Privacy policy
Understood for All, Inc.
Privacy Statement
Last updated: 9/14/2023
Welcome to our website. Your privacy is important to us.
This Privacy Statement sets forth our policy with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of information that is collected from you by Understood for All, Inc., a charitable organization, (“we” or “us”) when you visit www.understood.org or our other digital properties including our apps (collectively, the “Site”). The Site provides information about us, our mission and any information or services we provide (together with the Site, the “Services”). This Privacy Statement also explains how we may use and disclose such information, as well as your ability to control certain uses of it. By using this site, you agree to the data collection, use, disclosure and storage practices described in this Privacy Statement.
By using the Site, you agree to the data collection, use, disclosure and storage practices described in this Privacy Statement. We collect information about you in a range of forms, including personal information, when you choose to provide it to us. Personal information (or personal data) means information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include personal information where the identity has been removed (anonymous personal information). This may include when you contact us with inquiries or otherwise contact us.
When you interact with us through the Services, we may collect information from you, as further described below. The Site is not intended to collect personal health information or other sensitive information about you. Please do not share your personal health or other sensitive information on the Site. We may collect such information from you directly with your consent. The information provided on our Site is also not intended to be used as legal, tax, medical or other professional advice.
Information You Provide to Us
We collect information from you when you choose to provide it to us. This may include when you make a donation, request information from us, sign up for newsletters or our email lists, complete a survey, use our Services, or otherwise contact us. The information we collect may include: your name, address, email address, telephone number, mobile telephone number, geolocation information, photos or videos, username or any other information, such as ethnicity, marital status, login or password.
If you use the Services to make donations, you may provide certain payment information, such as payment card, PayPal or other financial account information, and billing address. A third-party payment processor collects and processes that information on our behalf; we do not collect or retain your payment information. We may also collect additional types of personal information that you choose to provide to us. This could include information about yourself or family members. It’s up to you whether you provide this information. We will not disclose any of this personal information unless you expressly authorize us to do so. We do not sell your information to other parties.
You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, "posted") on public areas of the Site, or transmitted to other users of the Site or third parties (collectively, "User Contributions").
If you have created an account, you may be able to voluntarily provide additional information in various areas of the Site. For example, you may want to provide additional information as part of an optional profile to enhance your experience and use its features. We may use this information to personalize the Site and its features just for you.
If you wish to access the Site’s community features, you will be required to create a screen name. We suggest you create a screen name that does not include your name or other identifying information. If you post information in public areas, we cannot control how others may use that information. For example, a third party might copy something you post and use it on another website. Or a third party might use the information you posted to contact you. We urge you to use screen names, not real names.
The Site may also offer you the opportunity to create a full profile. Whether you provide information is your choice. We will not disclose the information you provide to us in creating your full profile. We may use it to enhance your experience on the Site and to improve the information and services available to you on and through the Site.
Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Although you may set certain privacy settings for such information by logging into your account profile, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Site with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.
Information Collected From Other Sources
We may obtain information about you from other sources, including social networks that you use to connect with Us. If you use a third party service to login, link to us, or communicate with us (such as a social network or third party video chat), we may receive certain information about you from the third party based on your registration and privacy settings on those third party services. This information may include name, user name, demographic information, updated address or contact information, interests, and publicly-observed data, such as from social media and online activity.
Information Obtained from Third Parties
If you provide us with personal information about others, or if others give us your information, we will only use that information for the specific reason for which it was provided to us, for example, if you have agreed to share information with one of our partners, we may add this information to the information we already hold about you.
Information We Automatically Collect and Cookie Policy
As is true of most Sites, we automatically gather information about your computer such as your IP address, browser type, referring/exit pages, and operating system.
We may use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, log files, or other technologies to automatically collect certain information when you use our Services or interact with our emails and online or mobile advertisements. For example, we may automatically collect certain non-personal information from you such as your mobile device identifier or MAC address, browser type, operating system, device model, software version, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, mobile or ISP carrier information, and the domain name from which you accessed the Services. We also may collect information about your use of the Services including the date and time you access the Services, the areas or pages of the Services that you visit, the amount of time you spend using the Services, the number of times you return, whether you open forward or click-through emails and ads, and other usage data so that we can understand the statistical use trends of our Site in order to make improvements. This information is stored and used without any personal information attached to it. We capture the following information:
Domain Name – through which you access the Internet
IP address – from the computer or network used to access our website
Web browser – and operating system used
Date and time – you accessed our site
Referral Internet address – of the website from which you clicked to get to our website
Search terms – used in a search engine (like google.com) that brought you to our website.
We may also use third-party tools or services, such as Google Analytics, to assist us with analyzing and improving the Site and Services
These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help use conduct and improve our business.
Tracking Options and California Do Not Track Disclosures
We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us.
You may adjust your browser or operating system settings to limit this tracking or to decline cookies, but by doing so, you may not be able to use certain features on the Services or take full advantage of all of our offerings. Check the “Help” menu of your browser or operating system to learn how to adjust your tracking settings or cookie preferences.
We work with third parties to collect user data through our Site for purposes of serving ads targeted to your interests. We may also allow third parties such as Google or Meta to use tracking technologies to collect or receive information from our Site and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and targeted ads.
We do not control third parties' collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. To learn more about how cookies or other technologies are used to deliver more relevant advertising or to opt out of receiving targeted ads please click here. On your mobile device, you can adjust your privacy and advertising settings to limit your tracking for advertising or control whether you receive more relevant advertising. Note that our systems may not recognize Do Not Track headers or requests from some or all browsers.
Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
Disclosure of Your Information for Third-Party Advertising. If you do not want us to share your personal information with unaffiliated or non-agent third parties for promotional purposes, you can opt-out by sending us an email with your request to info@understood.org.
Promotional Offers from Us. If you do not wish to have your email address used by us to promote our own or third parties' products or services, you can opt-out by sending us an email stating your request to Info@understood.org. If we have sent you a promotional email, you may send us a return email asking to be omitted from future email distributions.
Targeted Advertising. If you do not want us to use information that we collect or that you provide to us to deliver advertisements according to our advertisers' target-audience preferences, you can opt-out by sending us an email with your request to info@understood.org. For this opt-out to function, you must have your browser set to accept all browser cookies.
Combination of Information
We may combine the information we receive from and about you, including information you provide to us and information we automatically collect through our Site, as well as information collected offline or from third party sources to help us tailor our communications to you and to improve our Services.
Information Use
We may use the information we collect from and about you to:
Present our Site and its contents to you;
Respond to your inquiries, fulfill orders, process payments and prevent transactional fraud, and contact and communicate with you;
Develop new programs, products or services;
Engage in educational initiatives to communicate with you and others to further our education goals;
Send you a newsletter, fundraising, and marketing communications;
Respond to your questions and concerns;
Improve the content and functionality of our Site and marketing efforts;
Conduct research and analysis;
Display content based upon your interests;
Comply with applicable laws, including to respond to requests from public and government authorities;
Enforce this Privacy Statement;
Protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others;
Protect the security or integrity of the Services and our business; and
As described to you at the point of data collection.
Information Sharing
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share the information we collect from and about you:
with selected third parties, including other nonprofits, that we believe may provide promotional materials, and goods and services that may be of interest to you;
to our Service Providers, including Google, if the disclosure will enable them to perform a business, professional or technical support function for us;
as necessary if we believe that there has been a violation of this Privacy Statement, our Terms of Use, of our rights or the rights of any third party;
when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request;
to respond to judicial process or provide information to law enforcement or regulatory agencies or in connection with an investigation on matters related to public safety, national security or law enforcement, as permitted by law, or otherwise as required by law; and
as described to you at the point of collection.
If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Web site of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.
We may sell or purchase assets during the normal course of our business. If another entity acquires us or any of our assets, information we have collected about you may be transferred to such entity. In addition, if any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding is brought by or against us, such information may be considered an asset of ours and may be sold or transferred to third parties. Should such a sale or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to try to require that the transferee use personal information provided through the Services in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Statement.
We also may share aggregate or anonymous non-personal information with third parties for their marketing or analytics uses. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
If you do not want us to share your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Statement, contact us at info@understood.org.
Service Providers
We may contract with third parties to perform functions related to the Services (“Service Providers”). Service Providers will have access to your personal information needed to perform their business functions, but may not use or share that personal information for other purposes. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us.
Your California Privacy Rights
California Civil Code Section §1798.83 permits users of our site that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to info@understood.org or write us at Understood for All, Inc., 196 Morton Street, Floor 5, New York, NY 10014.
If you are a California resident under the age of 18, and a user of our Site, you may request removal of content or information you have publicly posted. Please be aware that such a request does not ensure complete removal from the Internet of the content or information you posted, and there may be circumstances in which the law does not require or allow removal.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, (ii) protect and defend our rights or property, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services or the public, or (iv) protect against legal liability.
Children
Protecting children’s privacy is important to us. We do not direct the Services to, nor do we knowingly collect any personal information from, children under the age of thirteen.
Public Forums
Any information you may disclose in ratings or review, on message boards, in chat rooms, or on other public areas of the Services, becomes public information. Please exercise caution when disclosing personal information in these public areas.
Links to Other Websites
This Privacy Statement applies only to the Services. The Services may contain links to third-party sites or applications, including social media sites, which may have privacy policies that differ from our own. We are not responsible for the practices of such sites or applications. The links to third-party sites from the Services do not imply that we endorse or have reviewed the third-party sites.
Data Security
The security of your personal information is important to us. We have taken certain physical, administrative, and technical steps to safeguard the information we collect from and about You. While we make every effort to help ensure the integrity and security of our network and systems, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Email sent to or from the Services may not be secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Site. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Site like message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Site.
Data Storage and Retention
Your personal information is stored on servers in the United States or in other countries in accordance with the data storage locations of our third party vendors. You understand and agree that we may collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process the information you provide as described in this Privacy Statement. Your personal information may be disclosed in response to inquiries or requests from government authorities or to respond to judicial process in the United States. We will retain your personal information for as long as it is needed to provide you with the Services, or to fulfill any legal or contractual obligations we may have.
Accessing or Modifying Your Personal Information
You can review and change your personal information by logging into the Site and visiting your account profile page.
You may also send us an email at info@understood.org to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account. 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.
If you delete your User Contributions from the Site, copies of your User Contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages, or might have been copied or stored by other Site users. Proper access and use of information provided on the Site, including User Contributions, is governed by our terms of use.
California residents may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see Your California Privacy Rights for more information.
Changes to Our Privacy Statement
We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Statement at any time. When we do, we will post the changes on the Site. If we change the Privacy Statement in a material way, we will provide appropriate notice to you. Your continued use of the Services after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Statement shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Statement.
Please also feel free to contact us at info@understood.org if you have any questions about our Privacy Statement or the information practices of the Services.