Privacy Policy

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Last revised: February 17, 2022

GiveThx, Inc. (collectively with any subsidiaries, "GiveThx", “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a social enterprise that provides a platform for students to express gratitude to peers and teachers.

This Privacy Policy describes our practices regarding information we collect through our websites, including www.givethx.org, mobile applications and any other interactive features or services owned or controlled by GiveThx that post a link to this Privacy Policy (each, a "Service" and collectively, the "Services"), as well as any information we collect offline and combine in our databases. Certain features discussed in this Privacy Policy may not be offered on each Service at any particular time. Note that we combine the information we collect from you through all of our Services.

Note about Children: As required by applicable law and our Terms of Service, children under the age of 13 in the U.S. (and a higher age if required by the applicable law in another country) may only use our Services with the express prior consent of a parent or legal guardian.  If you are a Teacher or Administrator, you must obtain all necessary parental consents before allowing students to create an account or use the Services.

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1. What is this policy?

WE FULLY DESCRIBE OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES BELOW IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. THIS SUMMARY PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR USE AND SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION, AND THIRD PARTIES WHO MAY SERVE ADVERTISEMENTS AND WHO MAY SET COOKIES OR SIMILAR TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES WHEN YOU USE THE SERVICES. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE PRIVACY POLICY VERY CAREFULLY.  BY USING ANY SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY IN ITS ENTIRETY.

Information collection/How we use your information: We collect, use, share, and retain Personal Information (as defined below) only for purposes for which we are authorized by a school contracting with GiveThx. We primarily use the information we collect when you use the Services in connection with your relationship with GiveThx, your use of the Services, and for sending you information from us. This may include connecting you to other members of the GiveThx community. Please review the "What information does GiveThx Collect?” and "How does GiveThx use the information it collects?" sections of this Privacy Policy for a full description of the information we collect, including Personal Information (as defined below), and how we use that information.

Information Sharing: Remember that if you create a Profile (as defined below) or share Personal Information with other users on the Services, your information may be visible to others. However, student data will only be visible to their teachers, and students can only share limited data with other students (e.g., name, class, and message when sending a note to a classmate). Note that we do not share your Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes; however, we may share your Personal Information under certain limited circumstances. For more details, please review the section below entitled "Will GiveThx share any of the information it collects?"

Third party analytics providers: We work with analytics service providers and other vendors to provide us with information regarding traffic on the Services, including the frequency of use and the actions users take when visiting the Services and to provide us with information regarding the use of the Services.

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2. What information does GiveThx collect?

Information Shared With Us

  1. Registration and Other Information You Provide

The Services may collect "Personal Information" (which is information that can reasonably be used, alone or in combination with other reasonably available information, to identify or contact a specific individual).  Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, student data, metadata, and user content. This may include a name, email address, student ID, password, or usage information. Any information combined with Personal Information will be treated as Personal Information.

  1. Your Account Page and Community Forums

Your Account Page:  Teachers must create a facilitator account that contains the teacher’s name, password (unless using Google single sign-in), email, role, and school. Students or teachers may create participant accounts for students which contain a student’s name, password, classroom (associated with a facilitator account), and school or email ID. Teachers cannot view students’ participant account pages; however, teachers are able to view the name, email, classes, and notes or reflections written for and by each of their students. Teachers may be able to view the name and email address of other teachers at their same school, but cannot view another teacher’s Account Page.

Community Communications: The Services may provide teachers the opportunity to participate and post content that would be visible to other teachers, through interactive features and through other communication functionality ("Community Communications").

Note that anything you post to a Community Communication may be visible to others.

  1. Third Party Services and Information Third Parties Provide About You

The Services may permit interactions between the Services and a third-party feature or service.  These third parties may provide us with information about you. For example, when you sign-in through Google, you authorize GiveThx to collect, store, and use any information that you agreed Google would provide to GiveThx, such as your name, Google profile picture, unique identifier, and email address. Similarly, if you publicly post information on a third-party platform, such as a social media site, that references GiveThx or one of the Services, your post may be published on our Services in accordance with that third party’s terms. These features may collect your IP address or other unique identifier, which page you are visiting on our website, and may set a cookie to enable the third-party feature to function properly. When you use a third-party feature through the Services, the third party may also have access to information about you and your use of our Services. Your interactions with third-party links and features are governed by the privacy policies of the third parties.  

The information we collect is subject to this Privacy Policy. The information collected and stored by the third party remains subject to the third party's privacy practices, including whether the third party continues to share information with us, the types of information shared, and your choices with regard to what is visible to others on that third party website and service. The third party may allow you to remove the application or feature, in which case we will no longer collect information about you through the application or feature, but we may retain the information previously collected in compliance with all applicable laws.

Information We Collect Automatically

Like other websites and online services, we and our analytics providers, vendors and other third-party service providers may automatically collect certain "Usage Information" whenever you access and use the Services.  For example, we may collect information regarding how often a user accesses certain features.  

Usage Information may include the browser and operating system you are using, the URL that referred you to our Services (if applicable), the search terms you entered into a search engine that lead you to our Services (if applicable), all of the areas within our Services that you visit, and the time of day you used the Services, among other information. We may use Usage Information for a variety of purposes, including to select appropriate content to display to you and to enhance or otherwise improve the Services and our products.

In addition, we automatically collect your IP address or other unique identifier ("Device Identifier") for any computer, mobile phone or other device (any, a "Device") you may use to access the Services. A Device Identifier is a number that is automatically assigned to your Device used to access a Service, and our servers identify your Device by its Device Identifier. Some mobile service providers may also provide us or our third-party service providers with information regarding the physical location of the Device used to access a Service, internet service provider (ISP), date and time of your visit, browser language, browser type, referring and exit pages and URLs, amount of time spent on particular pages, which parts of our Services you use, which links you click, search terms, operating system, traffic and related statistics, keywords, and/or other general browsing or usage data. Usage Information is generally non-identifying, but if we associate it with you as a specific and identifiable person, we treat it as Personal Information.

Usage Information is collected via tracking technologies.  Please refer to our Cookie Policy for further information.

How We Respond To Do Not Track Signals:

Please note that your browser setting may allow you to automatically transmit a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal to websites and online service you visit. DNT is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers to inform websites and services that they do not want certain information about their webpage visits collected over time and across websites or online services. However, we do not recognize or respond to browser-initiated DNT signals, as the internet industry is still working to determine what DNT means, how to comply with DNT, and how to create a common approach to responding to DNT. To find out more about "Do Not Track", please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

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3. How does GiveThx use the information it collects?

We may use information about you, including Personal Information, the information you provide in your Profile, User Content, and Usage Information for the following purposes:

1. To provide the Services. We use your personal information to verify your registration, allow you to participate in features we offer, contact you regarding the Services, and to allow other users to contact you.

2. To operate the websites. Your personal information may be used to tailor content, recommendations and offers we display to you, both on the Services and elsewhere online, as well as to maintain or improve our Services.

3.  To send marketing communications.  We may contact teachers and administrators regarding offers, promotions, and surveys.  You may opt out of such communications as described below.

4.  To create anonymous data for analytics.  We may make information anonymous by excluding information that makes it personally identifiable to you, and use that anonymous data for our lawful business purposes.

5.  For compliance, fraud prevention, and safety.  We use your personal information as we believe is necessary or appropriate to (a) enforce our terms and conditions; (b) protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and that of you or others; and (c) protect, investigate, and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activity.

6. To comply with law.  We use your personal information as we believe necessary or appropriate to comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities.

7.  With your consent.  In some cases, we may ask for your consent to collect, use, or share your personal information, such as when required by law or agreements with third parties.

Please note that information submitted on the Services via a "Contact Us" or other similar function may not receive a response. We will not use the information provided via these functions to contact you for marketing purposes unrelated to your request unless you agree otherwise.

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4. Will GiveThx share any of the information it collects?

GiveThx does not sell any user Personal Information. GiveThx does not share your Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes in compliance with all applicable laws (including California Business & Professions Code section 22584 ("SOPIPA"), and California Education Code section 49073.1). GiveThx may share non-Personal Information, such as aggregate or de-identified user statistics, demographic information and Usage Information with third parties.

We also may share your Personal Information with third parties with your consent (if permissible under applicable law), as disclosed at the time you provide us with information, and as described below or otherwise in this Privacy Policy:

  1. Service Providers

We will share your Personal Information with third parties to provide services to us or you in connection with the Services, but subject to confidentiality obligations which limit their use and disclosure of such information. For example, we may provide your Personal Information to companies that provide services to help us with our business activities, sending our emails, or offering customer service. If you purchase any merchandise, our billing partner will receive billing, shipping and financial information (e.g., credit card numbers) necessary to process your charges, including your postal and e-mail addresses, depending on your payment method.

  1. Administrative, Legal Reasons & Academic Integrity Investigations

We may also disclose your information, including Personal Information, in response to a subpoena, court order, or when otherwise required by law; in response to bankruptcy proceedings; to defend our rights; in response to a request from law enforcement; to provide information to a claimed owner of intellectual property who claims that content you have provided to us infringes on their rights; upon request of or as otherwise authorized by an academic institution connected to an investigation into academic integrity; to protect and/or defend any applicable Terms of Use or other policies applicable to the Services; or to protect the personal safety, rights, property or security of any organization or individual.

We may also use Device Identifiers, including IP addresses, to identify users, and may do so in cooperation with copyright owners, Internet service providers, wireless service providers or law enforcement agencies in our discretion. These disclosures may be carried out without your consent or without notice to you.

  1. Business Transitions

GiveThx may share Personal Information with its parent, subsidiaries and affiliates, and investors primarily for business and operational purposes so long as any recipient agrees to comply with this Privacy Policy and applicable law with regard to such Personal Information. In the event that GiveThx goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, bankruptcy, or other corporate change, including, without limitation, during the course of any due diligence process, your information, including Personal Information, will likely be among the assets transferred.

You will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on Services of any completed change in ownership or uses of your Personal Information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your Personal Information. This Privacy Policy will become binding upon the new owner of the information until amended.  

  1. Testimonials

We display personal testimonials of satisfied adult users on our Services in addition to other endorsements. With your consent we may post your testimonial along with your name. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us.

5. How does GiveThx work with third parties?

No Third-Party Advertising

GiveThx will never use any student data to advertise or market to students or their parents. We will not mine student data for any purposes other than those agreed to by the parties. Data mining or scanning of user content for the purpose of advertising or marketing to students or their parents is prohibited.

Google Sign-In

If you choose to connect to the Services via Google, you may have the ability to limit the information that we may obtain from Google at the time you login to the Service. Subsequently, you may be able to control your settings through your Google settings page. If you withdraw our ability to access certain information from Google, that choice will not apply to information that we have already received from Google. When you sign-in through Google, you allow GiveThx to disclose information to Google that you’ve allowed us to share with Google. We do not control Google’s use of your personal information.  Learn more about how Google uses your information here.

Third-Party Analytics Providers

We work with analytics service providers and other vendors to provide us with information regarding traffic on the Services, including the features used when visiting the Services and to provide us with information regarding the use of the Services.

Third-Party Content, Links to Other Sites, and GiveThx Content Found Outside of the Services

Certain content provided through the Services may be hosted and served by third parties. In addition, the Services may link to third party websites or content over which GiveThx has no control and which are governed by the privacy policies and business practices of those third parties.

Please also note that GiveThx content may be included on web pages and websites that are not associated with us and over which we have no control. These third parties may independently collect data. GiveThx is not responsible or liable for the privacy practices or business practices of any third party.

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For more information about data we receive from third parties, please refer to “Third Party Services, Social Media Platforms, and Information Third Parties Provide About You” above.

6. What happens if I access GiveThx’s services through a mobile device?

If you use the Services through a mobile device or one of our mobile applications, you agree that GiveThx may store and use that information for security purposes (for example, for user verification or authentication and to ensure that our APIs are being used appropriately).

7. How does GiveThx protect children’s information?

Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important to GiveThx. For that reason, we created certain features designed to help protect Personal Information relating to children who are less than 13 years of age or a higher age if required by applicable law (“Child Users”).

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) requires that all online service providers, including GiveThx, obtain parental consent before knowingly collecting personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. GiveThx does not knowingly permit Child Users to use our Services without prior, express consent from a parent or legal guardian, except through agreements with schools or districts or as otherwise permitted under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If we learn that Personal Information of a Child User has been collected on our Services without prior parental consent, then we will take appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian (“Parent”) and discover that your child under the age of 13 (or a higher age if required by applicable law) has a registered account with our Services without your consent, please contact your child’s school and contact GiveThx to request that we delete that child’s personal information from our systems.

How does a child register and use the services?

Child Users cannot obtain a participant account without first receiving a prompt from their school.

GiveThx collects student personally identifiable information solely for the use and benefit of schools that use GiveThx’s Services and for no other commercial purpose. GiveThx provides schools that use its Services with full notice of its collection, use, and disclosure practices. GiveThx obligates schools (or other authorized individuals) to use this information to obtain any necessary parental consents before permitting children to register for a participant account or use the Services.

What children’s information is visible to others?

No student’s profile is made available or visible to the public through GiveThx. If a teacher utilizes certain features on a device in the classroom, other students may be able to view information that is displayed by the teacher in the classroom, but students can’t view each other’s individual student profiles.

Parents:  To review your child’s User data you must request the information from your child’s teacher.  

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A Note about FERPA:

Certain records collected or maintained by GiveThx are subject to FERPA.  FERPA provides parents (or students if over the age of 18) with certain rights with regard to those records.  For more information on those rights and other important information about FERPA, please see the U.S. Department of Education FERPA Policy.

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8. How does GiveThx protect and store my information?

GiveThx takes data security very seriously.  GiveThx takes commercially reasonable technical, physical, and administrative security measures designed to protect the Personal Information submitted to us, both during transmission and upon receipt.  Such measures vary depending on the sensitivity of the information at issue.  Measures taken to protect your data include the following:

  • We continually test GiveThx’s security practices for vulnerabilities.
  • We periodically review our information collection, storage and processing practices, including physical security measures, to guard against unauthorized access to systems.
  • We continually develop and implement features to keep your personal information safe - for example, all traffic to and from our application is over secure, encrypted protocols (SSL/TLS).
  • We ensure passwords are stored securely using encryption and salted one-way hashing.
  • Every GiveThx employee participates in training on the importance of and methods for protecting Personal Information. Training consists of how to remain compliant with federal and state regulations (e.g . FERPA, COPPA, and SOPIPA), GiveThx policies, and general security posturing to protect student data (including techniques such as Two Factor Authentication, Drive Encryption, creating and managing strong passwords, etc.).  
  • All GiveThx employees are trained in security practices and procedures designed to keep Your Data under strict internal controls.
  • Developers peer-review code to make sure changes adhere to best practices for security.
  • Administrators are knowledgeable of security practices and harden the infrastructure with necessary patches, monitor security resources for advisories and vulnerabilities, and scan the environment and application to ensure that student information remains secure.

Please note that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is completely secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

How will GiveThx handle a data breach or security incident?

In the event that GiveThx becomes aware of a data breach impacting your Personal Information, we will provide notification in compliance with all applicable laws. For example, we may post a notice on our homepage or elsewhere on the Service, and may send email to you at the email address you have provided to us. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.

GiveThx has procedures in place that are designed to stop threats that may expose personally identifiable information, restore Services to full functionality, and document and take proactive steps to ensure the incident cannot be repeated. GiveThx will also preserve necessary evidence for investigation by security professionals and law enforcement as appropriate. In the unlikely event of an unauthorized disclosure of records, GiveThx will follow its internal procedures, which articulates how to report the problem to internal and external stakeholders. The notification process includes any information that can identify which customers and students may have been impacted, the data that may have been accessed, GiveThx’s process to inform affected customers, and steps to prevent the incident from happening again as appropriate.

In the unlikely event of an unauthorized disclosure of Data, GiveThx has implemented a process for responding to incidents and notifying affected individuals and, if applicable, law enforcement personnel.

If you have any questions about security on our Services, you can contact us.

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9. How can I opt-out of sharing, providing, or receiving certain information?

Providing Personal Information: You can always decline to share personal information with us, or even block all cookies. However, it’s important to remember that many of GiveThx’s features may not be accessible, or may not function properly - for example, we may not be able to remember your language preferences for you.

Email Communication: You can opt-out of receiving further communications by clicking the unsubscribe button at the bottom of an email. GiveThx may continue to send you Service-related emails as we believe necessary to provide the Services. GiveThx will never email students.

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10. How can I access and manage my personal information?

You may be able to review the information you provided to us on a Service and make any desired changes to the information, or to the settings for your account on that Service, by logging in to your account for that Service and editing or deleting the information.

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11. What communications will I receive from GiveThx and how do I limit them?

GiveThx may post notices on the homepage.

If you are a teacher, GiveThx may also send you information by email. You may choose to stop receiving certain emails from GiveThx your by using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the GiveThx email. However, we reserve the right to send you information on our behalf and on behalf of third parties in connection with providing the Services. If you no longer want to receive information from us, you will need to close your account for that Service.

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12. How do I close my account?

If you wish to close your account with one of our Services, please contact us, and we will remove your Personal Information and Profile, if applicable, from the active databases for the Service(s) you request. Please let us know which Service(s) you wish to close and, if applicable, send your request using an email account that you have registered with GiveThx under your name. You typically will receive a response to a request sent to this account within five business days of our receiving it.

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13. How long does GiveThx keep my information?

Upon termination of your Account, GiveThx will take commercially reasonable steps to delete any Personal Information, excluding information relating to messages you sent to active users, from our live databases in a reasonable amount of time not to exceed ninety (90) days. You understand and agree that GiveThx may continue to have Personal Information in archive files or similar databases.  You further agree that GiveThx has no obligation to delete aggregated or de-identified information.  GiveThx may retain and use aggregated and de-identified information for any purpose consistent with laws and regulations.

Even if your account is closed, information may remain in backup or archive records and we may retain certain data relevant to preventing fraud or future abuse or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable or de-identified data, account recovery or if required by law.  All retained data will continue to be subject to the applicable privacy policy for the Service.  Also, if you have posted content on or through the Services, such as in Community Communications, we may not be able to delete it.

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14. How will GiveThx notify me of changes to this policy?

We will notify you of material changes to the Privacy Policy on our Website and/or by email, and make additional efforts to notify customers of material changes that impact the treatment of data collected through our Services.

GiveThx may update this Privacy Policy at any time and any changes will be effective upon posting.  Upon any update the date at the top of this policy will be updated.  In the event that there are material changes to the way we treat your Personal Information, you are responsible for regularly reviewing this Privacy Policy and your GiveThx account for notice of such modifications. Your continued use of the Services following an update to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

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15. What if I don’t live in the U.S.?

Consent to Transfer

The Services are operated in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the Services, or providing us with any information, you fully understand and unambiguously consent to this transfer, processing and storage of your information in the United States, a jurisdiction in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen.

Important Information for Users in the European Economic Area

The following information only applies to users in the European Economic Area (EEA), provided that we are the controller of your personal information as described below.

Controller

If you use the Services through your employer, school or another organization, that organization is the controller of your personal information and all questions or requests regarding your rights under European data protection legislation (including the rights described under Your rights below) or the processing of your personal information, should be directed to the organization. GiveThx is the organization’s processor and uses your personal information only as instructed by the organization and to the extent necessary to comply with applicable law.  

If you do not use the Services through an organization, GiveThx is the controller of your personal information and can be reached using the contact details in “How can I contact GiveThx with questions” section.

Legal bases for processing

We process your personal information on the following legal bases:  

Processing Purpose: To provide the Services

Legal Basis: Processing is necessary to perform the contract governing our provision of the Services or to take steps that you request prior to requesting the Services.

Processing Purpose: To operate the websites; to send marketing communications; to create anonymous data for analytics; for compliance, fraud prevention, and safety.

Legal Basis: These processing activities constitute our legitimate interests. We consider and balance the potential impact on our rights before we process your personal information for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal information for activities where your data protection interests override these legitimate interests (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

Processing Purpose: To comply with law

Legal Basis: Processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

Processing Purpose: With your consent.

Legal Basis: Processing is based on your consent. Where we rely on your consent you have the right to withdraw it anytime in the manner indicated at the time consent is requested.

Cross-border data transfer

Whenever we transfer your personal information out of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) to countries not deemed by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of personal information protection, the transfer will be based on safeguards that allow us to conduct the transfer in accordance with the EEA’s data protection laws. Such safeguards may include applying the European Commission model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries described here. Please contact us for further information about any such transfers or the specific safeguards applied.

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16. Your rights

You may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:

Access.  Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.

Correct.  Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.

Delete.  Delete your personal information.

Transfer.  Transfer a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice.

Restrict.  Restrict the processing of your personal information.

Object.  Object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the legal basis of our processing your personal information, where that processing adversely impacts your legal rights.  

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You may send us these requests by contacting us. We may request information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Applicable law may require or permit us to reject part or all of your request.  If we reject your request, we will tell you why, subject to legal restrictions. If you would like to submit a complaint about our use of your personal information or response to your requests regarding your personal information, you may contact us or submit a complaint to the data protection regulator in your jurisdiction.  You can find your data protection regulator here.  

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Retention

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. In some circumstances we may anonymize your personal information (so that it can no longer be associated with you) in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

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17. How can I contact GiveThx?

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us via email at info@givethx.org or by mail at:

GiveThx

70 Cielo Dr.

Greenbrae, CA 94904

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