LCMS
e-News Distribution System
1 February 2003
ABOUT
US
The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod provides
religious news and information to its professional church workers, congregation
members and the general public from its brick and mortar location. To better
serve our communities, we have created this e-News Distribution System, where
our subscribers can receive news and information via the Internet. This Privacy
Policy discloses the privacy practices for The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod's
e-News Distribution System web site.
THE
LUTHERAN CHURCH---MISSOURI SYNOD'S PRIVACY PHILOSOPHY
The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod is committed to
protecting online privacy and to ensure that subscribers to the LCMS e-News
Distribution System are in control of the information that The Lutheran
Church---Missouri Synod maintains about them. If you transact business with
this system, this Privacy Policy becomes part of our contract with you. Because
we gather certain types of information about subscribers, we want you to
understand the terms and conditions surrounding the collection and use of that
information. This Privacy Policy discloses what information we gather, how we
use it, and how to correct or change it.
INFORMATION
COLLECTION AND USE
The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod collects
information from our e-News Distribution System subscribers in several ways. We
will not share this information with others in ways different from what is
disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Subscriber
Account Set Up
In our online subscriber enrollment forms, we require
you to provide us with certain contact information (such as your full name,
full street address, email address, and telephone number). We use subscriber
information acquired during the account set up process to send e-mail
newsletters on topics you have selected.
In addition, we require a password to access your
subscriber information on the e-News Distribution System web site and we may
require an identifier such as your city of birth, birth date, a password
question with its corresponding answer, or other identifier, so that we may
identify you if you ever lose your password.
Surveys
From time-to-time our site may request additional information from
subscribers via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary
and the subscriber therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose whatever
additional information may be requested. Information requested via surveys may
include additional demographic information.
Log Files
We log your IP
address, browser type and version, and URLs of the web pages you visit on our
site. We use this information to help diagnose problems with our server, to
administer our web site, to track your movement on the web site, and gather
broad demographic information for aggregate use only.
Use of Subscriber Information
Subscriber information
acquired during the account set up process is used to send e-mail newsletters
on topics you have selected. We also may use subscriber information to send you
information and promotional materials about The Lutheran Church---Missouri
Synod and affiliated organizations. We will provide your contact information to
affiliated LCMS organizations so that they may contact you directly to furnish
you information about their products and services. You may opt out of receiving
this information at any time; see Opting Out below. This
information is also used to contact you when necessary, for example, to respond
to your inquiry. Unique identifiers are collected to verify your identity.
OPTING
OUT
Subscribers who do not wish to receive other
informational materials from The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod or its
affiliated organizations, may opt out from receiving these communications by
clicking the applicable check box during the subscriber registration process.
Or, if the subscriber would like to opt out at a later time after setting up
the account, he/she may do so by navigating to the “Edit my Contact
Information” section on the web site. The user may uncheck these so that any
future informational material does not get sent to him/her.
LINKED
SITES
It is important to note that The Lutheran
Church---Missouri Synod's e-News Distribution System web site contains links to
other web sites and that those other web sites may not follow the same privacy
policies. These other web sites may collect data from you that The Lutheran
Church---Missouri Synod would not and may use that data in ways that The
Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod would not.
KIDS
AND PRIVACY
We do not collect
information from or about children.
CHANGES
TO POLICY
If we decide to change our privacy policies and
practices, we will post those changes to our Privacy Policy on our web site in
advance of the changes taking effect, so our subscribers are always aware of
what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if
any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable
information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was
collected, we would notify subscribers. Subscribers will have a choice as to
whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will
continue to be able to use information in accordance with the Privacy Policy
under which the information was collected.
CORRECTION/UPDATING
OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
If your personally identifiable information (such as
your e-mail address) changes, you may log into the e-News Distribution System
web site and modify it in the “My Contact Information” section. If you no
longer desire to use the e-News Distribution System web site, you can request
we deactivate your account by sending us an email. Our contact information can be found in the Contact Us section of
the e-News Distribution System web site. The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod
will comply with all appropriate requests within a reasonable time.
SECURITY
This web site takes precautions to protect our
subscribers’ information. Our safeguards include technical means and policies
and procedures that our staff is trained to follow. As a subscriber you will
select a password, which you should keep confidential, because it is the key to
access to the information held by The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod about
you. If you leave your computer's Internet browser running and someone else
uses your computer, they will be able to access your account, so if your
computer is not physically secure remember to shut down your browser before you
leave it.
We try to reduce the likelihood of accidental
disclosures and unintended access and modification of account information, but
it is impossible to eliminate this possibility completely. When users submit
sensitive information via the website, we attempt to protect your information
both online and off-line. All of our subscribers’ information is restricted in
our offices. ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy
practices. Any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or
reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to
ensure our subscriber’s information is protected.
PROTECTING
YOUR OWN PRIVACY
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily
disclose personal information online - for example on message boards, through
email, or in chat areas - that information can be collected and used by others.
Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your
passwords and/or any account information. Please be careful and responsible
whenever you're on-line.