The Ridenhour Prizes at the Government Accountability Project operates the ridenhour.org website, delivers newsletters and other content via email, and makes the same or similar content available to mobile users (collectively, "Services"), and we care about your security and privacy.

This Privacy Policy informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use Government Accountability Project Services and the choices you have associated with that data. Our Privacy Policy applies when you use any of the Government Accountability Project Services. Our Privacy Policy does not govern or apply to information collected or used by Government Accountability Project through other means, including physical mail correspondence.

It also does not apply to websites maintained by other companies or organizations to which we may link or who may link to us. We are not responsible for the actions and privacy policies of third-party websites.

By using Government Accountability Project Services, you agree to the collection and use of information described in our Privacy Policy, including our use of cookies and similar online tools. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Services.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, email us at [email protected] or write us at:

Government Accountability Project
1612 K St. NW, Suite #808
Washington DC, 20006

We can also be reached by phone at (202) 457-0034

For information on how this Privacy Policy applies to your use of Government Accountability Project Services, please visit the relevant section below.

Information Collection and Use

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve the Government Accountability Project Services.

Generally, we collect and use information to:

  • Deliver relevant content on the ridenhour.org website
  • Send newsletters and emails related to our mission (including fundraising solicitations)
  • Accept donations to continue and further our mission
  • Gather general usage statistics via Google Analytics to improve the ridenhour.org website interface, structure, function, and experience

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Government Accountability Project Services, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data"). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Phone number
  • Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City
  • Cookies and Usage Data

We may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, Government Accountability Project-related marketing or promotional materials, fundraising solicitations, and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send or by contacting us at 202-347-1122, please provide your name, email, and the products that you would like to discontinue.

If you disclose any Personal Data relating to other people to us or to our service providers in connection with the Government Accountability Project Services, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to permit us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Usage Data

We may also collect information on how Government Accountability Project Services is accessed and used ("Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of Government Accountability Project Services that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.

Tracking Cookies Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity of users on Government Accountability Project Services and to hold certain information.

Cookies are files with small amounts of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier to recognize you and your devices across multiple visits. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Government Accountability Project Services.

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, some portions of Government Accountability Project Services may not be available for use or able to function properly.

Examples of Cookies we use:

  • Session Cookies. We use Session Cookies to operate and enhance Government Accountability Project Services in various ways, including customizing your experience using the Services and determining the most relevant content to show you.
  • Preference Cookies. We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings so that you don’t have to reenter the same information repeatedly.

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties and combine it with information we receive from or about you. For example:

  • Information from social media websites: When you interact with any Government Accountability Project property page or account on a social media platform, such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Slack, Snapchat, or LinkedIn, we may collect the personal information that you make available to us on that page or account, including your social media account ID. We will comply with the privacy policies of the social media platform and we will only collect and store such personal information that we are permitted to collect by those social media platforms. With your consent, we also may share information about your activities, including what you view on our websites, with that social network’s users.

Other Information We Collect

We also may collect other information about you, your device, or your use of Government Accountability Project Services in ways that we describe to you at the point of collection or otherwise with your consent. You may choose not to provide us with certain types of information, but doing so may affect your experience in using the Services.

Use of Data

Government Accountability Project uses the collected data for various purposes:

  • To provide and maintain Government Accountability Project Services
  • To notify you about changes to Government Accountability Project Services
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of Government Accountability Project Services when you choose to do so
  • To provide customer support
  • To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve Government Accountability Project Services
  • To monitor the usage of Government Accountability Project Services
  • To detect, prevent, and address technical issues
  • To provide you with news, special offers, and general information about other goods, services, and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information

Additionally, Government Accountability Project may share your information with:

  • Third-Party Service Providers. Third party agents and vendors perform functions on our behalf, including, but not limited to, hosting, content management tools, social media integration, marketing, fundraising, analytics, billing, and customer service. These entities may have access to personal information if needed to perform their functions. If such access is required, the third parties will be obligated to maintain the privacy and security of that personal information. They are restricted from using, selling, distributing, or altering this data in any way other than to provide the requested services to Government Accountability Project.

Or in the form of:

  • Aggregate or Anonymous Information. We also may share other information with third parties in a manner that does not identify particular users. For instance, we may share such information to help us determine how parts of Services are used, so that we may improve our Services. We will also may share aggregate information with our partners and other third parties about how our users collective demographics or how they collectively use our Services. We also may share aggregate information with our partners about how many advertising impressions were delivered.

Additionally, business operations and functions may require the sharing of your data, for example in instances such as:

  • Assignment. In the event of a corporate change in control (for instance, a sale or merger), Government Accountability Project may transfer your personal information to the new party in control or the party acquiring assets. In such circumstances, we would seek to ensure the acquiring party follows the practices described in this Privacy Policy. We cannot promise, however, that an acquiring company or the merged company will have the same privacy practices or treat your information the same as described in this privacy policy.

And finally, we may share your information:

  • With Your Consent or At Your Direction. In addition to the sharing described in this Privacy Policy, we may share your information with third parties whenever you consent to or direct such sharing.

Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data Under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If you are from the European Economic Area (EEA), Government Accountability Project’s legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Data we collect and the specific context in which we collect it.

Government Accountability Project may process your Personal Data because:

  • We need to perform a contract with you
  • You have given us permission to do so
  • The processing is in our legitimate interests and it's not overridden by your rights
  • For payment processing purposes
  • To comply with the law

Retention of Data

Government Accountability Project will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

Government Accountability Project will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Government Accountability Project Services, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

Government Accountability Project will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Data

Legal Requirements

Government Accountability Project will fight to safeguard your Personal Data to the best of our ability as permitted by law. However, in some circumstances, we may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation or court mandate
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of Government Accountability Project
  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with Government Accountability Project Services
  • Protect the personal safety of users of Government Accountability Project Services or the public
  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

"Do Not Track" Signals

Your browser or device may include “Do Not Track” functionality. Because a “Do Not Track” compliance protocol has not yet been finalized, Government Accountability Project’s information collection and disclosure practices, and the choices that we provide to customers, will continue to operate as described in this Privacy Policy, whether or not a Do Not Track signal is received.

Your Data Protection Rights Under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. Government Accountability Project aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.

If you wish to be informed what Personal Data we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

The right to access, update, or to delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update, or request deletion of your Personal Data directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.

The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data.

The right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.

The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable, and commonly used format.

The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where Government Accountability Project relied on your consent to process your personal information.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Service Providers

We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate Government Accountability Project Services ("Service Providers"), to provide Government Accountability Project Services on our behalf, to perform Government Accountability Project Services-related services, or to assist us in analyzing how Government Accountability Project Services are used.

These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Analytics

We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of Government Accountability Project Services.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of Government Accountability Project Services. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

You can opt-out of having made your activity on Government Accountability Project Services available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.

For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Terms web page:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Payments

We may provide paid products and/or services within Government Accountability Project Services. In that case, we use third-party services for payment processing (e.g. payment processors).

We will not store or collect your payment card details. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of payment information.

The payment processors we work with are:

EveryAction / Paragon Payment Solutions

Their Privacy Policy can be viewed at:
https://www.everyaction.com/privacy
 https://paragonsolutions.com/privacy-policy/

PayPal

Their Privacy Policy can be viewed at: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

Links to Other Sites

Government Accountability Project Services may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party sites or services.

Children's Privacy

Government Accountability Project Services does not address anyone under the age of 18 ("Children").

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Your California Privacy Rights

Government Accountability Project does not disclose your personal information to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes unless you affirmatively agree to such disclosures.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of our privacy policy from time to time without notice. Your continued use of our Services following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. If we intend to apply the modifications or amendments to this Privacy Policy retroactively or to personal information already in our possession, we will provide you with notice of the modifications or amendments and seek your consent for such use.

Please note that our Services are under constant development. This Privacy Policy may therefore be modified and updated on an ongoing basis. Please check back to this page regularly.