Privacy Policy
Effective Date: August 29, 2026
Mayflower Descendants Museum LLC, operating as the Mayflower Descendants Museum (MDM) ("MDM," "we," "our," or "us"), values your privacy and is committed to responsibly handling the personal information entrusted to us.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you visit the Mayflower Descendants Museum website (the "Site"), become a member, make a purchase or support payment, subscribe to Museum communications, contact us, or otherwise interact with the Site.
By using the Site, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect
We may collect information in several ways.
Information You Provide to Us
Depending on how you interact with the Museum, you may voluntarily provide information such as:
Your name
Email address
Mailing or billing address
Telephone number
Membership information
Information submitted through contact forms
Newsletter or email subscription information
Order or transaction information
Information you choose to provide when communicating with the Museum
If you voluntarily provide genealogical, historical, family, or other information to the Museum, we may also receive the information contained in that submission.
Please do not submit sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for the purpose of your communication with us.
Website and Usage Information
When you visit the Site, certain information may be collected automatically by the Site or by service providers that help us operate it. This may include:
IP address
Browser type
Device and operating-system information
Pages viewed
Referring or exit pages
Dates and times of visits
Site interactions
General traffic and usage information
We may use this information to operate the Site, understand how visitors use it, improve Museum offerings, and maintain security.
Payment Information
When you purchase a membership, merchandise, or other offering, or make a payment in support of the Museum, payment information is generally processed by third-party payment processors, such as PayPal or other payment services made available through the Site.
MDM does not generally receive or store your complete credit-card number or other complete payment-card credentials. We may receive information associated with a transaction, such as your name, contact information, transaction amount, payment status, and other information necessary to administer the transaction.
2. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The Site may use cookies and similar technologies to operate properly, remember preferences, understand Site traffic and usage, maintain security, and improve visitors' experiences.
Some cookies are necessary for the Site to function. Other cookies, including analytics or performance cookies, may collect information about how visitors interact with the Site.
Depending on your location and the settings available on the Site, you may be able to accept, reject, or manage certain non-essential cookies through the Site's cookie controls.
You may also be able to control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of portions of the Site.
3. How We Use Information
We may use information collected through the Site to:
Provide and operate the Museum's website and online services
Establish and administer Museum memberships
Process purchases, membership payments, and other transactions
Provide membership benefits
Send transactional or administrative communications
Send newsletters, Museum news, exhibition information, research updates, or other communications when you have requested or agreed to receive them
Respond to questions, inquiries, and requests
Maintain records relating to memberships and transactions
Improve the Site, Museum programming, exhibitions, research, products, and visitor experience
Understand Site traffic and usage
Protect against fraud, misuse, security threats, and unlawful activity
Comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements
Establish, exercise, or defend legal rights
4. How We Share Information
We do not sell or rent personal information in exchange for money.
We may disclose information when reasonably necessary in the following circumstances:
Service Providers
We may provide information to companies that perform services on our behalf, including website hosting, website analytics, payment processing, email delivery, e-commerce services, technology services, and related operational support.
These providers may process information as necessary to provide their services to us.
Legal Requirements and Protection of Rights
We may disclose information if we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, regulation, subpoena, court order, or other legal process; to investigate suspected fraud or unlawful conduct; or to protect the rights, property, security, or safety of MDM, our visitors, our members, or others.
Business Transfers
If Mayflower Descendants Museum LLC undergoes a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or similar business transaction, information may be transferred as part of that transaction as permitted by law.
Donor and Member Recognition
The Museum may offer donors, supporters, and members the opportunity to be publicly recognized for their contributions, support, or membership. Public recognition is optional.
When an individual chooses to be publicly recognized, the Museum may publish or otherwise share the individual's name and, where applicable and authorized, information about the individual's donation, contribution, membership, sponsorship, or other support of the Museum. This recognition may appear on the Museum's website, in newsletters, social media, donor or member recognition lists, Museum reports, exhibitions, presentations, press materials, promotional materials, and other Museum communications or public-facing materials.
Individuals who prefer not to be publicly recognized may choose to remain anonymous. The Museum will not publicly identify a donor or member in connection with a contribution or membership when that individual has elected to remain anonymous.
Membership Information and Aggregated or De-Identified Data
When you join a Museum membership program, including Club 1620, we may collect information you voluntarily provide in connection with your membership, such as your name, email address, general geographic location, household information, and, for Club 1620 members, the name or names of the Mayflower passenger(s), families, or descendant groups from whom you report descent.
The Museum may use and report aggregated or de-identified information about Mayflower passenger connections, including the number of Club 1620 members who report descent from a particular Mayflower passenger, family, or descendant group.
The Museum may use and share aggregated or de-identified membership information for research, business and strategic planning, programming, exhibitions, educational content, merchandise development, member benefits, communications, audience analysis, and potential collaborations. We may also use aggregated or de-identified information to describe the Museum’s membership community to prospective partners, sponsors, collaborators, vendors, researchers, genealogical or ancestry-related services, other organizations, and the public.
Examples of aggregated or de-identified information may include overall membership numbers; the number of members located in particular states, regions, or countries; the number of Club 1620 members connected to particular Mayflower passengers, families, or descendant groups; and general membership interests or participation patterns. This information may be used, for example, to develop exhibitions or educational content, create merchandise relevant to particular descendant groups, identify opportunities for collaboration, or negotiate discounts, rates, services, products, or other benefits for Museum members.
The Museum may also publish aggregated or de-identified membership information publicly, including in newsletters, Museum reports, exhibitions, educational materials, website content, social media, press materials, presentations, and other Museum communications. For example, the Museum may report how many Club 1620 members connect to a particular Mayflower passenger, how many members reside in a particular state, region, or country, or how broadly the Museum’s membership community is represented geographically.
Aggregated or de-identified information is intended not to directly identify individual members. When a group or category is small enough that publishing specific information could reasonably identify an individual, the Museum may combine, generalize, or withhold that information to help protect member privacy. The Museum does not intentionally attempt to re-identify information that has been de-identified for these purposes.
The Museum does not sell member lists or personally identifying membership information. The Museum will not publicly associate an individual member’s name with a particular Mayflower passenger connection without that member’s permission. We do not publicly disclose or share personally identifying membership information for the purposes described above without the member’s permission. Personally identifying information may, however, be disclosed to service providers that help us operate the Museum, its website, memberships, payments, communications, fulfillment, and related services, or when disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law.
5. Third-Party Services and Links
The Site may contain links to or integrations with third-party websites and services, including payment providers, social-media platforms, video platforms, and other online services.
When you leave the MDM Site or interact directly with a third-party service, that third party's privacy policy and practices may apply. MDM is not responsible for the privacy practices of websites or services operated by third parties.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including administering memberships and transactions, responding to communications, maintaining appropriate business and historical records, complying with legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing agreements.
Different categories of information may be retained for different periods depending on their purpose and applicable legal or operational requirements.
7. Security of Your Information
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures intended to help protect personal information.
However, no website, electronic transmission, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of information transmitted to or stored through the Site.
8. Your Privacy Choices and Rights
Depending on where you reside and applicable law, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include the right to request:
Access to certain personal information we maintain about you
Correction of inaccurate personal information
Deletion of certain personal information
A copy of certain personal information
Restriction of or objection to certain processing
Not all rights apply in every jurisdiction or circumstance.
You may also unsubscribe from marketing emails by using the unsubscribe option included in those communications.
To make a privacy-related request, please contact us using the information below.
9. Children's Privacy
The Site is not intended to collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without appropriate authorization, and MDM does not knowingly solicit personal information online from children under 13.
If we learn that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected in circumstances requiring parental consent and such consent was not obtained, we will take reasonable steps to delete the information.
A parent or guardian who believes a child has provided personal information to MDM may contact us using the information below.
10. International Visitors
The Mayflower Descendants Museum is based in the United States. If you access the Site from outside the United States, information you provide may be transferred to, processed, or stored in the United States or other jurisdictions in which our service providers operate.
Privacy and data-protection laws in those jurisdictions may differ from those in your country of residence.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the Museum, the Site, our services, our information practices, or applicable requirements.
When we make changes, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this Privacy Policy. The updated policy will become effective when posted unless otherwise stated.
We encourage visitors to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to make a privacy-related request, please contact and put “Privacy Policy” in the subject line.
Mayflower Descendants Museum LLC
Mayflower Descendants Museum (MDM)
Email: info@mayflowerdescendantsmuseum.org