The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) is committed to maintaining trust by valuing and recognizing the privacy and sensitivity of the personal information of AFCC members or other persons transacting business with the association. This privacy policy sets out how AFCC uses and protects any of the aforementioned information that is provided to AFCC.

Types of information we collect:

Personal Data:

AFCC collects the following types of data that enables AFCC to identify or contact you and to carry out business purposes.  This may include applying for membership, purchasing materials or registering for a conference, webinar, training program or otherwise interacting with AFCC. The types of personal data include but are not limited to the following:

  • General data (e.g., name, home or business addresses, email, Internet protocol addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers) that are provided by our members and customers;
  • Professional data (e.g., professional degree);
  • Government-issued identification numbers (e.g., social security numbers, national identification numbers and tax identification numbers) when AFCC is making a payment to members such as honoraria or expense reimbursements. This information is also collected for AFCC independent contractors and employees;
  • Other identification information (e.g., photographs);
  • Financial information (e.g., credit and debit card numbers, credit reports, passwords and PIN numbers) for conference registration, product sales or employment purposes;
  • Sensitive Personal Data (e.g., racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation and disability data) for diversity or accessibility purposes.

AFCC also receives Personal Data from third parties for use in marketing to potential new members, or conference registrants, such as lists of members from other organizations.

Non-Personal Data:

AFCC also collects information (whether online, by phone, or by paper) that does not directly identify you as you interact with AFCC. We use this data to improve the usability of our website and membership management software. The types of Non-Personal Data we collect includes, but is not limited to:

  • Site usage (e.g., browsing history, search terms, number of clicks, referring/exit pages, date/time stamp, time on Site);
  • Products and services viewed, including advertisements for such products and services;
  • Computer type, operating system and platform type;
  • Internet service provider

What we do with the information we gather:

AFCC requires your information for the following reasons:

  • To publish the AFCC online directory, which is password protected and accessible only to AFCC members;
  • To publish electronic conference registration lists (excluding email addresses), which are distributed to conference registrants;
  • To process orders, registrations and membership applications.
  • To respond to member requests;
  • For internal record keeping, such as accounts payable or credits;    
  • To improve our products and services;  
  • To send inquiries to members, e.g., research or member surveys;
  • Deliver and process member surveys;
  • To identify you when you visit our website;
  • Personalize and improve the usability of our website;
  • Tailor content, advertising and marketing to you;
  • To deliver tailored communication to you about AFCC activities, programs or products or other information that we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided. From time to time, these communications may include information about other organizations’ activities.

From time to time AFCC may share your street mailing address only with related organizations so that AFCC members may receive conference brochures from these organizations. Related organizations include, but are not limited to, the Association for Conflict Resolution, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and the National Association of Counsel for Children. AFCC may also share data with third parties to fulfill service requests and to perform business functions (e.g., AFCC contracts with a publishing company to mail the Family Court Review to members, and with a mail house to send conference program brochures). AFCC may also share data with third parties as required by law or in unanticipated situations but only with your consent.

What we will not do with the information we gather:

  • AFCC will not release information to the public about an AFCC member or other person transacting business with the association except as required by law.
  • AFCC will not rent, sell or share your information with the exception of sharing street addresses with related organizations, for purposes of mailing conference brochures, as noted above.
  • AFCC will not send email messages to members or others for the sole purpose of promoting commercial ventures of other organizations including, but not limited to, conferences, training programs and publications.

Security

AFCC is committed to ensuring that information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Certain areas of the AFCC website require the use of a user ID and password as an additional security measure to help protect your personal data. To help you protect your privacy, you may log in and log out of the website.

AFCC implements commercially reasonable security measures to help protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction of data. Except for membership directories, membership lists and registration lists, and the sharing of information as set forth in this privacy policy, we restrict access to personal data to certain companies who need the data to operate, develop, or improve our services. These individuals or partner organizations are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is fully secure. Accordingly, and despite our reasonable efforts to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, AFCC cannot guarantee or warrant the security of the personal data you transmit to us, or to or from our online sites. If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact AFCC at afcc@afccnet.org.

California Privacy Rights

In addition to the rights as explained in this privacy policy, under California’s "Shine the Light" law, California residents who provide personal information (as defined in the statute) to obtain products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the personal information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of personal information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in the current year will receive information about the prior year). To obtain this information please write to us at: AFCC, 6525 Grand Teton Plaza, Madison WI 53719. Attn: California Privacy Law. Please include your full name and address.

Canada Anti-Spam Law

AFCC complies with the Canada Anti-Spam Law. Non-AFCC members or associates who provide us a Canadian mailing address will not receive unauthorized Commercial Electronic Messages (as defined under the Canada Anti-Spam Law) unless these individuals have “opted-in” to receive Commercial Electronic Messages.

Children

AFCC does not knowingly collect Personal Data from or market to children under the age of 13.

Your Right to Access Data

AFCC will, upon request, provide confirmation regarding whether or not your personal data is being processed and for what purpose.  AFCC will also provide a copy of your personal data, free of charge, in electronic format, upon request.

How You Can Access, Change and Delete Your Personal Data

We rely on you to update and correct your personal data.  Typically, we retain your personal data for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. This may include retaining your personal data indefinitely, even after you are no longer an AFCC member, in order to provide you with future marketing opportunities and other purposes, as well as to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce any of our agreements.  Please note that you can request, at any time, that we delete and cease dissemination of your personal data.  When we delete your personal data, it will be removed from our active databases or anonymized so that the data is no longer identified with you.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on a computer's hard drive. It does not give access to a hard drive. If accepted, the file is added and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or lets an individual know when a particular website is visited. Cookies allow web applications to respond to individuals. The web application can tailor its operations to individual needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information with regard to preferences.

AFCC uses traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used to assist in analyzing data about webpage traffic to improve AFCC’s website content in order meet the needs of members and other users. This information is only used for the purposes of statistical analysis. Once the analysis is complete the data is removed from the system.

An individual can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. An individual may be able to modify a browser setting to decline cookies. However, this may prevent access to all of the information provided on the website.

Links to Other Websites

The AFCC website contains links to enable individuals to visit other websites of interest. AFCC does not have control over these websites. Therefore, AFCC is not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information provided by an individual while visiting such sites. Websites linked to the AFCC website are not governed by this privacy statement. Individuals should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Additional Protection of Information

In addition to the protections outlined in this policy, members may choose to restrict the collection or use of information. To do so please go to the AFCC website and log in to your member profile.

  • AFCC members may opt out of the AFCC online directory entirely.
  • AFCC members may choose to exclude their telephone number and/or email address from the AFCC online directory.
  • AFCC members may opt out of having their name and street address provided to related organizations for the purpose of receiving conference brochures.