Privacy Policy

At DomesticShelters.org, operated by 501(c)3 non-profit Alliance for HOPE ("Operator(s)" or "we" or "us" or "our"), we appreciate your use of and contributions to our websites and social media pages (defined to include all properties - mobile, web or otherwise – owned or operated by Operators and known as our “Websites”) and features (known as the "Services"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy is effective as of June 1, 2020, for all users of our Websites. When you use our Websites, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read this Privacy Policy to understand what we do with the information we collect from you.

Advertising-Supported Business Model

Our Websites and Services are generally funded through advertising and donations. These revenue sources help keep our Websites and Services free of charge for Internet users. It also allows us to explore and build new features. We strive to make advertisements relevant and useful to you. Therefore, we may serve advertisements to you based on the information we collect from you or in relation to your interaction on our site. We pledge to be transparent about the information we monitor and collect from you. We keep information private between you and Operator, except as explained below. 

Information You Submit

We may store the information you submit to or through the Website. We use the information to fulfill your requests, provide Website services, improve Website quality, personalize the user experience, display relevant advertising, provide customer support, message you, back up our systems, allow for disaster recovery, and comply with legal obligations. Among the information you submit to or through the Website, please note:

• Public Content: Your reviews, tips, photos, check-ins, check-in comments, likes, message board posts, bookmarks, friends, lists, compliments, account profile (including your gender, first name and last initial, but excluding your other account registration information), and any other content you post to the Website are meant for public consumption. We may display this content on the Website, and further distribute it to a wider audience through third party websites and services at our own discretion without further consent from you.
• Messaging and Saved Content: If you exchange messages with others or save content to your account through the Website, we may store this content in order to provide you and other users proper service. If you send information from this Website to your phone via SMS text message, we may log your phone number, phone carrier, and the date and time that the message was processed. Carriers may charge recipients for texts that they receive.
• Credit Card Purchases: If you own or operate a domestic violence program and choose to promote your organization on this Website, or make donations through the Website, we may collect and store billing and credit card information. This information will only be shared with third parties who perform tasks required to complete the purchase transaction (such as fulfilling orders and processing credit card payments). When you submit credit card numbers, we encrypt that information using industry standard technology.
• Account Registration: You must provide a valid email address, your first and last name and additional information in order to sign up for an Account on the Site; you provide this information about yourself and your organization at your own discretion. When you sign up for an account, we opt you in to receive emails from us. At any time, you can manage your email preferences and modify some of the information associated with your account. Note that you cannot opt-out of receiving required administrative or legal notices.

Cookies and Other Information We Collect

In addition to the information you submit to or through the Website, we also collect and store information from and about you in the course of your use of the Website. We may use this information to analyze and track user behavior, personalize your experience, associate it with other information about you, provide the functionality and improve the quality of the Website, help comply with legal obligations, and may use it to display relevant advertising. We collect this information in a couple of different ways:

• Cookies: We may use cookies, web beacons, local shared objects (sometimes called "flash cookies"), and similar technology in connection with your use of the Website ("Cookies"). Cookies are small data files that may have unique identifiers, and reside, among other places, on your computer or mobile device, in emails we send to you, and on our web pages. Cookies may transmit information about you and your use of the Website, such as your browser type, search preferences, data relating to advertisements that have been displayed to you or that you have clicked on, and the date and time of your use. You can disable some (but not all) Cookies in your device or browser settings, but doing so may affect your ability to use certain services of the Website.
• Server Logs: Our servers log information about your use of the Website, such as your search activity, the pages you view, the date and time of your visit, and the businesses you call using our mobile applications. Our servers also log information that your computer or mobile device provides to us in connection with your use of the Website, such as your browser type, browser language, IP address, mobile carrier, unique device identifier, location, and requested and referring URLs.

Third parties

We do not rent, share, sell or trade personally identifiable information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. That said, please note the following:

• Advertising and Third Party Cookies: We allow third parties who provide services relating to advertising to use Cookies, as defined above, in connection with your use of the Website. As a result, they may collect and store the same type of information and use it for the same type of purposes as described for us above, and they may be able to associate the information they collect with other information they have about you from other sources. We do not necessarily have access to or control over the Cookies they use.
• Service Providers: Some of the services that are offered through the Website are provided by third party providers. We also outsource some of our own services to third party providers, such as tracking and reporting functions, quality assurance testing, payment processing functions, and other services. We may share information from or about you with these third party providers so that they can perform their services or complete your requests.
• Aggregate Information: We may share user information in the aggregate with third parties, such as advertisers and content distributors. For example, we may disclose the number of users that have been exposed to, or clicked on, advertisements or other aspects of the Website.
• Business Transfers: We may share information from or about you with subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under common control, in which case we will require them to honor this Privacy Policy. If another company acquires Operator or all or substantially all of our assets, that company will possess the same information, and will assume the rights and obligations with respect to that information as described in this Privacy Policy.
• Investigations: We may investigate and disclose information from or about you if we have a good faith belief that such investigation or disclosure is (a) reasonably necessary to comply with legal process and law enforcement instructions and orders, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on us; (b) helpful to prevent, investigate, or identify possible wrongdoing in connection with the Site; or (c) protect our rights, reputation, property, or that of our users affiliates, or the public.
• Links: The Website may contain links to unaffiliated third party websites. Except as set forth herein, we do not share your personal information with them, and are not responsible for their privacy practices. We suggest you read the privacy policies on all such third party websites.
• Social Media and Search Engines: If you are logged into Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other social media or Google or any other search engine, and you access but are not logged into the Website, we may receive information from said sources to make it easier for you to create an account on the Website and show you relevant content from your social media friends. This information personalizes your experience and helps you create an account.

Controlling Your Personal Data

Other users may be able to identify you, or associate you with your user account if you include personal information in your Public Content. You can reduce the risk of being personally identified by using the Website pseudonymously.

Please also note that the messages you send or receive using the Website or its affiliated social media pages are only private to the extent that you and the sender/recipient keep them private. For example, we do not have any control over whether a recipient of one of your personal messages publicly posts it or its contents.

Data Retention and Account Termination

You can terminate your personal account at any time. If you terminate your account, we may continue to show some of your content on the Website. We may also keep personal information in our active systems for a period of 5 years (or longer if required by law) in order to ensure our ability to satisfy the authorized uses under this Privacy Policy. For example, we may use retained data to prevent, investigate, or identify possible wrongdoing in connection with the Website or to comply with legal obligations. Please also note that information may exist in backup storage even after it has been removed from our active databases. If you are terminating a business account, the personal information associated with your account will be removed according to the terms of this Privacy Policy. However your business listing and all of its related content will remain visible.

Children

The Website is intended for general audiences and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, please contact us. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information without parental consent, we take steps to remove such information and terminate the child's account.

Security

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet or via mobile device, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Modifications to This Privacy Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. The most current version of the Privacy Policy will govern our use of your information. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we may notify you by email or by posting a notice on the Website prior to the effective date of the changes. By continuing to access or use the Website after those changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.

Updated 5/1/2023