Privacy Policy

We collect personal information (for example, your name, address, date of birth, email address, or telephone number) from you when you:

1. Donate to us;
2. Complete an online registration, survey, or other online form;
3. Subscribe to our newsletters, updates, or Action Alerts;
4. Participate in our advocacy campaigns;
5. Request information about IFAW, including our programs and campaigns;
6. Respond to our mailings, contests, or giveaways; or
7. Contact us or become involved with us in another way.

As part of these interactions, we also collect additional information such as your IFAW supporter number, bank or credit card information, or information about your interests.

We may also collect information (such as your address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, income level, donation amounts, and histories) from the public domain, either directly or from third parties, and from other charities and not-for-profit organizations.

Except where permitted by law, we will never collect sensitive personal information about you (such as health, biometric, or sexual orientation information) without your consent and will only use such information as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

We will not sell, share, or rent your personal information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this Policy.

There are different reasons why we might need your personal information – the main ones are to process your donation, to send you information that you have requested from us, to inform us about your interests and concerns relating to IFAW’s mission, to keep records of our contact with you, and so that we can better meet your needs.

We may also use your personal information for planning, analysis, and other operational purposes such as understanding IFAW supporters and potential donors or to inform our legacy giving program.

We may also use your personal information to get in contact with you by mail, telephone, text, or email, and to keep you up to date on the work of IFAW and the ways in which you can donate or help us in our efforts to raise vital funds. You can stop text messages at any time by texting STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, or QUIT to the number sending the text message, or you can tell us not to send you text messages by contacting us as described in this Policy. You can also opt out of email communications through those mechanisms described in the communication.

We may use IP addresses to help us analyze trends, administer the Sites, track users’ movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IFAW will use your IP addresses to identify you if IFAW believes it necessary to (i) facilitate payments of donations, (ii) protect IFAW, the Sites, users, or other individuals, or (iii) enforce the terms of and/or compliance with the IFAW Terms of Use.

When dealing with your personal information, we will at all times comply with state and federal law, and any other applicable law or regulation.

How we use information from mobile devices

When you access the Sites on your mobile device (“Mobile Device”), we may obtain information from your Mobile Device about the type of Mobile Device you are using and/or your Mobile Device identification information. We may also use technologies, such as location-based information, to provide you with tailored information and features as you use our Sites.

We may use this information to notify you of features and products that may be available on your Mobile Device. We may be required by third parties to collect the phone number of your Mobile Device. Some mobile network providers (“Mobile Providers”) in the U.S. are required to use technology that tracks the physical location of Mobile Devices that use their service. Depending on your Mobile Provider and Mobile Device, we may automatically receive this information. If we begin to offer services that use this tracking (“pinpointing”) information, we will obtain your consent (an opt-in) before using the information.

Most Mobile Devices provide users with the ability to disable location services. These controls are usually located in the Mobile Device’s settings menu. If you have questions about how to disable your Mobile Device’s location services, we recommend that you contact your Mobile Provider or your Mobile Device manufacturer.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR MOBILE PROVIDER MAY CHARGE YOU FEES FOR YOUR USE OF ITS NETWORK CONNECTION WHILE ACCESSING OR USING THE SITES, FOR DATA DOWNLOADING, EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGES, ROAMING, AND OTHER MOBILE PROVIDER OR THIRD-PARTY CHARGES. You understand that the Sites are provided over the Internet and mobile networks, so the quality and availability of the Sites may be affected by factors outside our control.

We do not guarantee that the Sites will be compatible or operate with your Mobile Provider’s service plans, with any particular Mobile Device, or other piece of hardware, software, equipment, or device you install on or use with your Mobile Device. We are not responsible if the Sites are unavailable or if you cannot download or access all content available on the Sites, for any compatibility or interoperability issues, or for any communication system failure which may result in the Sites being unavailable.

We will not sell your personal information and we will not share your personal information with any third-parties except in the circumstances set out in this Policy.

We may share your name, address, donation amounts, and giving histories with other charities and organizations (and third-party vendors may do so on our behalf), so that other charities and organizations can contact you for marketing purposes. You can opt-out of sharing your personal information at any time, for this purpose, by following the instructions contained in the "Contact details for questions" Section of this Policy.

IFAW will never share your mobile telephone number with any third parties for their own marketing purposes.

We may allow our staff, consultants, or other providers acting on our behalf to access and use your personal information so that we can better understand your giving interests and history, and to collect and analyze similar information about you from other charities and organizations and the public domain. This may include information such as your address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, income level, donation amounts, and giving histories.

We may also allow our staff, consultants or other providers acting on our behalf to access and use your personal information solely for the purposes for which you have provided it, including providing the programs, services described on the Sites and to contact you about them. If we do this, we will not give those individuals or organizations any rights to use your personal information, otherwise share your information (or to contact you) beyond what is necessary to assist us.

With your permission or upon your direction, we may disclose your personal information to interact with a third party or for other purposes.

We may share or disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by any law or court order. We may also merge or partner with other organizations and in so doing, acquire or transfer information. Your personal information collected through our Sites may be among the transferred assets. In the event that a portion or substantially all of our assets are sold or transferred to a third party, your personal information would likely be a transferred asset, and you hereby agree to such a transfer.

We may also use and share non-personal information – that is, de-identified information that cannot be used to identify you – for any lawful business purpose without any obligation to you.

Online donations are securely processed by our Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant payment service providers. Your payment details are collected in an encrypted form (SSL Protocol). Any offline donations that you make by check, monthly debit, or credit card are securely processed either by IFAW or our PCI-compliant trusted service providers. Any credit card details provided to IFAW over the phone are retained only for as long as it takes to securely process your payment, at which point all but the last 4 digits of your card number are redacted from our records.

Recurring Credit Card Payments and Automatic Updates

If you set up a recurring donation using a credit card, please note that your card details may be automatically updated by your bank or card network if your card expires, is replaced, or upgraded. This helps ensure your recurring payments continue without interruption. These updates happen securely through your card provider and our payment processor, Stripe, and we do not store full card details on our systems. You can see more details on this process here.

Protecting your information

Our Sites have security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. This includes a firewall and 24-hour monitoring of Sites’ activities by our hosting service provider as well as 256-bit SSL encryption (where permitted by law) on all transaction-oriented operations between you and IFAW via our transaction service provider.

While we use SSL encryption to protect personal information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user information offline.

We make no representations about any other websites, and when you access any other website through a link on our Sites (including social media sites) you understand that it is independent from us and that we have no control over that website or the way your personal information is collected through those websites. THOSE WEBSITES MAY HAVE THEIR OWN PRIVACY POLICIES, AND WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK AT THOSE POLICIES OR CONTACT THE WEBSITE OPERATORS DIRECTLY TO UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS USED. THIS POLICY APPLIES SOLELY TO INFORMATION COLLECTED BY OUR SITES.

Keeping your personal information secure is also your responsibility. We recommend you log out after accessing your account, change your password on a periodic basis, and limit access to your computer or device and its browser. Do not share your user name or password with anyone.

NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THE TOTAL PRIVACY OF YOUR INFORMATION. YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE ACCESSED AND VIEWED BY OTHER INTERNET USERS, WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND PERMISSION, WHILE IN TRANSIT TO OR FROM THE U.S.

Where your information is stored

The data that we collect from you will be transferred to, and stored at, our U.S. Operations Center at 290 Summer St., Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts 02675. The data may also be processed by staff of other IFAW corporate entities around the world or by our suppliers/vendors in the U.S. or in other countries. IFAW may also use cloud storage services located outside the United States. If you are using the Sites from outside the U.S., the data protection and other laws of the U.S. and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country. BY USING THE SITES, YOU CONSENT TO YOUR INFORMATION BEING TRANSFERRED TO, AND STORED AND PROCESSED BY, OUR FACILITIES AND THE FACILITIES OF THOSE THIRD PARTIES WITH WHOM WE SHARE IT AS DESCRIBED IN THIS POLICY.

Handling personal information from children under 13

IFAW is committed to complying fully with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”). IFAW’s Sites are not intended for children under the age of 13 years old. If you are under the age of 13, please DO NOT USE the Sites. We do not purposefully or knowingly collect personal information (as defined in COPPA, 15 U.S.C. § 6501) from children under the age of 13 and no one under the age of 13 may provide any information to or through our Sites. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 13 years of age, and believe that he or she disclosed information to us, please contact us at the address below in the "Contact details for questions" Section of this Policy. If we learn that we have collected or received personal information of persons who are under 13 years of age without verification of parental consent, we will exercise commercially reasonable efforts to delete this information. 

The California Consumer Privacy Act law provides residents of California with the additional rights listed below:

Right to Know and Access. You have the right to request that we disclose:

• The categories and/or specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you;
• The sources of that information;
• The business or commercial purpose for collecting or sharing it;
• The categories of third parties with whom we have shared your information;
• The identity of those specific third parties;

Right to Obtain a Copy. You have a right to obtain a copy of the personal information we have collected on you in a portable, reusable format..

Right to Correct. You have a right to request correction of inaccuracies in the personal data we have collected about you, subject to reasonableness.

Right to Delete. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected about you unless we need to retain that information for a specified purpose as exempted under state law.

Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.

Please click here to opt out of data selling/sharing using Global Privacy Control.

You can also opt out of the sale or sharing of your data by contacting us at info@ifaw.org

Right to limit use of Sensitive Personal Information. You have the right to request that we limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information (e.g., precise geolocation, race, health) beyond what is necessary to provide services or for legal compliance.

Right to Appeal. If we decline to act regarding your request, you have the right to appeal this decision.

Right to Private Action. You may have the right to seek statutory damages and attorney’s fees in certain cases of unauthorized access, exfiltration, theft, or disclosure of Non‑Encrypted or Non‑Redacted Personal Information resulting from our failure to maintain reasonable security protections.

Other Rights. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of the rights listed above.

Exercising Your California Privacy Rights. To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other data rights under California law, please contact us using the following method:

Email: You may write to us to exercise rights. Please include your full name, residential address, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request. Please email us at info@ifaw.org.

Webform: You may fill out a Webform to exercise rights. Please include your full name, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request.

Response Timing. We will acknowledge your request to delete, correct or know within 10 business days and provide information on how we will process your request. We shall respond to such a request within 45 days of receiving that request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and the extension period in writing. If we decline to act regarding a consumer request, we will inform you of the reason within 45 days of receiving that request.

The California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”) requires IFAW to post a privacy policy and disclose how it responds to “do not track” signals. IFAW does not recognize or respond to “do not track” browser settings. This means we may continue to collect and use your information as described in the How do you use cookies and other tracking technologies on the Sites? Section, please see the Help section of your browser for instructions on managing security preferences related to cookies or web beacons.

The Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) provides Colorado residents with the additional rights listed below.

Right to Know. You have the right to confirm whether we are processing your personal data and access such data, including:

• The categories of personal information we have collected about you;
• The purpose for processing your personal information;
• How you can exercise your rights and appeal a decision regarding your request;
• The categories of personal information that we have shared with third parties; and
• The categories of third parties with whom we have shared your personal information.

Right to Correct. You have a right to correct inaccuracies in the personal data we have collected about you, considering the nature of the personal data and the purposes of the processing of your personal data.

Right to Delete. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you unless we need to retain that information for a specified purpose as exempted under state law.

Right to Obtain a Copy. You have a right to obtain a copy of the personal data we have collected on you.

Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.

Please click here to opt out of data selling/sharing using Global Privacy Control.

Right to Appeal. If we decline to act regarding your request, you have the right to appeal this decision.

Other Rights. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of the rights listed above.

You also have the right to be notified, before or at the point your personal information is collected, of the types of personal information we collect and how that information may be used.

Exercising Your Colorado Privacy Rights. To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other data rights under Colorado law, please contact us using the following method:

Email: You may write to us to exercise rights. Please include your full name, residential address, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request. Please email us at info@ifaw.org.

Webform: You may fill out a Webform to exercise rights. Please include your full name, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request.

Response Timing. We shall respond to a consumer request for access or deletion (and other rights) within 45 days of receiving that request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and the extension period in writing. If we decline to act regarding a consumer request, we will inform you of the reason within 45 days of receiving that request.

The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (MODPA) provides Maryland residents with the additional rights listed below.

Right to Know. You have the right to confirm whether we are processing your personal data and access such data, including:

• The categories of personal information we have collected about you;
• The purpose for processing your personal information;
• How you can exercise your rights and appeal a decision regarding your request;
• The categories of personal information that we have shared with third parties; and
• A list of specific third parties with whom we have shared your personal information.

Right to Correct. You have a right to correct inaccuracies in the personal data we have collected about you, considering the nature of the personal data and the purposes of the processing of your personal data.

Right to Delete. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected about you unless we need to retain that information for a specified purpose as exempted under state law.

Right to Obtain a Copy. You have a right to obtain a copy of the personal data we have collected on you.

Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you

Please click here to opt out of data sharing/selling using the universal opt-out mechanism.

Right to Appeal. If we decline to act regarding your request, you have the right to appeal this decision.

Other Rights. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of the rights listed above.

Exercising Your Maryland Privacy Rights. To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other data rights under Maryland law, please contact us using the following method:

Email: You may write to us to exercise rights. Please include your full name, residential address, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request. Please email us at info@ifaw.org.

Webform: You may fill out a Webform to exercise rights. Please include your full name, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request.

Response Timing. We aim to respond to a consumer request for access or deletion within 45 days of receiving that request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. If we decline to act regarding a consumer request, we will inform you of the reason within 45 days of receiving that request.

The New Jersey Data Privacy Act (NJDPA) provides New Jersey residents with the additional rights listed below.

Right to Know. You have the right to confirm whether we are processing your personal data and access such data, including:

• The categories of personal information we have collected about you;
• The purpose for processing your personal information;
• How you can exercise your rights and appeal a decision regarding your request;
• The categories of personal information that we have shared with third parties; and
• The categories of third parties with whom we have shared your personal information.

Right to Correct. You have a right to correct inaccuracies in the personal data we have collected about you, considering the nature of the personal data and the purposes of the processing of your personal data.

Right to Delete. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you unless we need to retain that information for a specified purpose as exempted under state law.

Right to Obtain a Copy. You have a right to obtain a copy of the personal data we have collected on you.

Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for purposes of (i) targeted advertising, (ii) the sale of personal data, or (iii) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.

Please click here to opt out of data sharing/selling using the universal opt-out mechanism.

Right to Appeal. If we decline to act regarding your request, you have the right to appeal this decision.

Other Rights. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of the rights listed above.

Exercising Your New Jersey Privacy Rights. To request access to or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other data rights under New Jersey law, please contact us using the following method:

Email: You may write to us to exercise rights. Please include your full name, residential address, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request. Please email us at info@ifaw.org.

Webform: You may fill out a Webform to exercise rights. Please include your full name, email address, and phone number, along with why you are writing, so that we can process your request.

Response Timing. We aim to respond to a consumer request for access or deletion within 45 days of receiving that request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. If we decline to act regarding a consumer request, we will inform you of the reason within 45 days of receiving that request.

If you are accessing the Sites from within the EEA, then you have additional privacy rights under the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation). If you are accessing the Sites from within the UK, you also have additional privacy rights under the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) - (UK GDPR). These are listed below:

Right to be Informed. You have the right to clear and understandable information on how your personal data is collected, processed, stored, and shared. This includes details on the controller, processing purposes, retention periods, and your rights.

Right of access. You have the right to request your personal data held by IFAW. This includes information about the type of personal data we use, the reason for using it, who we may share your data with and, where possible, how long we intend to keep it.

Right to rectification. You can ask IFAW to amend or complete the personal data we hold about you.

Right to be forgotten. You can request that we erase your personal data where we no longer need it, or where you have withdrawn your consent or where we are under no legal obligation to continue to store it. We may be required to retain all or part of your personal data due to legal requirements.

Right to restriction. You can ask IFAW to restrict the processing of your data if you (i) doubt its accuracy, (ii) want to limit the use of your data instead of deleting it, (iii) object to the use of your data.

Right to portability. You can ask IFAW to provide you or another data controller with your personal data that we hold. However, this only applies if the processing is based on your consent or on a contract and is carried out in an automated form. In addition, the technical requirements must be met.

Right to object to processing. In cases where IFAW is relying on IFAW's legitimate interest (or that of a third party), you may object to our processing of your personal data, including automated decision-making, where there is something about your particular situation which makes it possible to object to the processing.

Right to object to direct marketing activities. You can ask IFAW not to use your personal data for direct marketing purposes. This may include advertising by letter, email, telephone, text message, profiling activities and behavioural internet advertising.

To the extent that you reside within the European Economic Area (“EEA”), our representative in the EEA is IFAW Germany Company Number HRB35636, Max-Brauer-Allee 62-64, D-22765 Hamburg.

To the extent that you reside within the UK, you can contact info-uk@ifaw.org or write to Donor Relations, Fifth Floor, 81 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0HX.

Our Sites use cookies to track how you use the Sites. A “cookie” is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer or device containing information about the user. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our Sites, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Sites and also allows us to improve our Sites. The cookies we use are “analytical” cookies. They allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the Sites when they are using them. This helps us to improve the way our Sites work, for example by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. We also use click through and open mail tracking when our Sites are accessed via links in an email we have sent. This enables us to uniquely identify the device or user accessing our Sites. Read more about the individual cookies we use and how to recognize them by clicking here. You may adjust your web browser if you do not wish to receive cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our Sites’ features.

Google Analytics is a Google tool that we use for web analysis. This tool – along with others such as services provided by Facebook – allow us to understand how our users interact with our Sites, collect demographic information for aggregate use, and collect other non-personal information such as device type, location, and the websites that are visited by users before or after our Sites. For more information on Google Analytics, please visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. You can learn more about the cookies used by Google and how to manage them in your browser at https://policies.google.com/technologies/types.

Our Sites also use web beacons or pixels through third-party service providers that allow us to track conversions and activity on our Sites as well as generate IFAW advertisements that appear on Facebook and other search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing for you and other potential users. Such third parties may collect or receive information through your use of our Sites and other websites, mobile applications, and devices over time to provide advertisements or other services. If you want to prevent third parties from delivering tailored advertising, VISIT THE NETWORK ADVERTISING INITIATIVE OR THE DIGITAL ADVERTISING ALLIANCE TO OPT OUT of such advertising from companies participating in these industry programs. Please note that if you change browsers or devices, or delete cookies, you may need to renew your opt-out choice.

We may integrate certain parts of our Sites with and allow you to log into your account on our Site through social networking platforms like Facebook. As part of such integration, the social networking platform provides us with access to certain information that you have provided to that social networking platform. IFAW will collect, use, maintain, and disclose such information in accordance with this Policy. However, please remember that the manner in which social networking platforms collect, use, maintain, and disclose your information is governed by the policies of such social networking platforms. IFAW has and shall have no liability or responsibility for the privacy practices or other actions of any social networking platforms, websites, or third parties that you use in connection with IFAW Sites.

If your personal information has changed (such as your zip code), or you decide that you no longer want to receive information from us and/or you do not want us to share your personal information with other charities and not-for-profit organizations as described in this policy, or wish to exercise your rights, simply let us know by:

Sending an email: info@ifaw.org

Writing to the following mailing address:
Donor Relations
IFAW
290 Summer Street
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675

Calling the following telephone number:

+1 508 744 2000 (and asking for Donor Relations)

Contact details for questions

If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of our Sites, or your dealings with our Sites, please contact:

Donor Relations
International Fund for Animal Welfare
290 Summer Street
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
info@ifaw.org
+1 508 744 2000

For international queries, please click here for additional contact details.