Privacy Policy

The Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy — U.S.A. (“HICD USA,” “we,” “us”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect through hicd-usa.com, why we collect it, and what choices you have. We have written it in plain language rather than legalese.

The short version

We collect only what you deliberately give us: what you type into our contact form, and what you provide to PayPal when you pay dues or make a gift. We do not sell, rent, or trade your information. We do not run advertising trackers on this site, and we never see your card number.

Information we collect

Information you give us directly

• Contact form. Your name, email address, optional organization, chosen subject, and the message you write. We also record the time of submission and the IP address the message came from, which helps us filter spam.
• Membership and donations. When you join or give, checkout takes place on PayPal's own systems. PayPal tells us your name, email address, the amount, and the transaction ID so that we can credit your membership or acknowledge your gift. We never receive or store your card number, bank details, or PayPal password.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs. Our web host records standard request logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested, timestamps) as part of operating the server. These are used for security and troubleshooting.
• No advertising or analytics trackers. This site does not set cookies for advertising, and does not run third-party analytics.

Third-party embeds

Some pages embed content hosted by other companies, specifically YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. When such content loads, those companies may set their own cookies and can see that you visited the page. Their handling of your data is governed by their privacy policies, not ours.

How we use your information

• To reply to enquiries you send us
• To administer memberships, process dues, and acknowledge donations
• To send the members-only newsletter and event invitations, where you are a member
• To meet our record-keeping and reporting obligations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
• To protect the site against spam and abuse

We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.

Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share it only with:

• PayPal, which processes payments on our behalf
• Our web host and email provider, which necessarily handle data in transit as part of delivering the site and our mail
• Authorities, where we are legally required to do so

Donors are recognized publicly by name in our Annual Report, on this website, and in event programs only where that recognition is part of the benefits of the giving level you selected. If you would prefer to give anonymously, tell us and we will honor it.

How long we keep it

Contact form messages are retained for up to two years. Membership and donation records are retained for at least seven years, as required for nonprofit financial recordkeeping and tax reporting.

Your choices and rights

• Access. Ask us what personal information we hold about you.
• Correction. Ask us to fix anything inaccurate.
• Deletion. Ask us to erase your information, except where we must retain financial records by law.
• Unsubscribe. Opt out of our newsletter at any time using the link in any newsletter, or by emailing us.

To exercise any of these, email deegeehicd.usa@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

This site is served over HTTPS. Payment data is handled entirely by PayPal under their own security controls. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we will update the date at the top of this page and, where the change is significant, notify members by email.

Contact us

The Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy — U.S.A. (“HICD USA,” “we,” “us”)
1605 Hillmeade Drive, Nashville, TN 37221
deegeehicd.usa@gmail.com
615-416-4613