Privacy Policy

Your Profile and Information You Provide to Us

We collect personal data when you provide it to us both offline and online. You do not need to provide personal information to use Church of the Highlands sites. You can create a profile, which allows us to tailor our sites and services to be a more personalized experience. To create a profile, we require your first and last name, an email address, campus, and a password to authenticate you when access your profile.

Beyond the personal information needed to create a profile, you have choices about what additional information you provide to us, which may include your zip code, the names of family members, gender, and your marital status, all of which will be stored in association with your profile. Certain information may be required based on your specific request, such as your social security number for employment inquiries and volunteer requests; we will notify you of this at the time of such a request.

We also collect information about you when you send, receive, or engage in communications with us, including when you submit personal information or requests by emailing info@churchofthehighlands.com or other general communication pathways. We retain those communications to process your inquiries, respond to your requests, and improve our sites and our services.

When you interact with us, the information you provide us is generally stored internally in our third-party relationship management system, or “CRM system.” We will use this information to authenticate you and allow you to access your specific profile, when available. We create user profiles for offline purposes as well, which include volunteerism and inquiries concerning employment. We may combine the information you provide us for your profile and interactions with our sites with information you provide us through other Church of the Highlands sites, services, and products and inferences we make from the same for our internal development to improve the overall quality of our sites, services, and products. We may also make recommendations to you for other Church of the Highlands services based on the information you provide and we infer.

Giving

If you choose to provide a donation through one of the Church of the Highlands sites, then and only then will you be prompted and required to provide credit card, bank account, and other financial information necessary to process the transaction. We will collect the designation for your donation if you provide one, and personal information such as your name, address, phone number, and/or email address to ensure that your donation is used for the purpose you request and to provide you with an annual giving statement that itemizes your donation(s). We will also contact you periodically to inquire if you would like to give to another program, location, or cause. We may contact you through push notification, email, mail, or in-app messages to share these opportunities. This information, excluding your financial information such as banking or credit card information, is stored in our CRM and/or Church Management System (ChMS). As of the date of this Policy, we use Pushpay to process your online donation payments. For information on how third parties process your information, please refer to their privacy policies found here: https://pushpay.com/legal-center/privacy/.

For donations you provide to us in person or by mail, we store your financial information in our databases in an encrypted form for as long as necessary to process your donation and as required by applicable law and GAAP accounting principles.

Volunteers (Dream Team) and Employment Inquiries

You may apply to be a volunteer for miscellaneous activities and events in person at a Church of the Highlands location, over the phone, and through one or more of our sites. You may also apply for employment in person and through our sites.

The information we require for volunteer and employment applications are your first and last name, telephone number, address, social security number, date of birth, and, in the case of a job inquiry, your employment history. We will store and use this information to process your application and associate it with your profile if one exists. We will use your social security number and date of birth solely for a background check in connection with your application to be a volunteer and/or employee. We will not share either with any third party except for third-party service providers that enable us to perform background checks and are obligated not to share your information or use it for any other purpose. If you become an employee of Church of the Highlands, your personal information is also used in connection with your employment.

As a ministry volunteer, you may have access to third-party software which allows you to schedule and check in to your volunteer activity, as well as manage other volunteer activity. This location-based information is stored in association with your profile to enable you to see your past volunteerism, and we also use it for our own internal analysis.

By agreeing to our Privacy Policy, you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies as described in this policy. Examples include: web beacons, pixels, tags, and device identifiers we refer to as “cookies.” If you use Church of the Highlands sites without changing your browser or device settings to disable cookies, we assume that you consent to receive all cookies provided through Church of the Highlands sites. We use cookies to recognize you and/or your device(s) on, off, and across the different applications of our sites and devices. Cookies help to facilitate the best possible user experience for our sites as they allow us to recognize you and maintain your user preferences from session to session, keep your account safe, and improve the functionality of the products and services offered through Church of the Highlands sites. They also help ensure that profile information is used in association with the correct profile. We do not use cookies to facilitate interest-based ads from third parties for third party goods or services.

We log usage data when you use Church of the Highlands sites, including when you view or click on content, browser type, browser language, perform a search or request, the date and time of your request, install an update, seek new functionality, or use one or more tools offered through our sites. We use cookies to identify you and log your use. When you access or leave our sites, we receive the URL of both the site you came from and the one you go to next. We also get information about your IP address, proxy server, operating system, web browser and add-ons, device identifier and features, and/or ISP or your mobile carrier. Using our sites from a mobile device will send us data about your location based on your phone settings and access you have granted the Church of the Highlands sites as discussed below.

We store this information and information about your use of our sites in connection with your profile. We do not share any of your personally identifiable information, device identification, or location without your explicit permission. We may advertise on third-party sites such as Facebook and Google and use third-party software development kits (“SDKs”) to attribute a download of a Church of the Highlands application on to the advertisement placed on the third-party site. We do not sell your personal information to any third parties, allow our SDK service providers to sell your personal information to third parties, or use your personal information to solicit the sale of third-party goods or services. We may provide these third parties with aggregate de-identified information concerning ads placed on their sites and downloads that result from those ads.

We use this information to provide a tailored Church of the Highlands site experience for you and to communicate with you more effectively. The information is also collected to determine the aggregate number of unique devices using our sites, track total usage, and analyze usage data to provide you with a better experience and to improve the quality of our services. We may combine this information with other information to provide you with a better experience and improve the quality of our service. If you do not want us to collect this information, you should cease use of our sites.

We generally maintain the data we collect from cookies for 30 days but may save it for longer when necessary, such as when required by law or for technical reasons. Although most internet browsers accept cookies by default, you can control cookies through your browser settings and similar tools or agree to refuse all cookies altogether. If you refuse to accept cookies, you may prohibit Church of the Highlands from delivering the full capability of our sites, and you may prevent the use of certain features and services that require these technologies.

We cannot regulate other sites, content, or applications of third parties. They may place their cookies or other files on your computer, collect data, or solicit personal information from you. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based, targeted content. We do not control these third parties' tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about targeted content, contact the responsible provider directly.

Communication From Us to You

We communicate with you through push notification, email, in-app messages, and SMS or MMS messages. If we communicate to you through email, you may unsubscribe to these messages via the unsubscribe link in the emails providing these messages. You can update your push notification settings at any time within the settings menu of the Church of the Highlands App.

By subscribing, you have provided Church of the Highlands with consent to send you occasional text messages. We may text you about things like events, new content, and requests for volunteer or donation support. The frequency of these messages may vary, and message and data rates may apply. Some of the text messages we send may include links to websites, which will require a web browser and internet access. You may text STOP to opt out or HELP for help at any time to any SMS or MMS message you receive from us or email us at dataprivacy@churchofthehighlands.com. Certain carriers may not be liable for delayed or undeliverable messages.

Recommendations and General Information

We collect and use personal information to support the mission of Church of the Highlands and to equip other churches through ministry resources. We use the data about you and inferences we make from that data to recommend certain content and functionality as well as additional experiences and opportunities offered by Church of the Highlands.

We may combine the information you provide with information we collect and the inferences we make for our internal development to improve the overall quality of all services and products provided by Church of the Highlands. We may make recommendations to you for other Church of the Highlands experiences and opportunities based on the information you provide, and we infer.

We may also use the data we have about you and inferences we make from that data to contact you regarding other opportunities to engage with Church of the Highlands. We may contact you through push notification, email, mail, or in-app messages to discuss these recommendations and opportunities, how to use our sites, and other news.

Security, Legal, and Technical Issues

We may use your information to contact you about account security, legal, and other service-related issues. Please be aware that you cannot opt out of receiving such messages from us. We may use your personal information to investigate, respond to, and resolve legal, security, and technical issues and complaints, including, as necessary, security purposes or possible fraud, violations of law or our Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy, or attempts to harm; however, you agree that we have no obligation to prevent or monitor for any of the preceding.

Notice

We may use your personal information to provide notice regarding a security incident or data breach by:

• sending a message to the email address you provide, as applicable
• posting to a publicly facing page of Church of the Highlands sites or through an in-app messages
• sharing notices through major statewide media and/or telephonic means, including calls and/or text messages, even if sent via automated means including automated dialers.

Standard text and data messaging rates may apply from your carrier.Notices sent by email will be effective when we send the email. Notices we provide by posting will be effective upon posting and by in-app messaging when the message is made. Notices we provide through telephonic means will be effective when transmitted or dialed. You consent to receiving electronic communications from Church of the Highlands relating to your use and access of the services provided by Church of the Highlands. It is your responsibility to keep your email address and any other contact information you provide to us current so that we may provide these communications to you.

Analytics and Performance

We internally analyze the personal data available to us, the use of content found on our sites, and the inferences we make from that data to provide and update Church of the Highlands sites, communicate with you, and process information as discussed in this Policy, and for internal analytics such as to observe social, economic, and geographic trends as they pertain to Church of the Highlands content.

In some cases, we work with trusted third parties to perform this research under controls that are designed to protect your privacy as outlined below. For example, we may use your data to generate statistics about overall usage of one of our sites worldwide, in specific geographic regions, or at specific events or locations. We also use de-identified and aggregate user data to market our sites, including communications that promote growth. Where we publicly share stats of our growth, we analyze and publish the data in an aggregated form, protecting your privacy and keeping your identity and personal information confidential. We use data, including user-provided personal information, aggregations of user data collected through the use of our sites, public feedback, and information inferred from this data to conduct internal research and development in order to provide a better overall experience on Church of the Highlands sites, measure the performance of our sites and increase use of our sites and their features. This is done by making changes to Church of the Highlands sites that are generally available and by sending messages suggesting functionality and content.

Sensitive Data

By using Church of the Highlands application and sites, we do not assume that you are of any particular religious affiliation or are expressing to us any particular religious belief. We assume you are interested in the content we provide. We do not require users to provide information about such beliefs or any other sensitive data such as race, ethnicity, philosophical beliefs, or physical or mental health to use Church of the Highlands sites or create or maintain a Church of the Highlands profile.

Some features available through Church of the Highlands sites utilize personal information that may reflect your religious or philosophical beliefs, but you are not required to provide such information. In addition to these features, you have control over the content of certain things you create, share, and store through Church of the Highlands, and if you provide us with sensitive information with any content you create, share, and store, we will assume we have your consent to process that information. We will not sell your sensitive personal information, but we may need to share it with third-party service providers that enable us to provide the Church of the Highlands sites and/or certain app features and those service providers are required to keep your personal information confidential and only use it to provide us with their services. We will process the sensitive information we collect and inferences we make about the same in accordance with our Privacy Policy and for the purpose of allowing and facilitating your use of those specific app features, to personalize your user experience, suggest other content and services, and internally improve our services.

If you choose to provide any sensitive information to us, we may use that information with other non-sensitive information you provide to create a more personalized Church of the Highlands experience for you and to perform the services and actions you request, such as sharing or storing content you create. In any event, Church of the Highlands will only process sensitive data you provide to us for Church of the Highlands's legitimate activities on your behalf and solely in accordance with the terms of this policy and any additional requests you make about the information. We will also maintain your information subject to appropriate safeguards discussed in this policy and otherwise provided by Church of the Highlands.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to our collection and processing of your sensitive personal information by turning off and ceasing to use Church of the Highlands features that use this information, or by contacting us via mail at Church of the Highlands, Attn.: Data Privacy Team, 3660 Grandview Parkway, Birmingham, Alabama, 35243 or by email at dataprivacy@churchofthehighlands.com. Withdrawing your consent may hinder our ability to provide certain functionality.

We do not sell or share your personal data with any third-party advertisers or ad networks for their advertising purposes. We may disclose your personal information to third parties to process information as described above and otherwise enable our ability to provide Church of the Highlands, as further discussed below.

Disclosure on Your Behalf

We may disclose personal information that we collect, or you provide as described in this Privacy Policy to fulfill our obligations, the purpose for which you provide it, a purpose you request when you provide the information, or any other purpose for which we have your consent.

Disclosure by You

If and when you share information through our sites, it is viewable by you and anyone else you choose to share it with. If you give access to your account to other applications and services, based on your approval, those services would have access to your shared information. The use, collection, and protection of your data by such third-party services are subject to those third parties' policies.

Internal Disclosure

We will share your personal data internally within Church of the Highlands and its affiliates to help combine the personal information covered across the different aspects of Church of the Highlands sites and our other products and services to help provide services to you in a manner that is personalized and useful to you and others. For example, we can personalize potential services to recommend to you using cookies or similar technologies that track what functionality you have already opted to receive.

Service Providers

We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this Privacy Policy to contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use solely to support our sites (such as cloud hosting, cookie providers maintenance, analysis, audit, external marketing, payments, fraud detection, communication, and development), as well as to support our operations (such as communicating with you for potential employment purposes). We may combine the information we have with the information of these service providers to facilitate their support. For example, some of the platforms used to send emails and notifications provided through Church of the Highlands are built and managed by third parties, so some of your information is sent securely to those services to provide such functionality. They will have access to your information as reasonably necessary to perform tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose it to others or use it for other purposes. We may also provide aggregate, de-identified information concerning the use of Church of the Highlands sites with third parties.

Content Providers

We utilize certain third parties to provide content on our sites. We do not share the personal information of users with these third parties. We may provide these third parties with aggregate analytics concerning the use of their content using de-identified and anonymized data.

Legal Process and Subpoena

We may need to disclose information about you when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process. We attempt to notify users about legal demands for their personal data when appropriate in our judgment, unless prohibited by law or court order or when the request is an emergency. We may dispute such demands when we believe, in our discretion, that the requests are overbroad, vague, or lack proper authority, but we do not promise to challenge every demand. We may also need to disclose your information if we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to:

• Investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities or to assist government enforcement agencies;
• Enforce our agreements with you;
• Investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations;
• Protect the security or integrity of our sites or
• Exercise or protect the rights and safety of Church of the Highlands, our users, personnel, you, or others.

How to Make Your Requests

For personally identifiable information that we have about you, you may request the following:

Deletion: You may ask us to erase or delete all or some of your personally identifiable information. Please note that doing so may limit your ability to use certain functionality of Church of the Highlands sites. Please note that an email address is required to have an account to ensure we can properly authenticate potential users of that account.

Correction/Modification: You may edit some of your personal data through your account or ask us to change, update, or fix your data in certain cases, including if it is inaccurate.

Right to Access and/or Take Your Data: You can ask us for a copy of or disclosure concerning your personal data you provided to us. Certain laws may provide the right to make additional requests concerning your personal information. If you have provided us with personal information and wish to make such a request under a specific region's law, include the phrase “[Your State/Country] Privacy Request” in the subject line of your request and send your request via email to dataprivacy@churchofthehighlands.com or via mail to Church of the Highlands, attn.: Data Privacy Team, 3660 Grandview Pkwy, Birmingham, AL 35243. We ask that individuals making requests identify themselves with at least their name, mailing address, and email address and identify the information requested to be accessed, corrected, or removed before we process the request. We may seek additional information to verify a requestor's identity. We may decline to process requests if we cannot verify the requestor's identity or if we believe the request will jeopardize the privacy of others, violate any law or legal requirement, cause the information to be incorrect, or for a similar legitimate purpose. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights under applicable law. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to a verifiable request concerning your personal information unless it is excessive, unduly burdensome, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide a cost estimate before completing your request.

Deleting Your Account

You can delete your Church of the Highlands account credentials at any time using the settings function in the Church of the Highlands application. To request deletion of all account data, you must follow the deletion request instructions above; however, when you delete your account, we will delete the information associated with your account, such as user contributions you have created, received, or shared. If you do not want to delete your account or this information but want to temporarily stop using a Church of the Highlands site, you may cease use, and we will maintain your account and the information associated with your account until you resume use or delete your account, whichever comes first.

We generally retain and process information and user contributions associated with your account until your account is deleted. You can manage, change, and delete certain information associated with your account using the Church of the Highlands application or online at connect.churchofthehighlands.com/MyProfile or by limiting specific app features. If you'd like us to delete your account and all the information associated with your account, you may contact us at the mailing address or email address set forth above.

If you choose to delete your account or ask that we modify or delete personal information, we will delete and purge personal information we have stored about you in a way that is electronically irreversible; however, we may retain your personal data if we have a legal right or obligation to maintain the information or to meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, maintain security, prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our rights, or fulfill any other requests from you (for example, to opt-out of further messages or for a copy of your data). Otherwise, if you request that we delete your account, we will delete your account and all the information we have that is associated with your account, except for aggregated statistics based on de-identified information and inferences we have made (for example, the fact that you downloaded our application, without identifying you or maintaining personal information associated with that account).

Our deletion of your information and account will generally take up to 45 days from your request; however, cached information may take up to 30 days to delete. Please note that we have no control of the information you have shared with others through our sites and applications after you close your account, ask to delete information, or attempt to delete your account yourself. Your information and content you have shared may continue to be displayed in the services of others, including search engine results, until their cache refreshes.

Processing of Data

We will only collect and process personal data about you where we have lawful bases. Lawful bases include consent where you given it, contracts, and other legitimate interests. Such legitimate interests include protection to you, us, other users, and third parties, to comply with applicable law, to enable and administer our internal processes, to manage corporate transactions, to generally understand and improve our internal processes and user experience, and to enable us and other users of our sites to connect with you to exchange information, provided that the preceding adequately protects your rights and freedoms. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw or decline your consent at any time, and where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object. If you have any questions about the lawful bases upon which we collect and use your personal data, please contact us at dataprivacy@churchofthehighlands.com.