Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Who we are

New York Chapter of Sisters in Crime
Effective Date: September 20, 2025

The New York Chapter of Sisters in Crime (“we,” “our,” “us”) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting women crime writers and readers. We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy and Terms of Use explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you interact with our website or membership services.

Our website address is: https://nysinc.org.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

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 is 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.

Contact forms

We do not have any contact forms. To contact us, please email us at the email at the bottom of this page.

Cookies

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.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles 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.

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.

Analytics

Who we share your data with

We do not share your data. The only exception to this is if you email us with a question, and we need to refer that question to the national SinC organization. In that case, we will identify you and your question to them and might perhaps share your email address with them, so they can help resolve your issue or answer your question.

How long we retain your data

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.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. 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.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this policy, data practices, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Sisters in Crime – New York Chapter
Email: nytristatesinc@gmail.com

Additional Information We Collect

We collect limited personal information necessary to manage membership and events. This may include:

  • Name, email address, phone number, and mailing address (for membership and communications).

  • Payment details (collected securely by third-party processors; we do not store full credit card information). While we do not currently provide sales of any kind on this website. In the event that we ever do, will use third-party processors like PayPal, Venmo, or Square.

  • Event registration details (such as attendance history).

  • Voluntarily submitted information (e.g., through contact forms or surveys).

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

How We Protect Your Data

We use reasonable organizational and technical measures to safeguard your information, including:

  • Secure servers and password-protected accounts.
  • Limiting access to authorized volunteers or officers only.
  • Encrypted connections (HTTPS/SSL) when transmitting personal data.
  • Avoiding retention of unnecessary or outdated personal information.

Data Breach Procedures

In the event of a data breach, we will:

  1. Promptly assess the scope and impact of the breach.
  2. Notify affected individuals as soon as reasonably possible if their personal information was compromised.
  3. Take steps to secure systems, reset access, and prevent recurrence.
  4. Report the breach to appropriate authorities if legally required.

Third Parties We Receive Data From

  1. We may receive limited data from trusted third-party platforms used to manage membership or events, including but not limited to:
    1. National Sisters in Crime (membership database).
    2. Event registration and payment providers (e.g., PayPal, Eventbrite).
    3. Email marketing platforms (e.g., Mailchimp).
    4. We do not sell, rent, or trade your data to third parties.

Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

  • The New York Chapter of Sisters in Crime does not use automated decision-making or profiling with respect to user data. All decisions related to membership, communications, and events are made by human volunteers and officers.

Industry Regulatory Disclosure Requirements

  • As a nonprofit literary organization, we are not subject to industry-specific regulations such as HIPAA, FERPA, or financial services compliance. However, we adhere to generally accepted nonprofit data protection practices and comply with applicable U.S. privacy laws.

Terms of Use

By using our website or services, you agree to the following:

  1. You will not use our website for unlawful purposes or in ways that may harm the chapter or its members.
  2. Content on this site, including but not limited to text, images, and logos, is the property of the New York Chapter of Sisters in Crime and may not be reproduced without permission.
  3. Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience; we are not responsible for their content or practices.
  4. We reserve the right to update or revise this Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights regarding your personal data, including:

  1. The right to access the information we hold about you.
  2. The right to request correction or deletion of your information.
  3. The right to opt out of email communications at any time.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email address listed above.