PRIVACY POLICY

Commitment to your privacy

This website is owned and operated by Marine Conservation Philippines. We understand that you value your privacy, and so do we. This policy details how we use information you provide to us or that we learn from your use of this website. It explains how we may collect, use, and in some instances share this information.

Marine Conservation Philippines considers “Personal Information” to include information that alone or when in combination with other information may be used to readily identify, contact, or locate you, such as: name, address, email address, or phone number. We do not consider Personal Information to include information that has been anonymized so that it does not allow a third party to easily identify a specific individual.

Information we collect and how we use it

We may ask you to provide us with Personal Information if you would like to participate in some activities available on, or benefit from services offered on, this website. Through the use of forms we may collect this information to help provide you with services and respond to your requests.

If you choose to make a donation or purchase through this website, payment is processed by PayPal or Wise. We do not collect or store your card number or card verification value on our own systems, this information is entered directly with the payment processor. We may retain non-payment details related to the transaction, such as your name, email address, and the amount and purpose of your donation. PayPal’s and Wise’s own privacy policies govern their handling of your payment information and are not covered by this Privacy Policy.

If you would like to post comments to our blog, you may do so using a name of your choosing as well as enter an associated website. If your post makes it through selection and moderation, it will be publicly posted for everyone to see. Please do not post if you do not wish this to happen.

Volunteer and intern applicants

Applying to volunteer, intern, or otherwise work with us requires more detailed Personal Information than simply browsing this website, including amongst other things health and medical information, and any other details you volunteer. We collect this through dedicated application forms, and use it solely to assess your application, arrange your placement, and keep you safe during your stay. It is handled with the same care and confidentiality as all other Personal Information described in this policy.

Third-party form providers

Some forms on this website are hosted by third-party providers. Our feedback form, scholarship application, and suggestions form are hosted by JotForm; when you submit one of these, your information is received and stored by JotForm on our behalf, in addition to Marine Conservation Philippines. Our newsletter signup is handled by Mailchimp, who store and manage our subscriber list. Our school enquiry form uses FormSubmit, which forwards your submission to us by email rather than storing it on a separate platform. Each of these providers has its own privacy practices governing how they handle your data.

Usage Tracking

We track website usage data to improve our website. We collect user traffic patterns throughout our website using web logs, cookies, and similar technologies. This information is collected to help improve website flow and usability. In addition, when we send emails to our members and supporters, we track information on clicks-through to our website, including IP addresses. This is done to gauge the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and to discourage fraudulent use.

Cookies

We may place a text file called a “cookie” in the browser files of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain Personal Information, although it will enable us to relate your use of this website to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided. But the only Personal Information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie cannot read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other websites. We may use cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above). You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you have set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie.

Our Usage of Personal Information

We process Personal Information as described above and also for such internal and service-related purposes as:

To advance our mission including delivering information that may be of interest to our supporters;
To conduct research and analysis in order to maintain and improve our website and advance our mission;
To alert you to news updates and related developments, special offers, and other new MCP offerings. We provide you with controls so that you can determine whether or not you would like to continue to receive such communications if you so choose (as described below);
To contact you in response to requests for information such as requests made through the “Contact Us” form of our web site.

Data Retention

We do not keep Personal Information for a fixed period of time. Where information is stored with a third-party form provider such as JotForm, submissions may be retained indefinitely, but we periodically review and delete older records as part of routine data clean-ups. You may request deletion of your Personal Information at any time, as described below.

Children

We do not knowingly collect, maintain, or use any Personal Information from children under 13 years of age. If we become aware that we have collected any Personal Information from children under 13, we will promptly delete such information from our databases. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child under the age of 13 has used the website, then you may alert us at abuse@marineconservationphilippines.org and request that we delete that child’s Personal Information from our systems.

Your rights and how to contact us

You have the right to request access to the Personal Information we hold about you, to have inaccurate information corrected, to have it deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to request a copy of it in a portable format. If you have concerns about how we’ve handled your Personal Information that we haven’t resolved, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your own country.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at team@mcp.email. We make a good faith effort to respond to such requests. We may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, would be extremely impractical, or where information is required to be retained by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Transfer and information sharing policy

We do not rent or sell Personal Information collected on this website with third parties. Period. We may share information collected about website users with third parties if doing so is appropriate to carry out a user’s request or we believe that doing so is legally required, or it is in Marine Conservation Philippines’ interest to protect its property or other legal rights or the rights or property of others.

Reorganization

If Marine Conservation Philippines should ever file for bankruptcy or have its assets sold to or merged with another entity, information we’ve received from you shall be treated as an asset and may be transferred as part of any such transactions.

Affiliated Websites and Other Websites

This Privacy Policy applies to websites and services that are owned and operated by Marine Conservation Philippines. We do not exercise control over the websites of third parties that we may link to or view as part of a frame on a page on this website. These other sites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data, or solicit Personal Information from you. We are not responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of those third parties when providing information on a feature or page operated by a third party.

International visitors and donors

By choosing to visit the website or otherwise provide information to Marine Conservation Philippines, you agree that any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this Privacy Policy will be governed by the laws of the Philippines.

Security

We take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. No data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make reasonable efforts to ensure security on our systems.

If we learn of a security systems breach we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using this website or providing Personal Information to us you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy and administrative issues relating to your use of this website. We may post a notice on our website if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to you at the email address you have provided to us in these circumstances.

Related policies

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Use, which governs your use of this website more broadly.

Changes and Updates

We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we will also revise the “effective date” on the Privacy Policy. For changes to this Privacy Policy that may be materially less restrictive on our use or disclosure of Personal Information you have provided to us, we will attempt to obtain your consent before implementing the change. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are protecting the Personal Information we collect. Your continued use of this website constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates.

Effective date: September 21, 2026