ACLU Privacy Policy

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (collectively, "ACLU-NC") are committed to protecting the personal information that you provide to us when using the ACLU-NC Site. This Online Privacy Statement describes how we treat all user data collected during your visit to the ACLU-NC Site, both anonymous data and personally-identifying data. (The ACLU-NC is comprised of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. To learn more about the differences between the two organizations, read more here.

The ACLU-NC may occasionally update this Statement. We will post any changes on this Web page, so be sure to check back periodically. If we do make material changes, we will post a notice on our home page that the Online Privacy Statement has been modified and provide a link to the revised Online Privacy Statement. Any information that you submit after a change has been posted will be subject to the new provisions.

User Data We Collect
We collect two types of user data: (1) anonymous data that is automatically collected from all visitors to the ACLU-NC Site; and (2) personally-identifiable data that you voluntarily submit to us (described below under "Personal Data").

Anonymous Data
We automatically collect Internet Protocol addresses and domain names through our server and through cookies. (See the section on Cookies below for more information.) We also track the number and frequency of hits per page on an aggregate basis.

Personal Data
We may collect Personal Data that you voluntarily provide, such as your name and postal address, phone number, e-mail address, and similar information, when you participate in certain activities on the ACLU-NC Site, including (but not limited to) when you:

• join or renew your membership to the ACLU;
• make an additional contribution to support the ACLU;
• sign up for our ACLU-NC e-mail network
• send correspondence to your government representative through the ACLU-NC Site;
• order items from the ACLU store;
• participate in one of our online surveys; or
• participate in any activity that requires your Personal Data.

If you join the ACLU or make a donation to the ACLU from a Web site link, we may also identify the source of that link, so that we can evaluate what content is persuading Web users to contribute to the ACLU.

Cookies
We collect some data through the use of cookies. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that are transferred either to your computer's hard drive ("Long-term Cookies") or temporarily to your computer's Random Access Memory ("Session Cookies").

We use Long-term Cookies only when you select a "remember" option on the ACLU-NC Site, for example the "remember my login" option offered when you log on to the ACLU-NC Site, or the "remember me" option offered on the Write Your Elected Representative page. If you select these options, a Long-term Cookie will be stored on your computer's hard drive solely for the purpose of automatically filling in the remembered information, for example, automatically filling in your password when you log in to the ACLU-NC Site or your postal address when you write a letter to your representative. These "remember" options are offered only for your convenience and are completely voluntary. If you do not select a "remember" option, no Long-Term Cookie will be stored on your computer's hard drive.

We use Session Cookies whenever you visit the ACLU-NC Site to run the Site's interactive applications, such as the shopping cart. Session Cookies last only as long as your session on the ACLU Site. They expire when the session ends and are not written onto your computer's hard drive. We also use Session Cookies in e-mails containing the HTML-format ACLU online newsletter. If you select "text-only" format for the online newsletter, it will not contain any Session Cookies.

How We Use The Data We Collect
We use anonymous data to identify the source of user traffic (for example, berkeley.edu, or aol.com), but we are not able to use this data to identify individual users. We use data on which sections of the ACLU-NC site are most visited, so that we can evaluate the popularity of our different Web pages and continue to improve the ACLU-NC Site. We do not link any anonymous data with the Personal Data you provide to us.

We use your Personal Data for various purposes:

• To fulfill the request for which you specifically provided the data;
• To send you our e-mail newsletter, or action alerts
• To personalize the content that you see based on the activities and products that you have selected on the ACLU-NC Site;
• To allow you to set and change user preferences;
• To allow you to renew your membership in the ACLU;
• To offer you other ways to support the ACLU, including, in some cases, solicitations for additional contributions;
• To confirm your contribution to the ACLU.

The ACLU-NC Site is hosted by servers in the United States. Accordingly, if you are located outside of the United States, the Personal Data you provide to us will be transferred to the United States. By submitting your Personal Data, you consent to its transfer and storage in the United States and its use in accordance with the purposes for which it was originally collected (see below regarding third-party sharing of Personal Data from non-U.S. residents).

If you are a U.S. resident, we may also from time to time combine your Personal Data with some publicly available data collected from third parties (such as addresses or phone numbers) to improve our services to you and for our own internal marketing, communications, and fundraising purposes.  The ACLU-NC holds itself to a high standard; we believe in protecting the privacy of our members, donors and website users.  For this reason, there are many types of publicly available data that we refuse to collect for any reason (motor vehicle, driver license or credit history information, for example).  

Third-Party Sharing
We share your Personal Data with third-party service providers who fulfill your orders, contact you on our behalf, or facilitate some other aspect of the ACLU-NC Site activities, services or products, including those third-party service providers we use to assist us in our own fundraising or outreach efforts. These service providers have access to your Personal Data solely for the purpose of providing these services to us on our behalf, and they are contractually prohibited from sharing your Personal Data with any other third parties. Please note that we do not share data from non-U.S. residents with any other third parties (except where required by law, see below), even if a non-U.S. resident has subsequently authorized such use, for example, by not checking an opt-in request.

If you are a U.S. resident and member/donor to the ACLU, we also share your Personal Data with our local chapters in order to permit them to contact you regarding any local activities or events we think may interest you.  We also share your Personal data with the national ACLU office.  We may also share the Personal Data of members and donors who are U.S. residents with other non-profit organizations and publications ("Sharing Organizations"), but never to any partisan political groups or to groups whose programs are incompatible with ACLU policies. We never give your Personal Data directly to the Sharing Organizations; instead we send the list to a third-party service provider that prepares the mailing for the Sharing Organization (and that is contractually bound to use your Personal Data only for this purpose and not to share it with any other third parties). The Sharing Organizations never see our list and never know what names are on it unless you respond to the Sharing Organizations' mailing. If you respond to the mailing, the Sharing Organization may be able to deduce that your name came from the ACLU list. Exchanging lists enables the ACLU to expand our membership base and encourage e-activism. However, if you have signed up as a member or donor on the ACLU-NC Site, you can choose to opt out of having your data shared. To learn more, read the section on "Your Ability to Choose" below.

Finally, we may disclose and use Personal Data regardless of where you reside, in special circumstances when it is necessary to enforce our User Agreement or this Online Privacy Statement, or when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires us to disclose your Personal Data to third parties. We will make every effort to protect your privacy and will only turn over such data pursuant to a subpoena or other form of legal compulsion. Except as described in this Online Privacy Statement, we will not disclose your Personal Data to any third party unless we first notify you --unless we are prohibited by law from doing so-- and we will offer you an appropriate choice to consent to such further use, for example, through an opt-out or opt-in request.

Your Ability to Choose
When you provide us with your Personal Data on the ACLU-NC Site, you can let us know that you do not wish to receive email communications from us, such as e-mailed action alerts or email from your local chapter by "unsubscribing" or by opting out on our User Preference Page or by contacting us via postal mail sent to Webmaster, 39 Drumm St. San Francisco, CA  94111. If you are signing up as a donor/member on the ACLU-NC Site, you can opt out of having your Personal Data shared with Sharing Organizations on the online form you are filling out or thereafter by filling out the No-Exchange of Name Form or by contacting the Membership Department via postal mail sent to Membership Department, 39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA  94111. Again, please remember that if you are a non-U.S. resident, we will not use your Personal Data beyond the purpose for which it was originally collected regardless of whether you check or un-check a box.

Children
We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13. Visitors who are under 13 years of age should ask their parent or legal guardian for assistance when using the ACLU-NC Site and should not submit any personally identifying information to the ACLU-NC Site. For example, visitors under 13 years of age should not make donations or use the ACLU-NC Action email tool.

Security
The Personal Data we collect about you is stored on a secure, password protected server. We use industry-standard encryption technologies with respect to the receipt and transfer of Personal Data you submit to us on the ACLU-NC Site and only authorized personnel have access to your information. Nevertheless, despite our best efforts, no transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

Updating Your Data
To update your Personal Data or to make corrections, you can do so by using our User Preference Page, or by sending us the update via postal mail sent to Webmaster, 39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA 94111.Comments and Questions
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this Online Privacy Statement or our data collection practices or to request that we delete your Personal Data, you can reply to: webmaster@aclunc.org or send us your questions or comments via postal mail sent to Webmaster, ACLU-NC, 39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA  94111.