IowaCrisisChat.org is operated by CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank. CommUnity takes your privacy and security very seriously. Any identifying information provided by you or collected on you including the entire content of your conversation will be held in strict confidence within CommUnity. Unless you sign a release of information, CommUnity will only disclose this information as required by law, in the case that you are an imminent serious threat to yourself or others or in cases of child abuse (all as determined by the Chat Specialist and their support staff).
Automatically-Collected Information
If you log in to the chat service the chat software will automatically gather the following information:
- The Internet domain (for example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private Internet access account or “yourschool.edu” if you connect from a university’s domain);
- The IP address of the computer/device used to access the site;
- The type of browser and operating system used to access the site; and
- The date and time you accessed the site
Visitor-Provided Information
In order to log in to the chat service you must provide your age, gender, ZIP code, primary concern, levels of distress and suicidal ideation, and how you learned about the chat service. You may choose to enter additional demographic or contact information during the registration process or within the chat to help IowaCrisisChat.org better understand and serve its user base.
Data Transmission & Records
All the information you provide through IowaCrisisChat.org during the registration, the chat, and the post-chat survey is transmitted in an encrypted format. The security practices of our chat software company are compliant with the strict standards of the Payment Card Industry Association, which means your information is processed and stored with the same level of confidentiality and security as a financial transaction. All information you provide including the content of your chat will be securely stored on a remote server with all identifying information encrypted. These records will be destroyed in accordance with CommUnity’s records retention policy.
Imminent Threat
In cases of imminent risk of serious harm to oneself or others, the Chat Specialist may request your contact information (i.e. telephone number and/or address) so they can attempt to provide you with additional assistance, including sending local emergency services to you. As a visitor, you may refuse to provide this information. If however, the Chat Specialist still believes you are at imminent danger of seriously harming yourself or others, CommUnity reserves the right to use any information provided by you or collected on you through IowaCrisisChat.org to help local emergency personnel locate you and provide you with further assistance.
Child Abuse
In cases of a minor reporting that they are a victim of child abuse, the Chat Specialist may ask for information on the abuser, the victim, and the nature of the abuse so that CommUnity staff can report the case to Children’s or Family Services in the minor’s area. CommUnity’s staff are mandatory reporters of child abuse and will report the information available to them to the appropriate agency/agencies. In cases of imminent risk of serious harm to the minor, this may include employing emergency responders to attempt to locate the minor (see “Imminent Threat” section).
Updates
Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time and all updates will be posted on this page.
If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately by phone at 319-351-2726 or by email to admin@builtbycommunity.org.
This privacy statement was last updated on 2/26/2019 and went into effect on 1/17/2014.