Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator is a charity evaluation and donations platform.

4.4/10

How we calculate ratings →

Handling

Does the policy allow personally-targeted or behavioral marketing? Yes, but you may opt-out

4/10

Score

Yes

Yes, but you may opt-out

35%

Yes, but you must opt-in

70%

100%

Citation

c. Interest Based Advertising. Charity Navigator incorporates remarketing by utilizing third party vendors (such as Google) to display content specific advertisements to visitors who have previously visited the Charity Navigator site and/or expressed interest in the Charity Navigator products when such visitors go to other websites that also incorporate similar remarketing tools. Charity Navigator and other third-party vendors, including Google, use first-party cookies and third-party cookies together to inform, optimize and serve ads based on a User’s past visits to the Charity Navigator site.

[…]

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 requires that all California residents be afforded the option to exercise your choice of whether your personal information may be shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes or not, as well as to receive information specified in the statute if your personal information is disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Accordingly, if you are a California resident and you wish to inform Charity Navigator whether you permit or refuse the sharing of your personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes, or if you wish to request certain information if your personal information were to be disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes, please contact us as described in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

Notes

To process donations, Charity Navigator’s uses third-party services Classy and Network for Good.

For California residents, Charity Navigator acknowledges that they may explictly opt-out of personal information sharing with third-parties for marketing purposes, per the state’s 2003 Shine the Light law.

Does the service allow you to permanently delete your personal data? No

0/5

Does the service allow third-party access to private personal data? Yes, all parties specified (including non-critical service providers such as advertisers)

3/10

This may come in the form of outright data sharing or by using local third-party analytics software (such as Google Analytics, which collects a plethora of user information).

Note that whether the policy allows sharing aggregated user data does not affect this question.

If the personal data is encrypted when it passes through the third-party, it does not count as third-party access (as the data is inaccessible to that party).

If personal data has been made public by, for example, posting it to a blog, it does not count as private personal information (and is therefore not considered by this question).

Score

Yes

The policy allows sharing personal data with third parties (not just critical service providers), and does not explicitly list the third parties.

Yes, all parties specified (including non-critical service providers such as advertisers)

30%

Yes, not all parties specified (but only to critical service providers)

70%

Yes, all parties specified (only to critical service providers)

80%

100%

Citation

a. Google Analytics. Charity Navigator uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses Cookies to help the website analyze how users interact with the Platform. Other Information generated by the Cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of Cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Google Analytics collects information anonymously. It reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. You can opt out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site. For more information on opting out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites you use, visit Google Ad Settings. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.

b. AddThis. Charity Navigator uses AddThis, a web analytics and sharing service provided by Oracle Corporation. AddThis uses Cookies to help the website analyze how users visit the site and to provide a suite of tools for users to share, follow, view, recommend, and interact with content provided by Charity Navigator. Other Information generated by the Cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by AddThis. To opt-out of data collection from AddThis, please visit AddThis’ Privacy Policy page and follow instructions to “Opt Out.”

Notes

Google Analytics and AddThis are used to track user behavior and collect personal information including IP addresses.

Third-party advertisers on Charity Navigator will track past visits to the website.

When does the policy allow law enforcement access to personal data? When reasonably requested

3/5

Score

Always

This includes cases in which law enforcement either runs the service or has a known backdoor into (or relationship with) the service.

Not specified

When reasonably requested

60%

Only when required by a court order or subpoena

80%

N/A (no personal data to share)

The service would have no personal data to share with law enforcement.

100%

Never (special legal jurisdiction)

The service operates in a jurisdiction in which sharing data with law enforcement is never required.

100%

Citation

To the extent permitted by law, we may also disclose the Personal Information and the Other Information: (i) when required by law, court order, or other government or law enforcement authority or regulatory agency; or (ii) whenever we believe that disclosing such information is necessary or advisable, for example, to protect the rights, property, or safety of Charity Navigator or others.

Transparency

Does the policy outline the service's general security practices? Somewhat

1/3

Score

Somewhat

The policy provides only a very vague overview of its security practices.

30%

Yes

60%

Yes, including audits

"Reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as audits.

80%

Yes, including independent audits

Independent "reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as independent audits.

100%

N/A

The service doesn't collect any personal information.

100%

Citation

To help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. Our website uses a Transport Layer Security, the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private. All online donation transactions are handled by Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant vendors. PCI refers to the technical and operational standards that businesses must follow to ensure that credit card data provided by cardholders is protected.

Is the policy's history made available? Only the date it was last modified

3/5

Does the policy require users to be notified in case of a data breach? Not necessarily

0/7

Will affected users be notified when the policy is meaningfully changed? No

0/5

Collection

Does the service collect personal data from third parties? Yes, but for critical data only

7/10

This includes the use of data brokers and independent verification authorities (such as background check providers).

Score

Yes

Yes, but for critical data only

For example, a blog providing user avatars or a bank conducting identity verification would count.

70%

100%

Citation

Donations made directly to Charity Navigator and to Charity Navigator made through resources including Classy Inc. from which we collect Personal Information such as your name, billing address, and e-mail address, if you have not already provided these details. We collect information about your donation, including the amount of your donation. The Classy Inc. privacy policy can be reviewed here: https://www.classy.org/terms/privacy

Donations made through Charity Navigator using Network for Good, from which we collect Personal Information such as your name, billing address, and e-mail address, if you have not already provided these details. We collect information about your donation, including the charity you are donating to and the amount of your donation. Please note that any donations made through Network For Good, Inc. — including any donations made to charities other than Charity Navigator — are also subject to Network For Good’s privacy policy, which states in part: “Network for Good respects and protects your privacy and will never sell, trade or rent your personal information to other individuals or companies. The information that you provide is used only to complete your donation.” Network for Good’s complete privacy policy is accessible at http://www.networkforgood.com/about/privacy/). We also collect (but do not retain) credit card numbers which are processed by a third-party payment vendor subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. By using a third-party vendor, your information is subject to use based on the vendor’s terms of service and policies. Charity Navigator encourages you to review these policies carefully

Notes

To process donations, Charity Navigator’s uses third-party services Classy and Network for Good.

Is it clear why the service collects the personal data that it does? Mostly

7/10

Does the service allow the user to control whether personal data is collected or used for non-critical purposes? On an opt-out basis, but only for some non-critical data/uses

3/10

Some services allow users to opt-out or opt-in to of non-critical collection or use of personal data, such as collecting data for personalized advertisements.

Score

On an opt-out basis, but only for some non-critical data/uses

30%

On an opt-out basis, for all non-critical data/uses

60%

On an opt-in basis

60%

N/A (no data used for non-critical purposes)

100%

Citation

We may from time to time share Charity Representative Users’ (“Charity Representative User” is the charity’s designated official representative to manage its Charity Navigator profile, ) Personal Information and Other Information with other companies who may provide such users information about the products and services they offer. However, to the extent required by law, such users will be given the opportunity to opt-out of such sharing by contacting us as described in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

Notes

Charity Navigator also collects personal data through AddThis, Classy, Google Analytics, and Network for Good.

Does the policy list the personal data it collects? Yes, exhaustively

10/10

Score

The policy does not claim to not collect personal data, but it also doesn't provide any meaningful insight into the types of personal data it collects.

Only summarily

The policy uses overly vague language to provide a summary of the types of collected personal data.

30%

Yes, generally

All general categories of collected personal data are listed, though not all types of personal data are explicitly mentioned (for example, the list might use a phrase like 'such as' when listing types of personal data).

70%

Yes, exhaustively

All types of collected personal data are listed specifically

100%

N/A (no personal data is collected)

100%

Citation

Charity Navigator collects information when you visit our website, create an account, edit your account information, or use features on the platform to donate to a charity. Some of this information is technical information automatically logged by our servers. Outlined below are the types of information, both directly from you and indirectly through the collection of information by third-party service providers (together, “Partners”) that we specifically collect.

Last Updated

June 24, 2020

Sources

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Contributors

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