https://www.SURGEINSTITUTE.org/
The Surge Institute
PRIVACY POLICY
Last Revised: March 24, 2018
The following privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) outlines what information The Surge Institute. (“Surge”, “we” or “us”) may collect from users on our website www.surgeinstitute.org (the “Site”), any of its subdomains, or any related sites, applications, widgets, or online services offered by Surge (collectively, the “Service”), how we protect, use and disclose that information, and what choices you have about how that information is used and disclosed.
This Privacy Policy is subject to the Service’s Terms of Use (“Terms of Use”) currently located at WWW.SURGEINSTITUTE.ORG/TERMS-OF-USE/, or as updated on the Site from time to time. Further, because our Services interact with numerous third party services, it is your responsibility to read and accept the terms of use and privacy policy of each such third party sites or services prior to your use of, or interaction with, such services.
Please read this privacy policy carefully before using the services. If you do not accept this privacy policy, do not use the service. When you use the Services, you understand that Surge may collect, use and disclose technical data and related information about you in various ways subject to the terms of the Privacy Policy. If you have any questions, please contact us at Marketing@SURGEINSTITUTE.ORG.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace this Privacy Policy at any time in accordance with Section 10 (Changes to This Privacy Policy). If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at the contact information listed in Section 12 below.
1 Eligibility Requirements
Surge does not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to make donations. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13, we will delete that information.
2 Information We Collect
We collect certain personally identifiable information (collectively, “Personal Information”) you actively enter onto our online forms while using the Services.
2.1 Information We Collect From You
When you use the Services, we may collect information you provide via forms, surveys, applications or other online fields including:
- Name
- Any additional information submitted by you via forms, surveys, applications, or other online fields, including personal messages
2.2 Cookies and Other Technology
To help us serve your needs better, we use “cookies” to store and sometimes track user non-Personal Information, such as your IP address and click tracking. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. A website can use cookies to recognize repeat users or track web usage behavior. Cookies work by assigning a number to the user that has no meaning outside of the assigning website. Users of the Services should be aware that non-Personal Information and data may be automatically collected by virtue of the standard operation of Surge’s computer servers or through the use of cookies. If you do not want information to be collected through the use of cookies, your browser allows you to deny or accept the use of cookies. There may, however, be some features of the Services which require the use of cookies in order to customize the delivery of information to you.
Users should be aware that Surge cannot control the use of cookies (or the resulting information) by third-parties. The use of third party cookies is not covered by our Privacy Policy. We do not have access or control over these cookies.
We may also use web beacons to access our cookies. A web beacon is an electronic file on a Web page that allows us to count users who have visited that page and to recognize users by accessing our cookies. Further, a web beacon can be used in HTML-formatted email to determine responses to our communications and measure their effectiveness. You can avoid web beacons by turning off HTML display and displaying only the text portion of your email.
Surge does not track users across third party websites, and therefore does not use or respond to “do not track” signals in your web browser. However, some third party websites do keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you. If you are visiting such sites, certain website browsers allow you to set the DNT signal on your browser so that third parties (particularly advertisers) know you do not want to be tracked.
We may also use services hosted by third parties, such as Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”), to assist in providing the Services. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use the Services. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to, and stored by, Google on their servers. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the Services, compiling reports on website activity for us and providing other services relating to website activity and Internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Services. By using the Services, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
3 How We Use Your Information
3.1 To Provide the Services
We use the information that we collect from you to provide you with the Services, support and enhance your use of the Services, allow you to evaluate your eligibility for such products or services, to monitor which features of the Services are used most and to allow us to determine which features we need to focus on improving. If you choose to provide us with Personal Information, you consent to the transfer and storage of that information on our servers located in the United States.
When you provide us with Personal Information via any forms, surveys, applications, or other online fields on the Service, you consent to receive periodic informational or promotional mail or e-mail, including our newsletter, from Surge or from third parties on Surge’s behalf. You may opt-out of these communications at any time following the instructions set forth in the communications, or if no instructions are included, then by contacting us at the Contact Us information below.1
We use non-Personal Information collected from users of the Services in the aggregate, so that we can improve the Services and for business and administrative purposes.
3.2 Donor Information
All donations and payments that we allow you to make via the Site will be processed by third party payment processing services. The credit card, billing information, or other information that you provide during the payment or donation process is not stored on our servers and is handled by such third party payment processing services. It is your responsibility to read and accept the terms of use and privacy policy of each such third party site or service prior to your use of, or interaction with, such services. While we will seek to require such third parties to follow appropriate privacy policies, we do not bear any responsibility for any actions or policies of third parties.
1.1 Diagnose Website Problems
Surge uses your Internet Protocol (IP) address to help diagnose problems with our computer server, and to administer the Website. Your IP address is also used to gather broad demographic data. It is not stored or linked to your personal profile information, such as name or contact information.
1.2 Service-Related Announcements
We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email.
Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature.
1.3 Customer Service
We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries and to provide the services you request. We will communicate with you by email or telephone, in accordance with your wishes. By providing a telephone number, you consent to us contacting you at that number for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. You may revoke your consent to be contacted at any time by emailing us at MARKETING@SURGEINSTITUTE.ORG. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to your access request within 30 days.
4 Our Disclosure of Your Information
4.1 Aggregated Data
Surge may share aggregated usage and log data collected from users of the Services with third parties for industry analysis and demographic profiling, but such aggregated data will not include any Personal Information.
4.2 Third Party Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our provision of the Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, provide customer support, perform Service-related services (e.g., payment processing, newsletter distribution, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the Services’ features) or to assist us in analyzing how our Services are used. These third parties may have access to your Personal Information, but only to the extent needed to perform these tasks on our behalf. If you choose to donate on or through any such third party companies, the information may be used by such third parties, each pursuant to its own policies. There are also times when you provide information about yourself to us in areas of the Service that may be managed or participated in by third parties. While we will seek to require such third parties to follow appropriate privacy policies and will not authorize them to use this information except for the express purpose for which it is provided, we do not bear any responsibility for any actions or policies of third parties.
4.3 Law Enforcement
Surge cooperates with government and law enforcement officials, agencies and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials, agencies or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal processes (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of Surge or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity.
4.4 Business Transfers
In the event that all or a substantial portion of the assets, business or stock of Surge are acquired by, merged with or transferred to another party, or in the event that Surge goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, your Personal Information may be one of the assets that is transferred to or acquired by the third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Surge or its assets may continue to use your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If any acquirer of Surge or its assets will use your Personal Information contrary to this Privacy Policy, you will receive prior notice.
5 Updating Your Personal Information and Preferences
If your Personal Information changes, or if you no longer desire our Services, or if you wish to update your preferences to receive email or other communications from us, you may correct, delete inaccuracies, or amend your Personal Information and preferences by contacting us at MARKETING@SURGEINSTITUTE.ORG. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to your access request within 30 days.
6 Retention of Personal Information
We will retain your Personal Information for the length of time needed to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, or as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
7 Security
It is our policy to protect your data against unauthorized access or release. However, we cannot guarantee the security of our database, nor can we guarantee that information you supply won’t be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet, and any information you transmit to Surge you do at your own risk.
8 Individual California Residents
California residents may choose to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes or choose to opt out of such disclosure. Our policy is not to disclose personal information collected online to a third party for directing marketing without your approval. To make a request or to opt out at any time, please contact us at MARKETING@SURGEINSTITUTE.ORG or the other contact information provided below. It is important to note that this opt-out does not prohibit disclosures made for non-marketing purposes.
9 Third Party Links
We may provide links to third party websites. If you follow links to sites not affiliated or controlled by Surge, you should review their privacy and security policies and other terms and conditions. Surge does not guarantee and is not responsible for the privacy or security of these sites, including the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of their information.
10 Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our information practices. If we make any material changes we will notify you by means of a notice on this Website prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.
11 Users Outside the United States
This Privacy Policy is intended to cover collection of information from residents of the United States. The Service and the services upon which the Service is hosted are located in the United States. Personal Information you submit using the Service will be transferred to and stored in the United States. By visiting the Service and submitting Personal Information, you authorize this transfer.
12 Contact us
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you should contact us at:
Surge Institute