Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

The Privacy Policy (“Policy”) below is applicable to Sequoia Climate Foundation (“Sequoia Climate Foundation,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) website, located at www.sequoiaclimate.org (the “Website”), and any site under the root domain. The Policy also applies when you submit grant applications to us.

This Policy describes the types of personal information (or “personal data”) we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the Website or submit grant applications to us, and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information. This Policy applies to personal information we collect: (i) on the Website, and (ii) via email and other electronic messages between you and the Website.

If you have any questions about this Policy or about how we use your personal information, please contact us at [email protected].

Please read this Policy carefully before using the Website. By accessing or using the Website, you hereby agree to be bound by this Policy.

If you do not agree to this Policy for any reason, please do not use the Website.

We may make changes to this Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to this page along with a notice at the end of the Policy of the last date that any changes were made. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of any changes will mean you accept the Policy as modified.

WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT

You may visit our Website without being required to provide your name, email address, or similar personal information. However, we may collect several types of information from and about users of the Website, which may be personally identifiable, including information:

  • that is about you but individually does not directly identify you; and/or
  • about your internet connection, the computer, device, or other equipment you use to access the Website, and usage details.

Such information may include usage details, IP addresses, general location information, the browser and type of machine you are using, the websites that you visit immediately before and after the Website, the pages of the Website you visit, time and date of access, software crash reports, search terms and search results, and information collected through browser cookies and other technologies described in the Cookies and Other Technologies section below.

We also collect personal information you provide in connection with grant applications, which may include names and contact information.

How We Collect Information. We collect this information in the following ways:

  • Directly from you when you provide it to us. You may give us your personal data by corresponding with us through the Website, by email, by subscribing to (or signing up for) any e-newsletter, submitting a grant application, or otherwise.
  • Indirectly from third parties, such as our grantee organizations. We may receive personal data about you from third parties and other sources, including your organization/company, publicly available sources, and third-party analytics providers. For example, we use a third-party provider to assist us in processing grant applications.
  • Automatically using cookies and other technologies, including as described in the section below.

COOKIES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. Each browser is different; the site en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie includes instructions for managing cookies on many commonly used browsers. However, if you disable cookies, you may be unable to access certain parts of the Website. We have provided this 3rd party link as a recommended resource only and we are not responsible for the content on the site.

By using the Website with your browser settings configured to accept cookies, you consent to our use of cookies on the Website.

We may also use web beacons or pixels. A web beacon or pixel (also known as an “action tag” “tracer tag,” or “single-pixel GIF”) is an invisible graphic on a web page or e-mail newsletter that is programmed to collect information about your use of a given website or newsletter, e.g., whether you opened the email. Like cookies, web beacons allow Sequoia Climate Foundation to summarize overall usage patterns for our analysis and provide personalized services to you.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We may use the information we collect to:

  • communicate with you, including to review and respond to your inquiries and grant applications, and to provide information you request from us;
  • assist in reviewing or evaluating grant applications you submit to us;
  • provide, maintain, and improve the Website, including research and analytics regarding users of the Website and usage patterns;
  • notify you about changes to the Website or the Policy;
  • comply with applicable law and any legal obligations to which we are subject; or
  • administer and protect the Website, including to detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be illegal.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it unless we reasonably determine that we need to use it for another reason that is compatible with the original purpose(s) and/or as required or permitted by law.

We do not track visitors of the Website over time and across third-party websites to provide targeted advertising and therefore do not respond to Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals.

HOW WE COMBINE YOUR INFORMATION

We may combine information gathered from the Website and information that we have received, gathered, acquired, or stored from other sources, both information collected offline by Sequoia Climate Foundation and information received from third parties—including information that currently exists in our files—into a single record. We also use and/or combine information that we collect offline or receive from third-party sources (e.g., contact information from government funders or grantor information) to edit, enhance, and/or check the accuracy of your record.

HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

Sequoia Climate Foundation does not sell, rent, or otherwise disclose your personal data to any third parties, except as described below.

We may disclose your personal data to third-party service providers who use the information to perform services on our behalf, such as website hosting, information technology services, data management, or to help us with any other use of personal data that we are permitted to do under this Policy. We strive to contract with our third-party service providers to limit how they can use personal data.

We may use or disclose your personal data as we deem necessary or appropriate under applicable laws; to respond to requests from public, governmental, and regulatory authorities; to comply with court orders, litigation procedures, and other legal processes; to obtain legal remedies or limit our damages; and to protect the rights, safety, or property of Sequoia Climate Foundation, our employees, you, or others.

DATA SECURITY

No data transmission over the internet can be 100% secure; therefore, Sequoia Climate Foundation cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information submitted on or to the Website.

Nevertheless, we have put in place security measures that are intended to help prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to help protect your personal data, however, there is no guarantee that information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of such safeguards.

We have put in place procedures to help address any personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

DATA RETENTION

We retain your personal data as long as is necessary for our legitimate interests and in accordance with applicable laws.

Users from Outside the United States

The Website is operated and controlled by Sequoia Climate Foundation in the United States. By using the Website, you acknowledge that your information will be processed as described in the Policy (including in the United States or elsewhere, as described in the Policy).

Users Resident in the European Economic Area (“EEA”)

As the United States has not been deemed by the Commission of the European Union (“EU”) to ensure an adequate level of data protection to comply with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (including the protection of data subject rights under GDPR), note that when you use the Website or provide personal data in connection with it, you are providing it to Sequoia Climate Foundation in the United States.

We process personal data on the following legal bases: (1) where you have given us your consent; (2) as necessary to perform our agreements; (3) as necessary to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject; and/or (4) as necessary for our legitimate interests in providing services where those interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedom related to data privacy.

Individual Rights

If you reside in the EU or in China, you may have the following rights (as noted) under data protection laws with respect to the personal data you provide to us:

  • To request access to or correct your personal data.
  • To request your personal data be erased if it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was processed; you have withdrawn your consent to, or object to, its processing and there are no other legitimate grounds for processing it; or you consider it has been unlawfully processed.
  • (For EU residents) To request that processing of your personal data be restricted if you contest the data’s accuracy, its processing is unlawful, or you have objected to its processing and await verification of our legitimate grounds for processing it.
  • (For EU residents) To request transfer of your personal data to another company under certain circumstances.
  • (For EU residents) To lodge a complaint with your national data protection regulator if you feel that your personal data has been unlawfully processed.
  • If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at [email protected]. 

If you reside in the EU, the data controller (as defined under EU data protection law) will be Sequoia Climate Foundation.

THIRD-PARTY LINKS

This Website may contain links to, or may be linked from, other websites, including sites of organizations funded by Sequoia Climate Foundation and other third-party websites. This Policy does not apply to any website other than this Website. Sequoia Climate Foundation does not control, review, or monitor, and is not responsible for, any website of another organization or the content on such website. The existence of a hypertext link to or from another website should not be interpreted as an endorsement thereof. We encourage you to review the terms of use and privacy policy of any website that you visit.

MINORS

This Website is directed solely at adults. If you are under the age of sixteen (or if being a ‘minor’ is defined as a younger age in your relevant jurisdiction, that relevant age), please do not provide us with any of your personal data, including your email address. If you believe that your child has provided us with such information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected] or as indicated below.

CALIFORNIA “SHINE THE LIGHT” LAW

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us a list of what personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year and the names and addresses of those third parties. Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge. Under Section 1798.83, we currently do not share any personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

CONTACT DETAILS

Any questions or comments about this Policy and/or our privacy practices should be sent to Sequoia Climate Foundation at [email protected]. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

This Policy was last updated February 21, 2025.