Internet Policy

Website Terms, Privacy & Cookie Notice
Thank you for visiting our website (portlanddiocese.org, hereinafter, the “Website”). This site is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, corporation sole a/k/a, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland (hereinafter, the “Diocese”). This Notice describes the terms of use of this website and how we collect, use, and share information when you visit our site, sign up for email updates, submit online forms, view embedded content, or make online donations.

Last Updated/Reviewed: 06/08/2026

You may contact us at the following:
Diocese of Portland
 510 Ocean Ave
 Portland, ME 04103
Telephone: 207-773-6471
Email: [email protected]

Copyright Information
All materials accessible through this site including but not limited to text, graphics, images, features, tools, software, and code are the property of the Diocese or its licensors and subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights of the Diocese and/or its licensors. All rights are reserved.
The names, trademarks, service marks, and logos of the Diocese which appear on this site may not be used in any advertising or publicity without the express written permission of the Diocese.

Information Accuracy
The Diocese makes every effort to present correct and accurate information. However, the Diocese makes no representation or warranty concerning the accuracy of this information. To report any website inaccuracies, or for questions about the Diocese’s Website, please contact us using the information above.

Links to Third-Party Sites
This Website contains some hyperlinks to websites operated by parties other than the Diocese (known as a “third-party”). These hyperlinks are provided for your reference only. The Diocese does not control such websites and is not responsible for their content. The inclusion of hyperlinks to other websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on these websites or any association with their operators.
Third-party websites may embed third-party content (such as videos). Your use of third-party sites or services may be subject to their own terms and privacy policies. The Diocese is not responsible for third-party websites, services, or content.
 
Website Terms of Use
By accessing or using this Website, you agree to the Website Terms, and the Privacy & Cookie Notice below. If you do not agree and accept the Website Terms and the Privacy & Cookie Notice as stated, you are prohibited from using the Website and must discontinue use of it immediately.

Acceptable Use
By accessing or using this Website, you agree to use this Website only for lawful purposes. All interactions with the Website must comply with applicable local, Federal, and international laws.
You may not use or attempt to use the Website to interfere with the Website’s operation or security, including the introduction of malware, unauthorized probing or scanning for vulnerabilities, or any attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems or accounts. While using or accessing this Website, you may not transmit or attempt to transmit any content that is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, or otherwise harmful. You may not use automated tools such as bots, scrapers, or spiders, to access the Website in a way that could damage, disable, or impair the website’s functionality or related services.

Information You Submit
By submitting information through this Website (including but not limited to contact forms, event registrations, newsletter subscriptions, or donation submissions), you represent and warrant that such information is accurate and that you are authorized to provide it. Please do not submit sensitive personal information including but not limited to Social Security numbers or health information through this Website. The Diocese may use the information you submit to respond to you and to administer the services you request, as described in the Privacy Notice. The Diocese may remove or decline to post any user-submitted content to the extent the Website permits posting.
 
Intellectual Property
The Diocese (or its licensors) owns the content on this Website, as described in the Copyright Information section above.  Access to this Website does not grant you any license or ownership rights to the intellectual property held by the Diocese. You may not use any trademarks, logos, images, text, or other content from this site without the express, prior, written permission from the Diocese.

Governing Law
These Website Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maine, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. To the extent permitted by law, any dispute arising out of or relating to the Website will be brought in a State or Federal court located in Maine. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect.
Questions about these Website Terms may be directed to the Diocese using the contact information listed above.

Privacy Notice
We respect your privacy. The Diocese collects personal information only as described in this Notice and uses it to operate this Website, respond to requests, administer donations, process event registrations and communicate with you. Depending on how you interact with the Website, the Website may also use cookies and similar technologies (described below).

1. Information We Collect
By accessing, utilizing, or interacting with the Website, you acknowledge and authorize the Diocese to collect, maintain, and process the following categories of information:

• User-Provided Information: Any data voluntarily submitted by you through the Website including, but not limited to, inquiries, contact forms, event registrations, electronic communication subscriptions and donation forms. This data includes, without limitation: full name, email address, physical mailing address, telephone number, affiliated parish or organization, and the contents of any free-text message or form field. 

 

• Donation and Transactional Data: Financial contributions and donations made through this Website are processed by third-party service providers. For each contribution and donation made through the Website, the Diocese collects and retains the confirmation details, including donor identity, contact information, transaction date, and donation amount.  Payment card details are collected and processed by the third-party service provider according to its own privacy and security practices.

 

• Newsletter and Communications Preferences: Records of your interaction preferences, including email subscription status, opt-in/opt-out selections, and communication histories.

 

• Automatically Collected Information: Electronic data automatically transmitted by your browser or device upon accessing the website, including Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, device identifiers, operating system, pages viewed, referring/exit pages, timestamps of access, and approximate geographic location data inferred from IP address.

 
 

• Cookies and Similar Technologies: information collected through cookies, pixels, tags, SDKs, and local storage, including for analytics and to enable site features.

 

• Embedded content and third-party features: Data generated through your interaction with third-party functionalities (such as embedded video players, mapping interfaces, and social media widgets). You acknowledge that such third-party providers may capture data subject to their own respective privacy policies, independent of the Diocese.
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2. Cookies & Similar Technologies (Analytics and Embedded Content)
We use cookies and similar technologies to help our website function, remember preferences, understand how the site is used, and support embedded features. Cookies are small text files stored on your device; similar technologies include pixels, tags, and local storage. Depending on your location, you may be asked to consent to certain cookies. You may control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, our cookie preferences tool. Disabling cookies may affect site functionality.

Cookie categories may include: (i) strictly necessary cookies (required for core site functions); (ii) functional cookies (preferences); (iii) analytics/performance cookies (to understand site usage); and (iv) third-party cookies (for embedded video and similar features).
 
3. How We Use Information
We use collected information in the following ways:

• Provide and Administer Services: To fulfill and manage services requested by users including but not limited to processing donations, managing event registrations, maintaining administrative records, and responding to user inquiries or support requests.
• Communicate with You: To contact you about your requests and, if you have subscribed to or otherwise agreed, send newsletters, and other updates.
• Operate, Secure, and Improve the Website: To monitor, maintain, and secure the infrastructure of the Website. This includes proactive debugging, threat detection, and fraud prevention, to protect the Diocese and Website visitors.
• Data Analytics: To understand how visitors use the site for the express purpose of improving content delivery, system functionality, and overall platform usability.
• Comply with Law: To satisfy applicable legal obligations, judicial orders, or law enforcement directives.
  
  

Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before sending marketing emails or using certain cookies/trackers. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting the Diocese using the information above.

4. How We Share Information
We may share information as follows:

• Designated Service Providers and Contractors: To trusted third-party vendors, contractors, and partners who perform services on behalf of the Diocese including, without limitation, entities providing website hosting, data analytics, electronic mail distribution, newsletter management, digital form processing, event registration tools, and secure financial transaction processing. These entities are contractually or legally restricted from utilizing, retaining, or disclosing your personal data for any secondary purpose independent of the specific services they provide on our behalf.
• Embedded Content and Third-Party Features: When you interact with embedded content, such as third-party video players, social media widgets, or interactive maps, the third party may collect information directly from you and place cookies according to its policies.
• Legal and Safety Purposes: To regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, judicial authorities, or authorized legal representatives where the Diocese determines, in its sole discretion, that disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) satisfy applicable statutory mandates, regulatory requirements, or valid judicial processes; (b) respond to lawful governmental inquiries; (c) protect the explicit rights, property, or physical safety of the Diocese, Website visitors, or the general public; and (d) enforce the Diocese’s policies including but not limited to the Website Terms, Privacy and Cookie Notice, or investigate potential operational breaches.
• Corporate Reorganization and Asset Transfers: To an affiliated entity, successor organization, or acquiring party in connection with, or during the due diligence phase of, any internal reorganization, merger, consolidation, dissolution, or transfer of organizational assets, provided that such transfer is executed in strict compliance with applicable data protection laws. We do not sell personal information to third parties for their own commercial purposes.
  
  

5. Your Choices and Privacy Rights
You have choices about how we use your information:

• Email preferences: You may unsubscribe from marketing emails by using the unsubscribe link provided in the email or by contacting us using the information above. We may continue to send non-promotional messages such as donation receipts or responses to requests.
• Cookie controls: You may manage cookies through your browser settings and, where available, our cookie preferences tool.
• Access, Correction, or Deletion: you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information maintained by the Diocese, subject to applicable law and the Diocese’s organizational needs such as recordkeeping of donations.
  
  

To make a request or inquire about how we use your information, please contact us using the email or mailing address listed above and include your name, contact information, and the nature of your request.

6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Notice, including: to provide services you request, maintain appropriate records (including donation and financial records), resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and comply with legal obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and how it is used.

7. Children’s Privacy
Our Website is a general audience site and is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly solicit or collect “personal information” (as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) regulations) from children under the age of 13. If we discover that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete the information from our records and servers so that it is completely irretrievable. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us immediately using the information provided above so we can verify and remove it.   

8. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. Our Website uses HTTPS/TLS encryption for data transmitted through the site. If you send information to us by email, please be aware that email may not be secure. Online donations and payments are processed by third-party providers, and their security practices are governed by their own policies and agreements.

International Visitors (Including the EEA/UK)
Our Website is operated in the United States. If you access the site from outside the U.S., please be aware your information may be transferred to, processed and stored in the U.S. and other countries where our service providers operate. Data protection laws in these jurisdictions may differ from those in your country.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, our processing of your personal information will be based on purposes described in this Notice, including:

• Your Consent: We may process your personal information based on your explicit and informed consent for designated purposes such as subscribing to email communications and for certain cookies.
• Contractual Necessity: Processing is executed to fulfill or perform a contract entered into with you or initiated on your behalf, including the administration of user-requested registrations, service requests, or transaction processing.
• Compliance with Legal Obligations: We may process your personal information if strictly mandated to satisfy applicable statutory requirements, regulatory demands, or valid judicial and law enforcement directives.
• The Legitimate Interests of the Diocese: We may process your personal information to advance a necessary, balanced, and objectively expected operational benefit of the Diocese or a third party, specifically, managing cybersecurity risks, preventing fraudulent activity, debugging technical interfaces, or conducting internal background evaluations.
• Protection of Vital Interests: We may process personal information under emergency circumstances when necessary to protect the life, physical safety, or vital health interests of you or another person.
  
  

You may have additional rights under applicable law, such as the right to object to certain processing or to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. You can contact us using the information above to exercise these rights.

Restriction of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Diocese  and its affiliates shall not be liable to you or any third party for any damages arising out of or related to your use of (or inability to use) this Website, any content on the Website, or any Website or service linked to or embedded on this Website.

This includes, without limitation, damages resulting from:

• System errors, omissions, interruptions, defects, or delays in operation or transmission;
• The transmission of computer viruses, malware, or other harmful digital components; and
• Unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions, data, or personal information.
  
  

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Diocese will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

You explicitly acknowledge and agree that while accessing and browsing the Website is provided free of charge, you may engage in paid transactional activities, including event registrations or donations. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the total, aggregate liability of the Diocese for any and all claims, judgments, or causes of action arising out of or relating to this Notice or your use of the Website, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statutory duty, or otherwise, shall not exceed the greater of:

• (a) the actual total dollar amount paid by you to the Diocese through the Website for the specific event registration or transaction giving rise to the alleged liability, or
• (b) One Hundred U.S. Dollars ($100.00).

 
 
Disclaimer
This Website and its content are provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Diocese disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

Without limiting the foregoing, the Diocese does not warrant that the Website will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; that defects will be corrected; or the Website or the servers that make it available are free of viruses or other harmful components.

The Diocese does not warrant or make representations regarding the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or usefulness of any content on the Website, and any reliance you place on such content is at your own risk.

Policy Changes
We may update this Notice from time to time. We will post the revised Notice on this Website and update the “Last Updated” date above. Your continued use of the site after a posted change means you accept the updated Notice.