Atlantic Beach

Sea Turtle Project

Privacy policy:

At Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Project, Inc. (ABSTP), the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by ABSTP and how it is used. This statement only applies to this Website. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information of any kind that we collect by means (including offline means) or from sources other than those specified herein. If you choose to use the Website, your use is hereby deemed acceptance of ABSTP’s practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect and How it is Used

Information we collect

  • Communication Information You Voluntarily Submit to the Website: The Website may collect personal information from you such as your name or email address. For example, you may voluntarily submit information to the Website by submitting a contact form.  Personal Data may include, but is not limited to, your name, email address and phone number. Our legal basis for processing this is our legitimate interests which in this case are to reply to communications sent to us, to keep records, and to establish, pursue, or defend legal claims. By voluntarily providing us with Personal Data, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you provide Personal Data to us, you acknowledge and agree that such Personal Data may be transferred and stored from your current location to the offices and servers of ABSTP and the authorized third parties referenced below.
  • Information You Voluntarily Submit to the Website Relating to Purchases of Goods and/or Services: The Website may collect personal information from you such as your name, title, billing address, delivery address email address, phone number, contact details, and purchase details. We process this data to supply the goods and/or services you have purchased and to keep records of such transactions. 
  • Information We Collect from Others: The Website may receive information about you from other sources. For example, if you use a third-party software through the Website, they may transfer information to us for fulfillment. We do not control the data privacy or protection policies of third parties, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties.
  • Automatically-Collected User and/or Technical Information: The Website automatically collects certain information about you and the device with which you access the Website. For example, when you use the Website, the Website will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the Website. The Website may also collect information about actions you take when using the Website, such as links clicked. We process this data to operate our website and ensure relevant content is provided to you, to ensure the security of our website, to maintain backups of our website and/or databases and to enable publication and administration of our website, other online services and business. 
  • Marketing Information: The Website automatically collects data about your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences. We process this data to enable you to partake in our promotions such as competitions, prize draws and free giveaways, to deliver relevant website content and marketing to you, and to measure or understand the effectiveness of this marketing. We may also use such data to send other marketing communications to you. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interests which in this case are to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business and to decide our marketing strategy.
  • Cookies: The Website may log information using cookies, which are small data files stored on your browser by the Website. The Website may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalized experience on the Website. In addition to Cookies, the Website may use web beacons.  Web beacons allow us to count the number of users who have visited or accessed the Website and to recognize users by accessing our cookies. We may employ web beacons to facilitate Website administration and navigation, to track the actions of users of the Website, to compile aggregate statistics about Website usage and response rates, and to provide an enhanced online experience for visitors to the Website. If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser’s respective websites. 
  • Web Beacons: We may also include web beacons in HTML-formatted e-mail messages that we send to determine which e-mail messages were opened. A web beacon is often invisible because it is only 1 x 1 pixel in size with no color.  A web beacon can also be known as a web bug, 1 by 1 GIF, invisible GIF, and tracker GIF. 

How your information may be used

The Website may use the information collected in the following ways:

  • To operate and maintain the Website;
  • To fulfill orders or to oversee contests or promotions;
  • To send you promotional information, such as newsletters. Each email promotion will provide information on how to opt-out of future mailings;
  • To send you administrative communications, such as administrative emails, confirmation emails, technical notices, updates on policies, or security alerts;
  • To respond to your comments or inquiries;
  • To provide you with user support;
  • Training and quality control;
  • To track and measure promotions on the Website; or,
  • To protect, investigate, and deter against unauthorized or illegal activity

Where Your Personal Data Is Held

Personal Data may be held at our offices and those of our affiliates, parent or related companies, third party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described below (see below: “Third Party Use of Personal Information”).

Third-Party Use of Personal Information

ABSTP may share your Personal Data with certain third parties as set forth below:

Third Parties with Permission: We may share your information with third parties to whom you ask us to send your information.

Agents, Consultants, and Related Third Parties: ABSTP, like many businesses, sometimes hires other companies to perform certain business-related functions. Examples of such functions include mailing information, maintaining databases and processing payments. When we employ another entity to perform a function of this nature, we only provide them with the information that they need to perform their specific function.

Legal Requirements: ABSTP may disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation or to respond to requests from law enforcement or other government officials relating to investigations or alleged illegal activity or in connection with our own investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity, in which case we may (and you hereby authorize us to) disclose information without subpoenas or warrants served on us, (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of ABSTP, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Website or the public, (iv) protect against legal liability including to resolve disputes, investigate problems, or enforce our customer contracts.

Third Party Vendors: We may share your information with third party vendors or service providers who help us provide our products or services or the Website, including database hosting and data processing services, and assist us in responding to requests by you for information that you request. The Website may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorize us to share your information. Additionally, the Website may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of the Website. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policies. The Website currently uses the following third-parties (this list may be amended from time to time in the Website’s sole discretion):

  • PayPal (for payment processing)
  • Google (for data storage and analytics)
  • Amazon (for our wish list)
  • Wordfence (for website security)
  • Kelley Media, Ltd. (for website maintenance and security)
  • Dropbox (for data storage)

Except when required by law, ABSTP will not sell, distribute, or reveal your email addresses or other personal information without your consent; however, ABSTP may disclose or transfer personal information collected through the Website to third parties who acquire all or a portion of our business, which may be the result of a merger, consolidation, assignment, transfer of ownership, or purchase of all or a portion of our assets, or in connection with any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding brought by or against us.

Anonymous Data

From time to time, ABSTP may use anonymous data, which does not identify you alone, or when combined with data from other parties. This type of anonymous data may be provided to other parties for marketing or other uses. Examples of this anonymous data may include analytics or information collected from cookies.

California Residents

California Residents:  Pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2019 (“CCPA”), you have certain rights with respect to your personal information.  For the purposes of this section, personal information is used as defined in the CCPA.  ABSTP reserves the right to verify all requests made pursuant to the CCPA.

Access and Disclosure

You may make a verifiable request that we disclose the categories of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources of the personal information we collected about you, the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the personal information, the categories of third parties with whom we share your personal information, our use of the personal information and if the personal information was disclosed or sold to third parties, including the categories of personal information sold or disclosed.  You also have the right to make a verifiable request for a copy of the personal information collected about you for the twelve (12) months prior to the date of your request.   To see any categories of personal information we have sold in the last twelve (12) months or opt out of the sale or disclosure of personal information, please refer to the Do Not Sell My Personal Information Page. Please note that we are not required to:

  • Retain any personal information about you that was collected for a single one-time transaction if, in the ordinary course of business, that information about you is not retained;
  • Reidentify or otherwise link any data that, in the ordinary course of business, is not maintained in a manner that would be considered personal information.

Deletion Request Rights
You have the right to request that ABSTP delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions.  We may deny your deletion request if retaining the personal information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:

  1. Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
  2. Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
  3. Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
  4. Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
  5. Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.).
  6. Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
  7. Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
  8. Comply with a legal obligation.
  9. Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

Children Under 16
We do not sell the personal information of consumers we actually know are less than 16 years of age, unless we receive affirmative authorization (the “right to opt-in”) from either the consumer who is between 13 and 16 years of age, or the parent or guardian of a consumer less than 13 years of age.

No Discrimination
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.  Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

  • Deny you goods or services.
  • Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
  • Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
  • Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Exercising Your Rights
To exercise the access, disclosure and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable request to us by emailing abstp@abseaturtle.org, Attn: CCPA.

You may only make a verifiable request for access or disclosure twice within a 12-month period.  You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child. The verifiable consumer request must:

  • Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
  • Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

To respond to your request or provide you with personal information, ABSTP must verify your identity or your authority to make the request.  We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.  For instructions on exercising sale opt-out rights, please refer to the Do Not Sell My Personal Information Page.

Once you make an opt-out request, we will wait at least twelve (12) months before asking you to reauthorize personal information sales.  However, you may change your mind and opt back in to personal information sales at any time by e-mailing us at abstp@abseaturtle.org. Consumers who opt-in to personal information sales may opt-out of future sales at any time.

Timing
We will respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt.  If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.  We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the twelve (12) month period preceding the verifiable request’s receipt.  The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.

Sensitive Information

At no time should you submit sensitive personal information to the Website. This includes your social security number, information regarding race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health information, criminal background, or trade union memberships. If you elect to submit such information to us, it will be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Children’s Information

The Website does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16. If a parent or guardian believes that the Website has personally identifiable information obtained from a child under the age of 16 in its database, please contact us immediately at abstp@abseaturtle.org and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

Arbitration

This Privacy Policy will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina . Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to the Privacy Policy, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The place of any such arbitration shall be in or near Carteret County, North Carolina. The parties also agree that the AAA Optional Rules for Emergency Measures of Protection shall apply to the proceedings.

Links to Other Websites

This Privacy Policy applies only to the Website. The Website may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by ABSTP (the “Third-Party Sites”). The policies and procedures described here do not apply to the Third-Party Sites. The links from the Website do not imply that ABSTP endorses or has reviewed the Third-Party Sites. We suggest contacting those sites directly for information on their privacy policies.

Other Terms and Conditions

Your access to and use of the Website may also be subject to any separate agreements or terms and conditions you have signed or agreed to with ABSTP.  Please refer to those agreements as needed.

Regardless of any other provision in this Privacy Policy, we reserve the right to disclose any personally identifiable or non-personally identifiable information about you to: (a) fulfill a government request; (b) conform with the requirements of the law or legal process; (c) protect or defend our legal rights or property, our Website, or other users; or (d) protect, in an emergency, the health and safety of our customers or the general public. This includes exchanging information with third parties and organizations in connection with credit risk reduction and fraud protection.

Changes to ABSTP’s Privacy Policy
The Website may change from time to time. As a result, at times it may be necessary for ABSTP to make changes to this Privacy Policy. ABSTP reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. Please review this policy periodically, and especially before you provide any Personal Data. Your continued use of the Website after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.

Contact Information
At any time, please contact us at abstp@abseaturtle.org for questions related to this Privacy Policy.

Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Project, Inc.
PO Box 3337
Atlantic Beach, NC 28512-3337

Privacy Policy updated June 26, 2024.