NCEL Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (“NCEL”) collects, uses, and shares information with respect to your use of its website located at https://www.ncelenviro.org/ (the “Website”). Before you use or submit any information in connection with the Website, carefully review this Privacy Policy. By using the Website, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as outlined below. The terms “you” or “user” refer to all individuals and entities accessing the Website for any reason. The terms “us” or “we” refer to NCEL.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide To Us

We collect information about our users when users provide that information to us. Examples of such information collection include, for example, when you sign up to be added to our email newsletter, when you donate to NCEL, when you join NCEL, or when you take some other sort of action through the Website. The kinds of information we may collect include your first and last name, your email address, your mailing address, your phone number, your credit card information, your state, and any other information you choose to provide to us in connection with your use of the Website. Sometimes you provide the information to a trusted third-party vendor on our behalf instead of directly to us, but that vendor uses your information only for the purpose for which it was provided.

Information that Is Passively or Automatically Collected

When you visit the Website, we may automatically receive and record information from your computer or mobile device. This information allows us to understand how people are navigating and using our Website, and how we can improve your experience based on the information we collect. The types of information we may collect include, by way of example only, your IP address, browser type, browser language, operating system, state or country from which you accessed the Website, software and hardware attributes (including device IDs), referring and exit pages and URLs, platform type, the number of clicks, files you download, pages viewed, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time you used the Website, error logs and other similar information. From your IP address, we may be able to infer your general location (e.g., city and state or postal code).

We may use third-party analytics providers and technologies, such as cookies, web beacons, tracking pixels or gifs, to help us collect the data described above. We use the term “cookie” in the broad sense to include all similar techniques and technologies. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer or device when you visit a website that stores certain information about your website usage. For example, cookies enable us to recognize your computer; store your preferences and settings; enhance your user experience by delivering content specific to your interests; perform searches and analytics; and assist with security administrative functions.

Cookies can be persistent by remaining on your computer until you delete them, or they may be based on your browsing session such that they are deleted once you close your browser. You can change your settings to notify you when a cookie is being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. If you disable cookies, some functionality of the Website may be impaired.

Information We Collect from Others

We may receive additional information about you from third parties and other sources, such as from public records, researchers, analysts, and other partners. We use this information to supplement the information that we collect directly from you to derive your possible interests and to provide a more relevant experience for you and to improve the Website, analytics, and advertising.

How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect for the purposes for which you provided it, as well as:

• To provide you access to the Website by recognizing and authenticating you on the Website.
• To maintain and improve the Website, including:
  • To provide the features and services available through the Website;
  • To improve the content and features of the Website or to develop new services;
  • To administer and troubleshoot the Website.
• To contact you, including:
  • To send you information about your relationship with us;
  • To contact you with information that we believe may be of interest to you;
  • To process and respond to your inquiries or to request your feedback.
• For internal research and reporting.
• To comply with laws and regulations for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of others.
• We may also aggregate or de-identify information we collect from you so that it is no longer linked to you or your computer or device. We may, in our sole discretion, use such aggregated and de-identified information for any purpose and may share such information with third parties.

We may also aggregate or de-identify information we collect from you so that it is no longer linked to you or your computer or device. We may, in our sole discretion, use such aggregated and de-identified information for any purpose and may share such information with third parties.

When We Disclose Your Information

We may disclose and/or share your information to or with third parties under the following circumstances:

• With Consent. We may share your information with your consent.
• Service Providers. We may provide access to or share your information with select third parties that perform services on our behalf. These providers use the information for the purpose it was shared. For example, we use a third party to process donations for us, and to register users for events.
• With Collaborators. We may share your information (except for text messaging opt-in data and consent information) with other organizations with whom we collaborate.
• When You Sign On to a Letter. When you sign on to a letter directed to a governmental entity or legislator, we may share the information that you provide in connection with the letter with a governmental entity or legislator
• Protection of NCEL and Others. NCEL may access, preserve, and disclose your information if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access, preservation, or disclosure is permitted by this Privacy Policy or reasonably necessary or appropriate for any of the following reasons:
  • to comply with legal process;
  • to enforce this Policy, including investigation of potential violations thereof;
  • to respond to your requests for customer service; and/or
  • to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of NCEL, its agents and affiliates, users, and the public. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection, and spam/malware prevention, and similar purposes.
• Organizational Transfers. We may share your information if we acquire, merge or partner with other organizations. In such transactions (including in contemplation of such transactions, e.g., due diligence) user information may be among the transferred assets. If any of NCEL’s assets are sold or transferred to a third party, information collected through the Website would likely be one of the transferred business assets.
• Aggregated Data. We may share aggregated and de-identified information.

How We Protect Your Information

We have implemented administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and/or alteration of your information. These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of the information that we collect and store. However, we cannot and do not guarantee that these measures will prevent every unauthorized attempt to access, use, or disclose your information because, despite our efforts, no Internet and/or other electronic transmissions can be completely secure.

Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

The laws in some jurisdictions require that website operators tell you about the legal grounds they rely on to use or disclose your information. To the extent those laws apply, our legal grounds for processing your information are as follows:

• Where use of your information is necessary to perform our obligations to you;
• Where use of your information is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of others (for example, to provide security for our Website; to provide the services we provide through our Website; to defend our legal rights; to analyze the use of our Website; to improve our services);
• Where we have a reason to process the information in accordance with applicable law;
• Where we have your consent to engage in a particular type of processing activity.

Online Analytics

We may use third-party web analytics services (such as those of Google Analytics) in connection with our Services to collect and analyze the information discussed above, and to engage in auditing, research or reporting. The information (including your IP address) collected by various analytics technologies described in the “Information that Is Passively or Automatically Collected” section will be disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers, who use the information to evaluate your use of the Website, including by noting the third party website from which you arrive, analyzing usage trends, assisting with fraud prevention, and providing certain features to you. Information about how Google uses information collected from sites that use its services is located here. To prevent Google Analytics from using your information for analytics, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on by clicking here.

If you receive an email from us, we may use certain analytics tools, such as clear GIFs, to capture data such as when you open our message or click on any links or banners our email contains. This data allows us to assess the effectiveness of our communications and marketing campaigns to help us grow.

Your Rights and Your Choices

Individuals in the European Economic Area and other jurisdictions have certain legal rights with respect to their information. They can request that we (i) provide access to and/or a copy of certain information that NCEL holds about them, (ii) update information that is incorrect, (iii) delete certain information that we hold about them, (iv) restrict the way we process and disclose certain information, and (v) revoke consent for the processing of their information. To exercise these rights, please email us at info@ncelenviro.org with the nature of your request. We will consider all requests and will provide a response within the time period set by applicable law. We may ask that you provide us with information necessary for us to confirm your identity before responding to your request.

Children’s Privacy

The Website is intended for general audiences and not for children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from children under the age of 13 without valid parental consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it as soon as practicable. We also do not knowingly process data of EU residents under the age of 16 without parental consent. If we become aware that we have collected data from an EU resident under the age of 16 without parental consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it as soon as practicable.

Third-Party Links and Websites

The Website may contain links to third party websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. The collection, use and disclosure of your information will be subject to the privacy policies of those third party websites, not this Privacy Policy. Therefore, we encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Website and to read the privacy policies of every site they visit that collects their information.

Being Removed from Our Lists

If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, please email info@ncelenviro.org or click the unsubscribe link in the footer of an email from us. If you wish to stop receiving text messages from us, please text STOP in response to any text message you receive from us.

Revisions to Privacy Policy

We will continue to review this Privacy Policy and we may make changes to the Policy from time to time. The date at the bottom of this page indicates the last time changes were made. You should check this page periodically for updates. If we make material changes to this Policy, we will provide you with notice as required by law. Your continued use of the Website will signify that you have read, understood, and accepted the terms of the updated Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us by emailing us at info@ncelenviro.org.

Last Updated: October 15, 2021