Privacy Policy

Date Posted: February 14, 2020
Effective Date: March 15, 2020

The National CASA/GAL Association (“National CASA/GAL”) respects the privacy of every visitor to our websites. Your privacy is a priority, and we go to great lengths to protect it. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect and use information about our online visitors. We know you care about your information, and we want you to be fully informed about our practices.

Please read this Privacy Policy before using our website, nationalcasagal.org, or submitting any personal information to us. By using any of our websites, you consent to the information collection and use practices described herein.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

National CASA/GAL, together with its state and local members, supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused or neglected children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes. In order to further this mission, National CASA/GAL may collect certain information from you through our website, including personal information (i.e., individual information that may be used to personally identify or contact you). Collection is done both actively (information you voluntarily submit to us) and passively (information automatically gathered from your computer).

ACTIVE COLLECTION

At several places on our websites, we collect certain information you voluntarily provide to us that may contain personal information. For example, if you make a donation, become a member, access our Judges’ page, fill out a form, or register for an event through the website, we or one of our vendors may collect your name, address, phone and email. If a vendor collects your personal information, such vendor may share all or part of your personal information with us.

What happens when you make donations through our websites? While National CASA/GAL hosts these websites, we use vendors to process your credit card payments with established encryption techniques for protecting your information. We encourage you to read each of our vendors’ privacy policies and terms and conditions of use before entering your credit card or billing information. While National CASA/GAL does not receive complete credit card information, our vendors will provide us with your personal information upon completion of a credit card transaction. Such information may include your name, billing address, email address, telephone number, amount donated, how you heard about National CASA/GAL, and the last four digits of your credit card number, the latter of which we use for verification and/or customer service purposes.

What happens when You take a grassroots action via our websites, such as by sending a member of Congress an e-mail or social media communication? While National CASA/GAL hosts such websites, we use vendors to facilitate grassroots actions, which may require you to provide personal information, such as your name, e-mail address, mailing address, and/or telephone number. We encourage you to read each of our vendors’ privacy policies and terms and conditions of use before providing any personal information. We also encourage you to read the privacy policy and the terms and conditions of use of any social media site that you use when taking a grassroots action. Please note that our vendors may provide us with some of your personal information after you take a grassroots action, such as your name and the member of Congress whom you contacted.

National CASA/GAL may publish, in annual reports or other public documents, donors’ names and information relating to the amount of their donations (e.g., by indicating a donation level or tier). Please note that a donor will have the option to remain anonymous. Electing to remain anonymous means that National CASA/GAL will not disclose your name in connection with the gift in any publication or publicly available document, but National CASA/GAL will have your personal information in its records relating to the gift.

In addition, from time to time we may request information as part of surveys or contests, or in connection with grant applications and reporting. You may have the option to register for receipt of email communications, such as electronic newsletters, that we disseminate from time to time. Registration for such communications may include your name, email address, and, potentially, demographic information. If you send us an email request or participate in our forums, we may store that information as well, including any personal information included in a post, message, or email, as well as any personal information included in any attachments you may include in such post, message, or email.

PASSIVE COLLECTION

Our software automatically collects certain information from your computer (such as your Internet address and browser type) using two methods: (1) “cookies” and (2) log files.

Cookies. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. A cookie is not linked to any personally identifiable information gathered via our websites. We use cookies to track a user’s path for security purposes, to collect aggregate web statistics, and in an effort to enhance the experience on our websites. If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser instructions or help screen to learn about these functions. A user who rejects a cookie may still use our websites but may not be able to access some areas within our websites.

Log Files. We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer our websites, track users’ use of our websites, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information we collect, store, or otherwise maintain.

HOW WE USE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

National CASA/GAL is the sole owner of the information collected on our websites. Personal information that you provide National CASA/GAL (such as a personal email address) may be used by National CASA/GAL in the following ways:

  • to contact you about your use of our websites or about our programs, services, products, activities or special events;

  • to remember information about you so that you will not need to enter it during a future visit to our websites;

  • to advocate for children and otherwise further our mission;

  • to respond to your comments or requests;

  • to request feedback and to enable us to develop and improve the websites and our products and services;

  • for internal and marketing, promotional, informational and fundraising purposes;

  • to operate, test, and monitor the effectiveness of our websites; and

  • for the specific purpose for which the information was provided.

For example, we may send new members a welcoming email, donors may receive electronic and/or physical communications recording a donation, and members and donors may occasionally receive newsletters or information on our programs, services, products, fundraising campaigns, or special events. Please see “Choices You Have Regarding The Use Of Your Information” below regarding your options to avoid receiving such communications.

National CASA/GAL and its vendors may store, process, or transfer your personal information in the United States or outside, including to countries that do not have the same data protection laws as the U.S.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE SHARE WITH THIRD PARTIES

In some circumstances we may disclose personal information you provide without first obtaining your authorization. We may disclose personal information you provide to independent contractors, volunteers, agencies, service providers, and consultants who are engaged by or working with National CASA/GAL and who need access to such information to carry out their programs or services. We may partner with other agencies or organizations to provide specific programs or services and will share information with them in order to facilitate their provision of such programs or services. We may also disclose personal information we have collected if we are required to do so by law or if in our good faith judgment, such action is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process, to respond to any claims, or to protect the rights of National CASA/GAL, its constituents and the public. For example, if you submit a complaint that content on our websites infringes your copyrights, we may provide your contact information to the individual or entity who posted the allegedly infringing content. Further, we may disclose your personal information in response to a request from law enforcement or a court order.

We may provide aggregate information (i.e., information we collect that does not allow you to be personally identified or contacted), such as information about your access and use of our websites, to third parties without your authorization.

Please note: our websites may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that National CASA/GAL is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage users of our websites to be aware when they leave our websites and to read the privacy statements of every website that collects personally identifiable information.

Similarly, if you entered one of our websites through another website, National CASA/GAL is not responsible for the privacy practices of that site, and you should review the privacy policy of the originating site before providing any personal information to that site. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by National CASA/GAL via one of our websites.

NOTE REGARDING THE PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CHILDREN

With respect to children, National CASA/GAL does not intentionally collect via our websites personal information from people under age 13. However, because National CASA/GAL’s mission is to provide advocacy for children, we recognize that we may obtain information from children through our websites. In the event we receive personal information from a child, we may share such information with officials, local chapters, or our partners if necessary to provide for the health, safety, and well-being of the child. We do not and will not share a child’s personal information in any other way or with any other parties.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

While no website or electronic data can ever be completely secure, we work to maintain up-to-date and appropriate security mechanisms, and we use a variety of security measures to protect your data. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to help prevent unauthorized access to and improper use of your personally identifiable information. For example, our employees’ computers are password protected, and we provide regular education to our employees regarding our security and privacy practices.

We want you to feel confident in our security when using the Services, but we cannot guarantee the security of any information from or about you 100% of the time. Please refer to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s website for information on how to protect yourself from identity theft.

HOW YOU CORRECT AND UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

If you wish to verify, correct, or delete any personal information, including deletion of your account, please contact us at contact@nationalcasagal.org and we will endeavor to correct, update, or remove the personal data you have provided us as you indicate to the extent such information is not necessary to complete any services or transactions with us. If you wish to delete your account, please note that we may retain some information from or about you for backup, operational, accounting, archival, and/or audit purposes and in accordance with applicable law.

CHOICES YOU HAVE REGARDING THE USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

You may opt out of receiving communications from National CASA/GAL, except to the extent such information is necessary to complete any services or transactions you have entered into, by emailing us at contact@nationalcasagal.org.

You may also opt out of receiving promotional communications from National CASA/GAL by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in a particular promotional communication. Please note that you may not be able to opt out of receiving all communications from National CASA/GAL, including administrative messages, service announcements, messages regarding the terms and conditions of your account, and other messages that may contain important information regarding your account.

Some third parties, which may collect information from or about you on our websites in order to provide more relevant advertising to you on websites you visit, participate in the Digital Advertising Alliance Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. This program offers a centralized location where users can make choices about the use of their information for online behavioral advertising. To learn more and to make choices about the use of your information for online behavioral advertising on websites, please click here. Please note that if you opt out of online behavioral advertising using this method, this opt-out will only apply to the specific browser or device from which you opt out.

In addition, some of the advertisers, advertising technology companies, and service providers that perform advertising-related services for us and our business partners may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), a cooperative of online marketing companies that offers a centralized tool for opting out of interest-based advertising delivered by each of its member companies. If you would like to obtain more information about interest-based advertising and the NAI and make choices about their members’ use of information from or about you on websites, please click here. Please note that if you opt out of interest-based advertising using this method, this opt-out will only apply to the specific browser or device from which you opt out.

There is currently no consensus among industry participants as to what “Do Not Track” means and how to respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals. As such, we do not respond to such signals. Instead, to opt out of website-based third-party interest-based or online behavioral advertising, please exercise one of the choices listed above.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or how personal information collected on our websites is used, you can contact us at contact@nationalcasagal.org.

If you are a California resident, you may be entitled to request certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of your personal information (such as your name and contact information) to third parties who wish to contact you or send you promotional information about their products and services directly (as compared to when the third party is acting on our behalf or you have provided your personal information as part of a co-promotion by National CASA/GAL and the third party). If you are a California resident and would like to request a copy of information regarding our disclosure to third parties for their direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year, please send us a letter at the following address:

National Court Appointed Special Advocate / Guardian ad Litem Association
Attention: CA Privacy Rights
100 West Harrison Street, Suite N500
Seattle, WA 98119

LAW APPLICABLE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

National CASA/GAL is headquartered in the United States, and our websites are intended for users in the United States. By viewing any content or otherwise accessing our website, you consent to the transfer of information to the United States to the extent applicable, and the collection, storage, and processing of information under United States laws.

HOW WE MAKE CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

National CASA/GAL reserves the right to change the provisions of this privacy statement at any time, but will alert you that changes have been made by indicating on the Privacy Policy the date it was last updated. We may also inform you of changes to our Privacy Policy by posting a notice on our websites and/or, if you have an account with us, sending you an email using the most recent email addresses you provided to us. Your use of our websites following the posting of such changes or revised statement shall constitute your acceptance of any such changes.

Any material change to this Privacy Policy will be effective automatically 30 days after the revised Privacy Policy is first posted or, for users who register or otherwise provide opt-in consent during this 30-day period, at the time of registration or consent, as applicable. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy whenever you visit one of our websites to make sure that you understand how any personal information you provide will be used.

HOW YOU CAN CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR PRIVACY POLICY

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at contact@nationalcasagal.org.