PRIVACY POLICY
Southgate Baptist Church
Our Mailing Address:
2111 S. Center Blvd.
Springfield, OH 45506
Phone: 937-325-0619
Email: southgate@southgatechurch.org
Last Updated July 11, 2018
Thank you for choosing or considering to be a part of our community here at Southgate Baptist Church (referred to as “Southgate,” “we,” “us,” or “our” in this policy). While we rely on information to do effective ministry and to communicate with you, we are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy.
Unless you tell us otherwise, this policy will govern what kind of personal information Southgate Baptist Church collects from you, how we handle that information, and how we safeguard privacy.
What information does Southgate collect?
Southgate collects two types of information. One type is the voluntary information you provide when you register on this site, register for an event, provide directory information, request membership, fill out a form, or give online. The other type is user information provided by your computer or smartphone each time you send us an email or visit this website. This information includes your IP address, usage details, the browser and device used, and information collected through the use of cookies or web beacons. This user information helps us maintain the security and operation of our site, and provide information and services to you, and it is also used for internal analytics and reporting purposes. We may combine information from other sources with the information that we collect.
If you choose to use Facebook or other social media accounts to register or log into our site, we may have access to certain profile information about you which often includes your name, email address, friends list, and profile picture, as well as information you choose to make public. Any information we receive will be used only in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for uses of your personal information by Facebook or your other third-party social media accounts, so we strongly recommend you read their privacy policies and learn how to shape your privacy preferences on their sites.
How does Southgate protect the online privacy of children?
Southgate encourages all parents and guardians to supervise their children’s time online. Children under the age of 13 should not submit or post any information on Southgate’s website without the consent of their parent or guardian. It isn’t easy for Southgate to identify a user as 13 or under, and we can’t be held responsible for anyone misrepresenting their age.
What does Southgate do with the collected information?
Any information that you provide to Southgate or that we obtain through this website or email may be used for church purposes, including facilitating account creation and logon, processing transactions, responding to your requests, answering questions you may have, or improving our church ministries and services. We use the information to evaluate trends and needs found in those we serve. We also use it for communications.
We do not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to commercial entities. We will not disclose your information without your express consent, unless such disclosure is necessary to comply with laws or relevant legal proceedings.
Southgate may offer services such as chat rooms, message boards, or other similar forums. Please be aware that any information you divulge in any such service should be considered public and not protected.
We keep your information as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless otherwise required by law, such as required for tax, accounting, or other legal requirements.
Can I control how often Southgate contacts me?
In order to keep people informed about upcoming events or ministry opportunities, we use the postal service, email, text messaging (SMS), and telephone calls. However, if you wish to reduce or eliminate such contacts, please email, call, or write us to let us know. If you have church directory access, you can control how much of your contact information is seen by others by modifying your profile preferences.
What are “cookies” and how does Southgate use them?
Cookies are small information files that a website transfers to an individual’s computer for record-keeping purposes. An example use of a cookie is remembering your username and password so you don’t need to reenter them every time you come to Southgate’s website. Cookies also can save your preferences when you are at a site.
We may use cookies to help see which areas of our website are being used so that we can improve and update our website. Cookies help us personalize our site to those who sign in to their accounts.
The use of cookies is an industry standard, and most major websites use them. Most browsers (like Microsoft Edge and Explorer, Google Chrome, and Safari) are initially set up to accept cookies. But you can reset your browser to either refuse all cookies or to notify you when you are receiving a cookie and thereby allow you to decide whether or not to accept it.
We do not use cookies to obtain any personal information about you before or after you leave Southgate’s sites. We do not set any third-party cookies other than those necessary to facilitate collection and aggregation of visitor statistics (commonly known as “website analytics”).
What about links to other sites?
The Southgate website may occasionally include links to sites neither owned nor controlled by us. These sites are not subject to or bound by the Southgate Privacy Policy and may or may not have their own privacy policies. They also may or may not collect personal information from you and/or place cookies on your computer.
We use Google Maps to provide better service. Google Maps’ terms of service can be found here: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/. Google’s Privacy Policy can be found here: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
Do you partner with advertisers to host ads on the website?
We do not have partnerships or any relationship with any ad server companies and do not host any ads other than for Southgate-sponsored events on this website.
How do you protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information?
The security of information we have is very important to us, and we have taken several measures to help protect your information to the best of our abilities from loss, misuse, or unauthorized alteration.
We use secure servers to store and process all personal and transaction information. All our webpages are protected using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connections. When entering any sensitive information, including financial information, on any website, including Southgate, ensure the website address begins with “https://” instead of “http://” — or, the browser should display a green padlock sign. The ‘s’ at the end of the https portion of the website address stands for “secure.”
Southgate uses MyWell Ministry to process all online donations and payments. While we collect information about who, how much, and for what purpose a donation or payment is being made, credit card and financial information never touches and therefore is not stored on Southgate servers. The information is encrypted into MyWell Ministry’s payment gateway database and is accessible only by those authorized with special access rights to such systems.
Your Affirmative Consent for Southgate to Collect and Use Personally Identifiable Information
By using this website, you consent to Southgate’s Privacy Policy.
Changing, Amending, or Restating This Policy
Southgate reserves the right to change this policy, and any changes will be posted to this page. If you have concerns about how any of your information is being used, please check back to this page periodically.
Questions or Concerns
We welcome any feedback, as we wish to protect the integrity of our site. If you have any questions or concerns about Southgate’s Privacy Policy, please contact Southgate’s Business Manager at tdolph@southgatechurch.org.