Privacy Policy

Who we are

Indian American STAR Foundation ("IASF", "we", "us") is a Washington State 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Olympia, WA. This policy covers iastarfoundation.org and the forms, youth profiles and newsletter offered through it.

Information you give us

We only collect what you choose to send us through the site:

• Contact and partnership messages — your name, email, phone (optional) and message.
• Volunteer sign-ups — contact details, availability, interests and any background you share.
• Program and event registrations (for example chess enrollment) — the participant's name and age, parent/guardian contact details, emergency contact and any notes you add.
• Youth profiles — account details, profile information and the parent/guardian contact used for consent.
• Newsletter — your email address.
• Donations — gifts are made through Zelle via your own bank. We never see or store card or bank account numbers; we receive only the details your bank shares with the payment (such as your name and amount) for receipts and records.

Information collected automatically

To understand how the site is used and keep it working, we record:

• Site statistics (our own) — pages visited, referring page, browser language, time zone, screen size, time spent on a page, page-speed measurements and error reports. These are linked to a random visit ID kept in your browser, along with your IP address, browser type and the approximate city and country derived from the IP address. They are stored on our own server and used only by IASF.
• Google Analytics — see Google Analytics below.

We do not record anything from the admin area or the youth sign-in, sign-up and dashboard pages in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to see which pages and programs people find useful. It uses first-party cookies (named _ga and _ga_*) to count visits and returning visitors, and Google processes the data on our behalf.

• Advertising features, ad personalization and Google signals are turned off.
• If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, Google Analytics runs without cookies and only receives anonymous, aggregate signals.
• You can block Google Analytics on every site with Google's opt-out browser add-on or with your browser's privacy settings.

Learn more in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Cookies and browser storage

• Preferences — your chosen theme (light/dark) and language, saved in your browser.
• Visit ID — a random ID used by our own site statistics.
• Sign-in — a session cookie that keeps youth and admin accounts signed in.
• Google Analytics — the cookies described above.

You can clear or block these in your browser settings; the site still works, though you may need to pick your preferences or sign in again.

How we use information

• To answer messages and arrange volunteering, partnerships and registrations.
• To run programs and events safely, including contacting parents and guardians.
• To send the newsletter you signed up for (every issue has an unsubscribe link).
• To keep donation records and provide tax receipts.
• To improve the site, fix errors and protect it from abuse.

We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Children's privacy

Many of our programs serve young people, so we take extra care:

• Youth accounts for anyone under 18 stay inactive until a parent or guardian gives consent by email. For children under 13, we collect information only with a parent's or guardian's approval.
• The public youth wall shows names only. We do not publish children's contact details.
• Parents and guardians can ask to review, correct or delete their child's information, or withdraw consent, at any time by contacting us.

When we share information

We share personal information only:

• With service providers who help us run the site — our web host, email delivery and Google Analytics — under terms that limit their use of it to providing that service.
• With IASF volunteers and coordinators who need it to run a program or event.
• When required by law or to protect the safety of participants.

Links to other sites

The site links to services such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Google Maps. Once you follow those links, their own privacy policies apply, not this one.

Retention and security

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes above or to meet legal and accounting obligations, then delete it. Google Analytics data is kept for a limited period and then deleted automatically. The site is served over HTTPS, admin access is password-protected and logged, and access to registration data is limited to the people who need it. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.

Your choices

• Ask us for a copy of your information, or to correct or delete it, by contacting us.
• Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email.
• Block or clear cookies and opt out of Google Analytics as described above.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update it here and change the effective date above.

Contact us

Questions or requests about your privacy: