Privacy Policy

Introduction

The North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium (“NASCIC,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at https://nascic.org/ (the “Site”) or engage with our services, including our membership platform and engagement database.

We understand the sensitivity of information related to spinal cord injury and take our responsibility to protect your privacy seriously. This policy outlines our practices concerning both general personal information and information related to spinal cord injury status.

Information We Collect

A. Information You Provide to Us

We may collect information that you provide directly to us when you:

1. Register for Membership: Including your name, email address, postal address, phone number, affiliation information, and relationship to spinal cord injury (whether you live with SCI, represent someone with SCI, how long you or the person you represent has lived with SCI, and your goals for joining NASCIC).
2. Make a Donation: Including payment information, amount donated, and any communications preferences.
3. Submit Forms: Information provided through NinjaForms on our website, such as contact information and specific inquiries.
4. Enroll in Educational Content: Information collected through LearnDash when you register for or participate in educational courses or resources.
5. Make Purchases: Information provided through WooCommerce when you make purchases, including billing details and order history.
6. Express Interest in Research Engagement: Basic contact information and areas of interest when submitting information for potential inclusion in our engagement database.

B. Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit our Site, we may automatically collect certain information about your device and usage patterns. This information may include:

1. Log and Usage Data: Information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, links clicked, and the dates/times of your visits.
2. Website Analytics: Using server-side Google Analytics 4 via Taggrs.io, we collect basic usage data such as page views and form submissions. Our analytics implementation is configured to respect privacy by not capturing the specific content of form entries.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including to:

1. Provide Our Services: Process memberships, manage donations, facilitate educational content access, respond to inquiries, and connect interested participants with research opportunities.
2. Understand and Improve Our Site: Analyze usage patterns to enhance user experience and optimize our content and services.
3. Communicate With You: Send administrative updates, newsletters, respond to your questions, and provide information about our programs, services, and opportunities that may interest you through Mailchimp and other communication platforms.
4. Research and Community Building: Identify trends in the spinal cord injury community’s needs and interests to better serve our constituents. Any information used for these purposes is aggregated and de-identified whenever possible.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

NASCIC takes your privacy seriously. We do not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

1. With Your Consent: When you have expressly consented to the disclosure.
2. Service Providers: With contractors, service providers, and other third parties who need access to your information to help us operate our website and provide our services, including:
   • WordPress, Elementor, and Elementor Pro (website platform)
   • AIOSEO Pro (search engine optimization)
   • NinjaForms (form management)
   • LearnDash (educational content)
   • WooCommerce (e-commerce functionality)
   • Taggrs.io (analytics management)
   • Mailchimp (email communications)
3. Legal Requirements: When required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).
4. Protection of Rights: When we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

Research and Engagement Database

NASCIC facilitates connections between researchers and individuals affected by spinal cord injury. If you express interest in our engagement database:

1. We collect only basic contact information and areas of interest through our website.
2. More detailed research data collection happens outside of our website through separate, specific informed consent processes.
3. Your expression of interest does not automatically enroll you in any research; each research opportunity requires separate, explicit consent.
4. Information shared for research engagement is never used for marketing purposes.

Email Communications

We use Mailchimp as our email marketing platform. By subscribing to our newsletters or agreeing to receive email communications from us, your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms.

When you sign up for our email communications:

1. Your email address and any additional information you provide (such as name or preferences) will be transferred to and stored by Mailchimp.
2. We may track interactions with our emails, including open rates and click-throughs, to improve our communications and understand what content interests our community.
3. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any of our emails or by contacting us directly.
4. Your information will be handled in accordance with Mailchimp’s privacy practices, which you can review at Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our Site uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze website usage. We use:

1. Essential Cookies: Required for basic website functionality.
2. Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our Site using server-side Google Analytics 4 via Taggrs.io.
3. Functional Cookies: Used by our platform tools (WordPress, Elementor, WooCommerce, LearnDash) to remember your preferences and provide enhanced features.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. However, if you disable cookies, some parts of the Site may not function properly.

For more detailed information about the specific cookies we use, please visit our Cookie Policy.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to maintain the security of your personal information and protect it against unauthorized or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include:

1. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our website is encrypted.
2. Access Controls: Only authorized NASCIC personnel have access to personal information, and only for legitimate organizational purposes.
3. Regular Security Assessments: We periodically review and update our security practices to address new threats and vulnerabilities.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include:

1. Access: Request confirmation of whether we process your personal information and receive a copy of the personal information we have about you.
2. Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information about you.
3. Deletion: Request that we delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
4. Communication Preferences: Opt-out of receiving promotional communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in those communications or by contacting us directly.
5. Analytics Opt-Out: Opt-out of having your information used for analytics purposes by contacting us at the address below.
6. “Do Not Track” Signals: Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” feature that signals to websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. Our Site currently does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals.

Special Information About Spinal Cord Injury Status

We recognize that information about an individual’s spinal cord injury status is sensitive. While we do collect basic information about whether you live with SCI or represent someone who does, we:

1. Do not collect detailed medical information about your condition through our website.
2. Apply stricter access controls to information related to SCI status.
3. Never use SCI status information for marketing purposes without explicit consent.
4. Never share information about your SCI status with third parties except as required to provide our services or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy.

Children’s Privacy

Our Site is not intended for children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the information below. If we discover we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will promptly delete that information.

International Data Transfers

NASCIC is based in North America. If you access our Site from outside North America, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in jurisdictions where the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in your country. By submitting your personal information to us, you consent to the transfer of your data to North America.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date the Privacy Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. If we make material changes to how we treat your personal information, we will notify you through a notice on the Site.

Your continued use of the Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Additional Information for California Residents

If you are a California resident, California law may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, please contact us using the information provided above.

Additional Information for Canadian Residents

Canadian residents may have additional rights under applicable provincial and federal privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). For more information about these rights, please contact us using the information provided above.