Privacy Policy

Respecting user privacy over the Internet is of utmost importance to us. This privacy policy describes the current policies and practices with regard to personal data collected by the Bethany United Methodist Church (collectively “we,” “us,” “our”) through our Web site. The term “personal data” refers to personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, mailing address, and other information you may volunteer in the Membership Directory.

In general, you can visit our Web site without telling us who you are or providing any information about yourself. In some areas of the Web site, programs have been designed to perform specific functions for you directly though our Web site. Within these programs we may ask you to provide information that will enable us to offer services that require registration, assist you with technical support issues, or to follow up with you. In some instances the information may include personal data.

This privacy policy applies to information submitted by you and/or collected online by us.

Your Consent. By using this Web site, you consent to our use of your personal data as described in this privacy policy.

Notification Of Changes To This Policy. We are continually improving and adding new functionality and features to this Web site. Because of these ongoing changes and the changing nature of technology, we may revise this privacy policy from time to time.

Use of Personal Data Collected Through This Web Site. Information, including but not limited to personal data, that we collect will never be sold, rented, lent, exchanged or used by an individual or entity other than Bethany United Methodist Church except as noted below. This includes, for example, the information you provide when you request other services or when you send us your comments or requests for information.

We use the information you provide for the purposes for which it was originally collected (for example, to respond to your email or to provide the programs or services you requested). We may also use this information to help us improve the content and functionality of our Web site, to better understand the needs and interests of the people and organizations that use our Web site, and to improve our programs and services. This information may be used to contact you in the future to tell you about Bethany United Methodist Church programs and services.

Unless we have your permission, or are otherwise required by law to release, the personal data provided by you online will only be used by Bethany United Methodist Church to contact you regarding services, benefits, or mission opportunities; with other third parties who act on our behalf to further process or analyze the data or protect the security or integrity of our databases or this Web site; and with our successors in interest through corporate merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar event. In the event of a release to a third party described above, your personal data will not be released until the third party has agreed in writing to be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy.

We, and others with whom we share your personal data, may retain your personal data on file to better serve you. Any destruction of personal data will be done in a manner consistent with the intent of this policy.

Financial Transaction Information Collected. We will request information from you if you perform a financial transaction with us through our Contribute link. In this case, you will be required to provide information including, but not limited to, name, address, and financial information, along with credit card information or bank account information. We may use a third party intermediary to perform the transaction processing. This intermediary is solely a link in the distribution chain, and uses the information provided for the sole purpose of processing the transaction.

Anonymous Data Collected Through Web Site. In addition to the information you provide when you use this Web site, we use technology to collect anonymous information about the use of the Web site. For example, we use technology to track how many visitors access the Web site, the date and time of their visit, the length of their stay, and which pages they view. We also use technology to determine which Web browsers our visitors use and the address from which they accessed the site.

This technology does not identify you personally. It simply enables us to compile statistics about our visitors and their use of our Web site. We use this anonymous data and may share it with third parties for various reasons; for example, to improve the content and functionality of the Web site, to better understand the needs and interests of our visitors, to improve our programs and services.

Cookies. In order to collect the anonymous data described in the preceding paragraph, we may use temporary “cookies.” Cookies by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user. A cookie is a small piece of information that is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies do not damage your computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This enables you to decide if you want to accept it or not. Our Web site only uses temporary or “session” cookies. These “session” cookies expire when your browser window is closed.

Children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under thirteen, please do not give us any personal data. If you have reason to believe that a child has provided personal data on this Web site, please contact us.