The Cat House on the Kings
Privacy Notice
May 4th, 2024
Table of Contents
The purpose of this Privacy Notice is to explain as clearly and as transparently as possible what personal information we collect, how it is used and how you may obtain and correct that information. If anything is unclear, you have questions or concerns, or you want to provide feedback about this Privacy Notice, please use our Contact form or send e-mail to privacy@cathouseonthekings.com. We will make every effort to respond within one business day.
The Cat House on the Kings does not collect any personal financial information. All online payments are processed through the third-party website of PayPal or Stripe, whichever you choose. Credit card information provided over the phone for payments made through our business office is entered directly into the credit card payment terminal only and is not otherwise recorded.
The Cat House on the Kings does not share any information we collect with any other organization unless compelled to do so by law, with two technical exceptions for providing recipient postal addresses to the vendor who prints and mails our hardcopy newsletter for the sole purpose of providing that service and passing your name and e-mail address to the Stripe payment service for the sole purpose of completing your financial transaction. Payment receipts are sent by PayPal from their @paypal.com domain. Payment receipts for Stripe transactions are sent by Stripe using the @cathouseonthekings.com domain.
Subsequent sections of this Privacy Notice provided details about the information we collect in each context and how it is used. You can use the links in the Table of Contents above to jump to a specific section. We provide links to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, to define terms with which you may not be familiar.
EU General Data Protection Regulation
On May 25th 2018 the European Union began enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR gives residents of the European Economic Area (EEA) specific rights for controlling the collection and use of their personal information. We've made changes to our website and practices to comply with the GDPR. We offer all users the same protections regardless of whether you are an EEA resident. We anticipate that further modifications may be required as practical experience with the requirements of the GDPR is developed (both in general and by us in particular).
California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA2018) became effective on January 1, 2020. This act applies to for-profit businesses that do business in California and that meet one of several criteria including selling or sharing personal information. Although The Cat House on the Kings does not qualify as a "business" under the CCPA2018 criteria, most of the privacy requirements are aligned with those of the GDPR. A notable exception is the requirement to disclose the contact details of the vendor with whom we share postal addresses for the purpose of mailing our hardcopy newsletter.
We receive donations both directly from you and indirectly from third parties who collect a donation from you and then pass it on to us. The information we collect depends on how we receive the donation.
Direct Donations
When you use a donation form on our website (the Contribute or Donate Cash pages on our desktop website or the Donate page on our mobile site) or the Donate Now! page tab on our Facebook page, the payment is collected by PayPal or Stripe.
Our donation forms collect the following information:
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A referral code.
The referral code identifies the specific donation form or the link you clicked to reach the donation form. We use this code to determine the effectiveness of fundraising messages. This is used solely in aggregate tallies of donations from various links and is not further processed. -
Your choice to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list.
We use this to add you to our mailing list, to re-confirm your earlier decision to opt-in to our mailing list or to remove you from our mailing list. -
Your IP address.
We collect this to assist in identifying attempts to use fraudulently obtained credit card numbers. The IP address is not used for any other purpose.
We encode these items in the form we submit to PayPal or Stripe and they pass the data back to us with the transaction details.
PayPal and Stripe both notify our website of the receipt of the payment and provides the contact information that you have previously provided together with the encoded items described above. At a minimum the contact information is your name and e-mail address. For PayPal, it may include your postal address if you have used PayPal to purchase items which have been shipped to you.
The only personal information we pass to Stripe is your name and e-mail address in addition your mailing list opt-in/opt-out choice and your IP address.
We use your e-mail address one time to send you a donation receipt unless you opt-in to our mailing list.
If you opt-in to our mailing list when you complete the donation form, we will add you to the list with the contact information received via a PayPal transaction or your name and e-mail address provided for a Stripe transaction and with initial subscriptions to our newsletters and announcments. If you are already on our mailing list, we will continue your current subscriptions. If you opt-out when submitting a donation form, we will unsubscribe you from our mailing list if you previously opted-in.
If you donate via check, we will record your postal address in our accounting system and may add you to the mailing list to receive our hardcopy newsletter.
Indirect Donations
We receive indirect donations from the following sources:
- Facebook – Users can establish donation buttons and fundraisers, which are completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Donate now! tab on our Facebook page.
- Network for Good – Other organizations can collect donations with the donor designating us as the beneficiary and Network for Good passes the donations on to us.
- PayPal Giving Fund – Donors can designate us as a beneficiary on various PayPal platforms.
When Facebook or Network for Good pass on donations, they itemize them with your name, donation amount and, if you have permitted it, your e-mail address. The PayPal Giving Fund provides only the money without any individual donation information. The organization collecting the donation will provide you with a donation receipt.
With indirect donations there is no mechanism for asking you to opt-in/opt-out from our mailing list, so the information is used only for internal reporting. Occasionally a Facebook user will contact us for reassurance that we received a donation they made using a button on a Facebook post. Internal reporting enables our business office to provide a yes or no answer to an e-mail enquiry.
An animal sponsorship is a recurring donation made monthly, quarterly or annually via a PayPal or Stripe subscription. When you submit the sponsorship form we collect:
- Your name.
- Your country. We use this to ensure we comply with country-specific privacy regulations.
- Your e-mail address.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list.
We send a one-time e-mail reciept when you begin your sponsorship. Subsequent receipts from PayPal or Stripe may be used for tax purposes.
A webcam sponsorship is a one-time donation via PayPal which is acknowledged wherever the sponsored webcam appears on our website (desktop or mobile) or Facbook page for the duration of the sponsorship (1-30 days). We collect:
- Your name.
- Your organization and its website URL (if the acknowledgement is to show your organization).
- Your country. We use this to ensure we are complying with country-specific privacy regulations.
- Your e-mail address.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list. If you choose to opt-in, we use the information provided to add you to our mailing list (or continue your existing subscriptions).
We send an e-mail donation receipt for your webcam sponsorship.
For a tribute donation in honor of (or in memory of) a person or pet we collect:
- Your name. Unless you choose for your tribute to be anonymous, your name will appear in the virtual plaque representing your tribute on the page on our website corresponding to the type of tribute (In honor of, In memory of) and in the tribute section of the next newsletter published after the donation is made.
- Your postal address. Unless you choose to remain anonymous, your city and state (U.S.A. addresses) or your city and country (international addresses) will appear on the virtual plaque.
- Your e-mail address. We use your e-mail address to send you instructions for completing your tribute donation in the event you do not wish to pay via PayPal or Stripe. If you choose to opt-in to our mailing list we will use this e-mail address to add you to our mailing list.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list. If you choose to opt-in we will add you to our mailing list. If you are already on our mailing list we will continue with your current subscription preferences. If you choose to opt-out, you will be unsubscribed from all messages sent to our mailing list.
- If you choose to have us send an acknowledgement card of your tribute, we collect the name and address of the person to whom you want the acknowledgement sent. This is the only use of this name and address.
When you submit the tribute form you can then choose to use PayPal or Stripe to complete your donation. However, unlike regular donations, we use the information provided on the tribute form when you opt-in to our mailing list.
When you make a donation for which we will add a plaque to our Dedication Wall, we collect the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address. We use this to provide status updates on the progress towards putting your plaque on the Dedication Wall.
- Your phone number. We use this only in the event we cannot reach you by e-mail to resolve any question about your plaque. (e.g. If we see a spelling error and need to clarify whether or not it is intentional before sending it to the manufacturer.)
An adoption application is required to adopt any cat or dog from The Cat House on the Kings. For an adoption application we collect:
- Your name.
- Your residence address.
- Your phone number.
- Your e-mail address.
- Your current employer, position and how long you have held that positiion.
We use the information collected on the adoption application to determine whether your home is a good match for the animals in whom you are interested and to confirm the accuracy of the information provided. We may use third-party services like Zillow to help validate the information.
You will be required to execute a binding Adoption Contract. We will use the information above to prepare the contract for your signature.
A few days after your adopted animal arrives in your home we will use the provided e-mail address to send you a one-time adoption follow-up message. This message includes a link to the online medical history of your adoptee(s) and a reminder of several key obligations under the adoption contract. It will also include an invitation to opt-in to our mailing list to receive our newsletter and announcements.
We retain your adoption application with the signed adoption contract for our records for the animal(s).
After Lynea agrees to accept a surrender, you must complete a Surrender Form which collects the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address.
- Your phone number.
- Your postal address. In the event that you do not meet your obligations under the Surrender Agreement, we may use this address to return the surrendered animal(s) to you.
- Your workplace address.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list. If you opt-in to our mailing list, we will use the contact information above to add you to our mailing list. If you are already opted-in to our mailing list, your current subscriptions will continue. If you opt-out, you will not be subscribed or, if already opted-in, you will be unsubscribed from our mailing list. There is no other processing of this contact information.
A signed Surrender Form is a binding contract between you and The Cat House on the Kings under which you agree to pay a surrender fee in exchange for The Cat House on the Kings providing lifetime care for the surrendered animal.
When you make a purchase from our online shop or order one of our special fundraising items via our online kiosk (e.g. magnets or a tote bag) we collect the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address.
- Your postal address.
- Your telephone number.
We use this information only to fulfill your order or to contact you in the event there is a question or problem with your order. There is no further processing of this information.
When you purchase tickets for one of our raffles either by check or by phone, we request:
- Your name
- Your e-mail address
- Your phone number
We will send you an e-mail receipt confirming your purchase with your raffle ticket numbers. In the event you win a raffle prize, our staff will contact you via e-mail or phone at their discretion, depending on the prize. We will request your postal address solely for shipping your prize. Our website will display your first name and the first letter of your last name, your city & state and your winning ticket number.
As a visitor to our sanctuary for an event, such an Open House, or a tour, you may choose to sign up for our newsletter and announcments by writing your contact information on a sign-up sheet. You may provide either or both your e-mail address and postal address. This information will be used to add you to our mailing list.
Potential volunteers are asked to submit an online Volunteer Form which collects the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address. We use your e-mail address to communicate with you about volunteer opportunities and, if you opt-in, to add you to our mailing list.
- Your postal address. We use this to determine your geographic proximity to our facilities which will determine the types of volunteer activity in which you could participate.
- Your phone number. We use the phone number to contact you about volunteering activities when communication is more urgent than e-mail.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list. We use the other contact information provided to add you to the mailing list (or continue your current subscriptions) when you opt-in. If you opt-out, you will be unsubscribed if you previously opted-in.
Potential foster homes are asked to submit an online Foster Application Form which collects the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address. We use your e-mail address to communicate with you about volunteer opportunities and, if you opt-in, to add you to our mailing list.
- Your postal address. We use this to determine your geographic proximity to our facilities which will determine whether fostering is practical and how far you would have to drive to collect or return foster animals.
- Your phone number. We use the phone number to contact you when communication is more urgent than e-mail.
- Your decision to opt-in or opt-out of our mailing list. We use the other contact information provided to add you to the mailing list (or continue your current subscriptions) when you opt-in. If you opt-out, you will be unsubscribed if you previously opted-in.
E-mail messages we send
The Cat House on the Kings maintains a mailing list on which each member may elect to receive ("subscribe to") any of the following types of communication from us:
- Our quarterly newsletter. The online version of the newsletter is available on our website as a PDF file. For e-mail subscribers we send out a message with a link to the PDF file on our website.
- Announcements. We send e-mail with news about The Cat House on the Kings and occasional fundraising appeals. Announcements are sent only by e-mail. Announcements are sent out as needed, but rarely more than a couple of times a month.
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Daily voting contest reminders. The Cat House on the Kings participates in some contests in which supporters of shelters & rescues can vote once a day for their favorite organization while the contest is open. The organizations receiving the most cumulative votes over the contest period win prizes/grants of cash and/or supplies. While a daily voting contest is underway, we send a message with a convenient link to vote in each contest that is currently open for voting (rarely more than one at a time). These contests may last for several months.
The most frequent contest we participate in is the Shelter Challenge.
In the event that we do not have an e-mail address for an individual or organization, or the opted-in e-mail address has bounced and we have a postal address, we may send a hardcopy version of our newsletter to U.S.A. postal addresses only (including military addresses which may actually be overseas).
To comply with the requirements of the CCPA2018, we disclose that the names and postal addresses of our hardcopy newsletter recipients are provided for the sole purpose of printing and mailing the newsletter to:
American Press
685 W. Gettysburg Ave
Fresno, CA 93722
(559) 271-0290
We prefer to make our newsletter available electronically to conserve both money and trees. If you have a specific need for the hardcopy version, please contact newsletter@cathouseonthekings.com.
Getting added to the mailing list
If you complete our online subscription form, joining the mailing list requires a double opt-in: After you complete the form, we send you an e-mail with a confirmation link which you must click to confirm your decision to opt-in to our mailing list.
Other forms on our website ask whether you want to opt-in to or opt-out from our mailing list. Submission of those forms with the opt-in option will add you to the mailing list (or continue your current subscriptions if you are already on our mailing list). If you opt-out, you will not be added to the mailing list. If you are already opted-in to the mailing list, you will be unsubscribed.
Managing your subscriptions (opting in/out)
Every e-mail message we send to our mailing list has a Manage Subscriptions link at the bottom which will take you to a page on which you may opt-in or opt-out and if you opt-in, choose which types of communication you wish to receive.
You may also request a link to manage your subscriptions. You provide your e-mail address and we will send you the same link that appears at the bottom of messages we send to our mailing list. If the e-mail address you provide is not already on our mailing list, that e-mail address will receive a message saying so with a link to the online subscription form.
Automatic removal
We will treat any of the following circumstances as an implicit "opt-out" request:
- A message is rejected due to an invalid e-mail address.
- Your e-mail service returns four consecutive messages from us automatically either because your mailbox is full or the mail service deems them to be "spam."
- If you mark an e-mail message from us as "spam" or "junk", causing your e-mail provider to send us an automatic abuse report. We have formal feedback loops established with the major e-mail providers (including AOL, Google, Hotmail, Yahoo and companies partnered with Return Path) to receive these reports.
- A hardcopy newsletter is returned by the USPS as undeliverable.
Email Tracking
To help us understand the effectiveness of email sent to our mailing list, we may embed a link to an invisible tracking image in each message sent to our mailing list. When you read a message and your mail reading program fetches that image, we record the ID number of the message, our mailing list ID of the original recipient and the time. Not all mail reading programs fetch linked images automatically, so our tracking data is incomplete. (We attach images for the message content to the email to ensure you see them.)
No third-party access to our mailing list
We do not sell or otherwise make our mailing list (or any data we may derive from its use) available to any third party with the sole exception of conveying USPS addresses to our printer for mailing our hardcopy newsletter.
The Cat House on the Kings is completely dependent upon donations from the general public for its operational expenses. To supplement our donation income we offer limited space on our website for advertisements ("ads") for which we are compensated.
In order to present ads relevant to you, our third party advertisers or their delivery agent, such as Google, may attempt to store a cookie with your web browser (see below). When you click on an ad on our website you will be taken to the advertiser's web page. We will count the action of clicking on the advertisement, but record no other personally identifiable information.
We use browser cookies in the following ways:
- We use a session cookie to maintain state between page views. This cookie is discarded automatically when you close your browser session.
- Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings. You can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.
The Cat House on the Kings website uses Google Analytics for the purpose of understanding how visitors use our website so that we may improve it. This technology reports information to Google anonymously about pages on our website that you visit.
When a web browser or other application requests a page or separate component of a page, such as an image, the web server software logs that request, recording the date & time, IP address from which the request came, the response code (e.g. success/failure) and the URL of the request. Under normal circumstances we keep the prior month's activity log while accumulating the current month's log. At the end of the month, the full log is saved and a new one begun. The prior month's log is then discarded.
In the event that we detect intrusion attempts (i.e. attempts to break into our website), we extract the requests representing those intrusion attempts from the log files and preserve them indefinitely for law enforcement or other reporting needed to to hold accountable those responsible. There is no legitimate reason for such attempts to be made.
Accessing/Correcting Your Information
Both the GDPR and CCPA2018 grant a right of access for individuals which means individuals have the right to request access to their personal data and, if necessary, to have it corrected or removed. The formal term for this under the GDPR is a "Subject Access Request", which you can submit online to receive a report by e-mail showing what personal information we have and how we obtained it. If you believe any of the information we have needs to be corrected, please notify us by e-mail to privacy@cathouseonthekings.com.