Vera Institute of Justice

Last Updated and Effective Date: November 12, 2025

This Privacy Policy explains how Vera Institute of Justice, Inc. (“Vera,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and discloses your information. This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect from individuals who interact with us on our website (https://www.vera.org) or offline.

Personal information is information that can be used to directly or indirectly identify you or is reasonably capable of being associated with you. Personal information does not include information that has been anonymized or aggregated so that it can no longer enable us, whether in combination with other information or otherwise, to identify you.

Please note that our website and this Privacy Policy are directed only to individuals in the United States.

Collection of Personal Information

We may collect different kinds of personal information from or about you.

Information you provide directly to us:

We collect your contact information. We may collect your name, address, phone number, and email address when you use our website, Contact Us, register for our events, subscribe to our email list online, apply for employment, submit comments on blog posts, or otherwise interact with us through our website.

We collect your payment card information. If you make a donation, we collect personal information in connection with the donation. This information includes payment information, such as your credit or debit card number and other card information, bank account information, and/or billing and contact details, required to process your donation with our payment processor(s).

We will, from time to time, collect user-generated testimonials and questions from visitors to the Vera website, email subscribers and social media channels. We use these submissions to better tailor Vera’s content marketing and storytelling, based on the themes and issue areas users are most interested in learning about.

Information we collect automatically:

We collect device and website usage information. When you visit our website, we may collect information about your use of our website, which may include information about your device’s unique identifier, the IP address of your device, usage information, diagnostic information, location information, or browsing information, from or about the computers, phones, or other devices on which you install or access our products or services. We may gather some of this information automatically.

We collect information by using cookies and other tracking technologies. We may use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about you. A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your hard drive. All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system. To learn more about your ability to manage your preferences related to cookies, please consult the privacy features within your browser. Further information about cookies can be found here: How to manage your preferences related to targeted advertising.

Information we collect from other sources:

We collect information from third parties. From time to time and as permitted by applicable law(s), we may collect personal information about you from third-party sources, including analytics providers, hosting providers and search information providers, as described below.

Use of Personal Information

Your personal information may be used to:

• process and respond to your requests and inquiries
• communicate with you about donations, subscriptions, events and issues, or employment applications
• inform you about our policies and terms
• provide, improve, and develop our website, programs, and services
• help verify payment transactions
• conduct surveys
• request user submissions
• comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order) or to carry out professional ethics/conduct investigations
• promote safety and security, such as by monitoring fraud and investigating suspicious, malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or potentially illegal activity or violations of our Terms of Service or policies and protecting the rights and property of Vera, our website visitors and others
• debug to identify and repair errors in our website
• serve targeted ads to specific individuals, including you, or to display ads to individuals who are similar to those who have engaged with us in the past (i.e., “look-alike audiences”)
• carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected

Disclosure of Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties from time to time under the following circumstances, or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

• We make certain personal information available to agents, vendors, service providers and trusted partners who work on behalf of or with Vera to help communicate with you about Vera’s work, upcoming events, and collaborations between Vera and other organizations. Personal information will only be disclosed to these parties in order to provide or improve our services programming; it will not be disclosed to third parties for their own marketing purposes without your prior express consent.
• We may disclose personal information to companies that provide services on our behalf, such as website hosting, email services, donation management, payment processing, data analytics, and other services that assist in providing our programs and services.
• Personal information may be disclosed as permitted by applicable law(s) and/or for purposes of legal compliance and security, or as a result of legal process, litigation, or requests from public or governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence.
• If we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate.
• We may also disclose personal information if we determine in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect our rights and pursue available remedies, enforce our terms and conditions, or protect our operations.
• Between and among Vera and our current and future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other companies under common control and ownership.
• We may also disclose personal information with third-party advertising partners to display targeted ads to you on third-party websites and social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. These partners may collect data directly from a browser or device when an individual visits our website through cookies or other data collection technologies. This information is used to provide advertising-related services, such as reporting, analytics, and market research. We target our ads to effectively and efficiently reach people who are most likely to take action, including to donate to or otherwise support our organization.
• We may also disclose personal information to our coalition partners in order to more effectively advocate for key legislation and reforms. However, we will only disclose your personal information if you have requested or consented to have it disclosed.
• We may disclose personal information to the public when you respond to our surveys or provide feedback or user content on our site. For example, if you post user content on our blog or comment on our social media pages, your information may be displayed on our website or other Vera promotional materials. If we display your information on our website or in our promotional materials, we will notify you before such information is disclosed to the public.
• We may disclose your personal information to other third parties, such as like-minded nonprofit organizations through data cooperatives, list exchanges, or similar arrangements. Such disclosure enables these organizations to contact individuals who may be interested in their work. These collaborations help us to reach new audiences and strengthen our collective efforts toward justice reform.
• If we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our Terms and Conditions; if we believe that you have violated the law; or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of Vera, our users, the public, or others.
• If you request or authorize the disclosure of your personal information to a third party.

It is likely that the identity and categories of such third parties will change over time, depending on your use of our website and interaction with us. It is anticipated that your personal information will be disclosed to the following categories of third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf.

• Hosting providers for the secure storage and transmission of your data
• Learning technology and online event providers for the delivery and improvement of web events and learning programs and the tracking of your progress
• Database software providers for the management and tracking of your data
• Legal and compliance consultants, such as external counsel, external auditors, or tax consultants
• Advertising partners, including social media providers, for the delivery of targeted advertisements
• Marketing providers who send communications on our behalf
• Publishers and learning providers who develop products on our behalf
• Technology providers who assist in the development and management of our web properties
• Our volunteers who perform various functions on our behalf
• Survey and research providers who perform studies on our behalf
• Payment processors who process donations

We require that our third party vendors and service providers only use your personal information as necessary to provide the requested services to us [and each vendor or service provider is subject to a set of terms consistent with this Privacy Policy.]

Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to provide, protect, and improve our website and services, such as by understanding user behavior, and providing a safer experience. You can remove or reject cookies using your browser or device settings, but in some cases doing so may affect your ability to use our website. Please read our Cookie Policy to learn more about how we use cookies and the choices you have.

Some browsers have incorporated “Do Not Track” features. Most of these features, when turned on, send a signal or preference to the websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret the do not track signal, we currently do not respond to the browser do not track signals.

Communication Preferences

We strive to provide you with relevant and useful information related to our work. Any promotional emails that we send will include a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe or update your communication preferences. Additionally, you can Contact Us to make changes to your communication preferences. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your donations or our work.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the rights described below. Subject to certain limitations, if you reside in a state that affords you with certain rights with respect to your personal information, you may have the following rights:

• Right to know or access. You may have the right to confirm whether we are processing your personal information and to know and access the personal information we have collected about you. You may have the right to receive this information in a format, to the extent technically feasible, that is portable, usable, and allows you to transmit the information to a person without impediment or hindrance.
• Right to correct. You may have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
• Right to delete. You may have the right to request that we delete the personal information that we have collected about you.
• Right to obtain a list of specific parties. Oregon residents may have the right, at our option, to receive a list of the specific third parties, other than natural persons, to which we have disclosed either: (1) your personal information or (2) any personal information.
• Rights related to targeted advertising. You may have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal information for targeted advertising.
• Right to no discrimination. You may have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of your privacy rights.
• Right to appeal. You may Contact Us to appeal a denial of your privacy right request. Within 45 days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If we deny your appeal, you may submit a complaint to the Attorney General of your state.

To protect the privacy and the security of your personal information, we may request information from you to enable us to confirm your identity and right to access such information, as well as to search for and provide you with the personal information we maintain. There are instances where applicable laws or regulatory requirements allow or require us to refuse to provide or delete some or all of the personal information that we maintain.

If permitted or required by applicable law, you may exercise your privacy rights through an authorized agent (which may include a guardian or conservator). If we receive your request from an authorized agent, we may ask for evidence that you have provided such agent with a power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf. If you are an authorized agent seeking to make a request, please Contact Us.

You may Contact Us to exercise your rights. We will respond to your request within 45 calendar days of receipt, unless we request an extension as permitted by data privacy law.

Third-Party Websites and Services

Our websites and services may contain links to or the ability for you to access third-party websites, products, and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those third parties, nor are we responsible for the information or content their products and services contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through our website and services.

Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. This period of retention is subject to our review and alteration.

Children

We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected the personal information of a child under 13, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible. Please immediately Contact Us if you become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information.

U.S. Website; Consent to Transfer

Vera is headquartered in the United States and this website is operated in and targeted to individuals in the United States. If you are outside of the United States, any information you provide will be transferred to the United States, and by using this website and/or providing us with your information, you consent to this transfer.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. [If so, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on our website.] If the changes being made are material, we may provide you with additional notice. Your continued use of this website, or your provision of personal information to us after any such notices, will tell us that you agree to these changes. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at: Tel: 212.334.1300 | Email: contactvera@vera.org