Last updated: October 18, 2024

This Privacy Policy describes our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of your information when you utilize services at The Refuge Utah and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

The Refuge Utah is bound by strict confidentiality provisions under the Violence Against Women Act. The Refuge Utah collects limited personal information about the people we serve in a computer system. This is a secure, end-to-end encrypted web-based database accessible only by The Refuge Utah staff.  

WHY DO WE COLLECT THIS INFORMATION? 

  • To know how many people we serve and the types of people we serve.
  • To understand what the needs are and can plan and evaluate services to meet those needs. 
  • To satisfy the requirements of various state and federal offices. 

WHO CAN SEE INFORMATION THAT IS IN OUR SYSTEM? 

  • People who work at The Refuge Utah will use it to help provide services to you.
  • You may view your information upon request.  
  • Others as required by law, including officials with a valid subpoena, warrant, or court order. 
  • We will not disclose your information for any other use unless you permit it. 

HOW IS YOUR PRIVACY PROTECTED? 

  • All staff and volunteers of The Refuge Utah must sign an agreement to protect your privacy and comply with state and federal laws and policies before seeing any information. 
  • Information about who we serve is only reported in aggregate and in a de-identified fashion.  

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS? 

  • If you do not want your name or other potentially identifying information entered in our system, tell the advocate.  
  • The Refuge Utah will still help you if you refuse to share personal information or to authorize The Refuge Utah to share your information with other providers/agencies with a signed release. However, federal and state regulations may require limited data collection for funding purposes. If you choose not to share some personal information, there are some outside resources that may not be available to you, for instance, certain types of housing assistance.
  • You have the right to request a copy of The Refuge Utah’s information about you. 
  • If you think this Agency violated your privacy rights, you have the right to complain or appeal.  

When receiving services at our property, please note The Refuge Utah utilizes cameras on its properties. It is our hope that they will discourage trespassing, loitering, vandalism, or any other illegal or unwanted activity. Video will not be viewed by or shared with any individual or entity outside our organization unless deemed necessary by the Executive Director in accordance with our confidentiality policy. 

While accessing our services, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

Email address

First name and last name

Phone number

The Refuge Utah may use personal data to contact you by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication to provide services requested by you.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Refuge Utah will retain your personal data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws or grant funders) or resolve disputes.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Law enforcement: Under certain circumstances, The Refuge Utah may be required to disclose your personal data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of your personal is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Links to Other Websites

Our service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Text/SMS Messaging Services

The Refuge Utah offers services through a text message with our staff.

  • The same privacy standards applied to our chat services apply to our texting services.
  • Opt-in newsletter/updates: Users can opt-in to receive regular messages providing updates relevant issue-related content. Users can opt-out any time.

Notification of Policy Changes

We reserve the right to change, modify or add to our privacy policy to protect the ethical standards provided or to meet the changing demands of digital advocacy. Notification of any changes to The Refuge Utah’s privacy policy will be posted to the website or other appropriate location so as to adequately inform digital service users of these revisions. We encourage you to please review it frequently.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us:

By email: info@therefugeutah.org

By phone number: 8012275038