FURPA – Friends Under Rescue Pet Adoption is deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information entrusted to us by our community, including adopters, donors, volunteers, and website visitors.

This Privacy Policy outlines the comprehensive practices of FURPA – Friends Under Rescue Pet Adoption regarding the collection, use, maintenance, disclosure, and protection of information we gather from you through our website (https://www.google.com/search?q=https://furpa.site), all associated applications, our adoption management systems, donation platforms, and any other interactions you have with our organization, whether digital or in-person. We recognize that when you engage with FURPA—by submitting an adoption application, making a financial contribution, or signing up to volunteer—you are entrusting us with highly sensitive and personal data. This policy is designed to affirm our commitment to treating that information with the utmost care, transparency, and security. We pledge to only collect data that is necessary for us to fulfill our mission: saving animal lives, ensuring successful adoptions, and maintaining robust community education programs. By interacting with our services, you acknowledge and consent to the practices described in this policy. We reserve the right to update this policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. We encourage all users to review this page frequently to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. The effective date of the current policy will always be posted at the top of this document. Our commitment to privacy extends beyond mere legal compliance; it is an ethical cornerstone of our relationship with the community that supports our life-saving work.

1. Information We Collect

A Comprehensive Overview of Data Gathering: Categories and Necessity

We collect information only when it is essential for the effective operation of our rescue, adoption, and outreach programs, categorizing data based on its source and intended use.

We collect several types of information from and about users of our website and services. This collection falls into two primary categories: Information You Provide to Us Directly and Information Collected Automatically.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us Directly

This category includes any information you voluntarily submit to us through forms, applications, communication channels, or financial transactions. The necessity of collecting this data is directly tied to the service you are requesting:

• Adoption and Foster Applications: To ensure the safety and compatibility of our rescued animals, we require detailed personal information. This includes full legal name, physical address, email address, telephone numbers, and detailed information about your living situation (e.g., home ownership status, fencing, landlord consent). Crucially, we collect information about your lifestyle and experience with pets, including current pets, veterinary references, and family composition (including ages of children). We also ask for employment history and financial information solely to assess your capacity to provide long-term care for a pet, which is a necessary component of our rigorous ethical screening process.
• Donations and Financial Transactions: When you make a donation, we collect your name, email, billing address, and payment card information (processed securely by a third-party payment processor as detailed below). We also collect information regarding the designation of your gift, if applicable, to ensure proper allocation of funds.
• Volunteer and Employment Applications: We collect standard application data, including name, contact details, educational background, professional experience, references, and a statement of interest. For employment, this extends to legally required information such as authorization to work in the United States and background check data (where applicable and with explicit consent).
• Communication Data: This includes the content of any emails, texts, or contact form submissions you send to info@furpa.site, as well as any feedback or testimonial submissions you provide.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically (Non-Personal Data)

When you navigate through and interact with our website, we may use automated data collection technologies to gather certain technical information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. This data helps us improve the user experience and ensure website functionality:

• Usage Details: Information about your visit, including traffic data, location data, logs, and other communication data, and the resources that you access and use on the website.
• Device Information: Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.
• Tracking Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to monitor and analyze user activity, personalize content, and remember user preferences. Cookies are small data files stored on your device that enable us to recognize your browser on future visits. You have the option to set your browser to refuse all or some cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent, though disabling them may affect the functionality of our site.

2. How We Use Your Information

Alignment with Our Mission: Purpose and Legal Basis for Data Processing

The information we collect is strictly used to fulfill our core mission—from providing medical care to facilitating successful adoptions and securing necessary funding.

We use the information we collect for several organizational and operational purposes, all of which are directly related to our commitment to animal welfare and community trust:

• To Process and Fulfill Our Mission: The primary use of your data is to process and evaluate your adoption applications, manage foster placements, and schedule volunteer assignments. This includes contacting veterinary references, performing necessary background checks (with consent), and coordinating meet-and-greets at our facility at 19051 GOLDENWEST STREET 511.
• To Manage Financial Transactions: We use payment information to process donations securely, issue tax receipts, and acknowledge contributions publicly (unless anonymity is requested).
• To Communicate and Provide Support: We use contact information to respond to your inquiries sent to info@furpa.site, send updates on a pet you are fostering or adopting, and provide critical post-adoption support and behavioral advice.
• To Fundraise and Inform: We may use your contact information to send you organizational newsletters, updates on our progress, appeals for urgent medical cases, or information about our events and activities, consistent with your communication preferences.
• To Improve Services and Website: We use automatically collected data and communication feedback to analyze trends, improve our website’s functionality, optimize the adoption process, and enhance our overall service delivery.
• For Legal Compliance and Security: We use your data as required by law, to enforce our agreements, and to protect the rights, property, or safety of FURPA, our animals, our staff, and the community.

3. Disclosure and Sharing of Your Information

Maintaining Confidentiality: Strict Protocols for Sharing Data with Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. Disclosure is limited to essential third-party service providers and legal necessity.

We share your personal information only in the limited circumstances described below, always under strict confidentiality agreements and only to the extent necessary to perform our organizational functions:

• Service Providers: We engage trusted third-party service providers to perform functions on our behalf. These include payment processors (for donations), email service providers (for newsletters and essential communications), website hosting services, and, in the context of adoptions, veterinary clinics and animal control agencies for reference checks and cross-verification. These third parties are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
• Referrals and Checks: In the process of vetting adoption applicants, we share your name and contact information with the veterinary references you provide to confirm your history of responsible pet ownership. Similarly, we may disclose limited information to landlords to verify tenancy and compliance with pet policies.
• Legal and Safety Requirements: We will disclose your information when required to do so by law, such as to comply with a court order, subpoena, or legal process. We may also disclose your information to enforce our policies or to protect the rights, property, or safety of FURPA, our community, or the public, including investigating potential fraud.
• Organizational Changes: If FURPA is acquired by or merges with another organization, your information may be transferred as part of the transaction, provided the recipient organization agrees to honor this Privacy Policy.

4. Data Security and Retention

Robust Protections: Protecting Your Information Against Unauthorized Access

We employ state-of-the-art technical and organizational measures to secure your personal data, and we retain it only for as long as necessary to fulfill our mission.

4.1 Data Security Measures

The security of your personal information is paramount. We implement comprehensive measures designed to secure your personal data from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure:

• Encryption: Our website uses SSL/TLS encryption to secure all data transmission, particularly when submitting adoption applications or donation information.
• Access Control: Access to highly sensitive data (e.g., veterinary references, application notes) is restricted to only those employees and volunteers who require it for their specific, assigned duties (e.g., Adoption Director, Behaviorist).
• Payment Processing: All financial transactions are handled by PCI-compliant third-party payment processors. FURPA itself does not store your full credit card details on our servers.
• Physical Security: Our physical facility at 19051 GOLDENWEST STREET 511 uses appropriate physical security measures, including secured entry points and monitored access, to protect physical records and IT infrastructure.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

4.2 Data Retention Policy

We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements:

• Adoption Records: Records pertaining to successful adoptions are retained indefinitely to ensure continuous post-adoption support, maintain a history of the animal’s placement, and provide historical context should the animal ever need to be re-homed. Unsuccessful or withdrawn application data is typically purged after a set period (e.g., 1-2 years), unless the applicant requests to remain on a contact list.
• Donor Records: Financial records and donor information are retained for a minimum period required by tax and accounting laws.
• Communication Records: Email and support communications are retained for a reasonable period to maintain a comprehensive history of interactions and improve customer service.

5. Your Rights and Choices

Control Over Your Data: Access, Correction, and Communication Preferences

You have the right to access the data we hold about you, request corrections, and manage how we communicate with you.

• Access and Correction: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you and to request that we correct any inaccuracies. Please submit such requests in writing to info@furpa.site with the subject line [ADMIN] Data Access Request. We will respond to all verifiable requests within a reasonable timeframe.
• Communication Preferences (Opt-Out): If you no longer wish to receive our newsletters, fundraising appeals, or non-essential administrative emails, you may opt-out by clicking the “unsubscribe” link provided at the bottom of every email communication. Please note that even if you unsubscribe from marketing emails, we reserve the right to send you essential non-marketing communications directly related to your active adoption, volunteering, or donation status.
• Data Erasure (Right to Be Forgotten): You may request the deletion of your personal data. However, please note that we may be legally required to retain certain information (e.g., financial records for tax purposes, or adoption records for animal welfare monitoring) and may not be able to accommodate all deletion requests immediately or entirely.

6. Children’s Privacy

Protecting Minors: Our Policy Regarding the Collection of Data from Individuals Under 18

Our website and services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18 without verifiable parental consent.

FURPA is committed to protecting the privacy of young individuals. Our adoption application process, donation platform, and volunteer sign-ups are designed for individuals who are 18 years of age or older. While we welcome youth participation in our mission, it must always be with the verifiable involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian.

• No Direct Collection: We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13.
• Parental Consent: If a child under 18 wishes to volunteer or be listed as a family member on an adoption application, their parent or legal guardian must complete the relevant sections and provide explicit consent for the inclusion of the minor’s data.
• Removal of Data: If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us immediately at info@furpa.site with the subject line [ADMIN] Minor Data Concern.

7. Third-Party Links and External Services

Beyond Our Control: Disclaimer for External Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, such as partner veterinary clinics or community event hosts; this policy does not govern those external sites.

This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by FURPA – Friends Under Rescue Pet Adoption. Our website may include links to third-party websites whose privacy practices are outside our control. For example, our online donation portal is managed by a third-party processor, or we may link to a local government animal control website for emergency reporting. When you click on a link to an external site, you are subject to that website’s own privacy policies and terms of service. We strongly encourage you to review the privacy policy of every external site you visit, as we assume no responsibility for the content or privacy practices of any third-party sites or services linked to or from our website.

8. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

Policy Updates: Staying Current with Our Practices

We reserve the right to update this policy at any time, and we will notify you of any material changes through our website.

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data processing practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we post changes to this policy, we will revise the “Effective Date” at the top of this document. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you through a prominent notice on the website homepage for a reasonable period before the change takes effect. We encourage you to periodically review this page to ensure you are aware of the most current version of our Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the FURPA website or services after any modifications to this policy will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified policy.

Contact Information for Privacy Concerns

Your Direct Line: Questions and Concerns Regarding This Policy

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact us immediately.

We are committed to resolving any concerns you may have regarding your privacy and our handling of your personal information. Please direct all questions, comments, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or our practices to:

FURPA – Friends Under Rescue Pet Adoption

Email: info@furpa.site (Please use the subject line: [ADMIN] Privacy Policy Inquiry)

Physical/Mailing Address: 19051 GOLDENWEST STREET 511 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92648

We will investigate and attempt to resolve any complaints and disputes regarding the use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the principles contained in this Policy.