Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 15, 2023

Welcome to the Pfaffinger Foundation (referred to as “the Foundation”, “we” or “us”). Your use of this website is subject to this Privacy Policy & Terms of Use (“Policy”).

This Policy describes what information we collect, explains how we use and share the information we collect, outlines the rights and choices you have relating to the information, summarizes how we exercise those rights and states other terms of use regarding your use of this website.

Please read this Policy carefully before using this website or submitting Personal Information to us.

Scope

This Policy applies to information collected while visiting our website, contacting us, applying for assistance, or information previously obtained by the Foundation in relation to the above referenced activities.

We will review and update this Policy regularly in accordance with our data protection obligations. We may amend, update or supplement the Policy from time to time.

What is “Personal Information” according to this Policy?

“Personal Information” means information that identifies you or could be used to identify you and which is submitted to and/or collected by us. The Foundation may also obtain Personal Information indirectly, such as from publicly available sources (e.g., websites or publicly accessible databases), third-party vendors, and/or third-party partners. We may combine Personal Information from multiple online and offline sources. Examples of Personal Information include but are not limited to the following:

Contact information and preferences such as name, email address, mailing address, phone number, language preference and electronic signature
Account information such as any username, email and password that you may select in connection with establishing an account on our website or via the application process
Biographical and demographic information such as your date of birth, age, marital status, and family demographics such as spouse, children’s names, dates of birth and employment status
Financial and payment information such as payroll statements and/or spouse payroll statements we may obtain in the course of evaluating your eligibility for an award. We may collect financial information from a credit bureau and other financial information (e.g., assets, bank statements, bills/estimates from creditors/vendors) you provide as part of our services. In addition, we may collect information needed to complete a transaction, like wire instructions, if you receive an award.
Internet Activity such as your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browsing history, your search history and information on your interaction with the Foundation services. For additional information, see “Passive Collection of Information” below
Health-related information, such as information about a health condition and insurance information
Other Personal Information collected in the course of evaluating your eligibility for an award
Communications with the Foundation

If you choose to submit any Personal Information relating to other people, you represent that you have the authority to do so and permit us to use the Personal Information in accordance with this Policy.

How does the Foundation collect information?

The Foundation collects information in the following ways:

Personal Information You Submit. The Foundation collects Personal Information that you provide to us via our application process and/or during your interactions with us either online, over the phone, or by email/mail. For example, you may submit your name, postal address, e-mail address, and/or other information in order to receive information about various subjects, apply for financial assistance or respond to the Foundation surveys. You may also share Personal Information with us when you apply for assistance and/or when you interact with us or our third-party partners. To protect your privacy, you should not provide the Foundation with any information that is not specifically requested.
Information from Public or Third-Party Sources. We may collect Personal Information from third parties such as your current employer, in order to evaluate your eligibility for an award. We may also collect Personal Information from public sources including, but not limited to, social media and other websites that enable social sharing. Personal information may also be available from government agencies, public or third-party information sources, third-party service providers, or business partners.
Information Collected through Business Partners. We sometimes work with other organizations to provide you with our services. When that happens, we require that information be protected.
Passive Collection of Information. The Foundation may collect information about your visits to its website without you actively submitting such information. Information may be collected using various technologies, such as cookies, and web beacons. Cookies are small text files that are transferred to your computer’s hard disk by a website. Web beacons (also referred to as GIF files, pixels or Internet tags) help the Foundation recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Your Internet browser automatically transmits to the Foundation website some of this information, such as the URL of the website you just visited and the browser version your computer is operating. Other Passive Information that may be collected by us includes the pages of our website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. Passive information collection technologies can make your use of the Foundation’s website easier by allowing us to provide better service, customize our website based on consumer preferences, compile statistics, analyze trends, and otherwise administer and improve the Foundation website. Certain features of our website may not work without the use of passive information collection technologies. Information collected by these technologies cannot be used to identify you without additional identifiable information, and the Foundation will not connect additional identifiable information with information collected through the use of such tracking technologies. With respect to limiting or disabling tracking technology please see below section “What choices do I have about how the Foundation collects and uses Personal Information about me?”.

How will the Foundation use Personal Information?

The Foundation uses your Personal Information depending on how you interact with us and what services you use. Generally, the Foundation uses Personal Information to provide our services to you and make them better, to respond to your questions and requests, to communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with the law. The Foundation may use certain identifying technologies to allow the website to “remember” your personal preferences, such as sections of the website you visit frequently. We may also use this Personal Information for other business purposes, such as to offer you the opportunity to receive notices regarding the Foundation’s services or to invite you to participate in surveys about our services.

Provide services: to determine financial hardship and eligibility for our services; to recommend other ways to provide support and create a plan to address your needs in the short and long term, if applicable; to process, if any, your award; to monitor your progress; and to determine any tax or legal obligations, if applicable
Maintain and customize services: to maintain our websites, and better understand the interests of our clients who use our services; to customize your experience with the Foundation such as recognizing you when you visit our websites, and remembering your preferences; and to develop services
Communicate with you: to respond to your inquiries; and to send you communications regarding the Foundation’s services
Communicate with government regulatory and law enforcement agencies and abide by legal obligations: to comply with applicable laws; to comply with the Foundation’s legal and regulatory obligations; to respond to requests from government authorities, judicial requests, and national security situations; to investigate potential fraud; to exercise, establish, or defend the Foundation’s legal rights; and to investigate, litigate, and prosecute users whom we suspect have violated our rules or engaged in behavior that appears to be illegal or harmful to others
Monitor compliance with our policies and procedures
For other purposes: We may use your information for other purposes, such as data analysis and identifying usage trends

How will the Foundation use Personal Information?

Personal Information can be accessed by a restricted number of the Foundation employees, contractors, and volunteers, and by individuals or entities with whom we contract or engage with to carry out business activities for the Foundation.

Your Personal Information will be transferred to, and may potentially be stored outside of, your home country – including in the United States and other countries. Privacy laws in those countries may not protect your Personal Information to the same extent as laws in your home country. By using our website or engaging with us for any of our services, you are allowing the Foundation to transfer and store your Personal Information outside of your home country.

Does the Foundation share Personal Information with third parties?

As a common practice, the Foundation does not share your Personal Information with third parties, unless it is necessary to carry out a program or activity through a contractor. If the Foundation provides your Personal Information to individuals who, or entities which assist us with our business activities, it is our practice to require those individuals and entities to keep your Personal Information confidential and to use your Personal Information only to perform functions for the Foundation. The Foundation reserves the right to disclose your Personal Information to respond to authorized requests from government authorities, to address national security issues, or when otherwise required by law. The Foundation may also disclose your Personal Information in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend the rights or property of the Foundation, prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with your use of our services, protect the personal safety of other users of our services or the public, or to protect against legal liability. We may also share or transfer your Personal Information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of the Foundation assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of the Foundation or its assets.

Does the Foundation share Personal Information?

Yes, under the following circumstances, the Foundation will share your Personal Information:

To validate your Personal Information, if necessary, for the Foundation to perform our services
If there are any suspected inconsistencies during our interactions with you or per the information collected
In the event of suspected fraud
If requested during an investigation or audit of the Foundation

Does the Foundation sell Personal Information?

The Foundation does not sell Personal Information or transfer Personal Information to third parties to use for their own benefit, except as described above; however, we allow certain companies to place tracking technologies like cookies on our websites. Those companies receive information about your interaction with our websites that is associated with your browser or device. Except for this kind of sharing, we do not sell any of your information.

How does the Foundation secure Personal Information?

We employ technical, physical, administrative, and organizational safeguards to help protect your Personal Information, as it is our practice to take steps to secure our services. However, the confidentiality of Personal Information transmitted over the Internet or other means cannot be guaranteed, so we urge you to exercise caution when transmitting Personal Information. Additionally, the Foundation cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not gain access to your information; therefore, when submitting Personal Information to the Foundation, you must weigh both the benefits and the risks.

The Foundation contracts with third parties whose web sites are not controlled by the Foundation or subject to this Policy. You should check the privacy policies of such third-party websites before submitting Personal Information.

How does the Foundation protect the privacy of children and minors younger than 17?

Protecting the privacy of children is very important to us. We do not knowingly allow children to communicate with us or use any of our online services. If you are a parent or legal guardian and become aware that your child has provided us with information, please contact us using one of the methods specified below, and we will work with you to address this issue.

What choices do I have about how the Foundation collects and uses Personal Information about me?

You may always limit the amount and type of Personal Information that the Foundation receives about you by choosing not to submit any Personal Information or interact with us via phone, email/mail or website. Some of our services can only be provided to you if you provide us with appropriate Personal Information.

The Foundation’s website may ask whether you wish to opt out or opt into our contact lists for additional services that may be of interest to you. Portions of the Foundation website that use tracking technologies to collect information do not generally provide you with the ability to opt out of the tracking technologies. However, some Internet browsers allow you to limit or disable the use of tracking technologies that collect information.

For our record-keeping purposes and as required by law, we will retain certain Personal Information you submit in conjunction with grant applications for a specified period of time

How may I update or change my personal information?

You may request to update or change your Personal Information in our current records. Please notify us of your wishes in one of the ways specified below.

What are the other terms of use of this website?

The following are the other terms of use of this website.

Copyright & Trademark: Unless expressly noted otherwise, all materials on this website are protected by copyright, trademarks, service marks, and/or other intellectual property rights held by the Foundation or other parties that have allowed the Foundation to use their materials. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. If you would like to reproduce, distribute, or use any materials on this site, or if you believe this site (or any material contained on this site) is infringing your copyright, please contact us in the manner described below.

Reliance on Information Posted: The Foundation does not guarantee that the functions and contents contained in or on the website will be without errors, that this site will be free of viruses, or that any site defects will be corrected, even if the Foundation is aware of them.

Links: Our website may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy & terms of use of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Conditions of use: As a condition of your use of the website, you warrant to the Foundation that you will not use the website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by this Policy. You may not use the website in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the website or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the website. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the website. The Foundation reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your access to the website and the related services or any portion thereof at any time, without notice.

Other restrictions: You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and the Foundation as a result of this agreement or use of the website. the Foundation’s performance of this agreement is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in this agreement is in derogation of the Foundation’s right to comply with governmental, court and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the website or information provided to or gathered by the Foundation with respect to such use.

LIABILITY DISCLAIMER. THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN. FOUNDATION MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE SITE AT ANY TIME. ANY ADVICE RECEIVED VIA THE SITE SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PERSONAL, MEDICAL, LEGAL OR FINANCIAL DECISIONS AND YOU SHOULD CONSULT AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE TAILORED TO YOUR SITUATION. FOUNDATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND. FOUNDATION HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL FOUNDATION BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE WEBSITE, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR RELATED SERVICES, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE WEBSITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FOUNDATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE WEBSITE, OR THE POLICY, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE WEBSITE.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction: This agreement shall be treated as though it were executed and performed in the State of California and shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and State of California (without regard to conflict of law principles). Should a dispute arise concerning this website, this Policy, the terms of use or the breach of same by any party hereto, the parties agree to submit their dispute for resolution by arbitration before the American Arbitration Association, in accordance with the then current Commercial Arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association, with said arbitration to take place in Los Angeles, California.

Consent: This Policy constitutes a legal agreement between us. By using this website, you signify your acceptance of this Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, please do not use our website. Your continued use of the website following the posting of changes to this Policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes.

How can I contact the Foundation?

If you have questions about the use, correction or amendment of Personal Information that you have provided to us or you would like to opt out of future communications from the Foundation or a particular Foundation program, please contact us by clicking on the “Contact Us” link on the Foundation’s website, by e-mailing us at info@pfoundation.org, or in writing addressed to the Foundation at 420 E. Third Street, Suite 1010, Los Angeles, CA 90013.

If you are a California resident, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 may entitle you to receive additional information from us should we ever disclose Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Please direct all such requests to the email and/or regular mail addresses stated above.

How will I know whether the Foundation has updated this Policy?

The Foundation reserves the right to amend this Policy at any time without prior notice. You are advised to review this Policy periodically for any changes. If the Foundation changes its policies, a new Policy will reflect those changes and the effective date of the revised Policy will be set forth at the beginning of this Policy.