1. Introduction/Overview

This Privacy Policy describes how The Pete and Thomas Foundation ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit our website, accessible at https://www.peteandthomasfoundation.org (the "Site"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information in an open and transparent manner.

By using our Services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Services to you.

Information You Provide

• 
  Contact and Account Information: When you register for an account or interact with our services, we may collect information such as your name, email address, phone number, and physical address.
• Credentials: We collect usernames, passwords, and other similar security information used for authentication and account access.
• Payment Information: To process donations or other transactions, we collect payment details, which are processed by our secure third-party payment processors.
• Educational and Health Information: As part of providing our services, we may collect information related to your educational background or health.
• Communications: If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide.

Sensitive Personal Information

In the course of providing our services, we may collect certain categories of sensitive personal information. We only collect this information when it is necessary to provide a specific service you have requested or to comply with legal obligations. The categories we may collect include:

• 
  Social Security Number
• Financial Account Information
• Racial or Ethnic Origin

We collect this information only when necessary to evaluate applications, comply with legal obligations, or with your explicit consent. By providing this information, you consent to its use for the purposes for which it was collected.

Automatically Collected Information

• 
  Internet and Device Information: We automatically collect certain information about your device and how you interact with our Services. This may include your IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, referring URLs, pages viewed, and the dates/times of your visits.
• Audio-Visual Information: We may collect photos or videos that you choose to upload or share through our services.

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, and social media platforms, to supplement the information we collect from you directly.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• 
  To Provide and Operate the Services: To create and manage your account, process transactions, and deliver the core features of our services.
• To Improve Features and Security: To understand how our users interact with the Services, develop new features, and to protect against fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
• For Analytics and Performance Measurement: To monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services.
• To Comply with Legal Obligations: To meet our legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• AI-Powered Features: We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help operate and improve our services. Our AI systems may process your information to provide certain features. These processes are subject to human oversight, and you can contact us if you have questions or wish to exercise your data rights regarding this processing.

4. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share or disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:

• 
  With Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, and hosting. These vendors are contractually obligated to protect your data and are prohibited from using it for their own purposes.
• For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if we are required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or a government agency).
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your personal information may be transferred.
• With Your Consent: We may disclose your personal information for any other purpose with your consent.

We take a conservative approach regarding third-party AI training and do not permit our service providers to train their AI models on your personal data without ensuring appropriate contractual safeguards are in place.

5. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

General Rights Overview

Depending on where you reside, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information under applicable privacy laws. These rights may include:

• 
  Right to Access: The right to know what personal information we have collected about you and to obtain a copy.
• Right to Deletion: The right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Correction: The right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.

For a detailed explanation of rights that may apply to you based on your state of residence, please see APPENDIX A: State-Specific Privacy Rights Reference.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of your privacy rights, please contact us using the information in the "Contact Information" section below. We will need to verify your identity before processing your request and may ask for additional information to do so.

Response Timeframes

We will respond to your request within the time period required by applicable law, typically within 45 days of receipt. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.

Appeal Process

If we deny your request, you may have the right to appeal our decision. The response we send you will include information on how to file an appeal.

6. Data Security

We have implemented reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures designed to protect your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

THE SERVICES AND ALL INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' BASIS. ROCNATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SERVICES, OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SERVICES. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

7. International Data Transfers

Your information, including personal data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction. As we are headquartered in the United States, your information will be processed in the US. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected information from your child under 13, please contact us immediately.

For users between the ages of 13 and 16, we may be required by law to obtain parental or guardian consent before "sharing" personal information for purposes such as targeted advertising. We provide choices for all users to opt out of such sharing as described in Appendix A.

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier.

We use Strictly Necessary, Functional, Analytics, and Targeting cookies. For more detailed information on the cookies we use, the purposes for which we use them, and your choices, please see our standalone Cookie Policy.

10. Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date" at the top. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

13. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: info@peteandthomasfoundation.org

Notice to California Residents

While we may not currently meet all applicability thresholds of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), we voluntarily extend the following disclosures and rights to California residents.

Categories of Personal Information Collected

In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information:



Your California Privacy Rights

• 
  Right to Know and Data Portability: You have the right to request that we disclose the personal information we collect, use, and disclose.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Correct: You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: You have the right to direct us not to "sell" or "share" your personal information. We do not sell personal information for monetary value. However, our use of certain advertising cookies may be considered "sharing" under California law. You may opt out of this by managing your cookie preferences or contacting us.
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: You have the right to limit our use of sensitive personal information to that which is necessary to perform the services or provide the goods reasonably expected.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at info@peteandthomasfoundation.org. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

"Shine the Light" Law: California residents have the right to request information from us once a year regarding the manner in which we share certain categories of personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not share your personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

Rights for Residents of Other States

As noted in the table above, several other states have passed comprehensive privacy laws. We are actively monitoring our obligations in these states. As our business grows and if we meet the legal thresholds, residents of states like Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island will be able to exercise rights similar to those listed above. We will update this policy accordingly.