Privacy Policy

Last Updated March 2024

This website is owned and operated by the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York, New York. For the purposes of this online privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”), the “CSLDF Site” is the website whose home page is located at www.csldf.org.

CSLDF is committed to protecting the personal information that you provide and entrust to us when using the CSLDF Site. This Privacy Policy describes how we treat all user data collected by CSLDF during your visit to the CSLDF Site, both technical data that is automatically collected and voluntarily submitted data. CSLDF may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. Any information that you submit after a change has been posted will be subject to the new provisions.

The Kinds Of Information We Collect About You

Information You Give Us Voluntarily

CSLDF collects, retains, and uses information you provide to us or give us permission to obtain. For example, you voluntarily provide or allow us to obtain information when you:

Donate to or Purchase from CSLDF. We request, collect, and retain certain information necessary to verify your identity, prevent fraud, and process your requested donation or purchase. This includes your name, email address, billing address, credit card information, phone number, donation and/or purchase amount, and other personally identifiable information you share with us. [We collect, transmit, and retain credit card transaction information in conformity with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.]

Use CSLDF’s Site. We request, collect, and retain certain information when you fill in a form, register for an event, subscribe to our electronic newsletter, respond to surveys, download publications and reports, or use other features of our Site. This includes your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and other personally identifiable information you share with us.

Communicate with Us Online. Sometimes we request, collect, and/or retain information when you communicate with us online, which may include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and other personally identifiable information you share with us. For example, you may ask us to update your contact information through info@csldf.org.

The above information is collected and processed, based on your consent, to fulfill your purchases and/or donations, to keep you up to date on CSLDF’s work and issues that are important to you, to maintain and expand our relationship with you, and other supporters, and for our other legitimate purposes.

Information We Collect Automatically When You Visit Our Site

Similar to most websites, certain kinds of information are automatically or passively collected, retained, and used when you visit our Site:

Log Data. When you visit or use any website, including our Site, your browser or mobile device creates certain information, which is logged. Log data may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, searches, browser and system type and settings, the date and time you used the Site, how you used the Site, cookie data, and your device data. We use third parties to collect, retain, evaluate, and make available to us this information when you visit our Site. We use this information to maintain and monitor the Site, including its availability, functionality, speed, and security, to make the Site more user-friendly and to improve your experience when you visit it.

Cookies and Similar Technologies. We use cookies to improve our Site, auto-populate your preferences and settings, and collect analytical data. For further information about cookies and how and why we use cookies and similar technologies, including how to opt out or disable cookies on your computer or mobile device, please see our Cookie Policy.

Embedded Content

Articles on our Site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you have visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Information Third Parties Share with Us

Information from Third Parties. We sometimes collect information about you, including personal information, from third parties we work with or through publicly available sources. We may combine that information with other information we collect through the Site or that you voluntarily provide or authorize us to obtain. We do not have any control over the third parties that provide us with your information, including how they collect, process, or disclose your personal data.

Device information. We use third parties to collect information about the device you use to visit the Site, including device type, operating system, and settings. Whether we collect some or all of this information depends on the device you use and its privacy settings. We do not have any control over the third parties that provide us with your information, including how they collect, process, or disclose your personal data.

Site Use. We use third parties to collect information about your and other visitors’ interactions with the Site. These services use cookies to measure how users interact with our Site. The data that is collected and made available to us includes search terms used to reach our Site, which websites visitors came from, event data (pages and content viewed or clicked upon), the event date and time, searches within our Site, and visitors’ IP addresses. This allows us to understand how many people visit our Site, how they use it, whether they are new or returning, how often they visit, and how they interact with the Site. We can also use this information to test and improve our Site to provide you with a more relevant and meaningful experience. We do not have any control over the third parties that provide us with your information, including how they collect, process, or disclose your personal data.

Payment Transaction Information. If you donate or make a purchase using a credit card, your credit card information is processed by our contracted merchant service providers. We do not retain information about your online payment transactions, but through a third-party platform we use, we can access the last four digits of your credit card and transaction information, such as the date and the amount.

Other sources. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may receive additional information about you—such as demographics, fraud detection information, or other personally identifiable information—from third-party service providers. We may combine this with other information we have about you.

How We Use and/or Share the Information We Collect

In addition to specific uses discussed below, we generally use the information we collect to improve our Site’s function and content, to stay in touch with our supporters about activities or news, to expand our supporter base, and to notify you about updates to our Site.

Data Collected for a Financial Transaction

The data we collect from you if you make a donation or purchase is used to verify your identity and to complete your requested transaction. We also use your phone number and/or email address to contact you if there is a problem with the transaction, and we use your email address to confirm your donation and/or purchase. This information is necessary to fulfill your order or donation transaction.
The personal financial information we collect and control to conduct financial transactions is kept private and secure and is not sold, rented, or traded to third parties.

To the extent allowed by law, we collect, retain, and use your name, email address, phone number, address, and any other personally identifiable information you provide voluntarily or give us permission to obtain. We use this information to keep you up to date on CSLDF’s critical work, including fundraising appeals and other ways you can help support us.

Data Collected When You Sign Up for Our Emails or Texts, Register for an Event, or Communicate With Us for Other Reasons

Similarly, to the extent allowed by law, we collect, retain, and use your name, email address, phone number, address, and any other information you provide voluntarily or give us permission to obtain. This allows us to keep you up to date on CSLDF’s critical work and opportunities for you to support us.

Data Collected When You Download Items from the Site

When you download an item from the Site, such as a PDF of one of our Guides, data, including a log of download attempts, IP addresses, and user agent (browser), is collected and retained.

Data Shared with Third Parties with Which We Contract

We sometimes contract with third-party companies or employ persons to collect and process information on our behalf based on our instructions and in compliance with this Policy. For example, as discussed above, we share information with credit card payment processing companies and database providers. We also share data with security consultants. In addition, we share certain information to improve and expand our fundraising capabilities, our donor and supporter databases, and our advocacy efforts. This may include information we independently acquire about you—some of which may be collected by third-party providers at our request.

Aggregated Data

We also use and share aggregated information about our Site’s visitors. Aggregated information does not identify any particular individual and is used for compliance, analysis, demographics, fundraising, advertising, and other legitimate purposes. For example, we collect, retain, and use advocacy-alert information to evaluate and report on the outcome of our action alerts, but your personally identifiable information is depersonalized so that it is not identifiable.

How Long We Retain Your Data

We keep your information as long as necessary to accomplish the uses described in this Policy. When we no longer need to use your information and there is no requirement that we keep it, we’ll either delete or depersonalize it so you can’t be identified. If you leave a comment on a blog post, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

What Rights We Have Over Your Data

If you have left comments on our site or have made a donation to or purchase from CSLDF, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are required to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

How We Protect Your Data

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. We maintain appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss, unauthorized alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access, misuse, and any other unlawful form of processing of the personal data in our possession. This includes, for example, firewalls, password protection, and other access and authentication controls.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100 percent secure. We cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. We also cannot guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. If you believe your personal data has been compromised, please contact us.

If we learn of a security systems breach, we will inform you and the authorities of the occurrence of the breach in accordance with applicable law.

Children’s Online Privacy

Our Site is not directed to children under 13 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. Additionally, if you are in the European Union, you must be over the age at which you can consent to data processing under your country’s laws, or you must provide parental consent. If you are a parent and believe your child is receiving CSLDF communications and you don’t want them to, or if you believe we are collecting your child’s personal information, please contact us.

Links To Other Sites

Our Site contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for other websites’ content, cookies policies, or privacy policies. Please be aware when you leave our Site. We suggest you read the privacy policies of these other websites, which may collect your personally identifiable information.

Your Choices Regarding Your Information

You have choices about your data and how we collect, use, or disclose it. We want to send you only the communications to which you have agreed. You can unsubscribe at any time.

If you would like to opt out of postal or email communications from CSLDF, you can do so by contacting us by mail, phone, or email:
Climate Science Legal Defense Fund

475 Riverside Drive, Suite 246
New York, NY 10115
info@csldf.org
646-801-0853

You can control cookies and other automatic data collection and storage through your browser and/or mobile device settings. Please check your software or device manufacturer’s instructions and/or read our Cookie Policy below to learn more about how we use cookies or how to disable cookies on your computer or mobile device.

Though our Site is not specifically directed towards the European Union (“EU”), and we don’t have a physical location in the EU, if you’re located in the EU or the European Economic Area, you can contact us at the mail address, phone number or email address above to:

Request we share with you the information we have collected about you. This will take about 30 days;
Request we correct or delete your information;
Object to the processing of your information or
Request we send the information we have collected about you to other organizations.

Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy explains CSLDF’s use of cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website, csldf.org (the “Site”). It provides you with information about how and when we use cookies on the Site, as well as how to control our use of them. When you first visit our Site, you will be asked to consent to the use of cookies.

If you do not want to use cookies, you may disable their use in your browser. Disabling cookies may affect your experience of the Site. You may also choose to delete cookies after you complete your Site visit.

What are cookies, and why do we use them?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device, through your browser, by the websites that you visit. These text files can be read by these websites, through the browser, and help to identify you when you return to a website. Cookies do not run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.

Some cookies are set by CSLDF, and some are set by third parties. The cookies that third parties set can recognize the device you use to visit our Site as well as when you visit other websites. Cookies are used to make the Site work properly, help make the user experience more efficient, and track metrics to help us improve our Site and the information we provide.

What cookies are set on CSLDF’s Site?

Most of the cookies set during your visit to the Site come from third-party companies that we use to monitor and improve the user’s experience. We also set a small number of cookies to ensure the website platform functions properly and securely. Cookies fall into the following categories:

Necessary Cookies: There are cookies that are essential to use the Site, like securely authenticating users when they log into the Site or when a donation is made online to support our work. The security plugin used by the Site also uses cookies.
Functionality Cookies: These cookies help us create a better user experience by enabling personalization and engagement, such as displaying certain popup notifications one time only. See the below Social Media Plug-Ins section for more information about similar technologies we may use for this purpose.
Analytics/Performance Cookies: These cookies allow us to monitor our Site’s performance. We use them to understand how people use our Site so that we can continue to improve the Site and your experience when you visit.
Third-Party Cookies: These cookies are set by external services, such as Vimeo, when you visit a page on our Site containing a video or other resource embedded from that third-party service.

How can I disable or delete cookies?

You can control cookies and other types of automatic data collection and storage through your browser and/or mobile device settings. Please check your software or device manufacturer’s instructions to learn more about your options.

Learn how to disable or enable cookies for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Internet Explorer or Edge.

What other similar technologies do we use?

Social Media Plug-Ins: To enable people to share our content across social platforms, we may include social media plug-ins for specific platforms. When you browse a page with a plug-in, it will connect with the social network platform and send information, including which pages you viewed, length of visit, and so forth. If you have an account with one of those social networks, this information can be stored in your account. CSLDF does not have direct access to information stored in your social media account.
Google Analytics©: These services are provided by Google, Inc., and require a cookie to run. The information generated by this cookie (including your truncated IP address) is transmitted and stored by Google on its servers located in the United States. It allows, in the aggregate, us to monitor which Site pages are visited, what types of devices are used, how long people stay on the Site, what part of the country people visit the Site from, and so forth. Because Google only receives the truncated IP address, it can approximately identify your country and state location, but it cannot identify you, your computer, or your mobile device, individually. Learn how you can opt out of Google Analytics.
Tracking Pixels: In emails, we include a tracking pixel, which is essentially a tiny image. This image lets us know whether or not you opened the email. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time by contacting us by mail, phone, or email:

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 246
New York, NY 10115
(646) 801-0853

reCAPTCHA: We use the reCAPTCHA service provided by Google Inc. (Google) to protect your submissions via internet submission forms on this site. This plugin checks if you are a person in order to prevent certain website functions from being (a)bused by spambots. This plugin query includes the sending of the IP address and possibly other data required by Google for the Google reCAPTCHA service. For this purpose, your input will be communicated to and used by Google. This data collection is subject to the data protection regulations of Google (Google Inc.). By using the reCAPTCHA service, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Changes To This Policy

CSLDF reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without any obligation, to modify or correct any errors or omissions in any portion of this Site, including its terms of use and privacy policy.

If our information practices or privacy policy change at some time in the future, we will update our privacy policy to notify you of the changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. Please check back at our Site periodically. We may change this policy from time to time, and if we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. If you continue to use our Site after changes go into effect, you agree to the new policy.

If the changes are significant, we may provide a more prominent notice or ask for your consent, if required by law.

If you feel we are not following our privacy policy or wish to review or request changes to your contact information, please contact us:

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 246
New York, NY 10115
info@csldf.org
646-801-0853