Blue Ridge Humane Society strongly believes in protecting the integrity and privacy of personal information gathered from our supporters and others through all our communication channels, as well as from visitors to our Website. The protection of your privacy is of great importance to us. 

We have created this privacy policy to communicate our practices regarding the collection and dissemination of personal information that is provided to us and that can be linked to a specific individual, such as a name, postal address, telephone number(s), email address, among other information (hereinafter “Personal Information”), as well as certain non-personally identifiable information collected when you visit many of our web pages such as the type of browser you are using (e.g. Internet Explorer or Firefox), the type of operating system you are using (e.g., Windows XP or Mac OS), the domain name of your internet service provider (e.g., AT&T or Verizon), aggregate data about the number of visits to the Site and/or aggregate data about the pages visited (hereinafter “Aggregate Data”). 

This policy also applies when you use social media that overlaps Blue Ridge Humane Society’s social media and/or website, as well as to personal information we collect offline.  This policy does not apply to information or data Blue Ridge Humane Society purchases from other sources.  Blue Ridge Humane Society uses its best efforts to not share information it collects from those persons it provides services to (commonly referred to as “clients”).  See our supplemental donor privacy policy for how we use the information we collect through social media fundraising efforts. 

 By submitting your personal information to us, you are agreeing that Blue Ridge Humane Society may use the information in accordance with this privacy policy. 

Collection and Use of Personal Information: 

Blue Ridge Humane Society collects Personal Information supplied to us voluntarily by individuals, supporters, volunteers, and visitors to this Website.  We may use such voluntarily provided information to improve our understanding of your interests, to improve our services, or to contact you for future support. In order to utilize certain features of our site or receive information from Blue Ridge Humane Society or make a donation, you may choose to provide Personal Information. If you do submit information to us, we will use that information for the purposes for which it was submitted. We may also use your information in other ways, such as to contact you about other Blue Ridge Humane Society activities and/or fundraising campaigns, to conduct matching on Facebook or other social media, or as otherwise disclosed to you at the point of collection.  We may also use your name, postal address and telephone number(s) to contact you offline. 

If you do not wish us to contact you offline, receive such mailings or share your information with these organizations, you may opt-out by contacting us in accordance with the “Opt Out” section of this policy. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society uses third-party vendors to provide services on this Website and in offline business operations. The information that you submit on this site may be provided to those vendors on a confidential basis so that those vendors can provide services (such as maintaining our database, sending email messages, facilitating fundraising activities, or processing credit card transactions) on our behalf. 

Other than as described in this privacy policy, or as may be necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of our organization or others, or as may be necessary to comply with applicable law, Blue Ridge Humane Society will not give or sell the Personal Information you provide online. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society uses the non-personally identifiable Aggregate Data information to improve the design and content of the Site and to enable Blue Ridge Humane Society to personalize your Internet experience.  Blue Ridge Humane Society may use the Aggregate Data to analyze Site usage as well as create services and/or products to fit your needs.  Also, Blue Ridge Humane Society shares this Aggregate Data with Blue Ridge Humane Society’s related entities, advertisers, partners, and/or other third-party vendors.  Blue Ridge Humane Society shall own such Aggregate Data and maintain copies of such as part of its records. 

Use of Email Address: 

When you donate to Blue Ridge Humane Society or sign up on our Website, take an advocacy action, share your story or complete some other data form, you will be asked to supply your email address. Blue Ridge Humane Society does not sell or rent your email address to any third party.  Email addresses gathered from donors or subscribers to Blue Ridge Humane Society are only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information and to contracted service providers and vendors for purposes of providing services relating to our communications with you. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society will only use your email address to send information about Blue Ridge Humane Society and our network (such as news and events, special programs, and fundraising).  From time to time, we may send out email messages that might include information about like-missioned organizations and companies, but we do not provide them with access to any Personal Information that you have provided. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society complies with those provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act applicable to charitable organizations. All email messages contain a link to unsubscribe from Blue Ridge Humane Society email.  You may subscribe or unsubscribe to Blue Ridge Humane Society at any time by contacting Blue Ridge Humane Society or sending a notice by United States mail to the following address at the end of this policy. Please see our Donor Privacy Policy for how we use other Personal Information collected from donors to Blue Ridge Humane Society. 

User Submissions: 

Blue Ridge Humane Society welcomes your comments and participation on its site.  However, you acknowledge that if you send us creative suggestions, stories, photos, videos, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts, or other information, the information shall be deemed, and shall remain, the property of Blue Ridge Humane Society.  By submission of any information to us, you assign to us and we shall exclusively own all now known or hereafter existing rights to such information and shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the information for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation. 

As a user of this site, you are responsible for your own communications and are responsible for the consequences of their posting.  Therefore, do not impersonate another person and not transmit material to us that is copyrighted, unless you are the copyright owner or have the permission of the copyright owner to post it; do not send material that reveals trade secrets, unless you won them or have the permission of the owner; do not send material that infringes on any other intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others; do not send material that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, or embarrassing to another user or any other person or entity; and do not send sexually explicit images, advertising or solicitations of business, or chain letters. 

You represent and warrant that any information and/or material you post or provide to Blue Ridge Humane Society through any medium is truthful, accurate, not misleading, not confidential property of others, and not in violation of any other third party’s rights.  Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that all submissions will become the property of Blue Ridge Humane Society and that Blue Ridge Humane Society has the right to publish or republish the submission for any type of use including for promotional and advertising purposes without compensation to you of any kind.  Should your submission include third party materials, you grant, represent and warrant that you, as well as the owner of such content, have expressly granted Blue Ridge Humane Society a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide exclusive license to use the submission in any manner, media or form now known or hereafter developed.  Blue Ridge Humane Society shall have the right to sublicense its rights. 

Calls and texts: 

If you give us your number, we may call or text you regarding Blue Ridge Humane Society programs or to seek donations.  We will contact you through these methods only in accordance with applicable legal requirements, and you always have the ability to opt out of further calls or texts. 

 

Cookie Policy other tracking technologies: 

We use cookies, small files that are sent to your Web browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive, to improve our Site’s operation.  The cookie is used to speed up your access to the Site and the information you wish to see, as well as for website analytics, marketing efforts and for functionality.  We may also use other tools to collect data when you visit our website, including pixel tags and other tracking technologies. 

The Blue Ridge Humane Society Website may use “cookies” and similar tools like pixel tags and similar tracking technologies, to collect aggregate statistical information and data. Aggregate information does not identify any individual person. We may use or disclose aggregate information for any purpose.  The majority of browsers accept cookies, but your browser should also give you options for preventing, accepting, or receiving notice of new cookies.  Please be advised that if you block cookies, some site functionality may be lost. 

We may use the following types of cookies on our site: 

  • Session cookies – These are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you close the browser. This cookie is automatically placed onto your browser by the server software. 
  • Analytical cookies – Our website uses third-party cookies, such as Google Analytics and ClickTale cookies (third party cookies) for the following purposes cookie to record the time of your first visit to website, the time of your most recent visit to the website and the time of your current visit; 
  • a cookie to record your device type; 
  • a cookie to record your geolocation; 
  • a cookie to record which page(s) you visit on the website; 
  • a cookie to record how long you stayed on the website; 
  • a cookie to record how you located our website (i.e. Google search, keyword, link from other page etc.); and 
  • cookies to provide additional analytical data regarding your use of our site. 
  • Third Party “Cookies” – We use third-party advertising companies to create and distribute advertising on our behalf. These companies may also employ cookies and action tags (also known as single pixel gifs or web beacons) to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information these third parties collect via cookies and action tags is anonymous. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society also partners with digital platforms that utilize cookies for website retargeting. purpose of website retargeting is to find visitors of these partners advertising clients’ properties (websites, apps, and newsletters) and send them digital advertising based on their visit or interaction with the client’s owned properties or advertising. The digital platforms use cookies to identify users and then personalize ads based on their browsing experience.  

We only share the information obtained through the use of Google Analytics with Google. For more information on Google’s use of your information, please see Types of Cookies Used by Google. The cookies we use for these purposes do not track your Internet usage after leaving our website and do not store your personal information. They will not be used in connection with any other information to identify you in any way. Google Analytics collects information anonymously. It reports website trends without identifying individual visitors.  However, outside of the Google Analytics platform, Blue Ridge Humane Society may use unique IDs to link Personal Information to Google Analytics data. You can opt out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site – for more information on opting out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites you use, visit the Google page.  

We do not collect any Personal Information through the ClickTale service, nor do we transfer any such information to ClickTale. We only use the ClickTale service to record, on a completely anonymous basis, information such as mouse clicks, mouse movements, scrolling activity as well as non-Personal Information text you type in this website. ClickTale does not create a user profile for the purpose of tracking a user across unrelated web sites and will only use such information pursuant to its Privacy Policy.  You can additionally opt out of ClickTale without affecting your use of our site by disabling the ClickTale service here. 

More broadly, we may work with data providers to target advertising to you personally, through online and offline methods including email, display media and direct mail. This advertising may be directed to you because you visited or logged in to our website. When we generate this advertising, data we collect from you through online cookies and other technologies may be combined with other de-identified data (such as a hashed, non-readable email or postal address) in order to tailor ads to you based on your preferences and other information about you. To learn more about targeted advertising, these providers, or how you may opt-out, please visit the DAA’s consumer choice page at http://www.aboutads.info/choices. 

Technologies other than http cookies may be used by third parties in a similar way, to recognize the email recipients’ computer or device and to keep track of which user identities match to which devices or browsers, and those technologies may not respond to browser settings that block conventional cookies. You may opt of many of these types of technologies by visiting the Network Advertising Opt Out page. You can also opt-out of display remarketing ads directly by clicking on the blue triangle called ‘AdChoices’ in the right-hand corner of the ad and follow the instructions. Please note if you delete your cookies or switch devices this exclusion won’t carry over.  We are not responsible for third parties’ use of cookies.
If you wish, you can usually adjust your browser so that your computer does not accept cookies: 

  • Go to the heading “Manage Cookies” and click onto the option you prefer, either stopping cookies being installed, or notifying you of them; 
  • From the list provided, click onto the program which your computer uses; if this is not shown on the list, click on the “help” heading on the bar at the top of this page, search for information on “cookies” − an explanation of how to delete cookies will appear, then follow the instructions. 

Alternatively, you can adjust your browser to tell you when a website tries to put a cookie on your computer. 

How you adjust your browser to stop it accepting cookies or to notify you of them, will depend on the type of internet browser program your computer uses. You can follow the appropriate instructions for your specific browser type at https://www.aboutcookies.org. (Again, we are not responsible for external websites). 

Cookies do not contain confidential information such as your home address, telephone number or credit card details. We do not exchange cookies with any third-party websites or external data suppliers. If you do choose to disable cookies, you may find that certain sections of our Site do not work properly. 

Social Networks: 

If you use social media logins (like Google and Facebook) to log into our website, we may access your public social media profile information.  You can always limit this sharing using your social media service settings.  

Legal Disclosures and Privacy Rights: 

Citizens have certain rights regarding their personal information, including: 

Identifiers for our Donors and Those Who Provide Personal, Digital, or Commerical Information 

Sources of Information
We collect this information from our users, donors, and any business partners.  We also generate identifiers internally. 

How We Use It
To enable use of our sites, services, and products, to communicate with you, to understand how our users interact with our sites and to improve our offerings and collect your monetary and in-kind support. 

Types of Individuals Affected
People who donate to us; use our sites or mobile applications; create a user account; volunteer with us; or obtain a service from us. 

How We Share It
We share this data with our service providers and with business partners including those to whom you instruct us to send this information. 

Protecting Your Information: 

We understand that no matter how we collect your information, we have a responsibility to protect it.  We take that responsibility seriously.  We build security into our website features and donation processing from the ground up to help protect data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. 

We’re always looking for threats and take reasonable steps to respond to those threats, protecting the information users share with us.  Of course, no method of Internet transmission or data storage can provide guaranteed protection to your information.  If anything should ever happen to your information, we’ll let you know as soon as we can and try our best to make it right. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed primarily by U.S. law.  Where we are subject to the privacy laws of other countries, we comply with those requirements.  If you access or use our services or provide information to us, your information will be processed and stored in the United States, where you may not have the same rights and protections as you do under your local law. 

This website has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. The security measures used on this site include, but are not limited to, industry-standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, firewalls, and internal policies to maintain the security of stored data. While we follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure. 

Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. 

Warranties: 

BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE ACCURACY, SUITABILITY, OR SAFETY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANY LINKED SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. ALL SUCH INFORMATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITH SPECIFIC DISCLAIMER OF ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND THAT THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THIS WEBSITE OR ANY LINKED SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT HOSTS THE SITE ARE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER FORMS OF HARMFUL COMPUTER CODE. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY, ITS EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS WEBSITE, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SITE OR ANY LINKED SITE. 

EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED, BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY EXPRESLLY DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, CONTENT, AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE FOUND ON THIRD PARTY STIES THAT LINK TO OR FROM THE BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY SITE.  BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ORDERING FUNCTIONS, ORDER FULFILLMENT OR COMPLIANCE OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WITH ANY MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTIES OR SPECIFICATIONS.  BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSBILE FOR THE MATERIAL CONTAINED ON THIRD PARTY SITES AND/OR RELATED SERVICES NOR DOES BLUE RIDGE HUMANE SOCIETY MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE SECURITY OF ANY INFORMATION YOU MIGHT BE REQUESTED TO GIVE TO THIRD PARTY SITES. 

External Links: 

Links to other Websites do not imply an endorsement of the materials disseminated at those Websites, nor does the existence of a link to another site imply that the organization or person publishing at that site endorses any of the materials at this site. Links to other Websites are provided by Blue Ridge Humane Society as a convenience to its users. Blue Ridge Humane Society is not responsible for the materials contained at any Website linked to this site. If you visit the Websites of any of our partners, please consult their privacy policy.  Our privacy policies and terms of use apply only to your use of the Blue Ridge Humane Society site and direct interactions with Blue Ridge Humane Society. We do not disclose personally identifiable information to those operating linked sites and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. 

A Special Note About Children: 

Blue Ridge Humane Society does not knowingly gather any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.  You must be 13 years of age or older to access the site.  Blue Ridge Humane Society has no interest in collecting information from children under the age of 13. 

Binding Effect/Modification of Policy and Terms: 

By accessing the Blue Ridge Humane Society Website, you agree that the terms, combined with your act of using the Website and/or services offered on or through the Website have the same legal force and effect as a written contract with your written signature and satisfy any laws that require a writing or signature, including any applicable stature of frauds.  You further agree that you shall not challenge the validity, enforceability or admissibility of the terms on the grounds that it was electronically transmitted or authorized.  In addition, you acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to print the terms. 

Blue Ridge Humane Society may change this Privacy Policy and Terms of use at any time by posting the changed or amended Privacy Policy and Terms of Use on the Website.  Your continued viewing of or use of this Website following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy and Terms of Use will signify your assent to any such changes or amendments. 

Opt-out/Deletion/Contact Blue Ridge Humane Society: 

If you’d like to delete your data or close your account, or otherwise opt-out of the sale or sharing of your information, you can do that by contacting us in writing. 

We provide these options for your benefit and we will never discriminate against you for using them. But if you choose to delete your data, we won’t be able to offer you any information, services, or other support that require us to use your data. 

 “Deleting” Personal information is defined by: 

  • Permanently and completely erasing the personal information on existing systems with the exception of archived or back-up systems; 
  • De-identifying the personal information; or 
  • Aggregating the personal information. 

Storing Personal Information – If personal information is stored, archived or listed in a backup system, we reserve the right to delay compliance with the consumer’s request to delete, with respect to data stored on the archived or backup system, until the archived or backup system is next accessed or used. We will inform the person(s) of this in the event is it applicable to their request. 

Record Keeping – We must maintain a record of the individual requesting deletion pursuant to the Civil Code section 1798. 105(d)
 

Blue Ridge Humane Society is not required to comply with a consumer’s request to delete the consumer’s personal information if it is necessary for us or service provider to maintain the consumer’s personal information in order to: 

  • Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, provide a good or service requested by the consumer, or reasonably anticipated within the context of a business’s ongoing business relationship with the consumer, or otherwise perform a contract between the business and the consumer. 
  • Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity. 
  • Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality. 
  •  Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law. 
  • Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act pursuant to Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1546) of Title 12 of Part 2 of the Penal Code. 
  • Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the businesses’ deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, if the consumer has provided informed consent. 
  • To enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with the expectations of the consumer based on the consumer’s relationship with the business. 
  • Comply with a legal obligation. 
  • Otherwise use the consumer’s personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which the consumer provided the information. 

If you wish to have your data deleted, opt-out of receiving future communications, opt-out of having your information shared by Blue Ridge Humane Society, or exercise any other privacy right you may have by law, please contact Blue Ridge Humane Society at the below address or phone number. 

All deletion and opt-out requests will be honored, but please be patient with us as it may take six (6) to eight (8) weeks for opt-out changes to be fully implemented. 

Should you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, the practices of this Website, or your dealings with this Website, contact Blue Ridge Humane Society at: 

Postal Mail:  
Blue Ridge Humane Society
1214 Greenville Highway
Hendersonville, NC
Telephone: (828) 692-2639