Privacy Policy

POLIS Institute (POLIS, we, us) operates this website at growopportunity.org. POLIS Institute is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Central Florida.

This policy explains what information we collect through this website, why we collect it, how long we keep it and what choices you have.

It covers this website only. It does not cover other websites we link to, including partner organizations, social media platforms and forms hosted elsewhere.

We collect personal information only when you choose to send it to us. The forms on this website may ask for:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your organization
• Your phone number, on the research inquiry form, where it is optional
• The area of interest you select
• The message, nomination or research question you write

The POLIS Presence Award nomination form also asks for the name and the organization or role of the person you are nominating. Please nominate someone only if you are comfortable sharing those details with us.

We do not ask for payment card numbers, government identifiers or other sensitive personal information anywhere on this website.

When you submit a form, our form software records your IP address, the page you submitted from and the date and time of the submission. We use this to identify and block spam.

Our web host keeps standard server logs, which include IP addresses and browser information, for security and troubleshooting.

We do not run Google Analytics, advertising pixels or any software that tracks you for marketing purposes. We do use Google reCAPTCHA for spam protection, and it runs on every page. That is described in the next two sections.

This website sets no cookies of its own for ordinary visitors. If you browse growopportunity.org without signing in, we place no cookies on your device.

WordPress sets cookies only for people who log in to manage the site.

Services we embed from other companies can set their own cookies and read information about your device. Google reCAPTCHA does this on every page, and Donorbox does it on our Donate page. Because these cookies are set by those companies rather than by us, they are governed by those companies and their own privacy policies.

These are the only outside services this website connects to:

• Google reCAPTCHA. We use reCAPTCHA version 3 to keep automated spam out of our forms. It loads on every page of this website, not only on pages with a form, and it analyzes browsing behavior to decide whether a visitor is a person or a bot. Google collects device and behavior information to do this. Your use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service.
• Google Fonts. Our typefaces load from Google servers on every page, so your IP address is visible to Google when a page loads.
• Donorbox. Our Donate page embeds a Donorbox giving form. If you donate, Donorbox collects your details and processes your payment directly. POLIS never receives or stores your card details. Donorbox handles that data under its own privacy policy.
• Google Forms. A few pages link out to forms hosted on Google Forms. Anything you enter there is collected by Google under its privacy policy, not by this website.
• YouTube. Some pages link to videos on YouTube. These are ordinary links rather than embedded players, so YouTube receives nothing about you unless you click through.
• Facebook and Instagram. Our footer links to our social profiles. These are ordinary links. We run no tracking pixel and embed no social feed.
• SiteGround. Our web host. It stores this website, its database and its server logs.

We use what you send us to:

• Reply to your question, inquiry or nomination
• Discuss a possible partnership, engagement or research project
• Review POLIS Presence Award nominations
• Keep a record of our correspondence and our work
• Protect this website from spam and abuse

We do not sell your information. We do not rent, trade or hand it to anyone for their own marketing. POLIS does not currently operate a mailing list, so sending us a form does not subscribe you to anything.

Form submissions are emailed to POLIS staff and stored in this website database. Access is limited to POLIS staff and the contractors who maintain the site.

We may disclose information where the law requires it, or where we need to protect the rights and safety of POLIS, the people we work with or the public.

We keep form submissions for as long as we need them to respond to you and to keep a record of our work. You can ask us to delete yours at any time.

Server logs are kept by our host on its own schedule for security purposes.

You can ask us to:

• Tell you what information we hold about you
• Correct anything that is wrong
• Delete what you sent us
• Stop using your information to contact you

Email us using the address at the bottom of this page and we will respond. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights under laws such as the Florida Digital Bill of Rights or the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.

This website is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

This website is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection, and our forms carry spam protection. No website can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable steps to protect what you send us.

If we change this policy, we will revise the date shown at the top of this page. Please check back from time to time.

Questions about this policy, or about information you have sent us:

POLIS Institute
1001 N. Orange Ave
Orlando, FL 32801
Email: media@polisinstitute.org