Missoula County Democrats

Last Revised: January 3, 2011

Missoula County Democrats are asking you to create an account in order for you to be able to fully use the full functionality of our site. We do this for two reasons: 1.) To prevent spamming, and 2.) To make your contact with legislators as effective as possible. For instance, we will submit your house district number with the comments you send so legislators know which districts the comments are coming from; they have indicated the importance of knowing this. We may also use your information to personally follow up with you to encourage you to write a letter to the editor or testify at the Capitol. We will not sell your information to third parties use it for any activities unrelated to the website advocacy. If you have questions, please read further for a detailed privacy policy modeled on the Democratic National Committee's.

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This website is operated by Missoula County Democrats ("MCD", "we" or "us"). This privacy policy ("Policy") explains how personal information is collected, used, and disclosed by MCD with respect to your use of the Web sites such as this which are operated by the MCD and which display this Policy (the "Sites") so you can make an informed decision about using the Sites. We reserve the right to change the provisions of this Policy at any time. We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating on the Policy the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review this Policy from time to time to make sure that you understand how any personal information you provide will be used.

What Is Personal Information?
As used herein, the term "personal information" means information that specifically identifies an individual (such as a name, address, telephone number, mobile number or e-mail address) and information about that individual or his or her activities that is directly linked to personally identifiable information. Personal information does not include "aggregate" information, which is data we collect about the use of the Sites or about a group or category of services or users, from which individual identities or other personal information has been removed. This Policy in no way restricts or limits our collection and use of aggregate information.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?
Active Collection: Personal information may be collected in a number of ways when you visit our Sites. We collect certain information you voluntarily provide to us, such as when you create an account, make a donation, make a purchase, send us an email, fill out a form, sign up to be a volunteer or request information. Such information may include personal information, such as your name, legislative district, mailing address, email address and phone number. Personal and demographic information may also be collected if you provide such information in connection with creating a profile or group, leaving comments, posting blog comments or other content, sending an email or message to another user, or participating in any interactive forums or features on the Sites. In addition, from time to time we may collect demographic, contact or other personal information you provide in connection with your participation in surveys, contests, games, promotions, and other activities on the Sites.

In addition, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (CPP) may require us to collect personal information from donors. For example, the CPP requires us to collect (and disclose) the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer of all individuals whose donations exceed $35 per calendar year.

Passive Collection: When you use the Sites, some information is also automatically collected, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the browser type, the address of a referring web site, and your activity on our Sites. We treat this information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the identifying information mentioned above. Otherwise, it is used in the aggregate only.

We may also automatically collect certain information through the use of "cookies" or web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive at the request of a website. Among other things, cookies help us improve our Sites and your experience. If we link cookies to any personally identifying information, we will treat this information as personal information. If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser manufacturer to learn about these functions. However, if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect certain features on our Sites. Web beacons are small, invisible graphic images that may be used on the Sites or in emails relating to the Sites to collect certain information and monitor user activity on the Sites.

How Do We Use the Personal Information We Collect?
We use personal information collected through our Sites for the purposes described in this Policy or elsewhere on the Sites. For example, we may use personal information we collect:

to provide the services, products, or information you request, and to process and complete such requests and any related transactions;
to send you confirmations, updates, alerts, and support and administrative messages and otherwise facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the Sites;
to notify you about important changes to the Sites;
to send you newsletters and otherwise provide you with information or services you request or that we think will be of interest to you, such as sending you information to keep you informed about various campaigns, candidates, issues, events, resources, promotions, contests, products and services;
to help connect you with other supporters, and to solicit volunteers, donations and support for MCD and for candidates, issues and organizations that we support;
to remind you to send in your voter registration form and to vote;
to assist you in finding your registration information and polling location;
to contact you if other information is necessary under Federal election laws;
to request feedback and to otherwise contact you about your use of the Sites;
to respond to your emails, submissions, questions, comments, and requests and to provide customer service;
to monitor and analyze site usage and trends, and to personalize and improve the Site and our users' experiences on the Site, such as providing ads, content, or features that match your profiles or interests, and to increase the Site's functionality and user friendliness;
to notify and contact contest and sweepstakes entrants; and
for any other purpose for which the information was collected.

What Personal Information Do We Share With Third Parties?
It is our policy not to share the personal information we collect from you through our Sites with third parties, except as described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed on the Sites. For example, we may share personal information as follows:

with vendors, consultants, and other service providers or volunteers who are engaged by or working with us and who need access to such information to carry out their work for us;
with candidates, organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar political viewpoints, principles or objectives;
to report required information to the Federal Elections Commission and Montana Commissioner of Political Practices;
when you give us your consent to do so, including if we notify you on the Sites, that the information you provide will be shared in a particular manner and you provide such information;
when we believe in good faith that we are lawfully authorized or required to do so or that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to comply with the law or legal processes or respond to lawful requests, claims or legal authorities, including responding to lawful subpoenas, warrants, or court orders;
when we believe in good faith that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to respond to claims or to protect the rights, property, or safety of MCD, our users, our employees, our volunteers, copyright owners, third parties or the public, including without limitation to protect such parties from fraudulent, abusive, inappropriate, or unlawful activity or use of our Site; and
to enforce or apply this Policy, our Terms of Use, or our other policies or agreements.

We are not responsible for the actions of any service providers or other third parties, nor are we responsible for any additional information you provide directly to any third parties, and we encourage you to become familiar with their privacy practices before disclosing information directly to any such parties. Nothing herein restricts the sharing of aggregated or anonymized information, which may be shared with third parties without your consent.

Online petitions:

When you sign an online petition, you understand that such petition is public information and that we may make the petition, and your name, city, state, and any comments provided in connection therewith publicly available. In addition, we may provide such petitions or compilations thereof, including your comments, name, city, and state to national, state or local leaders, or to the press.

Interactive Features:

You understand that when you use the Sites, information you: post in your profile, blogs, forums and other interactive areas of the Sites, as well as any information you share with individuals through the Sites or share through social network sites, will be available to other users and, in some cases, may be publicly available. We recommend you be cautious about giving out personal information to others or sharing personal information in public or private online forums. We are not responsible for the actions of any third parties with whom you share personal information.

Links to Other Websites
Our Sites may contain links to other websites. Any personal information you provide on the linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party's privacy policy. This Policy does not apply to such linked sites, and we are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of these websites or any other sites that are linked to from our Sites. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.

What Steps Do We Take To Protect Your Information Online?
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information in an effort to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware, however, that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable and no method of data transmission that can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. To protect the confidentiality of personal information, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for all uses of our web sites by any person using your password. Please advise us immediately if you believe your password has been misused.

Questions?
If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at [email protected].