Your privacy is critically important to us. At the North Carolina Coastal Federation, we have a few fundamental principles:

• We don’t ask you for personal information unless we truly need it (such as required information for credit card processing). (We can’t stand websites that ask you for things like your gender or income level for no apparent reason.)
• We don’t store personal information on our servers unless required for the on-going operation of one of our services.
• We will not share or sell the personal information of our donors or subscribers with anyone except to comply with the law or protect our rights. This includes online donors and subscribers as well as “offline” donors and subscribers (giving by mail or receiving mail from us).
• We will not send solicitations to you on behalf of other organizations.
• Donors giving $1,000 and above will be recognized by name in our annual report. You can contact Sarah King, Development Director, at sarahk@nccoast.org or 252-393-8185 if you would prefer to remain anonymous.
• You may opt out of receiving email from us at any time by simply clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any communications email. You may opt out of receiving written correspondence (including membership publications, our annual report, and special updates) from us at any time by either contacting Sarah King, Development Director, at sarahk@nccoast.org or 252-393-8185 or by mail at 3609 N.C. 24, Newport, NC 28570.

Website Visitors

Like most website operators, the North Carolina Coastal Federation collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Our purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how visitors use our website.

Gathering of Personally-Identifying Information

Certain visitors to our website choose to interact with us in ways that require the Coastal Federation to gather personally-identifying information. The amount and type of information that we gather depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who sign up for our RSS feeds and digital newsletter to provide an email address. Those who buy items in our gift shop or become members are asked to provide additional information, including as necessary the personal and financial information required to process those transactions. In each case, the Coastal Federation collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with us. The Coastal Federation does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. Visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain online activities.

Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information

The Coastal Federation discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to those of its employees that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on our behalf or to provide services available on our website and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. The Coastal Federation will not rent, share or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to its employees as described above, the Coastal Federation discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when the Coastal Federation believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of the Coastal Federation, third parties or the public at large.

If you opt to receive RSS feeds and have supplied your email address, the Coastal Federation will send you daily updates about new items on the website. If you provide your email address for the digital newsletter, the Coastal Federation may occasionally send you an email to tell you about events and activities, solicit your feedback or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with the Coastal Federation. We expect to keep this type of email to a minimum. You can cancel the RSS feeds and email alerts at any time. The Coastal Federation takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information.

Cookies

A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the Web site each time the visitor returns. The Coastal Federation uses cookies to help us identify and track visitors, their usage of our website and their access preferences. Visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using our website, with the drawback that certain features of site may not function properly without the aid of cookies.

Privacy Policy Changes

Although most changes are likely to be minor, the Coastal Federation may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in our sole discretion. We encourage visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.