Scope and identity
This Policy applies to information processed through AFDES.org, including public-interest research and election tools, newsletters, contact and submission forms, contribution-related records, and administrative systems associated with the website. It does not govern third-party websites or services that maintain their own privacy policies.
Information we may collect
Depending on how you interact with AFDES, we may receive the following categories of information:
- Information you provide directly: name, email address, organization, correspondence, article or research submissions, correction requests, partnership inquiries, and newsletter preferences.
- Website and technical information: IP address, browser and device information, referring page, pages requested, timestamps, approximate location derived from network information, and server or security logs.
- Contribution and donor information: donor name, contact information, contribution amount, provider name, transaction or reference identifiers, fees, refund status, acknowledgment records, and related accounting information received from a payment provider or entered for legitimate recordkeeping.
- Security and administrative information: authentication events, audit records, anti-abuse information, and other data reasonably necessary to protect AFDES systems and records.
AFDES does not intentionally collect full payment-card numbers or CVV security codes through AFDES.org.
Sensitive information and ordinary website channels
Unless a specific AFDES program or secure process expressly requests particular information, users should not send Social Security numbers, account passwords, full payment-card data, medical records, government identification numbers, classified material, privileged communications, or similarly sensitive third-party information through ordinary contact forms, email addresses, or article-submission channels.
If AFDES later operates a program that legitimately requires sensitive information, the collection, access, retention, and disclosure of that information may be governed by additional program-specific notices, consent language, security controls, or procedures.
How information is obtained
Information may be provided directly by you, collected automatically through ordinary website and server operations, or received from service providers that support functions you choose to use. For example, a payment processor may send AFDES a verified transaction event after a contribution is completed or refunded.
How we use information
AFDES may process information for legitimate operational purposes, including to:
- operate, maintain, secure, troubleshoot, and improve AFDES.org and related public-interest tools;
- respond to correspondence, submissions, correction requests, partnership inquiries, and other communications;
- administer newsletters and other communications requested by a user;
- maintain donor, contribution, acknowledgment, refund, reconciliation, and financial records;
- protect against fraud, spam, abuse, unauthorized access, malicious activity, and technical failures;
- conduct internal analysis concerning website performance, accessibility, and use; and
- comply with applicable legal, tax, accounting, governance, regulatory, and recordkeeping obligations.
Contributions and payment providers
When AFDES activates online contributions, payment transactions are completed through secure third-party provider pages or services. AFDES may receive transaction confirmations and related donor or accounting information from those providers, but AFDES does not use its website to store full card numbers or CVV data.
Verified provider-event data may be retained temporarily when necessary to validate, process, troubleshoot, or retry an event. Once a provider event is finalized, AFDES may retain limited audit information—such as event identifiers, timestamps, status, transaction references, and cryptographic fingerprints—while minimizing or removing raw payload content that is no longer operationally necessary.
Service providers and processing on our behalf
AFDES may use third-party providers for hosting, email delivery, payment processing, security, analytics, databases, file storage, communications, and other technical or administrative functions. Such providers may process information on AFDES's behalf or under their own terms where they independently provide a service to the user.
AFDES seeks to limit information disclosed to service providers to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant function and to use providers appropriate to the nature of the information involved. AFDES cannot guarantee the independent security, availability, or legal compliance of a third-party service beyond obligations imposed by applicable law or contract.
Cookies, logs, and analytics
AFDES may use cookies, session technologies, server logs, analytics, and similar tools for security, authentication, performance measurement, preference handling, and understanding aggregate website use. Browser settings may allow you to block or delete cookies, although doing so may affect site functionality.
Disclosure of information
AFDES does not sell personal information. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to:
- service providers performing hosting, email delivery, payment processing, security, analytics, database, or technical functions on our behalf;
- professional advisers, auditors, insurers, or contractors subject to appropriate confidentiality, contractual, or professional obligations;
- governmental, regulatory, judicial, or law-enforcement authorities when disclosure is required by applicable law, legal process, or a valid governmental request; or
- protect the rights, safety, security, property, or integrity of AFDES, its users, or others, or to investigate suspected fraud, abuse, or misuse.
If AFDES undergoes a lawful reorganization, merger, or transfer of operations, information may be transferred as part of that transaction subject to applicable legal protections.
Data retention and minimization
We retain information for no longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, taking into account operational needs, security, dispute resolution, donor and accounting records, legal obligations, applicable limitation periods, and the need to preserve records relating to suspected fraud, abuse, or legal claims. Different categories of records may have different retention periods.
Where reasonably practicable, AFDES seeks to minimize raw or sensitive information that is no longer needed while retaining limited records necessary for audit, reconciliation, security, governance, or legal compliance.
Security
AFDES uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Security measures may include access restrictions, credential controls, logging, data minimization, separation of sensitive configuration, and other measures appropriate to the system involved.
No internet transmission, server, database, email system, third-party provider, or security measure can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users should use reasonable care when deciding what information to transmit electronically.
Your choices and privacy rights
You may unsubscribe from marketing or newsletter communications using the mechanism provided in the message. Depending on your jurisdiction and the nature of the information, applicable law may provide rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, information about processing, or other treatment of personal information.
AFDES will evaluate verified privacy requests in accordance with applicable law, authentication requirements, exceptions, and legitimate recordkeeping obligations. Where applicable law requires a right to appeal or opt out of particular processing, AFDES will provide the legally required mechanism when that obligation applies.
AFDES may need to retain certain information even after a deletion request when required or permitted for legal, accounting, governance, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, or other lawful purposes. AFDES will not unlawfully discriminate against a person for exercising a privacy right protected by applicable law.
Children's privacy
AFDES.org is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. AFDES does not knowingly solicit personal information from children under 13 through the website. If we learn that such information was collected without appropriate authorization, we will review the matter and take reasonable steps consistent with applicable law.
Third-party websites and services
AFDES may link to government websites, public documents, academic resources, news organizations, social media platforms, payment providers, video services, or other external resources. Their privacy and security practices are governed by their own terms and policies, not this Privacy Policy.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
AFDES may revise this Policy as its services, technologies, legal obligations, or practices change. Material revisions will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above and, when appropriate or legally required, by additional notice on the website or through the relevant service.
Legal limitations
This Policy is intended to describe AFDES's privacy practices and does not waive, restrict, or eliminate privacy rights or remedies that applicable law does not permit to be waived. It should be read together with the Terms of Use and any program-specific privacy notice that applies to a particular service.
Contact
Questions, concerns, or privacy requests may be submitted through the AFDES contact page. Please provide enough information for us to understand and appropriately evaluate your request.
Organization: American Foundation for Democratic Stability, Inc.