This policy sets out how we handle personal information. It covers the General Council of the Assemblies of God (GCAG) and its wholly owned subsidiaries, and applies across all of GCAG’s businesses and websites, including Gospel Publishing House, My Healthy Church, AG.ORG and various ministry related websites (the Sites).
When we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘GCAG’ it is to identify who we are and that we are providing for the Sites. If we say ‘policy’ we are talking about this privacy policy. If we say ‘user terms’ we are talking about the rules for using each of the Sites. Take the time to read this policy because it forms a part of the user terms for each of our Sites. By using any of our Sites, you agree to this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Sites.
1. Our Collection of your Personal Information
We collect certain personal information about visitors and users of our Sites. The most common types of information we collect are things like:
- user names,
- member names,
- email addresses,
- other contact details,
- payment information such as payment agent details,
- transactional details,
- support queries,
- forum comments and
- web analytics data.
We may also collect personal information from activities related to official church business, employment, missions, donations, credentialing, sales and events.
We may collect personal information directly when you provide it to us, automatically as you navigate through the Sites or through other people when you use services associated with the Sites.
When you provide personal information to us via the Sites you are consenting to us collecting and using that information in line with this policy and the user terms of each of the Sites. You are likely to provide personal information when you complete membership registration and buy or provide items or services on our Sites, subscribe to a newsletter or email list, submit feedback, enter a contest, make a donation, apply or renew ministerial credentials, register for an event, fill out a survey, or send us a communication.
If you choose not to provide personal information, we may not be able to provide you with our services and you may not be able to carry out transactions or access the full range of features available through our Sites.
Although we generally collect personal information directly from you, we may on occasion also collect information about you from other people (such as the payment provider account details required to process a transaction) and by using tracking technologies such as cookies, web beacons and other web analytics software or services.
2. Our Use of your Personal Information
We may use your personal information in order for us to:
- operate the Sites and provide you with services described on the Sites, like to verify your identity when you sign in to any of our Sites, to facilitate and process transactions that take place on the Sites, and to help facilitate the resolution of customer service issues
- customize our services and websites, like advertising that may appear on the Sites, in order to provide a more personalized experienc
- update you with operational news and information about our Sites and services like to notify you about changes to our Sites, website disruptions or security updates
- provide you with information that you request from us or, where we have your consent to do so, provide you with marketing information about products and services which we feel may interest you carry out technical analysis to determine how to improve the Sites and services we provide
- monitor activity on the Sites, like to identify potential fraudulent activity and to ensure compliance with the user terms that apply to the Sites
- manage our relationship with you, like by responding to your comments or queries submitted to us on the Sites or asking for your feedback or whether you want to participate in a surve
- manage our legal and operational affairs
- train GCAG staff about how to best serve our community
- provide general administrative and performance functions and activities.
3. Our Disclosure of your Personal Information to Third Parties
We may disclose personal information to people or companies such as:
- companies that are directly affiliated with the GCAG
- subcontractors and service providers who assist us in connection with the ways we may use personal information (as set out above)
- our professional advisers (lawyers, accountants, financial advisers etc)
- regulators and government authorities in connection with our compliance procedures and obligations
- a purchaser or prospective purchaser of all or part of our assets or our business, and their professional advisers, in connection with the purchase
- other people where we are authorized or required by law to do so.
We use a network of global subcontractors and service providers in order to ensure that we maintain the best possible service standards. Some of the subcontractors and service providers to whom we may disclose your personal information, like service providers who provide us with cloud storage solutions, are based outside of the USA. In order to protect your information, we take care where possible to work with subcontractors and service providers who we believe maintain an acceptable standard of data security compliance.
4. Our Security Measures to Protect your Personal Information
We store personal information on secure servers that are managed by us and our service providers, and occasionally hard copy files that are kept in a secure location. Personal information that we store is subject to security and access controls, including username and password authentication and data encryption where appropriate.
5. Data Retention
We retain personal data for so long as it may be relevant to the purposes identified herein. To dispose of personal data, we may anonymize it, delete it, or take other appropriate steps. Data may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for an additional period of time.
6. Choices Regarding Control of your Personal Information
You can access some of the information that we collect about you by logging in to your AG Passport account. You also have the right to make a request to access other information we hold about you, to request corrections of any errors in that information or to close your account. To make an access or correction request, contact our privacy support team using the contact details at the end of this policy.
Where we have your consent to do so (e.g if you have subscribed to one of our e-mail lists or have otherwise indicated that you are interested in receiving offers or information from us), we may send you marketing communications about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. You can ‘opt-out’ of such communications if you would prefer not to receive them in the future.
If your e-mail address has changed and you would like to continue to receive our e-mails, you will need to access your account and update your e-mail address information in your account and sign-up again for those e-mails that you want to receive.
If we send e-mails with commercial content we will generally include an “unsubscribe” facility that you can use to opt-out of further communications – to opt-out, just follow the instructions in the e-mail. We might not include an opt-out facility in important operational and service-based e-mails concerning things like your purchases, the user terms, important updates and need-to-know messages. By using our Sites you agree that we do not need to include opt-out facilities in those messages.
You also have choices about cookies, as described below. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject cookies some parts of our Sites may not work properly in your case.
7. Our Use of Cookies, Web Beacons, Web Analytics Services and Links
We use cookies, web beacons and similar technologies to track web interaction and to provide an enhanced user-experience on our Sites.
- Cookies: These are a small data file sent from a server to your web browser or mobile device that is stored on your browser cache or mobile device. There are ways you can control your cookies preferences and set whether you want to accept or reject cookies.
- Clear gifs, web beacons: These are tiny graphics with a unique identifier similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the movements of web users between pages and websites. Unlike cookies, which are cached on a user’s computer, clear gifs and web beacons are embedded invisibly on web pages and are about the size of a single pixel.
- Web Analytics Services. Among the tools we use for analytics, we use Sitecore and Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies to allow us to see how you use our site so we can improve your experience. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to the site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You can also access the Sitecore Privacy Policy and Sitecore Cookie Policy here. You can prevent Sitecore and Google Analytics from recognizing you on return visits to the site by disabling cookies in your browser. If you prefer to not have data reported by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
- Links. We may create links to other web sites. We will make a reasonable effort to link only to sites that meet similar standards for maintaining each individual’s right to privacy. However, many other sites that are not associated with or authorized by our Company may have links leading to our site. Our Company cannot control these links and we are not responsible for any content appearing on these sites. Since this website does not control the privacy policies of third parties, you are subject to the privacy practices of that third party. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose any personal information to others.
We use these tracking technologies for a few general purposes like:
- To allow our sites to function correctly.
- To understand how our sites are functioning and to inform any improvements in performance and our services.
- To enhance your experience on our sites and provide functionality that means for example you don’t have to re-enter your details each time you engage with our sites or to record what purchases you have made on our sites.
- To gather relevant data that helps us deliver marketing and advertising content relevant to your interests.
Generally speaking, when you visit our Sites, there is certain information that is recorded which is generally anonymous information and may not reveal your identity however we may track details like:
- your IP or proxy server IP
- basic domain information
- your Internet service provider is sometimes captured depending on the configuration of your ISP connection
- the date and time of your visit to the website
- the length of your session
- the pages which you have accessed
- the number of times you access our site within any month;
- the files you download
- the website which referred you to our Sites
- the operating system which your computer uses.
- If you are logged into your account some of this information could be associated with your personal information.
8. Children's Privacy
Our Sites are not designed for children under the age of 13 years, so if you are under 13 we ask that you do not use our Sites or give us your personal information. If you are from 13 to 18 years, you can browse the Sites but will need the supervision of a parent or guardian to create an account become a registered user. It is the responsibility of parents or guardians to monitor their children’s use of our Sites.
9. Information You Make Public
If you make your personal information available to other people, we cannot control or accept responsibility for the way they will use or manage that information. There are several ways that you may find yourself providing information to other people, like when you post a public message on a forum thread, share information via social media, or make contact with another user via our Sites. Before making your information publicly available or giving your information to anyone else, think carefully. If giving information to another user via our Sites, ask them how they will handle your information. If you are sharing information via another website, check the privacy policy for that site to understand its information management practices as this privacy policy will not apply.
10. Changes to our Privacy Statement
We may need to change this policy from time to time in order to make sure it stays up to date with the latest legal requirements and any changes to our privacy management practices. When we do amend the policy, the changes will be effective immediately. We will occasionally publish information about changes to be made to this policy on our Sites – but please be aware that it is your responsibility to check in and make sure you keep up to date with any changes to this policy.
11. Governing Law
This Privacy Policy and its terms as well as our right to process data shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Missouri without regard to the conflicts of laws provisions therein.
12. Your California Privacy Rights
Under California's "Shine the Light" law, California residents who provide Personal Information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us once a calendar year information about the Personal Information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of Personal Information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared Personal Information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in 2018 will receive information regarding 2017 sharing activities).To obtain this information from GCAG please send an email message to [email protected] with "Request for California Privacy Information" on the subject line and in the body of your message. The requested information, upon verification of the requestor's identity, if required by law, will be provided to you at your email address.
13. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our privacy policy or practices, please contact our privacy support team in writing at:
The General Council of the Assemblies of God
Attn: OPR Privacy
1445 N. Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802
[email protected]
After successfully verifying the requester's identity and right to access the personal information, we will take appropriate action and respond to the requester's email address.
If you have any concerns about how we have been managing your personal information, or if you think we have not been complying with privacy law, you can contact our privacy support team. We will consider your concern and contact you to resolve the matter.
We’re really glad you made it to the end of the privacy policy, because knowing this stuff is the best way to understand how your personal information is used and how to best manage it!