Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 19, 2026

Who We Are

STARR Community Services International ("STARR," "we," "us," or "our") is a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programs to youth and families at no cost. This policy applies to the website at starrcs.org and to the forms, registrations, and online tools that connect to it.

This site is operated in the United States and is intended for visitors in the United States. By using the site, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Information We Collect

Information you give us

• Donations and event registrations. When you give or register through our Zeffy forms, we receive details such as your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and the amount or ticket type you chose
• Program enrollment. A parent or guardian provides their own contact details and information about the child, such as the child's name, age, and program interests, along with anything else the enrollment form asks for
• Contact form. Your name, email address, and the message you send us
• Newsletter. Your email address and name, when you choose to subscribe
• Volunteer, partner, and funder inquiries. Whatever you choose to share with us when you reach out

We do not receive or store your full payment card number. Payments are handled by Zeffy, and Zeffy's own privacy policy explains how it treats payment information.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the site, our hosting and security tools, and the analytics tools described below, may record your IP address, browser type, device type, the pages you view, the date and time of your visit, and the page that referred you. We use this information to keep the site working, understand how it is used, and protect it from misuse.

How We Use Information

• Run our programs, manage enrollment, and keep youth participants safe
• Process donations, send receipts, and thank our supporters
• Respond to your questions and requests
• Send newsletters, event announcements, and updates, always with a way to unsubscribe
• Report our impact to funders and partners using combined, non-identifying numbers
• Understand how the site is used so we can improve it
• Keep the site secure and comply with the law

Photos and Video of Youth

Our programs are hands-on and visual, and we share photos and video of program activities and events on this website, in our gallery, in newsletters, and on our social media channels.

Before we feature an identifiable young person, we rely on permission from a parent or guardian, usually given through the enrollment or event registration process. We do not publish a child's full name, home address, school, or other contact details alongside their image without written permission from a parent or guardian.

STARR also hosts events in public spaces such as parks. If you attend a public event, you may appear in photos or video taken by our team. If you would prefer not to be featured, please tell a STARR team member at the event or contact us afterward.

To ask us to remove a photo or video, contact us with a short description and the page where it appears. We will remove it from our website and from the channels we control as soon as we reasonably can. We cannot remove copies that other people have already saved or shared.

Children's Privacy

Our youth programs serve children ages 5 to 14. This website is written for parents, guardians, donors, volunteers, and partners, and it is not directed to children under 13.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 through this site. Enrollment and registration are completed by a parent or guardian, who provides any information about the child. If we learn that we have collected information directly from a child under 13 without a parent or guardian's consent, we will delete it.

Parents and guardians may contact us at any time to review the information we hold about their child, ask us to delete it, or ask us to stop collecting it. We may need to confirm your identity before we act on a request.

How We Share Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information, and we do not share donor or family lists with other organizations for their own marketing. We share information only in these situations:

• Service providers. Companies that help us operate, such as Zeffy for donations, registrations, and forms, an email service such as Mailchimp for newsletters, our website host, and our analytics and security tools. They may use the information only to provide their services to us
• Program partners and host sites. Only the information needed to run a program or event safely
• Funders and the public. Impact numbers and stories in combined or non-identifying form. We share an individual's story, photo, or name only with their permission, or a parent or guardian's permission for a minor
• Legal and safety reasons. When required by law, or when needed to protect the safety of a young person or anyone else, or to protect our rights
• Organizational changes. If STARR merges, reorganizes, or transfers its programs, information may transfer to the successor organization, which will be asked to honor this policy

Cookies and Analytics

Cookies are small files that a website stores in your browser. We use them, and similar technologies, for three purposes: to make the site work, to understand how visitors use it through website analytics tools such as Google Analytics, and to display embedded content from other services.

You can control cookies through your browser settings, including blocking or deleting them, although some parts of the site may not work as well. Google offers a browser add-on that lets you opt out of Google Analytics. Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal; because there is no common standard for responding to it, our site does not currently respond to these signals.

Third-Party Services and Links

Our site includes content and tools from other services, including Zeffy forms, Instagram and YouTube videos, and links to our social media pages. These services may collect information about you, such as your IP address and whether you interacted with their content, and may set their own cookies. They operate under their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read. We are not responsible for the practices of sites or services we do not control.

How Long We Keep Information

• Enrollment and program records. Kept while a child participates, then reviewed at least once each program year. Information we no longer need is deleted or de-identified
• Donation and financial records. Kept for as long as tax and nonprofit recordkeeping laws require
• Newsletter subscriptions. Kept until you unsubscribe
• Contact form messages. Kept as long as needed to respond and to keep a reasonable record of our communication with you
• Website analytics and security logs. Kept for the period set by each provider

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the information we hold, including security monitoring for the website and limiting access to personal information to the people who need it. No website or system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security. If a security incident affects your information, we will notify you as required by law.

Your Choices and Rights

• Emails. Use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any newsletter, or contact us, and we will remove you from the list
• Access and correction. You may ask what personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct anything that is wrong
• Deletion. You may ask us to delete your personal information, except where we must keep it for legal, tax, or safety reasons
• Parents and guardians. You may review, correct, or delete your child's information and may refuse further collection at any time

We honor these requests for everyone, wherever you live. To make a request, use the contact details below. We will respond as promptly as we reasonably can.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the new version on this page and change the effective date at the top. If we make a significant change to how we use information about children, we will make reasonable efforts to notify parents and guardians directly.

Contact Us

Questions about this policy, or requests about your information, are welcome.