The RainTrust Foundation [RainTrust] cares about your privacy. This Privacy Policy outlines the type of Personal Information, that is collected by RainTrust, how we use and protect it. This Policy also tells you what to do if you do not want your Personal Information used for marketing purposes, and how you can change information you have already provided to us. This Policy applies to all websites and blogs which link to this policy and to RainTrust's collection of data through e-mails, the internet, and telephone calls to RainTust's offices.

Your Consent to This Privacy Policy

By providing RainTrust with Personal Information, you signify that you agree with the terms of our current Privacy Policy as posted here. If you do not agree with any term in this Policy, please do not provide any Personal Information.

If you choose not to provide Personal Information, you may not be able to protect sponsored acres or other sponsored parcels of rainforest land, access particular areas of our websites, enter future sweepstakes or contests, take advantage of special RainTrust promotions, discounts, or programs, or otherwise engage in any RainTrust activities.

Collection of Personal Information

As used in this Privacy Policy, "Personal Information" means personally identifiable information such as your name, street address, telephone number, credit card information, screen name and email address.

When you provide us with Personal Information, you are authorizing us to use that information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy, which includes your right to limit our use of your Personal Information.

We may also collect Personal Information from you about a third party (e.g., a website might allow you to send an electronic "post card" to a friend, in which case we will need that person's name and e-mail address). Please note that we use such information only for the specified purpose (e.g., to mail the post card) and we will not contact the third party again unless and until the third party contacts us.

How We Use Your Information

When you supply us with your Personal Information we will use it for the express purpose for which it was collected. It may also be used by us for the purposes of informing you about special offers or promotions from RainTrust or its sponsors, or about products and services which may be of interest to you (including those we may offer jointly with other companies). At any time, however, you may opt out of such contact.

At times we may retain third parties to analyze data we collect, including Personal Information, to help us improve our programs and our web sites. In addition, if you sponsor an acre (or other parcel of rainforest land) from us, we may provide Personal Information to suppliers and other third parties to enable delivery of such product or service. These third parties, including suppliers, are not authorized by us to use your Personal Information in any other way. RainTrust does NOT sell Personal Information.

We may supplement the information that you provide to us with other information that we receive from third parties. We do this for marketing purposes in order to provide the most appropriate products and services to meet your needs.

We may also transfer, sell or assign your Personal Information to any entity to which we divest all or a portion of our Foundation in connection with a merger, consolidation, change in control, reorganization or liquidation of all or a portion of our Foundation.

Finally, please note that we will release your Personal Information if required to do so by law, or by search warrant, subpoena or court order.

Other Information We May Collect Online

Other information that we may collect online (via the RainTrust website, partner websites, blogs, e-mail notices, promotions and banners, for example) is described in this section.

You may have heard of "cookies," which are files or pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive. RainTrust may use cookies to collect other information during your visit to our web site, such as the particular site areas you visit and the sponsorships you contribute to through our web site. We collect this information to better tailor our site and our products to your interests and needs. Cookies may also be used to help speed up your future activities at our sites. For example, a site can recognize that you have provided Personal Information to us and refrain from requesting the same information a second time.

Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you'd prefer, you can set yours to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Refusal of cookies at the site you entered may result in an inability to visit certain areas of the site or to receive personalized information when you visit the site.

In addition, we are constantly trying to improve how we promote our web sites. To help us do this, we may measure the effectiveness of our web presence by determining what you clicked on to get to our site.

Site measurement statistics may be used to personalize your web site experience, as well as to evaluate ­ anonymously and in the aggregate ­ statistics about usage of the web site. Information about your computer, such as your IP address (a number assigned to your computer whenever you surf the Internet), the type of Internet browser you are using and the type of computer operating system you are using may also be collected and linked to your Personal Information. This is to ensure that our web sites present the best web experience for visitors, and that they are an effective information resource.

Finally, some of the pages you visit may use pixel tags (also called clear gifs) to collect information about your navigation on our websites. This information is used to evaluate and enhance how the websites function.

Privacy of Children Online

RainTrust is committed to protecting the online privacy of children and making the Internet safe for our users. The statements in this Policy generally about our collection and use of Personal Information also apply to our treatment of personal information from children under the age of thirteen, with the added protection of the special rules that follow. We encourage parents of children under 13 to regularly check and monitor their children's use of e-mail and other activities on line.

RainTrust does not currently collect personal information from children under 18 but may, from time to time, do so at certain sites that are directed to children. In those cases, we will handle this information in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):

- If your child provides us with online contact information (e.g., an e-mail address) solely so that we may respond more than once to a specific request (e.g., sending an on-line newsletter) and for no other purpose, then we will notify you via e-mail that this information has been provided to us. You have the right, as will be outlined in our notification and as set forth below (see Who to Contact), to ask that we not use your child's online contact information for this purpose.

- Before your child provides us with Personal Information beyond online contact information (e.g., a street address, phone number, etc.), then we will contact you by e-mail and will require your signed permission, sent by real world mail, before we collect and use such information.

- If the information provided by your child is online contact information only (e.g., an e-mail address), and it is to be used to respond on a one-time basis to a specific request (e.g., to answer a question about our program), and thereafter it is deleted from our records, then we will not notify you.

Security of Information

We take reasonable precautions to keep your Personal Information secure. All personally identifiable information is subject to restricted access to prevent unauthorized access, modification or misuse.

Changes in Our Policy

RainTrust reserves the right to change or remove this Privacy Policy at our discretion. We will post any new policy here and we encourage you to visit this area frequently to stay informed.

Who to Contact

Please write to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any comments or questions about this Privacy Policy or to report any violations of the Privacy Policy.