Last Updated May 10 2017
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This Privacy (“Policy”) covers Diaspora Council of Tanzanians in the America (DICOTA) treatment of personal information or personally identifiable information (both “Personal Information") that may be collected or submitted when the web-user (“You”) are using the DICOTA’s website or services. This Policy does not apply to companies that DICOTA does not own or control, or to individuals that are not under DICOTA’s supervisory control. We hope that this disclosure will enhance your experience on the Internet and reinforce the trust that you place in DICOTA's initiatives and services.
Please understand that whenever You voluntarily disclose Personal Information online this information cannot be made one hundred percent secure and, in some cases, the information can be intercepted, collected and used by others. However, we work hard to protect your information in several ways. Your information is secured on a secure server that DICOTA and its authorized personnel can only access through a password.
Additionally, all data is encrypted during transmission using SSL (HTTPS), using some of the strongest encryption available. Our service providers encrypt sensitive data at rest following industry best practices, using either one-way or two-way hashing. This encryption helps to prevent third parties without authorization from intercepting your information when it is in transit to us.
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How We Collect Your Personal Information
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Most of the information provided by DICOTA is offered without our collecting any Personal Information from you. For example, you can read articles and announcements without giving out any Personal Information.
However, there are instances when using the DICOTA website where You will submit Personal Information e.g. registering for Diaspora Database, signing up for our newsletter, ordering products, paying membership dues, registering for events and posting content. Depending on the service or process, the Personal Information you may be asked to provide may include your name, postal address, e-mail address, phone number, credit or debit card information, age, location, gender or other demographic information. Providing this Personal Information is voluntary. Although you are not required to disclose any Personal Information to us, portions of our Web site and other specialized services may be unavailable to you without such information.
Personal Information may also be collected, or your IP address logged, when you visit DICOTA’s website. Your IP information allows us to understand how you use our site and to enable us to make changes to our site in order to improve your experience. Information regarding your computer, your connection to our website (such as your browser type, operating system, and platform) and your user history (including, but not limited to, your session information, page errors and the length of your visits to specific pages within our website) may also be collected.
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How We Use Your Personal Information
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Our most valuable asset is You. It is DICOTA’s policy not to disclose, sell or share your Personal Information to any individual, business, government entity or outside parties except: (i) to provide products or services you've requested through us; (ii) in response to a validly-issued subpoena, court order, or other legal process; (iii) when necessary to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal action; or (v) where You request DICOTA to do so.
From time to time, DICOTA may use return email addresses to answer the email we receive from You. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose. Your Personal Information will not be collected for use that is in violation of the law, or unrelated to the purpose that is discussed in this Policy, unless You are also provided an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.
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ctda24.org
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We provide You with the opportunity to opt in to receive notifications (e-mails). If you opt in, DICOTA will use your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from DICOTA. These products may include, for example, schedules for special programs offered by DICOTA.
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Setting Up User Accounts
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DICOTA allows users to set up personal accounts to log in the Diaspora Database, shop on our online store or to participate in our online communities. You have the ability to edit information you provide at any time by visiting www.dicotaus.org and log into the Diaspora Database. Unless DICOTA is required to respond to court orders, subpoenas or comply with applicable law, DICOTA will use its best efforts to ensure that unauthorized third parties do not access your user account information.
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Web Statistics & Shared Data
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We collect and use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user movement, and gather broad demographic information for reporting and sponsorship purposes. From time to time, we may use this information to better design our website and to share with select advertising partners, sponsors, and/or affiliates however IP addresses are not linked to Personal Information. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form, but we will not disclose to these partners, sponsors and/or affiliates anything that could be used to personally identify those individuals.
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Companies Offering Promotions, Products, OR Services
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In two types of instances, we provide You with the opportunity to opt-in to receive promotions, products or services from third party sponsors:
1. With your permission, we will periodically send to You, via e-mail, offers and promotions from our third party sponsors. These offers will be selected based upon your interests or user profile. In these instances, we do not share your Personal Information with the third party sponsors - we do the mailing for them. Additionally, you will always have the opportunity, with each e-mail, to opt-out of receiving future offers.
2. In other instances, we provide you with the opportunity to receive products and services from specifically identified third parties directly through our site. In these instances, you must explicitly consent to receive each offer. When you explicitly agree to receive offers from specific third parties, your personally identifiable information is shared with the specific third party to enable them to provide you with the offer you have requested. All information provided to third parties is governed by the Privacy Policies of these third parties. We are not responsible for the information collection practices of these third parties, and you should review the Privacy Policies of these parties before supplying personally identifiable information to them.
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Third-Party Processors
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When You submit your Personal Information on the www.ctda24.org web site, it may be shared with a reputable third party ("Third Party Processors"). These Third Party Processors may include, for example, companies that operate our online store and companies that process credit card information or handle shipping for DICOTA. These Third Party Processors may organize, administer, process, and/or analyze data on our behalf to help us provide more relevant offers to you and to eliminate the delivery of duplicate offers. In addition, these Third Party Processors correct and/or update users' data based on information we provide them.
We may also use Third Party Processors to deliver materials to you via e-mail or postal service. The data we provide to Third Party Processors is securely stored and maintained by them so that it can be accessed when needed for future purposes. Further, all such Third Party Processors are contractually bound by us to keep the information confidential. All information provided to Third Party Processors is used to only to carry out the services for DICOTA.
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Scope of This Policy; Third Party Websites
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Although this Policy applies to the all information obtained by You for the purpose of accessing or using content controlled and owned by DICOTA, it does not apply to businesses or entities that are not owned or controlled by us.
This website contains links to other third party websites. Please be aware that DICOTA does not claim any responsibility for the privacy practices of these third party sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to take reasonable precautions when sharing your Personal Information on third party websites.
Other Limitations On Privacy
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We may provide personally identifiable information without your permission (i) pursuant to judicial or other government subpoenas, warrants, or orders; (ii) where DICOTA believes our property or an individual's safety or security is at risk; iii) if we find that your actions violate our Legal Restrictions and Terms of Use; or iv) where otherwise required by law.
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E-mail a Friend
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If you choose to use our service that allows you to e-mail a page of our site to a friend, we do not have access to and do not collect any personally identifiable information regarding you or your friend.
IP Addresses, Cookies, Web Beacons and Gifs
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DICOTA and Third Party Processors acting on our behalf uses various Internet technologies which help us to manage our site operations and track usage behavior so that we can tailor information and advertisements to make your visits more enjoyable and meaningful. These Internet technologies include:
1. IP Addresses are random numbers assigned to individual computers which DICOTA uses to administer our Web site and help diagnose problems with our servers.
2. Cookies are small electronic files transferred from our Web site to your hard drive. Cookies enable DICOTA to recognize repeat visitors, track usage behavior and facilitate your access to and use of our site. If you wish, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a Cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all Cookies. You can do this by resetting your browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your Cookies. If you turn Cookies off, however, you won't have access to many of the features, which make your experience more efficient, and some of our services will not function properly. 3. Web Beacons (sometimes called single-pixel Gifs) are electronic images that allow DICOTA to count users who have visited certain Web pages we wish to track. For example, DICOTA may include Web Beacons in promotional email messages in order to count how many messages have been opened and acted upon. Our advertising partners on DICOTA may also place Web Beacons on web pages to help determine the effectiveness of Internet advertising campaigns.
Information that is collected via IP Address, Cookie and Web Beacon technologies is not personally identifiable. However, if you choose to provide DICOTA with Personal Information, this information may be linked to the data stored in these technologies. In addition, we may share aggregate (not individual) site usage statistics and demographic information with advertisers and other third parties, but this information will not include any Personal Information. Personal Information about you as an individual will not be provided to any third party without your consent, except under the circumstances described above in the "Third Party Processors" and "Other Limitations on Privacy" sections.
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Opting-Out, Corrections and Cancellations
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By registering with DICOTA, the user “Opts-In” to receive newsletters, promotional offers and other useful information from us. To unsubscribe from our mailings (except important system and content update information), you may go click on Unsubscribe link available on every email communication sent to members. If you have trouble unsubscribing, don’t hesitate to email the DICOTA team at dicota@dicotaus.org To reset your password, update your Personal Information, correct any information, make changes to your preferences, unsubscribe to any e-mail subscriptions or to opt-out of any services, you may access your profile online by login into the “Diaspora Database” section of the site and editing the “Contact Information” section of the database.
Children's Privacy
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DICOTA is committed to protecting the safety and privacy of young people using the Internet. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 and believe that children should get their parents' or guardians' consent before giving out any Personal Information.
Our Web site may contain links to third party Web sites geared to children. The linked sites are not under the control of DICOTA. We are not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, nor are we responsible for the privacy practices of the operators of those sites with respect to children. We strongly encourage parents and guardians to review the Privacy Policies of all linked sites.
Encryption
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All user account pages are protected with Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") encryption. All user accounts must be accessed with usernames and passwords. You are advised not to share your username and password with any other person.
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Amendments
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DICOTA reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. DICOTA will contact registered users by e-mail, and shall also post a notice of changes on its web site, when and if the terms of this policy are amended.
Contact
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You may contact DICOTA directly by e-mailing info@dicotaus.org should you have any questions regarding this policy.