AQUINAS 101 PRIVACY POLICY

Effective Date: 04/16/2026

INTRODUCTION

The Thomistic Institute (“Company,” “we,” “us,” “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website https://aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org (the “Site”) and use our services such as creating an account, subscribing to newsletters, or submitting contact forms (collectively, the “Services”).

This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors, users, and others who access the Site.

By using the Site, the user (“you”) consent to this Privacy Policy and agree that we may collect, use, retain, share, transfer, and otherwise process your Personal Information (defined below) as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy supplements and is incorporated into our Site Terms of Use, which may be accessed at Terms of Use. If you do not agree with the data practices described in this Privacy Policy, you should not use our Site.

CHILDREN AND MINORS UNDER THE AGE OF 18

Our Site is not intended for children under 18 years of age. No one under age 18 may provide any Personal Information to or on the Site. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 18. If you are under 18, do not use or provide any information on this Site or through any of its features. If we learn that we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. We do not sell or share for targeted advertising purposes the Personal Information of consumers we know to be under 18 years of age. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at aquinas101support@dhs.edu.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

“Personal Information” is information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or household. Personal Information does not include de-identified, aggregated or anonymized information that is maintained in a form that is not capable of being associated with or linked to you or publicly available information from government records. We may use de-identified, aggregated, or anonymized information for any lawful purpose and share it with any party.

When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we may collect information about the individual web pages you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information.”

We may collect Device Information using the following technologies:

  • “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

  • “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.

  • “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.

Contact Form Information. Additionally, when you submit a form on the Site, we may collect certain information provided by you, including your name, email, phone number, company name, job title, as well as any additional information you supply. We refer to this information as “Contact Form Information.”

Donations. When you make a donation or create an account, we collect your name, billing address, email address, phone number, order details, and limited payment information.

Account Information. When you create an account, we also collect account credentials (such as the email address or username you use to log in and a password). Account credentials may be considered "sensitive personal information" under certain state privacy laws. We also collect information about your shopping activity on the Site, such as donation history, so that we can fulfill your donation, maintain your account and preferences, and improve and personalize your experience on the Site. We do not store full payment card numbers. Payments and donations are processed by our third-party payment processors.

Information from Third Parties. We may also receive Personal Information about you from other sources, such as event or conference organizers, partner organizations, mailing list providers, or co-sponsored outreach campaigns, as permitted by law. We may combine this information with the information we collect through the Site to help us keep our records accurate and to better understand, communicate with, and support the individuals and organizations we serve.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use the Contact Form Information that we collect generally to respond to correspondence placed through the Site. Additionally, we use this Contact Form Information to communicate with you, and when in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our services.

We use the Device Information that we collect to help us improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns). We also may use the Device Information to display retargeting advertisements on other websites.

SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We disclose your Personal Information to third parties to facilitate the use of your Personal Information, as outlined above. For instance, we utilize YouTube Analytics to gain insights into how our users interact with the Site – you can find more details regarding YouTube’s handling of your Personal Information here: YouTube Privacy Policy.

We may disclose Personal Information that we collect or you provide to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information held by us about our Site users is among the assets transferred.

Furthermore, we may share your Personal Information with employees, contractors, service providers, and other parties essential for supporting the Site and our business operations. In addition, where consistent with applicable laws and regulations, we may disclose Personal Information in all categories above:

  • To prepare, negotiate, or perform a contract or transaction with you;

  • To respond to subpoenas, court orders or other legal processes, or otherwise as required by law or the competent government or judicial authorities;

  • To establish or preserve a legal claim or defense;

  • As part of a corporate restructuring, sale of assets, merger, or divestiture; or

  • To prevent fraud or other illegal activities, such as willful attacks on our information technology systems.

INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Although Aquinas 101 is based in the U.S., the tools and service providers we use may be located in or transfer data to jurisdictions outside your home country. By using the Site, you consent to such transfers.

DATA SECURITY AND RETENTION

The security of your Personal Information is important to us. We employ a number of organizational, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the Personal Information we collect. However, security risks are inherent in all internet and information technologies, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your Personal Information. Your submission of any Personal Information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site.

We will only retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for your information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your information, the purposes for which we process your information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

THIRD-PARTY LINKS & COOKIES

Our Site may contain links to other websites or may be linked from other websites or social media platforms. We may also partner with third parties that may use technologies such as cookies, widgets, and links to gather information about users on our Site. We do not have control over third-party websites or social media platforms, and any third-party website’s privacy practices are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Any time you leave our Site for a third-party website or social media platform, or interact with a third-party link or other technology, you should exercise caution and review the privacy statement applicable to such websites to learn more.

BEHAVIORAL ADVERTISING

As described above, we may use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications that we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

Meta Pixel. Our Site may use Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel), a tool provided by Meta Platforms, Inc. This technology helps us understand actions that visitors take on the Site after viewing or interacting with our ads on Facebook or Instagram, measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns, and create audiences for future advertising. The information collected through the Meta Pixel may include your IP address, browser information, and information about your actions on the Site (such as pages visited or donations made) and may be linked by Meta to your Facebook or Instagram account if you have one. Meta uses this information in accordance with its own Privacy Policy. You can learn more about Meta’s advertising and how to manage your preferences within your Facebook and Instagram account settings.

GLOBAL PRIVACY CONTROL

You can use the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”) through a supported browser to signal certain of your opt-out preferences. You may opt out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Information, and the processing of your Personal Information for purposes of targeted advertising, by broadcasting the Global Privacy Control signal through a supported browser. If you use the GPC, we will process your request for your browser, but it will not apply outside of that browser to your device. You will need to use the GPC for each browser you use to access the Site. If you clear your cookies in your browser after using the GPC, you will need to use the GPC again for us to process your opt out for that browser.

DO NOT TRACK

We do not currently employ a process for automatically responding to “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals sent by web browsers, mobile devices, or other mechanisms. Per industry standards, third parties may be able to collect information, including Personal Information, about your online activities over time and across different websites or online services when you use the Site. You may opt out of online behavioral ads at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. You also may limit certain tracking by disabling cookies in your web browser.

DATA ACCESS RIGHTS

Residents of certain U.S. states may have certain data privacy rights regarding their Personal Information under applicable state privacy laws. Depending on where you live, these rights may include: (a) the right to know what Personal Information we collect, use, disclose, and sell or share; (b) the right to request access to and obtain a copy of your Personal Information; (c) the right to request correction of inaccurate Personal Information; (d) the right to request deletion of your Personal Information; (e) the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Information, targeted advertising, or certain types of profiling; and (f) the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights. To exercise any rights that may apply to you, contact us at aquinas101support@dhs.edu and indicate the state where you reside. We will verify your identity as required by applicable law and respond within the timeframe required by law. If we deny your request, you have the right to appeal that decision by contacting us at the same email address with the subject line “Privacy Request Appeal.”

CHANGES

We reserve the right to make any changes, modifications, additions, or deletions to this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to our privacy practices, we will notify you by email or through a notice on this page. We encourage you to check this page regularly for updates.

CONTACT US

For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us at:

The Thomistic Institute

487 Michigan Ave NE,

Washington, DC 20017

Email: aquinas101support@dhs.edu