Privacy Policy

Cadasta Foundation (“we,” “our,” or “us”) supports the principles and practices of responsible data governance and protecting the integrity and privacy of our users’ data. Cadasta values and respects the privacy of users of the Cadasta Platform and has implemented a set of procedures and safeguards designed to protect your information and your privacy.  We strive to be open and transparent about our collection, use, disclosure, and protection of your information.

This Privacy Policy describes the ways in which Cadasta Foundation collects, uses, and discloses information about you obtained through all Cadasta Foundation websites or online services that link to or display this policy (collectively, the “Cadasta Platform”) as a user of the Cadasta Platform. By using the Cadasta Platform, you consent to the processing of your information as set forth in this Privacy Policy, now and as amended by us. 

Certain components of the Cadasta Platform operate using Esri ArcGIS Online (AGOL), which is a third-party cloud-based system.  On websites operated by Esri that display the Esri Privacy Statement, your information will be collected, processed, stored, and protected according to the terms of the Esri Privacy Statement that is displayed.  Esri is committed to respecting your privacy by providing transparency in how they acquire and use your information, giving you control of your information and preferences, and holding themselves to the highest national and international standards, including Privacy Shield certification and GDPR compliance.  Click here to learn more about Esri’s privacy and data security practices. 

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please contact us at privacy@cadasta.org.

What Information Do We Collect?

Information You Provide – We and our service providers collect any information that you provide when you use the Cadasta Platform, including when you create an account, upload information or documents, participate in the Cadasta Platform, sign up to receive our electronic newsletters,  or otherwise contact us with a question, comment, or request. The information you provide to us (or our service providers) may include, but is not limited to:

  • contact information, such as your name, email address, phone number, mailing address
  • registration information, such as a username, password, and preferred language
  • household information
  • payment card information when you make a donation
  • land and resource rights information related to the parcel of land and the owners/occupiers of the parcel, such as household members, ages, income, profession, length of time on land, and type of land documentation
  • information you provide when you or the person to whom you have supplied your information uploads data to the Cadasta Platform
  • other information you provide us when you contact us

The information you provide may also include information that you as a user of the Cadasta Platform provide about other individuals, such as individuals who are the subject of land and resource rights data collected in relation to your and Cadasta’s mission. 

Information Automatically Collected From You – We and our service providers may automatically collect certain information from your computer or device when you use the Cadasta Platform or open emails from us, such as your Internet Protocol address, your browser type, your operating system, the pages you view on the Cadasta Platform, the pages you view immediately before and after you access the Cadasta Platform, and the search terms you enter on the Cadasta Platform.  This information allows us to recognize you and personalize your experience if you return to the Cadasta Platform, and to improve the Cadasta Platform and the services we provide. We and our service providers may collect this information using “cookies,” or similar technologies, which are small text files that the Cadasta Platform saves on your computer using your web browser and accesses when you return.  Learn more about these tracking tools and how you can control them by clicking here or reading the “Your Choices” section below.

How do we use this information?

We may use the information we collect for a number of purposes, including, but not limited to:

  • providing you with information about the Cadasta Platform or required notices;
  • responding to your requests and inquiries;
  • delivering communications or other information that may be of interest to you;
  • for marketing purposes, from time to time we may send you communications about donation or volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, or available Cadasta services; these communications may promote Cadasta Foundation, its activities, and the work of our partners;
  • customizing your experience when using the Cadasta Platform, such as by providing interactive or personalized elements on the Cadasta Platform and providing you with content based on your interests;
  • allowing us to improve the Cadasta Platform and the services we provide, such as by better tailoring our content to our users’ needs and preferences;
  • generating and analyzing statistics about your use of the Cadasta Platform;
  • detecting, preventing, and responding to fraud, intellectual property infringement, violations of our Terms of Use, violations of law, or other misuse of the Cadasta Platform; and
  • as otherwise permitted by law or as we may notify you.

We also may combine or aggregate any of the information we collect through the Cadasta Platform or elsewhere for any of these purposes.

We use the land and resource rights data that you upload to the Cadasta Platform to create and provide aggregated reports and anonymized data on property rights and land ownership, for example on the Global Metrics Dashboard.

Under what circumstances do we share or disclose information?

We may share or disclose the information we collect through the Cadasta Platform:

  • to affiliates and vendors who receive data as necessary to provide services on our behalf, including, but not limited to, vendors who: collect and upload data to the Cadasta Platform for us; create data sets for us; host data on their servers for us; or provide payment processing services to us;
  • as required by applicable law, such as to comply with a subpoena or other legal process, or to comply with government reporting obligations;
  • when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary (a) to protect our rights, the integrity of the Cadasta Platform, or your safety or the safety of others, or (b) to detect, prevent, or respond to fraud, intellectual property infringement, violations of our Terms of Use, violations of law, or other misuse of the Cadasta Platform;
  • to advisors and potential acquirers to the extent reasonably necessary to proceed with the negotiation or completion of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets; and
  • when we are not otherwise prohibited by applicable law from doing so without your express consent.

In addition, we may share aggregate reports on Cadasta Platform user demographics and traffic patterns, as well as de-identified information, with third parties such as visitors to the Cadasta Platform, users of the Global Metrics Dashboard, donors, partners, and government bodies.

We may share the land and resource rights data that you upload to the Cadasta Platform to create and publish aggregated data sets on the Cadasta Platform for research and other non-commercial purposes to advance our mission; to create aggregate reports on data collected; and to create output documents with information that identifies you for data verification or for third parties, (for example, government land information systems), to assist you in the issuance of land tenure or other documentation.

How is your information secured?

We place high value on data privacy and security and are committed to maintaining administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to safeguard the information collected by the Cadasta Platform.  However, no information system can be 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information, despite our efforts to do so. Moreover, we are not responsible for the security of information you transmit to the Cadasta Platform over networks that we do not control, including the Internet and wireless networks.

Where is this information stored?

Information collected through the Cadasta Platform will be processed in and subject to the laws of the United States, which may not provide the same level protection for your personal information as your home country.  In addition, we may transfer and store your information outside the United States to service providers located in other countries, such as cloud-based web hosting platforms.  By using the Cadasta Platform, you consent to such transfer to, and processing in, the United States or other countries.

Cadasta adheres to and is subject to the laws of the United States with regard to information collected and processed through the Cadasta Platform.

Your choices

If your contact information changes, if you no longer wish to receive marketing communications from us, or if you wish to inquire about the information we have collected about you, please submit a request at the contact information listed below. You may also unsubscribe from promotional emails by following the instructions within any marketing email you receive from us.

If you do not want the Cadasta Platform to collect information through the use of cookies, you can set your web browser to reject cookies from the Cadasta Platform.  Each browser is different, so you should check your browser’s “Help” menu to learn how to change your cookie preferences. Opt-outs are browser and device specific.  If you reject or block cookies from the Cadasta Platform, however, the Cadasta Platform may not function as intended. 

The Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising provides consumers with the ability to opt out of having their online behavior recorded and used for advertising purposes. To opt out of having your online behavior collected for advertising purposes, click here.

Setting Permission and Privacy Levels

When entering data into the Cadasta platform, partners are able to set user permissions for data access, viewing, and editing by user type. Partners also have control over the level of privacy of their data. Partners may request at any time that Cadasta remove their data from the Platform and return it to them within a reasonable time frame.

Our Do Not Track Policy

Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. We do not currently respond to those signals. 

Children’s information

The Cadasta Platform is not directed to, nor do we knowingly collect information from, children under the age of 13.  If you become aware that your child or any child under your care has provided us with information without your consent, please contact us at the contact information listed below.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting a new Privacy Policy on this page.  You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes, and your continued use of the Cadasta Platform after such changes have been made constitutes acceptance of those changes.  If we make any revisions that materially change the ways in which we use or share the information previously collected from you through the Cadasta Platform, we will give you the opportunity to consent to such changes before applying them to that information.

Links to Third-Party Cadasta Platforms

The Cadasta Platform also may contain links to websites published by third parties.  You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the collection and use of your information by such websites that are not under our control.  We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each website you visit.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our use of your information collected through the Cadasta Platform, please contact us at privacy@cadasta.org.

 

This Privacy Policy was last updated on November 8, 2019.