Privacy Policy

Dominion City Church Georgia ("DC Georgia", "we", "our", or "us") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit religious organization (EIN: 26-4600482) based in metro Atlanta, Georgia. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website at dcgeorgia.church (the "Site") or interact with us online.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you voluntarily submit to us, including:

• Contact form submissions — name, email address, phone number, and message content
• Prayer requests and ministry inquiries — any personal details you choose to include
• Event registrations — name, email, and any event-specific information requested
• Volunteer applications — name, contact details, availability, and background information
• Email newsletter subscriptions — name and email address
• Online giving / donations — name, billing address, and payment information (processed by our third-party payment processor; we do not store full payment card details)

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, we and our service providers may automatically collect:

• Log data — IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, and timestamps
• Device information — device type, screen resolution, and hardware model
• Cookies and similar technologies — session identifiers, preference tokens, and analytics identifiers (see Section 5)

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive limited information about you from:

• Social media platforms when you interact with our social accounts or embedded feeds
• Payment processors (e.g., Stripe or PayPal) in connection with donation transactions
• Google Analytics and similar analytics providers that aggregate usage data

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Responding to your messages, prayer requests, and inquiries
• Registering you for events, groups, or volunteer opportunities
• Sending ministry updates, event announcements, and newsletters (only where you have opted in)
• Processing charitable donations and issuing tax receipts
• Improving, operating, and securing our Site and services
• Complying with applicable legal obligations
• Fulfilling our religious mission and ministry purposes

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

3. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers — with trusted vendors who assist us in operating our Site and ministries (e.g., email delivery platforms, payment processors, web hosting providers), under contractual obligations of confidentiality
• Ministry staff and volunteers — on a need-to-know basis to fulfil your request (e.g., passing a prayer request to a pastoral team member)
• Legal obligations — when required by law, court order, or government authority, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of DC Georgia or others
• Organizational transfers — in the event of a merger, restructuring, or transfer of our ministry's assets, your information may be transferred with appropriate notice

We will never share sensitive personal information (such as prayer requests or health details) outside the pastoral team without your explicit consent.

4. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or as required by applicable law. Specifically:

• Contact form and inquiry data is retained for up to 3 years
• Donation records are retained for 7 years in accordance with IRS and Georgia nonprofit record-keeping requirements
• Newsletter subscription data is retained until you unsubscribe
• Analytics data is retained per the default retention settings of our analytics provider (typically 26 months)

You may request deletion of your data at any time (see Section 8).

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience on our Site:

• Essential cookies — required for the Site to function correctly (e.g., CSRF tokens, session management). These are strictly necessary and do not require your consent.
• Analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors interact with our Site (e.g., Google Analytics). These cookies collect anonymized, aggregated data. We obtain your consent before setting these cookies where required by law.
• Embedded media cookies — set by third-party platforms (e.g., YouTube) when you play sermon videos embedded on our pages. These are only activated when you interact with embedded content.

Where required by law (including under the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive), we obtain your affirmative, opt-in consent before placing non-essential cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time by adjusting your browser settings or using the cookie preferences tool on our Site.

Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect Site functionality. For Google Analytics opt-out, visit Google's opt-out page.

6. Third-Party Services and Links

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites and embeds from platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify. These third-party services operate under their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their data practices. We encourage you to review their policies before submitting any personal information to those platforms.

Key third-party services we use include:

• Google Analytics — website traffic analysis (Google Privacy Policy)
• YouTube — sermon video hosting (Google Privacy Policy)
• Payment processor — online giving (subject to their separate privacy policy)
• Email marketing platform — newsletter delivery (subject to their separate privacy policy)

7. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

Our Site is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately at admin@dcgeorgia.org and we will promptly delete it.

For ministry programs specifically designed for minors (such as DC Kidz or DC Youth), we collect only the information necessary to provide those programs safely, and we require parental or guardian consent before collecting any personal information from minors.

8. Your Rights and Choices

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 or incomplete information
• Deletion — request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements
• Opt-out of communications — unsubscribe from emails at any time via the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us
• Data portability — request a machine-readable copy of the information you provided to us

California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). The categories of personal information we collect are described in Section 1 above and include: identifiers (name, email, IP address); payment and financial information; internet/network activity (browsing history on our Site); geolocation data (general); and sensitive personal information (prayer requests, health information voluntarily provided).

Your rights include: right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose; right to delete; right to correct; right to limit use of sensitive personal information; and right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. DC Georgia does not sell or share personal information as defined under the CPRA. We will honor a 12-month lookback period for requests to know. To exercise your rights, contact us at admin@dcgeorgia.org. We will respond within 45 days (extendable by an additional 45 days with notice).

European Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, our legal basis for processing your personal data includes:

• Consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)) — for newsletters, analytics cookies, and non-essential communications
• Contract performance (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)) — to process event registrations or donation transactions you initiate
• Legitimate interests (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) — for Site security, fraud prevention, and improving our services
• Legal obligation (GDPR Art. 6(1)(c)) — where required by applicable law (e.g., tax and donation records)

You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, and object to the processing of your personal data, and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority (e.g., the UK ICO or an EU data protection authority). To exercise your GDPR rights, contact admin@dcgeorgia.org.

9. Data Security and Breach Notification

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal information, including:

• TLS/SSL encryption for all data transmitted to and from our Site
• Access controls limiting staff access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
• Regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments
• Secure, reputable third-party hosting and payment processing providers

No data transmission or storage system is 100% secure. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately at admin@dcgeorgia.org.

Data Breach Notification: In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and applicable regulatory authorities as required by law. Under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-910 et seq.), we will provide notification without unreasonable delay when a breach of security involving your personal information has occurred. Under GDPR, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours and affected individuals without undue delay where required. Notification will be sent to the email address on file or via a prominent notice on our Site.

10. CAN-SPAM and Email Communications

All marketing and ministry update emails sent by DC Georgia comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. Every email we send will:

• Accurately identify DC Georgia as the sender
• Include our physical mailing address
• Include a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe mechanism
• Honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days

To unsubscribe from marketing emails, click the "Unsubscribe" link in any email or contact us at admin@dcgeorgia.org. Note that transactional emails (donation receipts, event confirmations) are not subject to unsubscribe requests as they are required for your requested services.

11. Georgia State Law Compliance

DC Georgia complies with applicable Georgia state privacy and consumer protection laws, including:

• Georgia Personal Identity Protection Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-910 et seq.) — governing data breach notification obligations
• Georgia Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-390 et seq.) — prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices
• Georgia charitable solicitation requirements — DC Georgia is registered as a charitable organization in the State of Georgia where required by law

12. Nonprofit Transparency

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, DC Georgia is required to make certain financial information available to the public. Our annual Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax) is available for public inspection upon request. To request a copy, contact us at admin@dcgeorgia.org. Copies are also available through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool.

Charitable contributions to DC Georgia are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. For donations over $75 where a benefit is provided, DC Georgia will disclose the fair market value of the benefit received as required by IRS quid pro quo rules.

13. Endorsements and Testimonials

Testimonials and stories shared on our Site reflect genuine experiences of individuals who have participated in DC Georgia's ministry. They are not compensated or incentivized. Results described in individual testimonials are not guaranteed and may vary. Any affiliation or relationship relevant to a testimonial will be disclosed in accordance with FTC guidelines.

14. Sensitive Personal Information

Prayer requests, health disclosures, family circumstances, and other sensitive information you share with us through pastoral channels are treated with the highest degree of confidentiality. This information is:

• Shared only with pastoral staff and leadership directly involved in providing care
• Never shared with third parties without your explicit consent, except where required by law (e.g., mandatory reporting obligations)
• Subject to pastoral privilege protections where applicable under Georgia law

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. We will post the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. For material changes, we will provide a more prominent notice (e.g., a banner on our Site or an email to subscribers). Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: