Privacy Policy

(Updated October 30, 2023)

Thank you for visiting The WNET Group Privacy Policy. We believe that maintaining the highest standards of privacy is crucial to maintaining your trust in The WNET Group.

WNET and its affiliates, including THIRTEEN Productions LLC (“THIRTEEN”), WLIW LLC (“WLIW”), Public Media NJ Inc. (“NJ PBS”), Interactive Engagement Group LLC, WNET Spotlight LLC (“NJ Spotlight”), and Audio Enterprise Group LLC (collectively, “The WNET Group”) have developed this privacy policy statement (the “Privacy Policy”) to assist donors and visitors to, and end users of, our websites, mobile applications, social media platforms, online and offline donation platforms, and email and SMS communications (collectively, the “Services”) in understanding the Personal Information we collect, how we use that Personal Information, how we share Personal Information with third parties, how we secure your Personal Information, how you can opt out of various communication channels we may use to contact you and how we make changes to our Privacy Policy.

To reinforce our commitment to the privacy of our constituents, we have partnered with the Better Business Bureau in following twenty standards for charitable accountability required of their Charity Accreditation program.

IF YOU ARE HAVING ANY TROUBLE ACCESSING THE SERVICES OR THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE CONTACT US AT PROGRAMMING@WNET.ORG.

“Personal Information” as we use the term in this Privacy Policy, means information that reasonably identifies, relates to, describes, or can be associated with a specific individual. Please review this Privacy Policy before using or submitting Personal Information via the Services.

Services Covered

This Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service govern the use of the Services, including but not limited to: wnet.org, thirteen.org, wliw.org, njpbs.org, wavelengthpublicmedia.org, nyc-arts.org, allarts.org, njspotlightnews.org, The WNET Group-managed pages at PBS.org/wnet, and the mobile applications for THIRTEEN Explore, NJ PBS and ALL ARTS. The WNET Group is committed to protecting the privacy of the users, visitors, members, donors, followers and friends of its Services.

Please note that the Services often link to third party sites or services, including social media and sites or services owned or controlled by PBS and other public media entities and production partners. This Privacy Policy does not cover any third-party sites or services, or use thereof, and we suggest you review those sites’ policies to learn more about their privacy practices.

Personal Information We Collect Directly

The WNET Group collects information from you when you provide it to us directly, such as when you create an account with us, make a donation online or through our direct response program, sign up and/or attend an in-person or online event, order materials from us, volunteer with us, subscribe to our newsletter or contact us with an inquiry through our websites. The types of data collected by The WNET Group will vary with your particular use of the Services or your donation activity. Some examples of the types of Personal Information The WNET Group may collect through the Services include:

  • Contact Information
    The WNET Group may ask you to provide certain contact information, such as, your name, phone number, address, or email address.
  • Demographic & Survey Information
    The WNET Group may collect demographic and general profile data (e.g., educational, professional, and geographic information).
  • Financial Information
    The WNET Group may collect credit or debit card information. Personal financial information in the form of a credit card number and expiration date are only collected if a user wishes to make an online donation through The WNET Group (THIRTEEN, WLIW, NJ PBS, ALL ARTS and NJ Spotlight). This information is not stored or maintained by The WNET Group when entered online. All online transactions are protected and securely transmitted using SSL, the most current encryption protocols/algorithms such as TLS/SSL.
  • Transactional Information
    The WNET Group may create and maintain a database of aggregated information (which will not identify any particular user) about the transactions that occur on or through the Services (e.g., tool or feature and related database utilization, registration information, and activity, navigation, exit page tracking, or content selection data). To the extent that this information cannot reasonably be related back to a specific person, it is not considered Personal Information.

Personal Information We Collect Automatically

When you access and use the Services, we or third parties we work with may automatically collect certain information using technologies such as cookies and other tracking technologies described below:

  • Technical Information
    The WNET Group may collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses or a unique identifier for a mobile device from users of Services as well as the date and time of access and the webpages accessed. The WNET Group may also catalog your log-in information and the type of computer, browser, or operating system you use.
  • Geolocation Data
    The WNET Group may receive, store and process different types of information about your geographic location, including general information (e.g., zip code) and more specific information (e.g., GPS-based functionality on mobile devices used to access the Services). If you access the Services through a mobile device and you do not want your device to provide The WNET Group with location-tracking information, you can disable the GPS or other location-tracking functions on your device, provided that your device allows you to do so. Please see your device manufacturer’s instructions for further details.
  • Social Media
    We collect information from the presence we maintain on social media (including but not restricted to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and TikTok), including likes, shares and insights. Where you enter into The WNET Group properties using your social network credentials, such as a Facebook log-in, you grant permission to the social network to share your user details. Please review the privacy policies and settings of the social media platforms and networks that you use for more information about their privacy practices.
  • Cookies
    The WNET Group or its vendors may use cookies, pixels, web beacons, tags, login files or other similar data collection or tracking techniques to facilitate use of our Services by our users, enrich your online experience with us and improve marketing efforts. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about that user. The WNET Group uses both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie is simply erased. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user’s hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.

    Persistent cookies are used to store the user’s registration identification information from their basic registration and to facilitate their logging into their personalized view of The WNET Group websites. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience with the Services.

    Your web browser may be set to accept cookies or allow other identifiers. If you would prefer not to receive cookies or allow identifiers, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies or surf anonymously. Further information on cookies is available at www.allaboutcookies.org. If you reject cookies, you may still use The WNET Group websites, and all the informational resources provided through them. Your registration-based personalization options and the capacity of your browser to keep track of what content you are visiting online as you go from one of our Services to another, is lost if you reject cookies. Note that cookie-based opt-outs must be performed on each device and browser that you wish to have opted out. For example, if you have opted out on your device browser, that opt-out will not be effective on your mobile device. Additionally, if you opt out on one of your devices, that opt out may not be effective on all of your devices. However, please be advised that cookie-based opt-outs are not effective on some mobile services.

    The WNET Group uses tracking utilities provided by third-party vendors to track usage of specific webpages and other resources provided through the Services.

    Some browsers have a Do Not Track (“DNT”) feature that lets users signal to websites that they do not want to have their online activities tracked. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers.

  • Clickstream Data
    As you use the Internet, a trail of electronic information is left at each website you visit. This information, which is sometimes referred to as “clickstream data,” can be collected and stored by a website’s server. Clickstream data can tell us the type of computer and browsing software you use and the address of the website from which you linked to the Services. We may collect and use clickstream data as a form of aggregate information to anonymously determine how much time visitors spend on each of our webpages, how visitors navigate throughout the Services, and how we may tailor our webpages to better meet the needs of visitors. This information will be used to improve our Services.
  • Analytics
    We may work with third-party vendors who use the technologies described in this section to conduct website analytics to help us track and understand how visitors use the Services. One such provider is Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses tracking code to help analyze how users use the Services. The information generated by this tracking code about your use will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Please refer to Google’s Data Privacy and Security documentation regarding the uses for which Google may use this information. You may opt out of the use of this tracking code by visiting tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

How We Use Your Personal Information

The primary reason for The WNET Group to collect Personal Information is to provide personalization options for users of our Services and to facilitate and enhance features of the Services that require user input, whether this information is submitted directly by the user of our Services or collected by use of technologies such as cookies. Personal Information submitted through Services is only used for the purposes for which it was collected. Below please find additional information on how The WNET Group may use Personal Information collected through the Services:

  • Contact Information
    The WNET Group may use your contact information to provide you with information, materials and services, to enable you to make donations and to participate in activities, events, and offerings available through the Services. The WNET Group may also use your contact information to (i) advertise its events, programs, products, and services; (ii) assist with security or fraud prevention or response measures; (iii) facilitate a website feature that requires user input; or (iv) to get in touch with you with respect to any transactions conducted through the Services. We also may share your contact information with third parties including our vendors, advertisers, or business partners, to (i) facilitate or implement any of our services; (ii) advertise the services or activities of others; (iii) advise you of The WNET Group’s programs, events, volunteer opportunities, products or services; (iv) process payments, order fulfillment, or donations; or (v) allow for online registration for programs, events, or services. In addition, The WNET Group may supplement the Personal Information collected from you with information about you obtained from other sources, such as The WNET Group’s vendors, advertisers, or business partners.
  • Demographic & Survey Information
    The WNET Group may use demographic information for marketing and management purposes in order to continue to provide or improve the Services. In addition, The WNET Group may share aggregated survey results and aggregated demographic data (which will not identify any particular user) collected through the Services with its vendors, business partners, the general public, the news media, and with the U.S. Government and state governments.
  • Financial Information
    The WNET Group will use financial information to facilitate a donation or other transaction, such as but not limited to registering for an event or selecting a “thank you” gift in connection with a donation.
  • Transactional Information
    The WNET Group may use transactional information for marketing and management purposes to provide or improve any products or services that The WNET Group may offer. In addition, The WNET Group may also share such transactional data on an aggregated basis (which will not identify any particular user) with third parties, such as vendors, advertisers, or business partners.
  • Technical Information
    The WNET Group may use technical information, such as your IP address or browser type, to help diagnose problems with The WNET Group’s servers, analyze Services usage trends, track user movements on the Services, and to otherwise improve, manage and monitor the Services.
  • Geolocation Data
    The WNET Group may use geolocation data to personalize your site experience on the Services, e.g., to show local contacts and information relevant to your location.

All above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

How We Disclose or Share Your Personal Information

In addition to using your Personal Information ourselves for the reasons stated above (and as otherwise mentioned in this Privacy Policy), we may disclose your Personal Information to other affiliates and entities in the following instances:

  • Service Providers
    The WNET Group uses various third-party transaction services to process online donations and provides the option of receiving certain materials by mail through request forms available on our websites. These materials are shipped by the US Postal Service and Federal Express. Additional “Thank You” incentives are available which also utilize third party vendors for ordering, fulfillment and customer service. We may share Personal Information with third-party service providers who may use your information to provide us with services including website hosting, data analysis, infrastructure provision, information technology services, email delivery services, auditing, and anti-fraud monitoring. We will only provide these companies the information they need to deliver the service and prohibit them from using that information for any other purpose. These companies or organizations do not share or use Personal Information that may be obtained from these transactions for any secondary purposes.
  • Corporate Affiliates
    We may share Personal Information within The WNET Group-affiliated entities in order to process Personal Information, provide a product or service that you have requested, or in other circumstances with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
  • Business and Advertising Partners
    We may share your Personal Information with third parties who partner with us to promote products and services, provide marketing and advertisements, conduct data analytics, or use the data for other commercial purposes. The WNET Group may also make your name and postal address available (but not your email address) to other nonprofit organizations whose services or activities may be of interest to you. We do not control how these third parties use and share your Personal Information once they receive it. You will need to contact such third parties directly for information about their privacy practices or to exercise any rights you may have (including if you would like to opt-out of marketing messages).
  • Payment Processors
    If you make a payment using the Services, your payment card details are provided to one of our payment processing service providers, such as, but not limited to, Paya, Inc. through its payments provider Paragon Payment Solutions. These payment processors receive your credit card information subject to their own privacy policies. You may read Paya Inc.’s privacy policy at paya.com/privacy-policy/ to learn more about how they use and protect your information. We do not receive your full credit card or other payment information.
  • Business Transactions
    In the event that The WNET Group goes through a business transaction such as a bankruptcy event, merger, investment transaction, or acquisition by another entity involving the sale of all or a portion of its assets, the Personal Information collected by The WNET Group may be among the assets reviewed.
  • Legal Compliance and Defending Our Rights
    The WNET Group may disclose Personal Information when legally required to do so, or to respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence. The WNET Group may also disclose Personal Information to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Services, to enforce our Terms of Service, to limit legal liability or to protect The WNET Group’s rights, privacy, safety or property, and or those of our affiliates, you, or others.

Targeted Advertising

The WNET Group allows third parties to place cookies throughout our websites to collect information about your visit to our and other websites in order to offer you more relevant advertising across the Internet. This practice is known as online behavioral advertising. These cookies (placed by our third-party vendors) contain no Personal Information, but they may contain demographic or interest-based information in de-identified form. This information may also be linked to Personal Information (in hashed or encrypted form) that you have voluntarily submitted to The WNET Group, such as your email address. If you would like to opt out of the placement of these third-party cookies, please visit aboutads.info/choices. If you would like to opt out of third-party use of your mobile device identifier for behavioral advertising, please see aboutads.info/appchoices. Please note that if you delete, block, or otherwise restrict cookies, or if you use a different computer or Internet browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice. The WNET Group does not host any form of advertising from our websites or email communications.

Cross-Device Matching

The WNET Group may use your information to help us, or our third-party vendors, determine if you have interacted with the Services across multiple devices and to match such devices. To accomplish this, we may rely on information (including demographic, geographic and interest-based data) from third parties such as data vendors, pursuant to their own privacy policies, or we may use information we collect in conjunction with such third-party data. Based on this data, we may then display targeted advertisements across devices that we believe are associated with each other, and may further provide services to our advertisers to better enable cross-device targeting and analysis. In the event that we perform cross-device matching (as described above), once you have opted out on one device (“Opted-Out Device”), we will not use any new data from the Opted-Out Device to identify you on another device for interest-based advertising purposes, and we will not use data from another device for interest-based advertising purposes on the Opted-Out Device.

Passport Service

The WNET Group offers a streaming content service for our programming through our stations, referred to as “Passport,” as a member benefit through The PBS App, and THIRTEEN Explore, available via IOS and Android and from Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, and through PBS.org, THIRTEEN.org, WLIW.org and NJPBS.org. All of these methods offer customization based on location to serve THIRTEEN, WLIW and NJ PBS members specifically.

If you are viewing on-demand video through the PBS Passport service or player, PBS’s collection, storage, and use of Passport information is subject to PBS’s Terms and Conditions and its Privacy Policy.

Links to Third Party Websites

To the extent hyperlinks are utilized to access third party sites (sites not controlled, owned, or operated by The WNET Group, including PBS.org), you should be aware that these external or third-party sites may collect your Personal Information and are not subject to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies only to the Services. The WNET Group suggests that you check the privacy policies of other websites to determine how the proprietors of these third-party sites will utilize your Personal Information. You should be aware that any Personal Information that you voluntarily include and transmit online in a publicly accessible blog, forum, social network, or otherwise may be viewed and used by others. By using such features, you assume the risk that the Personal Information provided by you may be viewed and used by third parties.

Data Security

The WNET Group maintains data security measures in line with current industry standards for the Services to protect the Personal Information under its control against unauthorized access and disclosure. These measures include the implementation of reasonable industry recommended technical, physical and administrative data security safeguards. More sensitive information, namely, your credit or debit card numbers, are encrypted and protected with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) guidelines employing the most current encryption software algorithms and protocols, such as TLS/SSL when transmitted to The WNET Group online. The WNET Group does not store or re-use credit card information. Role based access ensures that only authorized personnel with specific unique IDs and passwords can access credit card transactions based on business needs, solely for the purpose of processing authorized transactions. The WNET Group does not have direct readable access to any credit card number but can view transactions through our credit card merchant gateway via our processing provider in order to void, refund or adjust transactions. The WNET Group also requires that the vendors The WNET Group engages with respect to the Services employ reasonable industry standard data security safeguards when carrying out their services on The WNET Group’s behalf.

Data Retention

The WNET Group will retain your Personal Information for as long as your inquiry is active or as needed for you to use the Services, and for a reasonable time thereafter in accordance with our standard procedures or as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. Even if we delete some or all of your information, we may continue to retain and use anonymous or aggregate data, or any other data that constitutes non-personal information. Please note that we will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.

Your Choices

From time to time, The WNET Group may also share donor mailing addresses with other reputable nonprofit organizations on a limited basis in exchange for limited access to the names and addresses of their constituents. We have found this to be a cost-effective method of reaching additional potential constituents and is a common practice across the direct mail industry. These organizations will not have continued access to your name and address unless you choose to respond to their initial mailing. We do not share email addresses or health related data in connection with this list exchange.

We respect our donors’ choices and control over their information. You, as a donor may, at any time, have your name excluded from any direct mail donor list exchange activity. We also recognize that you may wish to limit the ways in which we contact you, and we offer the following options for restricting internal and external sharing of your contact information:

  • Do not contact me by telephone.
  • Do not text me.
  • Do not contact me by postal mail.
  • Do not contact me by email.
  • Do not share my contact information with other nonprofit organizations.
  • Limit your fund-raising appeals to semiannual solicitations only.
  • Do not contact me.

To request that your name be excluded from direct mail list exchange activity or to otherwise change how The WNET Group contacts you, please email us at membership@wnet.org or feel free to contact us at 212-560-2888 or by mail at:

The WNET Group Membership Services
825 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019

You may change your email preferences at any time through these landing pages:
The THIRTEEN Email Preference Center: thirteen.org/email-preferences/
The WLIW Email Preference Center: wliw.org/email-preferences/
The NJ PBS Email Preference Center: njpbs.org/email-preferences/
The ALL ARTS Email Preference Center: allarts.org/email-preferences/
The WNET In Production Email Preference Center: wnet.org/email-preferences-wnet-d/

If you opt back into a specific service, you will receive communication in that manner regardless of your overall opt out selections. For example, if you request a newsletter subscription, we will provide you that subscription, even if you previously asked us not to contact you at all. We will take all reasonable efforts to ensure that your requests are honored in a timely fashion. Please note that if you are an active participant in one of our fundraising events you may receive communications related to that event regardless of your overall opt out selections. If you do not wish to receive emails about that event, please opt out using the “unsubscribe” link provided in the communication.

Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information on our website from those we actually know are under the age of 13. If you believe we might have any Personal Information from or about a child under 13, please email membership@wnet.org.

Cross-Border Data Transfers

If you submit Personal Information to us, that information may be processed in a jurisdiction where privacy laws may be less stringent than those in your country of residence. By submitting your Personal Information to us, you agree to the transfer, storage, and processing of such information in foreign jurisdictions including, but not limited to, the United States. Please note that Personal Information transferred to the United States is subject to access by law enforcement.

Notification of Changes

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions from this Privacy Policy at any time, provided that any such modifications will only be applied prospectively. If The WNET Group changes its Privacy Policy, changes to this privacy statement will be posted, with prominent links to the new policy positioned on The WNET Group homepage, and other places we deem appropriate, so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. The WNET Group will use information in accordance with the Privacy Policy under which the information was collected.

Governing Law

This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of New York. If you are located outside of the United States when you use the Services, any information you submit thereto will be transferred to the United States. Accordingly, by using the Services and submitting Personal Information there, you authorize the transfer of your Personal Information to the United States. If any part of this Privacy Policy is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid or unenforceable provision or part will be deemed suspended and a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision or part and the remainder of this Privacy Policy shall continue in full force and effect.

Contacting Us

If you have any further questions regarding this privacy policy or the use of your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy, you can contact us by filling out this Contact Us form, by email at membership@wnet.org, via phone at 212-560-2888 or by postal mail at:

The WNET Group
825 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019