Privacy Policy

The Buddha Meditation Center of Greater Washington DC Website: https://buddhameditationdc.org

Effective Date: May 27, 2025 Last Updated: June 03, 2025

1. Introduction

The Buddha Meditation Center of Greater Washington DC (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a nonprofit Theravada Buddhist meditation center located in Washington, D.C. We are committed to protecting the privacy of all individuals who visit our website at buddhameditationdc.org (the “Site”) or participate in our programs.

This Privacy Policy explains:

  • What information we collect and why
  • How we use and store that information
  • What third-party services we use and their privacy implications
  • Your rights regarding your personal data

By using our Site, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Site.

2. Who We Are

Organization Name: The Buddha Meditation Center of Greater Washington DC

Location: Washington, D.C., USA

Contact Email: info@buddhameditationdc.org

3. Information We Collect

We collect information only when you actively submit it to us through forms on our Site. We do not use the Site to passively collect personal information from general visitors beyond what is described in this policy.

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect the following categories of personal information through our online forms:

Form Type Information Collected
General Contact Form Name, email address, phone number, message
Class / Event Registration Name, email address, phone number, physical address, age / date of birth, emergency contact information
Volunteer / Membership Sign-Up Name, email address, phone number, physical address
Newsletter / Mailing List Sign-Up Name, email address

3.2 Information We Do Not Collect

We do not intentionally collect:

  • Financial or payment card information (payments are handled exclusively by third-party platforms — see Section 6)
  • Sensitive personal information such as religious beliefs, health information, or government identification numbers beyond what is reasonably necessary for participation in our programs or events
  • Information from children under the age of 13 directly (see Section 8 — Children’s Privacy)

3.3 Automatically Collected Information (Third-Party Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our Site. Google Analytics may automatically collect:

  • IP address (anonymized)
  • Browser type and version
  • Device type and operating system
  • Pages visited and time spent on each page
  • Referring website or search terms
  • General geographic location (country/city level)

This data is collected by Google and governed by Google’s own Privacy Policy. We do not control the retention period of data collected by Google Analytics. Please refer to Google’s Privacy Policy for details.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information only in ways reasonably related to supporting our nonprofit religious, educational, meditation, and community activities including the following:

  • To respond to your inquiries submitted through the general contact form
  • To register you for classes, events, or programs you have signed up for
  • To process volunteer or membership applications
  • To send newsletters, program updates, and announcements to subscribers (via Mailchimp — see Section 6)
  • To contact you in case of emergency using emergency contact information provided during event registration
  • To improve our website and programs using aggregated, anonymous analytics data from Google Analytics

We do not:

  •  Sell or rent your personal information to third parties
  •  Use your information for advertising or marketing beyond our own program communications
  •  Share your personal information with outside organizations except where reasonably necessary to operate our website, communications, event registration systems, donation processing, analytics, or other services provided through trusted third-party service providers described in Section 6.

4.1 Legal Disclosure and Protection

We may disclose personal information when required to do so by law, legal process, court order, or governmental request, or when we believe disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, property, or security of our organization, community members, visitors, or others. 

5. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR — EU Visitors)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, our legal basis for processing your personal data is:

  • Consent — when you voluntarily submit a form, subscribe to our newsletter, or register for a program
  • Legitimate Interests — for website analytics to improve the Site’s performance and usability, where such interests do not override your fundamental rights

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at info@buddhameditationdc.org.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your personal data. Each operates under its own privacy policy, and we encourage you to review them.

6.1 Google Analytics

6.2 Mailchimp (Intuit)

  • Purpose: Newsletter and email communication management
  • Data Collected: Name, email address of subscribers
  • Privacy Policy: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/
  • Unsubscribe: Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link

6.3 Eventbrite

6.4 Zeffy

6.5 WordPress (Automattic)

  • Purpose: Website content management system (CMS) hosting our Site
  • Data Collected: May collect technical data such as IP addresses and server logs
  • Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/

6.6 Embedded Third-Party Content

Our Site contains embedded content from the following services, which may collect data about you independently when you interact with that content:

When you interact with any embedded content, those third parties may use cookies or similar tracking technologies, which are governed by their respective privacy policies, not ours.

6.7 International Data Transfers

Some third-party services we use (including analytics, email communications, registration, donation processing, and embedded content providers) may process or store personal information on servers located outside your state, country, or jurisdiction, including in the United States and other countries where privacy laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.

By using our Site or submitting information through our services, you acknowledge that your information may be transferred to and processed in these locations.

7. Cookies

Our Site uses cookies in the following contexts:

  • Google Analytics cookies — to track anonymized visitor behavior for analytics purposes
  • Third-party embedded content cookies — cookies set by Google Maps, Facebook, YouTube, and our chatbot provider when you interact with those elements

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of certain parts of the Site.

8. Children’s Privacy

8.1 General Programs (Adults)

Our general meditation classes, Sutta study programs, and most events are intended for adults (18 years and older). Individuals under 18 should not submit forms independently for adult programs.

8.2 Children’s Programs

For programs specifically designed for children, a parent or legal guardian must submit all registration forms on the child’s behalf. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under the age of 13.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe your child’s information has been collected without your consent, please contact us immediately at info@buddhameditationdc.org.

This policy is in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), U.S. federal law.

9. Data Retention

9.1 Information You Submit Through Our Forms

Personal information submitted through our forms (including contact, registration, volunteer/membership, and newsletter forms) is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to support program administration, legal obligations, historical organizational records, safety considerations, community operations, or other legitimate nonprofit purposes.

You may request deletion of your personal information at any time by contacting us at info@buddhameditationdc.org. Upon receiving a verified deletion request, we will remove your personal information from our active records within a reasonable timeframe, unless retention is required for legal, administrative, or safety purposes.

 

9.2 Third-Party Data Retention

Data collected by third-party services (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, Zeffy, WordPress, and embedded content providers) is subject to those services’ own retention policies. We do not control how long those services retain your data. Please refer to the privacy policies listed in Section 6 for details.

10. Data Security

We take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. Our website operates over HTTPS (encrypted connection), and access to collected data is limited to authorized personnel within our organization. We also seek to work only with reputable third-party service providers that maintain reasonable security and privacy safeguards.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

11.1 All Users

  • Right to Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
  • Right to Deletion — Request that we delete your personal data
  • Right to Correction — Request that we correct inaccurate information

11.2 California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

  • The right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
  • The right to delete your personal information
  • The right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information (Note: We do not sell personal information)
  • The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise your California privacy rights, contact us at info@buddhameditationdc.org.

11.3 European Union / EEA Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the EU or EEA, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

  • Right of Access (Article 15)
  • Right to Rectification (Article 16)
  • Right to Erasure / “Right to be Forgotten” (Article 17)
  • Right to Restriction of Processing (Article 18)
  • Right to Data Portability (Article 20)
  • Right to Object to processing (Article 21)
  • Right to withdraw consent at any time

To exercise your GDPR rights, contact us at info@buddhameditationdc.org. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

12. Newsletter and Email Communications

If you subscribe to our newsletter, your name and email address are stored and managed through Mailchimp. We use this list solely to send information about our programs, events, and teachings.

You may unsubscribe at any time by:

  • Clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email we send, or
  • Contacting us at info@buddhameditationdc.org

13. External Links

Our Site may contain links to external websites (including social media pages and third-party program platforms). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before submitting any personal information.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal obligations. When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us:

The Buddha Meditation Center of Greater Washington DC Email: info@buddhameditationdc.org

Website: https://buddhameditationdc.org

We will respond to all privacy-related inquiries within a reasonable timeframe.

This Privacy Policy covers the website buddhameditationdc.org only and does not apply to any third-party websites, platforms, or services linked from our Site.