Privacy
This Privacy Statement describes the types of information that we collect through our website and what we do with that information.
This Privacy Statement applies only to information collected online through the publicaccountability.org websites and does not apply to any information you may provide to us, or that we may collect, offline or through other means (for example, via telephone or through the mail).
If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, please contact us.
Protecting the Privacy of Children
Children should always get permission from their parents before sending any information about themselves (such as their names, email addresses, and phone numbers) over the Internet, to us or to anyone else. Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13 and we won’t knowingly allow anyone under the age of 13 to provide us any personally identifying information. If you’re under 13, please don’t provide any information about yourself on this website.
Types of Information We Collect
The information we gather falls into two categories: (1) information voluntarily supplied by visitors to the site, for example, when they sign up for communication or make a donation; and (2) tracking information gathered as visitors navigate through our website, review our email newsletters and other email messages, and “like” or share content on social media sites. We currently use Google Analytics to track overall site traffic and engagement and reserve the right to use similar services from other providers in the future.
Information You Voluntarily Supply
We may collect and store information that you voluntarily supply to us while on our site. This may include personally identifying information if you choose to provide it. In accessing and using the publicaccountability.org website, you may have the opportunity to voluntarily submit some or all of the following types of information:
- Contact information, such as your name, email address, postal address, and phone number;
- Information included in correspondence you send to us through the Contacts available on our site.
You may interact with content on our site through social media plugins provided by social media companies. We do not control the information that these companies collect when you use their social media tools, nor do we control how these companies use any information they collect. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before interacting with our site through these social media tools.
If you wish to receive our email newsletter, you must provide us your email address; we’ll use your email address to send you the email newsletters you have requested.
Information That Is Automatically Collected
We also may collect and store, and our services providers may collect and store, information that doesn’t identify you personally that is generated automatically as you navigate through our site. For example, we and our service providers may collect limited information about the device you use to access our site, including the type of device you’re using (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.), the operating system running on that device, the type and version of browser software you’re using, the resolution of your computer monitor or other device display, the screen colors available on your device, the website that referred you, and your IP address. (Your IP address is a numerical address that is used by computers and other devices connected to the Internet to identify your device so that data – such as the web pages you want to view – can be transmitted to you.) We use this information to make our site as useful and visually appealing as we can for as many users as possible. We may also use IP address information for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes and to derive a rough estimate of your geographic location – by country, city or town, and perhaps ZIP code.
We may use “cookies,” a standard feature found in browser software, to enhance your experience on the site. Cookies are small files that your web browser places on your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. We also may use web beacons (sometimes referred to as “clear GIFs” or “pixel tags”) to collect non-personally identifying information about how our visitors use our site and how they interact with our email newsletters and with our stories that appear on other websites. By showing how and when visitors use the site and review our news stories, cookies and web beacons help us deliver more relevant content to users, identify how many unique users visit our site, various pages within our site, and our stories that appear on other news sites, and track user interests, trends and patterns. For example, we may use these technologies to collect information about the time visitors spend on each page of our site, the number of visits made to each page or section of our site, whether they open the email newsletters we send them, and whether they click on particular links contained in these emails. Providers of web analytics services, such as Google Analytics and Chartbeat, may use cookies and web beacons to gather this sort of information on our behalf. To learn more about Google Analytics, click here. To install a browser add-on (available for most standard browsers) that communicates with Google Analytics to indicate that information about your website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics, click here.
We also may use cookies to determine that a visitor to our site has previously visited the site, to record the type of device that a visitor has used to access to the site.
The help function on most web browsers contains information on how to set your browser to notify you before accepting a cookie or to disable cookies entirely. However, if you don’t accept cookies, you won’t receive the benefits that cookies provide to other users of our site, such as limiting the number of times you see the same Ad while on our site.
How We Use Collected Information
Generally
We use the information we collect from visitors to our site to communicate with our users, to better understand and serve our audience, and to heighten user engagement with our site. For example, we use the information we gather to send you email newsletters to deliver our site content to you, to measure site traffic, to measure user interests and traffic patterns, and to improve the site and the services and features offered via the site.
In addition, we may use your personal information to contact you for customer service purposes, to inform you of important changes or additions to our site or the services offered through our site.
Email Addresses
If you provide us your email address (for example, when you subscribe to our newsletter or when you make a donation to support The Accountability Project), we’ll use your email address to send you the newsletter you requested and/or to acknowledge receipt of your donation for tax purposes. In addition, we may email you with information about our website or other products or services.
We also may use your email address to contact you from time to time for customer service purposes, or to send you administrative notices or other information about our site.
Changes to This Privacy Statement
The web is an evolving medium. If we need to change this Privacy Statement in the future, we will post the revised Privacy Statement on our site and update the “Effective Date,” above, to reflect the date of the changes. By continuing to use this website after we post such changes, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Statement, as modified.