Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

This notice provides the privacy policy for the parish of Sacred Heart Catholic Church (“Parish”), a parish of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth (“Diocese”), regarding the nature, purpose, use, and sharing of any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) collected via this website. Our privacy policy explains our information practices when you provide PII to us, whether collected online or offline, or when you visit us online to browse, obtain information, or conduct a transaction. PII may include: your name, email, mailing and/or home address, phone numbers, or other information that identifies you personally. We do not require you to register or provide personal information to visit our website.

The PII you provide on a parish website will be used only for its intended purpose.

Personally Identifiable Information

As a general rule, the Parish does not collect PII about you when you visit our website, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Submitting PII through our website is voluntary. By doing so, you are giving the Parish your permission to use the information for the stated purpose; to facilitate communication regarding your participation in the sacraments, ministries, events, and services provided through the Parish; and to respond to communication initiated by you. However, not providing certain information may result in the Parish’s inability to provide you with the service you desire.

If you choose to provide us with PII on a Parish website, through such methods as completing a web form or sending us an email, we will use that information to help us provide you the information or service you have requested or to respond to your message. The information we may receive from you varies based on what you do when visiting our site.

Email

Some of our programs and websites may allow you to send us an email. We will use the information you provide to respond to your inquiry. You should be reminded that email may not necessarily be secure against interception. Therefore, we suggest that you do not send sensitive personal data (such as your Social Security number) to us via email. If your intended email communication is very sensitive, or includes information such as your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number, you should instead send it by U.S. mail. Another alternative may be to call us to discuss submission of data through other secure means, if available.
Categories of information the Parish collects on its websites are further described below.

Automatically Collected Information

We collect and temporarily store certain information about your visit for use in site management and security purposes only. We collect and analyze this information because it helps us to better design our website to suit your needs. We may also automatically collect information about the web content you view in the event of a known security or virus threat. This information includes:

1. The Internet domain from which you access our website;
2. The Internet Protocol (IP) address (a unique number for each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access our website;
3. The type of browser (e.g. Firefox, Safari, Edge, Chrome) used to access our site;
4. The type of mobile operating system (e.g. iPhone, Android, tablet,) used to access our site;
5. The operating system (e.g., Windows, Mac OS, Unix) used to access our site;
6. The date and time you access our site;
7. The Universal Resource Locators (URLs), or addresses, of the pages you visit; and
8. If you visited this website from another website, the URL of the forwarding site.
   
   

We may share the above information with our employees or representatives with a “need-to-know” in the performance of their official duties, the parishes and schools of the Diocese, or other named representatives as needed to quickly process your request or transaction. This information is only used to help us make our site more useful for you. Raw data logs are retained temporarily as required for security and site management purposes only.

The Parish does not sell your information to third parties for marketing or any other commercial purpose.

SMS Consent 

We collect basic contact information you choose to share in order to facilitate communication with Parish staff over SMS.

Your information is used to facilitate communication regarding your participation in the sacraments, ministries, events, and services provided through the Parish, and to respond to any communication initiated by you through SMS to Parish staff.

SMS consent is not shared with or sold to third parties for marketing or any other purposes. Your information is kept private for use by the Parish only.

Third-Party Websites and Applications

The Parish uses social media websites and other kinds of third-party software (e.g., website hosting, analytics tools) to enhance our website functionality, manage registrations, collect payments, donations, ensure security and analyze traffic. Social media websites are used to publicize Parish events and engage with the faithful of the Diocese and the public. The Parish also uses web measurement and customization technologies to measure the number of visitors to our websites and their various sections and to help make our websites more useful to visitors. In such cases, the third-party application may request an email address, username, password, and geographic location (e.g., State, region, or ZIP code) for account registration purposes. In the event this information is required the policies and security standards of the third-party software apply.

The Parish does not use third-party websites to solicit and collect PII from individuals. Any PII passively collected (i.e., not solicited) by the third-party website will not be transmitted or stored by the Parish; no PII will be disclosed, sold or transferred to any other entity outside the Diocese, unless required for law enforcement purposes or by statute.

Information Collected for Tracking and Customization (Cookies)

A cookie is a small file that a website transfers to your computer to allow it to remember specific information about your session while you are connected. Your computer will only share the information in the cookie with the website that provided it, and no other website can request it. There are two types of cookies:

• Session: Session cookies last only as long as your web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie is deleted. Websites may use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for interacting with the site.
• Persistent: Persistent cookies are saved on a user’s hard drive in order to determine which users are new to the site or are returning.
  
  

If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies stored on your machine, you can turn cookies off in your browser. You will still have access to all information and resources at Diocese websites. However, turning off cookies may affect the functioning of some Diocese websites. Be aware that disabling cookies in your browser will affect cookie usage at all other websites you visit as well.

By continuing to use or navigate our website without changing your cookie settings, you acknowledge and agree to the Diocese’s use of cookies.

Security

The Parish takes the security of all PII very seriously. We take precautions to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the information we collect at this site. Such measures include access controls designed to limit access to the information to the extent necessary to accomplish our mission. We also employ various security technologies to protect the information stored on our systems.
We take the following steps to secure the information we collect:

• Employ internal access controls to ensure that only personnel who have access to your information are those with a need to do so to perform their official duties.
• Train appropriate personnel on our privacy and security policies and compliance requirements.
• Secure the areas where we retain paper copies of the information we collect online.
• Perform regular backups of the information we collect online to ensure against loss.
• Use technical controls to secure the information we collect online including, but not limited to:
  • Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
  • Encryption
  • Firewalls
  • Password protections
• Periodically test our security procedures to ensure personnel and technical compliance.
• Employ external access safeguards to identify and prevent unauthorized access by outsiders that attempt to “hack” into, or cause harm to, the information contained in our systems.
  
  

We hold our contractors and other third-party providers to the same high standards that we use to ensure the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal information they may have access to in the course of their work completed on behalf of the Diocese and the Parish.

Security measures notwithstanding, 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 PII and information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Interaction With Children Online

The Diocese is committed to the protection of children’s online privacy. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), if applicable, governs information gathered online from or about children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s internet usage and to help enforce our privacy policy by instructing their children never to provide personal information on this site, or any others, without their permission. If you are a parent or guardian and are aware that your child has provided us with personal information or PII, please contact us and we will endeavor to delete that information from our servers. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information or PII from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, we will endeavor to remove that information from our servers.

Visiting Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other organizations or commercial entities. These websites are not within our control and may not follow the same privacy, security, or accessibility policies. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the policies of that site. We assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Parish may be required to disclose your PII or information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Parish may disclose your PII or information in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• Comply with a legal obligation
• Protect and defend the rights or property of the Diocese
• Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with our website
• Protect the personal safety of users of our website or the public
• Protect against legal liability
  
  

Other Terms & Conditions

Your access to and use of this site is subject to the Terms of Use. BY ACCESSING, BROWSING, OR USING THE PARISH’S WEBSITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE SITE.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on this page.
You are advised to review this privacy policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this privacy policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Privacy Policy Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, you can contact us by email at: [email protected]
Updated March 25, 2025