Privacy Policy

Special Olympics West Virginia Privacy Statement

Special Olympics West Virginia, Inc. understands the importance of protecting your personal information, and we have created this Privacy Statement to inform you of how we will use your personal information and how you can communicate with us about your preferences.

BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE WEBSITE, YOU HAVE AGREED TO 1) abide by the practices described in this Privacy Statement, as may be amended from time to time, and 2) the transfer, processing and maintenance of your personal and sensitive information in the United States of America.

THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT: Depending on the type of communication or transaction, the personal information we collect may include, but is not limited to, your name, postal address, ZIP code, telephone number, organization name, e-mail address, credit card, bank information or billing information.

WHERE AND WHEN WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION: You will be asked to provide your personal information when making donations, registering on certain pages of the site, requesting communications from Special Olympics, participating in the social networking aspects of the site and/or in other ways as will be described in this Privacy Statement. In addition, we may also collect other technical information such as, the type of browser you are using (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer), the type of operating system you are using (e.g., Windows XP or Mac OS), CPU type (e.g. Pentium), your manner of connecting to the Internet (e.g., connection speed through narrowband or broadband access); Internet protocol address; other information about your geographic location; and the domain name of your Internet service provider.

WE DO NOT KNOWINGLY COLLECT INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN: Our website is intended for general audience and we do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to provide us with their personal information. If you are under 13, do not send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address. In the event we learn that we collected personal information from anyone under the age of 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have collected personal information from anyone under the age of 13, please contact us at info@sowv.org or call us Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Eastern Time at +1 (304) 345-9310.

INFORMATION SECURITY: Special Olympics has established safeguards to help protect your personal information, but cannot guarantee that your personally identifiable information will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this Privacy Statement (for example, as a result of unauthorized acts by third parties that violate applicable law). To protect your privacy, Special Olympics uses passwords to help verify your identity before granting access or making corrections to any of your personal information. All on-line transactions are done on a secure server. This means that information entered on the transaction page is encrypted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) before transmission. On secure pages, a “closed” lock symbol is displayed in the bottom part of your browser screen and the website address in the address bar at the top of the browser screen starts with an “https” instead of an “http”.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS WEST VIRGINIA MAY SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION: Special Olympics West Virginia may use your information to: complete your donations; contact you about our on-going work; discuss employment opportunities and ways that you can further support our efforts to support our mission; fulfill your requests for products, programs, and services; communicate with you and respond to your inquiries; conduct research about Special Olympics programs, services and Network; help offer you other programs or services that may be of interest. We may also share your information with other Special Olympics Accredited Programs so that we may provide any requested services or information at the local level. For example, if you are requesting a calendar of events in your area, we may share your e-mail information with the local Special Olympics Accredited Program or Sub-program so that it can provide you with that information. Your personal information will also be used to provide you access to the various sections of our website that have been personalized for your needs. We occasionally exchange our donor name and address list with other reputable nonprofit organizations to keep our costs down.  If shared, the other nonprofit organization is only permitted to use such information for a one-time mailing and cannot use it for telemarketing purposes.  You can opt out of this exchange at any time by contacting us at DonorServices@SpecialOlympics.org and providing your complete name and address. Except in the limited circumstances outlined below, Special Olympics will never intentionally share your e-mail addresses, phone numbers or financial information.  This statement applies to both offline and online engagement and information collection.

EXCEPTIONS: Special Olympics West Virginia reserves the right to share your personal information in certain situations:

1. Credit Card Transactions, Electronic Fund Transfers, Payments by Check or Money Order and On-line Transactions. Special Olympics uses third parties to provide credit card, bank, payment and information processing services. If you choose to make a donation on-line, by phone, through the mail or by other means we will share your personal information with our processing service providers. While we believe these other companies will treat your personal information responsibly, we do not own or control them and cannot guarantee your privacy.

2. Necessity. If we have reason to believe that there has been some inappropriate interference with or use of our website, communications, or charitable services, or if we have reason to believe that one of the Special Olympics website users, donors, employees or other related parties may have been injured or may have harmed some other party, we will disclose, without notice to you, personal information as we deem appropriate or if compelled by a legal or regulatory authority.

YOU MAY ALWAYS CHANGE YOUR PRIVACY PREFERENCES USING OUR WEB SITE: If you would like to change your privacy preferences, please contact us at info@sowv.org or call us Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Eastern Time at +1 (304) 345.9310. Because the choices you make in connection with your Special Olympics information may not take effect immediately, it is possible you may receive a communication during the period in which your request is being processed.

COOKIES AND PIXELS: A “cookie” is a small piece of data that is sent to your browser from Special Olympics’ web server and is stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies are used to collect non-identifying information about the user, such as Web surfing behavior or user preferences for a specific website. Special Olympics uses two different types of cookies – session-based and persistent cookies. Session-based cookies expire at the end of a browser session so once you close your browser the cookie simply terminates. Persistent cookies remain on your computer until you remove them. Persistent cookies are used to provide internal Website analytics. You can manually delete all cookies including persistent ones within your browser privacy settings menu. In addition, Special Olympics uses “pixels,” or transparent GIF files, to help manage online advertising. These pixels do not collect identifying information.

THIRD PARTY ADVERTISING COOKIES OPT-OUT: Special Olympics allows third parties to place cookies on our site for advertising purposes. This Privacy Statement does not cover the collection methods or use of the information collected by these vendors. These vendors have their own privacy policies and may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”). To remove yourself from some or all NAI member advertising programs, please visit the NAI Opt-Out Page and follow the relevant instructions. Please note that if you delete, block, or otherwise restrict cookies, or if you use a different computer or Internet browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice.

Link 1: http://www.networkadvertising.org/

Link 2: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

WEBSITE LINKS: In order to provide certain services and goods at our website, we contract with other companies and individuals. These additional services and goods may include “links” to other websites from our website. Special Olympics’ privacy practices may not be applicable at any third-party sites. Anytime you leave the Special Olympics website, we have no control regarding what information may be collected about you, nor do we control what third-parties might do with the information. It is important that you review any privacy policies on third-party sites carefully, BEFORE you use any services or programs offered.

CHANGES TO PRIVACY PRACTICES: From time to time, Special Olympics may revise its privacy practices to address changing technology, security measures and website functionality. We strive to provide you with timely notice of these changes. Please contact us if you have any questions about changes to our practices.

If you use Special Olympics Network communications tools to disclose information about yourself publicly (for example, in chat rooms or online message boards made available by the Special Olympics Network), other online users may obtain access to any information you provide. The contents of your online communications, as well as other information about you as an user, may be accessed and disclosed in response to legal process (for example, a court order, search warrant or subpoena); in other circumstances in which Special Olympics believes the Special Olympics Network is being used in the commission of a crime; when we have a good faith belief that there is an emergency that poses a threat to the safety of you or another person; or when necessary either to protect the rights or property of Special Olympics, the Special Olympics Network or its Accredited Programs or third party providers, or for us to render the service you have requested.

Special Olympics may use agents and contractors in order to help operate the Network. If such agents and contractors have access to personally identifiable information, they are required to protect this information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Statement by, for example, not using the information for any purpose other than to carry out the services they are performing for the Special Olympics Network.

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