Firstgiving Privacy and Security Policy

About Privacy
Firstgiving is committed to safeguarding your privacy online and we set out below how we do this.

We use information we collect about you to help us understand more about how our site is used. Where you have given your consent, we may also use it to communicate with you by email when we have information we think may be of interest to you.  We reserve the right to contact You periodically, even when you have not opted in to receive communication from Firstgiving, if there are important notifications regarding the Service.

If you choose to set up a fundraising page or make a donation, your contact details will be passed on to the charity you have chosen to support.

The information we collect from you may vary depending upon how you use the site - as a visitor, a member and/or as a donor to charities.

In this section, we often refer to ‘personally identifiable information’, which is information that enables us to identify you, such as your email address, name, job title and your password and postal address.

Read on to find out how information relating to you will be treated as you use our site.

• The information we collect from you as a visitor
  Firstgiving collects information about the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of all visitors to our site. An IP address is a number assigned to your computer automatically when you use the Internet. Firstgiving collects this information to help administer our website and diagnose problems. We also use IP addresses to monitor site traffic patterns in order to further develop and improve the design and layout of our site. We may report IP information in aggregate to partners and charities. Firstgiving also collects information volunteered by you, for instance in surveys or during registration. 
• The information we collect from you as a donor
  If you make an online donation, we collect additional information comprised of your credit or debit card details, including card type, card number and expiration date.
  Firstgiving will make your 'personally identifiable information' (as described above) available to the charity or charities to which you have made donations. We also make your name available to the fundraiser whose page you have contributed through; we will make your email address available only if you choose. We do not share your credit/debit card information. Firstgiving may also contact you with information we feel will be of interest, although you can choose to opt out of this if you wish. To opt out, please email support@firstgiving.com and ask to be removed from our email list. 
• Who receives your information?
  Firstgiving collects your 'personally identifiable information' and does not pass it on to third parties, with the following exceptions: to the credit card authorization company, when necessary to process a donation made by you to your chosen charity, and to the charity to which you have made a donation. Please note that if you are creating your own Fundraising Page for an event or occasion, we will pass on your name, address and email address to your chosen charity for administrative purposes. Your information may also be made available to the Charity’s Agent or third party event organizer specified by Your charity. We may share aggregate information (such as statistical or demographic information) with third parties, however, this information does not include personally identifiable information.
• Your choices regarding the use of your information
  When you make a donation to a fundraising page, you can determine how you would like your name to appear publicly on that page.

When we pass along your 'personally identifiable information' to charities, Firstgiving cannot control how charities use this information. If you wish to opt out of receiving future communications from the charity (other than any acknowledgement the charity may provide of your donation), please contact the charity directly.

• How you access, update or delete your information
  The accuracy of your individual information is important, so if any part of it changes at any time please let us know by updating your details in your Account. Just click on the ‘Personal Account Details’ tab at the top of the page and edit your registration information.
• Canceling your fundraising page
  You may cancel your fundraising page at any time by going to the ‘Cancel Fundraising Page’ box in your Account. If you choose to do this, please know that any information you have already provided will be handled in accordance with this Privacy and Security Policy.
• Links to other websites
  This policy only applies to information collected by the Firstgiving website.  This website may contain links to other websites, such as those of the charities using Firstgiving's products.  Such sites are not owned or controlled by Firstgiving, and we are not responsible for their privacy or security practices. We encourage you to review the policies of such other sites before providing personal information to them.
• Security precautions to protect your information
  Firstgiving uses the latest online security to protect the information you provide. However, you should be aware that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed 100% secure and any information you send us is at your own risk. Read the full details of our Security arrangements below.
• Tell a friend
  We will only use the information you provide (eg your friend’s email address) to send your message to your friend.
• If you are under the age of 18
  Children under the age of 18 should not use this website without the supervision of a parent or guardian, and should not submit any personal information to us. 
• Processing donations
  As is common with many e-commerce websites, Justgiving works with a credit card company. Our chosen credit card processing partner manages all customer data in accordance with consumer data protection legislation.
• Legal process
  Although unlikely to happen, Firstgiving may provide 'personally identifiable information' to the appropriate authorities as may be required by law or when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect Firstgiving’s rights or the rights of donors, or to comply with a legal process.
• Business transaction
  In the event that Firstgiving goes through a business transaction, such as a merger with or acquisition by another company, or a sale of all or a portion of its assets, your information may be among the assets transferred.  We will notify visitors and donors via an update to this Privacy Policy if any such transaction results in any changes to this policy.
• Acceptance of our privacy policy
  Your use of the Firstgiving website and associated services indicates your acceptance of this Privacy and Security Policy. If you are not satisfied with any aspect of it, please do not continue to use the website and services. This policy may change from time to time, and you are deemed to have accepted the then current version each time you use the site or one of our services, so please check back periodically.

About Security
We are proud of the high level of security we provide when you make online donations. Our secure servers work to protect your credit or debit card information as follows:

Along with our credit card processing partners, we use industry standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to provide a secure and safe environment for card donations. It encrypts all of your personal information, including card number, name and address so that it cannot be read as it travels over the Internet.

To our knowledge, there has never been a case in which a consumer has lost money as a result of fraudulent card use resulting from a breach of SSL security as data was transmitted over the Internet.

Your donations are processed as follows:

• You select a charity or fundraising page and choose to make a donation or register.
• Our Secure Server and your browser exchange 'digital keys'.
• The secure online donation form is displayed.
• After you have filled in the secure form, your browser will encrypt the information.
• The encrypted message is sent to our Secure Server.
• Only your browser and our Secure Server will have the "digital keys" needed to decrypt the message.
• Our Secure Server then decrypts the message and stores the information in our secure database.
• All credit and debit card processing is done from the secure database.
• At no point is your valuable payment information sent via email or any other non-secure method.
• Your donation, email address, and card information are all completely confidential.

Please remember that you play an important role in protecting your own security and privacy by keeping your password secure.

If you have any questions about our Privacy or Security Policy, please contact us via email at support@firstgiving.com

Last updated:  January 22, 2008