Privacy Policy
Organization: Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) EIN: 23-1352269
The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (“we,” “our,” or “us”) values your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, protect, use, and share personal information gathered through our website.
1. Information Gathered by Web Forms
We use Gravity Forms plugins to collect data from visitors who voluntarily interact with our website. Depending on the form, this may include general contact requests, volunteer and community engagement inquiries, employment submissions, and applications related to our animal services.
General, Volunteer, and Community Program Inquiries: Our contact, volunteer, education, and community program forms collect standard identifying information — such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses — to process and respond to your requests. From time to time we may offer forms tied to specific seasonal programs, partnerships, or community initiatives; these collect only the information needed to process that particular request, and we do not knowingly collect information directly from children through any of these forms. Where a program is intended for or may involve minors, any information submitted is provided by a parent, guardian, or other adult.
Careers & Employment: When you apply for an open position through our Employment Application, we collect standard application details, including employment history, cover letters, and resumes. We do not collect Social Security Numbers (SSNs) or initiate background checks at the initial website application stage.
Data Storage: Submissions made via our general web forms are stored securely within our website hosting database environment and are accessible only to authorized PSPCA staff. We do not share, sell, lease, or distribute this application or contact information to outside data brokers or commercial third parties.
2. Adoption, Foster, and Animal Services Applications
Several of our forms are specific to placing or caring for an animal, including applications for adoption, foster, or surrender, in-person sign-in for adoption or foster visits, and requests for veterinary or appointment-based services such as spay/neuter or free-roaming cat appointments.
Information Collected: In addition to standard contact information, these forms may ask for your date of birth and household information, such as the number of adults and children who live in or regularly visit your home. We collect this information to evaluate applications, match animals appropriately, and provide safe and appropriate care and services.
Who Has Access: This information is accessible only to authorized PSPCA staff directly involved in these programs, including adoption and foster counselors. We do not share your household information with landlords, property managers, or any other outside party.
Shelter and Veterinary Systems: Information submitted through these forms may be entered into PetPoint, our shelter management software, and/or ProVet, our veterinary clinic’s practice management software, in order to process your application, schedule appointments, and maintain accurate animal and client records. These platforms are operated by outside vendors under terms that govern their handling of the data we provide.
3. Email Marketing and Newsletter Communications
Visitors have the option to voluntarily opt in to receive recurring email newsletters and organizational updates from the PSPCA.
Consent and Opt-In: We only send recurring email updates to individuals who have explicitly checked the newsletter subscription box on our website forms.
Platform Integration: Email addresses collected for our newsletter program are synchronized securely with our marketing service platform, operated by Blackbaud. We do not sell, rent, or trade your email address with outside parties for commercial marketing purposes.
Opting Out (Unsubscribing): Every digital newsletter we distribute includes an automated “Unsubscribe” link in the footer, managed by Blackbaud. You may opt out of receiving these updates at any time, and your email address will be automatically removed from our active marketing distribution lists.
4. Animal Cruelty Reporting and Anonymous Tip Protection
Through our website, individuals may submit sensitive information using our “Report Animal Cruelty” form.
Anonymous Submissions: We allow users to submit cruelty reports without providing a name, phone number, or email address. Providing contact information is entirely voluntary.
IP Address and Metadata Logging: For system security, spam prevention, and to protect the integrity of our reporting portal, our web infrastructure automatically records the visitor’s IP address and submission timestamp with each form entry. We do not use this automated metadata to actively uncover your personal identity unless required to investigate malicious system abuse, fraud, or cybersecurity threats against our website.
Internal Review and Law Enforcement: Report submissions are routed to our humane law enforcement agents, including our officers and dispatch staff, for review and response. Any identifying details you choose to provide are treated with the highest level of confidentiality. This data may be shared with local Pennsylvania law enforcement, district attorneys, or judicial authorities strictly to investigate, verify, or prosecute acts of animal abuse.
5. Donor Data and Financial Processing
Online Donations: We provide secure online donation options through an embedded transaction form powered by Blackbaud Merchant Services. All payment data entered on our website is processed directly via Blackbaud’s payment gateway. Our organization never stores, views, or logs credit card numbers, bank routing codes, or security PINs on our local website servers. Blackbaud maintains strict compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).
Donor Records: The non-financial donor contact information you enter online (name, address, billing email) is securely passed to our internal Blackbaud database to process your charitable transaction and issue tax-deductible donor receipts.
In-Person and Point-of-Sale Donations: Donations made in person or at point of sale are recorded directly in PetPoint, our shelter management software, and from there may be transferred into our Blackbaud (BBMS) donor database. These in-person transactions do not pass through our website.
Third-Party Fundraising: For donors participating in third-party fundraising efforts (such as through our MLAR Third-Party Fundraiser program), information submitted is used solely to coordinate and credit that fundraising activity.
Donor Privacy Guarantee: We will not sell, share, or trade our donors’ personal information with any external commercial entities, nor will we send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations.
6. Website Hosting and Automated Infrastructure
Our website is built on WordPress and hosted on the Kinsta managed platform.
Automated Log Files: Like most modern websites, Kinsta’s security infrastructure automatically tracks system logs, which include visitor IP addresses, browser variants, and entry timestamps. This information is used exclusively to maintain firewall security, mitigate malicious activity, and optimize site uptime.
Encryption: Our entire site operates over a secure HTTPS framework. All data transmitted through our web forms is fully encrypted using industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates provided by our web host.
Translation and Optimization Tools: We utilize third-party plugins — such as Weglot for multi-language functionality and Imagify for automated image optimization — to enhance user experience. These optimization assets do not track, aggregate, or retain identifiable user profiles.
7. Data Retention
We retain personal information collected through our website only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, or as required by law. Retention periods vary by the type of information and the system in which it is held:
- General, volunteer, and community program inquiries: Retained on our website hosting environment for up to 3–6 months, after which they are deleted unless a longer period is needed to complete an ongoing request.
- Adoption, foster, and surrender applications: Retained on our website hosting environment for up to 3–6 months from submission. Where an application results in an adoption, foster placement, or other ongoing relationship with PSPCA, the relevant record is maintained in PetPoint, our shelter management system, in accordance with our internal recordkeeping practices, independent of how long the original web form entry is retained.
- Employment applications: Retained for a minimum of one year from the date of submission or the related hiring decision, whichever is later, consistent with applicable federal recordkeeping requirements, regardless of whether the applicant was hired.
- Animal cruelty reports: Once a report is received, it is entered into PetPoint, where it is retained permanently as part of our humane investigation records. The original web form submission — including any IP address or metadata collected at submission — is retained on our website hosting environment for a shorter period, currently up to 90 days after entry into PetPoint, after which it is deleted.
- Donor and newsletter data: Retained in our Blackbaud systems in accordance with our ongoing donor and communications recordkeeping practices, for as long as needed to maintain accurate giving records, issue tax receipts, and honor newsletter subscription preferences. You may request removal from our newsletter list at any time using the unsubscribe link described in Section 3.
Retention periods above reflect current practice and may be adjusted as our systems and vendor arrangements evolve. Where a specific legal requirement mandates a longer or shorter retention period, that requirement controls.
8. Pennsylvania State Charitable Disclosure
The official registration and financial information of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
