Al‑ANON FAMILY GROUP HEADQUARTERS, INC. PRIVACY POLICY

Last updated May 04, 2023

Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. (AFG) (“Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about our policy, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at digital@al‑anon.org.

When you visit our website, al‑anon.org, and use our services, you trust us with your personal information. We seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy policy that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Sites and our services.

This privacy policy applies to all information collected through our website (such as al‑anon.org), and/or all AFG owned domains, our Shopping Cart, related services, sales, marketing or events (we refer to them collectively in this privacy policy as the “Sites”).

Please read this privacy policy carefully as it will help you make informed decisions about sharing your personal information with us.

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide for us such as name, address, contact information, passwords and security data, and payment information.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when registering at the Sites expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and services, when participating in activities on the Sites or otherwise contacting us.

The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Sites, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect can include the following:

  • Name and Contact Data: We collect your first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data.
  • Credentials: We collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
  • Payment Data: We collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of payment information.

Third-party payment processors:

All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Information automatically collected

ln Short: Some information – such as IP address and/or browser and device characteristics – is collected automatically when you visit our Sites.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Sites. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system,language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Sites and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Sites, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.

We use personal information collected via our Sites for a variety of business purposes described below.  We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.

We use the information we collect or receive:

  • To facilitate account creation and logon process: If you choose to link your account with us to a third‑party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process.
  • To send administrative information to you: We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
  • To fulfill and manage your orders: We may use your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Sites.
  • To post testimonials: Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your first name, last initial and testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at digital@al‑anon.org and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information.
  • To request Feedback: We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Sites.
  • To enable user‑to‑user communications: We may use your information in order to enable user‑to‑user communications with each user’s consent.
  • For other Business Purposes: We may use your information for other Business Purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Sites, products, services, marketing and your experience.

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

ln Short: We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.

We may process or share data based on the following legal basis:

  • Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information in a specific purpose.
  • Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).
  • Vital interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or act regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

  • Vendors, Consultants and Other Third‑Party Service Providers: We may share your data with third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Sites, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the Sites over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. Unless described in this Policy, we do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes.

4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH?

In Short: We only share information with the following third parties.

We only share and disclose your information with the following third parties. We have categorized each party so that you may easily understand the purpose of our data collection and processing practices. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish to revoke your consent, please contact us.

  • Advertising, Direct Marketing, and Lead Generation
    • Google AdSense
  • Allow Users to Connect to their Third-Party Accounts
    • Facebook account, Twitter account, Instagram account and YouTube account
  • Content Optimization
    • Google Site Search, YouTube video embed, Hotjar Recruiter widget, Instagram embed and Vimeo video
  • Functionality and Infrastructure Optimization
    • Amazon Web Services
  • Invoice and Billing
    • PayPal
    • Apple Pay
    • Google Play Store
    • Stripe
  • Web and Mobile Analytics
    • Google Analytics
    • Hotjar
    • Amazon Web Services
  • Website Hosting
    • WordPress.com
    • InMotion Hosting
    • Amazon Web Services

5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and share your information.

This website uses various web analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) and other measurement tools (like Hotjar and Amazon Web Servcies) to help analyze how users use the site.

Cookies were originally designed to help a website distinguish a user’s browser as a previous visitor and thus save and remember visitor behavior information in an anonymous form and any preferences that may have been set while the user was browsing the site. A cookie is a small string of text that a website can send to your browser. A cookie cannot retrieve any other data from your hard drive, pass on computer viruses, or capture your email address.

The Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. website uses Google Analytics to understand how people are using the website and identify areas that can be improved or removed. The Google analytics cookie is used to produce statistics on how the site is used. You can read more about how Google uses your information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.  Amazon Web Services (AWS) information on cookies can be found here: https://aws.amazon.com/legal/cookies/

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) is transmitted to Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and sometimes other vendors. This information is then used to evaluate visitors use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity for al‑anon.org.

However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The “Help” function within your browser should tell you how.

You can Opt‑out of Google Analytics cookies here:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/

You can Opt‑out of HotJar cookies here:
https://www.hotjar.com/legal/compliance/opt-out

5a. ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES FOR MOBILE APP

Our mobile app includes a feature that is specifically designed to ensure accessibility for individuals with disabilities. This feature may require you to enable accessibility permissions on your phone. We want to assure you that we do not collect or share any of your personal information through this feature. Please note that by enabling accessibility permissions, you are consenting to the use of this feature to enhance your user experience. More information about our accessibility feature and how we handle your personal information can be found in our Terms of Use document. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at digital@al-anon.org for assistance.

6. DO WE USE GOOGLE MAPS?

ln Short: Yes, we use Google Maps for the purpose of providing better service.

This website uses Google Maps APls. You may find the Google Maps APls Terms of Service here. To better understand Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this link.

By using our Maps API implementation, you agree to be bound by Google’s Terms of Service.

7. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy unless otherwise required by law.

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

8. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, please also remember that we cannot guarantee that the Internet itself is 100% secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Sites is at your own risk. You should only access the services within a secure environment.

9. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

ln Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 13 years of age. By using the Sites, you represent that you are at least 18 or that if you are under the age of majority in your place of residence, you are using the Sites only with the consent of or under the supervision of your parent or legal guardian. If we learn that personal information from users less than 13 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data, we have collected from children under age 13, please contact us at digital@al‑anon.org.

10. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.

In some regions (like the European Economic Area), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. To make such a request, please use the contact details provided below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Please note however that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal.

If you are resident in the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=612080

Account information

If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your AFG Connects or terminate your AFG online store account, you can:

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, some information may be retained in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with legal requirements.

Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Sites.

Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or by contacting us using the details provided below. You will then be removed from the marketing email list – however, we will still need to send you service‑related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account. To otherwise opt‑out, you may:

11. CONTROLS FOR DO‑NOT‑TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do‑Not‑Track (“DNT’) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. No uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this Privacy Policy.

12. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.

If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Sites, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Sites. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Sites, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from our systems.

13. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS POLICY?

ln Short: Yes, we will update this policy as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

14. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS POLICY?

If you have questions or comments about this policy, you may email us at digital@al‑anon.org or mail to:

Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
1600 Corporate Landing Parkway
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
United States