Privacy Policy
This statement comprises the privacy policy of the International Crisis Group (“Crisis Group”, “the Organisation”) as it pertains to the Organisation’s websites (“Websites”) over which Crisis Group has full control in terms of the software, hardware and other functionality that makes up the platform.
This Privacy Policy therefore does not cover Crisis Group’s presence on social media platforms such as, but not limited to: Youtube, Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Flickr, Soundcloud, and on publishing platforms such as, but not limited to: Issuu, Scribd, Medium on which the Organisation has established its own presence. In the context of those platforms, Crisis Group is merely another user and the privacy policies as well as terms and conditions of those platforms are applicable.
Crisis Group’s Websites include: its main website at http://www.crisisgroup.org (the “Main Website”), Crisis Group’s blogsite at http://blog.crisisgroup.org (the “Blog site”) and any content made available on the domain crisisgroup.be (as standalone mini sites or embedded in other websites).
We welcome you to use our Online Platforms, which can be accessed and browsed without the need to submit any contact details or other personally-identifiable information (“Personal Information”). We strive to make sure that any Personal Information that you do provide to us is protected and secure. Our privacy policy tells you how we treat the information about you that we receive through this Website.
THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND HOW WE USE IT
Crisis Group collects your Personal Information when you send us a message, subscribe to our website, or make a donation online. Your Personal Information will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it (e.g., to send you email notifications of Crisis Group reports and briefings, as well as weekly update emails), and to send you occasional emails advising you of changes to Crisis Group’s website or requesting donations. It will not be supplied to any other entity or used for any other purpose without your consent. Specifically, Crisis Group collects your Personal Information on the Website as follows:
Contacting Crisis Group: If you choose to contact Crisis Group through the Website, we will collect the data you provide to us voluntarily on the contact submission form, which includes your name and email address. We will use this information to respond to your inquiry.
Email Newsletters: If you choose to sign up for our email newsletters, we will collect the data you provide to us voluntarily on the data forms, which includes your email address. We will use this information to send you weekly email newsletters, email notifications of Crisis Group reports, the monthly Crisis Watch bulletin and briefings, and to send you occasional emails advising of changes to Crisis Group’s website or requesting donations.
Donations: Crisis Group uses a third party, Ingenico (formerly known as Ogone), to process online donations to Crisis Group made electronically through the Website. Any Personal Information you submit through the “Donations” section of the Website (including your name, email address, amount of donation, as well as optional information including your postal address and telephone number) to make an online donation will be kept private and will not be provided to any other organisation or person. We use this information to maintain our records and contact you if there are problems with the donation.
Any Personal Information you submit through Ingenico’s secure donations website is provided directly by you to Ingenico and will be used by Ingenico to process your transaction. Personal Information provided by you to Ingenico’s is subject to Ingenico’s privacy policy. We do not control Ingenico’s privacy policy and practices, and we do not have access to Personal Information that you provide to Ingenico. Ingenico will provide Crisis Group with certain Personal Information about you (including your name, billing address, email address, telephone number, donation amount and relationship to Crisis Group, but not your credit card number) when you choose to make an online donation to Crisis Group through the Website (unless you request that your donation remain anonymous, in which case Crisis Group will not receive your name and contact information). Crisis Group will use this information to produce and send to you an acknowledgement letter.
Offline Personal Information Submissions: Crisis Group stores Personal Information provided by you offline (e.g., business cards), and occasionally when provided by your friends and colleagues, in order to send you our reports and briefings by email or post. Your Personal Information will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and to send you occasional emails advising you of changes to Crisis Group’s website or requesting donations. It will not be supplied to any other organisation or used for any other purpose without your consent.
In certain circumstances, it may be necessary to provide your address to mailing houses (which may be located in jurisdictions which do not provide adequate data protection) in order for our report to be sent to you. By voluntarily providing us with your Personal Information, you are giving your consent to the transfer of your Personal Information to mailing houses in such jurisdictions strictly for the purposes described in this policy. However, your contact details will not be supplied to any other organisation or used for any other purpose without your consent.
WITH WHOM YOUR INFORMATION IS SHARED
Crisis Group will never share your Personal Information with any other company or third party without your permission, except in the following circumstances: (i) as set forth above, (ii) in response to a subpoena or when we are required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or other legal obligation; (iii) in response to a valid request from a law enforcement agency; (iv) to protect the security or confidentiality of our records and systems; (v) in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with our rights, or (vi) in the event Crisis Group goes through a re-organisation (e.g. a merger into another organisation), in which case you will be notified via a prominent notice on the Website of any such event.
OPTING OUT
If you have provided Crisis Group with your email address to receive email newsletters, you will be given the opportunity to opt out of receiving such emails by clicking on the link provided in the email. You may then choose to opt out by following the instructions on the Website’s Unsubscription Request page. If you experience problems with automated un-subscription requests for some reason, please email postmaster@crisisgroup.org and a staff member will manually process your request.
Please note that we will endeavor to implement your opt-out requests within a reasonable time, although for a short time you may continue to receive the email newsletter(s) to which you have subscribed based on information released prior to the implementation of your request. Please also note that after your request is implemented, you may continue to receive information directly related to any online donations you make through the Website.
TRACKING AND COOKIES
Our Online Platforms
When you look at any of our Online Platforms, the hosting companies, server operating system/software, website CMS and other components for Crisis Group makes a record of your visit and logs the following non-personal information from you:
- your IP address;
- the pages you accessed and documents you download; every ‘HTTP Query’ your browser client sent to our server(s)
- the type of browser and operating system your computer uses
We use this information, which does not identify individual users, for statistical purposes.
Cookies
Like most websites, our Websites may place a “cookie,” – a small text file - in the browser of a visitor’s computer. This cookie will assign a user a unique number that allows Crisis Group to save information so that the information does not need to be re-entered. Cookies can be either “persistent” or “session” based. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer, contain an expiration date, and may be used to track your browsing behavior upon return to the issuing web site or component (such as plugins or embedded media, e.g. a YouTube video embedded on our website). You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file. Session cookies are short-lived, are used only during a browsing session, and expire when you quit your browser. Our Online Platforms use both session cookies and persistent cookies.
You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (For instructions on how to configure your browser, please consult your browser’s “Help” menu.) If you choose not to allow us to place a cookie on your hard drive, you may be restricted from some pages and services on the Website.
Our Online Platforms may contain links to other sites that may use cookie technology. We do not have access to, or control over, these cookies.
SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION
Crisis Group uses reasonable precautions to protect your Personal Information and to store it securely. The Website does not provide facilities for the secure transmission of information across the Internet. If you choose to make an electronic donation to Crisis Group, however, you will be transferred to a secure website, run by the Belgian company Ingenico, where the donation process will be completed. Please refer to the above section “Donations” for further information concerning the electronic donations process. Personal Information, whether collected online or off-line, will be stored in a server located in Belgium and will be password protected. The server on which we store Personal Information is kept in a reasonably secure environment. You should be aware, however, that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
CORRECTING / UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION
To unsubscribe or to change your personal details or subscription choices, please visit our subscription page, or contact us directly. Should none of the above methods get you a timely update or feedback, please write to postmaster@crisisgroup.org directly.
Please do not hesitate to contact Crisis Group if you require further information.
CHANGES IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Our privacy policy may change in the future. We encourage you to review this page periodically to understand our policy regarding our collection and use of Personal Information. The Effective Date of this policy, as stated below, indicates the last time this policy was materially revised. Checking the Effective Date below allows you to determine whether there have been changes since the last time you reviewed the policy.
Effective Date of Privacy Policy: 16 January 2015.