Privacy Statement - The Catholic Miscellany

WEBSITE PRIVACY STATEMENT

Welcome to themiscellany.org (the “Site”), the website for the Catholic Diocese of Charleston’s official newspaper, The Catholic Miscellany. The Site is owned by Bishop of Charleston, a non-profit entity doing business as the Catholic Diocese of Charleston (“CDOC” or “us”). At CDOC, we recognize that many visitors to our website are concerned about the information that they provide to us or that may be collected, and how we treat that information. In order to address those concerns we have developed this Website Privacy Statement.

A. TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED

At this website, we may collect both personally identifiable information and non-personal information from you.

1. Personally identifiable information. We do not collect any personally identifiable information (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, etc.) about visitors who simply view the Site. But visitors who submit information, content, comments or other material to us or the Site, contact us, register for our programs or services, request information, open a user account with us, seek to donate money or other items, volunteer to provide services, order a subscription, enter a contest or otherwise interact with us through the Site typically must provide us with some personally identifiable information, which may include such information as your name, address, age, telephone number, fax number, email address and other information requested in our application forms or included in your submission. Without this information, we might not be able to process your application or donation, respond to your inquiries and requests, maintain your account or assist you during your participation in one of our programs or services. In addition, when you order a subscription or other products or services from the Site, or you make a donation, you must also provide us with your billing name and address, payment information (including credit card number), the desired delivery address and any additional information necessary to complete your order or donation (possibly including your Social Security number). Please note that some features provided on or through the Site (such as the photo gallery) may be operated by third parties. These third parties may also obtain personally identifiable information from you in order to use their services. Please check their privacy policies for information about their privacy practices. In some cases these third parties may provide your personally identifiable information to CDOC.

2. Non-personal information. Non-personal information, such as which pages on the Site are accessed, what information is downloaded, what type of browser and operating system are being used, which Internet service provider is being used, the visitor’s Internet Protocol “IP” address, and other information of this general type may be collected about visitors to the Site. This information does not allow us to personally identify the Site visitor. By collecting this information we learn how best to develop our website to meet the needs and desires of our visitors.

B. METHODS OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

Personally identifiable information is collected when submitted by you – such as when you include the information in an application for one of our programs or services, sign up for an account with us, order a subscription, send us an email or make a donation online. Personally identifiable information may also be collected when you include it as part of a comment, letter, forum submission, photo, video, or blog entry that you submit to us. Your personally identifiable information may be collected by third party service providers and then provided to CDOC by the third party. Non-personal information may be collected when submitted, and may also be collected via “cookies” (small text files placed on your computer’s hard drive), “web beacons,” or other technology.

C. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

1. Personally identifiable information. If you submit personally identifiable information in conjunction with responding to or making an inquiry, opening an account, ordering a subscription, entering a contest, purchasing products or services, making a donation, applying for one of our services or programs, or otherwise when making a request or application, then we may use such information to correspond with you, maintain your account or to process your order, application, request or donation. We may also use it to send you materials that we think would be of interest to you. Credit card information is only used as necessary to process your payment or donation. We may provide personally identifiable information to third party service providers as necessary to complete your request and/or to facilitate your participation in one of our programs or services, and we may share your information with our representatives and affiliates, including without limitation Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charleston, Inc. (“CCDC”). If you e-mail or call us, open an account, order a subscription, submit comments, enter a contest, make a donation, or ask to be placed on a mailing list that we maintain, then we or CCDC may also use your personally identifiable information to contact you and send information to you. In some cases, such as when submitting comments, photographs or other material, applying for certain programs or services, making a donation, or entering a contest, we may publish your name, photo, donation amount and other personal information on our website or in our other publications.

In addition to the uses listed above, we may use your personally identifiable information to improve our promotional efforts, as part of a statistical website usage analysis and/or to improve the features and content of the Site. Personally identifiable information, including without limitation your name or your organization name, your donation amount and your Social Security number, may also be submitted to the IRS, state charity agencies, and such other federal and state agencies as necessary under law and to preserve our tax-exempt status. We may also use your personally identifiable information to assist in delivery of content that is customized to your interests, in any manner set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement or on the Site (such as in contest rules), and for any other lawful purposes. We do not collect personally identifiable information on an automatic basis, but we may combine non-personal information (which may be automatically collected) with your previously submitted personally identifiable information.

1. Non-personal information. We may use your non-personal information to improve our promotional efforts, as part of a statistical website usage analysis, to improve the features and content of this website, and/or for other purposes to assist us, our affiliates (including but not limited to CCDC), or our programs and services. We may share such information with advertisers and other third parties, typically in the aggregate. We may also use your non-personal information as set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement, as set forth on the Site or for other lawful purposes.

1. Links from the Site to third parties. Please be aware that CDOC’s business partners, sponsors, service providers, advertisers and other third parties accessible through the Site (such as via links from this Site and/or framed on this Site, including but not limited to SmugMug, Inc.) may have their own privacy practices. CDOC is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of the third parties when providing information to them. These third parties may provide the personally identifiable information that they collect to CDOC and may also use the information in accordance with their own privacy practices. Financial institutions, such as those which process credit card orders, are subject to federal privacy laws.

1. Other third parties. During the course of its business, CDOC uses third party service providers, such as lawyers and accountants, to perform a variety of functions. In some instances, CDOC may need to provide personal and/or non-personal information about you to such third parties. However, all third party service providers which are not linked from the Site are prohibited from using your personally identifiable information for any purpose other than for which they were selected to work with CDOC.

1. Public forum. If you post a comment on the Site, submit information to a forum on the Site, make a blog entry, submit a photograph or video, submit a personal ad, email us or make a similar submission, the information in your submission may be published to the general public. Please exercise caution when making such submissions. Please note that most such submissions are not reviewed prior to publication. We will not be responsible to read, respond to, or perform in accordance with any requests for privacy or confidentiality that are included with the submission or at any time.

1. Other uses. In addition to the uses set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement, CDOC may use or disclose personal or non-personal information: (i) in cases where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to prevent a crime, an injury or financial loss to ourselves or to third parties; (ii) to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of this Site (including violation of the Terms of Use); (iii) pursuant to a court order, warrant, subpoena, discovery request, or as required by law; (iv) in conjunction with the sale or offering for sale of some or all of CDOC; (v) in the event of CDOC’s bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors, or similar financial circumstances; (vi) when information posted on the Site or in our Website Terms of Use states that such use or disclosure may be made; and/or (vii) when you have been made aware of the possibility of use or disclosure of the information at or prior to the time of collection.

D. OUR COMMITMENT TO SECURITY

We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures that we believe are appropriate to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect online. Please note that we cannot guarantee the security of our databases or Site, nor can we guarantee that information will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet. In order to use some of the features of this Site, you may be required to create an account with us. For your protection, this account will only be accessible by means of a password or similar security measure. If you believe that your password or email address has been compromised, you should change your account with us immediately. If you forget your password, follow the instructions on the login page or contact us at the address below.

E. CHILDREN

CDOC does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 through this Site unless such collection is done in accordance with the law. If you are a child under the age of 13 that intends to submit information to CDOC through this Site, you must obtain your parent’s consent prior to making such a submission. In the event that CDOC obtains actual knowledge that you are a child under the age of 13, CDOC may delete your information and/or require that you (and/or your parent) prove to us your prior parental consent. Even if you are 13 or over, you agree that unless you have reached the age of 18, you will obtain parental consent prior to submitting any personal information to or through this Site.

A. ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND “OPT OUT” PROCEDURES

If we have received or posted personal information about your child under age 13, we will delete it from our records and remove it from the Site upon your request – unless we need to retain or publish it for legal reasons or under Section C.6, above. We have no obligation to change or permit you to access or change any other information submitted to or collected by CDOC. We may, however, in our discretion attempt to do so upon your request. If you would like to access or change any personal information that we have collected or “opt out” of our retention or disclosure of any other information, please contact us at the address set forth below. Subject to CDOC’s protection of itself and others, disclosures for legal reasons, and our current technological capabilities, we may be able to assist you. Please keep in mind that to protect your privacy and security, we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access to any personally identifiable information or “opt out” capabilities. We do not have any obligation to limit our uses of such information other than as set forth in this Privacy Statement. To change the information that you submitted to third party service providers, please contact the service provider. Their policies will dictate the extent to which you can access or change the information that they have collected about you.

G. PARENTAL OPTIONS AND REVIEW

Parents of children under the age of 13 have the option to agree to the collection and use of their child’s personal information without consenting to the disclosure of the information to third parties (subject to the CDOC’s protection of itself and others, disclosures for legal reasons, and the CDOC’s current technological capabilities). In addition, parents can review the personal information provided by their child under the age of 13, ask to have it deleted and refuse to allow any further collection or use of the child’s information (subject to the same items as above). In order to make these requests, parents should follow the “Opt Out” procedures set forth in the “Access to Your Personal Information and ‘Opt Out’ Procedures” section of this Privacy Statement. Please note that, while this Site will not require more information from children under 13 than is reasonably necessary to participate in any activity or event, deletion of required information may result in termination of the child’s participation in an event or activity. Parents should also note that the official rules for contests and promotions on this website may contain additional information related to their children’s privacy and the parents’ rights and responsibilities.

H. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

This Privacy Statement may be changed from time to time in accordance with the change procedures set forth in the Site’s Terms of Use, into which this Privacy Statement is incorporated by reference. Once the change has been made, all information collected by the Site before or after the change will be subject to the new terms of the Privacy Statement. The current version of this Privacy Statement is effective November 5, 2009.

I. TO CONTACT US

To contact us, please do so at the following address:

Privacy Issues
The Catholic Miscellany
901 Orange Grove Road
Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: 843-261-0522
Fax: 843-804-9462
Email: editor@catholic-doc.org