Shomer Collective Privacy Policy

Last Updated: [January 28, 2025].

This policy (the “Privacy Policy”) applies to the websites of Shomer Collective (“we,” “us,” or “our”), located at https://www.shomercollective.org/, https://www.shivacircle.org, and https://sit.shivacircle.org (collectively, the “Sites”). The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to explain to you how and when we collect, use, and disclose your information when you visit the Sites. We ask for all of our visitors to read it in its entirety as it contains important descriptions regarding how we use and handle your personal information. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through our Sites and not to information that we collect offline.

By accessing the Sites, you signify to us that you have read, understand, and agree to all of the terms of the Privacy Policy. Please do not use the Sites or submit information to us either through the Sites or other avenues if you do not agree to the terms on our Sites. This Privacy Policy is to be read in connection with any other policies and terms of service posted on our Sites. You do not have a right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy or any other policies or terms of service on our Sites. Our interpretation and application of the terms of this Privacy Policy and any other policies and terms of service posted on our Sites shall be final.   

This Privacy Policy will tell you:

ï What information we collect from and about you on the Sites;

ï How and why we collect it; 

ï Why and with whom we share it; and 

ï What options you have with respect to our use of it.

WHAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY COVERS

This Privacy Policy covers personal information you provide to us when you visit the Sites and personal information and other data collected automatically about you when you visit the Sites.

The term “personal information” as used in this Privacy Policy refers to information concerning an individual, which, because of name, number, personal mark, or other identifying information, can be used to identify such individual. It may also include your email address, birth date, postal address, financial information, phone number, and other identifying information as well as your location, IP address, device ID, and certain cookie and network identifiers, which are discussed further below.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that you provide to third parties through their applications or websites, including, but not limited to, your social media accounts and other websites you can access from links posted on the Sites. These third parties likely have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read before you provide information to them. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of these third parties.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

We (and the third-party service providers and other parties we use to perform services on our behalf, including, for example, payment processors, donation processors, email servicing providers, administration software providers, event management providers, web analytics partners, and search engine optimization and marketing partners) may collect, use, store, and transfer different categories of personal information about you depending on the nature of your interactions with us. We have grouped that information together as follows:

  • Program Registration and Mailing List.  When you register to attend one of our programs or to join our mailing list, we collect your:

    • Name (first and last), email address, phone number, city, state/province, country, program attendance, and any additional information you may elect to share with us.

  • Convening Registration. When you register to attend our Convening, we collect your:

    • Name (first and last), email address, city, state/province, country, professional title, role, and organization. 

  • Convening Directory.  The Convening-wide directory is intended for use by other attendees/registrants of the Convening.  When you sign up to be listed in our directory, we collect your:

    • Name (first and last), email address, city, state/province, country, role, and organization to share with other professionals. [There is an option to opt out of receiving emails when registering for the Convening Directory.]

  • Shomer Collective Newsletter.  When you sign up to receive our general newsletter, we collect your:

    • Name (first and last) and email address. You may also choose to provide us with the city, state/province, and country in which you are located. 

 

  • Jewish End-of-Life Doula Directory. The Directory for Jewish EOL Doulas is intended for public use, both by other doulas seeking networking opportunities and for clients searching for a doula in their area.  When you sign up to be listed in our directory, we collect the following information through the directory portal submission form on our Sites:  

    • Name (first and last), honorifics (which may reveal your status as a religious leader), email address, website, email address, and the city, state/province, and country in which you are located.

    • This information is shared publicly through the directory once approved by us. Please do not include any personal information in the notes section of the submission form if you do not want it to appear publicly. 

  • Requests for Help.  When you request assistance via our web forms, we collect your:

    • Name (first and last), email address, honorifics (which may reveal your status as a religious leader), and the subject matter/description of your request. 

  • Donor Information. We collect the following types of information in connection with donations: 

    • Donor name, email address, amount donated, and physical address. You may also choose to provide us with the name and address of a donation honoree. 

    • We accept donations through a third-party payment portal. In such cases, we and our third-party service providers use third-party services for payment card processing (i.e., payment processors). That information is provided directly to third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information (including payment card information) is governed by their own privacy policies. Please note that payment card information is not covered under this Privacy Policy.

  • Volunteer Shiva Guides. We collect the following types of information from individuals who sign up to volunteer as a Shiva Guide: 

    • Name (first and last), email address, phone number, city, state, zip code, and any additional information you may elect to share with us (e.g., pronouns, references’ names, contact information, Jewish identity, affiliations, availability). 

  • Mourners (e.g., the people sitting Shiva). We collect the following types of information from individuals sitting Shiva:

    • Name (first and last), email address, phone number, zip code, details about the Shiva (e.g., dates, times, and address of Shiva), and any additional information you may elect to share with us (e.g., pronouns, dietary preferences, Shiva schedule, clergy information, type of assistance needed). 

  • Shiva Attendees. We collect the following types of information from individuals who sign up to attend a Shiva:

    • Name (first and last), email address, zip code, how you heard about Shomer Collective, and any additional information you may elect to share with us (e.g., pronouns, phone number, connection to the Mourner). 

  • Information About the Deceased. We collect the following types of information about deceased individuals who are being mourned at a Shiva:

    • Name (first and last), date of death, time of death, Hebrew name, date of burial (if known), relationship to the Mourner(s), and any additional information shared with us. 


INFORMATION COLLECTED USING TECHNOLOGY

We want you to be aware that when you use the Sites, information is automatically collected about you and your online activities, including through the use of Google Analytics and Squarespace Analytics on our Sites. Cookies, web beacons, log files, and tags placed on your computer when your web browser accesses the Sites enable us to recognize you, record how you and other visitors use the Sites, and track statistics about usage of the Sites. The data collected using cookies and similar technologies include:

ï Identification – date and time of each visit to the Sites, and history of visits;

ï Device – your IP address, internet domain name, browser type, operating system, and mobile network;

ï Usage – referring site of application, text, and video content viewed on the Sites and time spent viewing each file, website, or search terms or web pages that referred you to the Sites, number and duration of visits and history of the Sites pages viewed, and other internet activities; and

ï Location – your general geographic location can be determined by your IP address, and a more specific location is available if you access our Sites using a mobile device unless you have set your mobile device to block location tracking. 

We may obtain demographic information about you (such as age, sex, location, employment) from Google Analytics when you access our Sites while signed into a Google account. We do not have control over the policies, practices, and procedures of Google Analytics. 

Note that Google Analytics represents that it processes data for website usage and other analytics purposes using third-party cookies without revealing any personal information that identifies you individually. Please note, however, that the information collected by Google Analytics has been deemed to be considered “personal information” under certain laws. 

To learn more about how Google Analytics and Squarespace Analytics collect and process data from websites, including for advertising and data analytics purposes, please visit https://policies.google.com/privacy, https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, and https://www.squarespace.com/privacy. 


Restricting the Use of Information Collected Using Technology

You can influence how these technologies are used to track and log your online activities in several ways:

  • Managing the preference settings on your browser and device to limit or disable cookies. Options you select and choices you make are browser, website, and device specific. If you clear your cookies or your browser’s cache, you will need to set your preferences again. For more information about cookies generally, you may visit All About Cookies;

ï Communicating directly with Google as explained at: https://policies.google.com/privacy;

ï Visiting www.aboutads.info/choices to learn more about personalized advertising and how to opt-out of personalized advertising on your web browser and mobile apps by companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance. You can also opt-out via the Network Advertising Initiative by visiting www.networkadvertising.org/; and

ï If you restrict the use of cookies and other technologies, any pop-up form functionality on the Sites may not be accessible to you. If you chose to restrict personalized advertising, you will still receive ads, but they will not be personalized.

PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use the above-referenced categories of personal information for the following purposes:

To provide our services. We may use the personal information you provide to manage and track program registration and attendance. 

To communicate. We may use the personal information you provide to communicate with registrants about specific programs.  

To respond to your inquiries. We may use the personal information you provide to contact you in response to inquiries you have made to Shomer Collective, including in response to messages sent through our “Need Help Now?” page.

For marketing purposes. We may use your personal information to send you e-mails, e-newsletters, or other communications about our events and services. For information about how to stop these messages, see “Opt-Out Procedures.”

To process donations. We may use the personal information you provide to process and track donations made to Shomer Collective. We may also screen the information you provide for potential risks, including, but not limited to, fraud.

To test, develop, analyze, and improve the Sites and our services. We may use your information to analyze and improve the Sites, including by identifying your usage of the Sites (including the number of visits and IP address logging). We may de-identify the personal information you provide, which means removing personally identifiable information (for example, name, date of birth, phone number), to use or share for statistical or analytical purposes. 

For security, safety, compliance, and due diligence purposes. We may use your personal information to respond to governmental inquiries or requests to disclose specific information that we believe to be lawful, responding to a court order, when required by law for other purposes, to block and control against disruptive use of the Sites, to enforce our Sites policies, or to protect our or others’ rights, property, or safety. We may share your personal information with service providers assisting us in fraud protection or investigation. We may also share your personal information in connection with undertaking or preparing for a business transaction, such as a fundraiser or for other donation purposes, or any sale, merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Shomer Collective and its assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or any other similar proceeding.

We may also combine the information you provide to us on the Site with other information, whether online or offline, including information collected from third parties, and may use and disclose such combined information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE MAY SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Shiva Guides and Hosts. When you register to attend a Shiva, we may share your information with our trusted Shiva Guides who assist in coordinating and preparing the arrangements. This sharing is limited to the information necessary to provide meaningful support and assistance to the Mourners during this difficult time. Shiva hosts receive attendees’ names and email addresses so that they can communicate with attendees about the details of a Shiva call for which the attendees have RSVP’d. 

Program Partners. When we host a program with a partner organization, we may share your information with (or receive your information from) that partner. A representative list of our partner organizations can be found here.  If a program is hosted in partnership with an outside organization, it will be explicitly written in the program description. This does not include guest speakers. 

Service Providers. The personal information you give us and information about you collected from the Sites may be combined with other personal information available from our records and other sources. We share information with our service providers (including, but not limited to, payment processors, donation processors, email servicing providers, administration software providers, event management providers, web analytics partners, and search engine optimization and marketing partners) who perform administrative and technology functions on our behalf.



HOW LONG DO WE KEEP PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We retain personal information for as long as we reasonably require it for legal or business purposes. At any time, we will honor your request to unsubscribe from our email communications by your clicking on the link at the end of each email message or by contacting us as provided in the section “How to Contact Us” below.

HOW DO WE PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We use commercially reasonable organizational, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of your personal information and seek to meet the standards of this Privacy Policy. Still, the Internet is not totally secure, and we cannot guarantee or promise that your use of the Sites or the services will be completely safe. We cannot and do not guarantee the security of your personal information from unauthorized use or alteration. You should be mindful that there is risk of disclosure inherent in the electronic communication and storage of information (including without limitation from unauthorized entry or use, telecommunication issues, hardware or software failure, and other factors).

DO NOT TRACK

Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. The Sites does not currently respond to “do not track” requests or similar browser settings.

YOUR CHOICES

Opt-Out Procedures. You can opt-out from receiving our newsletter and any other commercial email communications from Shomer Collective by:

  1. Following the “unsubscribe” instructions located near the bottom of any email; or

  2. Emailing us at hello@shomercollective.org.

Program Registration. Participation in programs hosted with partner organizations is optional, and registration information may only be shared with explicit consent.

LINKS TO AND FROM OTHER WEBSITES

You may gain access to other websites via links on the Sites. The Sites may display content from third parties or partners that link to third-party websites that we do not own or operate. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the privacy practices of those website applications or services, which may collect information from you. We provide links to these third-party sites as a convenience to you. They are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked services. The linked services are subject to their separate and independent privacy statements, notices, and terms. We do not monitor third-party sites. You are responsible to read those statements, notices, and terms carefully.

INTERNATIONAL VISITORS 

The Sites are intended for use by individuals in the United States, although we do not block legitimate access and registration from other jurisdictions such as Canada. Shomer Collective is based in and operates in New York, New York. Our servers are located in the United States. This means that if you reside or are located in a country outside of the United States, personal information that you transfer to us through use of the Sites or your other communications with us will be transferred to, stored, or processed in the United States.

 

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

From time to time we may change, modify, add, or remove portions of this Privacy Policy. We will post an updated copy of our Privacy Policy on the Sites, and any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective ten (10) calendar days after they have been posted on the Sites. We encourage you to periodically check our Sites for updates. We will notify you of any material changes to our Privacy Policy to the extent required by law (including by email if you are on our email contact list). 

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions or requests, you can contact us:


By email: hello@shomercollective.org
By letter to: 33 W 60th St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10023 

By phone: 646-363-6437

We may need to confirm your identity in order to respond to some requests.