What do we think about your security?

The Internet is not a secure environment. However, we make every reasonable effort to protect your personally identifiable information. It is also important for you to protect your personal information. We recommend that you only provide personal information within a secure environment. The policies described herein were established to respect your security while you are viewing our site. We are not responsible for your security beyond the boundaries of http://www.bethiaumc.org

What do we do to protect the privacy of children (under 18)?

Safeguarding the security and privacy of children is of paramount importance to us. Therefore, we will obtain verifiable parental consent prior to the collection of any personally identifiable information about children. We will not knowingly give children the ability to post publicly or otherwise distribute personally identifiable information without prior verifiable parental consent.

Regarding the posting of photos including children, there will be no caption identifying the name of the minor, without the permission of the parent or guardian. Although pictures on the BUMC website my include children, we will in no way identify them personally. Rather, special care will be taken to make sure captions are general in nature.

What do we do with your personally identifiable information?

We may collect a variety of information from our users in different ways through our online resources. This allows us to be in ministry to you, to personalize our website, to personally contact you if necessary, and to ensure the effectiveness of our electronic ministries.

We only store this information within our own secure internal databases. We may combine this information with any other relevant data held in our databases to build a picture of your interests, likes and dislikes, and spiritual gifts in order that we may optimize our ministry efforts together.

We will share or disclose your personal information with others only if (1) you consent to such disclosure (either verbally or in writing); (2) you request something from us which requires us to provide the information in order to comply with your request; (3) a person, organization or entity that does work on our behalf needs the information in order to do the work, but only if the information is not used for other purposes and it is kept confidential and not retained after the work has been completed; (4) in compliance with any legal or administrative process, including subpoenas and court orders; (5) to enforce or apply this policy or any other agreement; or (6) to protect the rights or property of the BUMC Website Ministry and/or the personal safety of its employees, users or others.

In summary, it is most probable that we may use this information internally within BUMC to send you information by post or by e-mail to inform and update you about our various ministry opportunities.

What are cookies and how do we use them?

Cookies are tiny files containing small bits of information that your web browser stores on you hard drive if we request. Cookies enable us to remember you and your personal information from one session to another, thereby enabling us to provide better individualized ministry to you. Cookies also enable us to remember any information you gave us, so you do not have to re-input it on each subsequent visit. Most browsers accept cookies. However, you may alter your browser setting to disable that feature. If you do, you may still access most features available on this website, but you may have to re-input more data between sessions. We hold no responsibility for cookie transfer outside the realm of this website.

What is our policy on e-mail and spam?

We may, from time to time, contact you by e-mail. We will not divulge personal information e-mail, because we recognize that the Internet is not secure. We may keep details of any exchange of e-mails between us, as we may do for traditional correspondence.

We do not use or tolerate spam. Spam is, by generally accepted definition, unsolicited marketing e-mail sent to someone who either has no reasonable expectation of receiving it or has specifically requested it not to be sent. We consider spam to be an invasion of privacy and will never send unsolicited e-mails of this type.

We will not send any e-mails without your express permission or your reasonable expectation. Therefore, all of our electronic publications are sent only to those who have either expressly subscribed to them or have agreed to receive further electronic mailings from us.

If, for some reason, we have your e-mail address without knowing whether your preference is to receive or not to receive further mailings, we may send you an unsolicited e-mail asking whether you would prefer to receive further mailings. We will always make it easy for you to request not to receive further electronic mail from us.

What is significant about our Helpful Links page?

This website includes a links page for the purpose of providing additional resources to our viewers. While we try to maintain links that promote the spiritual growth of our viewers, information in related links may not necessarily reflect the doctrine of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, the privacy of personal information, including third party release of information, cannot be guaranteed outside the parameters of the BUMC website.

How will you be made aware of changes to this policy?

The BUMC Website Ministry Team may amend this privacy policy at any time. If we do so, we will post the changes on this page, with the change, the effective date and the word "Amended" prominently displayed. By continuing to use the BUMC website, you are agreeing to accept these changes. The use, sharing and disclosure of information, whenever submitted or collected, shall be subject solely to the privacy policy in effect at the time such use, sharing or disclosure occurs.

How can we improve our Website Ministry?

It is our wish to maintain a secure and friendly website that our viewers will not only return to but will recommend to others. Most importantly, we want you to recognize that we value and respect our viewers, and will stand behind our privacy policy. In the event you have any questions or concerns relating to this policy or this website, please contact: webmaster@bethiaumc.org or call the church office at (804) 739-3459.