Housing Plus Solutions, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is a New York non-profit corporation dedicated to providing community-based housing and comprehensive services to women, including women with children. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to help you better understand the information we gather, share, and store when you use our website available at www.housingplusnyc.org (the “Website”).
For purposes of this Privacy Policy, the Website and our social media channels, and all content, information, and services accessed via our Website and our social media channels, are collectively called the “Services.” Please note that, except as otherwise expressly contemplated herein, this Privacy Policy applies to only the Website and its Services and not necessarily to other Company programs, other companies with whom we work, or organizations’ websites or other digital properties to which we may link.
By sharing information with, or visiting, the Website or by otherwise using the Services, you are acknowledging the terms of this Privacy Policy and confirming you have read and understood such terms. This Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference into the Housing Plus Terms of Use and Conditions (the “Terms”).
As described in our Terms, we use third parties to provide features and other services as further described herein in connection with our Services (each, a “Service Provider”). When you access any of our Services made available by one of our Service Providers, be sure to read their privacy policy and terms of use to learn how they collect and use your personal information.
Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the Terms.
I. Information We Collect and How We Collect It
A. Personal Information We Collect
Depending on the Services you use and how you interact with the Company or our Website generally, we collect or receive the following types of information:
1. Demographic and contact information. We may collect your first and last name, e-mail address, gender, age, country of residence, city of residence, and state/province of residence. We may also collect your social network screennames. We use this information for purposes such as account administration, responding to, and following up regarding, your inquiries, providing you with requested information, or sending you email alerts (including marketing emails).
2. Information you provide. We collect the information you provide to us in messages or phone calls to us, including, but not limited to, any messages and images you post to the Website or our social media pages, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn (each, a “Social Media Page”), your reasons for engaging with the Website and Services, your educational attainment, employment sector, and professional experience. Depending on the nature of any message you send us, we may route your information to an appropriate third party to better address such a message.
3. Financial information. If you choose to make a donation to the Company, we will collect and process your payment information using Paypal, and record the donation using Salesforce. We store only the last four digits of your credit card.
B. Analytics
We use one or more third–party analytics services to evaluate your use of the Website by compiling reports on activity (based on their collection of IP addresses, Internet service provider, browser type, operating system and language, referring and exit pages and URLs, date and time, amount of time spent on particular pages, what sections of the Website you visit, number of links clicked, search terms, and other similar usage data) and analyzing performance metrics. These third parties use cookies and other similar technologies (e.g., pixel tags) to help collect, analyze, and provide us reports or other data.
By accessing the Website, you consent to the processing of data about you by analytics providers in the manner and for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. For more information on these third parties, including how to opt out from certain data collection (where provided by such third parties), please visit the sites listed in this section. Please note that this list is subject to change.
For Google Analytics, please visit: https://www.google.com/analytics
C. Aggregate Data
In an ongoing effort to better understand our users and the Website, we might analyze your information in aggregate form to carry out, maintain, manage, and improve operations in connection with the Website. This aggregate information does not identify you personally. We may share this aggregate data with our affiliates, agents, and business partners. We may also disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe our services and the Websites to current and prospective business partners and to other third parties for other lawful purposes.
D. How We Collect Personal Information
The Company may collect the personal information described above in the following ways:
Information you provide us:
We collect personal information that you provide us when you use our Website or Services (such as the information described in Section A above). For example, we collect personal information when you engage in online activities such as accessing our Website, making a donation, contacting us by email, the Website, our social media channels, or by other means to ask us questions, responding to our surveys, promotions, or requests, subscribing to our newsletter, signing up for our events, interacting with our social media channels, and engaging with our online ads.
Information we automatically collect:
Cookies: When accessing or otherwise using a website, small pieces of data concerning your device and your visit are stored within your web browser, which can be retrieved upon future visits. These pieces of data make up a small file called a “cookie.” Cookies allow websites to do things such as remembering information about a user, such as a user’s preferences when visiting the website. This information can be considered “personal information” under certain laws. We use both 1st and 3rd-party session cookies and persistent cookies. Below is a general primer on session and persistent cookies; note that information collected by cookies depends on its particular purpose.
Session Cookies: We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our Platforms. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser.
Persistent Cookies: A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time or until you delete them. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your web browser’s “help” file. Persistent cookies also enable us to understand how you use our Website, personalize your experience on the Website, or serve relevant advertising to you.
WordPress, host of our Website, utilizes cookies. You should carefully review WordPress’ description of its cookie collection at its privacy policy, available here: https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/.
Pixels: We incorporate some third-party social networking features onto our Website, including Facebook Pixel.
Facebook Pixel is code that is placed on our Website that collects data and helps us track conversions from Social Media Page ads, optimize ads, build targeted audiences for future ads, and remarket to people who have already taken some kind of action on our Website or Social Media Pages. It works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they interact with our Website and our Social Media Page ads.
Information we collect from third parties:
We may also collect information about you from third parties, including our Service Providers (or, in the case of third-party cookies or pixels, allow the collection of information by such third parties).
When you access any Services made available by one of our Service Providers, you allow us to collect certain information from the Service Provider in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Terms (e.g., PayPal for purposes of collecting transaction information).
II. How We Use and Share the Information We Collect
A. How we use the personal information we collect:
We may use the personal information that we collect for the following purposes:
- To respond to your questions and requests, as well as to keep track of support and customer service requests;
- To provide you the Services and Website features;
- To maintain and improve the Services and Website;
- To prevent fraud;
- To email or contact you regarding Website feedback, solicitations related to our work, our newsletters, and promotions, marketing, ads, or special offers from us or our partners (including on unaffiliated digital properties, such as social media);
- Add you to our mailing list to send you marketing emails;
- Record your donation details; and
- Contact you by phone with information by HousingPlus events and for donations.
B. How we share the personal information we collect:
We may disclose personal information we collect to third parties, including our Service Providers, for the following purposes:
- Comply with applicable law, regulation, or governmental request;
- Protect the safety of the Company’s employees and users of this Website, or others;
- Protect the rights or property of the Company;
- Comply with contractual obligations of the Company;
- Other instances when the Company is legally required to disclose your information;
- Share information that is public or does not include personal information, for example, a publicly posted comment or aggregated data;
- Provide third parties with statistical information about the users of our Website;
- To allow you to share information about your activity through our Website, for example, when you share posts on Social Media Pages;
- To any affiliated business entities or third parties necessary to provide services to you, including, but not limited to, our subsidiaries, our holding company and its other subsidiaries (if any), as well as third parties involved in the administration and operation of our services;
- To process payments if you donate to the Company;
- Personalization of ads and content;
- To assist in optimizing the Services;
- To a third party if we sell any or all of our business and/or assets to them; or
- In other ways when we have your consent, as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy, or are otherwise permitted to do so in compliance with applicable law.
III. Security
We employ commercially reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized or accidental access, use, loss, or destruction by users inside and outside the organization. You should be aware, however, that no storage of data, including our own, and no transmission of data over the internet is ever 100% secure. There is always a risk of unauthorized third parties unlawfully intercepting or accessing your information. As such, you provide us with your information at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures on the Website.
IV. Children
The Services offered by the Company are intended for use by only those who are at least eighteen (18) years old. The Company does not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18. If you believe that an individual under the age of 18 has provided information to this Website or to the Company, please notify us at development@localhost. We are not liable for any damages that may result from a user’s misrepresentation of age.
V. Your Rights and Choices
If you receive promotional messages from us, you may unsubscribe at any time by following the opt-out instructions contained within such message. Even after you opt out of receiving promotional messages from us, you may continue to receive administrative or transaction-related messages from us regarding our Services.
To exercise your rights and choices to your personal information, please contact us by using the contact details provided below under “How to Contact Us.”
VI. Privacy Policy Changes
We may, from time to time, make changes to this policy. The most current version of this policy will always be available on our Website, along with the date it was last revised. Any modifications will become effective immediately upon posting. By continuing to use this Website and the Services, you accept such modifications.
If we make any substantial changes in the way we use your personal information, we will notify you via email or by posting a notice on our Website (or as otherwise required by applicable law). You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date, active, and deliverable email address for you and for periodically visiting our Website, this Privacy Policy, and our Terms to check for any changes.
VII. How to Contact Us
Please contact us at development@housingplusnyc.org or at 212-213-0221 if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our Terms, or our privacy practices generally.
