UNITED METHODIST COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: March 22, 2022
SCOPE OF THIS POLICY
United Methodist Communications (“we” or “us”) respects your privacy. This privacy policy applies to your access to and use of our website ResourceUMC.org and our other websites, micro-sites, social media platforms, and other online and digital properties, content, products, services, software and applications (the “Sites”). This policy describes what personal information we collect from you, how we use and share it, and your rights and choices regarding your information, including whether or not to share it with us. By accessing our Sites or ordering or subscribing to our products or services you agree to this privacy policy. It also applies to information we collect on our Sites, as well as in email, text, and other electronic messages between you and our Sites, and through mobile and desktop applications you download from our Sites. It does not apply to information collected by us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by a third party or collected by any third party that may link to or be accessible through our Sites. If you do not agree to be bound by this policy, you may choose not to access or use our Sites. Additional specific policies or agreements may apply to certain products and services. If such policies or agreements conflict with this policy, the terms of those policies or agreements will prevail.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA FEATURES AND PLUG-INS
Our Sites may include links to other websites or allow you to use certain features and plug-ins that integrate third-party social media sites and other third-party features and tools. You have the choice whether to access the links or activate the features. We cannot ensure the privacy policies of sites that we do not own or control. This privacy policy does not apply to any third-party linked sites, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of such external sites. We encourage you to consult the privacy policies of such sites before sharing any personal information through them or activating the features.
WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
You can always browse our Sites without logging in or providing personal information. It is your decision whether to provide information that we request. Please know that, if you choose not to do so, we may not be able to provide you with a relevant service or feature of our Sites.
Below are the types of information we may collect about you.
PERSONAL INFORMATION. Personal information is information that identifies or is capable of identifying you as an individual. We collect personal information from you when you voluntarily provide it to us, such as by creating a user account, signing up for email updates, registering for events, entering contests, subscribing to newsletters, ordering products or services, or responding to surveys, offers, promotions, and other communications. We also may collect personal information about you from your use of our products and services or through our partners and other publicly and commercially available sources. Personal information we collect from you may include:
COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES. We use cookies and similar technologies on our Sites. Cookies are text files we place on in your computer or device browser to store your preferences. Information that may be collected through the use of these technologies includes the Internet Protocol address automatically assigned to your computer, your browser type, the date and time of your visit, the pages you visit and the amount of time spent on each, your device’s operating system, your mobile device identifier, your geographical area, referring URLs, and other information on your interaction with our sites or apps. Cookies, by themselves, do not allow us to identify you unless you choose to provide this information to us by, for example, creating a user profile. Once you choose to furnish the site or app with personal information, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie. Please see our Cookies Policy to learn how we use cookies, how our partners may use cookies on our Sites, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies. You can modify your cookie settings or turn off all or certain types of cookies by adjusting your browser settings. Please note, however, that if you delete or turn off cookies, you may not have access to some of the features that make your experience on our Sites smoother, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our services may not function properly.
AGGREGATE AND ANONYMOUS INFORMATION. Sometimes we use aggregate or anonymous information. Anonymous information is data where all information has been removed that enabled you to be identified. Aggregate information is anonymous data collected about a group of users or other categories. Your personal information is not included in aggregate or anonymous data. We use this type of information, for example, to help us understand trends and your needs and preferences and to improve our services. This policy does not restrict our use of aggregate and anonymous information.
EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS. We may use your email for promotional purposes (e.g., new product offerings, special offers by us or other third parties). If you send an email to us, we may collect your email address and the full content of your email, including attached files, and other information you provide. You may indicate your preference to opt out of receiving promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the promotional email you receive, using the My Portal feature at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/communications-marketing/myportal, or contacting us directly at using the information provided below under “Contact Us.” You acknowledge that it may take up to 10 days for us to process an opt-out request. Please note, however, that you cannot opt out of receiving transactional emails related to your account with us.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
We use your personal information in the following ways:
WHEN DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION?
We will not trade, sell or share your personal information for use by any business without your consent, unless required by law or as disclosed to you when the information is collected. We only share your personal information in accordance with applicable law. We may share your personal information with others in the follow instances:
We may share information that does not identify you individually, or anonymous or aggregate information, internally and with third parties for any purpose.
ADVERTISING USES AND PREFERENCES
Where permitted by law, we may work with other companies such as Google to share with you advertisements that we believe may be useful or relevant to you, sometimes called interest-based ads. These ads are displayed to you based on information gathered from your interaction with our sites and services. In providing interest-based ads, these services regularly use cookies and other technologies to learn about what ads you see, what ads you click, and other actions you take on our sites and other sites. This allows the ad-serving companies to provide you with more useful and relevant ads. For example, if they know what ads you have been previously shown they can be careful not to show you those same ads repeatedly. Also, some third parties may provide us information about you (such as the sites where you have been shown ads or demographic information) from offline and online sources that may be used to provide you more relevant and useful advertising. We do not provide any personal information to third-party sites that display interest-based ads promoting us.
You can choose whether to receive interest-based ads from us using the My Portal feature at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/communications-marketing/myportal or by contacting us using the information located under Contact Us below. If you choose not to receive interest-based ads, you will still see ads but they will not be personalized.
In addition, you can opt out of receiving interest-based ads from third parties who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or who follow the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by visiting the opt-out pages on the NAI website and the DAA website, and by visiting an opt-out page directly from any of the interest-based ads displayed in your browser. For DoubleClick’s cookies you may visit the DoubleClick opt-out page or the NAI opt-out page.
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Our Sites are based in the United States of America and are subject to the laws of the United States. If you are a user outside of the United States, please know that any information you provide on our Sites may be transferred to the United States, which does not offer an equivalent level of protection to that required in certain other countries. Although the laws of the United States do not provide legal protection equivalent to the GDPR, we safeguard your personal information by treating it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may transfer your personal information to other entities within the United Methodist Church family or to third parties in other countries for the purposes described in this policy. Some local privacy laws may require us to obtain your consent before we transfer your information from your originating country to other countries. When you agree to this policy, you are, to the extent required and permitted under your local law, granting your consent to the transfer of your personal information to such other countries for the purposes described in this policy. These countries may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information. We take steps to ensure that it is adequately protected in compliance with applicable laws, including ensuring appropriate security measures are in place and requiring the third parties to protect your personal information in accordance with this policy, or obtaining your consent where required.
THIRD-PARTY VENDORS
We may share your personal information with third-party agents, contractors, service providers, and suppliers who assist in providing support and services to our entities. When we do so, we require those third parties to protect your personal information in accordance with this policy and applicable laws.
HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION?
We take seriously our obligation to safeguard the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information we collect from you, and we have established and will maintain procedures that are designed for that purpose. We implement a variety of security measures when you enter, submit, or access your information to maintain the safety of your personal information. Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems and are required to keep the information confidential. You should be aware that such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of personal information, and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents to the fullest extent permitted by law. Where required under law, we will notify you of any such loss, misuse or alteration of personal information that may affect you so that you can take the appropriate actions to protect your rights.
HOW LONG DO WE RETAIN YOUR INFORMATION?
We retain your information only as long as necessary to provide our services to you, enhance your user experience, and otherwise as necessary for our operations or as permitted or required by applicable laws. We may archive your information (store it in inactive files) for a certain period prior to its final deletion as part of our ordinary business continuity procedures.
LEGAL BASIS FOR USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION (GDPR)
The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, governs privacy practices involving individuals in the European Union and the European Economic Area and certain other transactions related to those areas. If the GDPR applies to your personal information that we have collected, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information will depend on the personal information concerned and the context in which it is collected, including legitimate business purposes, as necessary to provide products and services to you or respond to your inquiries and requests, with your consent, to comply with applicable laws, or when there is a legitimate and overriding interest that necessitates the use.
YOUR RIGHTS OVER YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
If you are located in the European Union or the European Economic Area (“EEA”), under certain circumstances, you have the legal right to:
Your rights may be subject to various limitations under the GDPR. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please visit the My Portal feature at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/communications-marketing/myportal or contact us using the information under the “Contact Us” section below.
HOW TO ACCESS AND CONTROL YOUR INFORMATION
You may change your privacy settings at any time by using the My Portal feature at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/communications-marketing/myportal or contacting us using the Contact Us information provided below and indicating your request to:
You may contact us to request a copy of the information we have collected about you, request to correct or update any information we have about you, or request deletion of your account or personal information.
Following a request for deletion, we will delete your information unless required to retain it by applicable laws. We may also retain certain of your information if necessary for safety or security, fraud prevention, quality assurance, or other legitimate business interests, and only in accordance with applicable laws.
You may withdraw any consent you have granted to our collection and use of your personal information at any time, subject to our right to continue to use your personal information as permitted or required under applicable laws. Such withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of our collection or use of your personal information prior to withdrawal.
In addition, you can opt out of receiving interest-based ads from third parties who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or who follow the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by visiting the opt-out pages on the NAI website and the DAA website, and by visiting an opt-out page directly from any of the interest-based ads displayed in your browser. For DoubleClick’s cookies you may visit the DoubleClick opt-out page or the NAI opt-out page.
CHILDREN’S PRIVACY
Most of our Sites are not intended for or designed to attract children under the age of 13, and we will not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children we actually know are under 13, or the relevant minimum age under applicable law. If we learn that a child under 13 has given us personal information, we will take steps to delete that information. If you believe a child under the age of 13 has given us personal information, please contact us so we may delete the information. Unless stated otherwise, if you are a minor in the jurisdiction in which you are accessing our Sites, you may only use them with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
To the extent any of our Sites intend to collect personal information from children, any such Sites will include additional information regarding the applicable policies and practices for that Site regarding children’s privacy.
MODIFICATION OF OUR PRIVACY POLICY
To accommodate new services and features on our Sites and to ensure up-to-date compliance with privacy laws, we may modify our privacy policy from time to time. When we modify our privacy policy, we will notify you by a posting on our Sites. Any changes will become effective as of the date of posting with respect to information we then collect in the future. We will treat all personal information we collect, however, in accordance with the privacy policy in effect at the time the information is collected. We urge you to review this privacy policy often so you are always fully informed.
HOW TO CONTACT US
You can submit questions, comments, and complaints about our privacy policy and practices at the following address:
United Methodist Communications
Attn: Privacy
810 12th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
dataprivacy@umc.org
YOUR LOCAL DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY
Under certain local laws, you may have the right to submit a complaint regarding our collection and use of your personal information to your local data protection authority. Please consult this link for further information:
https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
CALIFORNIA PRIVACY SUPPLEMENT
This statement of California Privacy Rights supplements our Privacy Policy and applies solely to residents of the State of California. As a California resident, you have additional privacy rights related to your personal information under California law, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), as described below. Personal information under the CCPA is any information that can identify you or your household, either directly or indirectly, such as your name, address, telephone number, and email address (“Personal Information”). Any terms defined in the CCPA and not defined here have the same meaning when used here.
SHINE THE LIGHT LAW
California's “Shine the Light” law (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 contact us using the information in the “How to contact us” section below.
WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We collect personal information from you when you voluntarily provide it to us, such as by creating a user account, signing up for email updates, registering for events, entering contests, subscribing to newsletters, ordering products or services, or responding to surveys, offers, promotions, and other communications. We also may collect personal information about you from your use of our products and services or through our partners and other publicly and commercially available sources. We have collected Personal Information in the following categories marked by an “X” in the last 12 months:
X Identifiers such as real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers;
X Financial or health information: (examples: physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, financial information, medical information, health insurance information);
___ Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law;
X Commercial information, including records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies;
___ Biometric information;
X Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, without limitation, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement;
___ Geolocation data (information that can be used to track an electronic device’s location);
___ Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information;
___ Professional or employment-related information;
___ Education information, defined as information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99).
___ Inferences drawn from any of the information identified in this subdivision to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.
We collect your Personal Information from both you and through our partners and other publicly and commercially available sources as well as through the use of cookies. You can read more about our use of cookies in our Privacy Policy and our Cookies Policy.
HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We use your Personal Information for the following business purposes if marked by an “X”:
___ Auditing related to a current interaction with the consumer and concurrent transactions, including, but not limited to, counting ad impressions to unique visitors, verifying positioning and quality of ad impressions, and auditing compliance with this specification and other standards.
___ Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity.
___ Debugging to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
X Short-term, transient use, provided that the personal information is not disclosed to another third party and is not used to build a profile about a consumer or otherwise alter an individual consumer’s experience outside the current interaction, including, but not limited to, the contextual customization of ads shown as part of the same interaction.
X Performing services on behalf of the business or service provider, including maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying customer information, processing payments, providing financing, providing advertising or marketing services, providing analytic services, or providing similar services on behalf of the business or service provider.
___ Undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration.
___ Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of a service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by the business, and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by the business.
For all categories of Personal Information collected, we disclose such information to our service providers and other third parties to help us accomplish the business purposes described above and as further outlined in our Privacy Policy.
PERSONAL INFORMATION REQUESTS
As a California resident, you have the right to request certain information regarding our use of your Personal Information, including the following:
●The different categories of Personal Information we have collected about you during the last 12 months and the categories of sources from which that information was collected;
●The business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling your Personal Information;
●The categories of third parties with whom we shared your Personal Information;
●Whether we have disclosed or sold your Personal Information to a third party for a business or commercial purpose during the last 12 months and the categories of the Personal Information disclosed or sold; and
●The specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you.
To submit a request for Personal Information, you must submit a Verifiable Consumer Request following the procedures described in the Verifiable Consumer Request Procedures section below. You may submit a Personal Information request up to twice during a 12-month period.
SELLING OR SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
As a California resident, you have the right to request that we not sell your Personal Information. Please note that we do not, and will not, sell your Personal Information to third parties.
RIGHT TO REQUEST DELETION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
As a California resident, you have a limited right to request that we and all of our service providers delete your Personal Information. You must do so by submitting a Verifiable Consumer Request to delete your Personal Information following the procedures described in the Verifiable Consumer Request Procedures section below. Upon receipt and confirmation of the Verifiable Consumer Request, we will delete your Personal Information from our systems and direct our service providers to do the same at no cost to you. There are exceptions to this right. We may retain your Personal Information for any of the following reasons:
●To provide goods or services to you as a consumer;
●To detect and resolve issues related to security or functionality;
●To comply with legal obligations;
●To conduct public interest research;
●In the exercise of free speech or the free speech of others; and
●For use in internal work processes and purposes that you would reasonably expect based on your relationship with us.
If we determine that we will not delete your Personal Information when you request us to do so, we will inform you and tell you why we are not deleting it.
NON-DISCRIMINATION
We will not discriminate against you for the exercise of your rights under the CCPA. We will not deny you goods or services, charge a different rate or price to you, or supply a different level or quality of goods to you. We may, however, offer different prices, levels of service or quality to those who share their Personal Information based on the value of the Personal Information provided as permitted by law. To the extent certain of our services require your Personal Information and you choose not to provide the necessary Personal Information, you may not be able to use those services.
VERIFIABLE CONSUMER REQUEST PROCEDURES
In order to submit a Verifiable Consumer Request, please submit your name, customer or account email address, and a description of your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it, at the following via email or regular mail:
United Methodist Communications
Attn: Privacy
810 12th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
dataprivacy@umc.org
If you maintain an online account with us, we may verify your identity for a request through the normal account authentication process, meaning you will need to sign on with your username and password.
You may assign a designated agent to make a request on your behalf. If you wish to do so, you will need to appoint the designated agent in writing, and we may require a copy of that writing before allowing any request submitted by your designated agent. The designated agent would follow the same procedure outlined above to make a request on your behalf.
If we are unable to confirm your identity or authority to make the request, we may contact you for additional information or deny your request. We will inform you if we cannot verify your identity or authority. We will only use Personal Information provided in a Verifiable Consumer Request to verify your identity or authority to make the request.
We will respond to the request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. The information may be delivered through your account, or, if you do not maintain an account with us, by mail or electronically at your option, and if provided electronically, the information will be in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily useable format that allows you to transmit the information to another entity without hindrance.
We are not required to respond to requests to provide Personal Information to you more than twice in any 12-month period. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the receipt of the request. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
In responding to your request, we are not permitted to disclose or provide you with your Social Security Number, Driver’s License Number, or other government issued identification number, financial account number, any health insurance or medical identification number, an account password, or security questions and answers.
DO NOT TRACK
We currently do not respond to any Do Not Track signals or similar signals.
ADDITIONAL RIGHTS
The rights set forth here are in addition to the rights contained in our Privacy Policy. In the event the rights here conflict with those contained in our Privacy Policy, the portion that provides you with the most protection with regard to your Personal Information will prevail.
HOW TO CONTACT US
You can adjust your privacy settings using the My Portal feature at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/communications-marketing/myportal
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at:
United Methodist Communications
Attn: Privacy
810 12th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
dataprivacy@umc.org
COOKIES POLICY
We use cookies and similar technologies on our Sites.
Our Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, how we use cookies, how third parties we may partner with may use cookies on our Sites, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies.
WHAT ARE COOKIES
Cookies are small text files placed on the computers and mobile devices of people who visit those sites. A cookie file is stored in your browser and allows us or a third party to recognize you and make your next visit easier and Site more useful to you.
HOW WE USE COOKIES
We use cookies for the following purposes:
Below are the major cookies we use:
Cookie
Function
Google Analytics
Tracks and reports site traffic
THIRD-PARTY COOKIES
In addition to our own cookies, we may also use third-parties cookies and other similar technologies to report usage statistics of our Sites, deliver advertisements on and through our Sites, and so on. One example is the Facebook Custom Audience tool, through which we may display interest-based ads using your email address. You can view the Facebook terms of service for the tool at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/customaudience. We also use third-party features and content on our site. Those third parties may place cookies on our site. We do not control the use of these cookies, so please check such third-party sites for more information about their cookies. Below are the major third-party services we use:
●Google Analytics
GOOGLE ADVERTISING
We may use Google advertising on our Sites. Google, a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our Sites based on users’ previous visits to our Sites and other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of the use of these cookies or set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated and by visiting Google’s advertising policy at https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en-US. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 or by using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser Add-On at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
HOW TO MANAGE COOKIES
You can modify your cookie settings to modify or turn off all or certain types of cookies by adjusting your browser settings. In addition, you can use your browser settings to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, to delete cookies, or to turn off all cookies. Please note, however, that if you delete or turn off cookies, you may not have access to some of the features that make your experience on our Sites smoother, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our services may not function properly.
You can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 or by using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser Add-On at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
You can opt out of and control third-party online advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.