Who we are
Last Tree Laws is a non-governmental umbrella organization that works for environmental and social justice laws and legislation. Our general website address is https://lasttreelaws.com and we have an about us page at https://lasttreelaws.com/about-us.
This privacy policy and terms also applies to the associated ballot question committees posted on this website.
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Forms & Donations
Data inputted into forms is kept and used to accomplish the functions listed in the forms, such as newsletter subscription, testimonial, etc., as well as for follow up questions. For forms, we use NextCloud, which has its own privacy policy online here.
Our donation page is hosted by third party Donorbox, which has its own privacy page online here, and funneled through Stripe, which has its privacy page online here. In addition, donations to Massachusetts political campaigns must by state and federal law be reported, including donor name and generally the donor’s employment and amount donated.
Email Lists
Our email lists are hosted through Mailman, which is open source software. Mailman records your email and, sometimes, your name, which if unsubscribing is removed within 24 hours. The log records information ID number of messages posted to lists, when posted, and the email address of the sender. Bounce-notices and errors are also logged. These log files are necessary for trouble-shooting (should the need arise). They are over-written every 3 days.
When messages are sent out via the list, the email addresses are concealed with a single generic email. On some email lists, messages are archived, and deleted on occasion to free up space.
Embedded content from other websites and external social media sites
Pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. Our donation page is embedded and hosted by third party Donorbox and funneled through Stripe, as previously mentioned (see above bolded links for their policies).
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
If you join an online group with Last Tree Laws, then the privacy policy of the corporation managing the online group applies. We have a Facebook page simply for outreach but do not recommend Facebook on the basis of privacy – and currently no one wants to moderate the Facebook page for that reason so it is fairly dead. Facebook is well known as violating privacy rights and has its own privacy policy. Any external social media site has its own privacy policy that applies when joining.
Comments
Normally, we block comments. However, when visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture may be visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
Although generally we block comments, if you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Unknowns
There may be tracking outside of our hands in conjunction with our use of this website. While we are not intentionally tracking you, there is a chance that website details contribute to tracking by Google and other entities – for example, Google fonts can contribute to tracking. To our knowledge, we are not using Google fonts. This site uses plug-ins, none of which have a privacy policy listed or state that data is being collected, but which may include tracking hidden from us.
As it is, if you used a Chrome-based browser or HTTP3, you are likely being identified and tracked. However, this kind of specialized tracking is outside of our control – you, however, can use a Firefox-based browser and you can disable HTTP3.
Voting, Volunteer Lists & Ballot Question Data
We do collect information on who is a voter or volunteer, how to reach them, and related information on if and how they can help. This information is given freely by the individual or is public.
Public Donation Data
In addition, by law we must collect certain information from ballot question donors: name, address, amount donated, and employment. This information is given to the government and is posted online in a searchable database at the ocpf website for public knowledge. This is not optional.
Who we share your data with and how long we retain your data
Donations to Massachusetts political campaigns must by state and federal law be reported, including donor name and generally the donor’s employment and amount donated. This information is posted online at OCPF in a searchable database for an indefinite but long time. The information is collected via Donorbox and funneled through Stripe, and so their privacy and retention policies apply (see bolded links). We currently do not use analytics capabilities offered, but Donorbox and Stripe may do so.
Data collected through online forms or emails is retained indefinitely. We may delete data if required, if updating, or if closing up a project. This data is not sold. We don’t analyze this data deeply, we simply use the information for the reason stated, such as to contact you or ask for help where you have offered. This data is not shared with outsiders unless permission is granted by you in the form, such as when signing onto testimony to be shared with legislators.
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue, and very important to identify spam patterns.
What rights you have over your data
You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes, including to corral spam.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service — although we don’t actually allow comments.
If permission is granted, then certain information may be shared, such as a testimonial or contact information.
Other terms
We use third-party services such as Donorbox with the expectation that these are reputable sites with the capability of preventing scams and similarly we attempt to maintain the site in a secure manner. However, Donorbox and services like Donorbox request that we indemnify them from any suit arising from any problem as a result of using their services. Therefore, if using our site and/or any associated third-party services, we expect the same of you if you are using our service, site, and/or related third-party services and site. Basically, we expect that you will indemnify us or bypass us in any lawsuit or claim in the same way that Donorbox and other associated services we use for donations require of u, whether because of loss of data or money. We ask that you go after the actual criminal, and not us. We are careful and update the site, but can’t prepare for every eventuality.
Contact information
