PRIVACY POLICY

• Terms of Service
• Code of Conduct
• Intellectual Property/Copyright Policy

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Effective Date: July 8, 2011.

RethinkChurch.org is operated by United Methodist Communications  (“UMCom,” “we” or “us”).  For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, RethinkChurch.org, its companion Facebook fan page, and its related micro-sites are collectively referred to as the “Website.” 

We are committed to maintaining the privacy of the information you provide to us in using the Website.  The following privacy policy applies to the information we collect from you and how we use and protect it.  This privacy policy applies only to this Web site and does not apply to any third-party websites linked to this Website.  We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of any third-party linked Web site.

What information do we collect?

We collect two types of information about visitors to our Website: 1) personal information that you have voluntarily submitted to us (collected when you register as a member or sign up for email alerts, including information such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and credit-card information); and 2) aggregate information (such as information about how many visitors log on to our sites and the pages they access).  Age information may be required and collected by way of birthdate, age-verification checkboxes or inference from credit-card usage to ensure that registrants to our sites are 13 years or older in order to maintain compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).

You can visit our Website without telling us who you are or revealing personal information about yourself, but please note that you may be unable to participate in certain discussions or receive additional information.

What are cookies, and how do we use them?

A cookie is a small piece of information that we place in your computer browser to collect information regarding your preferences.  We use cookies to identify you when you visit us and to keep track of where you go so we can provide you with a personalized version of our Website.  Cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information.  Cookies could enable us to relate your use of this Website to personal information you have provided, but we do not use them for this purpose.  You can use your browser settings to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies.  If you turn off cookies, you will not have access to some of the features that make your experience on our Website smoother, and some of our services may not function properly.

How do we use the information we collect?

We will not trade, sell or share your personal information for use by any business, without your consent, unless required by law or as disclosed to you when the information is collected.

Your personal information will generally be stored in our databases located mainly in the United States.  For easier processing of e-mail campaigns or other marketing purposes, however, your personal information may be sent, usually on a temporary basis, to a mailing house.  Nonetheless, our policy is to ensure that your information is always granted the same level of protection.

We use your information to improve the content on our Website and to enhance your experience on our Website.  Further, to enable us to protect our community of members and visitors and respond to user needs and complaints, you consent to our access to your account and records on a case-by-case basis to investigate complaints or other allegations or abuse.

The information we collect from you also may be disclosed when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing the Website and applicable laws or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Website, and to a successor entity in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, sale of assets or other corporate change respecting the Website.

Public forums and interactive communications

If you use a public forum or interactive communications on this Website and disclose personally identifiable information, you should be aware that such information could be read, collected or used by other users.  We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit through public forums or interactive communications.

Use of minor information

This Website is not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13.  We do not collect personally identifiable information from any person we actually know is a child under the age of 13.  Although we cannot guarantee the confidentiality, security and integrity of information maintained on the Website given the nature of the Internet, we have established recommended best practices to endeavor to protect photographs and information on minors on the Website.  These recommended best practices are available by request to RethinkAdmin@umcom.org.

Email from us and how to opt out

If you are a registered user of our Website, you may choose whether you wish to receive e-mail about products, services or resources.  If you do not give permission for us to send e-mail to you, UMCom will not send unsolicited e-mail.  In this case, we will communicate with you only for the purpose of maintaining or upgrading your registration with us.

If you are an e-commerce customer, we will use your e-mail address only for the purpose of confirming and processing orders for our offers/products.  During online ordering, however, you have the option of indicating your preference of receiving email updates.  If you prefer to place your order by fax, please use the fax number 615.742.5499.

We will use the e-mail addresses of churches only to communicate denomination-wide breaking or urgent news and information.

You may change your church's permission statement at any time by going to UMCom.org and choosing “Update my Profile.”  Simply unclick the option box and your e-mail address will no longer be used for informational mailings.

Linked Web sites

Our Website may contain links to other Web sites.  The information practices on those sites may be different from ours and are not covered by our privacy policy.  We encourage you to consult the privacy notices on those sites. 

How to request information maintained about you 

Upon request, we will provide you with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about you.  You can access this information by contacting us at RethinkAdmin@umcom.org.

We cannot guarantee the security of our Website

We take seriously our obligation to safeguard the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information collected from our users, and we have established and will maintain procedures that are designed for that purpose.  You should be aware, however, that no system is completely secure from hackers, network failure and error, and we cannot guarantee the confidentiality, security and integrity of information maintained on our Website.

Modification of privacy policy

To accommodate new services and features on our Website and to ensure up-to-date compliance with privacy laws, we may modify our privacy policy from time to time.  When we modify our privacy policy, we will notify you by a posting on this webpage.  Any changes will become effective as of the date of posting with respect to information we then collect in the future.  We will treat all personal information we collect, however, in accordance with the privacy policy in effect at the time the information is collected.  We urge you to review this privacy policy often so you are always fully informed.

Contact us

If you have any questions or comments about our privacy policy, please email us at RethinkAdmin@umcom.org.

• Terms of Service
• Code of Conduct
• Intellectual Property/Copyright Policy

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