Easter Seals Greater Houston's Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy discloses our information collection policies and practices for www.EasterSealsHouston.org and for www.WalkWithMeHouston.org, owned and operated by Easter Seals Greater Houston (ESGH) and applicable to any of our practices for online and offline information-gathering and information sharing.

By visiting our websites, you are accepting the practices and policies described in this Privacy Policy, and you are further indicating that you agree to be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you should not visit this website or use any of its “links”. 

ESGH may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, please check periodically for changes.

Summary:
ESGH does not collect personally identifiable information about you other than what you freely share and what is required.

For donations: Name, address, zip code, email and credit card information are required. We use this information to process your donation and send you a confirmation receipt. This information will not be sold or shared with outside parties. 

For inquires: Name and email are required.

For electronic newsletters and other communications, you have the option to “opt-in” to be added to a mailing list, from which you may receive announcements about future events via postal mail or e-mail. If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please contact us

Non-Personal Information: ESGH websites collect by automated means certain non-personal information (data in a form that does not support direct association with any specific person or individual) as well as the IP address of every computer that visits our site as part of our normal site usage tracking. Much of this information is collected by third-party tracking services, such as Google Analytics.

You retain full control over all information you share about yourself, and may remove or request removal of this information at any time.

You retain full control over what types of email communication you receive from ESGH, and may opt to discontinue email correspondence at any time.

You have the option to share personally identifiable information about yourself with other visitors to the web site. These options are clearly labeled as such, e.g. the ESGH Walk With Me fundraising pages. You may remove or request removal of any such information you share.
Anytime you enter personally identifiable information, not intended to be shared publicly, such as password, address, or credit card number, this information is sent to ESGH over a secure connection.


ESGH uses generally accepted industry standards to protect the information submitted to us.
The one exception to this is that, like most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, as further discussed below.

Sign-In

Accounts:
You may freely visit our websites without being required to provide us with any personal information. However, some requests and features do require that you provide us with some personally identifying information as more particularly described below. Personal information is data that can be used to identify or contact you. Please do not send confidential information to us directly via the contact email addresses listed.

Access to certain areas of the ESGH Walk With Me site requires the creation of a sign-in account to create a walker registration.

Donor Privacy:

ESGH does not trade, share or sell a donor’s personal information to third parties, nor do we send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations. This policy applies to all donors, online and offline.

In addition to the third-party tracking services mentioned above, we also collect this information through various other means, including "cookies," "web beacons" and IP addresses, as further explained below.

Cookies: 

A "cookie " is a small file that a website can place on your computer. Cookies are commonly used by websites to improve the user experience. Many cookies last only through a single website session, or visit. Others may have an expiration date, or may remain on your computer until you delete them. We may use "session cookies" in order to enhance the user experience and for other web-related purposes. These session cookies are not linked to personally identifiable information. Most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookie, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies.

If your web browser is set to accept cookies, the ESGH web site places cookies when you visit. In order to sign in to the ESGH Web site, you must accept cookies from ESGH. Cookies are used to present you with a better experience and to remember your preferences, such as Remember Me.

If you are “signed-in” to the website, clicking the "logout" link from the top of any page on the website other than the home page will remove your contact ID from your cookie, and will prevent others from using your sign-in account. You can remove ESGH's cookie at any time by following the directions provided in your Internet browser's "Help " file.

Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs):

We employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. web beacons/web bugs) in many of our electronic newsletters and other e-mail communications that help us measure the effectiveness of our efforts. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track which users have opened which e-mail messages. It is possible for us to tie the information provided by clear gifs to your personally identifiable information, though we do not routinely do so. We are primarily interested in the aggregate effectiveness of our various e-communication efforts.

Link Tracking: 

Many links within e-mail communications you receive from us, have a tracking ID at the end. This enables us to measure how often certain links are clicked on to gauge overall interest in the email campaign. From e-mails, or from the website when you are signed in, it is possible for us to tie the information provided by tracking IDs to your personally identifiable information, though we do not routinely do so. We are primarily interested in the aggregate effectiveness of our various online efforts.

Response to "Do-Not-Track" Signals:

Every time your computer sends or receives information over the web, the request begins with some short pieces of information called “headers.” These headers include information like what browser you are using, what language your computer is set to, and other details. The Do Not Track technology provides individual users with the ability to include a simple, machine-readable header indicating that they don't want to be tracked, and sends a signal to websites' visited requesting that the website disable either its tracking or cross-site user tracking of an individual user. Currently, various browsers – including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari – offer a “do not track” option. Presently, there is no consensus on how Do Not Track should be interpreted, and no common or accepted industry standard for implementing. Consequently, we do not respond to Web browser “do not track” signals.

Communications from the site:

Customer Service:

When you create a free sign-in account on the Walk With Me website, we will send you a confirmation e-mail to verify your user name and password. We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, confirm the actions you have taken (online transactions, etc.), and to manage your account. We will communicate with you via e-mail, or we may communicate with you via telephone if we cannot reach you via e-mail.

Self-Service:
If you have a Walk With Me sign-in account, you may visit to add, modify, or remove your personal information and preferences. This includes your contact information, demographic information, interest preferences, e-mail subscriptions. The exception to this is that you may not fully delete your sign-in account from the system. If you want your account fully deleted, please contact ESGH.

Other Means:

Please contact ESGH directly if you wish to have your sign-in account removed, be removed from any postal mailing lists, or are unable to access any of the means explained under "Self Service " above.

Except as stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not reveal personally identifiable information about you to third parties for their independent use unless:

(1) You expressly authorize ESGH to do so,

(2) It is necessary to allow ESGH and its service providers or agents to provide services on ESGH’s behalf,

(3) It is to provide products or services to you,

(4) It is disclosed to entities that perform marketing or data aggregation services for ESGH,

Links to Other Sites:

ESGH websites contain links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by ESGH. Please be aware that we, ESGH, are not responsible for the privacy practices of other such websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally-identifiable information.

How ESGH Protects the Information we collect:

Browsers and Internet Security:

Any time you enter or provide personal information on our Web site, we encrypt it using Secure Socket Layer ("SSL ") technology. SSL protects information as it crosses the Internet. To support this technology, you need an SSL-capable browser.

You can tell if you are visiting a secure area within a website by looking at the lock or key symbol in your browser address window. If the address of the page begins with "https:// ", it is secure. Occasionally, the page you enter data on may not be secure, but by submitting the information you activate a secure connection and thus your data is submitted securely.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

 

Children’s Privacy/Note to Parents:

The ESGH Website does not intentionally or knowingly collect, use, or disclose personally identifiable information about visitors to our Website who are less than 16 years of age. If a child under the age of 16 submits information to us through any part of the Website and ESGH becomes aware that the user submitting the information is under the age of 16, the information provided will be deleted as soon as it is discovered and not used for any purpose. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 years of age and believe that they have disclosed personally identifiable information to us, please contact us and be sure to include in your message the name and email address that you believe your child submitted.

What If I Provide Information From Outside The United States?:

Our website is hosted in the United States and is governed by US law. Accordingly, by submitting any personal information to us, you are transferring your personal information to the United States and you consent to such transfer. We do not represent or warrant that the website or any part thereof, is appropriate or available for use in any particular geographic location. If you choose to access our website, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules, and regulations applicable in your jurisdiction. If you are visiting the website from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country. By using the Website, you consent to your information being transferred to our facilities and to the facilities of those third parties with whom we share it as described in this Policy.

SPECIAL NOTICE TO EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA, SWITZERLAND AND UNITED KINGDOM USERS:
The following provisions applies only to users residing in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In May of 2018, a new data privacy law known as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) went into effect. Pursuant to GDPR, we are required to provide those residing in the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (hereinafter, the “EU Users”) additional information and rights related to the Personal Information we collect about them. For the purposes of this GDPR Privacy Notice section, "Personal Information" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable person. We summarize such information and rights below.

How to Contact Us:

Easter Seals Greater Houston, Inc. (the Data Controller) is the owner and operator of the websites. If you need to contact us for any reason related to this Privacy Policy or your use of the Website, please contact us at the following address:

Easter Seals Greater Houston, 4888 Loop Central Drive, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77081

713.838.9050

Info@EasterSealsHouston.org

Some of these rights may be in circumstances in which we are not legally required to comply with your request because of the laws in your jurisdiction or because of exemptions provided in data protection legislation in general, and GDPR in particular, or where the Personal Information may be exempt from disclosure due the applicable rules of professional conduct, attorney-client privilege, legal professional privilege, other applicable privileges or protections, or professional secrecy obligations

Please also note we may need to retain certain Personal Information for record keeping purposes, and there may be residual Personal Information that will remain within our databases and other records, which will not be removed from such locations. Additionally, please note that we are not responsible for removing or deleting information from the databases of third parties (such as service providers) with whom we have shared information about you, but we will make the request on your behalf for such removal/deletion.

Data Retention:

We will retain your information for as long as needed to provide you services, or otherwise as is reasonable and customary given the nature of the relationship you have with ESGH. We may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes, and there may be residual information that will remain within our databases and other records, which will not be removed from such locations. Otherwise, we will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We have a data retention and destruction plan that dictates the policies and procedures related to deletion and/or destruction of all information/data.

Third Party Contractors and Other Data Processors:

We may appoint subcontractor data processors as required to deliver the services, such as, without limitation, IT systems or software providers, IT Support service providers, and document and information storage providers, who will process PII on our behalf and at our direction. We conduct an appropriate level of due diligence and put in place contractual documentation in relation to any sub-contractor to ensure that they process PII appropriately and according to our legal and regulatory obligations.

 This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 1, 2021.

Our websites/databases, Bloomerang and DonorDrive, employ a Server Digital Certificate and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Protocol to encrypt all data traffic between our servers. Furthermore, SSL also protects the contents of messages exchanged between our Internet server and the client PC from being altered en route. SSL technology is the standard used by online banking, stock brokerages, and retailers for securing their online transactions.

*Social Media Engagement Guidelines