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Subscriber Privacy Violation

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uny2bld

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

Hello, sorry if I didn't post this in the correct area.

I have a question about privacy rights for an online Not-for-Profit forum that I am on the BOD for. I will try to make quick notes here for easy reference on the details:

Structure / Details:

Not-for-Profit - have recently obtained our C-3 status
Online Community with paid subscribers
Hosts educational seminars and meetings for our subscribers and the public
Certified by the Board of Education

The issue: One of our Board members was contacted by a Sponsor who requested all of our subscribers information for their personal / business use. They are building a new website and want a "customer database" They want our records which contain our subscribers phone numbers and email addresses. Some of the BOD is actually fighting my adamant "NO" on this request and I'm just disgusted. We have worked our butts off to get to where we are and it seems some of the BOD members want to make a "quick buck"

I fear that we will lose subscribers if they do this and it's not right for us to give out our subscribers personal information without their consent... But they better question is: "Is it legal"???

Is there anything I can tell them from a legal standpoint to stop them from going through with this?

Thanks for your time!
 


uny2bld

Junior Member
One thing I forgot to mention is that when subscribers sign up to the forum / website, they choose if they want their information public or not via their user profile and most choose not to have that information public...
 

uny2bld

Junior Member
There is your answer.
I get that but I think the BOD will do it anyway... Before they do, I'd like to tell them that it's illegal for them to do so without prior consent from our subscribers but I'm not sure if it is illegal; could you tell me if it is illegal or not?
 
One thing I forgot to mention is that when subscribers sign up to the forum / website, they choose if they want their information public or not via their user profile and most choose not to have that information public...
Many web sites have a "Privacy Policy" and/or a "Terms of Use" link (usually at the very bottom of the web site's home page). You might want to check if your non-profit's web site has such links and what they say. Sometimes they will say what information is collected on the web site and what the web site will or won't do with the information. Sometimes they say things like "your information will never be sold or given to any other entity without your permission".

I think your best argument is to try and convince the other board members that your subscribers entrusted their personal information to a non-profit, and that it is a violation of that trust to turn around and give their personal information to a commercial entity who will then try to solicit them for business. I suspect you've tried that argument. Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people even in the non-profit sector.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
I get that but I think the BOD will do it anyway... Before they do, I'd like to tell them that it's illegal for them to do so without prior consent from our subscribers but I'm not sure if it is illegal; could you tell me if it is illegal or not?
There is a distinction in the "type" of illegal. It would be a criminal act to disclose, say, the users social security numbers. (Criminal being acts that can be punished by jail time and/or monetary fines).

There is also a "civil" illegal. Things like breach of contract (eg, your privacy policy) or perhaps even selling email addresses if people "opted out" of such. This act cannot result in jail time, but rather, something much worse...



...bills from your lawyer.
 

uny2bld

Junior Member
Many web sites have a "Privacy Policy" and/or a "Terms of Use" link (usually at the very bottom of the web site's home page). You might want to check if your non-profit's web site has such links and what they say. Sometimes they will say what information is collected on the web site and what the web site will or won't do with the information. Sometimes they say things like "your information will never be sold or given to any other entity without your permission".

I think your best argument is to try and convince the other board members that your subscribers entrusted their personal information to a non-profit, and that it is a violation of that trust to turn around and give their personal information to a commercial entity who will then try to solicit them for business. I suspect you've tried that argument. Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people even in the non-profit sector.
Thanks for the reply Mark. I did try that argument and failed... We do not have a Privacy Policy and our user agreement doesn't have language to cover anything with subscribers privacy or how we use their information other than a disclaimer that says we can alter the user agreement at any time without warning...
 

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