Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 09, 2025

Consent of the Governed (COTG) is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our website and our donors. COTG has established this Privacy Policy to explain what information we collect through our website and how it is used.

COTG uses visitor personal data to provide and improve our website. By using our website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

In this policy, “COTG” refers to COTG staff, volunteers and consultants, all of whom are bound by law or contract to keep confidential information they receive as part of their assistance to COTG.

COTG does not sell or rent donor or website visitor information under any circumstances, and we do not share donor or visitor information without prior consent except as compelled by law. (See below.)

Information Gathered by COTG's website

While using our website, COTG may ask you to provide COTG with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

Email address
First name and last name
Usage Data

Logging/Usage Data

Usage data is collected automatically when using our website.

We generally log website requests and do internal analytical logging for up to 30 days from when the data was collected. Circumstances in which COTG may need to log and retain technical information for longer than 30 days include when we believe it is reasonably necessary for COTG’s mission and functionality, including situations such as:

site testing
diagnosis of technical problems
defending against attacks to the site
handling a spike in traffic or other abnormal, short-term circumstances

In those and similar situations, COTG will delete the information as soon as it is apparent that the information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was retained.

COTG endeavors to gather sufficient information for analyzing our website and how visitors move within it without compromising the privacy of our visitors. COTG’s internal analytical logging may include information such as a user's IP address, browser type, browser version, the pages of COTG's site visited, the time and dates of visits, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When visitors access COTG's site by or through a mobile service, COTG may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device used, mobile device unique ID, the IP of the mobile device, mobile device operating system, type of mobile Internet browser used, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information your browser sends whenever you visit the COTG website or when you visit by or through a mobile device.

Cookies

COTG does not set persistent ID cookies on this website. COTG uses session cookies on certain portions of the website. Session cookies expire when you close your browser.

Donation Information

When you make a donation through the COTG website, you tell us how much money you want to donate.

You also send information to your payment processor, which might include credit card or bank account numbers. This information is subject to the payment processor’s privacy policy (PayPal privacy policy).

We may ask for additional personal information when you provide feedback or comments, or otherwise communicate with us.

Third-party service providers to COTG

COTG uses third-party payment processors, as discussed above, and hosting providers who have their own privacy policies that may apply. COTG’s web hosting provider is IONOS.

COTG’s site also provides links to and may embed content from third-party websites, including social networking and video hosting sites. COTG is not responsible for, and does not have any control over, the privacy practices or the content of such third parties. We encourage users to read the privacy policies of any third parties to COTG’s website.

COTG may change the specific third-party providers from time to time.

Links to other websites

COTG may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. COTG strongly advises you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

COTG has no control over and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Use of your personal data

COTG may use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and maintain COTG's website, including to monitor the usage of COTG as explained above.
To contact you: To contact you by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, if you have provided such contact means to us via email, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.
To manage your requests: To attend and manage your requests to COTG.

We may share your personal information in the following situations:

With Service Providers: We may share your personal information with service providers to monitor and analyze the use of COTG's website.
With other users: when you share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.

Retention of Your Personal Data

COTG will retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use personal data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if COTG is required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce COTG legal agreements and policies.

COTG will also retain usage data for internal analysis purposes as described above. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of the COTG website, or COTG is legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including personal data, is processed at COTG’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

COTG will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your personal data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of your information

While COTG endeavors to provide the highest level of protection for your information, COTG may disclose personally identifiable information about you to third parties in limited circumstances, including: 1) with your consent; or 2) when we have a good faith belief it is required by law, such as pursuant to a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order.

COTG strives to keep very limited data about any of our website visitors or donors.

If COTG is required by law to disclose the information that you have submitted, COTG will attempt to provide you with notice (unless we are prohibited) that a request for your information has been made, in order to give you an opportunity to object to the disclosure. COTG will attempt to provide this notice by email if you have given us an email address. If you do not challenge the disclosure request, COTG may be legally required to turn over your information.

Other legal requirements

COTG may disclose your personal data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

Protect and defend the rights or property of COTG
Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the COTG website
Protect the personal safety of users of the COTG website or the public
Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of your personal data is important to COTG, but remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While COTG strives to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, COTG cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Detailed Information on the Processing of Your Personal Data

Service providers have access to your personal data only to perform their tasks on COTG's behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Additionally, we will independently object to requests for access to information about users of our site that COTG believes to be improper.

Updating or removing your information

The only personally identifying information COTG might save about you is your name, email address and any other contact information you independently and voluntarily provide (mailing address, telephone number) if you contact COTG through our contact page. If you request via email to be removed from any further emails, COTG will remove all your information from our lists and not send you any more emails.

Children's Privacy

COTG does not address anyone under the age of 13. COTG does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided COTG with personal data, please contact us. If COTG becomes aware that we have collected personal data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, COTG will take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Security

COTG employs industry-standard security measures to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. COTG has turned on HTTPS by default.

Although COTG makes good faith efforts to store information collected by COTG in a secure operating environment, we cannot guarantee complete security. Information collected by COTG will be maintained for a length of time appropriate to our needs.

Changes to our policies

COTG’s Privacy Policy may change from time to time. However, any revised Privacy Policy will be consistent with COTG’s mission. If we make any substantive changes to our policies, we will post a notice of changes on this page.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us via email at cotg@cotg2025.com.