Privacy Policy
Effective August 31, 2026
1. Scope
This policy describes how the Independence Hall Association ("IHA," "we," "us") handles information collected through ushistory.org (the "Site"). It applies to the Site only, not to third-party sites we link to.
2. The short version
We do not require accounts and do not ask visitors for names, email addresses, or other contact information.
Our servers automatically log basic technical information about each visit.
We use analytics and third-party advertising, which set cookies and similar technologies and may collect information about your browsing across sites.
Section 7 explains how to limit that collection.
3. Information collected automatically
When you visit the Site, our servers and hosting provider automatically record:
- your IP address
- browser type and version, operating system, and device type;
- the pages you request, the date and time, and the page that referred you;
- general location inferred from IP address, typically at the city or region level.
4. Cookies and similar technologies
The Site uses cookies, pixels, local storage, and similar technologies for these purposes:
- Strictly necessary — operating the Site and maintaining security.
- Analytics — understanding how visitors find and move through the Site so we can improve it.
- Advertising — enabling third-party advertising partners to select, deliver, and measure advertising, including advertising based on your activity across other websites.
5. Analytics
We use Google Analytics to measure Site traffic and usage. This provider collects information through cookies and similar technologies and processes it on our behalf and for its own purposes under its own privacy policy. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
6. Advertising
The Site displays advertising to support free access to our educational content. Advertising is served by Raptive and its participating advertising partners and demand sources.
CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a Raptive (“Raptive”) is a service provider of this Site for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and Raptive will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about Raptive’s data usage, click here: https://raptive.com/creator-advertising-privacy-statement/
These partners may collect or receive information from the Site, including cookie identifiers, device identifiers, IP address, and browsing activity to measure ad performance. We do not control these partners' independent uses of that information.
7. Your choices
Cookie settings. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of the Site function.
Interest-based advertising opt-outs. You can opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance (optout.aboutads.info), the Network Advertising Initiative (optout.networkadvertising.org), and, in Europe, the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (youronlinechoices.eu). These opt-outs are cookie-based and must be renewed if you clear cookies or change browsers or devices.
Mobile devices. iOS and Android both offer a device-level setting to limit ad tracking or reset your advertising identifier.
Global Privacy Control. This Site honors GPC and similar browser opt-out preference signals.
8. Children's privacy
The Site is intended for use by students, teachers, and general readers, and we know that some of our visitors are children.
We do not ask visitors for names, email addresses, or other contact information, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. We have configured our advertising to be non-personalized across the Site, which means our advertising partners are directed not to use cookies or identifiers to build profiles or serve interest-based advertising to our visitors.
If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, contact us at
9. How we use information
We use the information described above to operate, secure, and improve the Site; to understand usage patterns; to display advertising; to comply with legal obligations; and to protect our rights and the rights of our visitors.
We do not sell visitor lists, and we do not receive names or contact information from the Site to sell.
Note that under several U.S. state privacy laws, the use of third-party advertising cookies can qualify as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information even where no money changes hands and no contact information is involved.
10. Sharing
We share information with:
- Service providers who host the Site, deliver content, and provide analytics, acting on our instructions;
- Advertising partners, as described in Section 6;
- Legal recipients, where we believe disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of IHA, our visitors, or the public.
11. Retention
Server logs are retained for approximately 30 days. Detailed analytics data is retained according to the settings we configure with our analytics provider, currently 2 months, though aggregated traffic reports are retained indefinitely. Information held by advertising partners is retained under their own policies.
12. Security
We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect the Site. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
13. Visitors outside the United States
The Site is operated in the United States and information collected through it is processed there, in a jurisdiction whose data protection laws may differ from those where you live.
14. U.S. state privacy rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information we have about you, to request its deletion or correction, to opt out of targeted advertising, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. To make a request, contact us at
15. Business transfers
If IHA is involved in a merger, consolidation, reorganization, dissolution, or a sale or transfer of all or substantially all of its assets, including a transfer of the Site to another organization, information covered by this policy may be transferred as part of that transaction. Any recipient will remain bound by this policy with respect to information transferred, unless and until it provides notice of a different policy. We will post notice of any such transfer on the Site.
16. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. We will post the revised version with an updated "Last updated" date and, for material changes, will post notice on the Site thirty (30) days in advance where practicable.
17. Contact
Independence Hall Association Carpenters' Hall, 320 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106. Email us at