Privacy policy.

Privacy Policy – Gone & Here Newsletter

1. Introduction
Gone & Here (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website and sign up for our newsletter at gonehere.org/newsletter. By providing your information to join our newsletter, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

  • Personal Information: When you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect personal information that you provide, specifically your name and email address. We use this information to send you email updates.

  • Automatically Collected Data: We do not collect any personal data automatically beyond basic web analytics. However, like most websites, our site may log general visit information such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited, solely for performance and security monitoring. This data is not linked to your identity and is used only to improve our website.

  • Cookies: Our newsletter page uses minimal cookies. We may use a cookie to remember if you’ve seen a one-time message or to facilitate site navigation. We do not use tracking cookies for advertising or extensive analytics on the newsletter sign-up page. (Any embedded content such as the Instagram link on our site is subject to the third party’s cookie policies – for example, Instagram may set cookies if you interact with that link. We do not control those cookies, but we recommend reviewing Instagram’s policies if concerned.)

3. How We Use Your Information
We use the personal information you provide (name and email) for the following purposes:

  • Newsletter Emails: To send you our newsletter and occasional updates about Gone & Here’s activities. These emails include information on our fundraising efforts, scholarship opportunities, research updates, event announcements, and other news related to our mission of supporting youth affected by a loved one’s suicide.

  • Community Updates and Requests: We might also send announcements inviting you to events or informing you of volunteer or support opportunities connected to our cause.

  • We will not use your personal information for any purpose unrelated to our nonprofit mission. We do not sell your data or use it for third-party advertising.

4. How We Share and Disclose Information
Gone & Here respects your privacy. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We will share your data only in limited circumstances:

  • Service Providers: We use trusted third-party service providers to help operate our organization and deliver our newsletter. For example, we may use an email distribution service (a mailing list platform) to send out the newsletter. Such providers will have access to your email address solely to perform these tasks on our behalf and are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the services we request.

  • Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law or if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to comply with legal obligations or protect the rights, safety, or property of Gone & Here, our supporters, or others.
    Aside from the above, your information stays within Gone & Here. General statistics about our community (e.g., number of subscribers, aggregate demographics) may be used for grants or fundraising transparency, but these will not identify any individual and typically will not even include personal data.

5. Data Storage and Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information. Subscriber data (name and email) is stored in secure systems (for example, within our chosen email newsletter platform database) that employ industry-standard security protocols. We restrict access to personal data to authorized staff or volunteers who need it to manage the newsletter. We also implement technical safeguards like encryption for data in transit (our website is HTTPS-secured) and, where possible, encryption at rest. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, so while we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a data breach that compromises your personal data, we will notify you and take appropriate steps as required by law.

6. Your Choices and Rights

  • Unsubscribe from Newsletter: Every email we send will include an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom. You can click that link at any time to stop receiving future emails from us. Your email address will be removed from our mailing list promptly if you unsubscribe.

  • Update or Delete Your Info: If you need to update your name or email, or if you want us to remove your information from our records entirely, please contact us at the email address in the Contact section below. We will comply with such requests as soon as reasonably possible.

  • Access to Information: You may request a copy of the personal information we have about you. Given the limited data we collect, this will typically just be your name and email. We will provide this to you upon request.

  • California & EU Residents: If you are a California resident or from the EU/EEA, you may have additional rights under the CCPA or GDPR, respectively. This includes the right to know what personal data is collected, to request deletion, and to not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights. Gone & Here’s policy is to extend privacy rights to all our users, not just those in specific regions. If you have any questions or requests regarding your data rights, please contact us and we will honor applicable rights to the best of our ability.

7. Children’s Privacy
Gone & Here’s content and newsletter are generally intended for a general audience interested in our cause. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not provide any personal information on our site. If we learn that we have unintentionally collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it. (For youth applying to our scholarships, note that parental consent may be required in the application process, which is handled separately from this newsletter signup.)

8. External Links
Our website and newsletter page may contain links to external websites, such as our social media profiles (e.g., Instagram) or partner organizations. This Privacy Policy applies only to Gone & Here’s site and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit via links from our page.

9. Updates to this Policy
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. If we make significant changes, we will post a notice on our website or notify subscribers via email. The “last updated” date at the bottom of this policy will always indicate when the last changes were made. Continued use of our site or newsletter after any updates constitute acceptance of the revised policy.

10. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please contact us at:
Email: hello@gonehere.org
Mailing Address: 1292 Cottonwood Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056

We value your trust and will do our utmost to protect your privacy while you engage with the Gone & Here community.

Last updated: February 20, 2025