms of this Policy.
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Security
Monsanto takes precautions to protect users' information. Our
safeguards include technical means and policies and procedures that
our staff is trained to follow. In any event in which a Monsanto
web site is hosted by a third party, these safeguards shall also
apply. If as a registered user you receive a password, you should
keep it confidential because it is the key to access to the
information held by Monsanto about you. If you leave your
computer's internet browser running and someone else uses your
computer, they will be able to access your account; thus, if your
computer is not physically secure remember to shut down your
browser before you leave it.
We try to reduce the likelihood of accidental disclosures and
unintended access and modification of account information, but it
is impossible to eliminate this possibility completely. When users
submit sensitive information via the website, their information is
protected both on-line and off-line.
When an enrollment or order form asks users to enter sensitive
information (such as credit card number) that information is
encrypted and is protected with the Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
technology.
While Monsanto uses SSL encryption to protect sensitive
information online, it also takes steps to protect user-information
off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive
information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Monsanto
employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy
practices. Any time new policies are added, our employees are
notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy,
and what they can do to ensure our customers' information is
protected.
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Protecting Your Own Privacy
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose
personal information online - for example on message boards,
through email, or in chat areas - that information can be collected
and used by others. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for
maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any account
information.
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Changes to Policy
If Monsanto decides to change its privacy policies and
practices, we will post those changes to our Privacy Policy on our
web site in advance of the changes taking effect, so our users are
always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and
under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point
we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner
different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will
notify users. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use
their information in this different manner. We will continue to be
able to use information in accordance with the Privacy Policy under
which the information was collected.
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Contacting Monsanto
Each Monsanto web site provides a Contact Us section to
facilitate feedback from site visitors. Please use this facility to
notify us if you have any questions, concerns or complaints about
the manner in which your personal information has been collected or
handled by Monsanto, or contact Monsanto's offices in your
country.
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Policy Last Updated November 8, 2005