Privacy Policy

Perkins School for the Blind (“Perkins”) values your privacy. We have created this Privacy Policy to help you understand the privacy practices for Perkins’ website(s) and services, including how and why we collect information on our website(s) and how we protect your privacy in doing so. By interacting with Perkins through our website(s) and services, you consent to the use of information that is collected or submitted as described in this Privacy Policy.

About The Information We Collect

You may choose to provide personal information directly to us in the following manner:

Subscribing to Perkins communications or other Perkins-curated news, services, and products.
Making a donation to Perkins.
Applying to participate in a Perkins program or activity.
Purchasing goods or services.
Submitting an inquiry, question, or request.
Registering to attend or volunteer at Perkins-sponsored events and activities.
Participation in advocacy efforts, network(s), or volunteer opportunities.
Submitting applicant information, such as contact details, employment history, and qualifications, in response to a job application or for admission.
Providing feedback about our services.

The information you provide may include your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, date of birth, and/or credit/debit card number.

Our systems may also collect information automatically about your browser or mobile device. This information may include your IP address, browser type or mobile device information, or geolocation, as well as how our site is being used, the pages visited, and the search terms entered.

If you choose not to provide information, we may not be able to provide you with the requested information or services.

How We Use Your Information

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide information about our programs, goods, services, courses, events, and activities.
To respond to an inquiry, question, or request.
To provide news about Perkins.
To provide communications to Perkins alumni.
To process payment for a donation to Perkins.
To evaluate candidates for employment, or applicants for admission to Perkins or a Perkins program.
To support the work of Perkins.
For other reasons, with your consent.

We may use non-personal data for systems administration and security purposes, as well as to analyze trends, track users’ movements, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use to help us improve the website and deliver customized, personalized content. We may use geographic, demographic, and interest-based reports of our website visitors to create custom audience lists. This data is used in the aggregate and does not contain personally identifiable information. We do not link IP addresses to any personal information.

Sharing Your Information

We occasionally hire third parties to provide limited services on our behalf. We only provide these third parties the information they need to deliver the service and we prohibit them from using that information for any purpose other than providing services for our and our users’ benefit. We do not share, sell, rent, swap, or authorize any third party to use your email address for commercial purposes absent your express permission.

From time to time, we exchange names and postal addresses of Perkins' donors with other related non-profit organizations which aids in our efforts to invite more individuals to support the work of Perkins. We do not share email addresses or phone numbers. If at any time you prefer not to have your name and address shared in this manner, contact the Development Operations Department at supportperkins@perkins.org or 617-972-7328 and we will update your preferences.

Please note that we may use or disclose personal data if we reasonably believe that it is necessary to protect the rights and safety of Perkins or our users, to comply with a judicial or regulatory proceeding or a court order, or as otherwise required by law.

Cookies And Interest-Based Advertising

Cookies may be used to enhance your experience of our site. Cookies are pieces of information that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser and to provide features such as remembering your customized settings for viewing our site and saving your password. You may control how cookies are used through the preferences on your web browser.

Do Not Track

Some browsers have a “do not track” feature that lets you tell websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked.

Information Protection

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information. When we collect or transmit sensitive information, such as a credit or debit card number, we use industry standard methods to protect that information. Credit and debit card information is used solely for the purpose of completing a specific transaction and such information is not retained in our database.

We also protect account information by storing it on a secure portion of our site that is only accessible by authorized individuals. Unfortunately, no website, database, or system is completely secure. While Perkins strives to protect your information, we cannot guarantee security. You are also responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your personal information against unauthorized disclosure or misuse.

Other Websites

Our site may contain links to other websites not managed by Perkins, which we believe our users may find interesting or informative. Perkins is not responsible for the content or accuracy of information on other sites, therefore, including a link to other sites should not be construed as an endorsement by Perkins of that site. If you visit one of these sites, you should review the privacy policy on that site. If you visit our website through a link or a banner advertisement on another site, the site you linked from may collect information about you. Perkins has no control over what information, if any, third-party sites may collect or do with such information. You should refer to the privacy policies on those sites to see how they collect and use this information.

Accessing and Updating Personal Information

In order to keep your personal information accurate and complete, you can access or update your information by contacting privacy@perkins.org with your current contact information and the personal information you would like to access. We will provide you with the personal information requested, if reasonably available, or will describe the types of personal information we typically collect.

European Union Residents

We will process your personal data only (1) with your consent; (2) to perform a contract between you and Perkins; (3) to comply with a legal obligation; (4) where it is necessary to protect someone’s life; (5) to perform a task in the public interest; or (6) where Perkins has a legitimate interest to do so, balancing this interest against your interests and fundamental rights.

If you reside in the EU, you may exercise your Personal Data rights under GDPR by contacting us at privacy@perkins.org. Specifically, you may have the following rights subject to the exceptions allowed by law:

To access your information.
To rectify or update your information.
To erase your information, subject to our need to retain certain information for legal or other purposes.
To receive a copy of your information.
To object to or restrict processing of your information.

Opting-Out Of Communications

If at any time you wish to limit the ways in which Perkins contacts you, you may contact us at privacy@perkins.org.

Details on how to correct, change, or remove subscription information from our email lists are also provided in the text of each email distribution. If you are not currently receiving information from Perkins and would like to, or if you would like to receive additional information, you may update your preferences at the following address: https://www.perkins.org/subscribe

Changes To This Policy

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time without prior notice by posting a revised Privacy Policy. Alternatively, we may provide supplemental privacy notices on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you. Those supplemental notices should be read together with this Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us in the following ways:

Email: privacy@perkins.org

Address: 175 North Beacon Street Watertown, MA 02472

Effective: November 20, 2018
Last Updated: November 20, 2018