Privacy Policy
The Friends of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands (FCDF) has been formed for the purpose of conducting activities that support or benefit the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands (“CDF”), an international non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research.
FCDF is strongly committed to protecting your privacy, whether you’re a donor, website visitor, or anyone else who communicates or connects with FCDF.
FCDF wants to make sure you have all the information you need to understand what kind of data FCDF gathers, how it is handled, whether and how it is shared, and what your options are.
When it comes to collecting or sharing information, the primary motivation is to increase efficiency, keep fundraising costs down, and, most importantly, improve your experience.
The following Privacy Policy applies when you make a donation to FCDF, or when you visit its web sites. It also applies to other situations when you choose to share your personal information with FCDF. By visiting its websites, you are accepting this Privacy Policy.
Donor information
If you make a donation, either online or otherwise, FCDF will request certain personally identifiable information about you (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, and credit card information). This information ensures that it can securely process your donation and communicate with you about it. FCDF may also use your information to improve promotional efforts, keep you updated about its work, analyze website usage, and improve the website’s content, layout, and services.
If you share personal information about others with FCDF, or if others give FCDF your information, FCDF will only use that information for the specific reason it was provided. For example, if you ordered a gift or made a donation in someone’s name, FCDF may collect the name and address of the gift recipient in order to deliver the gift or notify the recipient. FCDF will only use this information for the specific purpose it was provided. If you believe that someone has shared your personal information with FCDF and you don’t want to be included in the database, please let FCDF know so that it can be removed.
FCDF may receive information about you from other sources and combine this data with information FCDF has already about you. This helps FCDF to update, expand and analyze its records, identify people who may want to know more about its work, and provide you with information that could be of interest.
Here are some examples of the types of personal information FCDF might collect from public sources or purchase from third parties:
• Address information from sources such as the U.S. Postal Service to verify your address so FCDF can prevent fraud and securely ship a gift receipt to you
• Marketing data to create more tailored and relevant updates, information, or advertising
Sharing with third parties
FCDF will not share your information with third-party business partners, such as a direct mail provider or marketing agency.
FCDF does not sell or rent its mailing list to other organizations that solicit donations or sell any products.
FCDF employs companies to help host the donor information database, send postal mail and email, model data, and process online and mail donations as well as credit card payments. These companies need to have access to personal donor information, but FCDF requires them to keep it confidential. They are only authorized to use this information as necessary to provide their specific services to FCDF.
FCDF holds onto your information as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with services, comply with legal obligations, or resolve disputes and enforce agreements. If you’d like FCDF to remove your contact information from its systems, or to know what kind of information is stored about you, please contact FCDF at 914-769-5005 or email donations@friendsofcdf.org (For more information, see the Security section below.)
Other information
If you shared personal information like your name, postal address, and email address for purposes other than donating (such as receiving an email newsletter or invitations to events), FCDF collects, stores and uses this information primarily for the purposes it was submitted.
FCDF may also use this information to improve its communication with you and provide additional information about its work that FCDF thinks would be of interest to you. FCDF may share this information and material with you via online social platforms, websites, phone, text/SMS, postal mail, or email, as permitted by applicable law.
FCDF does not share this information with any third parties except those that provide FCDF with certain services like database hosting (as described above).
Other disclosures
FCDF may be required to disclose your personal information to the government or to third parties pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, court orders, subpoenas and similar requests, or when FCDF otherwise believes in good faith that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate in connection with any activity that violates the law or may expose FCDFto liability.
Security
FCDF takes the security of any personal information you share with FCDF very seriously. When you send personal information by submitting an online form on FCDF’s site, it travels by high-grade encryption to ensure that it is secure. FCDF also requires the companies it works with to process your online donation payments using high-grade encryption and security protocols. Any vendors that process check and credit card transactions on our behalf meet all industry standards, certify their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and are audited to meet with the Statement on Auditing Standard 70 (SAS 70).
The personal information that you provide is stored in a secure location and accessible only by designated employees trained in the proper handling of donor information. FCDF employs industry standard techniques such as firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection, and site monitoring to protect your personally identifiable information from unauthorized access by users inside and outside the organization.
FCDF does everything it can to safeguard your personal information. That said, the reality is that “perfect security” does not exist on the Internet. Third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications. If you have any questions about the security of your personal information, you can contact FCDF at 914-769-5005 or email donations@friendsofcdf.org.
Normal browsing
FCDF does not collect any personally identifying information from you when you visit its sites unless you choose to provide it to FCDF.
You can safely browse the FCDF sites without telling FCDF who you are or revealing any information about yourself. As is typical for organizations with websites, the information FCDF gathers during normal browsing comes from two sources: standard server logs collect information such as the IP (Internet Protocol) address, domain name, browser type, operating system, mobile related information if you access the website using your mobile device, and information such as the site that referred you to FCDF, the files you downloaded, the pages you visited, and the dates/times of those visits. This information is used to improve the website by making it more easily navigable and ensuring that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for.
Cookies and tracking technologies
FCDF wants to make sure its website is a valuable resource that enables visitors like you to find the information you’re seeking. In order to meet that goal, FCDF may use cookies, session replay/capture or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website/donation forms, track users’ movements around the website/donation forms, and to gather demographic information about its user base as a whole.
If you visit the FCDF site by way of a link from one of our newsletters or from a site that has requested a link to us, FCDF may ask your browser to accept a “cookie.” A cookie is a small piece of text that stores information on your browser in your computer’s hard drive. It carries a general marketing source code with you as you explore the site. The purpose of this is simply to help match referring sites to donations made. This cookie does not capture or hold any personally identifying information about you and is deleted when you end your session by leaving the site or closing your browser.
FCDF uses cookies as part of campaigns in order to analyze trends, gather broad demographic information, and monitor site traffic patterns that can help FCDF further develop and improve the design and functionality of its site.
FCDF also use cookies for “retargeting” in our internet advertising campaigns so that third party vendors, including Google, can show you advertising about FCDF as you browse the Internet. Retargeting makes it possible to connect you with specific outreach messages, encourage you to revisit the website, or consider donating.
The use of cookies does not affect your anonymity. Cookies are only used to obtain non-personal information. If you prefer, you can usually set your browser to refuse cookies, or to notify you when you receive a new cookie. You can also opt out of receiving cookies from FCDF for Google advertising by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page (http://www.google.com/privacy/ads/#toc-edit).
Please keep in mind that if you disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on the FCDF website.
The FCDF website includes social media features, such as the Facebook “Like” button, and widgets, such as the “Share This” button. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on the site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or directly on our website. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policies of the companies providing them.
FCDF may work with data providers to target advertising to you personally through online and offline methods including email, display media, and direct mail. This advertising may be directed to you because you visited or logged in to the website. When FCDF generates this advertising, data collected from you through online cookies and other technologies may be combined with other de-identified data (such as a hashed, non-readable email, or postal address) in order to tailor ads to you based on your preferences and other information. To learn more about targeted advertising, these providers, or how you can opt out, please visit the DAA’s consumer choice page at http://www.aboutads.info/choices.
External links
FCDF works to ensure that its website is a reliable and useful resource that allows visitors to better understand its mission. In order to do that, the site contains links to other (external) sites. Unless FCDF explicitly say so, FCDF makes no representation whatsoever concerning the content of those sites.
The fact that FCDF has provided a link to a site should not be interpreted as an endorsement, authorization, sponsorship, or affiliation with respect to the site, its owners, or its providers. There are risks associated with using any information, software, or products found on the Internet, and FCDF encourages you to make sure you understand these risks before retrieving, using, relying upon, or purchasing anything via the Internet.
Please be aware that FCDF is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites—even if they are linked to from its web pages.
Note to parents & children
FCDF welcomes children to learn more about our organization and its mission. FCDF also want to make sure it is respectful of the privacy of its young users. FCDF encourages parents to monitor their children’s use of the Internet and to help FCDF it to protect their privacy by instructing them never to provide personal information on this site or any other without permission.
FCDF will never attempt to extract unnecessary information from our users, regardless of age. Consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”), FCDF will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without prior verifiable parental consent. If FCDF becomes aware that a child under 13 has provided it with this information without consent, it will use its best efforts to remove it from its files. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that a child under 13 has provided such information to FCDF, they should contact FCDF at 914-769-5005 or email donations@friendsofcdf.org.
Updating your information
FCDF is always working to keep the information shared with FCDF up to date. At any point, you can contact FCDF to request details about whether it holds any of your personal information. If you have donated to FCDF and would like to access, correct, update, or delete your personal data or adjust your mail preferences, please let FCDF know. You can call FCDF at 914-769-5005, email donations@friendsofcdf.org, or mail the update to Friends of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands, 420 Columbus Avenue Ste 304, Valhalla NY 10595-1382.
Changes to this privacy policy
FCDF occasionally makes changes to its Privacy Policy based on your comments and the need to update and accurately explain data collection and disclosure practices. If FCDF makes any material changes in the way your personal information is used, FCDF will let you know by posting a prominent announcement on its website. FCDF also encourages you to periodically check this page to see the latest privacy information.
Governing law
You agree that your use of this Privacy Policy and any disputes relating thereto shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York. Any dispute relating to this Privacy Policy shall be resolved solely in the state or federal courts located in Manhattan, New York.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on March 20, 2022.