Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

ISMS may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide, including:

• Name;
• Mailing or physical address;
• Email address;
• Telephone or mobile number;
• Membership information;
• Volunteer information;
• Donation and donor information;
• Landowner and property information submitted in connection with a request for assistance;
• Photographs, wildlife observations, or field information voluntarily provided to ISMS;
• Communications, inquiries, applications, or other information you choose to submit.

The Site may also automatically receive limited technical information ordinarily transmitted by a browser, device, hosting provider, or website-security service, such as IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, pages visited, and general usage information.

ISMS does not request that users provide Social Security numbers, financial-account passwords, medical information, or other highly sensitive personal information through general website forms.

2. How We Use Information

ISMS may use information collected through the Site to:

• Respond to inquiries and requests for assistance;
• Evaluate potential landowner projects;
• Communicate with landowners concerning invasive-species concerns;
• Administer memberships and volunteer participation;
• Process donations and maintain donor records;
• Provide donor acknowledgments and contribution receipts;
• Communicate information concerning ISMS programs, activities, conservation initiatives, research, events, and organizational developments;
• Coordinate authorized field activities;
• Maintain appropriate organizational, charitable, financial, and tax records;
• Improve the operation, usefulness, and security of the Site;
• Protect ISMS, its personnel, its systems, landowners, and others;
• Comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements; and
• Further the charitable and conservation purposes of ISMS.

ISMS seeks to collect only information reasonably appropriate to legitimate organizational purposes.

3. Donor, Member, Landowner, and Supporter Privacy

ISMS does not sell, rent, trade, or commercially distribute personal information concerning its donors, members, landowners, volunteers, or supporters.

Personal information will not be provided to third parties for their independent marketing or advertising purposes.

ISMS recognizes that information supplied by landowners may concern private property, invasive-species activity, wildlife populations, trapping or management operations, access conditions, or other matters that reasonably warrant confidentiality.

ISMS will handle such information responsibly and disclose it only when reasonably necessary to perform an authorized activity, administer an ISMS program, comply with law, protect persons or property, or when authorized by the individual providing the information.

4. Landowner Information and Property Security

A Landowner Assistance Request submitted through the Site is intended to allow ISMS to evaluate a request and communicate with the landowner or authorized representative.

Submission of such a request does not constitute permission for ISMS or any other person to enter the property or commence field activities.

Authorization for property access or operational activities may be addressed separately through an ISMS Landowner Access & Activity Waiver or other written authorization.

Landowners should not submit gate combinations, alarm codes, keys, security credentials, or similar sensitive property-access information through a general public inquiry form unless ISMS expressly provides a secure method for doing so.

5. Donations and Payment Information

Online donations or payments may be processed through an independent third-party payment processor.

ISMS does not intend to store complete credit-card or debit-card numbers on its own website systems. Payment processors may collect and process financial information pursuant to their own privacy and security practices.

ISMS may retain information reasonably necessary to document a contribution, including donor name, contact information, donation amount, date of contribution, donation designation or restriction if applicable, transaction reference information, donor acknowledgment or receipt information, and other records reasonably necessary for accounting, charitable, or tax purposes.

Where appropriate, ISMS intends for electronic donations to generate an acknowledgment or receipt automatically.

6. Email and SMS Communications

ISMS may communicate by email with individuals who contact the organization, become members, make donations, volunteer, submit landowner requests, or otherwise request or authorize communications.

ISMS may also offer individuals the option to receive communications by text message or SMS.

ISMS will not use a mobile telephone number for recurring promotional or informational text messaging unless appropriate consent has been provided.

Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of making a donation, becoming a member, requesting landowner assistance, or receiving services otherwise available from ISMS.

Individuals receiving text messages from ISMS will be provided a reasonable method to discontinue those messages.

Mobile telephone information and SMS consent information will not be sold or provided to third parties for their independent marketing or promotional purposes.

Additional consent language may be presented at the point where an individual chooses to receive SMS communications.

7. Service Providers and Limited Disclosure

ISMS may provide limited information to responsible third-party service providers performing functions on behalf of the organization, including website hosting, email delivery, SMS delivery, payment processing, donor-management services, database administration, accounting, information technology, data security, professional advisory services, and other services reasonably necessary to ISMS operations.

Information disclosed to a service provider should be limited to what is reasonably necessary to perform the applicable function.

ISMS may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law; respond to a subpoena, court order, or lawful governmental request; protect the rights, property, safety, or security of ISMS or others; investigate suspected fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, or unlawful activity; or protect the integrity and security of ISMS operations or information systems.

8. Cookies and Website Technology

The Site may use cookies or comparable technologies reasonably necessary for functionality, security, website performance, fraud prevention, or measurement of general website usage.

ISMS does not use information collected through the Site for the sale of personal information or for third-party behavioral advertising.

9. Information Security

ISMS uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures intended to protect personal information from unauthorized access, misuse, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Access to sensitive organizational information should be limited to persons who reasonably require it to perform legitimate ISMS functions.

No website, electronic communication, database, or information-storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, ISMS cannot warrant absolute security.

10. Children’s Privacy

The ISMS website is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed toward children under 13 years of age.

ISMS does not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 without appropriate parental or legal authorization.

If ISMS becomes aware that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected inadvertently, ISMS will take reasonable steps to delete or otherwise appropriately address that information.

11. Data Retention

ISMS retains personal information only for so long as reasonably necessary to fulfill legitimate organizational purposes, satisfy legal, charitable, accounting, tax, operational, historical, or security requirements, and protect the interests of ISMS and those it serves.

Different categories of records may appropriately be retained for different periods.

ISMS maintains an internal Data Retention and Destruction Policy governing organizational records.

Information that is no longer reasonably required may be securely deleted, destroyed, anonymized, de-identified, or archived in accordance with ISMS recordkeeping practices.

12. Individual Requests and Communication Preferences

Individuals may contact ISMS to request that we correct inaccurate contact information, update communication preferences, discontinue nonessential email communications, discontinue SMS communications, review a reasonable inquiry concerning information previously provided to ISMS, or request deletion of information when retention is not otherwise reasonably necessary.

ISMS may retain records where necessary for legal, tax, financial, charitable, operational, security, historical, or contractual purposes notwithstanding a deletion request.

13. Photographs, Wildlife Data, Field Data, and Location Information

Photographs, wildlife observations, field records, maps, geographic information, property descriptions, or similar information submitted to or generated by ISMS may contain sensitive information concerning private property or wildlife locations.

ISMS may retain and use field information for legitimate conservation, research, training, scientific, statistical, grant, program-evaluation, and educational purposes.

Where reasonably practicable, long-term research or conservation data will be separated from personally identifying information, gate or security credentials, and other unnecessary private-property information.

De-identified, anonymized, aggregated, or otherwise appropriately protected conservation and scientific information may be retained for long-term research and organizational purposes.

ISMS will endeavor to use reasonable judgment before publicly identifying a private landowner, private property, precise wildlife location, trapping or management location, sensitive habitat, or other information whose disclosure could create an unreasonable privacy, conservation, safety, or property-security concern.

14. Third-Party Websites

The Site may contain links to governmental agencies, universities, conservation organizations, research institutions, service providers, social-media platforms, or other third-party websites.

ISMS does not control the privacy, security, accuracy, availability, or practices of third-party websites.

15. Organizational Changes

If ISMS restructures, creates chapters or divisions, transfers programs, combines operations with another qualifying nonprofit organization, or otherwise changes its organizational structure, relevant records may be transferred where reasonably necessary to continue the applicable charitable purpose, subject to appropriate legal and privacy considerations.

Personal information will not be transferred merely for unrelated commercial marketing purposes.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

ISMS may revise this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in its programs, website, technology, organizational practices, or applicable law.

The current version will be posted on the Site with its effective or revision date.

17. Contact Information

Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy may be directed to:

Invasive Species Management Services (ISMS)

Founding Chapter: Texas

Website: ISMSTX.org

Email: prockwood@ismstx.org

ISMS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Protecting Our Land. Restoring Our Future.