THIS PRIVACY POLICY IS EFFECTIVE ON AUGUST 18, 2021
This Privacy Policy explains what types of information is collected by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, together with its affiliates, ministries and integrated auxiliaries (collectively, the “GOMC”) websites (collectively the “Sites”)and how this information is used, and applies to personal visitor information obtained by the GOMC, including through websites, mobile sites, applications (“apps”), emails, and widgets (collectively, the “Services”). Our Sites include links to external websites. These links do not fall under the GOMC domain, and GOMC is not responsible for the privacy practices or any content or information of any kind contained on all such external websites. Your use of any linked website is solely at your own risk.
What Personally Identifiable Information is Collected
Individuals who sign up to receive e-communications do so voluntarily and provide us with personal information. The types of personal information we may obtain include: contact information (such as name, postal address, email address and telephone and/or mobile numbers); geolocation data; other information you may provide to us, such as through our “Submit a Request” or “Contact Us” or similar features; and behavioral data such as website pages visited or time spent visiting our website. All data is stored in the United States. You may elect to not provide any of the above information, but you may then not be able to use the Services of certain features on our Sites. We may use this information for our purposes. If you do not wish to receive our messages, you may always “opt out,” either now or at any time in the future, by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of GOMC electronic communication.
Information Obtained by Automated Means Through Our Services
We also may obtain certain information through our Services by automated means, such as cookies (including HTTP, HTML5 and Flash cookies), web beacons, web server logs, JavaScript and other identification or tracking or similar technologies, including technologies designed to obtain information regarding your use of our Services. The information we obtain in this manner may include IP address, mobile device advertising ID, browser characteristics, device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, information on actions taken on our Services, and dates and times you access or use the Services. In connection with our mobile apps, we also may obtain your phone number and details about your mobile carrier.
A “cookie” is a file that websites send to a visitor’s computer or other Internet-connected device to uniquely identify the visitor’s browser or to store information or settings in the browser. A “web beacon” also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF, links web pages to web servers and their cookies and may be used to transmit information collected through cookies back to a web server. Through these and possibly other automated collection methods, we obtain “clickstream data,” which is a log of the links and other content on which a visitor clicks while browsing a website. As the visitor clicks through the website, a record of the action may be collected and stored. We also may use similar automated means to obtain and store information regarding your actions while using our mobile apps.
We may link certain data elements obtained through automated means, such as your browser or device information, with other information we have obtained about you to let us know, for example, whether you have opened an email or other message we sent to you, what search queries you may have run and what GOMC communications you may have seen on our Services or on third-party websites and apps. Your browser may tell you how to be notified when you receive certain types of cookies or how to restrict or disable certain types of cookies. You also may be able to delete your Flash cookies or adjust your Flash cookie settings by visiting the Adobe Flash Website Storage Settings Panel and Global Storage Settings Panel. Please note, however, that without cookies you may not be able to use all of the features of our Sites or Services. Your device settings also may allow you to prohibit mobile app platforms (such as Apple and Google) from sharing certain information obtained by automated means with us through our apps or other app developers.
In addition, if you register with us through or connect your account with us to a third-party social media network (such as Facebook, Google, or Twitter), we may obtain certain information about you from the relevant social media network, such as your user ID and/or username associated with that social media network, the information contained in your public profile on the social media network and friends lists. The specific information we obtain depends on your privacy settings on the applicable social media network.
The providers of third-party apps, tools, widgets and plug-ins on our Services or Sites, such as social media sharing tools, also may use automated means to collect information regarding your interactions with these features. This information is collected directly by the providers of those features and is subject to the privacy policies or notices of those providers. The GMOC is not responsible for those providers’ information practices.
How Your Information May Be Used
We may use your personal information for the purposes set forth below. You may choose to opt out at any time, which will cease all communications from us. We may also use your information to track visitors of our website. This lets us see which of our features are the most popular so we can better serve our users’ needs. It also lets us provide aggregate data about our traffic (not identifying you personally, but showing how many visitors used which features, for example) to outside parties. We may disclose personal information to affiliated organizations and sister organizations. The GOMC does not sell or rent email addresses to anyone outside our organization or ministries. We may use the information collected from and about you to:
- Provide our services;
- Create and manage online accounts;
- Send promotional materials, alerts regarding available programs, GOMC or affiliate news, and other communications, including communications through the Services or Sites and outside of the Services or Sites, such as via email and through third-party websites and apps;
- Communicate about, and administer participation in, special events, promotions, programs, offers, surveys, and market research;
- Respond to inquiries from you and other third-parties, including inquiries from law enforcement agencies;
- Anonymize personal information to provide third parties with aggregated data reports showing anonymized information and other non-personal information;
- Associate your browser and/or device with other browsers or devices you use for the purpose of providing relevant and easier access to content, advertising across browsers and devices, and other operational/ministry purposes;
- Operate, evaluate and improve our communications and our programs (including developing, enhancing, analyzing and improving our Services or Sites; managing our communications; performing data analytics; and performing accounting, auditing and other internal functions);
- Protect against, identify and prevent fraud and other unlawful activity, claims and other liabilities; and
- Comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, contractual obligations and our policies.
In addition, we and our affiliates and third-party service providers may use information collected through automated means including cookies, web beacons, web server logs, JavaScript and similar technologies for purposes such as (1) customizing our users’ visits to and use of our Services or Sites, (2) delivering content tailored to our users’ interests and the manner in which our users use our Services or Sites, and (3) managing our Services or Sites and other aspects of our ministries. We may use third-party analytics services on our Services or Sites, such as those of Google Analytics. The analytics providers that administer these services use technologies such as cookies, web beacons, web server logs and similar technologies to help us analyze your use of the Services or Sites. The information collected through these means may be disclosed to these analytics providers and other relevant third parties who use the information, for example, to evaluate use of the Services or Sites. To learn more about how to opt out of Google Analytics services, please visit the link below: Google Analytics: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout We also may use your personal information in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.
How We Protect and Retain Personal Information
Information transmitted on the Internet and/or stored on systems attached to the Internet is not 100% secure. As a result, we do not ensure, warrant or guarantee any security or integrity of such information. We will not be responsible for disclosure of any information of any kind under any circumstance, including due to errors in transmission or the unauthorized acts of any individuals or entities.
We attempt to maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to secure personal information we have about you against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use. We attempt to make reasonable efforts to ensure a general level of security appropriate to the risk of the processing, taking into account the costs of implementation and nature of the processing of such personal information. We retain personal information for the period needed to fulfill the purposes for which the personal information was collected and as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law, such as in relation to our record retention obligations.
Privacy of Children
This is a general audience website. We make reasonable efforts to not knowingly intentionally collect personal information from users of this Service who are under the age of thirteen. Visitors who are under the age of thirteen must obtain a guardian’s permission before using the Services.
Updates to Our Privacy Policy
We may at any time revise, suspend, amend or add to this Privacy Policy by updating this page and without any obligation to provide advance notice. By using our Services or Sites, you agree to be bound by the then-current version of these Privacy Policies, including any such revisions. Accordingly, you should therefore periodically review this Privacy Policy to determine the then current Privacy Policy to which you are bound. Certain provisions of this Privacy Policy may be superseded by other legal notices or terms located on parts of our Services or Sites or applicable laws, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
How To Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy or the manner in which we or our service providers treat your personal information, would like to exercise your choices, or would like us to update information we have about you or your preferences, please contact us as follows: contactus@chicago.goarch.org. You may also write us at:
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago
555 E. Butterfield Road, Suite 201
Lombard, Illinois 60148