Privacy Policy

User Data Privacy & Protection Policy | November 2022

This Privacy Policy discloses the privacy practices for the website located at https://bridgeotw.org/ and various related services (together referred to as the “site”). Bridge Over Trouble Waters, a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation (referred to as “us” or “we”), is the provider of the site and is committed to protecting your privacy online.

This Privacy Policy governs the use of information you provide us through the site. You acknowledge and agree that by accessing or using our site, you agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and consent to the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your information, as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree and consent to such terms and conditions, please do not access or use this site.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Such changes, modifications, additions, or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by any means including, but not limited to, issuing an email to the email address you provided and posting the revised Policy on this page. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to maintain a valid email address with us, to review this site and this Policy periodically and to be aware of any modifications. Your continued use of the site after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Policy and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by the modified Policy.

This version of the Privacy Policy became effective immediately upon posting on November 3, 2022.

1. Types of Information Collected

In order to better advance our mission and engage in our work, we may collect two types of information about our constituents and community: Personally Identifiable Information and Non-personally Identifiable Information. Our primary goal in collecting information from you is to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience while using our site, taking advantage of our programs and grants, and keeping abreast of developments in our community.

Personally Identifiable Information: This refers to information that lets us know the specifics of who you are. When you engage in certain activities on this site, such as applying to make a donation, inquiring about programs, or sending us feedback, we may ask you to provide certain information about yourself. Depending upon the activity, some of the information we ask you to provide is identified as mandatory and some as voluntary.

Non-personally Identifiable Information: This refers to information that does not by itself identify a specific individual. In order to understand who is interfacing with our online activities and services, we may in some situations gather certain information about you based upon where you visit on our site in several ways. This information is compiled and analyzed on both a personal and an aggregated basis. This information may include the website’s Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) that you just came from, which URL you next go to, what browser you are using, and your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address. A URL is the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. An IP address is an identifier for a computer or device on a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) network, such as the World Wide Web. Networks like the Web use the TCP/IP protocol to route information based on the IP address of the destination. In other words, an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web, allowing web servers to locate and identify your computer. Computers require IP addresses in order for users to communicate on the Internet.

2. Collection Methods, Use of Information, and Length of Retention

We do not collect any Personally Identifiable Information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us. You provide certain Personally Identifiable Information to us when you: (a) make a donation; (b) send email messages, submit forms, or transmit other information through the website; or (c) submit your credit card or other payment information. We may also collect information from you at other points on our site that state that such information is being collected.

In addition, we or our third-party analytics providers may collect certain Non-personally Identifiable Information. This information is ultimately stored in the form of categories, and, in some cases, specific URLs. We use your IP address to diagnose problems with our servers, software, to administer our site and to gather demographic information.

We will primarily use your Personally Identifiable Information to provide our services to you. We will also use Personally Identifiable Information to enhance the operation of our site; process your donation, grant or fellowship application, or conference or event registration; respond to your questions or inquiries; send periodic communications to you about our services and activities; improve our marketing and promotional efforts; statistically analyze site use; improve our offerings; and customize our site’s content, layout, and services. We may use Personally Identifiable Information to deliver information to you and to contact you regarding administrative notices. We may also use Personally Identifiable Information to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, and enforce our agreements with you.

We keep your Personally Identifiable Information for as long as we need it to fulfill the purposes for which we have collected it and for a reasonable period afterward.

3. Release of Information

We do not sell, trade, or rent your Personally Identifiable Information to others. We do provide some of our services through contractual arrangements with affiliates, services providers, partners and other third parties. We and our service partners use your Personally Identifiable Information to operate our sites and to deliver our services. The use of your Personally Identifiable Information by our service partners is governed by the privacy policies of those service partners, and is not subject to our control.

Occasionally, we may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to provide Personally Identifiable Information to the appropriate governmental authorities. We will disclose Personally Identifiable Information upon receipt of a court order, subpoena, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation. We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe to be unlawful.

4. Data Protection Laws

You may have rights under European and other laws to have access to your Personally Identifiable Information and to ask us to rectify, erase and restrict use of, your Personally Identifiable Information. You may also have rights to object to your Personally Identifiable Information being used, to ask for the transfer of Personally Identifiable Information you have made available to us and to withdraw consent to the use of your Personally Identifiable Information. Further information on how to exercise your rights is set out below.

We will honor your rights under applicable data protection laws. If you are located in the European Union, you have the following rights under European laws, and may have similar rights under the laws of other countries:

Right of subject access: The right to make a written request for details of your Personally Identifiable Information and a copy of that Personally Identifiable Information.

Right to rectification: The right to have inaccurate information about you corrected or removed.

Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’): The right to have certain Personally Identifiable Information about you erased.

Right to restriction of processing: The right to request that your Personally Identifiable Information is only used for restricted purposes.

Right to opt out of marketing: You can manage your marketing preferences by unsubscribe links found in the communications you receive from us or by changing your account information.

Right to object: The right to object to processing of your Personally Identifiable Information in cases where our processing is based on the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or we have let you know the processing is necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests.

Right to data portability: The right to ask for the Personally Identifiable Information you have made available to us to be transferred to you or a third party in machine-readable format.

Right to withdraw consent: The right to withdraw any consent you have previously given us to handle your Personally Identifiable Information. If you withdraw your consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of our use of your Personally Identifiable Information prior to the withdrawal of your consent.

Right to notice of automated decision-making: The right to be informed of the existence of any automated decision-making, including profiling, that involves your Personally Identifiable Information and, in some cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, and the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.

These rights are not absolute and they do not always apply in all cases.

In response to a request, we will ask you to verify your identity if we need to, and to provide information that helps us to understand your request better. If we do not comply with your request, whether in whole or in part, we will explain why.

In order to exercise your rights please contact us by sending an email message to:@bridgeotworg. In addition to contacting us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

5. User Choices on Collection and Use of Information

We may, from time to time, send you email regarding our activities, events, products, and services.

In addition, if you indicated upon registration that you are interested in receiving offers or information from us and our organizations with which we work, we may occasionally send you direct mail or email about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive such mailings, simply tell us when you give us your personal information or contact us at any time to indicate that you no longer desire to receive such offers and mailings. You also have choices with respect to cookies, as described below. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject all cookies, some parts of our site may not work properly in your case.

6. Security of Information

At our site, you can be assured that your Personally Identifiable Information is secure, consistent with current industry standards. The importance of security for all Personally Identifiable Information associated with our user is of utmost concern to us. Your Personally Identifiable Information is protected in several ways. Your Personally Identifiable Information resides on a secure server that only selected personnel and contractors have access to via password. We encrypt your Personally Identifiable Information and thereby prevent unauthorized parties from viewing such information when it is transmitted to us. Personal information that you provide that is not Personally Identifiable Information also resides on a secure server and is only accessible via password.

In order to most efficiently serve you, credit card transactions are handled by established third party banking, processing agents, and distribution institutions. They receive the information needed to verify and authorize your credit card or other payment information and to process and ship your order.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your Personally Identifiable Information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (b) the security, integrity and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this site cannot be guaranteed; and (c) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party.

7. Cookies

When you use our site, we will store cookies on your computer in order to facilitate and customize your use of our site. A cookie is a small data text file, which a website stores on your computer’s hard drive (if your Web browser permits) that can later be retrieved to identify you to us. Our cookies store randomly assigned user identification numbers, the country where you are located, and other information to recognize you as a previous visitor to the site. The cookies make your use of the site easier, make the site run more smoothly, and help us to maintain a secure site. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our site may not work properly in that case.

8. Privacy Policies of Third-Party Sites

Except as otherwise discussed in this Privacy Policy, this document only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. Other sites accessible through our site have their own privacy policies and data collection, use and disclosure practices. Please consult each site’s privacy policy. We are not responsible for the policies or practices of third parties.

9. Miscellaneous Privacy Issues

You must be at least 18 years old to have our permission to use this site. Our policy is that we do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose Personally Identifiable Information about visitors that are under 18 years of age.

You should also be aware that when Personally Identifiable Information is voluntarily disclosed (i.e., your name, email address, etc.) on this site, that information, along with any information disclosed in your communication, can be collected and used by third parties and may result in unsolicited messages from third parties. Such activities are beyond our control and this Policy does not apply to such information. Any submissions to public areas on this site are accepted with the understanding that they are accessible to all third parties. If you do not want your information to be viewed by third parties, you are advised not to make any submissions.