Privacy Policy
FRIENDS OF KAREN TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY
Friends of Karen takes the protection of your personal information seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we may collect, how we may use that information, and the steps we take to ensure the information you give us is protected. It applies to personal information we collect through this website, as well as through the mail, by phone, or in person from our donors, volunteers, and others wishing to receive information from us. Policies governing the collection and use of medical and financial information regarding Friends of Karen children and their families are outside the scope of this policy. For more information regarding Friends of Karen children’s privacy, please contact the Director of our Family Support Program.
The Information We Collect
When you make a donation, subscribe to one of our newsletters, submit a volunteer form, or request more information from us, whether through this website or through other means, we may collect personally identifiable information from you, including your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. We also collect additional information from our volunteers that help us match their experience and interests with volunteer opportunities. Please see a copy of our volunteer form for more details. In some instances, you may forward information or pages from our website to other individuals (friends, business associates, relatives) and this information would be retained as well. We also may collect certain non-personally identifiable information when you visit many of our web pages such as the type of browser you are using (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox), the type of operating system you are using, and the domain name of your Internet service provider.
PLEASE NOTE: We never share your personal information with any third party.
Cookies
A cookie is a small data file that a website may send to a visitor’s browser and which may then be stored on the visitor’s hard drive. Our website uses cookies so we can automatically recognize visitors and allow them to move within areas of our website without reintroducing themselves or re-entering their preferences. No personally identifiable information is stored in these cookies. Most browsers will allow a user to accept or deny cookies. If a visitor rejects our cookies, they can still use our site. We use cookies to help us understand how visitors use our website. Friends of Karen also uses IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the website, track movement and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. Our website also may use other technologies to track which pages on our website our visitors view. All of this is designed to improve our visitors’ experiences.
Information about Children
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18 through the Friends of Karen website. If we learn that we have collected any personal information from a child under the age of 18 through the website, we will delete that information from our database as soon as possible. As discussed below, we do collect information from the children we serve through one-on-one interaction with their families.
Disclaimer on Information and Advice
The goal of the website is to provide information to these audiences to educate them about Friends of Karen and the work that we do for our families. The information contained on the website is not intended to provide professional medical, financial or legal advice, nor is it a replacement for obtaining professional medical care.
DATA COLLECTION
Internal Use
We collect the following information: Standard Web server traffic pattern information: General traffic, site usage, and length of stay information is collected and stored in log files. Log files are transaction records maintained on web servers to record information such as: service provider (IP address); browser versions; referring websites; search terms used; average number of pages requested; average duration of visit; total visitor traffic, etc. This type of information is shared externally only on an aggregated basis. Personal information: We do not collect personally identifiable information from visitors unless they provide it to us voluntarily and knowingly. For example, if a visitor personalizes the website, volunteers, orders informational materials, requests information, or donates, we may collect the following information: first and last name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone number, email address and subject of inquiry.
Requests
If visitors submit online requests for Friends of Karen items, such as free brochures, or if they submit a question through a “Contact Us” form, we may have to gather additional information from them to respond to the request. Such information will vary with the request, but often includes name, shipping address, telephone number and email address.
External Use
Personal information may be needed for certain optional online activities. Visitors’ health-related information is privileged and confidential and will not be shared or released to any organization or business entity other than those affiliated or working in conjunction with Friends of Karen. We sometimes use a third party to provide visitors with selected services. For example, if visitors choose to customize the website to their needs by registering for an event or signing up for an e-newsletter, a third party (Acceptiva) retains the preferences that are selected so that the visitor will not have to re-enter the information each time s/he accesses this area of the website. If a visitor chooses to donate to our organization through the website, Acceptiva collects standard credit card information (card number, card type, expiration date) and keeps a record of the visitor’s financial transaction. Credit card numbers are held only until the charge can be processed. Acceptiva processes financial transactions (donations and registrations) via encrypted SSL sessions. SSL is the industry standard for securing Web-messaging transactions. Please visit Acceptiva to access the Acceptiva Privacy Policy.
Data Security
We are committed to protecting the security of visitors’ personal information and to honoring their choices for its intended use. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we strive to maintain physical, electronic, and administrative safeguards. We store data in password-controlled servers. Our staff and volunteers are educated about the importance of safeguarding visitors’ information and we are committed to protecting confidentiality. However, such precautions do not guarantee that our website is invulnerable to all security breakdowns. Friends of Karen makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation that our Web site is protected from viruses, security threats, or other vulnerabilities or that visitor information always will be secure.
Acceptiva:
Online donations to Friends of Karen are processed by Acceptiva. Acceptiva is a VISA and MasterCard certified PCI DSS Service Provider. When a donor uses the Acceptiva payment platform, billing information — including the name on the credit or debit card, billing address and expiration date — is used to process the transaction. All of this information is encrypted using 128 bit SSL industry standard secure technology. This encryption is designed to prevent theft or interception of the information as it traverses the Acceptiva data network.
Acceptiva does not disclose, sell, trade, rent or otherwise reveal credit card or other personal information to any third party, other than to its client, Friends of Karen. Demographic and usage data may be used by Acceptiva in aggregate for internal analysis, but at no time are individual credit or debit cards every communicated or shared with anyone.
Friends of Karen requires its employees to treat all contact information as confidential. Acceptiva employs a firewall to help protect our website from unauthorized access. Though we use our best efforts to keep data secure, we are not responsible for misuse by others.
Whenever Friends of Karen permits an external third party to access personally-identifiable information, we follow appropriate procedures to help ensure that the information is used only for authorized purposes and in a manner consistent with the choices visitors have made under this privacy statement, and that the security, integrity and privacy of the information is maintained. While Friends of Karen will employ procedures to help ensure that visitor information is only used for authorized purposes as described above, we cannot make any guarantees with respect to the actions or policies of such third parties.
External Links
Our privacy policies apply only to visitors’ use of the Friends of Karen website. This site contains links to other sites, including sites that have an official relationship with us. We do not disclose personably identifiable information to the organizations that operate these linked sites and we are not responsible for their privacy practices or site content. Links to other sites do not imply an endorsement of the materials or policies on those websites. Visitors should read the privacy policies of each site they visit to determine what information that site may be collecting about them.
Opting-out, Corrections and Cancellations
We respect the privacy and choice of all the visitors to our website including donors, volunteers, and the families we serve. If there are any questions about our privacy policy, the information we have collected online, the practices of this site, please contact us via email at the address listed below.
If requested, Friends of Karen will (a) remove your personal information from our databases; (b) correct personal information that is erroneous; or (c) remove you from further email notifications. To request a correction or cancellation, or if you have any questions concerning this privacy statement or our information gathering and dissemination practices, please contact Friends of Karen or write to us at 118 Titicus Road, North Salem, NY 10560.