Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected through:

• our websites and online platforms;
• auctions, fundraising campaigns, sweepstakes, and promotions;
• purchases, donations, bids, and related transactions;
• customer support and other communications with us; and
• any related services, applications, or digital experiences we make available.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, platforms, or services that we do not own or control, even if they are linked through our services. Those third parties maintain their own privacy practices and policies.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal information.

A. Information You Provide Directly

We may collect information you provide when you create an account, donate, place a bid, complete a purchase, enter a promotion, contact us, or otherwise interact with us, including:

• name;
• email address;
• mailing address;
• billing address;
• telephone number;
• account credentials;
• transaction details;
• donation and campaign participation details;
• communications and support inquiries;
• survey responses;
• preferences and marketing selections; and
• any other information you choose to submit.

You are not required to provide all requested information, but some information may be necessary for us to provide certain services or complete transactions.

B. Information You Make Public

If you post or submit information in public or semi-public areas of our services, that information may be visible to us, charities, partners, other users, and the public. Please avoid posting sensitive personal information in public-facing areas.

C. Transaction and Payment Information

When you make a purchase, donation, or other transaction, we may collect information such as:

• order or transaction details;
• billing and shipping information;
• payment status;
• fulfillment details; and
• records related to campaign, auction, or promotional participation.

Payment card data may be collected and processed by our payment processors. We require our payment processors to handle full card details in accordance with applicable payment security requirements.

D. Automatically Collected Information

When you use our services, we and our service providers may automatically collect information such as:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• operating system;
• device type and identifiers;
• pages viewed and links clicked;
• dates and times of access;
• referring and exit pages;
• usage and diagnostic data;
• approximate location derived from IP address; and
• interactions with our emails, content, or advertising.

E. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may collect information through:

• cookies;
• pixels;
• web beacons;
• tags;
• local storage;
• SDKs; and
• other similar technologies.

These technologies help us operate our services, remember user preferences, analyze usage, personalize content, and support advertising and measurement activities.

F. Information from Third Parties

We may receive personal information from third parties, including:

• charities and nonprofit partners;
• sponsors and promotional partners;
• payment processors;
• shipping and fulfillment providers;
• fraud prevention vendors;
• analytics providers;
• social media platforms;
• advertising and marketing partners; and
• publicly available sources.

G. Sensitive Personal Information

We do not intend to collect sensitive personal information unless needed for a specific business or legal purpose and permitted by applicable law. If we collect sensitive personal information, we will use and disclose it only as reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose and in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• to provide, operate, maintain, and improve our services;
• to create and manage user accounts;
• to process donations, purchases, bids, sweepstakes entries, and other transactions;
• to administer auctions, campaigns, promotions, experiences, and fulfillment;
• to communicate with you about your account, transactions, support requests, or participation in our services;
• to personalize content, recommendations, and user experience;
• to send marketing and promotional communications, where permitted by law;
• to analyze trends, usage, and performance;
• to measure and improve advertising and campaign effectiveness;
• to provide internal reporting and business analysis;
• to detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and unlawful activity;
• to comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, tax, and contractual obligations;
• to enforce our terms, policies, and other legal rights; and
• for other purposes disclosed at the time of collection or with your consent.
  

Where required by applicable law, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases for processing personal information:

• Contract performance: to provide requested services, process transactions, manage accounts, and fulfill obligations.
• Consent: where you have given consent for a specific processing activity.
• Legitimate interests: to operate, secure, improve, and market our business and services, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligations: to comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal process, and enforcement obligations.
• Vital interests or public interest: where permitted and applicable under law.

If processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to applicable legal or contractual limits

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances.

A. Service Providers and Vendors

We may disclose personal information to service providers that perform services on our behalf, such as:

• technology services;
• hosting and cloud providers;
• payment processors;
• fraud prevention providers;
• customer support providers;
• shipping and fulfillment vendors;
• email and communications vendors;
• analytics providers;
• security vendors; and
• professional advisors.

These parties may access personal information only as needed to perform services for us or as otherwise permitted by law.

B. Charities and Nonprofit Partners

If you donate to or otherwise support a charity through our services, we may disclose relevant information to that charity or nonprofit partner for purposes such as:

• donation acknowledgment;
• campaign administration;
• legal or tax compliance;
• fulfillment; and
• relationship management.

C. Sponsors, Partners, and Experience Providers

We may disclose information to campaign sponsors, promotional partners, talent representatives, experience providers, and other parties involved in administering campaigns, auctions, experiences, sweepstakes, and promotions.

D. Marketing and Advertising Partners

We may disclose information to advertising, marketing, and measurement partners to support promotion, audience development, campaign reporting, and ad performance analysis. Depending on applicable law, some of these disclosures may be treated as targeted advertising, sharing, or a sale of personal information.

E. Legal, Safety, and Compliance Purposes

We may disclose personal information when reasonably necessary to:

• comply with applicable law, legal process, or government requests;
• protect our rights, property, and security;
• protect users, charities, partners, or the public;
• investigate or prevent fraud or unlawful activity; or
• enforce our agreements and policies.

F. Business Transactions

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, bankruptcy, or sale of all or part of our business or assets, personal information may be disclosed or transferred as part of that transaction. In such event, we will require that the recipient use personal information consistent with this Privacy Policy or provide you with notice of any material changes.

G. With Your Consent or Direction

We may disclose personal information with your consent or at your direction.

A. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We and our partners may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• keep our services functioning properly;
• remember user preferences;
• maintain session information;
• improve performance and usability;
• understand user interactions;
• personalize content; and
• support advertising and campaign measurement.

B. Analytics

We may use analytics tools, including Google Analytics or similar services, to understand how users interact with our websites and services. These tools may collect information about device characteristics, browsing activity, approximate location, and interactions with our digital content.

C. Interest-Based and Targeted Advertising

We and our advertising partners may use cookies, pixels, and related technologies to:

• deliver ads that may be more relevant to your interests;
• understand how users respond to advertisements;
• measure campaign performance; and
• recognize users or devices across websites, applications, or services.

Under some privacy laws, these activities may be considered targeted advertising, cross-context behavioral advertising, sharing, or a sale of personal information.

D. Your Choices

You may have the ability to manage cookies and similar technologies through:

• browser settings;
• cookie consent tools;
• privacy preference centers;
• legally recognized opt-out preference signals; or
• direct requests to us.

If you disable certain cookies or tracking tools, some features of our services may not function as intended.

E. Do Not Track and Opt-Out Signals

Some browsers transmit Do Not Track signals. Because there is no uniform standard for interpreting such signals, we do not currently respond to browser-based Do Not Track requests.

Where required by applicable law, we will honor recognized opt-out preference signals, such as Global Privacy Control, for the browser or device transmitting the signal.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have certain privacy rights.

A. U.S. State Privacy Rights

Residents of certain U.S. states may have rights to:

• confirm whether we process personal information about them;
• access personal information;
• obtain a portable copy of personal information;
• correct inaccurate personal information;
• delete personal information;
• opt out of targeted advertising;
• opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information;
• opt out of certain profiling or automated decision-making, where applicable; and
• appeal our decision on a privacy request, where required by law.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights, except as permitted by law.

B. EEA, UK, and Swiss Privacy Rights

Individuals in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland may have rights to:

• access personal information;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information;
• request deletion;
• restrict certain processing;
• object to certain processing, including direct marketing;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• receive a portable copy of certain information; and
• lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

C. How to Exercise Rights

You may submit privacy requests using the contact details listed in the Contact Information section below. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request, and authorized agents may submit requests where permitted by law.

Charitybuzz and Prizeo operate from the United States. If you access our services from outside the United States, your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States or other countries that may not provide the same level of legal protection as your home jurisdiction.

Where required by law, we will use appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, contractual protections, or other recognized transfer mechanisms approved by applicable authorities.

Our services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If a higher minimum age applies in your jurisdiction, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children below that age without the required consent.

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child in violation of applicable law, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us.

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information appropriate to the nature of the information and the risks involved. These safeguards may include:

• access restrictions;
• encryption or secure transmission measures;
• system monitoring;
• vendor oversight;
• internal controls; and
• workforce training.

No method of data transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for any activity that occurs under your account.

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to:

• provide services;
• complete transactions;
• maintain business records;
• comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
• resolve disputes;
• enforce agreements; and
• detect and prevent fraud or misuse.

When personal information is no longer required, we will delete, de-identify, aggregate, or otherwise handle it in accordance with our retention practices and applicable law.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, legal obligations, or operational needs.

If we make material changes, we will provide notice as required by law, which may include:

• posting an updated Privacy Policy;
• updating the effective date;
• sending an email notice; or
• providing another appropriate notice through our services.

Your continued use of our services after the effective date of an updated Privacy Policy constitutes your acknowledgment of and agreement to the updated practices, except where additional consent or notice is required by applicable law.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to exercise privacy rights, please contact us: Charitybuzz LLC, 437 Fifth Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Email: cs@charitybuzz.com