Privacy Policy

SOSA — Safe from Online Sex Abuse (“SOSA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the people who interact with our organization.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit our website, make a donation, subscribe to communications, apply to work or volunteer with us, attend an event, contact us, or otherwise interact with SOSA.

“Personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked to an individual or household.

Because SOSA’s work involves online child sexual abuse, exploitation, survivor support, law enforcement collaboration, and public education, some communications we receive may contain particularly sensitive information. We take the handling of that information seriously.

1. Information We Collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with SOSA.

Information You Provide Directly

You may provide personal information to us when you:

• make a donation;
• subscribe to emails, newsletters, or updates;
• register for an event or training;
• contact us through our website, email, telephone, social media, or another communication channel;
• apply for employment, an internship, or a volunteer opportunity;
• participate in a SOSA program;
• request information, resources, or assistance; or
• otherwise communicate with our organization.

Depending on the interaction, this information may include:

• name;
• mailing address;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• organization, employer, or job title;
• donation history and transaction information;
• event registration information;
• employment or volunteer application information;
• information contained in messages or other communications you send to us; and
• any other information you choose to provide.

Payment card and other financial information used to make donations may be collected and processed directly by third-party payment processors. SOSA generally does not receive or retain complete payment card numbers.

2. Sensitive, Survivor, and Case-Related Information

Individuals sometimes contact SOSA regarding suspected child sexual abuse or exploitation, an offender, a survivor, an investigation, or another sensitive situation.

Please use care when sending personal, identifying, medical, legal, or other highly sensitive information electronically.

If you provide information concerning suspected abuse, exploitation, threats, criminal activity, the safety of a child or another person, or an ongoing or potential investigation, SOSA may use or disclose that information when reasonably necessary to:

• respond to your communication;
• evaluate whether and how SOSA can provide assistance;
• protect the safety of a child, survivor, SOSA staff member, or another person;
• communicate or coordinate with law enforcement, child-protection agencies, prosecutors, attorneys, service providers, or other appropriate organizations;
• comply with applicable law, legal process, court orders, subpoenas, or reporting obligations; or
• support an investigation, prosecution, legal proceeding, or SOSA program consistent with our mission.

SOSA is not an emergency service or emergency response agency. If you or another person is in immediate danger, contact 911 or the appropriate emergency authority.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy should be interpreted as creating attorney-client privilege, therapist-patient confidentiality, or another legally protected confidential relationship between SOSA and a person who contacts us.

3. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we and the service providers that support our website may automatically collect certain information, including:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• device type;
• operating system;
• referring website or source;
• pages viewed;
• links clicked;
• dates and times of visits;
• approximate geographic location derived from an IP address; and
• other information about how visitors interact with our website.

We may collect this information through cookies, pixels, analytics tools, server logs, and similar technologies.

We may use this information to operate and secure our website, understand how people use it, evaluate the effectiveness of our outreach, diagnose technical problems, improve our content, and measure the effectiveness of campaigns or communications.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to remember preferences, understand website traffic, improve functionality, measure engagement, and support communications or outreach.

Third-party services we use may also place or access cookies or similar technologies in accordance with their own privacy policies.

Most web browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some portions of our website.

Where required by applicable law, SOSA will honor legally recognized opt-out preference signals, such as Global Privacy Control, for activities to which those signals apply.

5. How We Use Personal Information

SOSA may use personal information to:

• carry out our mission and programs;
• communicate with donors, supporters, partners, volunteers, applicants, and members of the public;
• process and acknowledge donations;
• provide receipts and maintain donation records;
• send newsletters, organizational updates, fundraising communications, and other information you have requested or may reasonably expect to receive from us;
• organize events, presentations, trainings, and other programs;
• respond to questions, requests, and communications;
• evaluate employment, internship, and volunteer applications;
• provide survivor-related resources or assistance when applicable;
• coordinate with law enforcement and other agencies in connection with our work;
• maintain the safety and security of our personnel, systems, operations, and website;
• administer and improve our website and programs;
• conduct research, analytics, auditing, and organizational planning;
• prevent fraud, abuse, or misuse of our systems;
• maintain records required for legal, tax, accounting, insurance, or regulatory purposes;
• establish, exercise, or defend legal claims; and
• comply with applicable laws and legal obligations.

We may also create aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual and use that information for research, education, reporting, fundraising, program evaluation, or other lawful purposes.

6. How We Share Personal Information

SOSA does not sell personal information for money.

We may disclose personal information to organizations and individuals that assist us in operating SOSA, including:

• website hosting and technology providers;
• email and communications platforms;
• donor relationship management and fundraising providers;
• payment processors and financial institutions;
• analytics providers;
• event and registration platforms;
• professional advisers, including attorneys, accountants, auditors, consultants, and insurers;
• contractors and other service providers working on our behalf; and
• other organizations involved in providing programs or services requested by you.

These providers may access personal information only as appropriate to perform services for SOSA and are subject to their own legal and contractual obligations regarding that information.

We may also disclose personal information:

• when required or permitted by law;
• in response to a subpoena, court order, warrant, or other valid legal process;
• to law enforcement, prosecutors, child-protection agencies, or other government authorities when appropriate or legally required;
• when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, safety, or security of SOSA, a child, a survivor, our employees, or another person;
• to investigate fraud, abuse, threats, or unlawful activity;
• in connection with an actual or potential legal proceeding; or
• in connection with a merger, reorganization, transfer of assets, or similar organizational transaction.

Depending on the technologies used on our website, certain U.S. state privacy laws may define some disclosures involving advertising or analytics providers as “selling,” “sharing,” or targeted advertising even where no money is exchanged. Where applicable, residents may exercise the opt-out rights provided by their state law.

7. Donor Information

SOSA respects the privacy of our donors.

We may maintain information such as a donor’s name, contact information, donation amount, donation history, communication preferences, and information reasonably necessary to process and acknowledge contributions.

We may use donor information to:

• process donations;
• provide tax acknowledgments and receipts;
• maintain financial and organizational records;
• communicate with donors about SOSA’s work;
• conduct fundraising activities; and
• comply with applicable legal, accounting, reporting, and tax requirements.

Donation payment information may be processed by third-party payment processors and fundraising platforms.

We do not sell donor lists for monetary compensation.

8. Email and Communications Preferences

If you receive marketing, fundraising, or newsletter emails from SOSA, you may unsubscribe by using the unsubscribe link contained in the communication or by contacting us.

Even if you unsubscribe from promotional communications, we may continue to send communications that are necessary to complete a transaction, acknowledge a donation, respond to a request, administer a program in which you are participating, or comply with legal obligations.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information for only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to satisfy legal, accounting, tax, insurance, contractual, operational, and reporting requirements.

Different types of information may be retained for different periods.

For example, certain financial and donation records may need to be retained for legally required accounting or tax periods, while information submitted through other communications may be deleted sooner when it is no longer needed.

Information connected with an investigation, prosecution, survivor matter, legal dispute, safety concern, or other case-related activity may be retained for a longer period when appropriate for operational, evidentiary, legal, or safety reasons.

10. Security

SOSA uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

Access to personal information is limited to personnel and service providers who reasonably need access to perform their responsibilities.

No website, electronic transmission, or information storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, while we take reasonable measures to protect personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Third-Party Websites and Services

Our website may contain links to websites, social media platforms, fundraising platforms, video platforms, or other services operated by third parties.

This Privacy Policy applies only to SOSA’s privacy practices. We do not control and are not responsible for the privacy, security, or data practices of third-party websites or services.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third parties before providing personal information to them.

Embedded content, such as videos, social media posts, or other third-party features, may allow the third-party provider to collect information about your interaction with that content as though you had visited the third party’s website directly.

12. Children’s Privacy

Protecting children is central to SOSA’s mission.

Our general public website is not intended to solicit personal information directly from children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through our general website without appropriate authorization or another lawful basis.

SOSA’s programs and mission may, however, involve information relating to minors, including survivors or potential victims of abuse or exploitation. Information received in connection with those activities may be collected, used, retained, or disclosed as reasonably necessary to carry out our work, protect a child, work with a parent or guardian when appropriate, collaborate with law enforcement or child-protection authorities, or comply with applicable law.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us through our website in circumstances where that information should not have been collected, please contact us.

13. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and subject to applicable law, you may have certain rights concerning your personal information, including the right to:

• confirm whether SOSA processes personal information about you;
• request access to personal information we maintain about you;
• request correction of inaccurate personal information;
• request deletion of certain personal information;
• obtain a copy of certain personal information in a portable format;
• opt out of certain targeted advertising, sales, or sharing of personal information where applicable;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
• appeal a decision concerning a privacy request where applicable.

These rights are subject to exceptions and limitations provided by law. For example, we may be unable to delete information that we are required to retain for legal, financial, safety, evidentiary, or other legitimate purposes.

We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before processing a privacy request.

You will not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights provided to you by applicable law.

To submit a privacy request, contact us using the information below.

14. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) setting. Because there is not a universally accepted standard governing DNT signals, our website may not respond to DNT signals.

Where required under applicable law, we will recognize Global Privacy Control or other legally recognized browser-based opt-out signals for activities covered by those laws.

15. Visitors Outside the United States

SOSA is a United States-based nonprofit organization, and our website and operations are primarily directed toward users in the United States.

If you access our website or provide information from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your country of residence.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, programs, or services.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. If changes materially affect how we handle personal information, we may provide additional notice when appropriate.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, or a privacy rights request, please contact:

SOSA — Safe from Online Sex Abuse
470 James Street, #007
New Haven, CT 06513
sosatogether.org
info@sosatogether.org