Privacy Policy of the Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ohio (OUUF).
This policy governs the use of personal information of members, friends and visitors by OUUF in regular operations, on our website at ouuf.org, and for purposes of publicity both online and in print.
General Policies
The media to which this policy applies may include written documents, posters hung in the Sanctuary, the OUUF monthly newsletter, the Chalice, the weekly announcement sheet (aka "The Pink Sheet"}, Ministerial Search Packets, documents and flyers cosponsoring events in the community, local newspapers such as the weekly Oberlin News-Tribune or the Oberlin College Review or daily newspapers such as the Lorain Chronicle-Telegram or the Elyria Morning Journal. Many of the preceding documents may also be used in electronic media, such as the OUUF website, www.OUUF.org, e-mail or social media such as Facebook. When we say “web pages” we include any of these public forms of announcement.
Personal Information
The Oberlin UU Fellowship respects the privacy of its members and visitors. No personal contact information will be placed on the congregation's public web pages without prior permission. Personal identifying information about our members and friends, such as email addresses and other contact information, is collected on a voluntary basis. Any information that we collect and that you provide is strictly used to extend the ministry of our Fellowship. We do not sell, lease, or distribute any information to any commercial entities.
If you are or become a member of our congregation, your contact information will be shared with the Unitarian Universalist Association to enable your free subscription to UUWorld magazine. You may opt out by informing the Membership Committee.
Our website, ouuf.org, may be visited without submitting any personal identification information. Our website software automatically gathers information from your browser and may set a cookie to determine trends in peak activity, determine the number of visitors, track the frequency that individual pages are accessed, and to ensure our links are working properly. For each visitor to our website, our website hosting server automatically recognizes the visitor’s domain name, IP (Internet Protocol) address, and browser software. It may also recognize the operating system and the site from which the visitor linked to us. It does not harvest email addresses or other personal information. This tracking information is not shared with other organizations. We do not employ spyware or adware of any kind.
Visitors may voluntarily submit email addresses or other personal identifying information to take part in an activity via the website, such as to sign up for a mailing list or request information. We will not sell or rent personal information collected via the website to any organization, including UU organizations. If you email a congregation member, you are NOT added to a mailing list, unless you explicitly request to be added to a specific mailing list.
The names of members and friends may be mentioned on the website and in promotional materials, particularly in articles in the newsletter. Examples include Board members, committee chairs, Forum presenters, and worship service leaders or participants. In order to protect the privacy of these individuals, personal identification information, such as phone number, address, or email addresses, will not be included with these names without explicit permission. Some individuals or families may have greater needs for protecting their privacy, for whatever reason. One may request that no mention of one’s name or photograph appears on the web or in the newsletter or other media. See this form (link) for more information, or contact the webmaster/editor.
Heads and/or contact persons of committees or groups may be listed on a webpage or in printed documents by name. Normally, other committee members will not be listed unless they volunteer to be a contact person for an event, announcement, or meeting. Ultimately, the responsibility for privacy in church publications rests with the individual, so those concerned about preserving their privacy should consider the risks before volunteering to become the contact person for a committee or group. [Translation: if you don't want it on the web, don't submit it for the newsletter.]
For other committees, it is optional to list committee members who are not the chair or contact person, with permission but without contact information, so that people in the church will know who is participating in the various committees.
OUUF Policy for Photographs
In seeking to spread word of our mission, ideas and activities, photographs and/or video can be instrumental in showing people who we are and what we stand for. However, we need to balance personal privacy and safety of our members and friends, volunteers and paid staff with usefulness to OUUF, all in a lawful manner.This policy applies to photographs and videos of OUUF members and friends taken by other OUUF members and friends. It is understood that unflattering images will be avoided, based on the judgment of the photographer.
Adult members and friends will be asked to fill out a Photo Release form, checking either that the adult gives permission or refuses to do so. Permission for photographing children and youth under the age of 18 may be granted or refused by the child or youth's parent or legal guardian by filling out a Photo Release form.
The Photo Release Policy has no expiration date, but signers may revoke permission at any time in a written statement to the OUUF Communications Committee.
If you see a photograph of yourself or your child that you prefer not to be included on the website, or if you would like to insure that no photo of you or your child is used for these purposes, please contact us.
First and last names of adults may be used in identifying photo captions. But last names of children and youth under age 18 will never be published. No personal information, such as addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be published but may be requested for church records
As always, the Fellowship’s central email address and telephone number are listed at the bottom of each web page. Members and Friends have access to the Fellowship Directory for contact information, but this directory will not be placed on the website without being protected by requiring a password for access.
