Privacy Policy

Kusala Institute (KI) respects your privacy and is committed to keeping any personal information obtained from you or about you secure and to being transparent about the ways in which we use it.

KI is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit based in the State of Washington. Our website is operated in the United States and as such the personal information we collect will be transferred to us in the United States. If you are interacting with us from the EU, EU data protection law is likely to apply (GDPR).

Personal information we collect and how

Personal information is collected directly from you when you provide it to us; from third parties where you have given your permission for it to be shared with us and indirectly as you navigate through the website. When you make a donation or sign up to receive email updates, we will request personal information, such as your name, email address, mailing address and phone number. We use the personal information you provide to process your donation and to communicate with you about it. In addition, we may use this personal information to keep you updated about our work.
Your rights

You can stop receiving information about KI, request your personal information be deleted or updated by contacting us.

Specifically, under the GDPR, you have the right to access to the personal information we hold, to rectify any personal information we hold, to erasure of your personal information, to restrict processing of your personal information, to data portability of your personal information, to object to processing; and to not be subject to automated decision-making including profiling. Under the GDPR, where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us.

Purposes for which we use your personal information
We will use your personal information for the following purposes: to provide you with information about our projects, to provide updates on our work and request donations, to invite you to events hosted by us, to thank donors for their support, to administer any financial transaction between us, to recruit employees and volunteers and for research purposes.
How we use and transfer personal information

KI may engage third party vendors to assist us with our donor personal information database, marketing campaigns, modeling our data, and processing online and mail donations and credit card payments. These companies may have access to donors’ personal information as needed to perform their functions. KI requires that they keep such personal information confidential and that they not use such information for purposes other than the functions they are assisting us with.

KI operates globally. Please note that certain countries outside of the UK and EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal information, including lower security protections and fewer rights for individuals. Where your personal information is transferred, stored, and/or otherwise processed outside the UK or EEA in a country which does not offer an equivalent standard of protection to the UK or EEA, and that information would otherwise fall within the protection of relevant EU law, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate safeguards designed to protect your personal information.

Lawful basis for processing personal information
Where the GDPR applies to our operations, we are required to rely on one or more lawful bases to collect and use your personal information:
  • We may ask for your consent to use your personal information for certain purposes, such as marketing email, you always have the right to withdraw your consent.
  • We may process personal information on the basis that there is a legitimate interest and the processing is reasonably necessary to further that interest. We may process your personal information where we have a contract with you, in order to fulfil that contract, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into one.
  • The processing of your personal information may be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation.
Data retention period
Personal information that we process will not be kept for longer than is necessary in connection with the purposes for which it was collected and used. In some cases, we may keep your personal information for longer if we are required to do so in accordance with legal or regulatory requirements. In specific circumstances, we may also retain your personal information for longer so that we have an accurate record of your dealings with us in the event of any complaints or challenges.