Privacy Policy

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

Welcoming America (“Welcoming America,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is a non-profit organization that supports communities building a welcoming society where every person, including immigrants can fully contribute and shape our shared prosperity. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) aims to inform you about how we collect, use, store, and disclose information that may directly or indirectly identify you as an individual (“personal data” or “Personal Information”) as part of your program interest, application, participation and use of our website and services. This Policy also describes your rights regarding your personal data.

This Policy may be changed or updated from time to time. In the event that we update this Policy, we will post the current version on this site, and we will revise the version date located at the bottom of this page. We encourage you to periodically review this Policy so that you will be aware of our privacy practices.

When and How Do We Collect Your Information?

Our websites provide convenient ways for you to access our services and learn about important Welcoming America opportunities, events, and methods to support us via online donations.

When and how we collect your information:

Welcoming America collects personal data about when you provide us your information in ways such as the following:

  • Interaction with our website
  • Making donations
  • Volunteering for our programs, events or initiatives
  • Attending Welcoming America events including digital events such as webinars
  • Making an inquiry that demonstrates your interest in participating or learning more about any Welcoming America programs and initiatives
  • Applications for employment
  • Applications for memberships
  • Subscribing to our newsletters
  • Purchasing merchandise 

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We may collect some or all of the following types of information including:

  • Personal data. Our websites may collect personal data, information that either directly identifies you or could reasonably be used to identify you. Examples of this data includes but is not limited to your name, contact information, email address, postal address, , and other information in combination with such identifiers. In some instances, we may collect employment information (e.g., past titles and languages spoken).
  • Mobile devices information. If you access our websites on your mobile telephone or mobile device, we may also collect your unique device identifier and mobile device IP address, as well as information about your device's operating system, mobile carrier and your location information. We may also ask you to consent to providing your mobile phone number (for example, so that we can send you push notifications).
  • Other information. In some instances, we automatically collect other basic information about you which does not directly identify you, but which may correspond with you or a particular device. We use this information to learn more about how our website is used and to otherwise improve and administer the site. Automated technologies may include the use of web server logs to collect IP addresses, "cookies" and web beacons. Further information about our use of cookies can be found below in the Cookies and other tracking technologies section at the end of this Policy.
  • Donor/Event Registration Information. When you use our websites to make a financial contribution, register for a class or special event, sign up to volunteer, or apply for a job, we may ask you for your name, address, phone number(s), and other information relevant to the transaction. We will ask for standard credit card information when you make a financial donation, pay for a class, or make a purchase. We do not store your credit card information when you make a donation and use a third-party processor to process your payment information.
  • Social media. You can engage with us through social media websites or through features such as plug-ins or applications on Welcoming America’s website that integrate with social media sites. You may also choose to link your account with us to third party social media sites. When you link your account or engage with us on or through third-party social media sites, plug-ins, or applications, you may allow us to have ongoing access to certain information from your social media account (e.g., name, e-mail address, photo, gender, birthday, the posts or the 'likes' you make).If you post information when you interact with our websites through social media sites, plug-ins or other applications, depending on your privacy settings, this information may become public on the Internet. You can control what information you share through privacy settings available on some social media sites. For more information about how you can customize your privacy settings and how third-party social media sites handle your personally identifiable information, please refer to the third party social media site’s privacy help guides, privacy notices and terms of use.

We use this information to communicate with our supporters and clients and process their transactions. We do not sell, release, or rent it to other organizations or individuals outside of our organization.

How Do We Use Your Personal Information?

We use the personal data you provide to us to:

  • Provide you with personalized service;
  • Operate our website and understand its use, for statistical purposes (number of site visits, average time visitors spend at the site, etc.) and security purposes;
  • Manage and process inquiries, registrations, donations and other interactions with you;
  • Send you information you have requested or consented to receiving such as newsletters, breaking news, and other information regarding relevant Welcoming America Activities.

With Whom Do We Share Your Personal Information?

We do not sell, share, or otherwise disclose the information we collect through our website and mobile applications, except as provided in this Privacy Policy.

Our Service Providers

We may share your personal information with our affiliates and third party organizations which  perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments for donations and merchandise sales. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf. Please see the section on Your Privacy Rights -if you have any questions or concerns.

Do We Transfer Your Personal Data to Other Countries?

We are a United States organization that operates globally. As such, we may transfer certain personal data across geographical borders to Welcoming America entities, authorized service providers, business partners in other countries working on our behalf or in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. When such transfer occurs, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will be subject to this Privacy Policy. Also, we use a variety of legal mechanisms to help ensure your rights and protections travel with your data:

  • We ensure transfers within Welcoming America are covered by agreements based on the European Union (“EU”) Commission's standard contractual clauses, which contractually obliges each member to ensure that personal data receives an adequate and consistent level of protection.
  • Where we transfer your personal data outside Welcoming America or to third parties who help provide our services, we obtain contractual commitments from them to protect your personal data via standard contractual clauses.
  • We do not transfer personal data between additional countries, other than the ones participating in the immediate program (e.g., if we have a program between an EU country and the United States, we do not transfer to a third country).
  • Where we receive requests for information from law enforcement or regulators, we carefully validate these requests before any personal data is disclosed.

If you would like further information about whether your information will be disclosed to overseas recipients, please contact us. You also have a right to contact us for more information about the safeguards we have in place to ensure the adequate protection of your personal data when this is transferred as mentioned above.

How Long Do We Retain Your Personal Data?

We take steps to erase your personal data or to keep it in a form that does not identify you when that information is no longer needed for the purposes for which we process it, unless we are required by law to keep it longer. When determining the retention period, we take into account several criteria, such as the type of services we provide to you or that you provide us, the nature and duration of our relationship with you, a possible re-registration in our services, the impact on our services if we delete certain information you have provided to us or about you, the mandatory retention periods provided by law and the corresponding limitation period.

What Security Measures Are In Place to Protect Your Information?

Welcoming America takes steps to protect your information from unauthorized access. We maintain physical, technical, and  administrative safeguards to help prevent unauthorized access to and improper use of personally identifiable information. We protect the security of credit card transactions using a number of measures such as encryption, access controls, network firewalls, and physical security. When we work with other companies to process credit card transactions, those companies also use encryption and other appropriate security measures.

Government and Legal

We may disclose the personal information we collect through this website, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

E.U. General Data Protection Regulation Disclosures

Controller of Personal Data. Welcoming America Inc., located at PO Box 747002 Atlanta, GA 30374 is the administrator of this website and the controller of personal data that is processed on this website and as part of our programs.

For individuals in the European Union whose data we process, please read the following information related to our General Data Protection Regulation compliance.

We only collect and process your personal data if we have a legal basis which include:

  • Legitimate interest. We process your personal data based on our legitimate interests in administering our services and communications to individuals and donors.
  • Compliance with applicable laws. We process your personal data as necessary for us to comply with a relevant legal obligation (e.g. where we are required to make disclosures to courts or regulators.) We may disclose information when we believe the law requires it and in any situation that involves threats to any person’s physical safety. When required by law, such sharing of information will be subject to an agreement with each such service provider, requiring such service provider to comply with data protection requirements.
  • In circumstances where you provide us consent prior to the processing of your data, we will use your consent as the basis for processing said information. For instance, when we collect your information through an application, we rely on your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Your Privacy Rights

 If you are a resident of the European Union or a U.S. state that grants data subject rights, you have the following rights listed within this section. Please note some of these rights do not apply to all U.S. state residents as the rights each state grants vary per applicable law. To exercise these rights, please email us at  [email protected] with a description of your request. Please note that in order to fulfill your data request, we may need to first confirm your identity.

  • Right to Access. You have the right to access personal data that Welcoming America holds about you.
  • Right to Rectification. You have a right to request us to correct your personal data where it is inaccurate or out of date.
  • Right to be Forgotten (Right to Erasure). You have the right, under certain circumstances, to have your personal data erased. Your information can only be erased if your data is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and we have no other legal ground for processing the data.
  • Right to Object to Processing. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time, on legitimate grounds, except if otherwise permitted by applicable law.
  • Right to Restrict Processing. You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data, but only where:
    • its accuracy is contested, to allow us to verify its accuracy; or
    • the processing is unlawful, but you do not want it erased; or
    • it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, but we still need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
    • you have objected to processing of your data, and verification of overriding grounds is pending.
  • Right to Data Portability. You have the right to data portability, which requires us to provide personal data to you or another controller in a commonly used, machine readable format, but only where the processing of that information is based on (i) your consent; or (ii) the performance of a contract to which you are a party.
  • Right to Decline Automated Decision Making. You have the right to not be subject to decisions based solely on automated decision making, which produce legal or significant effects for you, except where these are (i) necessary for a contract to which you are a party; (ii) authorized by law; (iii) based on your explicit consent. Even where such decisions are permitted, you can contest the decision and require Welcoming America to exercise human intervention. We currently do not use automated decision making (including automated decision making using profiling) when processing your personal data.

Please note: If you are in the European Union, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority (in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement), if you are of the opinion that any of your Personal Data is processed in a manner constituting an infringement of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies

Cookies are small data files that a website places on your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Web beacons are transparent pixel images that are used in collecting information about website usage. They assist us in making your interactions with our website easy and meaningful by providing enhanced functionality and aggregate traffic data. Standing alone, neither cookies nor web beacons personally identify you. Unless you choose to identify yourself to Welcoming America (e.g., by filling out a website form) or have previously identified yourself to us, you remain anonymous to us. You have many choices with regards to the management of cookies on your computer. All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system, but if you choose to block or delete cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website. To learn more about your ability to manage cookies and web beacons, please consult the privacy features in your browser.

Information Collected from Other Websites and “Do Not Track” Policy

Your browser or device may offer you a "Do Not Track" option, which allows you to signal to operators of websites, web applications, mobile applications and services (including behavioral advertising services) that you do not wish such operators to track certain of your online activities over time and/or across different websites or applications.

Our website does not support Do Not Track requests at this time, which means that we or our analytics providers or other third parties with which we are working may collect information about your online activity both during and after your use of the website.

Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet

While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.

For any other information please email [email protected].

How Can You Update Your Communication Preferences?

We take reasonable steps to provide you with communication about your information. You can update your communication preferences in the following ways.

  • If you request electronic communications, such as an e-newsletter, you will be able to unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions included in the communication.
  • E-mail. Contact us by e-mail [email protected] or postal address PO Box 747002 Atlanta, GA 30374-7002. Please include your current contact information, the information you are interested in accessing and your requested changes.

Contact Us About Privacy

If you have any questions, or would like further information about our privacy and information handling practices, , or if you would like to make a complaint about a breach of the Act or this Policy, you may send us an email at [email protected] or write to:

Welcoming America PO Box 747002 Atlanta, GA 30374-7002