Privacy Policy

Who is the National Dating Abuse Helpline? 
The National Dating Abuse Helpline (NDAH) is the organization which provides all advocacy services on www.loveisrespect.org, www.ndah.org, and through 24-hour telephone services at 1-866-331-9474. 

Anonymous Digital Service is defined as a one-time confidential contact between a user and advocate in which no identifying information is verified.

NDAH Provides Digital Services
Engaging in our digital services constitutes an agreement and understanding of privacy policy. Digital services are defined as web based chat, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Instagram, Flickr, LIR blog or any NCFV website or web-based comment section. If at any time, a digital service user feels that their safety or privacy may be compromised due their use of these services, the interaction can be escalated to phone-based services. 

Opt-Out Policy
NDAH gives users options for non-digital services when necessary and practical. Such choices include opting not to engage in digital services and opting not to provide identifiable information during interactions with peer advocates. Users concerned for their physical safety and well-being are encouraged to contact NDAH at 1-866-331-9474 .

Confidential and Anonymous Chat
Our live chat services are provided by LivePerson software as a service (SaaS) provider. Chat users are asked to enter their name and other personal information to facilitate service with an operator. IP addresses are also required to facilitate a connection. Information collected from a user on a voluntary basis can include:

• Organization name
• Gender
• Age
• City
• State
• Zip
• How user-heard about the service

The National Dating Abuse Helpline collects limited demographic and geo-locational information in order to provide services. The National Dating Abuse Helpline defines anonymous communication as a onetime individual contact where digital services are provided between a chatter/texter and peer advocate in which no information is collected that can connect the user to the individual service interaction.

Dialogue transcripts of chats and emails are purged regularly. Any information that is temporarily maintained is core to our evaluation of services provided to persons contacting the National Dating Abuse Helpline. Identifying information is in no way cross-verified. A chat user's information, including any personally identifiable information, will only be shared with persons implicitly linked to NDAH operations. We do not sell, trade or rent personal information that chat users provide. All advocates, including volunteers, are required to sign a client confidentiality policy. 

After any chat or email session, persons contacting the NDAH may be asked to fill out an exit survey in order to provide valuable feedback about our service. Providing information in an exit survey is completely voluntary. Surveys may ask for contact information (e.g., email address) and for demographic information (e.g., zip code, age or income level).

Text/SMS Messaging Services
NDAH offers services through a text message short code. Users will be charged standard text messaging rates relative to their provider's plans. Any statement of charges or billing will appear as a text message sent to Air2Web, based in Atlanta, and is in no way connected to NDAH. Users should be aware and mindful that text messages sent using modern smart phones are saved indefinitely and could compromise their safety. Users concerned for their physical safety and well-being are encouraged to contact NDAH at 1-866-331-9474.

Software as a Service and Application Service Providers (3rd party)
NDAH will undertake an annual review of any third party privacy policies affecting NDAH services. NDAH is not responsible for changes or updates made in the interim.

Cookies
NDAH may use cookies to enhance your experience while using our site. Cookies are pieces of information that some websites use to transfer to the user's computer and are used for record-keeping purposes. Use of cookies makes web navigation easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords, your personal preferences and to make sure you don't see the same advertisement repeatedly. Many consider the use of cookies to be an industry standard. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site. 

Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our site will not function properly when you view them.

Legal Disclosure
We may access and/or disclose personally identifiable information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or (b) comply with legal process served on us.

Technical Information We Collect
Our web servers automatically collect non-personal information such as the domain name of the Internet access provider, the Internet protocol address used to connect the computer to the Internet, the average time spent on our website, pages viewed, information searched for, access times and other relevant statistics.

Other Websites
Our site contains links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website for which NDAH has no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may differ from ours. 

Donations
When you make a donation on the NDAH website by clicking the Donate link on our homepage, we must share some of your personally identifiable information with third parties in order to process the transaction. For example, we must share your credit card number with our credit card processor BBMS (Blackbaud Merchant Services) who utilizes the Raiser's Edge software in order to process your payment. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services. We do not share any of your personally identifiable information with unrelated third parties for their own marketing purposes without your consent.   

Notification of Policy Changes
We reserve the right to change, modify or add to our privacy policy to protect the ethical standards provided or to meet the changing demands of digital advocacy. Notification of any changes to the NDAH privacy policy will be posted to the NDAH homepage (at both www.ndah.org and www.loveisrespect.org) or other appropriate location so as to adequately inform digital service users of these revisions. We encourage you to please review it frequently.

Contacting the Website
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, please contact: 

National Dating Abuse Helpline
P.O. Box 161810, Austin, TX 78716 
www.loveisrespect.org