While Faith and Wisdom (www.faithandwisdom.org) is a shared, cooperative ministry of the The Episcopal Church, USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Presbyterian Church (USA), The Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church, the Web site is stored on an ELCA server and maintained by ELCA staff. Therefore, the Privacy Policies of the ELCA are those that are used for www.faithandwisdom.org. 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's
Web Site Privacy Policy

This privacy policy describes the ELCA’s current policies and practices with regard to personal data collected by the ELCA through this web site. This privacy policy does not apply to information collected offline or in any other way. The term "personal data" refers to personally identifiable information about you, such as your name, birth date, e-mail address or mailing address, and any other information that identifies you personally.

1. Your Consent
2. Notification Of Changes To This Policy
3. Personal Data Collected Through This Web Site
4. Anonymous Data Collected Through ELCA Websites
5. Cookies
6. Children
7. Links to Other Sites
8. Governing Law
9. Questions About Our Privacy Policy

1. Your Consent
By using this web site or any ELCA Web site, you consent to our use of your personal data as described in this privacy policy.

(^ back to top ^)

2. Notification Of Changes To This Policy
The ELCA is continually improving and adding new functionality and features to this web site and improving and adding to its existing services and programs. Because of these ongoing changes, changes in the law and the changing nature of technology, the ELCA’s data practices will change from time to time. If and when our data practices change, the ELCA will post the changes on this web site to notify you of the changes. We encourage you to check this page frequently.

(^ back to top ^)

3. Personal Data Collected Through This Web Site
The only personal data the ELCA currently collects through this web site is the information you give us when you use our site. This includes, for example, the information you provide when you register for a chat room, newsletter or other program or service or when you send us your comments or requests for information.

The ELCA uses the information you provide for the purposes for which it was originally collected, for example, to respond to your e-mail or provide the programs or services you requested. The ELCA also uses this information to help us improve the content and functionality of our web sites, to better understand the needs and interests of the people and organizations that use our web site, and to improve our programs and services. The ELCA may use this information to contact you in the future to tell you about organizations, programs, services, and other things we believe will be of interest to you or to ask for your support.

The ELCA may share the personal information you provide to us with consultants and other third parties who act for or on behalf of the ELCA, for further processing or analysis. In addition, there may be some other, limited circumstances in which the ELCA may share or transfer the personal information in its databases, for example, to comply with a legal requirement, for the administration of justice, to protect your vital interests, to protect the security or integrity of our databases or this web site, to take precautions against legal liability, or in the event of a corporate merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar event.

(^ back to top ^)

4. Anonymous Data Collected Through ELCA Websites
In addition to the information you provide when you use our web site, The ELCA uses technology to collect anonymous information about the use of our web site. For example, we use technology to track how many visitors access our web site, the date and time of their visit, the length of their stay, and which pages they view. We also use technology to determine which web browsers our visitors use and the address from which they accessed our site.

This technology does not identify you personally. It simply enables us to compile statistics about our visitors and their use of our site. The ELCA uses this anonymous data and shares it with third-parties for various reasons, for example, to improve the content and functionality of our web site, to better understand the needs and interests of our visitors, to improve our programs and services.

(^ back to top ^)

5. Cookies
In order to collect the anonymous data described in the preceding paragraph, the ELCA may use temporary "cookies" that collect the first level domain name of the user (for example, if your e-mail address is "name@xyz.com," the cookie collects the "xyz.com" portion of your e-mail address) and the date and time you accessed this Web site. Cookies by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user. A cookie is a small piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies do not damage your computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This enables you to decide if you want to accept it or not. At the present time, the ELCA only uses temporary or "session" cookies. These "session" cookies expire when your browser window is closed.

In order for certain applications on the ELCA’s websites to function properly, if at all, it is necessary for your computer to accept cookies.

(^ back to top ^)

6. Children
The ELCA does not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under thirteen, please do not give us any personal data. If you have reason to believe that a child has provided personal data to the ELCA, please contact us, and we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases. As we develop online programs for children, we will adopt appropriate policies and practices to protect the privacy of children.

(^ back to top ^)

7. Links to Other Sites
This privacy policy applies only to this web site. This site contains many hyperlinks to web sites that are not operated by the ELCA. These hyperlinks are provided for your reference and convenience only and do not imply any endorsement of the activities of these third-party web sites or any association with their operators. The ELCA does not control these web sites and is not responsible for their data practices. We urge you to review the privacy policy posted on any site you visit before using the site or providing any personal data about yourself.

(^ back to top ^)

8. Governing Law
This privacy policy forms part of our web-site and as such shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois.

(^ back to top ^)

9. Questions About Our Privacy Policy
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or concerns about the way the ELCA uses personal data, please contact us.

(^ back to top ^)

(This policy was last updated on October 29, 2001)