Privacy Policy

THE SENTRY Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

The following Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions (“Terms of Use”) govern all pages hosted at www.thesentry.org (the “THE SENTRY website”), as well as personal information that is shared with THE SENTRY via other means. These Terms of Use do not apply to pages hosted by other organizations to which we may link and whose privacy and other policies may differ. These Terms of Use may change from time to time, so please check back periodically.

THE SENTRY Privacy Policy

THE SENTRY respects the privacy of its supporters. We believe we have developed a rigorous privacy policy that reflects that respect. Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated. We will do our best to honor any limitations you may wish to place on the usage of your personal information.

Collection of Information

Please note that the following description does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the privacy policy of our third party service provider, Groundspring.org, which is outlined at:

http://www.groundspring.org/privacypolicy.cfm

THE SENTRY collects personal information from visitors and other supporters when they register to join our organization and become a member, make a donation online or offline, subscribe to our e-newsletter, take an action concerning an issue using our service, or otherwise participate in one of our online communities. THE SENTRY’s web server does not automatically recognize or collect personal information based on your email address; the personal information we collect is always voluntarily submitted by you.

When you make a donation to THE SENTRY using the DonateNow button, Groundspring.org collects a variety of personal information about you in order to properly process your donation. This personal information may include, among others: name, address, phone, email address, your credit card information, “acknowledgement” or “in memory of” information, and donation amount. Groundspring.org shares this information with THE SENTRY which enables THE SENTRY to enter your information into its database of supporters.

It is unlikely that Groundspring.org will need to contact you but they reserve the right in the event that they need to verify your personal information. If you contact Groundspring.org by email or phone, they may ask you to verify your personal information so that they may respond to your inquiry.

Groundspring collects credit card information from nonprofit customers so that they can process donations and monthly fees. They maintain this information on their secure servers for their internal processes only. They also use a credit card processing company to process donations and monthly fees. This company does not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

If a donor selects “I want to make a recurring donation”, you will be registering to make a credit card donation every month, 3 months, or year. After you complete this initial donation, future donations will be made automatically. You will receive an email receipt from Groundspring.org for each recurring donation. As soon as you complete this initial donation, you will receive a separate email containing a password and a link to the DonateNow system where you can review and change your donation options (amount, frequency, billing information) at any time. You will also be able to cancel your recurring donation at any point in the future. Donors can view and update their personal information on the DonateNow system by using their passwords and the link that we provide.

For more detail and up-to-date information on Groundspring’s privacy policy, please click here:

www.groundspring.org/privacypolicy.cfm

Use of Information

When making a donation to THE SENTRY through the Groundspring.org DonateNow service, donors may be asked to check a box to “receive email updates” from THE SENTRY. THE SENTRY will use the information we collect about you to be able to send you communications such as our e-newsletter and various printed publications or mail appeals, and to help administer and improve our web sites. Please note that we use this information for internal purposes only.

Sharing of Information

THE SENTRY will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information, except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it. THE SENTRY may use such information ourselves to contact people for marketing purposes.

Please note: We are aware of and sensitive to the issue of unsolicited email (“spam”); If you would prefer not to have your name used in this manner, simply send us a request via email to [email protected] with your exact name and address.

Protecting Personal Information

Please note that the following description does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the privacy policy of our third party service provider, Groundspring.org, which is outlined at:

http://www.groundspring.org/privacypolicy.cfm

When you give THE SENTRY personal information, we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely. Our third party service provider, Groundspring.org, takes every precaution to protect donor information. When donors submit sensitive information via their web site, their information is protected both online and off-line. When a form asks donors to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number or address), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry—SSL. While on a secure page, such as a donation form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked.

While Groundspring uses SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, they also do everything in their power to protect donor information off-line. All of their donor information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in their offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (Groundspring’s customer service team) are granted access to personally identifiable information. All employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices.

For more detail and up-to-date information on Groundspring’s privacy policy, please click here:

www.groundspring.org/privacypolicy.cfm

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, THE SENTRY cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our systems, and to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are small text-only files that are stored on your computer and that can be used to help identify you when you visit our website. A cookie cannot read data off of your computer hard disk, nor can it read cookie files created by other websites. We may use cookies to make visiting and using our site easier, for instance, so that you do not have to continually re-enter information, and so that we can tailor the site to your expressed preferences.

Most web browsers accept cookies. However, if you wish, you can usually set your browser to refuse cookies, or to notify you when you receive a new cookie. Note that if cookies are disabled, you may not be able to enjoy all the interactive features of the THE SENTRY site.

For more information about cookies, please see:

www.allaboutcookies.org

Links to Third-Party Sites

The THE SENTRY website provides links to several other third party websites. While we make efforts to choose our links carefully, we cannot take responsibility for the content of linked websites, or for the privacy policies of websites we link to. Since we do not control those websites, we encourage you to review the privacy policies on those websites prior to any use.

Linking to the THE SENTRY Website

Generally, Internet websites may link to the THE SENTRY website without seeking the permission of THE SENTRY. However, such links must clearly identify THE SENTRY as the source of the information displayed and preserve the integrity of the THE SENTRY web pages without alteration. In addition, any links THE SENTRY finds, in its sole discretion, to be objectionable or which includes obscene, violent, intolerant, tasteless, denigrating or sexually oriented content or materials is strictly prohibited. Furthermore, links to any pages of any websites that include content or advertising for alcoholic beverages, tobacco, pornography, religious material, partisan material, political material or firearms is strictly prohibited.

Privacy Policy Changes

THE SENTRY may amend this privacy policy from time to time. We will post the revised policy on our website so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. Your continued use of our website after the date that such notices are posted will be deemed to be your agreement to the changed terms.

Terms and Conditions

Use of this site is provided by THE SENTRY subject to the following Terms and Conditions.

Your use of the THE SENTRY website, THE SENTRY’s materials and content and/or downloading of material or content from the THE SENTRY website constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

THE SENTRY reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time by posting changes online. Your continued use of this site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions as modified. Accordingly, you may wish to visit this page from time to time to review the then current Terms and Conditions.

You acknowledge and agree to use this site only for lawful purposes, and in a manner which does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of the site by, any third party. If THE SENTRY reasonably determines that you have violated or are likely to violate the foregoing prohibitions, THE SENTRY may take any action it reasonably deems necessary to cure or prevent the violation, including without limitation, the immediate removal from this website of the related materials.

You acknowledge and agree that THE SENTRY is the sole owner of THE SENTRY’s materials and content, as well as the THE SENTRY name, logo and other registered trademarks and service marks, and all goodwill associated therewith. You acknowledge and agree that you shall not assign, transfer, sub-license or otherwise exploit any of the foregoing. You acknowledge and agree that you shall not register or file applications to register any of the foregoing, nor shall you adopt, use, or register any corporate name, trade name, trademark, domain name, service mark or certification mark, or other designation confusingly similar to the foregoing.

This site and the information, names, images, pictures, logos regarding or relating to THE SENTRY are provided “as is” without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied. In no event will THE SENTRY be liable for any damages including, without limitation, indirect or consequential damages, or any damages whatsoever arising from the use or in connection with such use or loss of use of the site, whether in contract or in negligence or any other theory of liability.

THE SENTRY does not warrant that this site or the functions contained in the material contained in this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs or represents the full functionality, accuracy and reliability of the materials.

Copyright restrictions:
Commercial use or publication of all or any items displayed on the site is strictly prohibited without prior authorization from THE SENTRY. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license by THE SENTRY to use any item displayed.

Documents may be copied for personal use only on the condition that copyright and source indications are also copied, no modifications are made and the document is copied entirely. However, some documents and photos may have been published on this site with the permission of the relevant copyright owners (who are not THE SENTRY). All rights in these documents are reserved to their owners, and permission to copy or otherwise exploit them must be requested and obtained directly from the copyright owners (the sources are indicated within these documents/photographs).

As noted, this website may contain links to other websites. All such links are provided as a convenience to our users. THE SENTRY takes no responsibility for the content of external websites.

If there is any conflict between these general Terms and Conditions and any rules and/or specific terms of use appearing on this site relating to specific material then the latter shall prevail.

This website is administered by THE SENTRY from its offices in New York. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New York. Any disputes relating to the use of this website shall be brought solely in New York County, State of New York, and you consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.

Please be aware that violation of THE SENTRY’s copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights may subject you to civil and criminal penalties.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless THE SENTRY for any harm arising out of your wrongful and/or improper use of THE SENTRY’s website and THE SENTRY’s materials and content.

THE SENTRY MAKES NO WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR STATEMENTS, EXPRESS OR IMPLED, WITH RESPECT TO THE MATERIALS AND CONTENTS ON ITS WEBSITE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE IMPLIED BY LAW. USE OF THE SENTRY’S WEBSITE AND THE MATERIALS AND CONTENT ON THE SENTRY’S WEBSITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

If these Terms and Conditions are not accepted in full, the use of this site must be terminated immediately.

THE SENTRY may revoke your right to use THE SENTRY’s materials and content and links to the THE SENTRY website at anytime. Upon receipt of notice of termination, you shall immediately cease any all further use of THE SENTRY’s materials and content and links to THE SENTRY’s website. THE SENTRY has the right to seek appropriate legal action to terminative any uses of THE SENTRY’s materials and content and links to THE SENTRY’s website in the event that THE SENTRY determines that your use does not conform to any terms and conditions of these Terms and Conditions or as provided elsewhere on the THE SENTRY website; infringes any intellectual property right or other right of THE SENTRY or a third party, adversely affects THE SENTRY’s image, reputation or services or programs, violates any applicable law, regulation or ordinance, and/or is a prohibited activity.