Why and when we wrote this policy:
At Unmarried Equality (UE), we are committed to your privacy. We realize that privacy may be of particular concern because of discrimination and prejudice against unmarried people. We are not a faceless corporation seeking to steal your privacy so we can profit. Rather, we’re a small, grassroots, non-profit organization that will gladly honor your privacy and address any specific concerns you might have. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions or concerns. Email us .
As growing national organization, we rely on web visitors like you to provide us valuable feedback, insights, and support as we strive to do our work better. By providing us with your contact information, you help UE to grow and you get connected to a community of people interested in unmarried people and family diversity.
Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted here. This current policy was originally posted on March 18, 2001. Updates: 9/14/2004, 1/3/2008, 3/19/2008, 6/21/2010, 8/18/2010, 3/27/2011. 2/6/2013.
How we collect information:
Unmarried Equality collects information at several different points on our website, using online forms. These forms include our online survey and our contact-us form. We also collect information through emails (including our interactive listserv), postal mail, telephone calls and in-person events.
UE uses cookies in limited ways. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies are employed when you signup to receive UE communications or take action on an UE campaign. Those cookies are used automatically to welcome you back when you use a feature such as updating your profile, taking action on a campaign, or unsubscribing. Cookies are also employed when you submit information via our contact form or post a comment on our blog. UE does not access or use those cookies in any way.
UE also uses three online service providers to help us do a better job of serving the public. Each of them collects information and sends it to us.
a) Democracy In Action facilitates our emails to members, advocacy campaigns, online donations and bookstore; it collects information when you signup to receive UE communications, take action on an UE campaign, or make a donation or purchase. They send us any contact information you provide. If you take an action that does not require entering contact information (such as clicking on a link in an email), they tell that the action was taken but not by whom. If you use their form to tell friends about us, they neither collect nor send us the information you provide. Our understanding, from reading Democracy In Action’s privacy statement, is that they will not use information you provide for any purpose other than aggregate statistics.
b) Facebook is the social networking site where we have created a fan page. Facebook collects information you provide in your profile and postings, and sends us aggregate statistics about how many people are fans, how many have hidden our page, and the demographic outline of our fans as a whole (for example, percentages by sex, age and geography). UE does not control access to content you post on our Facebook page – please read Facebook’s privacy policy.
c) Google Groups hosts UE-Talk, our interactive email listserve. UE-Talk currently has over 600 subscribers. This is a diverse group, including those who support the mission of Unmarried Equality, and some who may disagree with it. Anyone who chooses to post to the list should be aware that their posting will be read by those with a variety of perspectives on the issues. Postings written by UE-Talk subscribers may not be reprinted, quoted publicly, or forwarded to other lists without the permission of the author. Postings to this list are not archived, do not appear in search engine results and are only visible to listserve members. You do not need a Google account to join UE-Talk; if you do not have a Google account, then Google does not collect any information about you. If you do have a Google account, please refer to Google’s privacy policy.
Types of information we collect, why we ask for it and what we do with it:
1. Contact Information
By providing us with your contact information, you stay connected with a community of people interested in unmarried people and family diversity. We count as a member each person from whom we have a valid email or postal mail address and permission to communicate.
a) Email Addresses provided on our website are added to our email list. People on our email list receive monthly updates, occasional action alerts, and a few invitations to make tax-deductible contributions to support UE’s work. We are working on a way for members to receive action alerts without monthly updates.
b) If you provide Geographic Information (whether your complete postal address or just your city, state and /or zip code) or information about topics that interest you, you may receive invitations to UE events in your local/interest area about once per year; you may also receive alerts about news affecting unmarried people in your area.
c) Complete Postal Addresses are added to our mailing list. People on our mailing list receive letters a few times per year providing an opportunity to donate to the organization. People who provide postal addresses and make contributions to support UE’s work receive paper copies of our newsletter and Annual Report, unless they request publications via email only. If we were contacting you via email but your email address stopped working, we may try contacting you via postal mail instead.
(d) Demographics and Psychographics Information about gender, age, race, beliefs, and activities are extremely helpful in learning about who are constituents are. This information is also frequently required by funders and may be included in grant applications. Your personal information will only be used in an aggregate way and will never be linked with you personally.
UE will never trade, share or sell its email or postal mailing lists.
2. Personal Stories, Questions and Ideas
As an organization, we seek to better understand our constituency; therefore we give you many opportunities to tell us about yourself.
a) Aggregate information: We learn from people’s feedback and use what we’ve learned to better meet the needs of all unmarried people. For example, we select advocacy priorities based on the concerns raised by members and website users (more survey respondents cite marital status discrimination in health insurance than any other issue, so our top priority is achieving truly universal health care).
b) Anonymous Anecdotes: We may condense and re-tell your stories, without using your real name, in order to bring dry statistics and policies to life.
c) Personally-identifiable information: We use what you tell us to provide you with information and action opportunities that might be of special interest to you. For example, if we know you’re concerned about health insurance, we might alert you when Congress proposes a new health care reform.
One of the most important things UE does is help journalists contact members who are willing to be interviewed. This is one way that UE helps the media present the full story about the experiences and concerns of unmarried people. We use background information that members tell us to match journalists with the members who can bring their stories to life. UE will never publicly link your name to any personal information, nor share your contact information with the media, unless we have your permission.
A note on links:
This website contains many links to other sites. Please be aware that UE is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by UE.
