Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Origin Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization and integrated auxiliary of Origin Temple (collectively "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information when you visit our website, enroll in our educational programs, join our community platform, make a donation, or interact with us in any way.

§ 01
Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you provide to us directly, including:

• Name, email address, phone number, and mailing address when you enroll in a membership, make a donation, submit a contact or curriculum inquiry form, or apply to our affiliate or ordination programs.
• Payment information including credit card details when you enroll in a membership. Payment processing is handled by our payment processors and we do not store your full card number on our servers.
• SMS and email consent — when you provide explicit consent to receive text messages and emails from us through our forms.
• Communications you send us directly including emails, inquiry form submissions, and messages through our community platform.
• Account information including username and password when you create an account on our community platform.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain information including:

• IP address, browser type, operating system, and device information.
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, and referring URLs.
• Cookie data as described in Section 5 of this policy.

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party services we use, including our payment processors, CRM and marketing automation platform, donation processing platform, and analytics providers, when you interact with those services in connection with our programs.

§ 02
How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To process your membership enrollment, donation, or application and provide you with access to our educational programs and community platform.
• To send you transactional communications including enrollment confirmations, receipts, course access notifications, and membership updates.
• To send you marketing and promotional communications including new course announcements, program updates, event notifications, and special offers — where you have provided explicit consent to receive such communications.
• To respond to your inquiries, support requests, and feedback.
• To administer our affiliate program and track referrals and commissions.
• To analyze usage of our website and platform to improve our services.
• To comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
• To detect and prevent fraud and protect the security of our platform and community.

§ 03
How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• With our service providers who process information on our behalf — including our payment processor (Stripe), CRM and marketing automation platform, donation processing platform (Zeffy), and analytics provider (Google Analytics) — solely to provide services to us and subject to confidentiality obligations.
• With our affiliate program participants to the extent necessary to track referrals and process commissions — limited to information required for attribution purposes.
• With legal or regulatory authorities when required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulation.
• With successor organizations in the event of a merger, acquisition, or transfer of substantially all assets of Origin Institute, subject to the same privacy protections described in this policy.
• With your consent or at your direction for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection.

§ 04
SMS and Email Communications

4.1 Transactional Messages

We send transactional text messages and emails related to your membership, enrollment, donation, or inquiry. These communications are necessary to provide our services and are sent based on your relationship with us, not solely on your marketing consent.

4.2 Marketing Communications

We send marketing and promotional text messages and emails only where you have provided explicit consent by checking the relevant consent box on our forms. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message or clicking the unsubscribe link in any email. Opting out of marketing communications does not affect your receipt of transactional messages related to your membership or enrollment.

4.3 Message Frequency and Rates

Message frequency varies. Standard message and data rates may apply. Text HELP for assistance. Reply STOP to opt out of text messages at any time.

§ 05
Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website for the following purposes:

• Essential cookies — required for the website to function, including session management and security.
• Analytics cookies — we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited, time on site, and traffic sources. This information is aggregated and anonymized. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
• Affiliate tracking cookies — we use cookies to track referrals from our affiliate program, attributing enrollments to the correct affiliate partner when you arrive at our website through an affiliate link. These cookies are set when you click an affiliate link and persist for a reasonable attribution period.

You may control cookie settings through your browser preferences. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies as described in this policy.

§ 06
Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including providing our services, complying with legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements. Membership records are retained for the duration of your membership and for a reasonable period thereafter. Donation records are retained as required by IRS regulations applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations. You may request deletion of your personal information subject to our legal retention obligations as described in Section 8.

§ 07
Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Payment information is processed through Stripe, which maintains PCI DSS compliance. Our community platform uses SSL encryption for data transmission. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

§ 08
Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access — the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Deletion — the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to our legal retention obligations.
• Portability — the right to receive your personal information in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection — the right to object to our processing of your personal information for marketing purposes.
• Withdrawal of consent — the right to withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 30 days. We may require verification of your identity before processing your request.

§ 09
California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used, the right to delete your personal information, the right to opt out of the sale of your personal information (we do not sell personal information), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights. To exercise your CCPA rights, please contact us at [email protected].

§ 10
European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable local data protection laws. Our legal basis for processing your personal information includes your consent (for marketing communications and cookies), the performance of our contract with you (for membership and enrollment services), our legitimate interests (for security, fraud prevention, and service improvement), and compliance with legal obligations.

If you have concerns about our data processing practices, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. To exercise your GDPR rights, please contact us at [email protected].

§ 11
Children's Privacy

Origin Institute's content is suitable for all ages and we do not impose an age minimum for membership. However, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected] and we will take steps to delete that information.

§ 12
Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites and services. This Privacy Policy applies only to our website and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites and encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

§ 13
Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on our website with a new effective date. Your continued use of our website or services after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

§ 14
Contact Us

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

©2025 Origin Institute · Privacy Policy · Effective April 23, 2025