Privacy & Data Use

Effective Date: September 10, 2026

Computers For Kids, Inc. ("CFK," "we," "us," or "our") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing refurbished computer hardware to students. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information through our website, application workflows, and operational programs.

1. Information We Collect

Depending on your interactions with CFK, we may collect:

• Contact and account details: Full names, mailing or shipping addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of applicants, parents, guardians, donors, and organizational contacts.
• Student information: Student name, date of birth, enrolled school or college, grade level or academic details, educational need, equipment requests, scholarship requests, and fulfillment preferences.
• Verification and documentation: Student identification, personal statements or essays, and proof of program eligibility, such as National School Lunch Program qualification or assistance-program verification. Please redact all Social Security numbers and nonessential financial account details before submitting documents.
• Donations and logistics: Donor details, hardware specifications, drop-off or pickup coordination data, shipping information, and business donation scheduling.
• Technical and log data: Essential session cookies, IP addresses, browser and device information, login security data, request logs, and operational system diagnostics.

2. Children Under Age 13

Protecting children’s privacy is essential. CFK’s online application services are intended for parents, legal guardians, adult applicants, and authorized school or community representatives.

Children under 13 must not directly submit applications or personal information through our website. A parent, legal guardian, or authorized school representative must complete any submission concerning a child under 13.

We do not knowingly collect personal information online directly from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has directly provided personal information without appropriate authorization, please contact us immediately at [email protected]. We will investigate and delete the information when appropriate, subject to any legal obligation to retain it.

3. How We Use Information

We use collected information to carry out our charitable mission and operate our programs, including:

• Verifying program eligibility and processing computer applications.
• Managing equipment inventory, scheduling hardware pickups, arranging shipping, and coordinating distribution events.
• Providing technical support, warranty or replacement support, program follow-up, and account administration.
• Maintaining audit and administrative records for legal, grant, tax, and reporting requirements.
• Protecting the website, troubleshooting operational issues, and preventing fraudulent or abusive submissions.

4. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We may disclose information to:

• Authorized staff and reviewers: CFK staff and authorized program reviewers who need access to evaluate applications and coordinate program services or distributions.
• Service providers and connected systems: Providers that support website hosting, file storage, email delivery, scheduling, accounting, application processing, fulfillment, and technical maintenance. We limit the information shared to what is reasonably necessary for those services and expect providers to safeguard it appropriately.
• Legal and compliance recipients: Law enforcement, courts, regulators, or governmental bodies when disclosure is required by applicable law, court order, or legal process, or when reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of CFK, our users, or the public.

5. Donor Privacy

We respect the privacy of individual and corporate donors. We do not sell, license, share, or trade donor contact information with other organizations for their commercial or external marketing purposes.

6. Data Retention and Security

Essays, program-eligibility or IGO verification documents, and student identification files uploaded with an application are automatically deleted 60 days after the application is submitted. The application record and other personal information may be retained longer when reasonably necessary for program administration, warranty or replacement support, financial and grant-related recordkeeping, legal compliance, and dispute resolution. Retention periods may vary by record type and applicable requirements. When other information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to delete, de-identify, or securely archive it.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, and misuse. However, no internet transmission or electronic storage method can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

7. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Parents, guardians, and adult applicants may request to review, update, correct, or delete personal information we maintain about them or a student for whom they are authorized to act. Some information may need to be retained for legal, audit, grant, tax, security, or operational reasons. To make a request, use the contact information below. We may need to verify your identity and authority before fulfilling it.

8. Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses essential cookies that are necessary for account authentication, form completion, security, and site operation. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies, but doing so may prevent forms, accounts, or other parts of the site from functioning properly.

If CFK enables analytics or other optional tracking technologies, this policy will be updated to identify their use and describe the choices available to visitors.

9. External Links

Our website may contain links to external resources, service providers, or community partners. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or data policies of external websites.

10. Contact Information

11. Updates to This Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy to reflect program updates, technical changes, or legal requirements. Material updates will be indicated by revising the Effective Date at the top of this page.