Unified Wood Economy
Effective Date: March 17, 2026
Unified Wood Economy (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of everyone who visits our website at uweconomy.org. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what rights you have regarding your information. Please read this policy carefully. By using our website, you agree to the practices described below.
Contents
- Information We Collect
- How We Use Your Information
- Cookies & Tracking Technologies
- Third-Party Services
- How We Share Your Information
- Data Retention
- Security
- Your Rights & Choices
- Children’s Privacy
- External Links
- Changes to This Policy
- Contact Us
1. Information We Collect
We collect information in two ways: information you give us directly, and information collected automatically when you visit our site.
Information You Provide Directly
Contact Form. When you submit a message through our Contact page, we collect the following information:
- First and last name (required)
- Organization name (optional)
- Email address (required)
- Your message (required)
This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry. We do not add contact form submitters to any mailing list without their explicit consent.
Information Collected Automatically
When you browse our website, certain technical data is collected automatically by our hosting platform and analytics tools. This may include your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URLs, pages visited, time and date of your visit, and time spent on pages. This data is used in aggregate form to understand how our site is used and to improve user experience. It is not used to identify you personally.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Responding to inquiries. Information submitted through the contact form is used to respond to your message and explore potential partnerships, project collaboration, or service inquiries.
- Site improvement. Automatically collected data helps us understand how visitors use our site, which content is most useful, and where we can make improvements.
- Security and fraud prevention. Technical data helps us detect and prevent spam, abuse, and security threats.
- Legal compliance. We may process or retain information as necessary to comply with applicable law.
We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling, and we do not sell your information to third parties.
3. Cookies & Tracking Technologies
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — and similar technologies. Some cookies are essential to the site’s functionality; others help us understand usage or are set by third-party services embedded in our pages.
| Cookie / Technology | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress session cookies | Essential | Maintain site functionality (e.g., form submission state, admin sessions if logged in) | Session / persistent |
| WP Engine / caching cookies | Performance | Store cached page versions to improve load speed (site is hosted on WP Engine) | Session / short-lived |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Security / Functional | Protects the contact form from spam and bot submissions; Google may set cookies and collect behavioral signals | Session / persistent |
| Analytics (if active) | Analytics | Aggregate, anonymized site usage statistics to understand visitor behavior | Persistent (up to 2 years) |
Managing cookies. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse new cookies, delete existing cookies, or receive a warning before cookies are stored. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality. For more information on managing cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.
We do not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, as there is no agreed-upon industry standard for doing so. However, you may opt out of analytics tracking through your browser settings or by using a browser extension such as the Google Analytics Opt-Out Add-on.
4. Third-Party Services
Our website relies on several third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review their policies directly:
| Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| WP Engine | Website hosting | wpengine.com/legal/privacy |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Spam and bot protection on contact form | policies.google.com/privacy |
| GiveButter | Donation processing | givebutter.com/privacy |
Note on donations: When you donate through GiveButter, that transaction is processed entirely by GiveButter. We do not receive or store your payment card information. Please review GiveButter’s privacy policy for details on how your financial data is handled.
5. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers. We share data with third-party tools that help us operate the website (listed in Section 4 above), solely for the purposes described in this policy.
- Legal requirements. We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
- Organizational transfers. In the unlikely event of a merger, acquisition, or dissolution of Unified Wood Economy, user data may be transferred to a successor organization, provided it continues to be used in a manner consistent with this policy.
We will not share personally identifiable information with any partner, sponsor, or outside party for marketing or fundraising purposes without your explicit prior consent.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, or as required by applicable law.
- Contact form submissions are retained for as long as is reasonably necessary to respond to your inquiry and maintain a record of communication, typically no longer than three years unless an ongoing relationship requires otherwise.
- Automatically collected technical data is typically retained in aggregate or anonymized form and does not identify individual users.
7. Security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the personal information we hold against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Our website uses HTTPS encryption for data in transit. Contact form submissions are protected by Google reCAPTCHA.
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately at the address provided in Section 12.
8. Your Rights & Choices
Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:
- Access. The right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction. The right to request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Deletion. The right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
- Data portability. In some jurisdictions, you have the right to receive a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Withdrawal of consent. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
Residents of California are afforded additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Residents of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom may have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or UK GDPR, including the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information in Section 12. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
9. Children’s Privacy
Our website is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately and we will take steps to delete that information.
10. External Links
Our website contains links to external websites and partner organizations. Once you leave our site, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external site you visit. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Your continued use of our website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:
Unified Wood Economy
114 S Collington Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: 410.300.4206
Email: info@uweconomy.org
Website: uweconomy.org/contact
We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within five business days.