1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY

Connect Our Kids (“Connect Our Kids”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a nonprofit organization working to provide technology to enable child welfare professionals to identify and recruit permanent supportive families and other connections for foster children, and to provide education services in the field of child welfare, trauma, and trauma management directed to youth and to welfare professionals. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy” or “Policy”) explains how we collect and use information about your interactions with our main website https://connectourkids.org/ and any of our other websites and applications on which this Policy is posted (collectively, the “Site”). The Policy describes what personal information we collect about you, how we use it, and your privacy rights . The Policy does not apply to any interactions you have with us outside of the Site.

We take your privacy seriously. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the Site. By accessing or using the Site, you agree to all terms of this Privacy Policy and the collection and use of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any term in this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Site. 

2. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may make changes to the Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Effective Date” at the top of the Policy reflects the date the last changes were made and posted to the Site, and such changes will become effective as of that Effective Date. Your continued interaction with the Site after any changes made to the Policy is deemed to be your acceptance of those changes.

3. CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect Personal Information as part of providing the Site to you. Personal Information is any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular individual or household. We may collect the following categories of Personal Information about users of our Site:

• personal identifiers and contact information (e.g., name, internet protocol (IP) address, postal address, email address);
• internet or other networking activity;
• IP address, unique cookie ID, and similar identifiers, including information from cookies; and
• geolocation.

4. HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION 

We collect Personal Information from users of the Site through the following methods:

• directly from you when you provide it to us, such as when you sign up for our newsletters or contact us via the Site; and
• automatically from your browser or device as you navigate through the Site. 

We use payment processors when you engage in a transaction on the Site; Connect Our Kids does not itself collect or store payment card information provided through these payment processors. 

Any content or information you provide to us through the Site is also governed by our Terms of Service. 

Information that we collect automatically through cookies, third-party analytics services, and other third-party services may include IP address, device identifier, and information about how you interact with the Site.

Cookies: To improve our Site, we use “cookies” to maintain a record of your visit. A cookie is a small text file that is stored in your browser or device when you visit our Site. You can use your browser or device settings to accept or decline most cookies. If you choose to decline cookies, the interactive features of the Site may not work fully. Please refer to your browser’s help menu for information on how to manage cookies. 

Third-Party Analytics Service: Our Site uses analytics services provided by Intercom, Mixpanel, Sentry, Hubspot, and Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with the Site. The information collected can include username, email, and information related to the device you are using to interact with the Site. 

Chatbot: Some features on the Site that allow you to contact us are supported by third-party provider Intercom. Intercom may collect your messages to us, and these messages may be stored. 

5. HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including Personal Information to:

• provide information, products, and services to you at your request;
• verify your identity;
• understand how users use the Site and conduct other types of market research;
• provide you with information or promotional material about products and services that may be of interest; 
• provide and improve our Site;
• comply with legal obligations or exercise or defend legal claims;
• protect our Site against fraud or other illegal activity; 
• in any other way we may describe when you provide us the information; or
• for any other purpose with your consent.

6. HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION

We may disclose the information we collect about you through the Site, including Personal Information, to third parties from time to time in order to:

• provide the Site and other services to you; 
• to analyze how users interact with our Site and improve it; 
• to communicate with you at your request;
• to identify and prevent any fraudulent or unlawful use of our Site or violations of this Privacy Policy;
• to comply with legal obligations or exercise or defend legal claims;
• to protect or defend the rights or properties of Connect Our Kids, including the security and integrity of this Site, or users of the Site;

• for any other disclosed purpose when you provide the information; or

• with your consent.

The categories of third parties we may disclose your information to include:

• analytics companies;
• payment processors; and
• messaging service providers. 

We do not sell or rent your information to others or share your information with third parties for advertising purposes.

7. OTHER WEBSITES AND SERVICES

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites or display content presented or hosted by other parties. These third-party websites and content are not under our control and are subject to the applicable terms and policies, including privacy policies, of those third parties. Connect Our Kids is not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices employed by these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third-party operators before accessing their content or websites.

When you choose to interact with us on social media platforms, your interaction with these programs typically allows the social media company to collect some information about you through digital cookies and other tracking mechanisms they place on your device. To control this sharing of information please review the privacy policy of the relevant social media platform.

8. SECURITY AND DATA PROTECTION

We take the security of your Personal Information seriously. We employ a combination of administrative and technical security measures to protect your Personal Information in our care. Unfortunately, however, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its security and any transmission of your Personal Information to and from us is at your own risk.

9. DATA RETENTION

We will only retain your Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, consistent with our record retention policy. We may retain your Personal Information for a longer period in the event of a complaint, if we are required to do so by law, or if we reasonably believe there is a likelihood of litigation. When determining the appropriate data retention period, we consider the amount and nature of Personal Information, the purposes for which we collected it and whether we can achieve those through other means, and applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, and other requirements. 

10. CROSS BORDER DATA TRANSFERS

Connect Our Kids is a United States-based organization, located in Falls Church, VA.  If you access the Site, you understand that Connect Our Kids may collect, process, and store your information in the United States and other countries. The laws in the United States regarding information may be different from the laws of your state or country. Any such transfers will comply with safeguards as required by relevant law. By using the Services, you consent to the collection, international transfer, storage and processing of your data.

11. CHILDREN

Our Site is not intended for use by children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information relating to children under the age of 13 as direct users of our Site. If we obtain actual information that we have collected Personal Information relating to a child under the age of 13 as a direct user of our Site, we will promptly delete that information.

12. CONTACT US

If you have any questions about us or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected]
Mailing Address:
Connect Our Kids
1069 W Broad St Ste 778
Falls Church, Virginia 22046