Privacy Policy

Websites Covered

This Privacy Statement sets forth the practices of General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (collectively referred to as, “General Conference,” “we,” “us” and/or “our”) with respect to personal data (also referred to as “Personally Identifiable Information,” or ” PII”) and other information that is collected from Individuals; including Unions, Conferences, Missions and Churches (collectively referred to as “Participating Organizations”) through various websites and applications owned and operated by us.

Controller of Personal Data

We act as the controller of any personal information provided to or gathered by our websites and applications (our “Services”). This Privacy Statement describes the choices available to you regarding the use of your Personal Data, and how you access this information to update and correct it.

It is important to note that privacy practices of Participating Organizations may differ from those of the General Conference. We are a separate entity from those that participate in our Services and thus do not have control over their privacy practices. While we do encourage Participating Organizations to follow our Privacy Statement and practices, we encourage you to review the privacy policies of Participating Organizations’ websites before submitting any Personal Data.

Information We Collect

We recognize the sensitive nature of your information. It is our highest priority to ensure the confidentiality of any information you provide and take a proactive approach in protecting your privacy.

When using our Services, you may provide us with Personal Data such as your name, address, phone number, birthday, spousal and family information, educational history, employment information, and financial information.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We will obtain information from third-party sources with your consent. For example, if you create an account with us using a third-party platform (such as Facebook or Google), we will have access to certain information from that platform, such as your name, birthday, and profile picture, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such platform.

Other Information

When you interact with our Services, we may receive and store information collected passively through various technologies used on our websites. This information is used to provide us with statistical information such as the number of visitors to a website(s), the number of visitor to each page of our Services. Other information collected may include IP Address, Browser Type, ISP, pages you visit, operating system, and date/time stamps. This information is merely statistical and not used to identify you.

Cookie Settings

In operating our Services as described above we and our third-party partners may use cookies, (including temporary, persistent and session cookies) and similar technologies. Our third-party partners may also use Local Storage (HTML5).

These technologies are used to provide additional functionality, analyze usage and behavior more accurately, temporarily store our pages and images, store content and preferences.

We may also partner with third parties to either display advertising on our website or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third-party partners may use technologies such as cookies to gather information about your activities on this website and other sites in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests.

Use of Personal Data & Other Information

We may use Personal Data and other information to provide you with services, send you updates, administer your account, communicate with you, enable you to connect with others, improve our Services, conduct research, understand our organization, send you valuable information and newsletters, list you in the members directory, and communicate with Individuals and members of Participating Organizations. We will not reuse Personal Data for a new purpose other than the original one(s) for which it was collected, unless the following apply: The new use is compatible with the original one, meaning you should reasonably expect similar use; We have notified you of the new use and given you an opportunity to object to it; or The new use is otherwise permitted by law.

By voluntarily providing us with your information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Statement. You acknowledge and agree that your data may be transferred from your current location to our servers or its authorized third parties as described in this Privacy Statement. We will not share your information with anyone not described in this Privacy Statement unless your consent is obtained prior to doing so. This Privacy Statement also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your information and how you can access and update it.

If you wish to opt-out of receiving newsletters, you may also opt-out of such communication by following the unsubscribe link included in the emails.

Sharing Your Information

The General Conference is comprised of many independent Unions, which are regionally coordinated by the General Conference Divisions. The Divisions have been established as regional offices of the General Conference serving a defined geographical area. We integrate and share your information with various Unions to allow us to perform the various duties discussed above and provide you with valuable Services.

We may share your Personal Data with third-parties that help us with our business activities such as shipping, marketing,and providing ministerial services. These third-parties are authorized to use your Personal Data only as necessary to provide these services to us.

If you are a denominational employee or member of a denominational organization, we may publish your profile in our directory so that other members can find you and communicate with you. If you believe that someone has created an unauthorized profile of you, please contact us using the email address provided below, please provide us with a brief explanation, where you found the profile, include your name and contact information, for the purposes of reviewing the possible unauthorized profile and communicating back to you.

We may disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation such as to comply with a subpoena, or a similar legal process (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of the General Conference, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services, visitors to our centers or the public, or (iv) protect against legal liability, (v) if the organization is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of all or portion of its assets you will be notified with a notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your information, as well as any choices you may have.

Third Party Links

Our websites and applications may contain links to other websites or features that may connect with your other mobile applications within your device. Privacy practices of linked websites and mobile application may differ from ours. If you submit any personal information on these websites or applications, your information is governed by their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of such websites before submitting any personal information.

Your Rights

If your personal information changes, you no longer desire to use our Services, or wish to know whether we hold personal information about you, you may you request, correct, update, amend, and delete such information by contacting us using the email address and/or address provided below or by filling out the form available at this link. For changes on information pertaining membership information or to church treasury items, contact your local clerk, treasurer or pastor. In some instances, you may be provided with direct access to the portal in which your information is maintained; you may make changes as necessary if you already have access.

Security

The security of your information is important to us. We follow generally accepted standards such as encryption to protect the Personal Data submitted to us.

Retention

We will retain your Personal Data for as long as your account is active or as reasonably useful for other organizational purposes. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. We will dispose of your information when it is no longer needed or required to be kept.

Children’s Privacy

Our website and mobile applications comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. If a user is identified as a child under the age of 13 through a support request, we will not collect, store or use such personal information, and any personal information that has been provided will be deleted.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

We may update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes to our information practices. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

If you have questions or complaints regarding our Privacy Statement or practices, please contact us at privacy@gc.adventist.org or at the address listed below.

Contact Us

General Conference of Seventh-day AdventistsAtt: Office of General Counsel12501 Old Columbia PikeSilver Spring, MD 20904

dataprotection@gc.adventist.org