Housing Navigator Massachusetts Privacy Policy
Effective November 2, 2020
This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how Housing Navigator Massachusetts Inc. (“Housing Navigator MA,” “we,” “our,” “us”) collects, uses, and discloses certain personal information obtained through our organizational website and search engine tool, which are located at https://housingnavigatorma.org and related subdomains (collectively, the “Sites”). By visiting our Sites and/or using the features made available to you on the Sites (the “Services”), you are agreeing to the terms of this Policy.
What Information We Collect and Maintain About You
We collect personal and other information from you directly when you provide it to us through the Services. We may also automatically collect certain information about you and your computer, smartphone, or other device when you use, access, or interact with our Services.
Personal Information You Provide
You can visit the Services without submitting any information that we can use to identify you personally. However, if you use certain features on the Sites, such as sign up for our newsletter, you may be required to provide personal information. Such information could include, for example, your name, email address, organization name, and any other information you choose to provide.
If you are a rental property owner or administrator and choose to display your property through our search engine, we will collect information as part of that process. This information may include your name, contact information, and information about your rental property.
Web Log Data
When you use the Services, we automatically receive and record certain information from your computer (or other device) and your browser. This may include such data as your IP address and domain name, the pages you visit on the Sites, the date and time of your visit, the files that you download, the URLs from the websites you visit before and after navigating to the Sites, your software and hardware attributes (including device IDs), your general geographic location (e.g., your city, state, or metropolitan region), and certain cookie information (see below). To obtain such information, we may use web logs or applications that recognize your computer and gather information about its online activity.
Cookies
We also use cookies on the Services. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by your web browser. A cookie allows the Sites to recognize whether you have visited before and may store user preferences and other information. For example, cookies can be used to collect or store information about your use of the Sites during your current session and over time (including the pages you view and the files you download), your computer’s operating system and browser type, your Internet service provider, your domain name and IP address, your general geographic location, the website that you visited before the Sites, and the link you used to leave the Sites. If you are concerned about having cookies on your computer, you can set your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being set, allowing you to decide whether to accept it. You can also delete cookies from your computer. However, if you choose to block or delete cookies, certain features of the Sites may not operate correctly.
Web Beacons
The Sites or the emails that you receive from usmay use an application known as a “web beacon” (also known as a “clear gif” or “web bug”). A web beacon is an electronic file that usually consists of a single-pixel image. It can be embedded in a web page or in an email to transmit information, which could include personal information. For example, it can allow an email sender to determine whether a user has opened a particular email.
Third-party Online Tracking
We also may partner with certain third parties to collect, analyze, and use some of the personal and other information described in this section. For example, we may allow third parties to set cookies or use web beacons on the Sites or in email communications from us. This information may be used for a variety of purposes, including online website analytics.
Aggregated and De-identified Information
From time to time, we may also collect and share aggregated or deidentified information about users, such as by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Sites. Such aggregated or deidentified information will not identify you personally.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information that we collect for a variety of purposes. These purposes include, for example:
- To respond to your questions or requests concerning the Sites or the Services offered by us;
- To fulfill the terms of any agreement you have with us;
- To fulfill your requests for our Services;
- To send you information about our services and other topics that are likely to be of interest to you, including newsletters, updates, or other communications;
- To deliver confirmations, account information, notifications, and similar operational communications;
- To improve your user experience and the quality of our Services;
- To comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements; and
- To manage our nonprofit.
In addition to the purposes above, we use the information that we collect automatically through the Services for such purposes as:
- Counting and recognizing visitors to the Sites;
- Analyzing how visitors use the Sites and various Site features;
- Improving the Sites and enhancing users’ experiences with the Sites;
- Creating new products and services or improving our existing products and services;
- Enabling additional website analytics and research concerning the Sites;
- Managing our nonprofit.
We may link information gathered through the Sites with information that we collect in other contexts. But in that event, we will handle the combined information in a manner consistent with this Policy.
With Whom and Why We Share Your Information
We share your information with other parties for a variety of purposes, as described below.
Third-party Service Providers
Housing Navigator MA uses third-party service providers that perform services on our behalf, including web-hosting companies, mailing and payment vendors, and analytics providers. These service providers may collect and/or use your information, including information that identifies you personally, to assist us in achieving the purposes discussed above.
We may share your information with other third parties when necessary to fulfill your requests for services; to complete a transaction that you initiate; to meet the terms of any agreement that you have with us or our partners; or to manage our nonprofit.
Analytics
We partner with certain third parties to obtain the automatically collected information discussed above and to engage in analysis, auditing, research, and reporting. These third parties may use web logs or web beacons, and they may set and access cookies on your computer or other device. In particular, the Sites use Google Analytics to help collect and analyze certain information for the purposes discussed above. You may opt out of the use of cookies by Google Analytics here. Please note that our Sites currently do not respond to Do Not Track signals.
Legal Purposes
We also may use or share your information with third parties when we believe, in our sole discretion, that doing so is necessary:
- To comply with applicable law or a court order, subpoena, or other legal process;
- To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, violations of our terms and conditions, or situations involving threats to our property or the property or physical safety of any person or third party;
- To establish, protect, or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; or
- To facilitate the financing, securitization, insuring, sale, assignment, bankruptcy, or other disposal of all or part of our nonprofit or assets.
Your Choices
If you want to learn more about the personal information that we have about you, or you would like to update or change that information, please contact us by email at info@housingnavigatorma.org.
You may also opt out of our newsletter by following the instructions in the newsletter or by emailing us at info@housingnavigatorma.org.
External Links
This Services may contain links to third-party websites. If you use these links, you will leave the Services. We have not reviewed these third-party sites and do not control and are not responsible for any of these sites, their content, or their privacy policy. Thus, we do not endorse or make any representations about them, or any information, software, or other products or materials found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. If you decide to access any of the third-party sites listed on our website, you do so at your own risk.
Data Security
We employ physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard the personal information we collect online. However, no website is 100% secure, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to through the Services, and you transmit such information at your own risk.
Data Retention
We retain personal information about you necessary to fulfill the purpose for which that information was collected or as required or permitted by law. We do not retain personal information longer than is necessary for us to achieve the purposes for which we collected it. When we destroy your personal information, we do so in a way that prevents that information from being restored or reconstructed.
International Users
The information that we collect through or in connection with the Services is transferred to and processed in the United States for the purposes described above. We also may subcontract the processing of your data to, or otherwise share your data with, affiliates or third parties in the United States or countries other than your country of residence. The data-protection laws in these countries may be different from, and less stringent than, those in your country of residence. By using the Services or by providing any personal or other information to us, you expressly consent to such transfer and processing.
Children
Content on the Services is directed at individuals over the age of 18 and is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.
Changes to This Policy
We may make changes to the Services in the future and as a consequence will need to revise this Policy to reflect those changes. We will post all such changes on the Services, so you should review this page periodically. If we make a material change to the Policy, you will be provided with appropriate notice.
How to Contact Us
Should you have any questions or concerns about this Policy, you can contact us at info@housingnavigatorma.org or c/o Housing Navigator Massachusetts, Inc., c/o CHAPA, One Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108.