The Giving Closet Project Privacy Policy

Last modified: 3-15-2022

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY

[The Giving Closet Project, Inc.] (“we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy (this “Privacy Policy”).  This Privacy Policy is part of the Terms of Service (located here, the “Terms”). Capitalized terms used herein but not otherwise defined will have their respective meanings as set out in the Terms.  By accessing the Site, you agree to the terms set out in this Privacy Policy.  If you do not agree with this Policy, you must cease visiting or using our Site.  

Please note the following important details regarding this Privacy Policy:

  • This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you access the Site and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.  
  • This Privacy Policy may change from time to time as noted in “Changes to this Policy” below.  Your continued use of the Site after we make changes is deemed to be an acceptance of those changes, so please check this Privacy Policy periodically for updates.  If there is a material change in how we treat your Personal Information we will use reasonable efforts to notify you via the Site or any email address you may provide to us. 
  • This Privacy Policy applies to the information we collect through the Site whether via email, text message, or other electronic form.  This Privacy Policy does not apply to any subdomains which do not display, link, or reference this Privacy Policy or that have their own privacy policy statements.  Additionally, this Privacy Policy does not apply to any external websites which may be linked to the Site, as described in “Third Party Links” below.  

 

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

As you use the Site, we may collect two types of information from you: (1) “personally identifiable information” (described below); and (2) “non-personally identifiable information” (described below).

“Personal Information” or “Personally identifiable information” is information that identifies you personally, such as your name, telephone number, email address, billing address, billing zip code, delivery address, or event address, as may be applicable.  

Here are some examples of the ways in which we may collect and store your personally identifiable information through the Site:

  • We may collect your first and last name, email address, or other information if you fill out certain forms or online requests through the Site (for example, in connection with Account creation or donation);
  • We may collect your email address if you contact us with a question;
  • We may collect your first and last name, email address, and Account information if you make a payment or donation in connection with your use of the Site.  

“Non-personally identifiable information” can be technical information (e.g., information about your browser and/or the device or system used to access the Site), or it can be information about volunteer events, requests for donations, or programs in which you might be interested.  Non-personally identifiable information may also mean aggregated, non-identifiable, or anonymized information.  Non-personally identifiable information does not identify you personally.  If you do provide us with non-personally identifiable information, we may use it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or any other legal purpose.

Here are some examples of ways through which we may collect and store your non-personally identifiable information through the Site, and how we use such information:

  • Log Information: When you use the Site or view content provided therefrom, we automatically collect and store certain information in our server logs.  This type of information includes details of how you use the Site, IP address information described below, web pages which have been viewed by you, date and time, domain type, device event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware, settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your requests, and referral URL.  
  • Internet Protocol (IP) Address: Your “IP address” is a number that lets computers attached to the internet know where to send you data, such as content and material in connection with our Site.  We use this information to deliver our screens and pages to you upon request, to tailor our Site to your interests or the interest of our other visitors, and to measure traffic to and within our Site.  
  • Usage Information: When you use the Site, we may collect and process information about how you use the Site, including how you move through the Site.  

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

  • Cookies (or browser cookies): A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer.  You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser.  However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of the Site.  Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse our cookies, our system will use cookies when you direct your browser to the Site.  
  • Web Beacons: Emails or electronic newsletters that we deliver as part of the Site may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to measure and record user engagement, assess the popularity of certain content, and for other related purposes (for example, verifying system and server integrity).

If you encounter a screen or page that requests information you do not want to share with us, do not enter the information and do not proceed with that screen or page.  

How We Use Your Information

Personally Identifiable Information

If you provide us with personally identifiable information, we will only use it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and/or in accordance with any additional terms and conditions to which you agree at the time when the information is provided to us.  Primarily, we use it to fulfill our business interests as set forth below, or for other purposes based on your consent, which in either case may include:

  • Offer you the products and services you request;
  • Help us create or offer content which is relevant to you;
  • Allow you to access certain areas of the Site which may require additional input, information, or interaction from you;
  • Alert you to special offers, updated information, and other new services offered by us or by third parties;
  • Forward promotional materials, including, without limitation, affiliated links, sponsorships, and/or offers for related services, e.g., new opportunities, partnerships and/or promotions, and to fulfill the terms of any such promotion;
  • To improve your user experience and the experience of other users of the Site, including through the improvement and implementation of new security measures and protections;
  • To understand how you use the Site;
  • To store your profile and work history for your own records and use of the Site;
  • Identify you as a poster or provider of Content; or
  • Contact you in response to an email or other communication.

 

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

We may use non-personally identifiable information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and/or in accordance with any additional terms and conditions to which you agree at the time when the information is provided to us, or any other legal purpose, including, when and where applicable, combining non-personally identifiable information with personally identifiable information.  Without limiting the above, we may collect information to understand how you use the Site and how we can improve the Site’s functionality and privacy and security measures.

Reports

We periodically prepare analyses and reports reflecting our visitor and member use of the Site and any services provided therein.  In preparing these reports, we may combine and analyze the Personal Information you provide to us with information from other sources.  However, these reports will only include aggregate information about visitors and members.  The information in these reports will not identify you individually and any business partner with whom such reports may be shared will not be able to contact you based on the information contained in the reports.  

Disclosures of Your Information

We may disclose information we obtain about you in compliance with this Privacy Policy.  

Personally Identifiable Information

We may share or disclose your personally identifiable information in the following instances:

  • To provide the Site (e.g., when you provide a donation, become a volunteer, or become a sponsor); 
  • To offer you products from our affiliates, strategic partners, or agents, or to assist such parties for research, administrative, business purposes, or to otherwise fulfill our Mission;
  • To unaffiliated third-party service providers, agents, or independent contractors who help us maintain our services or to fulfill our Mission;
  • To comply with law or, if in good faith we believe that such action is necessary to conform to the requirements of law, or comply with legal process served on us, and to protect and defend our rights or property, or act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of you and our other visitors;
  • To third parties as part of a corporate reorganization process including, but not limited to, a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets;
  • To track and analyze non-identifying, aggregate usage and volume information from our visitors or members and provide such information to third parties;
  • To protect against fraud or potential fraud.  

 

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

We may share or disclose your non-personally identifiable information for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy or for any other legal purpose, including when and where applicable, sharing and disclosing non-personally identifiable information combined with personally identifiable information.  

Legal Disclosure

We may disclose and share information about you and your use of the Site if we believe such disclosure is necessary to:

  • Comply with the law and/or legal process where a formal request has been made;
  • Protect or defend our rights and/or property and property of others;
  • Enforce our Terms (including this Privacy Policy); and
  • Respond to claims that any material, information, or communication posted on the Site (including any Content) violates the rights of another.

 

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the Personal Information you provide to us.  We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

  • Tracking Technologies and Advertising.  You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent.  If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
  • Promotional Offers from us or our nonaffiliated partners.  If you do not wish to have your contact information used to promote our Site or our Mission, you can opt-out by sending us an email stating your request to [ ].  If we have sent you a promotional email, you may send us a return email asking to be omitted from future email distributions.  
  • Account Deactivation.  You can deactivate your account by sending an email to our support team at [ ]. 

 

Accessing, Correcting, and Deleting Your Information

We aim to maintain our Site in a manner that protects information from accidental or malicious destruction.  Because of this, we may not immediately delete residual copies from our active servers and may not remove information from our backup systems.

Subject to applicable law, you may obtain a copy of Personal Information we maintain about you or request that we delete Personal Information we maintain about you by contacting us as indicated below.  To help protect your privacy and maintain security, we will take steps to verify your identity before granting you access to the information.  In addition, if you believe that Personal Information we maintain about you is inaccurate, subject to applicable law, you may have the right to request that we correct or amend the information by contacting us as indicated below.  

Objection to Processing

Under applicable law, you may have the right at any time to object to our use of your Personal Information for any direct marketing purposes, including profiling to the extent it is used for direct marketing.  If we are processing your Personal Information based on our business interests, you may contact us and object to such processing by asserting that our interests do not override your interests, rights, and freedoms.  You may exercise the rights set out in this paragraph by contacting us as set forth in the “Contact Us” section below. 

Suspension of Processing

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your Personal Information, if: 

  • you believe that the Personal Information we maintain about you is inaccurate, and you have asked us to verify the accuracy of such information as provided above;
  • you believe that your Personal Information has been unlawfully processed and you want us to restrict processing rather than erase your information;
  • we no longer need your Personal Information, but you need us to retain it to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim; or
  • you have objected to our processing of your Personal Information, as permitted under applicable law, and we are considering the grounds of your objection.

 

Data Security

We have implemented measures to secure your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. Before we receive and store information, we make reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems.  We employ certain technical and operational safeguards to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of such safeguards.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you.  Where you have chosen a password to access the Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.  We ask that you not share this password with anyone.  

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure.  Although we do our best to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information transmitted via our Site.  Any transmission of Personal Information is done at your own risk.  We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on our Site.  

Retention and Deletion

Personally identifiable information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.  We will retain the personally identifiable information identified above for so long as you are using the Site and for a reasonable period following the date that you cease using the Site.  In some cases, it is not possible for us to specify in advance the periods for which your personally identifiable information will be retained.  In such cases, we will determine the period of retention based on the type, volume, and sensitivity of the personally identifiable information provided to us.  Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, we may retain your personally identifiable information where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

Children Under the Age of 16

The Site is not intended for children under 16 years of age.  No one under age 16 may provide any information to or through the Site.  We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 16.  If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information through the Site or on or through any of its features/register on the Site, use any of the interactive forms or public comment features (if any) of the Site or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or username you may use.  If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 16 years of age without verification of parental consent, we will delete the information.  If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under age 16, please contact us at info@givingclosetproject.org

Third Party Links

The Site may contain links to webpages operated by parties other than us.  We do not control such websites and are not responsible for their contents or the privacy policies or other practices of such websites.  Our inclusion of links to such websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or any association with their operators.  Further, it is up to you to take precautions to ensure that whatever links you select or software you download (whether by using the Site to access websites or otherwise) is free of such items as viruses, worms, trojan horses, defects, and other items of a destructive nature. Other websites and services may have their own privacy policies, which you will be subject to upon linking to the other third party’s website.  We strongly recommend that you review the other third party’s terms and policies.

Do Not Track (DNT) Signals

Our Site does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals.  Some third-party websites do keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you.  If you are visiting such sites, your browser may include controls to block and delete cookies, web beacons and similar technologies, to allow you to opt out of data collection through those technologies.

Compliance and Cooperation with Regulatory Authorities

We regularly review our compliance with our Privacy Policy.  When we receive formal written complaints, we will contact the person who made the complaint to follow up.  We work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of personal data if we cannot resolve the matter with our customers directly.  Subject to applicable law, you also have a right to communicate directly with appropriate regulatory authorities if you believe we are in violation of your rights under applicable law.

Changes to this Policy

From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Policy to accommodate new technologies, platforms, industry practices, regulatory requirements, new developments or for other purposes.  We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to ensure that you understand how we collect, use, and share information through the Site.  If we do make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you as required under applicable law, and we will also update the “Last Modified” date posted at the top of this Privacy Policy.  

Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when the revised Privacy Policy is available on the Site.  By continuing to use the Site following such changes, you are agreeing to accept the terms of the revised Privacy Policy.  

Contact Information

To ask questions or comment about this Privacy Policy and our privacy practices, contact us at: info@givingclosetproject.org.

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