Privacy

This Privacy Notice describes how Church World Service and its affiliates and subsidiaries (“CWS”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) collects, uses, retains and shares personal information when you interact with us through our website, www.cwsglobal.org (the
“Website”), and other CWS websites where you might find this privacy notice linked.

What is personal information?

When you interact with us through the website, we collect your personal information. “Personal information” is information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or household. Personal data does not include aggregate or de-identified personal data.

We collect personal information when you do the following:

Subscribe to our newsletters or other communications

When you subscribe to any of our newsletters, we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name and email address) and you may also provide a city and state for information for an area. We use this information to sign you up for CWS newsletters and provide you with information about us, events, or opportunities to donate your money or time. If you wish to no longer receive our newsletters, you may click the “Unsubscribe” link in any communications to you. Please note that we will continue to send you notifications necessary for the services or requested products or services. We will share your identifiers (name and email address) with our email marketing provider to send you marketing emails that may be of interest to you. Our communications contain tracking technologies, like pixels, to analyze whether a predefined action took place by a recipient, such as opening our communications and other engagement metrics such as timestamps, delivery status, the IP address of your computer, whether an email was forwarded, clicks within an email, as well as sender and recipient addresses. We use this information to send you additional email communications which may be of interest to you based on your interaction with our emails and/or website and to better adapt, personalize and distribute our communications. You can avoid downloading the pixel by rejecting the download of images in the email.

Sign up to receive SMS messages

If you choose to sign up to receive SMS messages from us and our agents, we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name and telephone number) to contact you with your requested information and updates about CWS work

and programs at the phone number you provided, including by autodialed text messages even if your number is listed on a state or federal Do Not Call list. The messages may be sent to you earlier and/or later than the time restrictions set by state or federal law. Consent to receive texts is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services. You may opt-out at any time by replying “STOP” or texting “HELP” to get assistance to the number sending the message. After replying “STOP”, you may receive additional communications confirming that your request has been received and processed, and you may continue to receive text messages for a short period while CWS processes your request. Standard message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary based on the texting program. You agree to update CWS if you discontinue use of that telephone number or obtain a different number. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Contact us

When you email or call us, for example, to ask questions regarding our services and programs, we may collect from you, your personal identifiers (name, email address, physical address, and telephone number), and anything else you choose to include in your message or communicate with us about. We use this information to respond to your questions or inquiries, troubleshoot where necessary, or address any issues you have with the Website. We may also ask you for your preferred language to best communicate with you. We may record and retain your phone calls and use them for quality assurance and training purposes.

Sign up to volunteer

When you sign up to volunteer in CWS programs, such as the Remote Reception and Placement Program or Sponsorship Pathways, we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name, age, email address, physical address, and telephone number). We use this information to add you to our volunteer programs, evaluate your fitness for our programs, and provide you with additional information about volunteering or other volunteer opportunities. You may also tell us about your sensitive personal information (i.e., religious denomination/affiliation) so we can connect you with fellow believers and foster interfaith communication and development. We may also ask you for your preferred spoken languages so we can properly connect you with others who speak similar languages or determine if we need a translator to communicate with you.

Donate to CWS

When you donate to CWS, we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name, email address, physical address, and telephone number), your sensitive financial information (i.e., credit or debit card number, expiration date, security code or your account and routing number if paying by ACH transfer), and whether you are donating on behalf of an organization. We use this information to facilitate your donation to CWS. If you make a donation online, your financial information is shared with our third-party payment processor, Stripe, to process your payment. Stripe sends to CWS the details of the transaction, including your name, the last four digits of your card number, and the card type (e.g., Visa, Mastercard).

Join our causes

When you sign up to sign our petitions or declarations we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name, email address, city, state, and ZIP code). You may also provide us with the name of your church, faith-based organization, or congregation name if you choose. We use this information to add your name to our petitions and provide you with additional information regarding similar causes you may wish to join in the future

Order goods from our website

If you order from our website, we collect from you, your personal identifiers (name, email address, physical address, and telephone number) and your sensitive financial information (credit or debit card number, expiration date, and security code). This information is shared with our third-party payment processor, Stripe, to process your payment. Stripe sends to CWS the details of the transaction, including your name, the last four digits of your card number, and the card type (e.g., Visa, Mastercard). We use this information to facilitate your purchase of goods from the Website. We may also request your sensitive personal information (your congregation or organization) to connect you with fellow believers and foster interfaith communication and development.

Interact with us on social media

When you interact with our web pages on social networking websites, such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and LinkedIn (each, a “Social Media Page”) (collectively, “Social Media Pages”), we collect basic engagement metrics and use it to tailor content and marketing as set forth in this section. Please note that we do not control the use or storage of the information that you have posted to any Social Media Page. This information is collected and processed by the social networking websites for their own purposes, including marketing. For more information on how Meta, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn use your personal information, please see Meta’s Privacy Policy, Instagram’s Privacy Policy, X’s Privacy Policy, YouTube’s Privacy Policy, and LinkedIn’s Privacy Policy We also use a social marketing tool to collect information of the activity on our Social Media Pages and identify the most active users in our community. We receive this information in aggregated form only.

  • Social Media Pages

    When interacting with our Social Media Pages, we may collect from you, your personal identifiers (first and last name, social media handle, and profile picture) as well as any information that you provide when interacting with our Social Media Pages (e.g. commenting, sharing and rating). We may use this information to communicate with users.

    Because our Social Media Pages are publicly accessible, when you use them to interact with other users, for example by posting, leaving comments or liking or sharing posts, any personal information that you post in them or provide when registering can be viewed by others or used by them as they see fit.

    The content posted on our Social Media Pages or other public areas of social networking websites can be deleted in the same way as other content that you have created.

  • Community Management

    With the help of a third party, we collect from you, your interactions, including "likes", shares, messages, and other interactions with the content, to analyze and evaluate how our content is perceived, to learn from it, and to improve our social media and marketing efforts.

  • Direct Messages

    When using direct message capabilities on Social Media Pages, the applicable Social Media Page collects from you, automatically, your internet or other electronic network activity information (IP address, date and time of the server request, time zone, specific browser or app function, access status, amount of data transferred, browser or app from which the request comes, device type, operating system used, and its interface (e.g. Android or iOS), language, version of the operating system, and device identifiers). We do not use this information; its use is governed by the applicable Social Media Page’s Privacy Policy, a hyperlink to which is available above.

  • Page Insights

    When you visit our Social Media Pages, those sites record your IP address and other information about your usage behavior on our Social Media Page. The pages collect, through trackers in the browser of your device or via the advertising ID (IDFA from Apple or GAID from Google), when you open their app through your mobile device (e.g. smartphone or tablet). Social Media Pages use this information to create statistical evaluations for us of the use of the Social Media Page. We receive this information, from Social Media Pages, in the form of aggregated data and anonymous statistics regarding things like: age, gender, city/country, device, inquiries from fans about other fan pages, region and language settings of the users, proportion of men and women, the number of people reached, clicks on posts, "Likes” and reactions, comments and shared content, and total video views. We do not collect or process any other personal information in connection with the page insights.

    We do not retain this information independently. For information on data protection and the storage period on Social Media Pages in relation to the "Page Insights" function see their Privacy Policies. It has been contractually agreed with Social Media Pages that they are responsible for providing you with information about the processing for Page Insights.

  • Information Processed Solely by Social Media Pages

    We do not know how Social Media Pages use personal information for its own purposes, how long the personal information is stored on their sites or whether the Social Media Pages data is passed on to third parties.

    For example, if you are currently logged in to Facebook as a user, Facebook automatically collects, through trackers on your device, your Facebook ID or a link between the Facebook ID and the advertising ID (IDFA from Apple or GAID from Google) when you open the Facebook app through your mobile device (e.g. smartphone or tablet). This enables Facebook to understand that you have visited our Facebook Fan Page along with other Facebook pages that you have clicked on, whether you clicked on Facebook buttons integrated into websites that partner with Facebook, and other online interactions that report user data to Facebook. Based on this data, content or advertising tailored to you can be offered.

    You can find more information about the personal information collected by Facebook, how it is used and how long it is stored by visiting Facebook’s Privacy Policy.

  • Interact with the Website

    In addition to the personal information you provide directly to us, we also collect information from you automatically as you use our website via cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: internet or other electronic network activity information.

    We use essential, performance, marketing, and analytics cookies to collect your usage, device, and location information when you interact with the website. We use this information to: (i) track you within the website; (ii) enhance user experience; (iii) conduct analytics to improve the website; (iv) prevent fraudulent use of the website; (v) diagnose and repair website errors, and, in cases of abuse, track and mitigate the abuse; (vi) provide targeted advertising; and (vii) capture and aggregate viewing and engagement metrics. Our use of third-party marketing and analytics cookies may be considered a sale or disclosure for targeted advertising under some state privacy laws. To opt out, please visit your “Cookie Preferences”.

    In general, you can also disable cookies by setting your browser to refuse cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. Please note, if you opt out of marketing and analytics cookies, your opt-out will be specific to the web browser, app, or device from which you accessed the opt-out. If you use multiple devices or web browsers, you will need to opt out of each browser or device that you use.

    Particular third-party cookies to note on our Website include: Google Analytics and Facebook.

  • Google Analytics

    We use Google Analytics to collect information on your use of the website for its improvement. To collect this information, Google Analytics installs cookies on your browser or reads cookies that are already there (for more information about how Google collects and uses the information see here). Google Analytics also receives information about you from applications you have downloaded or services that you use that partner with Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to our websites or to another application which partners with Google is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. To prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics, you can download the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, which can be accessed here, adjust your Ad Settings or change settings in your Google My Activity if you are signed into your Google Account. Disclosure of personal information for some of the ways Google uses it may be deemed a sale or sharing or disclosure for targeted advertising under some state data privacy laws. To opt out of this sharing, please visit your “Cookie Preferences”.

  • Google Tag Manager

    Google Tag Manager is a tag management system to manage tags used for tracking and analytics on our website. Tags are small code elements that, among other things, are used to manage traffic and visitor behavior and to test and optimize websites. We utilize Google Tag Manager to manage and organize all third-party tags on our website and to control when those tags are triggered. You can view more information about Google Tag Manager’s privacy practices here.

  • Google reCAPTCHA

    We employ Google reCAPTCHA to safeguard against automated access and fraudulent activities on the Website. The reCAPTCHA service utilizes cookies to verify the authenticity of Website users to ensure only legitimate humans can interact with the Website’s features. We do not use any cookies installed by Google reCAPTCHA for any other purpose. It is important to note that any cookies installed by Google to verify you are a human are governed by Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s Terms of Service. To opt out, please refer to the Cookie Preferences in your browser.

  • YouTube

    We use YouTube (owned by Google) as our video platform to embed content from YouTube on our website. YouTube places its own cookies on your device when you visit part of our website where a YouTube video is embedded. YouTube uses these cookies to track viewing statistics and assign a unique identifier to the device on which the video is viewed, enabling YouTube to recognize the device. This data is collected by Google. Google can use this data to show relevant advertising and for its own promotional purposes in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy. The Google cookies also allow YouTube and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside of YouTube. To opt-out of this sharing and displaying of YouTube ads, visit Your data in YouTube, where you can clear and control the information YouTube collects on you. The YouTube videos on our site may also use local storage objects (LSOs) to store preferences like volume control. LSOs are different from browser cookies because of the amount of, type of, and how data is stored. To learn how to manage privacy and storage settings for Flash cookies click here.

  • Facebook Connect/Meta Pixel

    We use Meta Pixel to serve you ads on your social media based on your browsing behavior. Meta Pixel sets a cookie on your device that allows your behavior to be tracked after you have been redirected to the website by clicking on a Facebook ad. This enables us to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes and to provide targeted advertising. We do not have access to the information collected through the Meta Pixel. The information collected via Meta Pixel is stored and processed by Meta. Meta may link this information to your Facebook account and use it for its own promotional purposes in accordance with Facebook's Data Usage Policy. You can opt out of displaying Facebook ads and sharing by visiting your Facebook Ad Settings. To opt out, please visit “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”.

  • Aggregate Data

    We aggregate the data we collect for benchmarking purposes, advertising, and internal analytics. We maintain and use this data in deidentified form. We will not attempt to reidentify the data unless it is necessary to determine whether our deidentification processes satisfy applicable data protection laws.

  • Marketing Activities

    We collect and use financial information (e.g., net worth, wealth indicators, physical assets, and philanthropic interests) and other information (political party affiliation and donor life events) about existing and prospective donors from third party sources to engage with donors in meaningful ways to encourage their continued philanthropic support, develop insights to improve our existing products and services, and assist in developing new products or services.

How long personal information is retained

We use the following criteria to determine whether it remains reasonably necessary to retain your personal information for one or more disclosed operational purpose, or a service provider or contractor’s operational purpose(s): (i) whether there is a retention period required by statute or regulations; (ii) the existence of actual or threatened litigation for which we are required to preserve the information; (iii) the statutes of limitations for potential legal claims; and (iv) generally accepted best practices in our industry, including those related to the safety and security of our properties and assets. When we determine that it is no longer reasonably necessary to retain your personal information for one or more disclosed operational purposes based on the above criteria, we will delete your personal information.

CWS will also use the personal information we collect as described in this section to comply with the law, to efficiently maintain our business, and for other limited circumstances as described in below.

How we share your personal information

CWS shares personal information in the following instances:

  • Within CWS
    We may share your personal information among our affiliated entities for the legitimate business purposes of efficiently and effectively providing the website. Access to your personal information is limited to those on a need-to-know basis.

  • In the event of a corporate reorganization
    In the event that we enter into, or intend to enter into, a transaction that alters the structure of our business, such as a reorganization, merger, acquisition, sale, joint venture, assignment, consolidation, transfer, change of control, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets or stock, we would share personal information with third parties, including the buyer or target (and their agents and advisors) for the purpose of facilitating and completing the transaction. We will also share personal information with third parties if we undergo bankruptcy or liquidation, in the course of such proceedings.

  • For legal purposes
    We share personal information where we are legally required to do so, such as in response to court orders, subpoenas, governmental/regulatory bodies, law enforcement or legal process, including for national security purposes. We may share your information with our legal advisors or auditors to establish, protect, or exercise our legal rights or as required to enforce our terms of service or other contracts or to defend against legal claims or demands. We also share this information with third parties as necessary to: detect, investigate, prevent, or take action against illegal activities, fraud, or situations involving potential threats to the rights, property, or personal safety of any person; to comply with the requirements of any applicable law; or to comply with our legal obligations.

  • With your consent
    Apart from the reasons identified above, we may request your permission to share your personal information for a specific purpose. We will notify you and request your consent before you provide the personal information or before the personal information you have already provided is shared for such purpose. You may revoke your consent at any time and may do so by contacting us via email at privacy@cwsglobal.org.

  • With service providers
    We have disclosed your personal information to service providers that assist us in providing the website and services. These service providers assist us with the following: information technology (“IT”) support; Artificial Intelligence platform support; website hosting; data analysis; customer service; customer relationship management; payment processors; email delivery; marketing; and similar services. We have disclosed your internet or other electronic network activity information collected by cookies to our IT support team to detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and to identify and repair the website. We have disclosed your internet or other electronic network activity information collected by cookies to our IT support team to update, improve, and maintain the website.
Your information choices

You have the following choices with respect to your personal information:

  • Correct or view your information
    You may access your account to correct or view certain personal information you have provided to us.

  • Opt out of Google Analytics
    To prevent your personal information from being used by Google Analytics, you may opt out here.

  • Opt out of email tracking and marketing communications
    You can disable tracking in emails by unsubscribing from our marketing emails. You may opt out of receiving marketing emails and text messages from us by clicking the “unsubscribe” link provided at the bottom of each email we send or by replying STOP to our SMS.

  • Opt out of advertising cookies
    You can opt out of certain cookies by declining non- essential cookies when visiting our website or by visiting your “Cookie Preferences”. All session cookies are temporary and expire after you close your web browser. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions. To find out how to see what cookies have been set on your computer or device, and how to reject and delete the cookies, please visit: https://www.aboutcookies.org/. Please note that each web browser is different. To find information relating to your browser, visit the browser developer’s website and mobile application. If you reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent, some features of our website may not function properly. If you choose to opt out, we will place an "opt-out cookie" on your device. The "opt-out cookie" is browser specific and device specific and only lasts until cookies are cleared from your browser or device. The opt-out cookie will not work for essential cookies. If the cookie is removed or deleted, if you upgrade your browser or if you visit us from a different computer, you will need to return and update your preferences. By clicking on the “Opt-Out” links below, you will be directed to the respective third-party website where your computer will be scanned to determine who maintains cookies on you. At that time, you can either choose to opt out of all targeted advertising or you can choose to opt out of targeted advertising by selecting individual companies who maintain a cookie on your machine.

    If the browser or extension that you (or your authorized agent) are using supports Global Privacy Control (GPC) (seehere for more information), you may utilize the GPC opt out preference signal to instruct us to not sell or share any of your personal information collected online. The GPC opt out preference signal will apply to the device, platform, or browser in which you utilize it. You can utilize the opt out preference signal by turning on the signal in your device, platform, or browser settings. Please note that you must opt out of each device and each browser.

    You must provide us with sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected the personal information and describe your request with sufficient detail to allow us to properly evaluate and respond to it. We will verify your request by the matching information provided by you with the information we have in our records. If we are not able to verify your identity for access, correction, and deletion requests with the information provided, we may ask you for additional pieces of information.

    Only you, or a person that you authorize to act on your behalf may make a request related to your personal information. If you are an authorized agent making a request on behalf of another individual, you must provide us with signed documentation that you are authorized to act on behalf of that individual.

  • Do not track
    We do not respond to “Do Not Track” requests. Do Not Track is a preference you can set in your web browser to inform websites and mobile applications that you do not want to be tracked. You can enable or disable Do Not Track by visiting the Preferences or Settings page of your web browser.

  • Information security
    We implement and maintain appropriate technical and organizational security measures, such as software- and hardware-based monitoring and protection, access controls, firewalls, and encryption (i.e., SSL and HTTPS) to protect the personal information that we collect and maintain from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. However, no security measure or modality of data transmission is 100% secure, and we are unable to guarantee the absolute security of the personal information we have collected from you.

  • Children's privacy
    The website is not directed to or intended for individuals under the age of thirteen (13). We do not allow registration by, nor do we directly collect personal information from any person we know to be under the age of thirteen (13).

  • Changes to this privacy notice
    We may amend this Privacy Notice in our sole discretion at any time. If we do, we will post the changes to this page and will indicate the date the changes go into effect. We encourage you to review our Privacy Notice to stay informed. If we make changes that materially affect your privacy rights, we will notify you by prominent posting on our websites and/or via email, and obtain your consent, if required.

  • Contact Us
    If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Notice, please contact us at: privacy@cwsglobal.org.