Privacy Policy

Updated 14 August 2023

At the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, and how we keep it secure.

We may change this policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this policy.

Any questions regarding this policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to info@tnhf.org or by writing to Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, 2499 Melru Lane, Escondido, CA 92026, United States.

If you are a data subject in the United Kingdom or any part of the European Economic Area,  please see the “Additional Disclosures for People in Europe” section.

Who are we?

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation works to continue the mindful teachings and practice of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, support our monasteries around the world, and engage in community building in order to foster peace and transform suffering in all people, animals, plants, and our planet.

We are the fundraising arm of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Inc. (PVCEB), the nonprofit 501(c)3 organization incorporated in the United States dedicated to support the teachings of the Thich Nhat Hanh Plum Village tradition. Our office is located at Deer Park Monastery at 2499 Melru Lane, Escondido, California, 92026, United States.

How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you when make a donation directly to us or through a third party, visit our website, sign up to receive our email newsletter, register for an event offered by a Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism center, program, or initiative, place an order, or contact us through the website or email.

What type of information is collected from you?

If you make a donation, either online or otherwise, we will request certain personally identifiable information about you (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, and credit card information). This information enables us to process your donation, communicate with you about it, and keep you updated about our work.

When you donate to us, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our third-party payment processors, who specialize in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions, as explained below.

In addition to the personal information that you submit to us, we may collect personal information about you or automatically collect information using the following technologies:

  • Web server logs. Our web servers may collect certain information such as IP address, pages visited, time of visits, and referring website.

  • Cookies. Cookies are small pieces of information sent by an organization to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognize you when you visit. Cookies collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual. Cookies also help us deliver better content to you.

Where do we transfer and store information?

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is based in the United States, and any information transmitted to us may be stored, accessed, or processed in the United States. For European Union visitors, this may happen if any of our servers are located in a country outside of the EU. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this policy.

If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU in order to provide you with those services.

How is your information used?

We may use your information to:

  • process and acknowledge your donations;

  • respond to your inquiries and requests;

  • keep a record of your relationship with us;

  • provide services or orders that you have requested;

  • update you with important administrative messages about your donation, or services or orders you have requested;

  • send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include information about campaigns, appeals, information on how your donations are used, other fundraising activities, and our email newsletter which includes mindfulness teachings and news about the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism’s centers, programs, and initiatives;

  • seek your views or comments on our activities, programs or services;

  • notify you of changes to our services;

  • process a grant or job application.

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information. We will hold your personal information in our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity.

If you request to receive no further contact from us, we'll keep some basic information about you on our suppression list in order to avoid sending you unwanted communications in the future.

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Third-party service providers working on our behalf: We may pass your information to our third-party service providers, subcontractors, and other associated organizations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example, to process donations and send you mailings). However, when we use third-party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties outside of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism network for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes, unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

When you are using our secure online donation pages, your donation is processed by a third-party payment processor, who specializes in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions. If you have any questions regarding secure transactions, please contact us.

We may transfer your personal information to a third party as part of a sale of some or all of our business and assets to a third party; or as part of any business restructuring or reorganization; or if we’re under a duty to disclose or share your personal data to comply with a legal obligation; or to enforce or apply our terms of use; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our supporters and customers. In each case, we will take reasonable steps to ensure your privacy rights continue to be protected.

Your choices

You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. If you registered to receive communications from us and later change your mind, you may ask that your name and contact information be removed from our distribution list. You can send such a request to info@tnhf.org or click on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our email newsletters.

How you can access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. You also have the right to ask for a copy of the information the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation holds about you. If you would like to make any corrections to your data, or request a copy of it, you can contact us at info@tnhf.org.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any sensitive information (such as credit or debit card details) is encrypted and protected with the following software 128 Bit encryption on SSL. When you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear on the left side of web addresses, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome.

Non-sensitive details (your email address, etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Profiling

We may analyze your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information relevant to you. We may also use your personal information to detect and reduce fraud and credit risk.

Use of Cookies

Like many other websites, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation website uses cookies. Cookies are small pieces of information sent by an organization to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognize you when you visit. Cookies collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual.

It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organizations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third-party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

16 or Under

We are mindful to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

Review of this Policy

We keep this policy under regular review. This policy was last updated in May 2018.

DISCLOSURE TO RESIDENTS IN EUROPE

A. Roles And Data Controller’s Contact Details

The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and data protection laws in Europe distinguish between organizations that process personal data for their own purposes (known as “controllers”) and organizations that process personal data on behalf of other organizations (known as “processors”). 

The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation acts as a controller with respect to personal data collected as you interact with our Service. You can contact us by email at the address indicated above in the section entitled “Contact Us” above.

B. Lawful Basis For Processing

GDPR and data protection laws in Europe require a “lawful basis” for processing personal data. Our lawful bases include the following: 

  • To fulfill obligations in the contract between you and The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation. 

  • To pursue our legitimate interests. 

  • Consent. 

  • To comply with law.  

C. Retention Of Information

Once the purpose of processing is fulfilled, we retain personal data for no longer than the applicable statutory limitation period. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. We will delete or anonymize personal data once the applicable retention period has expired. 

D. Data Transfer 

If GDPR applies and your data is transferred outside UK or the EEA to the United States or any other country, we will transfer your personal data subject to appropriate safeguards, such as an adequacy decision by the European Commission on the basis of article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, or Standard Contractual Clauses as provided from time to time by the European Commission. You can receive additional information on where your data is transferred, and which are the appropriate safeguards by contacting us.

E. Your Data Subject Rights

Your Rights. If you are a data subject according to the GDPR, subject to certain conditions you have the right to: 

  • access, rectify, or erase any personal data we process about you; 

  • data portability, asking us to transfer to any third party at your choice; 

  • restrict or object to our processing of personal data we process about you; and 

  • where applicable, withdraw your consent at any time for any data processing.

How to Exercise Your Rights. You may exercise your rights by submitting a written request to us at the email address set out above entitled “Contact Us”. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Applicable law may require or permit us to decline your request. If we decline your request, we will tell you why, subject to legal restrictions. 

F. Complaints

If you have a complaint about our use of your personal data or response to your requests regarding your personal data, you may submit a complaint to the Data Protection Supervisory Authority in your jurisdiction. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach a data protection regulator, and would welcome you directing an inquiry first to us. 

In addition to our contact details indicated above, you can also contact our Designated Individual Overseeing Compliance of this privacy policy by mail at CBZ Village des Pruniers, 13 Martineau, 33580, Dieulivol, France, and by email at info@tnhf.org.