Effective Date: April 22nd, 2026
Cal Sailing Club (“CSC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Berkeley, California. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our members, donors, and visitors. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit cal-sailing.org or interact with our services.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register for a membership, create an account, or make a donation.
- Member Account Data: When you join the club, we collect your name, preferred name, email address, phone number, username, and primary interests (Sailing or Windsurfing).
- Emergency Contact Details: We collect the name, relationship, and phone number of a designated emergency contact to ensure your safety during club activities.
- Donation Data (via Givebutter): If you donate, we collect your name, email address, and mailing address to process the gift and issue tax receipts. You may also provide “in honor of” names or public comments. Givebutter uses Stripe to process payment details; CSC does not store your payment card information.
- Demographic Data (Optional): We may ask for race or ethnic origin. Providing this information is entirely voluntary and is used solely for internal diversity tracking and grant reporting. It has no bearing on your membership.
- Legal Confirmations: We maintain records of your digital signature and acceptance of our Waiver and Release of Liability and Code of Conduct.
- Automatically Collected Data: When you visit our website, our analytics tools may automatically collect certain technical information, such as your IP address, browser type, referring URLs, and pages visited. See Section 3 for details.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your data to provide a safe and functional environment for our community:
- To manage memberships, track skill ratings, and record volunteer hours.
- To communicate safety alerts, club news, and emergency information.
- To process donations and provide required tax documentation.
- To improve our website and instructional programs.
- To comply with legal obligations and protect the rights and safety of CSC, its members, and the public.
3. Third-Party Service Providers
We partner with specialized providers to handle specific functions securely. We do not store sensitive financial data on our own servers.
Payments & Donations
- PayPal: Used for membership dues and merchandise purchases.
- Givebutter & Stripe: Used for fundraising and donations. Stripe processes all card transactions on Givebutter’s behalf.
Note: These providers collect your credit card or bank information directly. Please review the PayPal Privacy Policy, Givebutter Privacy Policy, and Stripe Privacy Policy for details on how they handle your financial data.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to monitor website traffic and usage patterns. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect anonymized data (such as truncated IP addresses, browser type, and pages visited). You can opt out via your browser settings or the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Do Not Track: Our website does not currently respond to “Do Not Track” (DNT) browser signals. If you would like to limit tracking, you may use your browser’s privacy settings or the Google Analytics opt-out tool described above.
Newsletter
- Amazon Simple Email Service: Used to send emails by our Newsletter tool that resides inside the cal-sailing.org website.
Please review the Amazon Simple Email Service Privacy Policy for details on how they handle personal information.
4. Information Sharing & Donor Privacy
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information or donor lists to third parties.
We only share data in the following limited circumstances:
- With service providers who need it to perform specific functions on our behalf (e.g., sending emails via our newsletter tool), under agreements that prohibit them from using or disclosing it for other purposes.
- When required by law, such as in response to a court order, subpoena, or to protect the safety of the public.
- In a reorganization or transfer of CSC’s operations, where member data would remain subject to this policy.
5. Your Rights and Data Management
- Access & Updates: You may review and edit your personal information at any time by logging into your member account at cal-sailing.org.
- Data Deletion: You may request to have your account closed. We will delete your personal data except where we are legally required to retain it (such as financial records or signed liability waivers).
- California Privacy Rights Act (CalOPPA) & California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA): As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CSC is generally exempt from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA). Nonetheless, we believe our members deserve strong privacy protections regardless of legal requirements. This policy is designed to comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA), and we voluntarily provide our members with the ability to access, correct, and request deletion of their personal data as described in this section.
- Cookies & Tracking: You may disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect certain website functionality.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your membership is active or as needed to provide services.
We retain your personal information for as long as you maintain an account with CSC, whether your membership is currently active or expired. Because memberships may lapse and be renewed, we do not automatically delete your data when a membership expires.
If you wish to have your account and personal data removed, you may submit a deletion request using the contact information in Section 10. Upon receiving a verified request, we will delete your personal data except:
- Financial records and donation receipts, which we retain for a minimum of seven (7) years in accordance with IRS requirements for non-profits.
- Signed Waivers and Codes of Conduct, which we retain for a minimum of 5 years following your last active membership period to satisfy applicable legal claim periods.
7. Security
We use industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including:
- SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmitted through our website.
- Role-based access controls that limit member data access to authorized volunteers and officers based on their club responsibilities.
- Password-protected accounts for all members.
Despite these measures, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. We encourage members to use strong, unique passwords for their CSC accounts and to notify us immediately if they suspect any unauthorized access.
In the event of a data breach that compromises your personal information, we will notify affected individuals in accordance with California law (Civil Code § 1798.82) and take prompt steps to mitigate any harm.
8. Children’s Privacy
Minor Memberships (under 18)
CSC offers memberships to minors under 18 years of age. All minor memberships must be initiated and managed by a parent or legal guardian. By enrolling their child, the parent or guardian consents to the collection and use of their child’s information as described in this policy.
Information collected for minor members includes:
- Account data: the child’s name, a parent-assigned email address, username, and password, entered by the parent during account creation.
- Physical forms: a signed parental/guardian Release of Liability and a medical information form, which are printed, completed at home, and filed in the club’s minor waivers binder.
- Membership activation details: the child’s name and membership type, provided by the parent via email to the Club Treasurer for manual account activation.
Children Under 13 (COPPA)
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) imposes additional requirements for collecting personal information from children under 13. Because all minor account creation is performed directly by a parent or guardian — who supplies the email address, completes the signup, signs the physical liability and medical forms, and authorizes the membership via email to the Treasurer — verifiable parental consent is obtained prior to any account activation. We do not collect personal information from children under 13 independently of this parent-controlled process.
Parents or guardians may review, update, or request deletion of their child’s account information at any time by contacting us using the information in Section 10.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the new policy on our website, updating the “Effective Date” at the top, and — for material changes — sending an email notification to active members.
10. Contact Us
For questions, data access requests, or deletion requests regarding your privacy, please contact us here.