Updated December, 2022

Section 1 - Purpose

This policy explains what information VillageCo collects when you use a Village Platform database to interact with a specific Village community.  It also has information about how we store, use, transfer, and delete that information.  Our aim is not just to comply with privacy law, but to earn and retain your trust.

Section 2 - Definitions

The Village Platform is an application created on the Airtable database system which provides tools for organizing communities.  The Village Platform may be deployed as a stand-alone database unique to a single Village, or may incorporate multiple Villages within a single deployment.  

A Village Platform will have a primary user account, often a Google account created to manage a Village.  All access and controls will be managed through this account, which may be shared by multiple administrators of a Village. 

Section 3 - Information Collected

The Village Platform is distributed freely, and administered by volunteer leaders of a Village community.  No information is shared between Villages, and no personal information is collected by VillageCo from individual Village Platform deployments.

Information Ownership & Stewardship

Each Village Database is managed by individuals who are responsible for being assigned as an owner for the associated online accounts, and for stewarding the information in accordance with VillageCo policies and Member Agreements.

Data stored in Village databases is owned and stewarded by either;

1. VillageCo, which will host the database and all associated data in their enterprise plan.  Each Village Database is hosted in discrete deployments so that ownership can easily be transferred to a member of the Village community.

2. A local Village Administrator, which will pay for and manage the needed information systems to host the database and data.  In this case, VillageCo will not have access to the data.

A disclosure of who owns and stewards your Village’s data can be found at the bottom of any Village email.

Data Collection Methods

Membership Form

The following information is collected and stored from all individuals who complete a Village Membership form: First name, full name, email address, and profile photo.

Check-in Form

The following information is collected when a member submits a check in form: Date & Time of checkin, member and gathering being checked in, and volunteered information that may include a personal update, photo, and announcements.

Engagement Participation Form

The following information is collected when a member submits an Engagement Participation form: Date & time of form submission, Member & Engagement information.

Information Not Collected

Village does not collect tracking or analytics information in any forms or emails.  No information is stored or retrieved from members’ devices.  No third party tools are used to track the use of Village forms or emails.  We do not collect information outside of the forms listed in Section 3.

Section 4 - Your Rights

Basic Rights

VillageCo is aligned with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the most comprehensive policy governing information rights in the world.

Among these basic rights are:

• Right to Information and of Access - this and all other policies governing Villages are available to you.  In addition, you may request information from a Village Administrator.  The procedure for this request is outlined in Section 9 of this policy

• Right to Rectification or Erasure - if any information is inaccurate, you may request that it be updated, and such requests will be reviewed and processed in a timely manor. You may request all your information is erased, including any transactional information.  The procedure for this request is outlined in Section 9 of this policy

• Right to Restriction of Processing - while any updates or in process, or for any other reason, you may request that your information not be processed or included in any Village emails or publications.  The procedure for this request is outlined in Section 9 of this policy

• Right to Data Portability - you may request a copy of your information in a format that is accessible to other partners, and without hindrance of such intention by VillageCo or Village Administrators.

• Right to Object - you may unsubscribe from emails and otherwise request to be omitted from any aspect of information transmission related to Village, and such requests shall be by complied with by the Village Administrator.

• Right to Avoid Automated Decision-Making - you will not be considered party to a contract, or having authorized use of your information outside the terms of this policy based on the outcomes of an automated process.  Rather, explicit consent shall be required for any use of your information outside the terms of this policy.

Modifying or Deleting Your Personal Information

You may request to have your information modified by contacting your Village Administrator by responding to any Village email.  

You may request to have your personal information deleted from the Village Database by contacting your Village Administrator.

Section 5 - Public Data

In most cases and by default, all information collected at Village is considered private and may not be used, shared, sold, or otherwise distributed in any external system or social media platform.  

If Village members have an interest in taking a photo for use in outreach or to be posted on a public forum, members must be notified and provide consent prior to the photo being taken.  

In the case of group photos, by default that will be considered private and for internal distribution only, unless the group is notified prior to the photo being taken, and individuals who do not consent are given an opportunity to remove themselves from the photo.

Share-back recordings

In some cases, a recording is made during a Village gathering to capture the summaries of discussions that took place, as well as any announcements for the group.  These recordings are intended for internal use only.  Should there be an interest in recording an element of a gathering for purposes other than internal distribution, members must be notified prior to the recording, and given an opportunity to remove themselves from the recording.

Section 6 - Tracking & Analytics

No tracking is conducted inside emails or by any other means.  There is no collection of tracking information by any visitors or members of Village.  All information is collected by the voluntary submission of forms.

The Village Platform does use Check-In form information to allow Village administrators to monitor the attendance and engagement of Members. Village Administrators may check-in a member who has not checked in themselves in the event they attend a gathering. 

The VillageCo website does not utilize cookies or collect tracking information of visitors to the website.

Section 7 - Data Security

VillageCo manages and adheres to a comprehensive Data Security and Compliance policy.  This policy outlines the security measures in place for all Village systems, and reports the individuals who have access to our systems.  

The Compliance policy outlines an annual process for auditing and reviewing our internal controls and practices as they relate to our security and privacy policies.  This audit is conducted by our Audit Committee, made up of parties both inside and not affiliated with VillageCo.

Section 8 - Third Party Services

This section identifies the business partners involved in the Airtable Platform, and what information they can access.

Airtable

All Villages utilize a platform owned by the corporation Airtable.  The Village Platform, constructed to provide tools to groups to organize Villages, is owned by Airtable.  However, the data inside each Village Platform application is owned by either VillageCo or a Village Administrator as outlined in Section 3.

Per section 1.4 “Your Content” of the Airtable Terms of Service, all information stored in the Village Platform (which is built using Airtable) is owned exclusively by the registered owners of that account.  Airtable, as a corporate partner, cannot and may not use information such as email addresses stored in hardware devices which they own.  

Section 9 - Subject Access Requests

This section outlines the process for requesting information from a Village Platform deployment.  These requests may include:

• Requests for rectification

• Request for erasure

• Restricted Processing

For all requests, contact a Village Administrator.  Administrators are identified at Village Gatherings, and at the bottom of all Village Emails.  In most cases, Village Administrators may be reached by replying to any Village email.