Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy sets forth the practices in effect at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Learning for Justice to protect the privacy of website visitors and recipients of print publications. This Policy also outlines how you can update your information or receive additional information.

How the SPLC Protects Your Information

The SPLC uses electronic security systems to protect any records containing personal identifying information and limits the number of people who have access to such information. Business partners with whom the SPLC may share personal information during the course of usual business must abide by confidentiality agreements, which forbid the disclosure of any personal identifying information to additional parties.

Websites

The SPLC wants you to have positive experiences on its websites — splcenter.org and learningforjustice.org — and to understand your privacy rights while on its websites. If you do not agree with the terms outlined below, do not access the SPLC's websites.

Non-Personal Identifying Information

The SPLC collects and uses non-personal identifying information, including IP addresses and web server log files. It also uses "cookies," small pieces of information used to identify individual computers accessing a website. The SPLC uses this information only in the aggregate. It does not combine non-personal identifying information with personal identifying information, commonly known as "online profiling." At no time is personal information stored in a cookie. The SPLC collects non-personal identifying information from websites in the aggregate. It uses this information to assess aggregate visitor volume and interest, i.e. which site pages are being visited most frequently. The SPLC shares aggregated, non-identifying, demographic information about the websites' usage with its sponsors and partners. For example, the SPLC might disclose to its donors that 1,000,000 people visited learningforjustice.org in a given year.

Personal Identifying Information

If you voluntarily provide personal identifying information (such as a first and last name, physical address including a street name, e-mail address, etc.) through online forms, the SPLC will collect and retain this information. The personal identifying information will be used to establish the identity of account holders in order to respond to inquiries or to deliver requested information or services. For example, if you subscribe to one of the SPLC's e-newsletters, the SPLC will store your name and e-mail address and send the requested e-newsletters to the e-mail address. The SPLC does not make personal identifying information gathered on its websites available to other organizations, but may share information with business partners, in the usual course of business. For example, the SPLC may use a third-party vendor to electronically distribute its e-newsletters. In order to send the e-newsletters, the SPLC must share the e-mail address of subscribers with the vendor. Vendors that provide such services are obligated only to use this information for the purposes for which the SPLC directs them to use it; namely, providing services directly for the SPLC.

Protecting Children's Privacy

On web pages that are directed toward children under the age of 13, the SPLC limits its collection of information to non-personal identifying information, such as first name, grade, hometown and state, in an effort to comply voluntarily with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The SPLC does not knowingly collect and retain personal identifying information from persons under the age of 13 and has safeguards in place to attempt to ensure it does not inadvertently collect and retain such information. The Center strongly urges children to check with their parents before entering information on its websites, and it urges parents to discuss with their children restrictions concerning the online release of personal identifying information to anyone they do not know.

Links

This policy applies only to the splcenter.org and learningforjustice.org domains. The SPLC does not control the privacy policies of other websites to which the Center might link.

Tools and Surveys

Responses to tools and surveys may be collected and stored anonymously for aggregate data analyses and research. Individual users data collected at the website is associated with a user ID and stored separately from email addresses. Email addresses are never directly connected to any of the research data ensuring the privacy of individual data. Email addresses will never be used without explicit permission from the participant and will never be disclosed or shared with any third-party.

Recipients of SPLC Publications

As part of its public service, the SPLC publishes and distributes magazines, handbooks and multimedia kits to help equip teachers, human rights workers, law enforcement and others with tools and resources to promote equity in their communities. This portion of the Privacy Policy outlines the SPLC's privacy practices that relate to people who receive those products. In order to receive SPLC products, an individual must provide personal identifying information (such as a first and last name, physical address including a street name, e-mail address, etc.) The SPLC will collect and retain this information. The SPLC does not make the personal identifying information of people who order its products available to other organizations. The personal identifying information is used to establish the identity of recipients, deliver requested products to recipients and make recipients aware of additional or new SPLC products that might interest them. In order to evaluate the usefulness of its materials, the SPLC may also contact, by phone, e-mail or regular mail, persons who have ordered its products. The SPLC may share information with business partners in the usual course of business. For example, the SPLC may use a vendor to help distribute products. The SPLC does not disclose individual order histories, but may disclose aggregated order histories for its products. For example, the SPLC would not disclose that "John Doe ordered a copy of this magazine," but could disclose that 300,000 copies of that magazine were ordered.

For more information, contact:

Privacy Coordinator
Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104

In the event that this Privacy Policy changes, the SPLC will post an updated policy on this page.