Privacy Policy

Introduction

Social Justice Collaborative is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our clients, website visitors, donors, and all individuals who interact with us. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information through our website https://www.socialjusticecollaborative.org/.

Information We Collect

Personal Information

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, including but not limited to:

• Name
• Contact information (email address, phone number, mailing address)
• Immigration status and history (if applicable)
• Documents and forms related to your immigration case
• USCIS receipt numbers and other case identifiers (such as A-Numbers) linked to your immigration case

Non-Personal Information

We may collect non-personal information automatically when you visit our site, such as:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited
• Date and time of visit
• Referring website addresses

How We Use Your Information

Personal Information — We use the personal information you provide to:

• Provide legal services and support for immigration cases (if applicable), communicate with you regarding your case and our services (if applicable), and comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Improve our services and website functionality.

Non-Personal Information — We use non-personal information for statistical analysis, to monitor and improve our website, and to ensure the security of our systems.

• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency). This will only be done when strictly necessary.
• Protection of Rights: We may disclose your information to protect our rights, property, or safety, as well as that of our clients or others. This will only occur when it is extremely necessary.

Please note that your phone numbers and consent for messaging will not be shared with third parties under any circumstances.

Security of Your Information: We treat the personal and case information entrusted to us as highly sensitive. We protect it with encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, strict access controls that limit access to authorized staff on a need-to-know basis, and automated safeguards (such as CAPTCHA and rate limiting) to deter abuse. No method of transmission or electronic storage is completely secure, so while we cannot guarantee absolute security, we work continually to safeguard your information. If a data breach affects your personal information, we will tell you, as required by law, including California’s data-breach-notification law (California Civil Code section 1798.82). We will also explain the breach and the steps you can take in response.

USCIS Case Status API

We use the USCIS Case Status API to check the status of our clients’ open cases. We send the USCIS receipt number for a client’s case to the API. The API returns the current status of that case from USCIS, such as that a case was received or a notice was mailed. We use this only to follow case progress and to keep clients informed about their own cases. We send receipt numbers to USCIS only to check status, over a secure, encrypted connection. We never use them for advertising, and we never share them with outside parties for any unrelated purpose.

Your Rights and Choices

You have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• Access: You may request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccuracies in your personal information.
• Deletion: You may ask us to delete your personal information. At times the law, court rules, or our duties as a legal-services provider require us to keep it. When we are not required to keep it, we will delete it within 30 days of confirming your request, and we will tell our service providers to delete it too. To make a request, contact us using the information in the “Contact Us” section below.

Service Providers

We rely on a limited number of carefully vetted third-party providers to operate our website and deliver our services. For example, we use them to securely store information, send communications and appointment reminders, process donations, and understand how our site is used. We share personal information with these providers only to the extent necessary for them to perform services on our behalf, and they are contractually obligated to protect it and to use it for no other purpose. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. These providers must follow rules at least as protective as this Privacy Policy. They may not use or share your information, including any de-identified or anonymized data, for any other purpose without your consent.

Data Retention

We keep personal information only as long as necessary to provide our services, to meet our legal, ethical, and professional obligations as a legal-services provider, and to resolve any disputes. When information is no longer needed, we dispose of it securely.

Third-Party Links

Our site may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

Communication via Text Messages

We communicate via text messages with clients and potential clients to follow up on their cases, which is a vital part of our operations and our commitment as an organization that seeks to help people.

Cessation of Communications Post-Client

We do not contact anyone unless it is strictly for their case or for our daily operations. When someone is no longer a client, their data is not shared, and they are not contacted by any means unless they request it or it is necessary to reopen their case.

Cookies

Our website may use cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. You can choose to disable cookies in your browser settings.

Business Transfers

If SJC merges with or is acquired by another organization, or transfers its operations, we will require the new organization to honor this Privacy Policy. If it will not, we will first give you notice and choices that match this policy.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make important changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the new policy on our site with a new “Last updated” date and a plain-language summary of what changed. Where appropriate, we will ask for your consent before the changes take effect.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices, please contact us at:

office@socialjusticecollaborative.org
(510) 992-3964
1832 Second Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.