Privacy Policy 

Last Updated: February 12, 2021 

Introduction 

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Policy.  This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide to us when you visit the website https://chsnc.org (our “Website”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information. 

This Policy applies to any information that we collect on and in connection with your use of the Website, including any information in any forms or electronic messages submitted by you to us through our Website.  This Policy does not apply to any other information that we collect by any means, or to the collection or use of your information by any third-party that may link to or be accessible from the Website. 

  

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it.  If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you can choose not to use our Website.  By accessing or using our Website, you agree to this Policy.  This Policy may change from time to time.  Your continued use of the Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes. 

 

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It 

We may collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, or our third party service providers may collect this information on our behalf. This includes information by which users may be personally identified or information about a user that is maintained in personally-identifiable form (collectively “Personal Information”).  Specifically, we or our third party service providers may collect the following: 

  • Your name 
  • Your birthdate 
  • Your gender 
  • Your telephone number 
  • Your e-mail address 
  • Your mailing address 
  • Your credit card, debit card or other payment information (in the event that you choose to donate to our organization through our Website or purchase anything from our Website store) 
  • Your IP address or mobile device ID 

 

With the exception of your IP address or mobile device ID (which we collect automatically as you navigate through or interact with our Website, as described below in the section titled “Traffic, Usage and Computer/Device Information”), we or our third party service providers collect this information directly from you when you submit it in connection with applying to become a foster parent, donating to our organization through our Website donation page, purchasing items through our Website shop, submitting to background checks in connection with a foster parent application, reporting a problem with our Website, or otherwise contacting us about our Website.  

Traffic, Usage and Computer/Device Information 

Additionally, as you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may automatically collect certain traffic data, usage information, and information about your computer equipment or mobile device, such as your browser and operating system, your wireless carrier, configuration data, clickstream analytics and your actions and patterns when you use our Website.  The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include cookies that are stored on the browser of your computer or mobile device, small embedded electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags and single-pixel gifs) and other types of embedded code.  We collect this information to manage our content and improve users’ use of our Website; count and review the number of users of our Website and their usage patterns; to track key performance indicators such as pages accessed, frequency of access and other statistical information related to our Website (for example, recording the popularity of certain content and verifying system and server integrity); to identify the portion of users who accesses our Website via different web browsers; to recognize if user is a return user of our Website; to store information about a user’s visits; to remember a user’s preferences; and for similar purposes in connection with monitoring, maintaining and improving our Website. 

 

How We Use Your Information 

Generally 

We may use the information we collect about you or that you provide to us, including Personal Information, to: 

  • Provide our Website and its contents to you. 
  • Provide you with information you request from us, including informational and promotional content and materials regarding the Website, our mission, our advocacy efforts and our other activities. 
  • Provide you with support and to respond to your inquiries and customer service and support requests, including to investigate and address your concerns and to monitor and improve our responses. 
  • Update and maintain subscription or e-mail lists. 
  • Process payment transactions with you on and through our Website, using a secure third party payment processor that we have engaged for this purpose, such as if you make a donation to our organization through the Website or if you purchase a product from us through our Website’s store. 
  • Help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of our Website, databases and other technology assets and our business. 
  • With respect to automatically-collected traffic, usage and device information, fulfill the purposes described in the section above titled “Traffic, Usage and Computer/Device Information.” 
  • Notify you about changes to our Website or this Policy. 
  • Respond to lawful requests for information through court orders, subpoenas, warrants and other legal processes or obligations. 
  • Enforce any contracts between you and us, or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. 
  • Evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which information (including Personal Information) held by us is among the assets transferred. 
  • Fulfill any other purpose for which you provide the information. 
  • Serve any other purpose that we describe when you provide the information and for any other purpose with your consent.

Third-Party Websites  

Our Website may include links to blogs, social media and third-party websites.  These third-party sites have their own privacy policies and terms of use and are not controlled by this Policy. You should carefully review any terms, conditions and policies of such third-party sites before visiting them or supplying them with any personal information.  If you follow a link on our Website to any third-party site, any information you provide to that site will be governed by its own terms of use and privacy policy and not this Policy. You may be able to use social media widgets (e.g., the Facebook “Like” button) while using our Website.  These widgets will collect your IP Address and identify which page you are visiting on our Website and make your preference information available to third parties.  The information collected by such widgets is controlled by third-party privacy policies.  

Use and Disclosure of Aggregated or De-Identified Data  

We may convert or combine some Personal Information of users into de-identified or aggregated data that does not disclose any of the Personal Information of any individual user.  We may use and disclose to third parties any such de-identified or aggregated data (including traffic and usage data that does not identify you personally) for any lawful purpose. 

Use of Google Analytics 

We use Google Analytics to track and analyze certain traffic and usage statistics regarding the use of our Website, such as the number of visitors to our Website, how visitors are navigating to our Website, visitors’ general geographic region information, how long individuals are visiting our Website, and information about the equipment individuals are using to access our Website (e.g., browser version and operating system).  This information includes demographic information about our Website visitors and general information about our visitors’ interests, but does not identify our visitors individually.  Google Analytics may use a Google Analytics cookie and may collect your IP Address or Mobile Device ID as part of this service (but neither we nor Google Analytics otherwise collects or processes any of your Personal Information in connection with our use of the Google Analytics services).  Further, we do not use any of this information to try to identify individual users.  We use this traffic and usage information to gauge, internally, the effectiveness of our advertising efforts and to make improvements to our Website and our marketing and promotional efforts.  The Website also utilizes several Google Analytics Advertising Features, such as Remarketing, Google Display Network Impression Interest Reporting, Demographic and Interest Reporting, and Google Ads.  These features aid in the uses listed above.   

For more information, please review the following: 

You can opt out of our use of certain Google Analytics features by updating the “Ads Settings” in your browser (www.adssettings.google.com/authenticated) or mobile device (www.support.google.com/ads/answer/1660762#mob), by enabling the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on in your browser by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, or by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative’s Consumer Opt-Out page at www.optout.networkadvertising.org/.  Because those opt-out and preference control pages are specific to the individual browser used to visit it, and because those pages are not operated by us, we are unable to perform the opt-outs on your behalf. 

Use of Facebook Business Tools 

We may use various advertising services and business tools on Facebook in connection with our Website.  The services and tools we may use are summarized on Facebook’s website here: https://www.facebook.com/help/331509497253087.  In connection with our use of these services and tools, Facebook may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from the Website and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads to you and others.  One particular advertising service we use on Facebook is called Facebook Pixel.  This service helps us (1) measure and track the results of our advertising on Facebook, and (2) better target our advertisements on Facebook to new potential users.  In connection with this service we may provide your e-mail address to Facebook along with the e-mail addresses of our other users, and Facebook uses this information to find other Facebook users with similar demographics and interests as indicated in the profiles and activities on Facebook of our users generally, to help us better target our advertising efforts on Facebook to those other Facebook users.  We also use Facebook’s Social Plugins (e.g., the “Like” and “Share” buttons) on our Website.  These widgets will collect your IP Address and identify which page you are visiting on our Website and make your preference information available to third parties.  The information collected by such widgets is controlled by Facebook’s privacy policy and not this Policy.   

For more information about Facebook Business Tools, please review the following: 

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/471978536642445?id=1205376682832142. 

  • You can opt out of certain Facebook advertising features by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative’s Consumer Opt-Out page at www.optout.networkadvertising.org/ and the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Assistance page at www.youradchoices.com/choices or by adjusting the privacy settings in your Facebook profile.  Information about how to adjust and control Facebook ad settings can be found at:  https://www.facebook.com/help/568137493302217Because those opt-outs, preference control pages, and privacy settings are specific to the individual browser used to visit it or the individual Facebook profile, and because those opt-outs, preference control pages and privacy settings are not operated or controlled by us, we are unable to perform the opt-outs, set your preferences or adjust the privacy settings on your behalf. 

Tracking and “Do Not Track”  

Tracking involves the use of cookies, web beacons, or other embedded code or tracking technologies to collect, analyze and store information on a user’s behavior over time on multiple sites, including information on the sites visited, products viewed, products purchased and other online interactions.  Tracking information can be used to enable companies to make interest-based (behavioral) advertising available to users on multiple sites that they visit. 

We do not currently collect Personal Information about your online activities over time and across third-party sites for tracking purposes.  However, we may provide certain of your Personal Information to other parties, including third-party advertisers, ad networks, ad servers, Internet service providers and mobile device providers, or such other parties may use on our Website certain tracking technologies or storage technologies such as cookies, web beacons or embedded code to collect Personal Information about your online activities over time and across third-party sites, and such other parties may use this information to provide measurement services or target ads to you or to others.  With limited exceptions, we do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or storage technologies or how they may be used.  Be advised that our Website does not respond to any “DO NOT TRACK” signals sent by your browser or mobile device, and if your browser or mobile device sends a “do not track” signal to our Website, our Website will not treat you differently from users who do not send such signals.  For information on how to disable certain third-party tracking technologies, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s Consumer Opt-Out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 and the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Assistance page at https://youradchoices.com/choices-faqBecause those opt-out and preference control pages are specific to the individual browser used to visit it, and because those pages are not operated by us, we are unable to perform the opt-outs on your behalf. 

 

 

Disclosure of Your Information 

We do not share, sell or lease your Personal Information to any third parties, and we only permit use of your Personal Information internally by our own personnel, except in the following, limited circumstances: 

  • If you choose to submit to a background check in connection with an adoption or foster application, your personal information will be disclosed to a third-party service provider for the exclusive purpose of completing the background check. 
  • If you choose to donate to our organization through our Website or purchase anything from our Website storeyour credit card, debit card, or other payment information and certain other billing information will be collected by a secure third party payment processor and used to process the donation on our behalf.  We do not directly collect or handle any of your credit card, debit card, or other payment information. 
  • We may disclose Personal Information to any contractors, service providers and other third parties who need to know such information to provide services to us that support our hosting, maintenance, operation and promotion of our Website and our permitted uses of Personal Information under this Policy.  For example, we may use a third party cloud-hosting infrastructure service provider (e.g., Amazon Web ServicesGoogle Cloud or Microsoft Azure) to store certain of your Personal Information securely, we may share certain of your Personal Information with our third-party advertising service providers such as Facebook or other social media platforms, and we use Google Analytics in connection with our Website as described above in the section titled “Use of Google Analytics.” 
  • We may disclose Personal Information to (or permit Personal Information to be collected on our Website by) certain third parties as described in the section above “Tracking and Do Not Track. 
  • We may disclose Personal Information to a buyer or other successor to our business in the event of a sale of equity or assets, reorganization, merger or a similar corporate transaction, and any due diligence review with respect to any such proposed transaction.
  • We may disclose Personal Information to comply with any court order, law or legal process, including to meet national security and law enforcement requirements and to respond to any government or regulatory request or audit.  
  • We may disclose Personal Information to enforce or apply any legal agreements between us and you, or if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of our customers or others. 

We may also disclose your Personal Information for any purpose disclosed when the information is provided, and for any other purpose with your consent. 

 

 

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information 

You have certain choices regarding the Personal Information you provide to us.   

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies.  If you choose not to accept cookies, you may be unable to access certain parts or pages of our Website, or certain parts, pages or features of our Website may not function properly.  To learn more about cookies and how to disallow or manage them, go to: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/. 

For more information on how to disable certain third-party tracking technologies, please visit the informational sites referenced above under the Tracking and “Do Not Track, Use of Google Analytics, and Use of Facebook Business Tools provisions. 

If you do not wish to have your Personal Information used by us to contact you for marketing purposes, you can opt out by checking the relevant box on the form on which we collect your Personal Informationlogging into the Website and adjusting your e-mail preferences in your account setting, sending us an e-mail with your request to marketing@chsnc.orgclicking on the “Unsubscribe” or similar link in the most recent e-mail you received from us and by following the prompts that appear.  This opt-out does not apply to information provided as a result of a product purchase, product service experience or other transactions (e.g., an order confirmation). 

 

 

Accessing and Correcting Your Information 

You may send us an email at marketing@chsnc.org to request access to any Personal Information that you have provided to us, or to correct or delete that Personal Information.  For security reasons, we may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity before we correct, update or delete any Personal Information you provide us.  We will evaluate such requests on a case-by-case basis.  We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect. 

 

Users Outside of the United States 

Our Website is hosted in the United States and is provided from the United States.  It is possible that certain information will be stored on servers in multiple other countries on the “cloud” or other similar distributed hosting platforms. If you are accessing the Website from the European Union, Asia or any other region with laws governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure that differ from United States laws, you are expressly and knowingly consenting to the transfer of your Personal Information from your home country to the United States and other jurisdictions as indicated above, and to our use of such Personal Information in accordance with this Policy. 

 

California “Shine The Light” Disclosure 

The California Civil Code permits California residents with whom we have an established business relationship to request that we provide a list of certain categories of Personal Information that we have disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. To make such a request, please send an email to marketing@chsnc.org or otherwise contact us using the information set forth below.  Please mention that you are making a “California Shine the Light inquiry.  Please note, however, that we do not currently disclose any Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. 

 

Children Under the Age of 16 

 Our Website is not intended for children under 16 years of age, and no one under age 16 may provide any information to this Website We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under age 16.  If you are under 16 years of age, do not use or provide any information on this Website, make any purchases through this Website, 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 that information.  If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under age 16, please contact us at marketing@chsnc.org. 

 

Data Security 

We have implemented measures designed to secure your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure.   

The safety and security of your information also depends on you.  When we have given you (or when you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping that password confidential.  We ask you not to share your password with anyone.  

Unfortunately, the transmission of information over the Internet is not completely secure.  Although we have implemented security measures that we think are adequate, we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information transmitted to our Website Any transmission of Personal Information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website 

If we change our privacy policy, we will post any changes to our website at https://www.chsnc.org/privacy-policy/.  If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ Personal Information, we will notify users by way of email, provided that users have provided their email address to use through the website, or through a notice on the Website. The date the Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page.  You are responsible for periodically visiting our Website and this Policy to check for any changes. 

 We are Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, Inc., a North Carolina non-profit corporation.  To ask questions or comment about this Policy and our privacy practices, you may contact us via our website contact portal at https://www.chsnc.org/contactvia email at marketing@chsnc.orgreach us via telephone at 1-800-632-1400, or write to us by mail at 604 Meadow Street, Greensboro, NC 27405. 

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