Privacy Policy

Effective as of May 18, 2021.

This Privacy Policy describes the privacy practices of Literacy, Inc. (“LINC,” “we”, “us” or “our”) and how we handle personal information that we collect through our websites (including www.lincnyc.org, https://nycreads.org/, and https://citysfirstreaders.com/), mobile application, or other digital properties that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Service”). This Privacy Policy also describes your choices and rights with respect to your personal information.

Index

Personal information we collect

How we use your personal information

How we share your personal information

Your choices

Other sites and services

Security

International data transfer

Children

Changes to this Privacy Policy

How to contact us

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us. Personal information you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise includes:

Registration information that you provide when you sign up for programming, such as your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and the age of participating children in your household.
Program information that you provide through your use of our programming, such as information you choose to provide to help identify appropriate resources.
Communications that we exchange with you, including when you contact us with questions or feedback, through social media, or otherwise.
Marketing information, such as your preferences for receiving our marketing communications and details about your engagement with them.
Donation information that you provide when you make a monetary donation in support of LINC, such as donation history. We use a third-party vendor to collect and process your payment information.
Survey information that you provide when you choose to participate in a survey.
Job application information such as professional credentials and skills, educational and work history, and other information that may be included on a resume or curriculum vitae.
Other information not specifically listed here, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

Third-party sources. We may combine personal information we receive from you with personal information we obtain from other sources, such as:

Public sources, such as government agencies, public records, social media platforms, and other publicly available sources.
Data providers, such as information services and data licensors that provide demographic and other information.
Our affiliate partners, such as partner organizations and event co-sponsors.
Marketing partners, such as joint marketing partners and event co-sponsors.

Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Service, our communications and other online services, such as:

Device data, such as your computer’s or mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone, tablet), IP address, unique identifiers (including identifiers used for advertising purposes), language settings, mobile device carrier, radio/network information (e.g., WiFi, LTE, 3G), and general location information such as city, state or geographic area.
Online activity data, such as launches, taps, clicks, scrolling information, pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Service, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times, and duration of access, whether you have opened our marketing emails or clicked links within them, and diagnostic data (such as crash logs, launch time, hang rate and energy use).
Precise geolocation data when you authorize our mobile application to access your device’s location.

Cookies. Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies serve different purposes, like helping us understand how a website is being used, letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences and generally improving your browsing experience. Our websites may use both session cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent cookies (which stay on your computer or mobile device until you delete them).

We use two broad categories of cookies: (1) first party cookies, served directly by us to your computer or mobile device, which we use to recognize your computer or mobile device when it revisits our websites; and (2) third party cookies, which are served by service providers or partners on our websites, and can be used by these parties to recognize your computer or mobile device when it visits other

websites. Third party cookies can be used for a variety of purposes, including website analytics, advertising and social media features.

Our websites may employ cookies and other tracking technologies in the following categories:

Advertising cookies. These cookies are used by advertising companies to collect information about how you use our websites and other websites over time. These companies use this information to show you ads they believe will be relevant to you within our services and elsewhere, and to measure how the ads perform.
Analytics cookies. These cookies help us understand how our services are performing and being used. These cookies may work with web beacons included in emails we send to track which emails are opened and which links are clicked by recipients.
Essential cookies. These cookies are necessary to allow the technical operation of our services (e.g., they enable you to move around on a website and to use its features).

Other technologies

Browser Web Storage. We may use browser web storage (including via HTML5), also known as locally stored objects (“LSOs”), for similar purposes as cookies. Browser web storage enables the storage of a larger amount of data than cookies. Your web browser may provide functionality to clear your browser web storage.
Flash Technology. We may use Flash cookies (which are also known as Flash Local Shared Object (“Flash LSOs”)) on our websites to collect and store information about your use of our websites. Unlike other cookies, Flash cookies cannot be removed or rejected via your browser settings. If you do not want Flash LSOs stored on your computer or mobile device, you can adjust the settings of your Flash player to block Flash LSO storage using the tools contained in the Website Storage Settings Panel. You can also control Flash LSOs by going to the Global Storage Settings Panel and following the instructions. Please note that setting the Flash Player to restrict or limit acceptance of Flash LSOs may reduce or impede the functionality of some Flash applications, including, potentially, Flash applications used in connection with our websites.
Web Beacons. We may also use web beacons (which are also known as pixel tags and clear GIFs) on our websites and in our HTML formatted emails to track the actions of users on our websites and interactions with our emails. Unlike cookies, which are stored on the hard drive of your computer or mobile device by a website, pixel tags are embedded invisibly on webpages or within HTML formatted emails. Pixel tags are used to demonstrate that a webpage was accessed or that certain content was viewed, typically to measure the success of our marketing campaigns or engagement with our emails and to compile statistics about usage of our websites, so that we can manage our content more effectively.
Software Development Kits (SDKs). SDKs are used to incorporate third party computer code into the Service that allows our third party service providers or advertising partners to collect data directly from the Service for a variety of purposes, including to provide us with analytics regarding the use of the Service, to integrate with social media, add features or functionality to the Service, or to facilitate online advertising.

For information regarding your choices regarding the use of cookies and similar technologies on the Service, see the Your Choices section below.

The categories of personal information listed above may be linkable to your identity by us and the third parties described below in How we share your personal information.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

Service delivery. We use your personal information to:

provide, operate and improve the Service and our programs;
communicate with you about the Service, including by sending program check-ins, announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
understand your needs and interests, and personalize your experience with the Service and our communications; and
provide support for the Service, and respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

Research and development. We may use your personal information for research and development purposes, including to analyze user behavior, understand the effectiveness of existing features, plan new features, measure audience size or characteristics and otherwise analyze and improve the Service. As part of these activities, we may create aggregated, de-identified or other anonymous data from personal information we collect. We make personal information into anonymous data by removing information that makes the data personally identifiable to you. We may use this anonymous data and share it with third parties for our lawful purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service, develop new programs, and promote our organization.

To manage our recruiting and process employment applications. We may use personal information, such as information submitted to us in a job application, to facilitate our recruitment activities and process employment applications, such as by evaluating a job candidate for an employment activity, and monitoring recruitment statistics.

Marketing and advertising. We, our service providers and our third-party advertising partners may collect and use your personal information for the following marketing and advertising purposes:

Direct marketing. We may send you direct marketing communications about LINC or our partner organizations as permitted by law. You may opt out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt out of marketing section below.
Interest-based advertising. We may engage third-party advertisers or advertising companies to display ads on our Service and other online services. These companies may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your interaction (including the data described in the automatic data collection section above) over time across the Service, our communications and other online services, and use that information to serve online ads that they think will interest you. This is called interest-based advertising. We may also share some information such as device identifiers with these companies to facilitate interest-based advertising to those or similar users on other online platforms. You can learn more about your choices for limiting interest-based advertising in the Your Choices section below.

Compliance and protection. We may use your personal information to:

comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities;
protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims);
audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements and internal policies;
enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Service; and
prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.

Retention. We retain personal information as necessary to perform services, to satisfy legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, for fraud prevention purposes and as otherwise permitted by law.

How we share your personal information

We may share your personal information with the parties below, with other third parties with your consent, and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy or at the time of collection.

Affiliates. Our parent organizations, subsidiaries, and affiliates, for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Service providers. Companies and individuals that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our organization (such as hosting, information technology, user support, relationship management, email delivery, marketing, and website analytics) to facilitate the provision of such services.

Advertising partners. Third-party advertisers and advertising companies for the interest-based advertising purposes described above.

Program Sponsors. We may post sponsorship messages from third parties on our Service. Those sponsors may be able to infer information about you when you click on those ads.

Payment processors. Any payment card information you use to donate via the Services is collected and processed directly by our payment processors. Please review the privacy policies for our payment processors, Stripe, PayPal, and Give Lively, to learn how they may use your payment information.

Partner organizations. We may share your information (such as your participation in LINC events or expressed interest in partner organizations) with our partner organizations to improve our programs. Our partners may use this information for internal purposes and to send you email newsletters and marketing, fundraising, membership and other communications.

Professional advisors. Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

Authorities and others. Law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the compliance and protection purposes described above.

Business transferees. Acquirers and other relevant participants in transactions (or negotiations for such transactions) involving a corporate divestiture, merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization, sale or other disposition of all or any portion of the assets of LINC or our affiliates (including, in connection with a bankruptcy or similar proceedings).

Your choices

You have the following choices with respect to your personal information.

Opt out of marketing communications. You may opt out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing communications. You may also opt out of marketing-related mailings by contacting us.

Blocking cookies in your browser. Most browsers let you remove or reject cookies. To do this, follow the instructions in your browser settings. Many browsers accept cookies by default until you change your settings. Please note that if you set your browser to disable cookies, our websites may not work properly. For more information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. If you do not accept our cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of our websites. For example, we may not be able to recognize your computer or mobile device and you may need to log in every time you visit our websites.

Limit interest-based advertising. Your options for limiting use of your information for interest-based advertising purposes, include:

Industry association opt-outs. You may opt out of receiving interest-based advertising on websites through members of the Network Advertising Initiative by clicking here or the Digital Advertising Alliance by clicking here. You may opt out of receiving targeted advertising in mobile apps through participating members of the Digital Advertising Alliance by installing the AppChoices mobile app, available here, and selecting the user’s choices. Please note that we also may work with companies that offer their own opt-out mechanisms and may not participate in the opt-out mechanisms linked above.
Blocking advertising ID use in your mobile settings. Your mobile device settings may provide functionality to limit use of the advertising ID associated with your mobile device for interest-based advertising purposes.

If you choose to opt-out of interest-based ads, you will still see advertisements online, but they may not be relevant to you. Even if you do choose to opt out, you may still receive some cookies and tailored advertisements from companies that do not participate in the programs listed above.

Mobile device permissions. You can use your mobile device’s privacy settings to disable our access to any data granted through them.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Third-party platforms. If you choose to connect to the Service through your social media or CRM account, you may be able to use your settings in your account with that platform to limit the information we receive from it. If you revoke our ability to access information from a third-party platform, that choice will not apply to information that we have already received from that third party.

Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services. If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

Other websites and services

The Service may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us. These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions.

Security

We employ a number of technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

International data transfer

We are headquartered in the United States and may use service providers that operate in other countries. When you provide personal information via the Service, your personal information may be held in the United States or other countries where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction if you live outside the United States.

Children

The Service is not intended for use by children under 13 years of age. If we learn that we have collected personal information through the Service from a child under 13 without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will delete it.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on the Service. If required by law we will also provide notification of changes in another way that we believe is reasonably likely to reach you, such as via email or another manner through the Service. Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting the modified version (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your use of the Service after the effective date of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the modified Privacy Policy.

How to contact us

Literacy, Inc. 5030 Broadway, Suite 641 New York, NY 10034
info@lincnyc.org