Community Food Navigator Privacy Policy

  1. Effective Date: June 21, 2022; Updated: February 19, 2024

Thank you for joining us on the Community Food Navigator, the website and mobile application of the Community Food Navigator (“Navigator”), a project of Windward Fund, a Washington, D.C. non-profit organization!

Our vision is to create collaborative spaces where people, communities, and organizations connect and organize based on their shared interest in local, accessible, and healthy food for all. In the process of connecting, we aim to expand our shared understanding about ways to democratize the systems that control our food, and thereby move us toward greater racial and economic equity and justice for communities addressing food inequities in the Chicago region, centering first on Black, Brown and Indigenous food growers, producers, mobilizers and organizers and the communities they serve.

Navigator is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to its website, mobile application, and services. This Privacy Statement (“Statement”) applies to the Navigator website and platform, the Community Food Navigator App (“App”), and any other product or service which includes a link to this Statement (collectively, “Digital Tools”), and governs our data collection and usage of information collected from the Digital Tools. By using the Digital Tools, you consent to the data practices described in this Statement. Navigator may at any time revise this Statement by updating this posting. The most current Navigator Privacy Policy will always be located at: https://communityfoodnavigator.org/privacy-policy/

This Privacy Statement contains the following sections:

  1. Navigator’s Data and Privacy Principles
  2. Information We Collect
  3. Use of Information
  4. Sharing of Information
  5. International Data Transfers
  6. Mobile Communications Data
  7. Your Rights and Choices
  8. Children’s Privacy
  9. Updates and Changes to this Policy
  10. Protection of Information
  11. Retention of Information
  12. Contact Information

1.    Navigator’s Data Privacy Principles

To achieve Navigator’s community goals, Navigator prepared this Privacy Statement keeping in mind the following data privacy principles:

    • Provide notice to data subjects of the collection of information through this Privacy Statement.

    • Develop policies and procedures to protect the security of data for the goal of preventing unauthorized access, disclosure of information, or tampering.

    • Practice responsible transparency as the default where possible throughout the entire data lifecycle.

    • Respect the needs of different stakeholders as they relate to privacy and data ownership, including notice and transparency.

    • Take reasonable care to communicate clearly, responsibly, and accessibly. This includes acknowledging and disclosing caveats and limitations to the process and outputs; considering and providing clear opportunities for feedback from stakeholders; considering and discussing whether something should be done (not just if it can be done); and identifying and communicating who may be impacted and how, in order to minimize any potential harm from data work.

    • Exercise ethical imagination, including considering the implication of what came before and what may come after, and working to increase benefit and prevent harm.

2.    Information We Collect

Navigator understands that when you visit the Digital Tools you are expressing interest in learning more about, supporting, or engaging in shared local, accessible, and healthy food for all—and in doing so, you are trusting us with your information. This is a responsibility that we take seriously, and we want to make sure that you understand what data is being collected, why we collect it, and how you manage and control your information.

    1. Information You Provide to Us:

You may provide the following types of information to us:

    • Contact details, such as name, email address, phone number, employer, job title and address;

    • Username and password for our Digital Tools;

    • Information about your interactions with us;

    • Demographic information, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests, and favorites, which we will aggregate or deidentify before repurposing;

    • Information you choose to provide to us, such as user profile information.

    1. Cookies and Other Information Collection Technology:

Through our online properties, we and third parties may collect information from your computer or other device by automated means such as cookies. These technologies help optimize the functioning of our Digital Tools and your experience. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some parts of Navigator’s Digital Tools.

Through our online properties, we and third parties may collect information from your computer or other device by automated means such as cookies. This information may include geolocation information provided by your device or contained in user submissions such as digital images or videos, unique browser identifiers, IP address, browser and operating system information, device identifiers (such as advertising identifiers), other device information, Internet connection information, as well as details about your interactions with the relevant website, email or other online property (for example, the URL of the third-party website from which you came, the pages on our website that you visit, and the links you click on in a website). In some cases (such as cookies), the tools described here involve storing unique identifiers or other information on your device for later use.

These technologies help:

    • Display personalized content;

    • Remember your settings on the pages you visit so that we can display your preferred content the next time you visit;

    • Perform analytics, measure traffic and usage trends, and better understand the demographics of users;

    • Diagnose and fix technology problems;

    • Plan for and enhance our Digital Tools; and

    • Facilitate the other uses and disclosures described in this Privacy Statement.

You may be able to set your browser to refuse certain types of cookies, or to alert you when certain types of cookies are being used. Some browsers offer similar settings for HTML5 local storage and other technologies. However, if you block or otherwise reject cookies, local storage, JavaScript or other technologies, certain websites (including some of our own websites) may not function as expected.

To opt out of Google Analytics, you can visit the Google Ads Settings page from each browser. Google also allows you to install a Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for each browser.

Please note, however, that we do not respond to browser-based do-not-track signals, as the Internet industry is currently still working toward defining exactly what DNT means and a common approach to responding to DNT.

3.    Use of Information

We and our service providers use the information described above for the following purposes:

    • Foster diversity and openness by making efforts to include participants from a variety of communities and socioeconomic backgrounds and with a broad representation of viewpoints;

    • Administer your account, including to process your registration and verify your information;

    • Provide, manage, and improve our Digital Tools;

    • Customize content and preferences on the Digital Tools;

    • Provide you with information that you have agreed to receive, including electronic communications, newsletters, and updates on behalf of us or our authorized stewards;

    • Conduct business operations in support of our services, such as auditing, security, fraud prevention, invoicing and accounting, sales and marketing, analytics, and research and development;

    • Create aggregated or de-identified information;

    • Comply with laws, regulations, and other legal process and procedures;

    • Establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights; and

    • For purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information.

4.    Sharing of Information

We may share your information as follows:

    • With Service Providers: We may share your information with companies that provide services to us, such as providers of data storage, marketing, web hosting, security, analytics, and fraud prevention.

    • With Authorized Partners: We may share information with our authorized stewards.

    • With People You Share and Communicate With: When you share or communicate using the App, other users of the App may be able to see what you share, such as when you publish a post on the App or message another user on the App.  In some cases, people you share and communicate with may download or re-share this content with others on and off the Digital Tools.

    • Legal: We may share information to comply with legal process served on Navigator or as otherwise required by law.

    • Protection of Navigator and Others: We may share information when we believe disclosure is appropriate in connection with efforts to investigate, prevent, or take other action regarding illegal activity, suspected fraud, or other wrongdoing; to protect and defend the rights, property or safety of our organization, our employees, our customers, or others; and to enforce our contracts.

    • Your Consent: If you have consented to additional sharing of your information, we may also share your information consistent with your consent.

    • Aggregate and De-Identified Information: To the extent that we aggregate and/or deidentify your information so that it does not identify you or your device, we may share such information with third parties for any purposes.

5.    International Data Transfers

We are located in the United States, and recipients of the data disclosures described in this Privacy Statement are located in the United States and elsewhere in the world, including where privacy laws may not provide as much protection as the laws of your country where you live.

6. Mobile Communications Data

Our services may include certain features and services that may be available via your mobile phone, including, without limitation: (a) the ability to receive information and reply to messages via in-app push notifications, and to send content and messages using text messaging (“Mobile Texts”), and (b) the ability to access our services from your mobile phone (“Mobile Web”) (collectively, the “Mobile Services”).  By using Digital Tool features such as in-app push notifications, SMS, MMS, text messaging, or certain device-specific information, information about your usage of the Mobile Services will be communicated to us and may also be shared with our service providers. 

7. Your Rights and Choices

You have the option to access, correct, and delete your personal information. You can unsubscribe from Navigator marketing emails by clicking the unsubscribe link in a marketing email, and you can make certain choices regarding the use of cookies and similar technology as described in section 2 above. To delete your Navigator app account and the associated information from our systems under Profile > Settings, click Delete Account. For all other data requests, email help@communityfoodnavigator.org

8.    Children’s Privacy

The Digital Tools are intended for general audiences and not for children under the age of 13. If you believe that we have collected “personally identifiable information” (as defined by the United States Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) from children under the age of 13 without legally valid parental consent, please inform us and we will take appropriate steps regarding such information.

9.    Updates and Changes to This Policy

Navigator may update this Privacy Statement from time to time, such as to reflect changes in our practices or for legal reasons. We will post those changes here or on a similarly accessible page.

10.    Protection of Information

To help protect information, we have put in place measures to protect information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These measures may vary based on the sensitivity of the information that we maintain about you. However, we cannot assure you that data that we collect under this Privacy Statement will never be used or disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Statement.

11.  Retention of Information

We will retain your information as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Statement unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period of time. To provide security and organizational continuity for the activities described in this Privacy Statement, we may make backups of certain data, which we may retain for longer than the original data.

12.  Contact Information

Navigator welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy statement. If you have any questions or comments regarding our privacy policy and practices, or to submit a request or complaint, please email us at help@communityfoodnavigator.org.