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Privacy Policy

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has created this privacy statement to inform site visitors of the ACLU's data collection and storage practices, and guidelines for use of visitor data. The following statements detail information gathering and dissemination practices for the ACLU-NJ of New Jersey's Website, located at http://www.aclu-nj.org and any other associated sites using the aclu-nj.org domain.

User Tracking and Data Capture Practices

Our servers collect and aggregate user information site-wide, including anonymous site statistics, such as the number of views of each page. We log domain names and/or IP addresses of visitors (such as umich.edu, aol.com, 209.168.1.1, etc.), which permits us to know "where" visitors are from, or what access service they use, without knowing their individual identities. Because we do not require users to register with us, this "host level" tracking is our primary basis for assessing traffic patterns.

On certain pages such as the ACLU-NJ Membership Form, we give users the option of providing us with names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and other personal information, and various other kinds of details. This more personal information is gathered only with users' knowing and active permission and participation.

The ACLU-NJ website uses cookie technology for traffic analysis. Cookies are small pieces of information stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive. The cookies placed by our server do not gather personal information about you; they simply allow us to enhance our website by letting us know what sections are visited most frequently. The use of cookies is common on the Internet and our use of them is similar to that of other reputable online organizations.

On some pages, users can sign up to receive additional information by e-mail through an e-mail subscription service (as discussed below), or by other means, including postal mail. Personal information that has been volunteered to us may also be combined with data from third parties, such as Congressional district maps, to improve our services to members. No such combining will be done for marketing purposes.

We may at some point share user information, including e-mail addresses, with our national office for the above named purposes. Website visitor information is not shared or exchanged with other parties, with the exception of those visitors who also become ACLU-NJ members (see below regarding ACLU Member Address Exchange) and as provided for in the section on Activist List subscriptions below.

E-mail addresses of visitors and members are never exchanged with other organizations except as provided for in the section on e-mail list subscriptions below.

ACLU/ACLU-NJ Relationship

ACLU members in New Jersey are automatically members of both the National ACLU and the ACLU of New Jersey and may receive communications from both offices about state and national civil liberties issues and the work of the ACLU. For information about the National ACLU's privacy policies, see: http://www.aclu.org.

How We Might Contact You

From time-to-time the ACLU-NJ contacts its supporters and friends for a variety of reasons - including to inform you of upcoming programs and events, to ask you to take action on pressing civil liberties threats, and to seek financial support. If you wish to opt-out of such communications, please follow the instructions below to be removed from our contact lists.

Activist List

By joining our activist list, you will receive periodic e-mail informing you of action that you can take in the defense of civil liberties. You can join our action list by selecting "Electronic Activist Network" when joining as a member, you can subscribe during the sign-up process. We will use the mail address that you provide to assign your e-mail address to the proper legislative districts. Both your e-mail and your mail address will be used exclusively for the purpose of sending you e-mail from the ACLU. You will not be contacted in any other way, nor will your information be offered to a third-party.

Exchange of ACLU-NJ Member Addresses

Individual information about website visitors, including e-mail addresses, is never shared with third parties (except as provided for in the section on e-mail list subscriptions below).

However, the names and postal addresses of ACLU-NJ members, including those who join through the ACLU-NJ website, may be exchanged or rented to other organizations or publications under the procedures outlined below. Members who join through the ACLU-NJ Website are provided with an opportunity to opt-out of this exchange.

Like most other non-profit membership organizations, the ACLU-NJ obtains the names of potential new members by renting the membership lists or subscriber lists of like-minded organizations and publications. Sometimes, instead of paying the rental fee, ACLU-NJ exchanges its list with that of another organization.

Whether by exchange or rental, the lists are governed by very strict privacy procedures, as recommended by the U.S. Privacy Study Commission. All exchanges are made on a "blind" basis, as follows: Lists are never given into the physical possession of the organization which has rented or exchanged them. This safeguard is necessary to prevent one organization from knowing who the members of any other organization are. Instead, usually the list, either in the form of labels or electronic data file, is sent to a mail house which prepares the mailing without our ever seeing who is addressed. The only time we get possession of a name from one of these lists is when the person receiving our invitation to join responds by sending our return envelope back to us.

If the receipt of duplicate mailings is too burdensome, you may wish to consider writing to each of the organizations to which you belong and publications to which you subscribe, requesting that your name be eliminated from lists made available for exchange or rental. The ACLU-NJ always honors such requests, and we believe that the organizations with which we exchange or rent lists honor them also, although of course we can't guarantee the actions of outside organizations.

Financial Data Security

Membership forms that collect financial information (such as a credit card number) are offered over a secure server that encrypts the data for delivery to our credit card processor's server, and all financial data is stored or transmitted using appropriate security measures.

How to Opt-Out

In addition to opting-out at the point of registering on our website to use our e-advocacy tools, joining as a member, renewing your membership, making a donation or registering for an event, you can also opt-out by following the instructions below.

Change/Modify Membership Information

This site gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided.

Please provide your ACLU-NJ member ID, if known, your old address, and your new address.  Send mail to the following postal address:

    American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
    Membership Department
    P.O. Box 32159
    Newark, NJ  07102

Delete/Deactivate Information

This site gives users the following options for removing their information from our database to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service.

Membership Information

Please provide your ACLU-NJ member ID, if known, and your current address.

Send mail to the following postal address:

    American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
    Membership Department
    P.O. Box 32159
    Newark, NJ  07102

All other ACLU-NJ Website features and programs

Send mail to the following postal address:

    American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
    Online Programs
    P.O. Box 32159
    Newark, NJ  07102

 

Copyright 2006, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
P.O. Box 32159, Newark, NJ 07102
973 642 2084
info@aclu-nj.org - http://www.aclu-nj.org