Privacy Policy

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ("USCCB") and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ("GOA") are committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. 

This Statement of Privacy applies to this section of the FaithAndSafety.org ("Web Site") and governs data collection and usage on this section.  By using these pages of the FaithAndSafety.org web site, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

Collection of Your Personal Information

Visitors to the Web Site may access its content without the need to setup an account.  In order to rate content, participate in polls, or otherwise interact with the FaithAndSafety.org community of users, visitors must create a login with a valid username and password.  When you create an account to interact with our Web Site and its community, USCCB and GOA collect personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number, or any information that identifies or can be used to identify the person to whom that information pertains. As part of this account registration process, the USCCB and GOA may also collect anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.  Collection of this information is a default feature of the software used to manage the Web Site.

There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by the USCCB and GOA. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring web addresses. This information is used by USCCB and GOA for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the USCCB and GOA Web Site.

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through our Web Site's public messages or blogs, this information may be collected and used by others.  Please notify us if you believe any of your intellectual property rights have been infringed by a User of the Site. Pursuant to Section 512 of the Copyright Revision Act, as enacted through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), USCCB and GOA designate the following individual as its agent for receipt of notifications of claimed infringement:

USCCB
Attn: Helen Osman, Secretary of Communications
3211 4th Street NE
Washington, DC 20017

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Attn: Theo Nicolakis, Chief Information Officer
8 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075

To be effective, the notifications should include:

(a)  a physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right being infringed;

(b)  identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at the site;

(c)   identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity, and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material;

(d)  information sufficient to allow us to contact the complaining party;

(e)  a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner  complained of is not authorized by the copyright or intellectual property owner, agent, or the law; and

(f)    a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right being infringed.  If you fail to comply with all of these requirements, your DMCA notification may not be valid.

The USCCB and GOA encourages you to review the privacy statements of sites you choose to link to from FaithAndSafety.org so that you can understand how those web sites collect, use and share your information. USCCB and GOA are not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on web sites outside of FaithAndSafety.org and the USCCB and GOA family of web sites, or the web sites to which USCCB or GOA has linked, such as YouTube, and the sites hosting videos such as those on the linked from the Web Site.

Use of your Personal Information

USCCB and GOA collect and use your personal information to operate the FaithAndSafety.org site and deliver the services you have requested. USCCB and GOA also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other areas of interest or services available from USCCB, GOA, and their affiliates. USCCB and GOA may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.

USCCB and GOA do not sell, rent, or lease its member lists to third parties. USCCB and GOA may share data {personal information/information automatically collected (see above)} with some of its vendors which perform communications or registration functions to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. USCCB and GOA make efforts to inform all such third parties that USCCB and GOA do not intend that they use your personal information except to provide their services to FaithAndSafety.org.

USCCB and GOA keeps track of the web sites and pages visited, in order to determine how USCCB and GOA services are accessed. This data is used to deliver customized content to those whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

USCCB's and GOA's web sites will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on USCCB, GOA, or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of USCCB and GOA; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of USCCB, GOA, or the public.

Use of Cookies

The FaithAndSafety.org web site uses "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize FaithAndSafety.org pages, or register with FaithAndSafety.org site or services, a cookie helps USCCB and GOA to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information. When you return to the same FaithAndSafety.org Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the FaithAndSafety.org features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the USCCB and GOA services or Web sites you visit.

Security of your Personal Information

USCCB and GOA make standard business efforts to secure your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

Changes to this Statement

USCCB and GOA will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect organizational and customer feedback. USCCB and GOA encourages you to periodically review this Statement to be informed of how USCCB and GOA are protecting your information.

Contact Information

USCCB and GOA welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that USCCB and GOA have not adhered to this Statement, please contact the USCCB Communication Office at [email protected]. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.