Privacy Policy

The Siburt Institute for Church Ministry website is committed to maintaining robust privacy protections for its users. Our Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to help you understand how we collect, use and safeguard the information you provide to us and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our Site or Service.

For purposes of this Agreement, “Site” refers to the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry website, which can be accessed at www.siburtinstitute.org.

“Company,” “Institute,” and “Siburt Institute” refer to the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry, which is part of Abilene Christian University.

“Service” refers to the Company’s services accessed via the Site, in which users can access information, videos, audio recordings, PDF downloads, and related content; subscribe to email communications from the Company; and contact Company personnel.

The terms “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry.

“You” refers to the user of our Site or our Service.

By accessing our Site, you accept our Privacy Policy, and you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

I. Information We Collect

We collect “Non-Personal Information” and “Personal Information.” Non-Personal Information includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you, such as anonymous usage data, general demographic information we may collect, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, preferences you submit and preferences that are generated based on the data you submit and number of clicks. Personal Information may include your name, email address, physical location, web URL, or private feedback, which you have the option to submit to us when you use our “Email Subscription” form.

1. Information Collected Via Technology

To use the Site you do not need to submit any Personal Information. However, in an effort to improve the quality of the Service, we track information provided to us by your browser or by our software application when you view or use the Service, such as the website you came from (known as the “referring URL”), the type of browser you use, the device from which you connected to the Service, the time and date of access, and other information that does not personally identify you. We track this information using cookies, or small text files which include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to a user’s browser from our servers and are stored on the user’s computer hard drive. Sending a cookie to a user’s browser enables us to collect Non-Personal information about that user and keep a record of the user’s preferences when utilizing our services, both on an individual and aggregate basis.

The Site is powered by Squarespace. Please visit Squarespace’s cookie policy, which may be accessed at https://www.squarespace.com/cookie-policy, for information about the type of cookies Squarespace uses and the information collected via cookies.

The Company may use both persistent and session cookies; persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your session and until you delete them, while session cookies expire when you close your browser.

2. Information You Provide Us

We offer optional services that collect your Personal Information. To use our “Email Subscription” form, you may provide your name, email address, subscription preferences, city, and state. By using any of these optional services, you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

3. Children’s Privacy

The Site and the Service are not directed to anyone under the age of 13. The Site does not knowingly collect or solicit information from anyone under the age of 13, or allow anyone under the age of 13 to sign up for the Service. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us at siburtinstitute@acu.edu.

II. How We Use and Share Information

1. Personal Information

Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise share for marketing purposes your Personal Information with third parties without your consent. We do share Personal Information with vendors who are performing services for the Company, such as the servers for our email communications who are provided access to user’s email address for purposes of sending emails from us. Those vendors use your Personal Information only at our direction and in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We may share Personal Information with other Abilene Christian University personnel.

In general, the Personal Information you provide to us is used to help us communicate with you. For example, we use Personal Information to contact users in response to questions, solicit feedback from users, provide technical support, and inform users about services we provide.

We may share Personal Information with outside parties if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to meet any applicable legal process or enforceable governmental request; to enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations; address fraud, security or technical concerns; or to protect against harm to the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public as required or permitted by law.

2. Non-Personal Information

In general, we use Non-Personal Information to help us improve the Service and customize the user experience. We also aggregate Non-Personal Information in order to track trends and analyze use patterns on the Site. This Privacy Policy does not limit in any way our use or disclosure of Non-Personal Information and we reserve the right to use and disclose such Non-Personal Information to our partners, advertisers and other third parties at our discretion.

In the event we undergo a business transaction such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your Personal Information may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge and consent that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Privacy Policy, and that any acquirer of our assets may continue to process your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If our information practices change at any time in the future, we will post the policy changes to the Site so that you may opt out of the new information practices. We suggest that you check the Site periodically if you are concerned about how your information is used.

3. Third Parties

We use several third parties to collect information, manage databases, manage event registrations, and/or correspond with users. Visit the web pages below to see how each of these parties uses and protects your information.

  • Eventbrite – https://www.eventbrite.com/support/articleredirect?anum=8478

  • Google Analytics, Google Drive, and Gmail – https://policies.google.com

  • iModules through Abilene Christian University – https://alumniassociation.acu.edu/s/1565/16/interior.aspx?sid=1565&gid=1&pgid=230&cid=157

  • Mailchimp – https://mailchimp.com/legal

  • Smartsheet – https://www.smartsheet.com/legal/privacy

  • Zoom – https://zoom.us/privacy

III. How We Protect Information

We implement security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. We further protect your information from potential security breaches by implementing certain technological security measures including encryption, firewalls and secure socket layer technology. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks.

IV. Your Rights Regarding the Use of Your Personal Information

You have the right at any time to prevent us from contacting you for marketing purposes. When we send a promotional communication to a user, you can opt out of further promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each promotional email or by contacting us at siburtinstitute@acu.edu. Please note that notwithstanding the promotional preferences you indicate by unsubscribing, we may continue to send you administrative emails including, for example, periodic updates to our Privacy Policy.

V. Links to Other Websites

As part of the Service, we may provide links to or compatibility with other websites or applications. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those websites or the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site and the Service. Therefore, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of a third party website accessed by selecting a link on our Site or via our Service. To the extent that you access or use the Service through or on another website or application, then the privacy policy of that other website or application will apply to your access or use of that site or application. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of other websites before proceeding to use them.

VI. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time. We may notify you of significant changes to our Privacy Policy by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account or by placing a prominent notice on our site. Significant changes will go into effect 30 days following such notification. Non-material changes or clarifications will take effect immediately. You should periodically check the Site and this privacy page for updates.

VII. Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of this Site, please contact us by sending an email to siburtinstitute@acu.edu.

Last Updated: This Privacy Policy was last updated on June 17, 2021.