Privacy notice

This Privacy Notice describes the types of personal data the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (“AFSP,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects through in person events, this website, and others we operate (each, a “Site”), how that data is used and the types of third parties with whom we share it.  This Privacy Notice is designed to help you understand how we collect, use, process, and share your personal information, and to help you understand and exercise your privacy rights.

AFSP is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, making it exempt from most state privacy statutes. Although the AFSP may be absolved of obligations concerning consumer privacy rights under state privacy statutes, the AFSP chooses to provide all consumers certain rights consistent with such laws, as detailed below.

BY ACCESSING OR USING OUR SITES, YOU AGREE TO OUR USE OF YOUR INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED HEREIN, AND ALSO AGREE THAT AFSP’S TERMS OF USE GOVERN YOUR USE OF OUR SITES.

Our Sites may contain links to websites that are not controlled or operated by AFSP. This Privacy Notice does not apply to these third-party websites. We encourage you to request and review the privacy notices of any third-party before disclosing information to that party.

Effective Date

This Privacy Notice is effective Sept 21, 2023.

Changes to our Privacy Notice

AFSP reserves the right to modify this Privacy Notice at any time, without prior notice to you. When we modify this Privacy Notice, we will post the updated one to this Site. Modifications will be effective immediately. Each time you use this Site, you should check the effective date of this Privacy Notice and review any changes made since the last time you visited. Your continued use of this Site following modification of this Privacy Notice will signify your acceptance of the modification(s).

How to contact us?

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, the personal data that we process, or you would like to exercise one of your Data Protection Rights described in this Privacy Notice, please contact us.

Email Address:

Email: privacy@afsp.org

Because email is not always secure, please do not include credit card or other sensitive information in your emails to us.

Phone and Fax:

Toll-Free: 1-888-333-AFSP (2377)
T: (212) 363-3500
F: (212) 408-9684

Mailing Address:

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
199 Water St., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10038

We may collect the following categories of personal information: identifiers, internet or other electronic network activity information, geolocation, and sensitive personal information. We more fully discuss the pieces of personal information we collect below.

Contact Information

We may collect certain contact information from you, such as your name, email address, telephone number, and mailing address so that we can add you to our mailing list. When you are on our mailing list, we may mail you our newsletter and other relevant information. You may opt-out of our mailing list at any time. We may request your zip code so we can recommend resources in your area like local chapters or to connect you with local elected officials.

Demographic Information

At AFSP, diversity and inclusion are very important to us. To help us better serve diverse communities, at event registration and through our surveys, we may request demographic information such as your gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity, but it will always be optional. We collect such information to ensure we are reaching a diverse population and are designing programs and activities to meet those populations’ specific needs. If you would like to opt out of or limit our use of such sensitive information, please fill out this Data Subject Access Request form. Please note that we generally aggregate this information and do not link individuals to their responses. 

Feedback Information

We always want to ensure that we are providing the right services and making our programs better, so from time to time we may request that you complete a feedback survey. Filling out this survey is always optional. Optional demographic information collected in the surveys is to ensure we are reaching a diverse population and are designing programs and activities to meet those populations’ specific needs.  We also want feedback on who we are reaching through our programs and events and how your experience was with the organizers of the programs and events. To provide information on who we are reaching, many of our evaluation surveys ask the participants to provide their city & state using a Google map. We use third-party providers who specialize in survey software to provide these services.

• If you are a facilitator, we may ask you to complete a survey regarding your experience hosting an event.
• If you are a participant, we may ask you to complete a survey letting us know what you thought of the event.

Donation Information

When you donate, we collect your name, email address, mailing address, and payment card information. Your name, email address, messages, and donation amount may be viewed in the donor application when utilizing the internal messaging feature. This information is used to process your donation, send you a thank you note, and keep you up to date with information at AFSP. Payment card information is provided directly by users, via the AFSP Site, into our third-party PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes, and AFSP does not, itself, process or store the card information. We strongly encourage you not to submit credit card information by email or text. Occasionally, donors, attendees, or volunteers will ask AFSP employees to, on their behalf, enter payment card information into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes. When AFSP employees receive payment card information from donors, attendees, or volunteers by email, fax, phone, or mail, it is entered as instructed and then deleted or destroyed. 

Attendee Information

When you register for one of our events, we request that you create an account with our third-party fundraising application partner. We collect your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address (collectively, “Contact Details”) so we can send you updated information in connection with the event. We may also ask for your connection to suicide, and your answer may contain personally identifying information, including sensitive health data and optional sensitive personal information which could identify your racial or ethnic origin. The information that you provide us regarding your connection to suicide is always optional. If you qualify for a T-shirt, we collect your shirt size to provide this to you.

If you attend an event in person and did not pre-register, we have a QR code which directs you to our online forms so you can register and donate with a credit card.  If you prefer to donate with cash or a check, we will have you complete a form with minimum Contact Details and provide you with an envelope which is sent via UPS to our third-party processing service.

Public Policy Information

Our online AFSP Action Center helps you stay up to date on the state and federal bills that need your support and policies that impact your community. When you support AFSP through the Action Center, we collect your Contact Details. When you email elected officials through the Action Center or sign up to attend an advocacy event, you must register as an AFSP Volunteer Advocate. As a Volunteer Advocate, you may choose to receive monthly email updates from our public policy office that will alert you to the legislation and policies that need your support as well as upcoming policy events. We also allow you to sign up for our newsletters.

Local Chapters

With local programs and events in all 50 states, AFSP’s chapters are close to your location. We collect your zip code so we can find the chapter which is closest to you. If you sign up for Local Chapter Communications, we will collect your Contact Details and add you to the chapter email distribution list.  Emails will be sent for events like Out of the Darkness Walks, International Survivor of Suicide Loss Day, and many other events in your area.

Volunteer Information

When you become a volunteer, we collect your name, mailing address, email, and phone number so we can contact you regarding volunteer opportunities in your area and to keep you up to date with information at AFSP.

If you are a volunteer with one of the Chapter Boards or a Healing Conversations volunteer, we may also collect your gender, ethnicity, and other sensitive information to help AFSP create diversity in its Boards and programs.

Creating a Digital Memory

When you choose to create a Digital Memory Quilt square, the information shared with AFSP will be made publicly available. This is completely voluntary and the information we collect for this is your name, state where you live, and email address plus a “square title”, image, and description. We use a third-party provider to create these squares.

Research Information

In addition to Contact Details, Scientific Advisors (SA) are asked to provide professional contact information, areas of expertise and, if requested, reviews of grant applications through a third-party provider. SA’s names and institutions are shared on our website. Our online AFSP Apply for a Research Grant serves as a third-party managed portal for submitting research grant applications. When you submit a grant application, we collect your professional contact and institutional information. Assigned SA grant reviewers are able to read your application and review your Contact Details and provide online reviews through the third-party portal.

Program Information

As a public service, AFSP provides a list of support, education, and bereavement groups but we do not run, recommend, endorse, or fund any of these groups. These groups may collect your personal information, but it is not provided to AFSP. These groups follow different rules regarding the collection, use, and sharing of your personal information. We encourage you to read their privacy policies.

Healing Conversations Information

AFSP offers personal support for suicide loss survivors through our Healing Conversations program. Healing Conversations is our volunteer-led peer-to-peer support program for suicide loss survivors. To facilitate this support, AFSP collects your name, email address, phone number, city, state, age range, primary language, connection to the loss, plus the month and year of the loss. We also collect information related to the visit and provide follow-up surveys. We collect this information to create a volunteer connection that best matches the loss survivor’s needs.

Ordering Products

When you order DVDs, apparel, and other items from the AFSP store, we use a third party to provide these products to you. Your name, email, mailing address, and payment information are collected so we or our third-party partners can process your payment information, arrange for shipping, and provide you with an invoice and/or confirmation. We may also use this information to communicate with you if there are any questions related to your order. Payment card information is provided directly by users, via the AFSP Site, into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes, and AFSP does not, itself, process or store the card information. If you give this information directly to AFSP, we will process it on your behalf and not keep a record of it outside the appropriate third-party provider.

Call, Event Recordings, and Transcripts

If you contact AFSP for information or assistance, we may listen for training and quality assurance purposes. The information contained in these transcripts will depend on what you voluntarily provide to us.

If you attend one of our online events, we may record the event and your appearance using a third-party provider.  These recordings and the information contained in them may be made publicly available.

Other Data

We may collect personal data at other points on our Site or in relation to other affiliated programs and/or services offered by the AFSP. When such data is collected, a notice will be provided stating that personal data is being collected.

We may collect information to connect with you about your use of social media, blogging, or other communication methods you may use on behalf of AFSP.

We may also collect and use the information you provide: (a) to operate and maintain this Site; (b) to improve our content, services, and communications with you (for example, by customizing your experience or homepage on this Site); (c) to enforce our Terms of Use; and (d) to detect and protect against error, fraud and any other unauthorized or illegal activities.

We do not use any automated decision making in the performance of data analytics for reasons of employment or financial consideration. In some situations, we may engage third parties to create automatedly generated customer scores developed from publicly available sources.

We may use aggregate information to improve, enhance, modify and maintain our services or develop new services as well as conduct quality control measures.

We may use aggregated demographic and psychographic information from a third-party provider to create personas which are used for corporate support.

Directly

You directly provide AFSP with most of the data we collect and use. We collect data and process data when you:

• Subscribe to our mailing list.
• Register for an event or place an order for any of our products or services.
• Voluntarily complete a survey or provide feedback on any of our programs.
• Donate to AFSP.
• Purchase a product from AFSP.
• If you elect to connect with us through your social media account, certain information may be shared with us through that account and those social media companies may also collect information about you. The use of their features is governed by their privacy notices.

Indirectly

AFSP may also receive your data indirectly through the following sources:

• Third-party providers. The types of personal information we may collect from third-party sources include:
• Identifiers, such as name, telephone number, postal or email address, and social media identifiers. For example, we use a third-party provider to match your general location information (zip code) to a local chapter near you or to match you to your elected officials.
• Audio and Visual Information, such as your voice and likeness as captured in photographs, including when you tag us on social media that includes a photo or video of you.
• Commercial Information, such as information about the products you have purchased from us and how much you spent.
• User Content you post or make available online, such as your social media posts or publications.
• Engagement rates for email campaigns, including things like email open rates, URL redirects, if an email address is no longer valid (bounce rates), and the time from email to website click.
• Some social media companies may collect your IP address and other device information.
• We partner with other companies for joint events including Facebook for mental health resources.

Automatically

We may collect personal information automatically when you use our Site.

• Automatic Collection of Personal Information. We may collect certain information automatically when you use our Site, such as your Internet protocol (IP) address, user settings, MAC address, cookie identifiers, mobile carrier, mobile advertising and other unique identifiers, browser or device information, location information (including approximate location derived from IP address), and Internet service provider. We may also automatically collect information regarding your use of our Site, such as pages that you visit before, during and after using our Site, information about the links you click, the types of content you interact with, the frequency and duration of your activities, and other information about how you use our Site.
• Cookie Policy (and Other Technologies). We, as well as third parties that provide content, advertising, or other functionality on our services, may use cookies, pixel tags, and other technologies (“Technologies”) to automatically collect information through your use of our Site.
  • Cookies. Cookies are small text files placed in device browsers that store preferences and facilitate and enhance your experience.
  • Pixel Tags/Web Beacons. A pixel tag (also known as a web beacon) is a piece of code embedded in our Services that collects information about engagement on our Services. The use of a pixel tag allows us to record, for example, that a user has visited a particular web page or clicked on a particular advertisement. We may also include web beacons in e-mails to understand whether messages have been opened, acted on, or forwarded.

We use cookies and other Technologies to:

• Assist you with navigation.
• Assist you in registering for an event.
• Analyze your use of our Site, products, services or other applications.
• Assist with our promotional and marketing efforts.

There are a number of different types of cookies that our website uses:

• Essential - AFSP uses essential cookies to recognize you on our Site and remember your previous selections. These could include the language you prefer and your location. A mix of first-party and third-party cookies and services are used.
• Targeted Advertising and Personalization - AFSP uses advertising cookies to collect information about your visit to our Site, the content you viewed, the links you followed and information about your browser, device, and your IP address.
• Analytics – AFSP uses analytics to help us understand how our website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there are technical issues.

AFSP discloses your data when we are required to disclose it. The data that AFSP collects from you is stored in multiple systems hosted by third parties located in the United States and other locations. These third parties do not use or have access to the personal data that you provide to us for any purpose other than processing it for AFSP.

Categories and examples of third parties to whom we may disclose your personal information are described below.

• Service Providers. We may share your personal information with our third-party service providers and vendors that assist us with the provision of our services. This includes service providers and vendors that provide us with IT support, hosting, payment processing, customer service, and related services.
• Business Partners. We may share your personal information with business partners to provide you with a product or service you have requested. We may also share your personal information with business partners with whom we jointly offer products or services.
• Affiliates. We may share your personal information with our affiliates, for example: for our administrative purposes, IT management, or for them to provide services to you or support and supplement the services we provide.

Examples of third parties with whom we may disclose your personal information include:

• non-AFSP consultants and volunteers who are acting on our behalf for specific activities, like events and other programs in which you agreed to participate.
• Service providers that we engage to physically mail information to you, including items you have purchased or material from an event sponsor.
• Service Providers that we engage to email you information that you agreed to receive.  You may opt-out of these emails at any time.

We do not disclose your personal data with non-AFSP employees, volunteers, others working on our behalf or other businesses unless:

• You request or authorize it.
• The information is provided to comply with applicable law, regulation or legal process (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena, or court order), enforce an agreement we have with you, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of our employees or others.
• The information is provided to our third-party vendors or service providers that perform functions on our behalf like:
• Payment processing
• Location matching services
• Survey software
• Social media companies
• Email management platforms
• Marketing companies
• Customer management software
• To address disputes, claims, or to persons demonstrating legal authority to act on your behalf.

We may gather aggregated data about you and other Site visitors and disclose the results of such aggregated but not personally identifiable information to our partners, service providers, advertisers, and/or other third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

The AFSP Site interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others. If you choose to "like" or share information from the AFSP Site or other AFSP social media, you should review the privacy notice of the service that you are sharing to. If you are a member of a social media site, like Facebook, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your site visit to your personal data.

We may also share your information with third parties as appropriate and permitted by law.

Transferring data to the United States

AFSP is headquartered in the United States.  Information we collect about you will be processed and stored in the United States. By using the AFSP Site and services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be processed in the United States.

The United States does not have “adequacy” with the European Union (EU) as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), AFSP collects and transfers your personal data to the United States with consent, in the performance of a contract, or for an AFSP compelling legitimate interest in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms.

AFSP enters into contracts or data processing agreements with its vendors whenever feasible and appropriate. AFSP strives to apply suitable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of your personal data and to use it only in the context of our relationship and the practices described in this Privacy Notice. AFSP has never received a United States government request for information.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us at privacy@afsp.org.

AFSP may use personal information to provide you with tailored content and advertisements that we think you might like. AFSP may provide you with these materials as permitted by applicable law. Some of the ways we market to you include outreach over telephone, mailings, and email campaigns. If you have agreed to receive emails, you may always opt-out at any time. You have the right at any time to stop AFSP from contacting you for direct marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to be contacted for direct marketing purposes, you may opt-out via the ‘unsubscribe’ link included in emails or by completing our DSAR Form .

We retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Please note that in many situations we must retain all, or a portion, of your personal information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, protect against fraudulent, deceptive, or illegal activity, or for another one of our business purposes.

Protecting children’s privacy online is very important to us. AFSP does not direct online services to children under 13 years of age and we do not knowingly collect or solicit personal data from anyone under the age of 13. AFSP Programs and Services only collects de-identified survey data on children 13 years and older. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for a service or send any personal data about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under age 13 in violation of applicable law, we will take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible. If you are a parent or guardian or if you believe that a child under age 13 may have provided us personal data without parental consent, please contact us at privacy@afsp.org.

The privacy choices you may have about your personal information are determined by applicable law and are described below.

• Email Communications. If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt out of receiving future emails. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or Services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding us and our Services, and you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding our Services or updates to our Terms or this Privacy Notice).
• Text Messages. If you receive an unwanted text message from us, you may opt out of receiving future text messages from us by following the instructions in the text message or by otherwise contacting us as set forth in “Contact Us” below.
• Phone calls. If you receive an unwanted phone call from us, you may opt out of receiving future phone calls from us by following the instructions available on the call or by otherwise contacting us as set forth in “Contact Us” below.
• “Do Not Track.” Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals.
• Global Privacy Control. We honor the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”). If you have GPC enabled, your preferences will be automatically honored.
• Cookies and Personalized Advertising. You may stop or restrict the placement of Technologies on your device or remove them by adjusting your preferences as your browser or device permits. However, if you adjust your preferences, our Services may not work properly. Please note that cookie-based opt-outs are not effective on mobile applications. However, you may opt-out of personalized advertisements on some mobile applications by following the instructions for Android, iOS, and others.

The online advertising industry also provides websites from which you may opt out of receiving targeted ads from data partners and other advertising partners that participate in self-regulatory programs. You can access these and learn more about targeted advertising and consumer choice and privacy by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative, the Digital Advertising Alliance, the European Digital Advertising Alliance, and the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada.

Please note you must separately opt out in each browser and on each device, you use to visit our Site.

Additionally, in accordance with applicable law, you may have the right to:

• Access to and Portability of Your Personal Information including: (i) confirming whether we are processing your personal information; (ii) obtaining access to or a copy of your personal information; and (iii) receiving an electronic copy of personal information that you have provided to us, or asking us to send that information to another company in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format (also known as the “right of data portability”);
• Request Correction of your personal information where it is inaccurate or incomplete. In some cases, we may provide self-service tools that enable you to update your personal information;
• Request Deletion of your personal information;
• Request Opt-Out of your Data for processing of your personal information, including (i) the right to opt-out of the sharing/sale of personal information, (ii) object to or restrict our use of your sensitive personal information, including the right to opt-out of the disclosure of sensitive personal information, and (iii) opt out of the processing of your personal information for purposes of (b) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you; and
• Withdraw your Consent to our processing of your personal information. Please note that your withdrawal will only take effect for future processing and will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

If you make a request, we have at least one month, depending on applicable law, from the date the request is received to respond to you. If your request cannot be granted within a reasonable time frame, we will provide you with an explanation of when the information will be provided. If for some reason your request is denied, we will provide an explanation as to why it has been denied.

In some cases, you may have the right to appeal our response to your request. In such cases, you can contact us at privacy@afsp.org to initiate your appeal. If you are unsatisfied with the results of the appeal, you may have the right to contact the attorney general of your state to report your concerns.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please complete this DSAR Form or write to us at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 199 Water St., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10038, to the attention of “Data Subject Access Request.”

We follow generally accepted security practices and procedures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use and disclosure, Unfortunately, no company or service can guarantee complete security. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we do not accept liability for unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or loss of personal information.

By using our services or providing personal information to us you understand that any messages or information you send to our Site may be read or intercepted by others. If you have any questions about the security of personal data collected by AFSP, contact us at privacy@afsp.org.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or for any other reason, please contact us at privacy@afsp.org.

Privacy Notice - February 17, 2023
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