Updated July 8, 2026
Use
The American Academy of Audiology (“the Academy”) offers the Data Usage and Privacy Statement outlined herein as a guide for both Academy members and nonmembers [“User(s)”] utilizing the American Academy of Audiology Web site (“Site” and “the Site”). Please read all information carefully. By using this Web site, Users agree to be bound by these Terms. If Users accept these Terms, they should periodically review these Terms as the Academy may revise them from time to time as may be necessary.
Applicability and Eligibility
This privacy policy applies to the Academy’s collection, use, disclosure, and protection of your data. It does not apply to third party websites, applications, or services. Before accessing, using, or interacting with our services, carefully review the terms and conditions of this privacy policy. Services are not directed at children under the age of 18. You may not use our services if you are under the age of 18.
Collection and use of Personal Information
1. Purpose of collecting and processing the data
We collect and process your data to provide you with the goods or services you have requested or purchased from us, including membership services, events, publications and other content, certification, and training. We use this information to refine our goods and services to better tailor them to your needs and to communicate with you about other services we offer that may assist you in your career or otherwise help you to advance your career. We may also use this information to help us understand our members’ needs and interests to better tailor our products and services to meet your needs.
2. Personal information we collect -includes but not limited to
- First, Middle and Last Name
- Job title
- Email address, Work address
- Work Phone number
- Shipping and billing information, credit or debit card number, card expiration date, CVV code credit card information or other preferred payment means (collectively known as ‘Payment Information’)
- Documentation required to establish eligibility for membership, including education requirements, and to approve and/or renew memberships and certifications.
Members may voluntarily provide additional information in their membership profile related to personal and professional demographic information.
3. How do we gather your information
The above personal identifiable information may be gathered from
- Our online web portal when you create an account and sign up for membership, renewals, apply for certifications, etc.
- Prize Drawing Entry
- in connection with content submissions, suggestions, voting/polling activities, and transactional areas.
4. How do we use your information
- Membership
- We process your personal information for membership administration, to deliver member benefits, and to inform you of our events, content, and other benefits or opportunities associated with your membership. We may also use this information to help us understand our members’ needs and interests to better tailor our products and services to meet your needs.
- Events and Webinars
We host events throughout the year, including our annual convention, webinars, and trainings (collectively “events”). If you are a member and register for one of our events, we will access the information in your member account to provide you with information and services associated with the event. If you are not a member and you register for one of our events, we will collect your name and contact information, which we will store in our database and use to provide you with information and services associated with the event. If you are a presenter at one of our events, we will collect information about you including your name, employer and contact information, and photograph, and we may also collect information provided by event attendees who evaluated your performance as a presenter. As an attendee, speaker, or sponsor/exhibitor, we will keep a record of your participation to provide you with post-event information including details on upcoming events you may be interested in.
We reserve the right to use any photograph/video taken at our events, without the expressed written permission of those included within the photograph/video. We may use photograph/video in publications or other media material produced, used or contracted including but not limited to brochures, invitations, books, newspapers, magazines, television, websites, etc. To ensure the privacy of individuals, images will not be identified using full names or personal identifying information without written approval from the photographed subject.
Additionally, information processed through any of the AI tools that we use currently or in the future is limited to what is reasonably necessary to provide the requested service and is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
- Advertising and Mailing Lists
The Academy reserves the right to perform statistical analyses of user behavior and characteristics to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the site and to inform advertisers of such information as well as the number of users that have been exposed to or clicked on their advertising banners. The Academy will provide only aggregated data from these analyses to third parties. Also, users should be aware that the Academy may permit third parties to offer subscription and/or registration-based services through the Academy Site. The Academy is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties and users should check the applicable privacy policy of such party when providing personally identifiable information.
Additionally, users should be aware that when they voluntarily disclose personally identifiable information (e.g., user name, e-mail address) on the Academy Site, that information, along with any substantive information disclosed in the user’s communication, can be collected and correlated and used by third parties and may result in unsolicited messages from other posters or third parties. Such activities are beyond the control of the Academy. See “Terms of Use” specific to the communities for more information.
Users should be aware that the Academy may sell or provide member or event attendee mailing lists to third parties. Users can opt out of being included in these lists through the membership dashboard and event registration processes. You may opt out of this activity by contacting the Academy office.
- Publications
In addition to producing original content, the Academy also subscribes to news feeds and blogs produced by others, which we often link to from the Academy’s Site. This means a User may find oneself on the Academy Site or reading an email where the Academy will offer a link to another organization’s web site for additional relevant content. At these times, the User will be leaving our web site. The Academy is not responsible for or liable for content provided by these third-party websites or personal information they may happen to gather from you.
Some individuals who use Academy services are not Academy members and may still receive our communications by virtue of the relationship with the Academy. The Academy may retain contact information (first name and last name, an email address, and the country in which you live) for this purpose. We do not share this information with any third party other than to store the information in our database.
You may manage your subscriptions by subscribing or unsubscribing at any time. You also may opt out of email communications by contacting the Academy office.
- Payment Processing
To help protect your Payment Information, the Academy follows Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. We do not accept credit card information via email. Payment information received through approved secure methods, such as secure fax, telephone, or mail, is entered into a secure payment processing system and any temporary records containing full payment card information are securely deleted or destroyed in accordance with our records management and security practices.
- Access to your Information
Users can access, correct, delete or modify their personal information through the member dashboard on the academy’s member portal. The Academy welcomes users to contact us regarding the information we have collected about you, including the nature and accuracy of the data collected about you, to request an update, modification, or deletion of your information, to opt-out of certain services, or to withdraw any consent you may have granted. Please note that if you choose to delete your information or opt-out of the collection and use of your information, certain features may no longer be available to you. You can exercise your right to be forgotten by contacting the Academy office. Users can update their communication preferences through their dashboard along with being also able to opt-out of receiving certain communications by following the unsubscribe process described in an email communication, or by contacting our office directly.
By submitting such requests to organizations, individuals are entitled to receive:
- Confirmation that their personal information is being processed;
- Access to that information;
- The organization’s lawful basis for processing;
- The names or categories of any third parties that the information has been shared with;
- The estimated period for which the personal data will be stored (or, if this hasn’t yet been decided, the criteria used to determine that period);
- Any relevant information about how the personal data was obtained; and
- Information about automated decision-making, including profiling, and the reasoning for and potential consequences of automation.
Members may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information maintained by the Academy, including information associated with AI-enabled services, subject to applicable law, contractual obligations, and records retention requirements.
Sharing Information
Information about your purchases is maintained in association with your membership or profile account. The personal information we collect from you is stored in a database hosted by a third party, Euclid Technologies. Euclid does not use or have access to your personal information for any purpose other than cloud storage and retrieval. Other third-party vendors used by the Academy may store data for the provision of services. These vendors include KGL (JAAA), Boxwood/Naylor (Hear Careers), CommPartners/Cadmium (eAudiology), Cadmium (AAA Annual Convention Call for Submissions and online Convention Planner, scholarships and the DFAAA Program), Maritz (AAA Annual Convention Registration and Housing).
We do not otherwise reveal your personal data to third parties for their independent use unless:
- You request or authorize it;
- It’s in connection with any of our events as described above;
- The information is provided to comply with the law (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order), enforce an agreement we have with you, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of our employees or others;
- to provide information to our agents, vendors, or service providers that perform services on our behalf;
- to respond to emergencies, natural disasters, or other force majeure events; and
- to resolve disputes or claims, or to provide information to persons who demonstrate legal authority to act on your behalf.
Our website uses interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram and others. If you choose to “like” or share information from our website through these services, you should review the privacy policy of that service. If you are a member of a social media site, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your site visit to your personal data.
The Academy may engage trusted third-party technology providers, including providers of artificial intelligence services, to support our operations and member services. These providers process information only on the Academy’s behalf and are contractually required, where appropriate, to maintain appropriate security safeguards, protect the confidentiality of personal information, and use such information only for authorized purposes.
Website Usage
We may use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information. Additionally, for systems administration, detecting usage patterns and troubleshooting purposes, our web servers automatically log standard may access information including browser type, access times/open mail, URL requested, and referral URL. This information is not shared with third parties and is used only within this Company on a need-to-know basis. Any individually identifiable information related to this data will never be used in any way different to that stated above without your explicit permission.
Cookies
Users also should be aware that non-personal information and data may be automatically collected through the standard operation of the Academy’s Internet servers or using “cookies.” “Cookies” are small text files a Web site can use to recognize repeat users, facilitate the user’s ongoing access to and use of the site and allow a site to track usage behavior and compile aggregate data that will allow content improvements and targeted advertising. Cookies are not programs that come onto a user’s system and damage files. Generally, cookies work by assigning a unique number to the user that has no meaning outside the assigning site. Users should be aware that the Academy cannot control the use of cookies or the resulting information by advertisers or third parties hosting data for the Academy. If a user does not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows the user to deny or accept the cookie feature; however, users should note that cookies may be necessary to provide the user with certain features (e.g., customized delivery of information) available on the Site. The foregoing policies are updated and effective as of July 7, 2026. The Academy reserves the right to change this policy at any time by notifying users of the existence of a new privacy statement. This statement and the policies outlined herein are not intended to and do not create any contractual or other legal rights on or on behalf of any party. See Terms of Use.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Services
The Academy may incorporate artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies into certain member services, websites, and applications to improve access to information and enhance the member experience. AI-enabled services may include conversational assistants, search tools, compensation and benchmarking resources, and other digital services.
When you interact with an AI-enabled feature, the Academy may process information you provide, together with information available through your authenticated member account or authorized Academy resources, solely to provide the requested service.
The Academy is committed to responsible AI use and implements reasonable safeguards designed to protect member information. We strive to minimize the information processed by AI systems and limit access to only those individuals or service providers with a legitimate business need.
The Academy does not intentionally permit personal information submitted through Academy AI tools to be used by third-party providers to train publicly available or general-purpose AI models unless otherwise disclosed or required by law.
AI-generated responses are provided to assist users and may not always be complete or error-free. Members should exercise independent judgment when relying on AI-generated information, particularly when making professional, employment, financial, legal, or clinical decisions.
Members should not submit confidential patient information, protected health information (PHI), passwords, financial account information, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive information through AI-enabled services unless expressly requested through a secure Academy process.
Any compensation or benchmarking information made available through AI-enabled tools is provided using aggregated, de-identified, or otherwise protected data and is designed to preserve the confidentiality of survey participants.
The Academy may retain AI interaction records for security, auditing, quality assurance, service improvement, and legal compliance purposes in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable records retention requirements.
Future AI Technologies
As artificial intelligence technologies continue to evolve, the Academy may introduce additional AI-enabled features or services. Any such technologies will be governed by this Privacy Policy unless otherwise indicated.
Changes and Updates to the Privacy Policy
By using this site, you agree to the terms and conditions contained in this privacy policy. As our organization, membership, and benefits change from time to time, this privacy policy is expected to change as well. We reserve the right to amend the privacy policy at any time, for any reason, without notice to you, other than the posting of the amended privacy policy on our website. We may e-mail periodic reminders of our notices and terms and conditions and will e-mail members of material changes.
