AFSP Privacy Notice

About the Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice describes the types of personal data the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (“AFSP”) collects through this website and others it operates (each, a “Site”), how that data is used and the types of third parties with whom we share it.

Our Site(s) may contain links to websites that are not controlled or operated by AFSP. This Privacy Notice does not apply to these third-party websites. We encourage you to request and review the privacy notices of any third-party before disclosing information to that party.

Effective Date

This Privacy Notice is effective September 14, 2021.

Changes to our Privacy Notice

AFSP reserves the right to modify this Privacy Notice at any time, without prior notice to you. When we modify the Privacy Notice, we will post the updated one to this Site. Modifications will be effective on the date that appears on the modified Privacy Notice. Each time you use this Site, you should check the effective date of this Privacy Notice and review any changes made since the last time you visited the Site. Your continued use of this Site following modification of the Privacy Notice will signify your acceptance of the modification.

How to contact us?

If you have any questions about AFPS’s Privacy Notice, the personal data we process on you, or you     would like to exercise one of your Data Protection Rights, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Toll-Free: 1-888-333-AFSP (2377)

T: (212) 363-3500

F: (212) 363-6237

Email: [email protected]

Press Office: 347-826-3577

Because email is not always secure, please do not include credit card or other sensitive information in your emails to us.

Mailing Address:

199 Water St.

11th Floor

New York, NY 10038

What data do we collect and how do we use it?

Contact Information

We collect contact information such as your name and email address so that we can add you to our mailing list. You may opt-out of our mailing list at any time. Sometimes we also collect your full mailing address.  We use third-party providers to manage this information. We may request your zip code so we can recommend resources in your area like local chapters or connect you with local elected officials. We may also use third-party services to supplement or to ensure accuracy of your contact information.

Demographic Information

At AFSP, diversity and inclusion are very important to us.  To help us better serve these communities, at event registration and through our surveys we may request demographic information such as your gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, but it will always be optional.  This information is stored in multiple third-party provers. 

Feedback Information

We want your feedback because we always want to ensure we are providing the right services and making our programs better so we may request you complete a survey.  Optional demographic information collected in the surveys is to ensure we are reaching a diverse population and that we are designing programs and activities to meet those populations’ specific needs.  We also want feedback on who we are reaching through our programs and events plus who is leading them.  We use third-party providers who specialize in survey software to provide these services. These surveys are optional.

  • If you are a facilitator, we may ask you to complete a survey regarding your experience hosting an event.
  • If you are a participant, we may ask you to complete a survey letting us know what you thought of the event.

Donation Information

When you make a donation we collect your name, email address, mailing address, and payment card information. This information is used to process your donation, send you a thank you note, and keep you up to date with information at AFSP. Payment card information is provided directly by users, via the AFSP Site, into our third-party PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes, and AFSP does not, itself, process or store the card information. We strongly encourage you not to submit this information by email or text. Occasionally, donors, attendees, or volunteers will ask an AFSP employees to, on their behalf, enter payment card information into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes. When AFSP employees receive payment card information from donors, attendees, or volunteers by email, fax, phone, or mail, it is entered as instructed and then deleted or destroyed.

You may request that AFSP erase your data or cease processing it, subject to certain exceptions, by contacting us at [email protected].

Attendee Information

When you register for one of our events, we request that you create an account with our third-party fundraising application partner. We collect your email address so we can send you updated information. We collect your preferences for other events you may want additional information on, and we collect your connection to suicide. If you qualify for a t-shirt, we collect your shirt size to provide this to you. We also collect your mailing address and your mobile phone with the option to receive text alerts.

Public Policy Information

Our online AFSP Action Center helps you stay up to date on the state and federal bills that need your support.  When you support AFSP through the Action Center, we collect your contact details in our third-party partner application, this information allows us to keep you informed on the federal and state policies impacting your community.  When you email elected officials through the Action Center or sign up to attend an advocacy event, you have the option to register as an AFSP Field Advocate. As a Field Advocate you will receive monthly email updates from our public policy office will alert you to the legislation and policies that need your support as well as upcoming policy events. 

Local Chapters

With local programs and events in all 50 states, AFSP’s chapters are at the forefront of suicide prevention.  We collect your zip code so we can find the chapter which is closest to you.  If you sign up for Local Chapter Communications, we will collect your contact information in our third-party partner application and add you to the chapter email distribution list.  Emails will be sent for events like Out of the Darkness Walks, International Survivor of Suicide Loss Day, and many other location events in your area.

Volunteer Information

When you become a volunteer, we collect your name, mailing address, email, and phone number in our third-party partner application so we can contact you. This information is used to contact you regarding volunteer opportunities in your area and to keep you up to date with information at AFSP.

Creating a Digital Memory

When you choose to create a Digital Memory Quilt square, the information shared with AFSP will be made publicly available. This is completely voluntary and the information we collect for this is your name, state where you live, and email address plus a “square title”, image, and description. We use a third-party provider to create these squares.

Order Products

When you order DVDs, apparel, and other resources from the AFSP store, we use a third party to provide these products to you. Your name, email, mailing address, and payment information are collected so we can process your payment information, arrange for shipping, and provide you with an invoice and/or confirmation. We may also use this information to communicate with you if there are any questions. Payment card information is provided directly by users, via the AFSP Site, into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which AFSP subscribes, and AFSP does not, itself, process or store the card information. If you give this information directly to AFSP, we will process it on your behalf and not keep a record of it outside the appropriate third-party provider.

Call Recordings and Transcripts

If you contact AFSP for information or assistance, we may record your call or maintain a transcript for training and quality assurance purposes. The information contained in these transcripts will depend on what you voluntarily provide to us.

If you attend one of our on-line events, these events may be recorded using a third-party provider.  This information could be made publicly available.

Other Data

We may collect personal data at other points in our Site that state that personal data is being collected.

We may collect information to provide you with our newsletter.

We may collect information to connect with you about your use of social media, blogging, or other communication methods you may do on-behalf of AFSP.

We may also collect and use the information you provide to operate and maintain this Site and to improve our content, services and communications with you (for example, by customizing your experience or homepage on the Site), to enforce our Terms of Use; and to detect and protect against error, fraud and any other unauthorized or illegal activities.

We do not use any automated decision making in the performance of data analytics that produce a legal effect on you.

We may use aggregate information to improve, enhance, modify and maintain our services or develop new services as well as conduct quality measures.

We may use aggregated demographic and psychographic information from a third-party provider to create personas which are used for corporate support.

How do we collect your data?

Directly

You directly provide AFSP with most of the data we collect and use. We collect data and process data when you:

  • Subscribe to our mailing list
  • Register for an event or place an order for any of our products or services
  • Voluntarily complete a survey or provide feedback on any of our programs
  • Make a donation to AFSP
  • Purchase a product from AFSP
  • If you elect to connect with us through your social media account, certain information may be shared with us through that account and those social media companies may also collect information about you. The use of their features is governed by their privacy notices

Indirectly

AFSP may also receive your data indirectly through the following sources:

  • We use a third-party provider to match your general location information (zip code) to a local chapter near you.
  • Using a third-party provider, we also use your zip code to match you to your elected officials.
  • When you complete a survey, we may collect your IP address.
  • Some social media companies, may collect your IP address and other device information.
  • We track engagement rate for email campaigns. This includes things like email open rates, URL redirects, if an email address is no longer valid (bounce rates), and the time from email to website click.
  • We use third-party vendors to help us improve our Site using analytics. This includes things like mouse and scroll tracking, the URL you came from, and some information about the device you are using.
  • We partner with other companies for joint events including Facebook for mental health resources.
  • When you use or view our Site via your browser's cookies. See Cookie section below.

Cookie Notice

When you visit any website, a cookie is used. A cookie is a small piece of data that a website asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your preference or account information. Cookies that are set by us are called first party cookies. We also use third party cookies, which are cookies from someone else, usually for advertising and marketing efforts.

More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies to:

  • Assisting you in navigation
  • Assisting you in registration for an event
  • Analyzing your use of our Site, products, services or other applications
  • Assisting with our promotional and marketing efforts

There are a number of different types of cookies, however, our website uses:

  • Functionality - AFSP uses these cookies so that we recognize you on our Site and remember your previously selected preferences. These could include what language you prefer and location you are in. A mix of first-party and third-party cookies are used.
  • Advertising - AFSP uses these cookies to collect information about your visit to our Site, the content you viewed, the links you followed and information about your browser, device, and your IP address. AFSP sometimes shares some limited aspects of this data with third parties for advertising purposes. We may also share online data collected through cookies with our advertising partners. This means that when you visit another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our Site.

How do we share, transfer, store, and retain your data?

AFSP shares your data only when we are required to share it. The data that AFSP collects from you is stored in multiple systems hosted by third parties located in the United States and other locations. These third parties do not use or have access to your personal data for any purpose other than processing it for AFSP.

AFSP shares your information with non-AFSP consultants and volunteers who are acting on behalf of AFSP for specific activities like events and other programs which you agreed to participate in.

AFSP uses your information to physically mail you information from AFSP like thank you notes and requested resources. 

AFSP uses third parties to physically mail information to you, including items you have purchased or material from an event sponsor.

AFSP uses third parties to email you information that you agreed to receive.  You may opt-out of these emails at any time.

We do not share your personal data with non-AFSP employees, volunteers, others working on our behalf or other businesses for their independent use unless:

  • you request or authorize it
  • the information is provided to comply with the law (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena, or court order), enforce an agreement we have with you, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of our employees or others
  • the information is provided to our third-parties, vendors or service providers who perform functions on our behalf like:
    • Payment processing
    • Location matching services
    • Survey software
    • Social media companies
    • Email management platforms
    • Marketing companies
    • Customer management software
  • to address disputes, claims, or to persons demonstrating legal authority to act on your behalf

We may gather aggregated data about you and other Site visitors and disclose the results of such aggregated but not personally identifiable information to our partners, service providers, advertisers, and/or other third-parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

The AFPS Site uses interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others. If you choose to "like" or share information from the AFSP Site or other AFSP social media, you should review the privacy notice of the service that you are sharing to. If you are a member of a social media site, like Facebook, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your site visit to your personal data.

Transferring data to the United States

AFSP is headquartered in the United States.  Information we collect about you will be processed and stored in the United States. By using the AFSP Site and services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be processed in the United States.

The United States does not have “adequacy” with the European Union (EU) as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), AFSP collects and transfers your personal data to the United States with consent, in the performance of a contract, or for an AFSP compelling legitimate interest in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms.

AFSP enters into contracts or data processing agreements with its vendors whenever feasible and appropriate. AFSP strives to apply suitable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of your personal data and to use it only in the context of our relationship and the practices described in this Privacy Notice. AFSP has never received a United State government request for information.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Marketing

AFSP would like to send you information that we think you might like. If you have agreed to receive emails, you may always opt-out at any time. You have the right at any time to stop AFSP from contacting you for direct marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to be contacted for direct marketing purposes, you may opt-out via the ‘unsubscribe’ link included in emails or by contacting [email protected].

Retention

Any personal data that you provide will be stored and maintained by AFSP for as long as we believe it is necessary or appropriate to carry out the purpose(s) for which such information was collected, or to comply with applicable laws, contracts, or other rules or regulations.

Children

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal data from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for a service or send any personal data about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided us personal data, please contact us at [email protected].

Data Protection Rights

AFSP would like to make sure you are fully aware of all your data protection rights. If you make a request, we have at least one month from the date the request is received to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please complete this DSAR Form or write to us at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 199 Water St., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10038, to the attention of “Data Subject Access Request.”

If you want to confirm that AFSP is processing your personal data, or to have access to any personal data that AFSP may have about you, please complete this DSAR Form. If access cannot be provided within a reasonable time frame, AFSP will provide you with an explanation of when the information will be provided. If for some reason access is denied, AFSP will provide an explanation as to why access has been denied.

You have the right to request that AFSP correct any information you believe is inaccurate and to request AFSP update information you believe is incomplete. Under certain circumstances, both these rights will be examined by AFSP before execution. You may request that AFSP delete your data or cease processing it by completing this DSAR Form. This is subject to certain exceptions.

At your request, when technically feasible, AFSP will securely provide your personal data to you or transmit it directly to another party.

You may request that AFSP cease using your data for direct marketing purposes by using the opt-out process on emails.

In some cases, you may have a right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate data protection authority if you have concerns about how AFSP processes your personal data. For questions or complaints concerning the processing of your personal data, please complete this DSAR Form. If you are located outside the United States, you may contact your nation’s data protection authority.

Security of your Data

We follow generally accepted security practices and procedures to protect the personally data you provide from unauthorized access, use and disclosure, and we require that our authorized third-party providers implement and maintain such security practices and procedures as well. Unfortunately, no company or service can guarantee complete security. You understand that any messages or information you send to our Site may be read or intercepted by others. If you have any questions about the security of personally data collected by AFSP, contact us at  [email protected].

Questions, Concerns, or Complaints

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, would like to exercise your data protection rights, or for any other reason, please contact us at [email protected].