Privacy Policy
Effective Date: June 25, 2020
U.S. Digital Response (“USDR” or “we” or “us”) takes your privacy seriously. Responsible data management is at the core of our mission and enables us as well as our volunteers to provide rapid, effective support to federal, state, and local governments during unprecedented times. We are dedicated to handling your personal information with care and respect.
We have prepared this USDR Privacy Statement and Cookie Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) to help you understand how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information obtained through the USDR website, www.usdigitalresponse.org (the “Site”) and other websites, that we operate and that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Services”), and how you can manage your preferences concerning our uses and sharing of such information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to websites or applications that do not include a link to this Policy, including third party sites or applications that may be developed with the assistance of USDR volunteers. USDR volunteers commit to complying with this Privacy Policy with regard to the data shared through our service. Please note that USDR volunteers are not employees, and USDR is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any volunteer. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and if you do not agree to our Policy, please do not use our Services.
When you apply to volunteer with us, we may require or request that you provide us with some personal information such as: name, email address, telephone number, job title, employer, information about your location and availability, information about your professional background and skills, and additional information about your interests which you may choose to provide to us. We may use this information to contact you and as part of our efforts to help match you with projects that may align with your skills, interests, and background. Depending on the specific nature of the project to which you are matched, please note that the government, department, agency, or other organization that manages the project may require you to provide additional personal information. We do not control the data collection activities of third parties including our organizational partners, and we encourage you to review the relevant third party privacy policies.
When you request help on behalf of a federal, state, local government, agency or other entity, we may require or request that you provide us with some personal information such as: name, email address, telephone number, job title, information about the entity on behalf of whom you are applying, information about your project and organizational needs, and other information you may choose to provide to us. We may use this information to contact you and to match you, based on your specific needs, with the volunteer(s).
When you contact us or request information from us using the “How Should You Contact Us” section below or otherwise, follow us on social media, or like, comment, or share our content on social media, we also collect the following types of personal information: name, email address, telephone number, content of communications with us, username and publicly available information (e.g., public posts, photographs, and videos made available through social media sites). We may ask you to create an account, password, and/or to provide security question(s) and answer(s). To provide our Services, we may also process personal information of individuals from other sources such as government records, health care facilities, or other organizations participating in COVID-19 response efforts.
We also automatically collect tracking information from all visitors about how they use the Site or Apps. Please see our Cookie Policy below for more information about automatic data collection.
Tracking Data & Cookie Policy
We use cookies and other technologies to help compile browser statistics, such as log file information (i.e., Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, browser language, pages viewed, and the date and time of a site visit). We may combine this data with the aforementioned collected information, which may identify you. We make limited use of cookies and other online tracking technologies to understand visitor activity on the Site, and to hold certain information about your visits to help improve your experience while using our Services. A cookie is a text file sent by a web server and placed on your device by your web browser. Cookies can be divided into two types: session and persistent. Session cookies differ from persistent cookies primarily in that session cookies are temporary, expire, and are typically deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies, in contrast, remain stored on your computer after you close your browser until they are deleted because either they expire or you delete them. USDR uses session cookies and persistent cookies in connection with providing our Services. Cookies are often used in conjunction with other Internet technologies, such as web beacons, to understand behavior on the Internet. For example, USDR uses cookies in conjunction with web beacons, which are small sections of code that we may place to understand the number of unique users that have visited a specific page.
None of the technologies discussed above are strictly necessary to access our Services. You may reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to allow your browser to alert you when a cookie is set, however, certain parts of the Services may function differently and not as well and you may not be able to use some portions of our Services. For more information about how to manage your cookies preferences, you should use the “help” menu of your web browser or explore the customer support sections of your web browser. Please note that you need to configure each browser on each device that you use if you wish to opt-out or block some or all cookies. Google Analytics offers an opt-out tool here.
We use personal information to process requests made through our Services, such as requests to register as a volunteer, requests for volunteer assistance, and questions or comments submitted through our Services. You may opt-out of receiving email communications from us at any time by clicking the “Update your preferences or unsubscribe” link located at the bottom of these communications.
Providing Our Services. We may use personal information about you to help meet the needs of our government partners and other organizations in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Fulfillment of Requests. We may use personal information about you to fulfill the purpose for which such information was provided (e.g., to match you to a project, our volunteers, or to respond to your requests or inquiries).
Additional Communications. We may use the personal information submitted in connection with your applications to contact you with important information about ongoing projects or about USDR content, features, opportunities, or services that may be of interest to you.
Internal Operations and Analysis. We may also use personal information about you for our internal operational purposes, such as data analysis, audits, enhancing or modifying our Services, and so forth.
Fulfilling Our Legal Obligations or to Protect our Rights or Property. Where required, we may use personal information about you to comply with our legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations, or to protect our rights or property.
We may combine information that you provide to us or information that we collect automatically through our Services with other information we obtain.
We may share your information in the event that it is necessary to fulfill these purposes:
With organizational partners for the purpose of providing rapid, effective response to the COVID-19 crisis;
With members of our volunteer network for operational and analytical purposes, to fulfill requests, and to provide the Services;
With companies and organizations who work on our behalf to provide and support USDR and enable us to fulfill our mission and values; and,
With law enforcement or other government agencies to comply with court orders, legal process, or respond to government or regulatory requests or otherwise protect the safety of our volunteers or others.
We may share personal information, such as contact information of volunteers or other data assets, in the event of a merger, acquisition, or other corporate reorganization, such as if we combine with another non-profit organization.
We have adopted reasonable security policies designed to secure personal information we collect. Our volunteers commit to comply with our security protocol, however, USDR volunteers are not employees, and USDR is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any volunteer. When you share information with other volunteers or our third-party partners, you do so at your own risk. Please also be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed secure, particularly on the Internet. Use caution in determining what information you wish to share, and how. We also rely on you to protect the safety and security of your information. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Services, please keep this password confidential. You are responsible for not sharing this information with anyone.
USDR is not subject to laws regulating for-profit entities such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Nonetheless, we take your privacy choices very seriously. You may request that we correct, update, provide access, or delete the personal information you have submitted to us, or restrict or object to USDR’s processing of your data, by contacting us using the information listed below. We do not sell personal information. However, please remember that we do not control the data practices of third parties that you may share information with when volunteering or interacting with USDR. If you have signed up to receive emails from us, you may opt-out of such email communications anytime by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of these communications.
Children’s Information
Our Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect or store personal information from such individuals. If you believe that we may have collected personal information from a child under 13 years of age, please contact us immediately by using the information contained in the “How Should You Contact Us?” section below.
International Transfers
We are based in the United States. The information you submit to us and that we automatically collect as a result of your using the Services will be transferred to the United States, where the privacy and data protection rules may differ from those in your country. By using our Services, you consent to the international transfer to, and storage of, your personal information in the United States.
Accessibility
We are committed to ensuring that our communications are accessible to people with disabilities. To make accessibility-related requests or report barriers, please contact us by using the information contained in the “How Should You Contact Us?” section below.
Data Retention
We will retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary and relevant to our organization and mission.
Third Party Website Links
Our Services may contain links to other third-party websites operated and maintained by third parties that we do not own or control. Those websites are governed by their own privacy policies, and not by this Privacy Policy. Any information you provide to a third-party web or mobile site or app will be governed by the terms of each site’s or app’s privacy statement. We have no responsibility or control over the content, actions, or policies of third-party sites.
Changes To This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect changes in our Services and practices. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective upon the “Effective Date” posted on this page.
If you have any further inquiries about our Privacy Policy or practices, or wish to make a data protection request, please contact us at [email protected].
Last Updated: June 24, 2020
