Privacy Policy

1. Purpose

This website is operated by America250.org, Inc. (the “A250,” “we,” “our,” or “us”), a 501(c)(3) organization, established for the sole purpose of supporting the activities of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission (the “Commission”). At A250 and the Commission, privacy is a priority. The purpose of this document is to set out how A250 and the Commission collect, use, store, or otherwise process Personal Information about website users and other individuals (collectively, “you”) who access or use our websites, including https://america250.org/, our mobile applications (“App”), or any of our other websites, products, or services that link to this Privacy Policy (the “Services”). By using our Services, you understand that we will collect and use your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

Personal Information means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household, such as your email, phone number, home address, etc. In some cases, we may process your Personal Information pursuant to an agreement with a third-party organization. In those cases, the terms of that agreement may govern how we process your Personal Information. If you believe a third-party organization has asked us to process your Personal Information on their behalf, please consult with them in the first instance as they will be responsible for how we process your information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party websites and apps that you may use, including those to which we link in our Services. You should review the terms and policies for third-party websites and apps before clicking on any links.

We recommend that you carefully read this Privacy Policy to ensure you are fully informed about the manner in which we collect, use, store, or otherwise process your Personal Information as well as your privacy rights. Please note that A250 is a non-profit organization and the Commission is a government entity. As such, not all legal frameworks described in this Policy may apply fully in the same way as the regulations apply to for-profit entities or in certain jurisdictions. A250 and the Commission reserve the right to evaluate any request you may make under the terms of this Policy based on its legal status under applicable law and respond accordingly at the time the request is made.

2. Collection of Personal Information

You have choices about whether you visit our websites, install our App, or provide Personal Information to us. If you, however, do not provide us with certain Personal Information, you may not be able to use some parts of our website and Services.

Personal Information We Collect from You

You may provide us with Personal Information about yourself when you:

  • Make a donation.
  • Create or edit your user profile.
  • Contact us via email for any reason.
  • Comment on our blogs or in community forums.
  • Participate in surveys, sponsored events, contests, or when you sign up for emails or newsletters.
  • Submit photographs and videos.
  • Provide information describing the identity of friends and family in photos, videos, and stories submitted.
  • Participate in any interactive areas or features of the Services, sign up to receive email updates or other notifications (such as text message alerts).
  • Communicate with us via third-party social media sites, or otherwise communicate with us.

You may also provide us with Personal Information about others when you use parts of our Services, such as when you:

  • Leave comments.
  • Submit photographs and videos containing friends and family.
  • Provide information describing the identity of friends and family in photos, videos, and stories submitted.

Examples of the categories of Personal Information you may provide are:

  • Personal identifiers and contact information. This includes your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, social media handle, age, gender.
  • Commercial information. This includes billing and payment information (e.g., credit card number, expiration date, security code, card type), products or services purchased or donations made.
  • Household Information. This includes family member names, date of birth, or age.
  • User generated content. This includes photos, videos, collages, voice recordings, personal stories.
  • Geolocation Information. This includes your approximate physical location of your device collected from your IP address, cookies, website browsing and interaction activity, other device or browser identities.
  • Payment information. This includes credit card information, bank information, and billing information.
Personal Information We Collect Automatically

We may automatically collect Personal Information from you and your devices when you use our Services, including when you visit our websites or App without logging in. For choices you may have on what information we automatically collect, please see Section ­­5 of this Privacy Policy.

The categories of Personal Information we may automatically collect includes:

  • Device and Usage Information. We collect Personal Information about how you use our Services and the device type (e.g., computers, mobile phones, tablets) you use to access our Services. This may include, but is not limited to, the following:
    • IP address.
    • Precise geolocation information that you allow our apps to access (usually from your mobile device).
    • Unique device identifiers and device attributes, such as operating system and browser type.
    • Usage data, such as web log data, referring and exit pages and URLs, platform type, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages and content viewed and the order of those pages, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date(s) and time(s) you used our Services, the frequency of your use of our Services, error logs, and other related information.
  • Cookies and Related Technologies. We use cookies, which are text files containing small amounts of information that are downloaded on your device, or related technologies, such as web beacons, local shared objects and tracking pixels, to collect or store information. For additional information about cookies and related technologies, including details of how to opt out, please read our Cookies Policy.
Information We Collect from Other Sources

Subject to applicable law, we may collect Personal Information about you from others, such as:

  • Third-Party Sources. Examples of third-party sources include marketers, partners, researchers, service providers, and others where they are legally allowed to share your Personal Information with us. For example, if you register for our Services on another website, the website may provide your Personal Information to us.
  • Other Website Users. Contributions to A250 and the Commission’s website archiving memories and the history of the lives of Americans.
  • Combining Personal Information from Different Sources. We may combine the Personal Information we receive from other sources with Personal Information we collect from you (or your device) and use it as described in this Privacy Policy.

3. Use of Personal Information

We will only process your Personal Information including sharing it with third parties, where (1) you have provided your consent that can be withdrawn at any time, (2) the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, (3) we are required by law, (4) processing is required to protect your vital interests or those of another person, or (5) processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate commercial interests, except where these interests are overridden by your rights and interests. Specifically, we may use Personal Information for the following purposes:

We will use the Personal Information you give to us to:

  • To provide you with information about our work or our activities;
  • To fundraise in accordance with our internal policies and procedures;
  • To organize events that you have registered for, and to provide you with information, and other materials, relating to the content of the event, the speakers, sponsors and other attendees;
  • To process donations, sponsorships, and purchases;
  • To provide our newsletters and publications, provided you have given your consent;
  • To respond to your questions and provide related services;
  • To provide you with information about other events, products, and services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or attended, provided you have not opted-out of receiving that information;
  • To provide you, or permit selected third parties to provide you, with information about events, products or services we feel may interest you, provided you have given your consent;
  • To tailor advertising that is presented to you on the Internet according to your interests, preferences and other characteristics (as described below);
  • To respond to applications for employment and volunteering;
  • To transfer your information as part of a merger;
  • To ensure that content from our website is presented most effectively for you and your computer;
  • Fix problems you may have with our Services, including answering support questions, customer education and training, and resolving disputes;
  • Manage the Services platform, including support systems and security; and
  • Prevent, investigate and respond to fraud, unauthorized access to or use of our Services, breaches of terms and policies, or other wrongful behavior.

We will use Personal Information we collect about you:

  • To administer our website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, and statistical and survey purposes;
  • If you make a donation, we will use this Personal Information to create an account for you where you can securely access your donation history;
  • To improve our website to ensure that content is presented most effectively for you and your computer;
  • As part of our efforts to keep our website safe and secure;
  • To measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you; and
  • To make suggestions and recommendations to you and other users of our website about goods or services that may interest you or them.

Personal Information we receive from other sources:

  • We will combine this information with information you give us and information we collect about you. We will use this information and the combined Personal Information for the purposes set out above.

Other Uses. We may combine the Personal Information we collect (“aggregate”) or remove pieces of Personal Information (“de-identify”) to limit or prevent identification of any particular user or device to help with goals like research and marketing. Once this information has been aggregated and anonymized so that it is no longer considered Personal Information under applicable data protection law, this Privacy Policy does not apply.

Lawful Basis for Processing Your Personal Information. If European data protection law applies and where A250 and the Commission act as a data controller, our lawful basis for collecting and using the Personal Information described in this Privacy Policy will depend on the type of Personal Information concerned and the specific context in which we collect or use it.

We normally collect or use Personal Information only where we have your consent to do so, where we need the Personal Information to interact with you, or where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may have a legal obligation to collect or retain Personal Information or may need the Personal Information to protect your vital interests or those of another person. For example, when we:

  • Use Personal Information to create and manage an account, we do so in order to provide you with relevant Services.
  • Gather and record data associated with A250 and the Commission’s historical archiving.
  • Use names and email addresses for email marketing purposes, we do so with your consent (that you can withdraw at any time) or, where permitted under applicable law, on the basis of our legitimate interests.
  • Gather usage data and analyze it to improve our Services or ensure the security of our websites, we do so based on our legitimate interest in safeguarding and improving our Services.

If you have questions about or need further information concerning the lawful basis on which we collect and use your Personal Information, please contact us using the contact details provided in Section ­­14 of this Privacy Policy.  Note that in situations where A250 and the Commission act as processors, it is our customer who determines the appropriate legal basis associated with processing activities, and queries about the applicable lawful basis should be directed to them.

4. Personal Information Sharing

Subject to applicable law, including consent (as required), we may share Personal Information as follows:

Service Providers

We share your Personal Information with service providers we use to support our Services. These companies provide services like intelligent search technology, intelligent analytics, advertising, authentication systems, payment processing, fraud detection, and customer support. We have contracts with our service providers that address the safeguarding and proper use of your Personal Information.

Marketing Partners

We may share your Personal Information with sponsors of events, webinars, or sweepstakes for which you register, or other parties with whom we may engage in joint marketing activities.

Public and Government Authorities

We may share your Personal Information to comply with our legal obligations, regulations, or contracts, or to respond to a court order, administrative, or judicial process, such as a subpoena, government audit, or search warrant where we are legally compelled to do so. We may also share your information when there are threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of A250 and the Commission policies or other agreements, or to protect the legal rights of third parties, including our employees, users, or the public.

Corporate Transactions

Your Personal Information may be disclosed or transferred to relevant third parties in the event of, or as part of the due diligence for, any proposed or actual reorganization, sale, merger, consolidation, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or part of our business or assets (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceeding). If a corporate transaction occurs, we will provide notification of any changes to the control of your information, as well as choices you may have.

Consent

We may share your Personal Information in other ways if you have asked us to do so or have given consent. For example, with your consent, we may post a family video that may identify you.

Third Parties

When you make a payment to another user within our Services, we share your payment method details with the third-party payment processor selected by you.

Public Information
  • User-Generated Content. When you comment on our blogs or in our community forums, this information may also be read, collected, and used by others.
  • Profile Information and Website Posts. When you create an A250 profile or share photos, videos, and stories on A250’s public facing website, other A250 website users can view your photos, videos, stories, and other information you share. If you would like to make this information private, please visit your account settings.

5. Retention of Personal Information

We keep your Personal Information for no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. The length of time for which we retain Personal Information depends on the purposes for which we collected and use it or as required to comply with applicable laws as set out in our data retention policy and information handling standards. Generally, this means we retain your Personal Information to comply with any retention or statutory limitations or for purposes of performing a contract with you. Where there are technical limitations that prevent deletion or anonymization, we safeguard Personal Information and limit active use of it.

6. Your Choices

This section describes many of the actions you can take to change or limit the collection, use, storage, or other processing of your Personal Information.

Profile

You are not required to fill out a profile. If you do, you can access and review this Personal Information. If any Personal Information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can make changes in your account settings.

Marketing Messages

You can opt out of email marketing messages we send you by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in the email message or unsubscribe by sending your request to [email protected] with “Unsubscribe Request” in the subject line. Please note that we may send you one message to confirm you want to opt out. If you are a registered user of our Services, or if you have engaged in transactions with us, we may continue to send transactional or relationship messages (e.g., donation notifications or account notifications) after you opt out of marketing messages.  If A250 and the Commission implement telemarketing efforts, then if you would like your phone number added to our internal Do-Not-Call list to opt out of telemarketing messages, please contact us by emailing [email protected]. Please include your first name, last name, company, and phone number.  You can also let us know at any time, including during a telemarketing call, that you do not want to be called again for telemarketing purposes.

 

Cookies and Other Related Technology

You can decline cookies through your browser settings or via A250 and the Commission Cookie Preference banner on the website and other methods detailed in our Cookie Policy. However, if you decline cookies, you may not be able to use some parts of our Services.  Please note we do not recognize or respond to browser-initiated Do Not Track signals.

Device and Usage Information

If you do not want us to see your device location, you can turn off location sharing on your device, change your device privacy settings, or decline to share location on your browser.

Complaints

We are committed to resolving valid complaints about your privacy and our collection, use, storage, or other processing of your Personal Information. For questions or complaints regarding our data use practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us via email: [email protected].

7. Children’s Privacy

Minors

Our Services are not designed for and are not marketed to people under the age of 18 (“minors”). We do not knowingly collect or ask for Personal Information from minors. We do not knowingly allow minors to use our Services. If you are a minor, please do not use our Services or send us your Personal Information. We delete Personal Information that we learn is collected from a minor without verified parental consent. Please contact us via email at [email protected] if you believe we might have Personal Information from or about a minor that should be removed from our system.

Consent of Legal Guardian(s)

We do, however, collect Personal Information about minors provided only by the legal guardian(s) of the minor. The information we may collect regarding minors includes: photos, videos, stories, and other corresponding information. To post your child’s photo, video, story or other submissions on our website or for other A250 and Commission Services, you must first read and agree to this Privacy Policy and provide your consent prior to submitting Personal Information pertaining to your child.

Use of Minor's Personal Information

We use the Personal Information you submit pertaining to your minor child for different purposes, including, without limitation:

  • To incorporate in our celebration of America’s 250th birthday on the website or other social media and through different publications, projects, exhibitions, programs, and events;
  • To administer our website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, and statistical and survey purposes;
  • To improve our website to ensure that content is presented most effectively for you and your computer;
  • As part of our efforts to keep our website safe and secure;
  • To measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you; and
  • To make suggestions and recommendations to you and other users of our website about goods or services that may interest you or them.
Disclosure of Minor's Personal Information

We may share or disclose the Personal Information we collect as follows:

  • Service providers: We may share Personal Information with third-party service providers who use this information to perform services for us, such as hosting providers, auditors, advisors, consultants, customer service and/or support providers (all the other companies that help us with our work).
  • Business partners: We may share Personal Information with our related business partners under common ownership, control, or management with us. They may use such Personal Information for the same purposes set out in this Policy.
Security

The security of your child’s Personal Information is important to us and we have put in place reasonable safeguards to protect the Personal Information we collect. We cannot, however, guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss, or other breaches will never occur. We encourage you to take steps to keep your child’s Personal Information safe, such as choosing a strong password and closing your web browser when you finish using the Services.

Retention

We keep your child’s Personal Information for no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. We will not, however, keep and use your child’s Personal Information if it would break a law or if it is contradictory to this Policy. As soon as it is reasonable to assume your child’s Personal Information is no longer needed or required, we will safely dispose of this information, or remove any information that can be associated with your child. For more information pertaining to our retention policy, please review Section 5 above titled, “Retention of Personal Information.”

Contact Us

Section 7 of this Privacy Policy is drafted in compliance with the applicable data protection laws, including the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). If you have concerns over the collection of your child’s Personal Information that you provided, or you wish to withdraw consent to collect, use, and store your child’s Personal Information, please contact us at the information provided in Section 14 below titled, “Contact Us.”

8. Children and Privacy

California residents may ask for a list of third parties that have received your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes during the previous calendar year. This list also contains the types of Personal Information shared. We provide this list at no cost. If you are a California resident and would like to request this information, please contact us via the [email protected].

9. Nevada Privacy Rights

If you are a Nevada resident, you can request that we not “sell” your “covered information” (as defined in applicable Nevada law).  To make a request, email us using the information set forth in Section 14 below. Please use “Nevada Do Not Sell” in the subject line.

10. Virginia Privacy Rights

If you reside in Virginia, you may also make the following more specific requests with respect to your Personal Information in accordance with applicable law, and subject to applicable exceptions set forth in applicable laws:

  • Access: You can request, by sending an email to [email protected], that we confirm whether or not we are processing your Personal Information and to obtain a copy of the Personal Information that you provided to us.
  • Deletion: You can request that we delete Personal Information we have about you, by sending an email request to [email protected].
  • Correction: You can request that we correct inaccurate Personal Information we maintain about you, by sending an email request to [email protected].

Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising: We may use Personal Information obtained from your activities across unaffiliated sites to send more relevant advertising to you.  You can request that we stop using your Personal Information for targeted advertising by declining cookies through your browser settings or via A250 and the Commission Cookie Preference banner on the website and other methods detailed in our Cookie Policy. Your opt-out of cookie-based tracking for advertising purposes is specific to the device, website, and browser you are using, and is deleted whenever you clear your cookies or your browser’s cache.

Opt-Out of Sale: You may request to opt-out of the “sale” (as defined in applicable Virginia law) of your Personal Information by sending an email request to [email protected].

Virginia residents can exercise these rights by following the instructions above or by emailing or calling us using the contact information in Section 14.

We may deny certain requests, or fulfil a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. You have the right to submit an appeal if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your request by sending an email to [email protected] with “Virginia Appeal” in the subject line.

We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity prior to responding to your requests. The verification steps will vary depending on the sensitivity of the Personal Information and whether you have an account with us.

11. Your Privacy Rights

You may have certain rights related to your Personal Information, subject to local data protection laws, as described in more detail below. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected].

  • You can access and review Personal Information associated with your account at any time by emailing us.
  • You also can request the following information: how we collect and use your Personal Information and why; the categories of Personal Information involved; the categories of recipients of your Personal Information; how we received your Personal Information and its source; our business purpose for using your Personal Information; and how long we use or store your Personal Information or the manner in which we determine relevant retention periods.
  • You have a right to correct inaccurate Personal Information about you, and you should notify us immediately if you believe the Personal Information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or out-of-date.
  • In certain situations, you can ask that we erase or stop using your Personal Information, object to or restrict the use of your Personal Information, or export your Personal Information to another controller.
  • Where we rely on your consent to process your Personal Information, you have the right to decline consent or, if provided, to withdraw consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to the withdrawal of your consent. At any time, you can request that we stop using your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes. See Section 6 (Your Choices) of this Privacy Policy for more information on your choices.
  • If you are unsatisfied with our response to your complaint, you have a right to raise questions or complaints with your local data protection authority at any time.

If you make a request to exercise the rights referenced above, we will require you to provide certain information for identity verification purposes. If you have an account with us, we may verify you through your login of your account. If you do not have an account with us, we may require you to provide additional information from which we can confirm your identity. You may authorize an agent to make a request to us on your behalf and we will verify the identity of your agent or authorized legal representative by either seeking confirmation from you or documents that establish the agent’s authorization to act on your behalf.

Certain Personal Information may be exempt from requests under applicable law. We need certain types of Personal Information so that we can provide Services to you. If you ask us to delete it, you may no longer be able to access or use our product and Services.If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact us via email at [email protected].

12. How We Protect Your Personal Information

We have implemented appropriate technical, physical and organizational measures to protect your Personal Information from misuse or accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure, acquisition, or access as well as all other forms of unlawful processing. To achieve this, we have developed and implemented an Information Security Management System and other sub-policies and guidelines relating to the protection of your Personal Information. For example, our staff is permitted to access customer Personal Information only to the extent necessary to fulfill the applicable business purpose(s) and to perform their job, subject to confidentiality obligations.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may amend this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, our company, our Services, our data processing practices, or advances in technology. Our use of the Personal Information we collect is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time that Personal Information is used. Depending on the type of change, we may notify you of the change by posting on this page.

14. How to Contact Us

For questions or complaints regarding our use of your Personal Information or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected] or by sending a letter to the America250.org, Inc., Attention: Legal Department: 1663 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

15. Request for Access to Personal Information/Questions or Complaints

If you have any questions about this Policy, about the processing of your data described, or any concerns or complaints with regard to the administration of the Policy, or if you would like to submit a request to exercise your rights in relation to the Personal Information that we maintain about you, please contact us using one of the following methods below:

  1. Email: [email protected]
  2. Phone: (202) 871-1776
  3. Mail: America250.org, Inc., 1663 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, you can escalate your concern to the General Counsel by sending an email to [email protected].

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