Devalpatrick.com Privacy Policy

1. Preamble

Welcome to the website (the "Site" or the "Website") of the Deval Patrick Committee Action Center. We've designed this Site to foster political debate, and allow people to organize around the re-election of Deval Patrick for Governor.

2. Your Privacy

We are committed to maintaining--in the manner you specify--the privacy of information you share with us while visiting our site and interacting with us online. We believe that the best privacy policy for a "political" site (like our Site) is a policy that allows each visitor (i) to participate in the debate and exchange to the extent he or she wishes, and (ii) to share Personal Information (as hereinafter defined) proportionate to this participation. Participants on the website, therefore, choose how much Personal Information they wish to share online, and manage their involvement accordingly. For example, a visitor to our Site who wishes simply to observe would provide little, if any, Personal Information, or information about his or her political views. In contrast, a visitor who wishes, via our Site, to organize around our issue(s) would necessarily provide information concerning his or her political views, as well as contact information, and other Personal Information to create a communications "focal point."

This privacy policy and agreement (the Privacy Policy or Policy) embodies the above philosophy of "participant's choice." The Policy, accordingly, covers how, with your permission (as set out below) we collect, use, and treat personal information that you may provide through our Website or while participating in the organizing and debating activities that take place at the Website (the Political Exchanges).

The terms you and your refer to any visitor to the Website, including (i) casual visitors to our Site, who do not participate in Political Exchanges (Site Visitors), (ii) individuals who wish to participate in the Political Exchanges that take place at our site or who wish to coordinate discussions, debates, and organizing activities on the Site (and who qualify for these tasks) (Participants). The terms we and us refer to Deval Patrick Committee Action Center. For your convenience, the Definitions section provides a full set of definitions used in this Privacy Policy. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, the term User means all: (i) Participants, (ii) and Site Visitors.

3. Your Consent

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully; when you consent to this Policy's terms, it creates legal obligations on you and on us. We ask you to show your consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy in different ways, depending on your relationship to the Site. The procedures for consenting to this Policy are (a) less formal if you are simply a casual Site Visitor, and (b) more formal if you are seeking to become a Participant.

Consent by Site Visitors

By accessing and using our Website as a Site Visitor, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to be legally bound by it. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please refrain from using our Site.

Consent by Participants

If you register as a Participant, you will be prompted to click an "I Accept" button linked to this Policy during the registration process. Clicking "I accept" confirms your agreement to be bound by this Privacy Policy.

Connection to Terms of Use

Clicking the "I accept" button will also further confirm your agreement to comply with the "Code of Conduct" and other terms contained in our Terms of Use.

4. The Types Of Information You May Provide

Information you may provide while visiting our Site or while participating falls into three broad categories: (i) Personal Information; (ii) information concerning your position on political issues; and (iii) aggregate information. We use the term Personal Information to mean any information you provide to us over the Site that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, e-mail address, birth date, financial information, telephone number, or any combination of such information that could be used to identify you. We use the term Position Information to refer to information you may provide concerning your position on political and other issues under discussion on our Site. Anonymous Information is information that does not identify you, and may include statistical information concerning, for example, users' participation in Political Exchanges, or the pages on our Site that Users visit most frequently.

These three categories of information can be further divided into (iv) information that we collect directly from you, or that you provide to us (Site-Directed Information); and (v) information you intend to provide or make available to Participants and others on our Site (Participant-Directed Information). Our Privacy Policy governs all Site-Directed Information--whether this information is Personal Information, Position Information, or Anonymous Information--and does not govern Participant-Directed Information. This Privacy Policy does not govern Participant-Directed Information, because you control how much or how little information you choose to share in your Participant-Directed communications, and we have no direct control over your choice of what to share in Participant-Directed communications. Accordingly, although in our Terms of Use we obligate Users to refrain from using information obtained from our Site for any purpose other than Political Uses, and although we provide you with guidance on "good information practices" in your Participant-Directed communications, we are not responsible for these communications and what Users choose to do with this Participant-Directed Information.

5. The Relationship Between Information You Provide At Our Site, And Information From Voter Lists and Other Offline Sources

This Privacy Policy applies to information that you provide through using our Site. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information you provide to us, or we obtain, through other means. For example, we may obtain information from voter lists, from traditional mailing or telephone lists, or other sources independent of this Website (collectively, Non-Website Information). This Privacy Policy does not govern our use or handling of Non-Website Information. If you, for example, remove your Personal Information from the files of this Website under Changing or Removing Information; Opting Out, that does not mean your information will be removed from our files concerning Non-Website Information.

6. Site-Directed Personal Information; Our Uses Of This Information

We share Personal Information you provide to us via the Website only as provided in this Policy, and only for purposes of Political Use. We collect information from Site Visitors and Participants at different points on our Website and through our Services, and use this information as follows:

Registration Information; User Names.

In order to participate as a Participant in our Services, we require that you complete a registration form. This form asks for contact information, which includes such items as (i) name; (ii) mailing address; and (iii) email address. The registration process provides each Participant with a user name (the "User Name") and a password, which allow him or her to gain access to the our Site and related functionality. Our system relies on User Names as the public "identifier" for the particular Participant.

Email Addresses.

We use your e-mail address to send notifications relating to our Site, or organizational activities related to the Site.

Informational Notices and Bulletins.

Periodically, we may choose to send news, bulletins, or other information to Participants and will use Personal Information to send such communications. If we choose to undertake such communications, you will have the ability to opt out of receiving these communications as provided in Changing or Removing Information.

Surveys.

Periodically, we may initiate surveys on our Site, and we may request Personal Information from you in connection with such surveys. You are free to choose whether you participate in this type of survey. The information we request may include contact information (such as name and email address). Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and appeal of this Site, and related Political Exchanges. We will notify you of relevant details in connection with asking for you participation in such surveys.

7. Your Responsibility for Participant-Directed Information

Participant-Directed Information is information you intend to provide or make available to other Participants on our Site. Although we counsel you to take care if you include Personal Information in your Participant-Directed Information, our Privacy Policy does not cover Participant-Directed Information. If you choose to disclose any Personal Information, any such information can be collected and used by other Participants or users, and you may receive unsolicited communications as a result. We provide a range of Services to assist you in making good choices concerning the information you disclose. Please see Further Privacy Tools for a description.

8. Anonymous, Aggregate Information

With our licensors and service-providers, we use Anonymous Information to analyze the effectiveness of our Site, to improve our services, and for other similar purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may undertake or commission statistical and other summary analyses of the general behavior and characteristics of users participating in our Services and the characteristics of visitors at our Site, and may share Anonymous Information with third parties. Rest assured, though, that Anonymous Information provided to third parties will not allow anyone to identify you, or determine anything personal about you. We may collect Anonymous Information through features of the software that supports our Services, through cookies, and through other means described below.

IP Addresses; Logs.

Either directly, or through our hosting service provider, we may automatically receive and record information in our server logs from your browser, including your IP address (the Internet address of your PC), your computer's name, the type and version of your web browser, referrer addresses, where the computer is routing from, and other generally accepted log information. We may also record page views (hit counts) and other general statistical and tracking information, which will be aggregated with that of other users in order to understand how our Website is being used, and for security and monitoring purposes.

Cookies.

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, which is sent to your browser from a website's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies can be used to provide you with a tailored user experience and to make it easier for you to use a website upon a future visit. We may include cookies on our Website and use them to recognize you when you return to our Website. You may set your browser so that it does not accept cookies. Cookies must be enabled on your web browser, however, if you wish to access certain personalized features of our Services.

Tags.

We may use so-called "pixel tags" - small graphic images (also know as "web beacons", "single-pixel GIFS", or "Web bugs") - for purposes such as (i) to tell us what parts of our website have been visited, (ii) to measure the effectiveness of searches you perform on our Site, and for other purposes. Pixel tags also enable us to send email messages in a format you can read, and they inform us whether emails have been opened, to help ensure that our messages are of interest to our Participants. None of this data includes Personal Information, and you can "opt-out" of receiving these types of emails from us by following the directions provided in Changing or Removing Information. If any Personal Information is collected using such tools, it will be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Click-Throughs.

We may send email messages which use a "click-through URL" linked to content on our Website. When you click one of these URLs, you pass through our web server before arriving at the destination web page. We track this click-through data to help determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our communications. If you prefer not to be tracked, simply do not click text or graphic links in the email, or notify us in accordance with Changing or Removing Information.

9. Any Information Linked With Your Personal Information Is Protected As "Personal Information"

To enable us to better understand your characteristics and/or to provide services tailored to your needs, we may link (a) the Personal Information you have provided; with (b) Anonymous Information. If we combine or link any Anonymous Information or other information with your Personal Information, the resulting combination will be treated and protected as Personal Information under this Privacy Policy.

10. Disclosures To Third Parties

At our option, we will disclose your Personal Information to unaffiliated third parties without your express consent in the circumstances specified below. We will not otherwise disclose your Personal Information to third parties.

Third-Party Political Use.

You agree that we may rely on and share information--including Personal Information--with political committees and others, provided the recipients of this Information agree to employ the information for Political Purposes only (Third-Party Political Use). We will use reasonable efforts to obtain a commitment to this effect from recipients of Personal Information provided via our Website (Downstream Recipients), as specified in Downstream Restrictions below. You further agree that such Downstream Recipients may share such Personal Information further "downstream," provided these "further downstream" users similarly agree to use the information for Political Purposes only, in the manner set forth in Downstream Recipients.

Downstream Restrictions

Our obligations under this Third Party Political Use shall be fulfilled, and Downstream Recipients' obligations shall similarly be fulfilled, where the following language is included in the file that contains a User's Personal Information--in a prominent, identifiable location:

IMPORTANT LICENSE AND RESTRICTED POLITICAL USES NOTIFICATION.

By accessing or using the data contained in this file, the recipient (You or the Recipient) expressly acknowledges and agrees (i) that this data includes personal information originally sourced from a website designed for political uses; (ii) that Your use of this data must comply with data subjects' opt-out and other rights under CAN-SPAM (15 U.S.C. sect. 7701-7713) and other applicable legal requirements; and (iii) that You shall use such personal information FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES ONLY. The term Political Purposes means campaigning, organizing, identifying issues, and other similar activities related to the political process. The term "Political Purposes" expressly excludes commercial use. You may transfer the data contained in this file to others, provided you include this exact License and Restricted Uses Notification in the file, in a prominent, identifiable location. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACCESS, USE, OR TRANSFER THE INFORMATION IN THIS FILE UNLESS YOU HAVE UNCONDITIONALLY AGREED TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. BE ADVISED THAT THIS LICENSE AND RESTRICTED USES NOTIFICATION IS EXPRESSLY DESIGNED TO GIVE DATA SUBJECTS (AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES) DIRECT RIGHTS TO ENFORCE AGAINST YOU EACH OF THE RESTRICTIONS SET OUT ABOVE

Other Methods.

The method for preserving the Political Purposes only restriction set out in Downstream Recipients. is not the only method for properly preserving such restrictions, and we (as well as our Downstream Recipients and their further Downstream Recipients) may meet this obligation through other means, provided such means offer at least as much protection to the User's interests as the method set out in Downstream Recipients.

Recourse.

Beyond making the efforts specified in this Section, you agree that we are not responsible for the conduct of a Downstream Recipient of Personal Information. For conduct by recipients that you believe is inconsistent with the Political Purposes restrictions, or other applicable limitations on use, your recourse shall consist of enforcing your rights directly against such Downstream Recipient, either for breach of the License and Restricted Uses Notification set out in Downstream Recipients, or for violation of statutory or other legal obligation(s).

Site Vendors.

We employ other companies to perform functions on our behalf, such as maintaining the Website, providing services related to the Site, collecting information, responding to and sending email, or other functions necessary to our business. We may need to share your Personal Information with other companies that assist in the running of our Site (collectively, Site Vendors). We will provide Site Vendors with only that Personal Information necessary to perform their functions, and we will not allow them to use your Personal Information for any purpose inconsistent with this Policy.

Questions of Harm.

We may reveal your Personal Information on a case-by-case basis to attorneys, private investigator organizations or law enforcement agencies if we believe (a) that you are in risk of harm from another, or (b) that you are harming or interfering (or will harm or interfere) with others or violating (either intentionally or unintentionally) our Terms of Use or otherwise violating legal rights.

Legal.

We will reveal your Personal Information to the extent we reasonably believe we are required to do so by law. If we receive legal process calling for the disclosure of your Personal Information we will attempt to notify you via the email address you supplied during registration within a reasonable amount of time before we respond to the request, unless such notification is not permitted.

11. Additional Tools for Protecting Your Privacy

We recognize that users may provide more personal information than they intend, or should, over the public areas on our Site. We seek to assist our Participants seeking to preserve an appropriate level of privacy, as follows:

Reporting of Problems.

If you feel that you or someone you know has been harassed or bullied on our Site, or that users have infringed on your privacy or violated our Code of Conduct, please report your concerns to info@devalpatrick.com.

Good Practices.

You should take care to employ good "personal information practices" in using our Site, keeping in mind that, if you choose to include in Site-related communications information that personally identifies you -- such as your telephone number, street address, last name, email address, and any geographically recognizable photographs (if such features are available on the Site)--you may be contacted in a manner you do not wish by those who receive this information, as further detailed in Participant-Directed Information.

12. Changing or Removing Information; Opting Out

Discretionary Account Information.

To allow appropriate control over Personal Information, you can access your account (after supplying your User Name and password) to change your comments or your password, or to correct your email address for errors.

Opt-Out.

If we choose to send to you bulletins, updates, or other communications, including fund-raising related materials, we will provide you with the ability to decline--or "opt-out of"--receiving such communications. Instructions for opting-out will be provided if and when we determine to send you such a communication. Please understand that you will not be allowed to "opt-out" of formal notices concerning operation of this Website, and legal and other related notices concerning your relationship to the Site.

Deleting Information Provided Via This Website

Finally, if you have provided us with Personal Information in connection with your use of this Site, upon your request, we will remove this Personal Information from our Website databases. Please understand, however, that it may be impossible to remove this information completely, due to backups and records of deletions. In addition, please understand that, if you request deletion of your information, you will be unable to utilize associated features of the Website and any associated Services. You may not remove de-identified, anonymous, or aggregate data from our databases.

Limitations on Deleting Information; Public Databases and Non-Website Information.

As provided in Information Sources, please keep in mind that this Privacy Policy applies only to information provided through this Website, and does not apply to "Non-Website Information," which is information we obtain or is provided via other channels, such as public databases. Therefore, if we remove information from our Website databases in accordance with Deleting Information Provided Via This Website, this will not remove Non-Website Information from our databases. We will retain this Non-Website Information in our databases, including Personal Information that may relate to our users, where applicable law permits us to retain the Information. If you have questions concerning Non-Website Information, you may contact us as provided in Contact Us.

13. Security

We have put in place security systems designed to prevent unauthorized access to or disclosure of personally identifiable Site-Directed Information you provide to us, and we take all reasonable steps to secure and safeguard this Information. Our site's password-protected section requires Users to give us unique identifiers such as their User Name and password. Our employees (and employees of our affiliates and Site Vendors) are required to acknowledge that they understand and will abide by our policies with respect to the confidentiality of Personal Information.

Our security systems are therefore structured to deter and prevent unauthorized users and others from accessing information you provide to us. We also use software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Please understand, though, that this information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided by or submitted to our Site. Due to the nature of Internet communications and evolving technologies, we cannot provide, and disclaim, assurance that the information you provide us will remain free from loss, misuse, or alteration by third parties who, despite our efforts, obtain unauthorized access.

14. Notice of Security Incident

If we detect, despite the safeguards set out above, an intrusion or other unauthorized access to or use of Personal Information (an "Intrusion"), we will (i) notify affected users of the Intrusion if the information at issue is sensitive, as determined by law, (ii) deliver this notice by the means we deem most efficient under the circumstances (such as, for example, first-class mail or email); (iii) use contact information for each effected user that is current in our files; and (iv) use commercially reasonable efforts to accomplish these steps and effect this notice in a timely manner. To the extent applicable law requires steps in addition to those specified above, we will under all circumstances comply with applicable law.

15. Notification of Changes

From time to time, we may change our Privacy Policy. If we make any changes regarding disclosure of Personal Information to third parties, upon your next login we will inform you of the modified policy. We will post notice of the new Policy from the privacy link on our Website. With respect to Site Visitors, your use of our Site following any such change constitutes your agreement to follow and be bound by the Privacy Policy, as changed. With respect to Participants, no such changes will take effect unless and until you have provided us with your consent to such changes, in accordance with Consent by Participants.

16. Relationship to Terms of Use and Other Contracts

This Privacy Policy must be read in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions of Use, and the provisions of our Terms of Use are incorporated herein. To the extent the Terms of Use conflict with the terms of this Privacy Policy, the terms of this Privacy Policy will control.

17. Participation by Children and Teens; Advisory

Our interest in protecting the privacy of our users, and allowing our users to choose the level of information they provide, applies particularly to younger visitors to our Site. Younger visitors may not understand the potential drawbacks of sharing Personal Information while participating in Political Exchanges on our Site. Therefore, due to this concern, and due to federal policy in favor of protecting children under 13 years of age (as reflected in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), WE DO NOT ALLOW INDIVIDUALS WHO WE KNOW ARE UNDER 13 TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SITE OR SERVICES. Please understand that we cannot necessarily tell if a user is providing us with his or her true age. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 13 YEARS OLD TO USE OUR SITE AND SERVICES. IF YOU ARE BETWEEN 13 AND THE APPLICABLE AGE OF MAJORITY, PLEASE REVIEW THIS AGREEMENT WITH YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN.

18. Further Resources

If you wish further information concerning privacy policies in general, concerning online networking and safety, and concerning the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, you should visit the following sites:

19. Definitions

Additional Information means information beyond the information provided by the User via the Website. "Additional Information" consists of information that is publicly available to us. Examples of "Additional Information" include (i) information obtained from telephone listings, (ii) information from voter registration lists made available by the Secretary of State's Office; and (iii) other similar information.

Anonymous Information has the meaning provide in The Types Of Information You May Provide.

Content means information, text, video, audio, pictures, and other material made available on the Site in connection with Political Exchanges (whether provided by You, by other Users, or by Us). The term "Content" does not mean software or other functionality used to administer, publish, or make available the Site or Site features. The term "Content" similarly does not include Personal Information; provided, however, that Personal Information that a User voluntarily discloses in his or her contributions to a Political Exchange on the Site will constitute "Content."

Non-Website Information has the meaning provided in Information Sources.

Participant means a user that meets the following criteria: he or she (i) wishes to review and consider discussions on the Site; (ii) wishes to vote and provide content to discussions; (iii) wishes to organize and act as focal point for online discourse concerning a particular topic of interest; and (iv) provides requisite Personal Information to qualify as a Participant. In addition, (v) a Participant must agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Password Protected Area means that area or those areas of the Site where, in order to obtain access, a user must provide Personal Information.

Personal Information means a natural person's name, mailing address, email address, telephone number, cell phone number, and other information by which that person can be identified.

Political Exchanges means the political activities that take place through the Website, including: (i) organizing activities, (ii) Website communications between individuals concerning issues, positions, and organizing; and (iii) debates and the exchange of information concerning political issues.

Political Use means, upon the User's permission (via Privacy Policy consent), we shall be entitled to use the Personal Information for political purposes, including campaigning, organizing, issue identification, and other similar purposes. By way of clarifying example, the term "Political Use" expressly excludes commercial use.

Position Information has the meaning provide in The Types Of Information You May Provide.

Privacy Policy means our privacy policy, located at http://devalpatrick.com/privacy.html

Site Visitor means a casual visitor to the Website, who does not seek to become a Participant.

Third-Party Political Use means providing the user's Personal Information to other persons or entities, provided such persons or entities agree to use the Information solely for Political Use. Such third parties may further share such Information "downstream" provided downstream users similarly agree to use the information for Political Uses only.

User or user means either a Site Visitor or Participant.

User Name has the meaning provided in Registration Information.

User-Provided Third-Party Personal Information means Personal Information provided by a User, via the Website, concerning a person who the User believes might be interested in receiving information concerning the Website or its political goals.

Verification means the process of using Additional Information, beyond that provided by the User, to confirm or seek to confirm the identity of the User.

20. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Website, please contact us at:

Email: info@devalpatrick.com

21. Effective Date

The effective date of this Privacy Policy is November 17, 2009.

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