Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a donation to trees.org (the “Site”).
THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and Donation Information. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information.”
We collect Device Information using the following technologies:
“Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. You can find more information about cookies and how to disable them here.
“Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
“Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
When you donate, we collect personal information you give us, such as your name, address, and email address. We save this information in order to have a record of who has made donations, aggregate total donations per person, and send out Certificates and tax receipts as needed. We will never trade, share, or sell your personal data with anyone. Should we become aware of any kind of breach in our data systems where your personal information may be compromised, we will notify you.
When you browse our website, we also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address to provide us with information that helps us learn about your browser and operating system.
The Device Information mentioned above helps us screen for potential risks and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).
Additionally, we may use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page here. You can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal here.
EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS
When you provide us with personal information to complete a donation, sign up for our newsletter, sign up to become a business partner or ambassador, or join our network of field partners, your information will be stored in our CRM and/or email platform so that we can send you project updates, news, or other messages via email. When you take certain actions, such as submitting your first donation as a new partner, you will be tagged in our system to receive some automated communications based on those actions. This helps us be sure that you get only the most appropriate emails, and that we can properly categorize content we believe is relevant to you. We make every effort to be sensible and prudent as to the volume of emails and frequency of communications we send you.
You can update your email preferences or unsubscribe at the bottom of any email, or simply contact us at info@trees.org to be removed from these lists.
CONSENT
When you provide us with personal information to make a donation, verify your credit card, or use a web form to receive information, we imply that you consent to our collecting it and using it for that specific reason. If you would like to withdraw your consent or request that we delete your personal information at any time, you may contact us at info@trees.org.
If you are a European resident, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us.
Additionally, if you are a European resident we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you (for example if you make a donation on the Site), or otherwise to pursue our legitimate business interests listed above. Additionally, please note that your information will be transferred outside of Europe, including to Canada and the United States.
When you donate through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
YOUR RIGHTS
We provide you with certain collective rights in accordance with the data protection laws of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK Data Protection Act (DPA), for U.S. residents, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and for residents of Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA):
Right of Access: You have the right to access your personal data and obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: You have the right to correct any inaccuracies in your personal data.
Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You can request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances.
Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations.
Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and, if technically feasible, to have it transmitted to another controller.
Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, including for marketing purposes.
Rights Related to Automated Decision Making and Profiling: You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.
The Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months.
In addition to the rights under the EU GDPR, UK GDPR, PIPEDA, and CCPA, we recognize that data subjects from other jurisdictions may have specific rights under their respective local laws. We are committed to respecting these rights and will respond to requests from data subjects in accordance with applicable local regulations. If you are a resident outside the aforementioned regions, please contact us for information on your specific rights and how to exercise them.
To exercise your rights, please contact us at privacy@trees.org. We will respond to your request in accordance with the appropriate regulations.
DISCLOSURE
We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law to do so or if you violate our Terms of Service. We will never disclose your personal information publicly.
PAYMENT
If you choose a direct payment gateway to complete your purchase then your credit card data is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Your transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your transaction. After that is complete, your transaction information is deleted.
All direct payment gateways adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our donation system and its service providers. For more insight, you may also want to read more here.
THIRD-PARTY SERVICES
Apollo, a lead generation platform, is used to identify and track potential prospects and others who may be interested in our work. You can learn more here: https://www.apollo.io/privacy-policy
Classy is our donation payment platform. When completing donations, the user provides certain personal information to complete the payment and can opt in to email marketing. Payment and contact data are stored according to industry standards. You can learn more here: https://www.classy.org/terms/privacy/
In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use, and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us.
However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect to the information we are required to provide to them for your donation or purchase-related transactions.
For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers.
In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located.
As an example, if you are located in Canada and your transaction is processed by a payment gateway located in the United States, then your personal information used in completing that transaction may be subject to disclosure under United States legislation, including the Patriot Act.
Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or our website’s Terms of Service.
When you click on links on our Site, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read their privacy statements.
SECURITY
To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices to make sure it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.
If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored with AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional generally accepted industry standards.
Where a Data Subject is located in the European Economic Area, that Data Subject’s Personal Data will be processed by Shopify’s Irish affiliate, Shopify International Ltd. As part of providing the Services, this Personal Data may be transferred to other regions, including to Canada and the United States. Such transfers will be completed in compliance with relevant Data Protection Legislation.
DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION
In the event of a data breach where your personal information may be compromised, we will take immediate action to address the breach and notify you without undue delay.
COOKIES
A cookie is a small amount of information that’s downloaded to your computer or device when you visit certain websites.
AGE OF CONSENT
By using this site, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. If our website is acquired or merged with another company, your information may be transferred to the new owners so that we may continue to sell products to you.
QUESTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
If you would like to access, correct, amend, or delete any personal information we have about you, register a complaint, or simply want more information, contact our support team here. You can also contact us at the address below.
10770 Columbia Pike Suite 300, Silver Spring, MD, 20901