Privacy Policies

Posted by ShadyGrove_Psalm1

on 28 Jul 2017 5:51 PM

I am interested in talking to someone knowledgeable about creating Privacy Policies for Non-Profits.

We do not sell to members or to the "public", we are a house of worship. We maintain minimal records, but if we adopt online donations as a strategy, it seems to me with a person's name, address, phone, amounts given with dates, perhaps some form of bank card or bank account ID, security questions & answers, .... that the threshold is raised that we should seriously be thinking about establishing a privacy policy for ourselves and our members. Our state requires a policy of any organization with Personally Identifiable Information.

On the one hand, I can see how developing one would be a healthy exercise, on the other, I don't want to over analyze us into a track we needn't take. I'm looking for guidelines - have found nothing but sites claiming they can generate one for you, but they seem more geared to commercial retail, that a low key nonprofit.

Who here has gone down this road, or doing so right now? Someone please provide a flashlight and coordinates. :)

Thanks.

You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available.

Posted by Christian_SEO

on 31 Jul 2017 6:50 PM

I suggest that you visit some sites of organizations like yours and see if they have a privacy policy. If they do I would make a copy of several of them and see which one best matches your organization. Then I would either use the same thing or edit it for your use. At the very least it should serve as a guide if you want to create your own.

You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available.

Posted by ShadyGrove_Psalm1

on 1 Aug 2017 2:26 AM

Thanks Chistian, So far, I've been unsuccessful in locating any similar site having a privacy policy. The closest was a non-profit having a store, with a policy for that. We don't have that. Hence this "broadcast".:)

I'd love for anyone out there who has seen any house of worship's site, not "selling" to the public or members, as they say providing only intangible religious benefits. yet having a privacy policy addressing how it protects members' sensitive data.

You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available.

Posted by rweiner

on 2 Aug 2017 9:39 AM

Hi, and welcome to TechSoup!

I don't think you need to find a house of worship -- just a nonprofit that does similar online activities, e.g, collecting donations, having an email newsletter signup, collecting event registrations, or whatever you (plan to) do. I'd first look at large nonprofits or colleges -- they're most likely to have had lawyers review their policies. In any case, you'll need to edit the policy to reflect the information you collect and what you (plan to) do with it.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see any reason why the policy needs to come from a nonprofit -- I think it's most important that it reflect what you collect and do with the data. But it would be easiest if you can find a nonprofit, since their activities and terminology should be similar to yours.

Here are two general resources that will let you create a policy based on the information you collect and how you use it.

The Direct Marketing Association’s Privacy Policy Guidelines

PolicyTool.net: Online privacy policy generator

Robert

Forum Moderator
Robert L. Weiner Consulting
Strategic Technology Advisors to Nonprofit and Educational Organizations
robert [AT] rlweiner [DOT] com
www.rlweiner.com

You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available.

Join TechSoup

Privacy Policies

Privacy Policies

New here?