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Privacy Policy

ABC respects your privacy

The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC) respects your privacy. This Privacy Statement informs you of our privacy practices and of the choices you can make about the way information about you, including from your online activity is collected and how that information is used by ABC. This statement is readily available on our christiancounseling.com home page and at the bottom of every ABC web page. Please use the links below to access translations of this statement and any applicable country specific or service specific supplements to the statement.

1. Scope of this Privacy Statement

ABC is a global organization, with legal entities, business processes, management structures, and technical systems that cross borders. This Privacy Statement applies to all ABC-owned websites, domains, services, applications, and products.

Links to non-ABC websites

From time to time, ABC sites or services may provide links to third-party applications, products, services, or websites for your convenience and information. If you access those links, you will leave the ABC site. ABC does not control those third party sites or their privacy practices, which may differ from ABC’s practices. The personal data you choose to provide to or that is collected by these third parties through their websites is not covered by the ABC Privacy Statement. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you interact with before allowing the collection and use of your personal information.

We may also provide social media features that enable you to share information with your social networks and to interact with ABC on various social media sites. Your use of these features may result in the collection or sharing of information about you, depending on the feature. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and settings on the social media sites with which you interact to make sure you understand the information that may be collected, used, and shared by those sites.

2. Collection of personal information

ABC collects, exports, and uses personal information to manage your membeship and relationship with ABC and better serve you by personalizing your experience and interaction with ABC. Such collection is done with appropriate notice and consent. ABC may collect your personal information through your access and use of website, web-based applications, or mobile applications, during conversations or correspondence with ABC representatives, or when you purchase goods or services or complete an online application form.

ABC may collect personal information from you in connection with

  •  membership
  •  event registration
  •  product or service orders and activations
  •  information requests or complaints
  •  marketing, newsletter, journal or support subscriptions
  •  visits or browsing on ABC sites

The types of personal information ABC may collect from you includes:

  •  personal and business contact information, such as name, address, telephone number, and email address
  •  financial information, such as your credit/debit card number or other billing information
  •  other unique information such as user IDs and passwords, product functionality, product and service preferences, contact preferences, and/or content preferences and needs 
  • geo-location data such as your IP address or physical location when you request location based services
  • details of the products and services you have purchased from us or which you have enquired about, together with any
  • additional information necessary to deliver those products and services and to respond to your enquiries
  • any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly through our websites or indirectly through use of
  • our websites or online presence, through our representatives or otherwise
  • information you provide to us through our service center or customer surveys from time to time

If you choose to use recommend someone through a referral program on our site, we will ask you for your friend’s e-mail address, social media handle, phone number, or other contact information to send your friend an invitation to participate in the program.

If you post, comment, indicate interest or complaint, or share personal information, including photographs, to any public forum on an ABC site, social network, blog, or other such forum, please be aware that any information you submit can be read, viewed, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to contact you, send you unsolicited messages, or for purposes that neither you nor ABC have control over. ABC is not responsible for the personal information you choose to provide in these forums.

In addition to the information you provide, ABC may also collect information during your visit to an ABC website or web-based application through our Automatic Data Collection Tools, which include Web beacons, cookies, and embedded Web links. These tools collect certain traffic information that your browser sends to a website, such as your browser type and language, access times, and the address of the website from which you arrived. They may also collect information about your Internet Protocol (IP) address, unique device identifier, clickstream behavior (i.e., the pages you view, the links you click, and other actions you take in connection with ABC websites. ABC may also use some of these Automatic Data Collection Tools in connection with certain emails and communications sent from ABC and therefore may collect information using these tools when you open the email or click on a link contained in the email.

ABC may also collect some information that is not personal information because it does not identify you or anyone else. For example, we may collect anonymous answers to surveys or aggregated information about how users use our websites, products or services.

3. How we use your information

ABC may use your information to

  •  cultivate our relationship with you
  •  assist you in completing a transaction or order
  •  prevent and detect security threats, fraud or other malicious activity
  •  communicate with you about ABCs products, services or support and send communications
  •  provide products, services and support to you
  •  improve and develop products, services and support including through quality control, research and data analysis activities
  •  update you on new services and benefits
  •  provide personalized promotional offers
  •  allow you to participate in surveys
  •  answer inquiries, provide information, support or advice about existing and new products or services
  •  personalize some ABC websites
  •  provide you with access to protected areas of our website
  •  assess and improve the performance and operation of ABC websites
  •  to keep your contact details up to date
  •  to process and respond to any complaint or request made by you

Credit card information is used only for payment processing and fraud prevention.

4. How we share your information

ABC will not sell, rent or lease your personal information to others. Except as described in this Statement, ABC will not share the personal information you provide to ABC with third parties without your permission, unless to: (i) respond to duly authorized information requests of police and governmental authorities; (ii) comply with any law, regulation, subpoena, or court order; (iii) investigate and help prevent security threats, fraud or other malicious activity; (iv) enforce/protect the rights and properties of ABC; or (v) protect the rights or personal safety of ABC, our employees, and third parties on or using ABC property when allowed and in line with the requirements of applicable law. Circumstances may arise where, whether for strategic or other business reasons, ABC decides to sell, buy, merge or otherwise reorganize as a business. Such a transaction may involve the disclosure of personal information to prospective or actual purchasers, or the receipt of it from sellers. ABC’s will seek appropriate protection for information should any of these types of transactions arise.

5. Children’s privacy

ABC does not knowingly collect information from children as defined by local law, and does not target its websites or mobile applications to children. We encourage parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s online and mobile activities and interests.

6. Your choices and selecting your privacy preferences

ABC gives you the choice of receiving a variety of information that complements our products and services. You can subscribe to receive certain product- and service-specific information and also choose to receive ABC general communications. We offer you a choice regarding delivery of ABC general communications by postal mail, email, telephone, or mobile device.

7. Access to and accuracy of your information

ABC strives to keep your personal information accurately recorded. We have implemented technology, administrative processes and policies to help maintain data accuracy. ABC provides individuals with reasonable access to personal information that they provided to ABC and the reasonable ability to review and correct it or ask for anonymization, blockage, or deletion, as applicable. To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity, such as requiring a password and user ID, before granting access to your data. To view and change the personal information that you directly provided to ABC you can email your request to info@christiancounseling.com

8. Keeping your personal information secure

ABC takes seriously the trust you place in us. To prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure the appropriate use of the information, ABC utilizes reasonable and appropriate physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard the information we collect and process. ABC retains data only as required or permitted by local law and while it has a legitimate business purpose.

When collecting or transferring sensitive information such as credit card information we use a variety of additional security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. The personal information you provide us is stored on computer systems located in controlled facilities which have limited access. When we transmit highly confidential information (such as credit card number or password) over the internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

Credit card numbers are used only for processing payments and are not used for other purposes. As part of real-time payment processing, ABC subscribes to fraud management services. This service provides ABC with an extra level of security to guard against credit card fraud and to protect your financial data.

9. Changes to this Statement

If we modify our Privacy Statement, we will post the revised statement here, with an updated revision date. If we make significant changes to our Statement that materially alter our privacy practices, we may also notify you by other means, such as sending an email or posting a notice on our corporate website and/or social media pages prior to the changes taking effect. This privacy policy was last updated on January 2015.

10. Contacting us and how to make a complaint

We value your opinions. If you have comments or questions about our Privacy Statement, any concerns or a complaint regarding our collection and use of your data or a possible breach of your privacy, please send them to info@christiancounseling.com or write to us at the appropriate address below. We will treat your requests or complaints confidentially. Our representative will contact you within a reasonable time after receipt of your complaint to address your concerns and outline options regarding how they may be resolved. We will aim to ensure that your complaint is resolved in timely and appropriate manner.

Association of Biblical Counselors

PO BOX 126555

FORT WORTH, TX 76126

p. 877-ABC(222)-4551

How ABC uses automatic data collection tools

The following sections provide additional information about commonly-used web technology tools.

Cookies

A “cookie” is a small data file transferred by a website to your computer’s hard drive. ABC or its service providers send cookies when you surf our site, make purchases, request or personalize information, or register yourself for certain events or services. Accepting the cookies used on our site may be used to personalize your experience. Cookies are typically classified as either “session” cookies or “persistent” cookies.

  •  Session cookies do not stay on your computer after you close your browser.
  •  Persistent cookies remain on your computer until you delete them or they expire. Most browsers automatically accept cookies by default, but you can usually refuse cookies or selectively accept cookies by adjusting the preferences in your browser. If you turn off cookies, there may be some features of our site that will not be available to you and some Web pages may not display properly.

Web beacons

ABC may use Web beacons alone or in conjunction with cookies to compile information about your website usage and your interaction with email, as well as to measure performance on ABC’s site. A web beacon is an electronic image, called a single-pixel (1×1) or clear GIF. Web beacons can recognize certain types of information on your computer such as cookies, the time and date of a page viewed, and a description of the page where the web beacon is placed.

You may be able to disable web beacons in email messages by not downloading images contained in the message you receive (this feature varies depending on the email software used on your personal computer). However, doing this may not always disable a web beacon or other automatic data collection tools in the email message due to specific email software capabilities. For more information about this, please refer to the information provided by your email software or service provider. If you choose to receive notification emails or newsletters from ABC, ABC may automatically collect personal information about you.

For example, through web beacons and personalized URLs embedded in these emails or newsletters, ABC can determine whether you’ve opened those messages and whether you’ve clicked on links contained within those messages.

Embedded Web links

In emails from ABC, embedded links will lead you to a relevant area on our site. In emails, such web links may also allow ABC to determine whether you have clicked a link in an email, and this information about the interaction may be connected to your personal identity. If you do not want ABC to collect information about the links that you click, you can change how you receive communications from ABC (i.e. choose a text-based version of the message where available) or choose not to click links in an email that ABC sends.