Privacy Policy

Your privacy is very important to us. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible interacting with us electronically, and have established procedures to protect your privacy. This Privacy Statement tells you what information we collect and how we protect it. We urge you to read the following Privacy Statement so that you will understand our commitment to you and your privacy.

Personal Information We Collect

BHC Website

With the exception of online donations (see next heading), our website does not require visitors to provide personal information of any kind. Our web servers collect the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of visitors. This information is aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent on the site, pages viewed, etc. and is used to improve the content of the website to better serve our customers. Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting have been enabled for this website in order to provide more relevant and useful information to our current and potential customers.

To prevent any Google Analytics data collection, users can install a Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

We do not use “cookies” anywhere on our site. “Cookies” are small computer files that can be transferred to your computer’s hard drive. We do analyze our website logs and user statistics to improve the value of our site. Our logs and user statistics are not personally identifiable, however, and we make no attempt to link these logs and user statistics with individuals that view our website. We use these logs for system performance monitoring. These logs are reviewed for the overall, aggregate trends they reveal about those who visit our site, not for the behaviors of individual users. Only authorized staff have access to our website logs and user statistics.

If you wish to receive information from us, you will be required to provide personal information such as your name, e-mail address, etc. We will only use this personal information to provide the service or information that you request. We will not sell, rent, license, or otherwise share your personally identifiable information, including your e-mail address.

Donations

Better Housing Coalition (BHC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charity. We accept online donations for the purposes of serving residents of Virginia. We value, appreciate, and rely on generous contributions from individuals, foundations, corporations and others to carry out our work. When you make a donation online (or via mail, fax or phone) we collect donor information (i.e. name, 2 address, gift amount, phone number, e-mail address, date of transaction) that allows us to process, record, and acknowledge your gift. We utilize Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to keep your personal information secure when making a donation online. SSL is the industry standard protocol for secure transactions, and makes it very difficult for anyone to intercept the information that you submit to us. In addition to protecting our donors’ privacy and security online, we are committed to providing excellent customer service to our donors offline as well. BHC staff are available during business hours (Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to answer questions about your tax-deductible donation. Send any questions to [email protected] or call 804.644.0546.

E-mail Communication

Personal information you transmit to BHC may be used by our staff to provide answers to your questions and information about the services we provide. Since e-mail messages may not be secure against interception by unauthorized individuals, you may wish to call or write to us when it is necessary to provide sensitive or personal information. Likewise, we will not transmit personal or sensitive information that could compromise or violate your privacy when communicating via email.

Disclosure of Information We Collect

Except as set forth in this section, we will not disclose to any unaffiliated company any information we gather from you that could be used to contact you (your “Personal Information”). Any information provided to entities affiliated with us will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We will consider, and may release, Personal Information to third parties to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order. We may also provide Personal Information to certain third parties related to any required background, credit, and reference checks (as separately disclosed on BHC’s employment and housing applications). We will also provide Personal Information to our vendors and suppliers when it is necessary for them to provide us with products and services related to better operation and maintenance of our website (our “Vendors”). For example, in order to process your online donation, we will request credit card approval through a select Vendor. We will request that each Vendor not further use or disclose Personal Information for any purpose other than providing us or you with products or services. However, if you do not wish us to use information you submit to us in the methods set forth in this policy, you may opt out of this process by writing to us at P.O. Box 12117, Richmond, VA 23241, or e-mail us at [email protected].

Although we will use reasonable efforts to safeguard the privacy of your information, transmissions on the Internet cannot be made absolutely secure. Accordingly, we assume no responsibility or liability for disclosure of your information (personally identifiable or otherwise) due to errors in transmission, unauthorized third-party access or other causes beyond our reasonable control.

Other Sites

Our site includes links to other sites. If you chose to visit another site, we cannot assume responsibility for its content or information handling practices. We encourage you to review each site’s privacy policy prior to entering into transactions with it. While BHC’s website does not send cookies, some sites to which we link may send cookies. You can set your browser to disable cookies or to prompt you before a cookie is accepted.

General

We may change this Privacy Policy at any time by posting revisions to our website. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the provisions of this Privacy Policy and your continued usage after such changes are posted constitutes acceptance of each revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised Privacy Policy, please exit the website immediately.

– Better Housing Coalition, December 2019