Privacy Policy
January 24, 2016
Devon 50 (Troop 50, BSA) is committed to respecting and protecting the personal privacy of its members and those who visit its Web site. It is our policy to acquire personal information from users only by overt means, only when it is in the interest of the user to provide it, and to utilize this information only for the purpose it was provided. We may collect the same personal information that is required on paper forms to register and become a member of the Boy Scouts of America and Devon 50. We do not use agents or service providers.
The information that follows explains the kinds of information we may collect, how it is used, and the conditions under which it is made available to third parties, how information is maintained, and our compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the personal information of children under the age of 13.
NOTE: This privacy policy applies to the domain devon50.org, fundraiser.devon50.org, www.troopwebhost.org/Troop50Devon, Devon 50 Facebook page and related Devon 50 google sites such as the Wreath Sales Center. Collectively, these will be referred to in this policy as devon50.org.
Website / Social Media Access
Access to the private area of our troop website is required in order to see the Troop Calendar, the Troop Roster, and to sign up for monthly trips (Event Registration). Once you turn in all forms and dues for your scout (and at least one parent, if possible), you will be given access to this website via a notification email. If you do not receive this in a reasonable period of time once you have submitted all forms and dues, please use the Contact Us form or ask the Membership Coordinator for assistance.
The same applies to social media such as the Private Devon 50 Facebook page.
What information does this site collect and use?
The devon50.org site functions for the benefit of visitors to provide information on the membership opportunities of our troop and the methods by which interested persons and organizations may affiliate with and support the program of our troop.
The devon50.org site functions for the benefit of individuals who have joined our troop in administering and delivering the programs of our troop. To that end, this site stores personally identifiable information (PII) to facilitate membership registration and participation in our programs. For example, we store information such as, but not limited to, name, home address, phone number(s), Date of Birth, gender, family relationships, and e-mail address(s) of members and parents/guardians. PA15 background check certificate expiration dates may be stored for adult volunteers who assist in the care, supervision, guidance and control of youth, per Pennsylvania law. All PII is entered by site administrators, not by members, based on information voluntarily provided by members.
Furthermore, program specific information may be stored to help the member, their parent/guardian, and the adult leader facilitate the administration of our troop programs. Examples would include, but are not limited to, an individual's interest, participation, advancement and progress in our troop programs, for troop activities as indicated on a devon50.org calendar.
All PII is located in the private area of this site, which requires a username and password from site administrators to gain access. SSL protection is provided. The website is created and hosted using TroopWebHost by Web Host Services LLC.
In some situations the user may be asked to voluntarily provide feedback on the site. The questions relate to ease of use, any problems encountered in using the site, site performance (speed) and the general look and feel of the site. PII is not asked for or collected through this process. This information will be used to assist in rectifying problems with the system and improving its usability and performance.
This site also collects anonymous data that is not typically indicative of and cannot be traced to an individual without the cooperation of their Internet Service Provider. This data includes information about the user's remote IP address, referral data (which page "linked" to the present request), and the browser software's user-agent string. This information is accepted passively from the HTTP headers that are sent from the user when requesting any file from the server.
The anonymous information collected is used to monitor the usage of this Web site and the interests of those who use it. Data such as the volume of traffic to the server, the number of visitors a certain section of the site receives each month, or the most popular search terms are analyzed to derive general statistics about the site's reach and the audience's usage patterns.
Use of Cookies
Visitors should be aware that non-personal information and data may be automatically collected by the devon50.org sites through the use of "cookies." "Cookies" are small text files a Web site can use to recognize repeat visitors, facilitate the visitor's ongoing access to and use of the site, and allow a site to track usage behavior and compile aggregate data that will allow content improvements. Cookies are not programs that come onto a visitor's system and damage files. Generally, cookies work by assigning a unique number to the visitor that has no meaning outside the assigning site. If a visitor does not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows the visitor to deny or accept the cookie feature. devon50.org uses "cookie" technology only to obtain non-personal information from its online visitors in order to improve visitors' online experience and facilitate their visit within our site.
Devon50.org uses a method known as a "session cookie." The "session cookie" is a cryptic number that identifies your browser session to our server. This "session cookie" is stored in the memory of your browser for up to 30 minutes after your last activity on our site and is completely destroyed by you when you close your browser. This allows the server to continue the "conversation" with you in context of the process or transaction you are involved in. This "session cookie" is changed automatically during your session for security purposes and is not written to your hard drive. The "session cookie" does not contain any personally identifiable information; the "session cookie" is required to use certain systems.
PII is collected only by means of form interfaces on the site, into which the unit administrator must enter the personal information requested. No cookies or any other tracking technology (other than stated above) are used for the purpose of coordinating information that a user may opt to enter in various interfaces on the site.
Troop Announcements
We will send you troop wide announcements via email on occasions when it is necessary to do so. If you have a scout currently registered with the troop, you (and he) will also receive patrol email for his patrol. All scouts must belong to one (and only one) patrol. All adults must belong to the adult group. All active members, both scouts and adults, must belong to the announce group.
Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are essential to operating the troop. If you do not wish to receive them, please contact the Troop Committee Chair.
Choice/Opt-out
If you do not wish to receive troop communications such as troop announcements or the weekly EBlast! newsletter to a particular email (such as a work email), you may opt-out of receiving them by requesting the site administrators to update your member profile via the Contact Us form.
You must retain at least one valid email address for us to contact you. You may retain additional emails in the troop roster for individual communications between other members of the troop and yourself as a convenience. Members may share an email address.
Scouts under 13 may have their own email address with permission of their parent/guardian. Since all emails for scouts are visible to their parents in the private Troop Roster area of the website, unit administrators will assume parents are aware of separate scout emails and approve unless notified otherwise.
Access to Personally Identifiable Information
If your PII changes you may update it by using the Contact Us form. A unit administrator will update your member profile.
What organization is collecting the information?
Information entered by unit administrators is retrieved directly by Devon (Troop) 50, Diamond Rock District, Chester County Council, BSA: North Valley Forge Road, Post Office Box 50, Devon, PA, 19333.
With whom does Devon 50 share the information that is collected?
Devon 50 only permits access to personal information by authorized and authenticated unit members. The personal information collected is not shared with other third parties other than to coordinate with higher levels within the Boy Scouts of America (for example, the Chester County Council registrar). Reports, statistics, and other analyses of aggregate anonymous information may be shared within the organization or provided to third parties at the sole discretion of our troop. This information does not include any personally identifiable information.
Devon 50 does not share email lists. No one can use the email lists to distribute email messages unless they are a list member or a global sender and have been given access by the unit administrators.
Exception: Devon 50 reserves the right to use all information at its disposal and to share this information with ISPs and other third parties as necessary to investigate any incident of misuse or abuse of its site, server, or information systems. Additionally, we reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site.
How does Devon 50 maintain the information it collects?
The security of your personal information is important to us. All communications between your browser and our system is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL). You will notice the "Locked" ICON appears in your browser bar (Internet Explorer). We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. All servers are protected and monitored by leading firewall technology 24 hours a day, per customer support at TroopWebHost -Web Host Services LLC.
Changes in this Privacy Statement
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by e-mail, or by means of a notice on our home page.
Links to Other Sites
If you click on a link to a third party site, which includes council sites and sites of BSA affiliates, you will leave the devon50.org or the www.troopwebhost.org/Troop50Devon site you are visiting and go to the site you selected. Because we cannot control the activities of third parties, we cannot accept responsibility for any use of your personally identifiable information by such third parties, and we cannot guarantee that they will adhere to the same privacy practices as our troop. We encourage you to review the privacy statements of any other service provider from whom you request services. If you visit a third party website, you should read that site's privacy statement before providing any personal information.
updated September 4, 2023