Your information, handled with care.

Who we are

Voices for Sickle Cell (“we,” “us”) is [legal name and type of organization, state]. Our mission is to raise awareness, amplify voices, and support the Sickle Cell community through education, advocacy, and collaboration. This policy covers this website and the forms, newsletters, and programs connected to it.

What we collect

Information you give us

• Contact forms: your name, email address, and your message.
• Story submissions: your name, email address, your role in the community, your story, any photo, video, or audio you add, and your choices about how it may be shared.
• Groups and chapters: your name, contact details, and ZIP code or city when you look for a group, ask to join one, or offer to start one.
• Events: your name and contact details when you register.
• Newsletter: your email address.
• Donations: your name, contact details, and gift amount. See Donations for how payment details are handled.

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, this one records basic technical information when you visit: the pages you view, the type of device and browser you use, and a general location based on your internet address. We use this to keep the site working and to understand which pages are helpful.

Health information you share

Stories and messages often include health details. That information is personal, and we treat it that way. Only the people who need it to do their work can see it, and we publish a story only in the way its author chose.

We are a community organization, not a doctor, clinic, or insurer. Health privacy laws written for healthcare providers, such as HIPAA, generally do not apply to information you choose to give us. This policy is our commitment to protect it anyway.

Please do not send medical records, insurance numbers, or details about another person’s health without their permission.

How we use it

• To answer your questions and requests.
• To review stories and publish them the way you asked.
• To connect you with a local group or chapter when you ask us to.
• To run events you sign up for.
• To send the newsletter, if you subscribed. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
• To process and acknowledge donations.
• To learn what our community needs, using totals and themes rather than names.
• To keep the site secure and working.

When we share it

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We share it only in these cases:

• With you in control: a story is published with the name choice and sharing choice you made.
• With group and chapter leaders: when you ask to join or start a local group, we pass your contact details to the approved leader for that group so they can reach you.
• With service providers: companies that run tools for us, such as website hosting, forms, email, and payment processing. They may use your information only to provide that service. [List the providers.]
• When the law requires it, or when it is needed to protect someone’s safety.

Stories

Stories have their own rules, because they matter most. Our Story Submission Policy explains the review process, your sharing choices, and how to change or remove a story.

Donations

Gifts are processed by [donation processor]. Your card or bank details go directly to that processor. They are not stored on this website, and our team cannot see your full card number. We keep a record of the gift itself so we can thank you and meet our reporting duties.

Cookies and site tools

Cookies are small files a website saves in your browser. This site uses them to make pages work and to measure visits. [Name the analytics tool, if any.] Videos on this site may be played through an outside service, which can set its own cookies when you press play. [Name the video service, if any.]

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site will still work.

Ask SKY

Ask SKY is the question helper on this site. It answers from this site’s own approved pages. Questions you type are processed by the AskSKY! service, provided by JustMy, so it can respond. [Confirm what AskSKY! stores and for how long.]

Please do not type private medical details into Ask SKY. It cannot give medical advice.

Children and teens

Young people are part of this community, and we take extra care with them. Anyone under 18 shares a story or joins a group together with a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 without a parent or guardian’s consent. If you believe a child has sent us information without that consent, contact us and we will delete it.

How long we keep it, and how we protect it

We keep information only as long as we need it for the reason you gave it to us, or as long as the law requires. A published story stays up until you ask us to remove it. When you ask us to delete something, we do so unless we are required to keep a record.

We use reasonable safeguards, including limited staff access and secure connections. No website can promise perfect security, so please share only what you are comfortable sharing.

Your choices

• Ask what information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct or delete it.
• Change how your story is shared, or have it taken down.
• Unsubscribe from emails at any time.

Depending on where you live, the law may give you additional rights. We will honor any request we can, wherever you live.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and update the date at the top. If a change affects how a story you already shared is used, we will contact you first.

Contact us

Questions about privacy, or a request about your information? Write to [privacy contact email] or [mailing address], or use our contact page.