Privacy Statement

The RFC is committed to protecting your privacy. The Privacy Statement and Cookies Policy outlined below provides you with information concerning our practices and procedures related to how we collect data, manage and protect your personal information.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Statement or Cookies Policy or the way we process your personal information, please contact:

Religious Formation Conference
1525 E. 53rd St, Suite 716
Chicago, IL 60615
Email: rfc@relforcon.org
Telephone: 773.675.8362

How do we collect personal information?

We collect information directly from you. Personal information is collected using various means and methods. You will be asked to provide information when donating, becoming a member, purchasing resources, signing up for a workshop, and/or requesting information or updates through our website, e-mail, direct mail, or telephone communications. We do not collect any personal information about you via our website unless you specifically choose to provide the information.

We may supplement the information you provide us with data that is available to the public. Additional data may be gathered so that we can better understand your needs and serve you better. For example, we gather additional data on members, such as their religious institute’s social media contacts and main (governance) address, and special feast days.

We use authentication cookies for the purpose of maintaining continuity during a website user session and are used only for the duration of the session. No personal data is being gathered nor will these authentication cookies track any other internet activity.

What information do we collect?

Personal information collected may include, but is not limited to, your name, postal address, zip code, email address, telephone number, credit card number, and expiration date. We ask for information that is related specifically to your needs as a donor, member, subscriber, site visitor, or buyer of resources.

If you use a credit card to sign up for membership or subscriptions, purchase resources, or donate to the RFC, credit card details are processed securely, using SSL standard encryption to our payment processing partners as part of the payment process. We follow all payment card industry security standards and do not store any details on our website or databases.

In some cases, we request and collect additional sensitive or personal data but only if there is a clear reason for doing so, such as if the information is needed to ensure that we provide appropriate facilities or support to enable you to participate in one of our events. The RFC retains no permanent record of this sensitive and personal data.

How do we use your information?

We use the information you provide in a number of ways, including:

  • Provide you with information, products, or services (e.g., member benefits) which you have requested from us as well as those we may feel may be of interest to you as it relates to formation ministry.
  • Provide you with information about the work being done in the field of formation ministry.
  • Process donations and fees.
  • For administrative purposes, such as contacting you in regard to an upcoming event, respond to a query, or notify you of RFC policies or administrative changes.
  • To invite you to participate in surveys or research.
  • To analyze and improve the content and operation of our website and organization.

Like most websites, the RFC uses Google Analytics (GA) to track user interaction. We use this data to gather data which will help us improve user experience and our website. GA does not grant us access to any information which personally identifies you.

Am I required to provide certain information?

The information we request of members/subscribers is for the purpose of providing the best benefits and services possible.

Members/Subscribers: Failure to provide an email address or postal address simply means that some benefits may not be realized. We respect your right not to provide certain information.

Donors: Donors have the right to make donations anonymously. Failure to provide a postal or email address merely means we cannot thank you or keep you aware of our ongoing work.

Do we share your information?

The RFC does not sell information on its donors or members. Additionally, the RFC does not collect any personal information of those visiting the RFC website which is then sold. We disclose information only as agreed upon. Members/subscribers also have the choice to opt out of emails, etc. if they so choose. 

We do contract with other companies on occasion to provide services on our behalf, such as direct mail. We use third-party platforms for our email broadcasts and event registration. We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the required/contracted services and these companies are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose. In addition, we select providers who value your privacy and adhere to the strictest standards in terms of data protection. If you have any questions regarding any of these companies, please contact us via email at rfc@relforcon.org.

How can I change my information or sharing preferences?

We will do our best to maintain accurate and up-to-date information and take all reasonable steps to correct or erase inaccurate information. Your information can be retrieved, updated or purged at any time by contacting us at:

Religious Formation Conference
5401 South Cornell, Suite 304
Chicago, IL 60615
Phone: 773.675.8362
Email: rfc@relforcon.org

You may request that we do not contact you, which we will honor to the extent we can in accordance with the terms of our commitment to you (e.g., to provide specific goods and services).

How long do you retain my information?

We store your information as long as needed to provide the services requested. We retain membership, subscription, and buyer history for ease in the renewal and reorder process.

At any point any person or institute in our database may request that their name be removed from our database or marked as do not solicit by calling 773.675.8362 or via email at rfc@relforcon.org.

How does the RFC protect my information?

While no website can guarantee security, we maintain appropriate physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your information collected via the website. Our databases are secure sites and are protected by various physical, technical, and procedural measures. We restrict access to your information by unauthorized persons. If you would like more information regarding the protocols used please contact us via email at rfc@relforcon.org

The RFC does provide links to other websites and resources for your convenience. As much as we will ensure that the links lead to legitimate and secure sites, we cannot be responsible for their security practices. We encourage members to look for websites that have privacy policies, provide notice of cookies being used, and websites whose URL (links) addresses contain an “s” in the https portion of the address.

How does the RFC protect my credit card information?

The RFC does not store any credit card information either in electronic or paper form. The RFC retains two third-party services, Stripe and Quickbooks, which are reputable services that meet both payment card industry security standards and the EU General Data Protection Requirements.

What are my emailing options?

RFC uses a broadcast email service to keep in contact with its members and donors. An individual may unsubscribe from emails at any time by selecting the opt-out option at the bottom of the email or by contacting our office at 773.675.8362. Once an individual opts out, the email address is marked do not contact in our database and cannot be reentered into the broadcast email system without the user’s direct authorization to the broadcast emailer.

Our email broadcast system employs analytics so that we can track what articles, links, resources, etc. our readers find most interesting or helpful. We also collect data to determine if the broadcasts are being received or opened so that we can better assess if email broadcasts are being blocked. The data collected is directly related to our ability to improve our services to you.

Your rights:

  • You always have the right to make a complaint or raise a concern as to how we process your data.
  • You have the right to request information on our process for collecting and storing data.
  • You have the right to receive a copy of the personal information relating to you that we keep on file.
  • You have the right “to be forgotten” and have your data erased from our database.
  • You will be notified of any breach to your data within 72 hours.

Changes to our privacy policy

Our privacy policy may change from time to time and changes will be posted on this page. The most recent version of the policy is reflected by the version date located at the bottom of this policy. If you have any questions about this policy or would like to learn more about how we protect privacy, please contact us at rfc@relforcon.org.

Thank you for your trust in the RFC

Your privacy is very important to us, and we want to make sure your experience with us is a positive one. We want to keep you informed about our vital work and the interests we share, but we don't want to do that at the expense of your privacy or trust in us. If you have any concerns, please call 773.675.8362 or email our compliance officer at rfc@relforcon.org.

Cookies policy

Our server tracks anonymous information, such as IP addresses, from our website visitors. In addition, we use services hosted by third parties, such as Google Analytics, to provide you with a better experience, diagnose technical problems, analyze trends, and improve our website. These tools collect information anonymously using first-party cookies, tracking visitor browsing actions and patterns, and reporting website trends without identifying individual visitors. This information is used for internal processes to measure web traffic and to improve the content of our web pages. No personally identifiable information is collected or used in this process.

Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. These cookies are used to store information, such as the time that the visit occurred, whether the visitor has been to the site before, and what site referred the visitor to the webpage.

You can opt out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site. For more information about how to do this, please go to Google’s opt-out information page. You just need to install the extension and it’ll do the job automatically.

In addition, we may use third-party vendor remarketing tracking cookies, including the Google Adwords tracking cookie, to advertise on third-party websites. Consequently, after leaving our website you may see the RFC or RFC-sponsored programs advertisements on other websites, such as the Google search results page or websites using the Google Display Network. As always, we respect your privacy and are not collecting any identifiable information through the use of Google’s or any other third-party remarketing system.

Any data collected will be used in accordance with our own privacy policy and Google’s privacy policy. For information on Google ads cookies and how you can disable them visit the Google Privacy and Terms webpage.