Privacy Policy


This privacy policy is to inform visitors (“you”) to the website (the “Site”) of MASS Design Group (“MASS” or “us”)  regarding our policies with respect to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information collected by us in connection with use of the Site. MASS Design Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve lives through architecture. MASS respects the privacy of every individual and has taken precautions to create a Site and processes that maintain individual privacy. We will take reasonable steps to protect user privacy consistent with the guidelines set forth in this policy and with applicable U.S. state and federal laws.  

If you choose to access or use our Site, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation with this policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, do not access or use the Site.

The personal information that we collect is used and stored to keep you informed of our work, to provide our services, and to analyze and enhance the operation of our Site and services. We may also use your personal information for operational and administrative purposes. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy

Information Collection and Use

Information You Provide to Us

For a better experience while using our website, we may request that you provide us with certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to your name, phone number, and email address. The information that we collect will be used to contact or identify you.

We collect donors' names and postal addresses to comply with the legal requirements for 501(c)3 organizations.  We collect e-mail addresses in order to send donation information for you. If you donate to MASS by credit card, we (or a third party payment processor acting on our behalf) will collect the name, expiration date and credit card number for the relevant card.

When people download certain resources from the Site, we store that information and their email address in order to follow up when relevant new content is published. We also collect personal information, including name and e-mail address, from individuals interested in applying for open roles at MASS, through a third-party partner.

We collect your name and e-mail address if provided by you to send us a message, or to sign up to receive our newsletter and other marketing e-mails from us. If you have signed up to receive our newsletter and other marketing e-mails but you no longer wish to receive emails from us, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each email, or by emailing us at [email protected].

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, we collect information that your browser sends to us that is called Log Data. This Log Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, internet service provider, browser type and version, pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, the websites you visited before and after you visited the Site, and other statistics.

Cookies are files with small amounts of data that are commonly used as anonymous unique identifiers. These are sent to your browser from the website that you visit and are stored on your computer's hard drive.

Our Site uses “cookies” to collection information and to improve our Site. You have the option to either accept or refuse cookies, and know when a cookie is being sent to your computer. If you choose to refuse our cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.

How We Use Your Information

Personal Information

We use and store your Personal Information for the internal operational and administrative purposes of the Service.

Automatically Collected Information

We use the information we have collected automatically to administer the Site and to understand how well the Site is working, to store your user preferences, and to develop statistical information on usage of the Site. This allows us to determine which features visitors like best to help us improve our Site, to personalize your user experience, and to measure overall effectiveness.

If Required by Law

We may store and use personal information to the extent required by law or legal process, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements (including this Privacy Policy) with you, or if in our reasonable discretion use is necessary to protect our legal rights or to protect third parties.

Email Communications

If you provide us with your email address, we will send you administrative and promotional emails. If you wish to opt out of promotional emails, you may do so by following the “unsubscribe” instructions in the email, or by editing your account settings as described below. All users receive administrative emails, and so you cannot opt out of them while you remain registered.

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

We will not disclose your personal information to third parties (i) unless we have your consent to share the information, or (ii) except to our service providers as is necessary for them to perform services for us.

Service Providers

We may employ or engage third-party companies and individuals for the following reasons:

  • To perform services for us; or

  • To assist us in analyzing how our website is used.

These third party service providers may have access to your Personal Information, as is necessary for them to perform the tasks assigned to them on our behalf, such as marketing, analyzing data and usage of our services, hosting and operating the Site or providing support and maintenance services for the Site. However, they are obligated not to disclose or use the information for any other purpose.

Analytics

This site uses a third-party analytics provider to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with that provider for that purpose. Anonymized visitor information may be viewed in aggregate by the operators of this Site in order to detect page errors, analyze traffic, and determine how the performance of the Site could be optimized, among other uses. Information collected includes browser type and version, device (mobile or desktop) and operating system, location (at city, state, or province level), pages viewed, time spent on the site, and other data.

Payment Processing

This site uses a third-party back end payment processor for receiving donations. When you make a donation by credit card, the third-party processor will collect information required to process your payment, including your name, credit card number, email address, billing address, and CVC code, and information about your device accessing the Services, including type of device, which operating system is used, device settings, application IDs, and unique device identifiers.

Deletion of Data Collected

You have the right to have us delete your personal information, with certain exceptions. We cannot delete information (i) stored in our data backups and archives, and (ii) related to donations, because US IRC Section 501(c)3 requires us to identify the sources of receipts by maintaining a list of donors and grantors and the amount of cash contributions or grants (or a description of the non-cash contributions) received from each.

If you would like us to remove your personal information (except as provided directly above) from our databases, please contact us at [email protected].

General Information

Security

We value your trust in providing us your personal information, thus we are striving to use commercially acceptable means of protecting it. But remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure and reliable, and we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Links to Other Sites

Our Site may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

We may list career opportunities at MASS on our Site. Please note that if you apply for a job at MASS online, you leave our Site and are directed to the site of our third-party partner, and you will enter job application information on that third-party site, which is not under the control of MASS or governed by this privacy policy.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect or maintain personal identifiable information from children under 13. In the case we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we will be able to take the necessary steps to delete this information.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, we advise you to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately, after they are posted on this page.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Notice

On September 27, 2013, California enacted A.B. 370, amending the California Online Privacy Protection Act to require website operators like us to disclose how we respond to "Do Not Track Signals"; and whether third parties collect personally identifiable information about users when they visit us.

(1) We do not track users who do not interact with our sharing functionality across the web, and therefore do not use "do not track" signals.

(2) We do not authorize the collection of personally identifiable information from our users for third party use through advertising technologies without separate member consent.

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 also permits our customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to [email protected]. Please note that we are only required to respond to one request per customer each year.

International Visitors

MASS and its servers are located in the United States and are subject to the applicable state and federal laws of the United States. If you choose to access the Site or use the services, you consent to the use and disclosure of information in accordance with this privacy policy and subject to such laws. For users outside the United States, please note that any data or personal information you provide to the services or Site will be transferred out of your country and into the United States. You warrant that you have the right to transfer such information outside your country and into the United States.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or suggestions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. You may also contact us at:

MASS Design Group

334 Boylston Street, Suite 400

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Last Updated: August 13, 2018