Privacy Policy

Last Updated: Tue, June 23, 2026

The sections below spell out who touches your data and how you allow us to use it. As always, we’re open to your inputs on how to do it better. 

This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how DEFIANCE.ORG (“Defiance,” “we,” “us” or “our”), handles your personal information. This Privacy Policy applies to all interactions with us through our websites (www.DEFIANCE.org and www.DEFIANCE.news),  and any related services that post a link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, referred to herein as the “Services”). 

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using and accessing any of the Services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy and understand the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

1.What Info We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal information about you:

  • Contact Information: When you sign up for emails or updates, sign petitions, or become a Member, we may ask for your name, email, address, and/or mobile number.

  • Payment and Purchase Information: When you make a donation or purchase merchandise or event tickets, we collect your name, billing info, product details, and payment details. This information is processed securely by our third-party payment processors. We do not store full credit card info; those entities will handle your data via their own policies in order to securely process your payments.

  • Support Information: Information or inquiries you submit to us via email or other support channels, including support@defiance.org.

  • Website Analytics: DEFIANCE.org is currently hosted by Squarespace, which collects information to power the site and its analytics, and to learn about site traffic and activity, including information about your browser, network, and device; web pages you visited prior to coming to this website; and/or your IP address. This information collected by Squarespace’s platform may also include details about your use of the website, including: clicks, internal links, pages visited, scrolling, searches, timestamps.

  • Cookies and Related Technologies: We may use Cookies (as defined below). Our main website includes a banner to let you opt out of any or all non-essential cookies. These technologies are used by websites to enhance your browsing experience, security, analytics, and customization. For more information about how we use these Cookies and similar technologies, and your opt-out options, please see the Cookies and Related Technologies section below.

  • De-Identified Data: We may process personal information in an aggregated or de-identified form to analyze the effectiveness of our Services, conduct research, or better understand our effectiveness or use of the Services. Aggregated or de-identified data cannot reasonably be linked to an identified or identifiable individual. We maintain and use de-identified data without attempting to re-identify it, except as permitted by law.

2.Sources of Info

We collect personal information from the following sources:

  • Directly From You: We collect information directly from you, when you communicate or interact with us or the Services,  or reach out for support or to receive emails from us. 

  • From Third Parties: We receive information from third-party partners and service providers that help us operate — for example, payment processors, fulfillment vendors, or a partner organization running a joint campaign you signed up for. This information helps us personalize our outreach and/or tailor our Services to you. 

  • Automatically through Cookies and Related Technologies: When you visit the Services, we automatically collect information through cookies, web beacons, and/or similar tracking technologies. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website and improve our Services. For more information, please see the Cookies and Related Technologies section below.

3.How We Use Your Info

We use your personal information to:

  • To Provide the Services and Fulfill Your Requests: We use your personal information to confirm your Membership or sign-ups, and provide and maintain the Services. We process and fulfill your requests, process your donations, respond to your inquiries, and for other business operations and administration purposes.

  • To Communicate With You: We send you updates on pro-democracy matters, briefings, and opportunities to act to protect the rule of law and fight corruption, including through platforms like Substack (which may collect data under its own privacy policies). We encourage you to review Substack’s Privacy Policy for more information, as that is the main platform we use to communicate with you. 

  • To Improve the Services: We use your information to understand and analyze our Member base and how you interact with the Services, to improve the Services and enhance your experience, and to develop new content, strategies, campaigns, services, features, and functionality to help us better protect democracy. 

  • For Marketing and Promotional Purposes: We may send you updates and offers as we seek to grow the DEFIANCE.org community and expand our efforts to fight corruption, including marketing, newsletters, updates, and to communicate with you about the Services, including new campaigns and events. We may also use your personal information to improve our marketing and promotional efforts. In certain circumstances, you may direct us to share this information, or where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent.

  • To Comply With Legal Obligations: We may use your information where we believe necessary to comply with our legal, governmental, or institutional obligations or to exercise or defend our rights or the rights of a third party, including complying with law enforcement or government authority requests and conducting security and compliance audits. We may also use your information to investigate and resolve disputes, and actual or suspected security issues.

  • To Protect You, Us, and Others. We may use your information where we believe necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities, detect or prevent fraud or abuse, or situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person or to otherwise protect us, you, and other Members. We may use your information to enforce this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Service, protect the integrity of the Services, or to comply with the law.

4.How We Share Your Info

We share your personal information in the following ways:

  • Service Providers. We disclose information, including all categories of personal information, with entities that process information on our behalf. For example, we share information with our service providers who assist us with services such as processing payments, data analytics, website hosting, and technical support. We contractually prohibit our service providers from retaining, using, or disclosing information about you for any purpose other than performing the services for us or if otherwise permitted by applicable law. We may also permit them to use information that does not identify you (including information that has been aggregated or de-identified) for any purpose except as prohibited by applicable law.

    • Our payment processors are: Stripe (via Squarespace and Substack), or if you signed up before Nov. 7, 2025, our partners at Democracy Engine. 

    • We use Printful, a third-party service, for fulfilling custom merchandise‌ orders. Printful handles the production, packaging, and shipment of products. After you place an order, your order details are automatically sent to Printful for fulfillment. These details include your: billing and shipping address; details relating to your purchase (for example, product dimensions); email address; name; and phone number. We share this data with Printful for the purpose of producing and delivering your products. We recommend reviewing Printful’s Privacy Policy to understand how they process the data they receive.

    • We may use other providers for merchandise, events, or other activations, as needed.

  • Organization Partners. We may share personal information with partner organizations, including to help us carry out the Services, particularly those whose missions align with ours. For example, if we collaborate with a partner on a campaign to protect whistleblowers, we might share sign-up information with that partner organization in order to carry out the campaign, i.e. to send you updates and notifications about actions to support truth-tellers on the front lines, or to help that partner expand their efforts to protect whistleblowers generally.

  • Advertising Partners. We use advertising and social media platforms (such as Meta and Google) to reach more people with our pro-democracy campaigns. In some cases this involves providing limited information — like a hashed email — to those platforms so we can show our own ads to people like you, which may be considered a "sale" or "share" under state privacy laws. You can opt out at any time (see Your Rights and Choices). We do not sell your information to data brokers, and we do not provide it to unrelated companies so they can market their own products to you.

  • Social Media Platforms. We may receive information about your activity when you follow us on social media and networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or X (formerly known as Twitter). Additionally, if you access our Services through a social networking site or a third-party login service, we may collect information about you from that third-party that you have made available via the privacy settings within that third-party service provider. 

  • Legal Compliance. If required by law or in response to valid legal requests, such as subpoenas or other government demands, we may disclose your data to authorities.

  • Business Transfers. In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or similar transaction involving our organization, your personal information may be transferred to the successor organization.

  • With Your Consent. We may otherwise disclose your personal information when you give us permission or direct us to disclose your information, including as part of the Services.

5.Cookies and Related Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies, which are small files or pieces of text that download to a device when a visitor accesses a website or app. For information about the cookies used by our main hosting platform, Squarespace, click here. For more information about the cookies used on Substack, where we post news and updates, visit Substack’s Privacy Policy. Our cookie banner gives you the options to manage your preferences or decline all non-essential cookies.

We may also engage other third parties to serve advertisements on the Services and/or on third-party services. Some of these ads may be tailored to your interests based on your browsing of the Services and elsewhere on the Internet, sometimes referred to as “interest-based advertising” or “online behavioral advertising,” which may include sending you an ad on a third-party service after you have left the Services. You can opt-out of advertising cookies through the “Cookies Preferences” option on DEFIANCE.org. 

6.Your Rights and Choices

We offer you the following privacy rights (even where not required by applicable U.S. state privacy laws) regarding your personal information:

  • Right to Delete: You may request that we delete personal information we have collected from or about you.

  • Right to Correct: You may request that we correct inaccuracies in your personal information.

  • Right to Access: You may request confirmation of whether we process your personal information and access to such information.  

  • Right to Opt-Out: You have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of your personal information and the “sharing” of personal information in connection with the display of “targeted advertising” across third party websites, as these terms are defined under applicable U.S. state privacy laws. These terms are defined broadly to include situations where we provide personal information to partners who provide advertising services to us or use your personal information for marketing purposes. 

7.How to Exercise Your Rights 

You can exercise any of these privacy rights by emailing us at support@defiance.org (please put “Privacy Rights” in the subject line). 

  • Verification. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We will use reasonable methods to verify that the person making the request is the person about whom we have collected data. 

  • Authorized Agents. You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. We may require the authorized agent to demonstrate authority to act on your behalf.  

  • Appeal Process. If we decline to take action on your request, we will inform you of our reasons. You have the right to appeal our decision. To submit an appeal, please follow the instructions in our response to your request. If your appeal is denied, we will provide you with information on how to contact your state Attorney General or other applicable enforcement authority to submit a complaint. 

  • Nondiscrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights under applicable law, including by denying goods or services, charging different prices or rates, or providing a different level of quality of goods or services.  

You also have the following choices on the Services:

  • Email. You can unsubscribe from our email communications, newsletters, and marketing or promotional emails at any time by using the “unsubscribe” option in the emails we send.

  • Cookies. You have the option to manage or disable cookies through the Cookies Preferences link on DEFIANCE.org or through your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies may limit certain functionalities of the Services and as further described in the Cookies and Related Technologies section above. 

8.Data Security

We take precautions to protect your info from unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we implement and maintain reasonable physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard and secure information collected. However, no system is 100% bulletproof and we cannot guarantee the security of information about you. While no security system is perfect, we strive to maintain robust protections to safeguard your privacy. If we ever experience a data breach, we’ll notify you promptly. We will also consult with the appropriate authorities where we believe criminal activity may be involved.

9.Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or as required by law. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider various criteria, including whether the personal information continues to be necessary to provide our Services; the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information; the potential risk of harm to consumers from unauthorized use or disclosure; and the purposes for which we collect the personal information. Except as otherwise permitted or required by law, if personal information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention policies.

10.Children’s Privacy

This site is not intended for children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you are under the age of 18, please refrain from providing any personal information through our platform. If you believe that we may have inadvertently collected data from a minor, please contact us at support@defiance.org for deletion.

11.International Visitors

DEFIANCE.org is based in the United States and built for U.S. residents. If you're visiting from outside the U.S., know that we process and store data here. Other countries may have different — sometimes weaker — data protections than your home jurisdiction. By using the Services, you acknowledge that.

12.Social Platforms

If you use social sharing features on our site (like a Facebook or X share button), those platforms may collect data about that interaction under their own privacy policies. We don't control what they do with it — check their policies directly.

13.Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do, we’ll update the date above and notify Members if the changes are significant.

14.Contact

Questions about our Privacy Policy?

Reach us at: support@defiance.org

Questions about your Membership or payment? Go to Manage My Membership.