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Privacy Policy

Effective November 15, 2010

1. Commitment to Privacy

What Matters Now and The Samvara Project are committed to protecting your privacy and we have established this Privacy Policy to communicate to Users how their information is gathered, held and disseminated. The Privacy Policy guides our online conduct in the collection and use of all Personal Information. The Privacy Policy is an integral part of the Terms of Use which governs your use of the Service. A link to the Terms of Use is furnished at the bottom of each page of the Service. All capitalized terms not defined in this Privacy Policy shall have the meaning defined in the Terms of Use.

2. User Consent

By using the Service you agree to the collection and use of your information by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, do not use the Service.

3. Changes to the Privacy Policy

The Samvara Project reserves the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy. Any changes will be posted on this page, with the date of such change reflected as the effective date. We encourage you to check this page regularly. Your continued use of the Service following any changes to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such changes.

4. Information Collection

4(a) Information You Provide

In order to access the Service, you are required to create an account by providing your full name and email address and creating a password. In addition, when you use certain features of the Service, we will collect and retain certain Personal Information that you actively give us or related to your specific activities, such as when you register for the Service, set up, visit or update a Personal Website, make a donation, or otherwise communicate with the Service. We may also collect demographic information that you provide to us, at your option, via surveys or otherwise, including your zip code, age, or gender, as well as information about your personal interests, site usage and preferences.

In order to create a Personal Website you are required to furnish the name and gender of the featured individual/patient. At your choosing, you may also provide additional Personal Information such as palliative or hospice care program affiliation, guest list email addresses, User Submissions including photos and text in the form of journal and guest book entries. Users of the Service may use the Personal Websites to upload or add User Submissions. We will not review, share, distribute, print, or reference any such User Submission except as provided or permitted in the Terms of Use (or other similar agreement you may have with The Samvara Project), or as may be required by law.

4(b) Information Collected Automatically

When you log in to the Service, What Matters Now will create a browser "cookie" which enables the Service to know that you are already signed in. In addition, the Service will log your IP address at the time you sign in. We use IP addresses only for the purpose of preventing abuse to the Service such as from automated hacking.

5. How We Use Your Information

We may use your Personal Information for customer service, to provide you with information that you may request, to customize your experience on the Service and to tailor products, services, offers and information we may provide to you. For example, we may use your Personal Information in the following instances (including but not limited to, and if permitted in any privacy preferences you have provided):

  • Respond to requests for information, services and/or products.
  • Announce new Service features.
  • Invite you to participate in surveys and provide feedback.
  • Provide you with newsletters that offer important information and useful advice.
  • Contact you regarding your use of the Service.
  • Solicit your financial support for What Matters Now.
  • Develop a better understanding of your needs and interests.
  • Enhance the Service Content, ease of use and functionality of the Service.
  • Ensure security and prevent fraudulent activity.
  • For any other purpose identified in any other agreement between The Samvara Project and you.

5(a) Opt-Out Policy

When you register for a What Matters Now account, you may be given the option to opt-out of being provided certain services. You may update your preferences on your account page or send a request to privacy@whatmattersnow.org. Email messages will also provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of receiving information. Please note that changes to your preferences may not be effective immediately.

5(b) User Submissions

We do not use Personal Information contained in the User Submissions on Personal Websites and in account profiles other than to provide our Service to Users. We do not, nor do we have the obligation to, monitor the User Submissions of every Personal Website; however, we reserve the right to monitor Personal Websites based on random checks or to respond to a complaint of misuse. Consistent with the Terms of Use, we reserve the right to delete any item of User Submissions or any Personal Website at our sole discretion.

6. How We Share Information with Third Parties

We will not disclose Personal Information except as provided for or permitted under the Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use, and any similar agreement you may have with The Samvara Project.

6(a) Third Party Service Providers

What Matters Now may use third party agents, contractors, suppliers and vendors ("Service Providers") to help operate our business and the Service or administer activities on our behalf and may share your information with these Service Providers for those limited purposes. Such services may include, but are not limited to, technology services, data analysis, content, marketing, customer service, and processing payments (including credit card payments). We currently use PayPal and Google App Engine as our primary Service Providers.

Credit card payments on the Service are processed through PayPal, which transacts and retains the credit card payment information. The Personal Information which Paypal sends What Matters Now lists transaction details including name, date, transaction amount, billing address and excludes credit card information such as credit card number, expiration date, and security code. Paypal's terms of use, privacy policy, and other agreements which govern use of its site can be reviewed at the following website: https://www.paypal.com/.

What Matters Now utilizes Google App Engine as the technical infrastructure for building and hosting the Service. Please find their privacy policy at the following website: http://code.google.com/appengine/privacy.html

6(b) Sponsors, Donors and Partners

We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information with other parties including third party sponsors, donors, partners and palliative or hospice care programs, to illustrate trends and patterns. Additionally, we may share the names of patients who are utilizing the Service with the palliative or hospice care programs serving those patients.

6(c) Donations

When you make a donation to a palliative or hospice care program or another non-profit organization through the Service, we will share information about that donation with the organization including donor name, donor address, donation amount, donation date, transaction number, and the name of the person in whose name the donation was made.

6(d) Legal Compliance and Protection of Rights

We may disclose your Personal Information when we, in good faith, determine it is necessary to (a) comply with the legal process; (b) enforce the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy; (c) respond to claims that any User Submission violates the rights of third-parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of What Matters Now, The Samvara Project, its Users and/or the public. Such circumstances may include suspected fraud, harm, abuse, illegal conduct, threats, violation of the Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and/or other similar agreement, and threat to the security of What Matters Now's Service.

7. Reviewing, Correcting and Updating Personal Information

If you would like to review, update, change or delete Personal Information which we have collected from you, you can (1) go to the "Account" page once you have logged on to the Service, or (2) send an email to privacy@whatmattersnow.org, or (3) send mail to 20660 Stevens Creek Blvd #320, Cupertino CA 95014, Attn: Privacy Coordinator. We will use reasonable efforts to respond to requests in a reasonable time frame; however, note that changes to your preferences may not be effective immediately. Additionally, please note that previously provided Personal Information may remain within our system in areas including records, databases, and access logs after it has been updated or deleted on the Service, in conformance with its data retention policy. Furthermore, we are not obligated to update or remove Personal Information located on the systems of third parties who have been provided such information as permitted by this Privacy Policy.

We reserve the right to request a username, password, and/or additional information to ensure that Personal Information is available only to the person who provided it.

8. Children's Personal Information

The Service is not intended for use by children. We will not knowingly collect any Personal Information from Users who are under the age of 13. If you are under 13 years of age, you should not create an account or provide Personal Information on the Service. If we later obtain actual knowledge that a User is under 13 years of age, we will take steps to remove that User's Personal Information from our systems. If you are the parent or guardian of a child whom you believe has disclosed Personal Information to What Matters Now, please contact us at privacy@whatmattersnow.org so that we may take appropriate action. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 13 whom you would like to have access to the Service, you may let them use an account you have created with your supervision. Children under the age of 18 are not permitted to create or maintain their own Personal Websites - a parent or guardian must register and take responsibility for any Personal Website created for a person under 18 years of age.

9. Security

Protecting your information is important to What Matters Now. We have implemented reasonable technological and administrative policies and procedures to protect your Personal Information and User Submissions. Personal Information and User Submissions are stored in password-controlled servers accessible to our staff on a limited need-to-know basis. Individuals who have been granted access to Personal Information are aware of their responsibility to protect the security and confidentiality of that information, and have been provided with training or instructions on how to do so. We use industry standard technology to protect the security of your Personal Information and User Submissions such as firewall protection and restriction of access to its database; however, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while What Matters Now is committed to protecting your Personal Information and User Submissions, we cannot ensure or warrant that the Personal Information and User Submissions you provide will not be released, misappropriated or lost by accident or by the unauthorized acts of others. You use the Service at your own risk.

10. Links to Third Party Sites

The Service may contain links to third party websites, including, among others, other third parties and companies whose trademarks may appear on the Service. We are not responsible or liable for and do not endorse the privacy practices or the services, content, advertising or other features of the websites to which it links. Your use of any third party website is not subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy; your use of such websites is subject to the privacy policy, terms of use, and other agreements of the owners of those websites.

11. Questions or Comments

Should you have other questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact What Matters Now at:

privacy@whatmattersnow.org

or:

The Samvara Project - What Matters Now
Attn: Privacy Coordinator
20660 Stevens Creek Blvd #320
Cupertino, CA 95014

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