Website Privacy Policy

Effective: November 12, 2024

North Carolina’s Southeast (“NCSE”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) values your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit, access, and use the website https://www.ncse.org/ (our “Website”) and in emails, text, and other electronic messages between you and our website, telephone and email communications between you and NCSE, and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing your personal information.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information we may receive about you through any other means, including any website or application operated by any third party or any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website.

By accessing or using this Website, you consent to the collection, processing, use, retention, protection, and disclosure of your information by NCSE as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of this Website after We make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Privacy Policy periodically for updates.

  1. Information We Collect

    2. NCSE collects several types of information from and about visitors and users of our Website, including information you may provide to us as well as information we automatically collect.

    In the last twelve (12) months, we may have collected and disclosed the following information to third parties, including service providers, vendors, and our business partners:

    • Identifiers. Including any information by which you may be personally identified, including without limitation your name, title, gender, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number and email address.
    • Internet or other Electronic Network Activity Information. Including information about your internet connection, your operating system, and browser type, the equipment you use to access our Website, cookie identifiers, interactions with our Website, and information about how and when you access our Website, such as the date and time of your visit, the pages you visit, the links you click, the amount of time you spend on each page, or use and other usage details.
    • Communications Information. Including information that you provide during communications and interactions with our Website and us, including information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This may also include information you provide when you report a problem with our Website.
    • Geolocation Information. Including country, city, and region information when using our Website (if your device settings permit us to collect this information).

    (together, “Personal Information”).

    We collect your Personal Information:

    • Directly from you when you provide it to us, including by filling in forms on our Website;
    • From records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us; and
    • Automatically as you navigate through the Website through cookies and other tracking technologies.

  2. Use of Automatic Data Collection Technologies

    3. As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns (collectively, “Automatic Data”).

    The technologies and services we use for this automatic data collection may include:

    • Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website. We use cookies to operate and improve the Website and provide information for development of the Website. You may be able to change the preferences on your browser or device to prevent or limit your device’s acceptance of cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our features.;
    • Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to help improve our Website and understand how visitors interact with our Website. Google maintains its own security and privacy policies for Google Analytics. You can choose not to have your data used by Google Analytics by downloading their opt-out browser add-on.
    • Other Tools. We may also use plug-in technologies to understand how users are interacting with our advertisements and deliver advertising to you on other sites based on the email address or other Personal Information you provided to us or through the use of information We received from third parties.

  3. How We Use and Disclose Your Information:

    4. We may use information that We collect about you or that you provide to us, including any Personal Information, in aggregated, anonymized, and/or non-personally identifiable form, for any of the lawful bases listed below (except to the extent prohibited by applicable law). We may use your Personal Information to:

    • To present our Website and its contents to you;
    • To administer, support (via email or phone), improve, optimize and develop the Website;
    • To notify you about changes to our Website or any services we offer or provide through it;
    • To comply with legal processes and safety requirements, including to maintain the security of our visitors, employees, and property, respond to court orders, lawsuits, subpoenas, and government requests, as well as to address legal and regulatory compliance purposes;
    • To market updates, additional features, or other services we provide through our Website.
    • To contractors, service providers, and other third parties We use to support our business, who shall be required to maintain such Personal Information in confidence;
    • To perform data analyses to determine, among other measurements, business performance and Website performance; and
    • In any other way We may describe when you provide the information and with your consent.

  4. Exercising Control over NCSE’s Use and Disclosure of Your Personal Information

    5. To process your Personal Information, we rely upon your consent, contract performance, our legitimate business interest, or compliance with law. You may object or restrict our processing of your Personal Information. You may withdraw any prior consent you may have given to process your Personal Information at any time. It is also within your rights to refuse to provide any Personal Information we request. However, refusal to provide certain Personal Information may limit your access to information or use of the Website.

    Should you wish to access or amend any Personal Information you may have provided to us or if you wish to request deletion, please contact us at locate@ncse.org.

    In any such case of your withdrawal of consent, you acknowledge that there may be a delay before we fully implement your request and you may therefore still be contacted by us for a period of time thereafter. Notwithstanding your withdrawal of consent, NCSE may subsequently contact you for other purposes that are unrelated to marketing and/or selling, including without limitation legal or regulatory purposes. Please be aware that applicable laws, statues, rules and/or regulations may require or permit the collection, processing, retention, use and disclosure of your Personal Information without your consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, pursuant to applicable laws, statues, rules and/or regulations or other reasons, there may be circumstances in which you may not withdraw your consent to the collection, processing, use, retention and disclosure of your Personal Information.

    We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (”NAI”) on the NAI’s website located at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1.

  5. Data Security

    6. We have implemented industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to secure your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of Personal Information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

    Email is not recognized as a secure medium of communication. For this reason, we request that you do not send sensitive Personal Information to us by email. While doing so is not restricted by our system, you do so at your own risk.

  6. Data Retention

    7. Your Personal Information is stored by NCSE on its servers, and on the servers of the cloud-based database management services NCSE engages, located in the United States. We will retain Your Personal Information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it is collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, any legitimate administrative or operational purposes, your requirements, or reporting requirements. When it is no longer necessary to retain your Personal Information, it will be securely deleted. For more information about how long your Personal Information is stored, and for more information on your rights for erasure or portability, please contact us at locate@ncse.org.

  7. Third-parties and Information We Share

    8. Other than as set forth in this Privacy Policy, NCSE will not collect Personal Information about you when you visit our Website, unless you choose to provide such information to us, nor will such information be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties without the approval of the user at the time of collection.

    We may disclose Personal Information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights. We may also include or offer third-party products or services on our Website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites.

    Additionally, third party vendors may help us administer our Website, communication with you or others, comply with regulations, or deliver services. We may share your data with them in support of any of these goals. However, prior to doing so, we obtain assurances from our vendors that they will safeguard your Personal Information. There may be other limited instances where we need to share your Personal Information in order to respond to your request or inquiry.

  8. Children Under the Age of 18

    9. Our Website is not intended for children under 18 years of age. we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 18. If you are under 18, do not use or provide any information on this Website or on or through any of its features. If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at locate@ncse.org.

  9. Rights of Certain Types of Users

    10. Subject to applicable law, you may have certain rights with regard to your Personal Information. To learn more about the Personal Information we collect about you or the rights you may have, please contact us at the contact information below. These rights may include the following rights to (1) access or rectify your Personal Information or request its deletion, (2) request a restriction on the processing or opt out of certain processing of your Personal Information, (3) object to the processing of your Personal Information (4) request a portable form of your Personal Information, or (5) exercise other rights with respect to your Personal Information.

    You can contact us at locate@ncse.org or as described below. While we strongly encourage you to first raise any questions or concerns about your Personal Information directly with us, you may have a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority.

    1. Individuals Outside of the United States

      2. Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing our Website from outside the United States, please be aware that your Personal Information may be transferred to, stored, and processed by us and by those third parties with whom we may share your Personal Information as set forth above (see Section 7 above), in the United States and other countries. We will comply with applicable legal requirements when transferring your Personal Information to countries other than the country where you are located.

      Individuals under EU and UK laws have certain rights with regard to your Personal Information including:

      1. The right to be informed about our collection and use of your Personal Information. This Privacy Policy should tell you everything you need to know, but you can always contact us to find out more or to ask any questions.
      2. The right to access the Personal Information we hold about you.
      3. The right to have your personal data rectified if any of your Personal Information that we hold is inaccurate or incomplete.
      4. The right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to ask us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your Personal Information that we have.
      5. The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your Personal Information.
      6. The right to object to us using your Personal Information for a particular purpose or purposes.
      7. The right to data portability. This means that, if you have provided Personal Information to us directly, we are using it with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and that data is processed using automated means, you can ask us for a copy of that Personal Information to re-use with another service or business in many cases.
      8. Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. We do not use your Personal Information in this way.

      For more information about our use of your Personal Information or exercising your rights as outlined above, please contact us at locate@ncse.org.

      If you are not a resident in the EU or UK, your country may not necessarily have data protection laws or other similar laws as comprehensive as those in your country. We will however take all reasonable measures to protect your Personal Information in accordance with this Policy and applicable law of your country of residence.

      Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your Personal Information out of your country of residence. If you wish to be informed about what Personal Information we hold and want it removed from our systems, please contact us at locate@ncse.org.

    2. California

      3. Except where expressly noted, the subsections below apply only to “personal information” about California residents, as that term is defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), and as supplemented in the Privacy Policy as described above. California residents who wish to exercise the rights described here with respect to their Personal Information may contact us at locate@ncse.org.

      California residents may request and obtain information about the Personal Information that NCSE has shared with third parties for such third parties’ direct marketing purposes within the prior calendar year (as defined by California Civil Code § 1798.83, commonly known as California’s “Shine the Light Law”). If applicable, this information would include a list of the categories of Personal Information that was shared and the names and addresses of all third parties with which NCSE shared this information in the immediately preceding calendar year. To obtain this information, please send an email message to locate@ncse.org with the words “California Shine the Light Privacy Request” in the subject line as well as in the body of your message.

      The categories of Personal Information we have collected and disclose is described in Sections 1 and 3 of this Policy.

      Notice of Privacy Rights for California Residents
      Right to request deletion of the data – Request to delete

      You can ask for the deletion of your Personal Information. If you ask us to delete your Personal Information, we will respect your request and delete your Personal Information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.

      Right to be informed – Request to know

      Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:

      • whether we collect and use your Personal Information;
      • the categories of Personal Information that we collected in the last twelve months;
      • the purposes for which the collected Personal Information is used;
      • whether we sell your Personal Information to third parties;
      • the categories of Personal Information that we sold or disclosed for a business purpose;
      • the categories of third parties to whom the Personal Information was sold or disclosed for a business purpose; and
      • the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling Personal Information.

      In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.

      Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights

      We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.

      Right to Limit Sensitive Personal Information Use

      You may request that we limit our use of sensitive information (e.g. information relating to your government ID or geolocation) to specifically permitted purposes.

      Right to Opt-Out

      You can request that we stop any sharing of your Personal Information. Upon receiving a request to opt-out, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible.

      Verification process

      Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g., phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate.

      We will only use Personal Information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. If, however, we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity, and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.

      To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at locate@ncse.org, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this Policy. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.

    3. Other United States Users

      4. For users residing in Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, or Utah, and in other such states not explicitly listed, state law grants you additional rights with regard to your Personal Information under applicable law. You or your legally designated representative may submit a request to exercise your Personal Information rights by contacting us at locate@ncse.org.

  10. Other Communications and Rights

    11. NCSE seeks your consent before contacting you via telephone/text or by email. Specifically, by e-signing your name and checking the box labeled YES where you provide your contact information, you are authorizing NCSE and/or its service providers to contact you via email or at the number you listed via phone or text (SMS), including (as necessary) using automated dialing technology regarding your business with us. No purchase is required. Separate message and data rates may apply. To opt-out at any time you may reply STOP to any NCSE text message. We acknowledge that this consent may be revoked at any time, but that until such consent is revoked, you may receive calls and text (SMS) messages from NCSE. We have provided an “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any such email or communication and will promptly fulfill your request to opt-out/unsubscribe to these communications.

  11. Requests, Recourse, Enforcement, and Liability

    12. To ask questions, comment, or submit complaints and issues about this Policy and our privacy practices, contact us at

    North Carolina’s Southeast
    Attn: Steve Yost
    PO Box 2556
    Elizabethtown, NC 28337

    Or you may email us at locate@ncse.org.

    NCSE will respond to you promptly, especially with regard to any data breach, but in any event within 30 days of receipt.