Privacy Policy

The National Fallen Truck Driver Remembrance Foundation ("NFTDRF," "we," "us," or "our") is a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are committed to protecting the privacy of every person who visits our website, submits a tribute, donates, or contacts us for support. This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your data. By using our website at nftdf.org, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories:

• Personal contact information — your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number when you fill out any form on our site, including contact forms, newsletter signups, volunteer applications, and tribute submissions.
• Tribute and memorial information — the name, date of passing, years of service, employer, and personal story of a fallen driver, along with the relationship of the person submitting the tribute. This information is submitted voluntarily by family members or authorized representatives.
• Donor information — your name, email, billing address, and donation amount. Payment card details are processed exclusively by Stripe and are never stored on our servers. See Section 4 for full Stripe disclosure.
• Uploaded photos and media — photographs, videos, documents, or other files submitted as part of a tribute submission or media authorization. See Section 5.
• Device and browser data — IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time spent on pages, and general geographic region (city/country level). This information is collected automatically via analytics software and does not identify you personally.
• Communications — the contents of any email, support request, or message you send us, which we retain to respond to your inquiry and for quality assurance.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect only for the following purposes:

• Publishing approved tributes to the Memorial Wall, including the driver's name, portrait, and story, as authorized by the submitter.
• Processing donations and issuing IRS-compliant tax receipt acknowledgment letters to donors.
• Sending transactional communications related to your donation, tribute submission, or inquiry — including confirmation emails and status updates.
• Sending program newsletters, event invitations, and organizational updates only to subscribers who have explicitly opted in to such communications.
• Verifying the identity and authorization of tribute submitters when needed to confirm that the submitter has a relationship with the honored driver.
• Improving our website and programs through aggregated, anonymized analytics data.
• Complying with legal obligations applicable to nonprofit organizations, including IRS reporting and state charitable solicitation registration requirements.

We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes under any circumstances.

3. Communications and Email Consent

We send two categories of email:

• Transactional emails — sent automatically in connection with a donation, tribute submission, or inquiry you initiate. These emails are operational in nature and are not marketing communications. You will receive these as part of normal service delivery.
• Newsletter and program update emails — sent only when you have affirmatively opted in by checking the subscription box at the time of donation, tribute submission, or newsletter signup. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any such email or by emailing privacy@nftdrf.org. Unsubscribing from marketing emails does not affect transactional communications.

We do not purchase email lists or send unsolicited commercial communications.

4. Stripe Payment Processing

All donation payments made through nftdf.org are processed by Stripe, Inc., a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment processor. When you enter your payment card information, that data is transmitted directly to Stripe using industry-standard TLS encryption. NFTDRF does not receive, transmit, or store your full card number, CVV, or bank account number on our servers at any point.

We retain a Stripe customer record that includes your name, email address, billing postal code, and donation history. This record allows us to issue accurate tax receipts and maintain our organizational accounting records as required under IRS guidelines for 501(c)(3) organizations.

Stripe's privacy practices are governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy, available at stripe.com/privacy. By making a donation on our site, you also agree to Stripe's terms of service.

5. Uploaded Photos and Media

When you submit a tribute that includes a photograph or other media file, you are granting NFTDRF permission to store, display, and use that media as described in our Photo Release Policy, which is incorporated by reference into this Privacy Policy. Please review the full Photo Release Policy at nftdf.org/photo-release before submitting any media.

Uploaded photos are stored on secure cloud infrastructure. We apply reasonable access controls to prevent unauthorized access. Where you have authorized it, we may enhance portrait photographs using AI-assisted image processing tools to achieve a consistent, dignified presentation on the Memorial Wall.

To request removal of a photo or media file associated with a tribute, contact media@nftdrf.org. Because Memorial Wall content may be indexed by search engines and shared publicly, complete removal from all third-party caches cannot be guaranteed, but we will remove the content from our own systems promptly upon a valid request.

6. Analytics and Cookies

Our website uses analytics software to understand how visitors use the site. This may involve the use of cookies — small text files stored on your device — to track session information, page views, and navigation paths. Analytics data is aggregated and anonymized; it is not linked to your name or contact information.

You may disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies does not prevent you from using our website, but some features — such as form pre-fill — may not function as expected. Our site does not use advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or cross-site tracking technologies.

7. Memorial Wall Publication and Family Consent

Tribute submissions are reviewed by our team before publication. When a tribute is approved and published to the Memorial Wall, the driver's name, years of service, employer, photograph (if provided), and tribute narrative become publicly accessible on nftdf.org and may be indexed by search engines.

By submitting a tribute, the submitter represents that they are authorized to share the information provided and consents to its public display on behalf of the driver's family or estate. If multiple family members have conflicting positions on publication, NFTDRF will defer to the individual identified as next of kin or, in the absence of a clear determination, will err on the side of privacy and withhold publication pending resolution.

8. Social Media Sharing and Open Graph Metadata

Each Memorial Wall entry includes social sharing functionality. When a visitor shares a tribute page on social media platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter), or LinkedIn, our website provides Open Graph metadata — including the driver's name, tribute excerpt, and portrait photo — which the social platform may display in a preview card. This sharing is initiated by the visitor; NFTDRF does not automatically post tribute content to social media.

NFTDRF is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party social media platforms. Once content is shared on a social platform, it is subject to that platform's terms and privacy settings.

9. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

Our website is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information as promptly as possible.

If you are the parent or guardian of a child and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@nftdrf.org.

10. Donor Privacy and Confidentiality

NFTDRF adheres to the following donor privacy commitments:

• We will not sell, exchange, rent, or share our donor list with any other organization, including other nonprofits, for any purpose.
• We will not send donor information to any third party for marketing, solicitation, or commercial purposes.
• Donors who wish to give anonymously may indicate that preference at the time of donation, and we will honor it in all public materials.
• We will maintain donor records with the same level of confidentiality and security as other sensitive personal information.
• Donors may review, correct, or request deletion of their contact information at any time, subject to our legal retention requirements (see Section 11).

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy or as required by law:

• Donor records and financial data — retained for a minimum of seven (7) years as required by IRS regulations applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations.
• Memorial Wall submissions — retained indefinitely as permanent records consistent with our mission to honor fallen drivers.
• Newsletter subscriber data — retained until you unsubscribe. Unsubscribe records are retained indefinitely to prevent inadvertent re-enrollment.
• Support and inquiry communications — retained for three (3) years to support quality assurance and follow-up.
• Analytics data — retained in aggregated, anonymized form indefinitely; raw session data is not retained beyond 26 months.

12. Security Limitations

We implement industry-standard technical safeguards to protect your personal information, including TLS encryption for all data transmitted to and from our website, access controls limiting who within our organization can view sensitive data, and cloud infrastructure with physical and logical security protections.

However, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your information. In the event of a data breach that creates a meaningful risk of harm to you, we will notify affected individuals as required by applicable law.

13. Third-Party Services

Our website and operations rely on the following third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy governing its handling of data:

• Stripe, Inc. — payment processing (stripe.com/privacy)
• Sanity.io — content management system used to store and serve website content and media (sanity.io/legal/privacy)
• Hosting provider — our website is hosted on cloud infrastructure with industry-standard data center security practices
• Email delivery service — transactional and newsletter emails are routed through a third-party email delivery provider

We share only the minimum personal data necessary for each third-party service to perform its function. We do not authorize any third-party service to use your data for purposes beyond what we have described in this policy.

14. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — request that we correct inaccurate personal information.
• Deletion — request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements (donor financial records, for example, cannot be deleted during the required seven-year retention period).
• Opt-out of marketing — unsubscribe from newsletter and marketing communications at any time.
• Tribute removal — request removal of a tribute submission from the Memorial Wall by contacting privacy@nftdrf.org.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@nftdrf.org. We will respond to verified requests within thirty (30) days. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

15. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. NFTDRF is incorporated under Texas law and operates from Austin, Texas.

16. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or website functionality. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify registered donors or newsletter subscribers by email. Your continued use of our website after any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

17. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us:

• Email: privacy@nftdrf.org
• Mail: National Fallen Truck Driver Remembrance Foundation, 5900 Balcones Drive, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78731