Privacy Policy and Cookie Information

Last updated: 6th October 2026

We take safeguarding your personal information seriously. This privacy policy ("Policy") describes how the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS) collects, uses and shares personal information of users of our website.  

Legal Entity

This page uses "IAPWS" to mean the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam. IAPWS is a non-profit association of national and regional organizations. Our address is:

IAPWS

PO Box 1253
Erie, CO 80516-1253
U.S.A.

Changes to this Policy

We are continue to improve and add new functionality and features to our website. Because of these ongoing changes, changes in the law and the changing nature of technology, our data practices will change from time to time. If and when our data practices change, we will (as soon as practicable) update the privacy policy.

The information we collect and how we use it

If you fill in the IAPWS Contact Information form on our site we will collect and store the information you give us. The information is sent to an IAPWS contact who may subsequently send an email reply or email an appropriate expert(s) to respond to the enquiry: all such emails are preserved indefinitely according to policies established by recipients and their service providers. IAPWS correspondents are by the nature of our organization located internationally.

We automatically log information about you and your device. For example, when using our website, we may collect device information such as your activity on the site, your browser and operating system details (see ‘non-personal information’ below).

We do not have any accounts associated with the website; we do not send marketing communications, promotional information or technical updates.

Any personal information relevant to IAPWS events or activities (e.g. registration for annual meetings and webinars) is managed through separate external web sites for these activities.

How we share this information

We will not share your information with third parties, except as we believe necessary or appropriate:

1. to comply with applicable laws;
2. on reasonable request by a law enforcement or regulatory authority, body or agency;
3. in the conduct or defence of legal claims;
   and
4. to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others.

We will not delete personal information if relevant to an investigation or a dispute. It will continue to be stored until such issues are fully resolved.

Non-personal information

In addition to the information we collect as described above, we use technology to collect anonymous information about the use of our web site. For example, we use technology to track which pages of our web site our visitors view. We also use technology to determine which web browsers our visitors use. This technology does not identify you personally, it simply enables us to compile statistics about our visitors and their use of our web site.

Our web site contains hyperlinks to other pages on our web site and to other websites. We use technology to track how often these links are used and which pages on our web site our visitors choose to view. Again this technology does not identify you personally - it simply enables us to compile statistics about the use of these hyperlinks.

We use this anonymous data to improve the content and functionality of this web site.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of text stored as a file on the computer's hard drive. They are not computer programs. They only contain and transfer to the web server as much information as the users themselves have disclosed to a certain web site.

Cookies are used by your browser and by most websites to help personalise or improve your experience using the world wide web. If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by this website, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. Restricting cookies may affect some of the functionality of this web site, but most of the site will still be accessible to you.

The Help menu on the menu bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether.

You can find more information about deleting and controlling cookies from the AboutCookies.org website.

IAPWS will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you.

The table below explains the cookies we use and why.

Use of Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.

Google Analytics uses a set of cookies to collect information and report site usage statistics without personally identifying individual visitors to Google. ‘_ga’, the main cookie used by Google Analytics, enables a service to distinguish one visitor from another. Any site that implements Google Analytics, including Google services, uses the ‘_ga’ cookie. Each ‘_ga’ cookie is unique to the specific property, so it cannot be used to track a given user or browser across unrelated websites.

Learn more about how Google Analytics uses cookies

Use of Matomo

Our website also uses Matomo, a web analytics service. Unlike Google Analytics, Matomo stores data on our own servers (or via a hosted instance), giving us greater control over visitor data.

Matomo uses a set of cookies to collect information and report site usage statistics. The _pk_id cookie stores a unique visitor ID and information about previous visits, whilst the _pk_ses cookie identifies whether a visit is part of an ongoing session.

Learn more about how Matomo uses cookies

Transfer of data abroad

We do not intentionally transfer personal data outside the UK with the exception of enquiries to the IAPWS Contact Information form which (as described previously) are routed to appropriate IAPWS personnel, who are likely to be located outside the UK.

Of course, the Internet is made up of a large number of international connections. If you are visiting our web site from a country other than the country in which our server is located (currently the UK), the various communications will necessarily result in the transfer of information across international boundaries. By visiting this web site and communicating electronically with us, you consent to these transfers.

Governing Law

This Privacy Policy forms part of our Web Site Terms of Use and as such shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England & Wales. You agree to submit any dispute arising out of your use of this Web Site to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England & Wales.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the information we hold about you, or concerns about the way we process your personal data, please contact us by using the IAPWS Contact Information page, or by writing to us at the address above.