Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus Privacy Statement

Last Updated: 2025-05-17

Your privacy is important to us. This privacy statement explains our collection, use, and disclosure of personal data. This privacy statement applies to the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus (the “Caucus”). References to our “services” in this statement include our websites, apps, devices, and other products and services. This statement applies to our services that display or reference this statement, but it does not apply to any services that display or reference a different privacy statement.

PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

The personal data we collect depends on how you interact with us, the services you use, and the choices you make.

We collect information about you from different sources and in various ways when you use our services, including information you provide directly, information collected automatically, information from third-party data sources, and data we infer or generate from other data.

Information you provide directly. We collect personal data you provide to us, specifically:

Name and contact information. We collect name, username or alias, and contact details such as email address, postal address, and phone number.
Demographic data. In some cases, such as when you register or participate in surveys, we request that you provide age, gender, marital status, and similar demographic details.
Payment information. If you make a donation or other financial transaction, your credit card information will be stored with Stripe, and we will store a token linked to your Stripe credentials.
Professional or employment-related information. We collect information such as your work skills that you submit when applying to volunteer with us.
Content and files. We collect the photos, documents, or other files you upload to our services; and if you send us email messages or other communications, we collect and retain those communications.

Information we collect automatically. When you use our services, we collect some information automatically. Please note that we do not tie this information directly to your account, but our service providers may log browsing activity on our site. For example:

Identifiers and device information. When you visit our websites, our web servers automatically log your Internet Protocol (IP) address and information about your device, including device identifiers (such as MAC address); device type; and your device’s operating system, browser, and other software including type, version, language, settings, and configuration. As further described in the “Cookies, Mobile IDs, and Similar Technologies” section below, our websites and online services store and retrieve cookie identifiers, mobile IDs, and other data.
Usage data. We automatically log your activity on our websites, apps and connected products, including the URL of the website from which you came to our sites, pages you viewed, how long you spent on a page, access times, and other details about your use of and actions on our website.

When you are asked to provide personal data, you may decline. And you may use web browser or operating system controls to prevent certain types of automatic data collection. But if you choose not to provide or allow information that is necessary for certain services or features, those services or features may not be available or fully functional.

COOKIES, MOBILE IDs, AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

We use cookies, web beacons, mobile analytics and advertising IDs, and similar technologies to operate our websites and online services and to help collect data, including usage data, identifiers, and device information.

What are cookies and similar technologies?

Cookies are small text files placed by a website and stored by your browser on your device. A cookie can later be read when your browser connects to a web server in the same domain that placed the cookie. The text in a cookie contains a string of numbers and letters that may uniquely identify your device and can contain other information as well. This allows the web server to recognize your browser over time, each time it connects to that web server.

Web beacons are electronic images (also called single-pixel or clear GIFs) that are contained within a website or email. When your browser opens a webpage or email that contains a web beacon, it automatically connects to the web server that hosts the image (typically operated by a third party). This allows that web server to log information about your device and to set and read its own cookies. In the same way, third-party content on our websites (such as embedded videos, plug-ins, or ads) results in your browser connecting to the third-party web server that hosts that content. We also include web beacons in our email messages or newsletters to tell us if you open and act on them.

Mobile analytics and advertising IDs are generated by operating systems for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and can be accessed and used by apps in much the same way that websites access and use cookies. Our apps contain software that enables us and our third-party analytics and advertising partners to access these mobile IDs.

How do we and our partners use cookies and similar technologies?

We, and our analytics and advertising partners, use these technologies on our website, to collect personal data (such as the pages you visit, the links you click on, and similar usage information, identifiers, and device information) when you use our website, including personal data about your online activities over time and across different websites or online services. This data is used to analyze how our websites and apps perform, track your interaction with the site or app, and fulfill other legitimate purposes. We and/or our partners also share the data we collect or infer with third parties for these purposes. For more information about the third-party analytics and advertising partners that collect personal information on our services, please see the “Our Disclosure of Personal Data” section of this statement.

What controls are available?

There are a range of cookie and related controls available through browsers, mobile operating systems, and elsewhere. See the “Choice and Control of Personal Data” section below for details.

OUR USE OF PERSONAL DATA

We use the personal data we collect for purposes described in this privacy statement or as otherwise disclosed to you. For example, we use each of the categories of personal data we collect for the following purposes:

Product and service delivery. To provide and deliver our services, including troubleshooting, improving, and personalizing those services.
Business operations. To operate our business, such as billing, accounting, improving our internal operations, securing our systems, detecting fraudulent or illegal activity, and meeting our legal obligations.
Product improvement, development, and research. To develop new services or features, and conduct research.
Personalization. To understand you and your preferences to enhance your experience and enjoyment using our services.
Customer support. To provide customer support and respond to your questions.
Communications. To send you information, including confirmations, invoices, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages.
Marketing. To communicate with you about new services, offers, promotions, rewards, contests, upcoming events, and other information about our services and those of our selected partners (see the “Choice and Control” section of this statement for information about how to change your preferences for promotional communications).

We combine data we collect from different sources for these purposes, and to give you a more seamless, consistent, and personalized experience.

OUR DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL DATA

We disclose personal data with your consent or as we determine necessary to complete your transactions or provide the services you have requested or authorized. In addition, we disclose each of the categories of personal data described above, to the types of third parties described below, for the following business purposes:

Public information. You may select options available through our services to publicly display and disclose your name and/or username and certain other information, such as your profile, demographic data, content and files, or geolocation data.
Service providers. We provide personal data to vendors or agents working on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement. For example, companies we’ve hired to provide customer service support or assist in protecting and securing our systems and services may need access to personal data to provide those functions.
Financial services & payment processing. When you provide payment data, for example to make a donation, we will disclose payment and transactional data to banks and other entities as necessary for payment processing, fraud prevention, credit risk reduction, analytics, or other related financial services.
Legal and law enforcement. We will access, disclose, and preserve personal data when we believe doing so is necessary to comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement, national security, or other government agencies. Please contact us using the methods at the end of this statement for questions or concerns regarding how we respond to law enforcement requests.
Security, safety, and protecting rights. We will disclose personal data if we believe it is necessary to:
- o protect our members and others, for example to prevent spam or attempts to commit fraud, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;
- o operate and maintain the security of our services, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
- o protect the rights or property of ourselves or others, including enforcing our agreements, terms, and policies.

Third party analytics and advertising companies also collect personal data through our website and apps including identifiers and device information (such as cookie IDs, device IDs, and IP address), geolocation data, usage data, and inferences based on and associated with that data, as described in the “Cookies” section of this statement. These third-party vendors may combine this data across multiple sites to improve analytics for their own purpose and others.

Other third-party analytics and advertising providers we use on our websites include, for example:

Company/Service	Purpose(s)	Privacy Notices	Manage Settings (opt-out)
Jetpack	Analytics	https://automattic.com/privacy/	https://automattic.com/cookies/#visitors-to-sites-with-jetpack-installed
WordPress Stats	Analytics	https://automattic.com/privacy/	https://automattic.com/cookies/#user-sites

Please note that some of our services also include integrations, references, or links to services provided by third parties whose privacy practices differ from ours. If you provide personal data to any of those third parties, or allow us to share personal data with them, that data is governed by their privacy statements.

Finally, we may disclose de-identified information in accordance with applicable law.

CHOICE AND CONTROL OF PERSONAL DATA

We provide a variety of ways for you to control the personal data we hold about you, including choices about how we use that data.

Access, portability, correction, and deletion. If you wish to access, correct, or delete personal data about you that we hold, please contact us by emailing membership@thecaucus.org.

If you are unable to access, copy, correct, or delete certain personal data we have via the means described above, you can send us a request by using contact methods described at the bottom of this privacy statement.

Communications preferences. You can choose whether to receive promotional communications from us by email, SMS, physical mail, and telephone. If you receive promotional email or SMS messages from us and would like to stop, you can do so by following the directions in that message or by contacting us as described in the “How to Contact Us” section below. These choices do not apply to certain informational communications including surveys and mandatory service communications.

Targeted advertising. To opt-out from or otherwise control targeted advertising, you have several options. First, you can use the Global Privacy Control setting in a web browser or browser extension as described below. Second, you can use the opt-out controls offered by the organizations our third-party advertising providers may participate in, which you can access at:

United States: NAI (http://optout.networkadvertising.org) and DAA (http://optout.aboutads.info/)
Canada: Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (https://youradchoices.ca/)
Europe: European Digital Advertising Alliance (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/)

Third, you can use the other cookie or mobile ID controls described below.

These choices are specific to the device or browser you are using. If you access our services from other devices or browsers, take these actions from those devices or browsers to ensure your choices apply to the data collected when you use them.

Browser or platform controls.

Cookie controls. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can go to your browser settings to learn how to delete or reject cookies. If you choose to delete or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our website. If you choose to delete cookies, settings and preferences controlled by those cookies, including advertising preferences, may be deleted and may need to be recreated.
Global Privacy Control. Some browsers and browser extensions support the “Global Privacy Control” (GPC) or similar controls that can send a signal to the websites you visit indicating your choice to opt-out from certain types of data processing, including data sales and/or targeted advertising, as specified by applicable law. When we detect such a signal, we will make reasonable efforts to respect your choices indicated by a GPC setting or similar control that is recognized by regulation or otherwise widely acknowledged as a valid opt-out preference signal.
Do Not Track. Some browsers include a “Do Not Track” (DNT) setting that can send a signal to the websites you visit indicating you do not wish to be tracked. Unlike the GPC described above, there is not a common understanding of how to interpret the DNT signal; therefore, our websites do not respond to browser DNT signals. Instead, you can use the range of other tools to control data collection and use, including the GPC, cookie controls, and advertising controls described above.
Mobile advertising ID controls. iOS and Android operating systems provide options to limit tracking and/or reset the advertising IDs.

Email web beacons. Most email clients have settings that allow you to prevent the automatic downloading of images, including web beacons, and the automatic connection to the web servers that host those images.

Except for the automated controls described above, if you send us a request to exercise your rights or these choices, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we may decline requests in certain cases. For example, we may decline requests where granting the request would be prohibited by law, could adversely affect the privacy or other rights of another person, would reveal a trade secret or other confidential information, or would interfere with a legal or business obligation that requires retention or use of the data. Further, we may decline a request where we are unable to authenticate you as the person to whom the data relates, the request is unreasonable or excessive, or where otherwise permitted by applicable law. If you receive a response from us informing you that we have declined your request, in whole or in part, you may appeal that decision by submitting your appeal using the contact method described at the bottom of this privacy statement.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL DATA

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to provide the services and fulfill the transactions you have requested, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and for other legitimate and lawful business purposes. Because these needs can vary for different data types in the context of different services, actual retention periods can vary significantly based on criteria such as user expectations or consent, the sensitivity of the data, the availability of automated controls that enable users to delete data, and our legal or contractual obligations.

SECURITY OF PERSONAL DATA

We take reasonable and appropriate steps to help protect personal data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

To help us protect personal data, we request that you use a strong password and never share your password with anyone or use the same password with other sites or accounts.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

We will update this privacy statement when necessary to reflect changes in our services, how we use personal data, or the applicable law. When we post changes to the statement, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of the statement. If we make material changes to the statement, we will provide notice or obtain consent regarding such changes as may be required by law.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or a question for the Caucus, please contact us by email at membership@thecaucus.org.

Our address is Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, Post Office Box 66664, Houston, Texas 77266-6664, United States.