Privacy Policy
This privacy policy applies to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (“GYC”) website and services.
Website Visitors
Except as described below, GYC does not collect or require visitors to its website to furnish personally-identifying information such as names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Like most website operators, GYC does collect non-personally-identifying information that web browsers and servers typically make available, which are the browser type, language preference, referring site, and date and time of each visitor request. GYC also collects potentially-personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which are non-personally-identifying in and of themselves but could be used in conjunction with other information to personally identify users.
GYC’s purpose in collecting this information is to better understand how GYC’s visitors use its website. To that end, GYC may share potentially-personally-identifying information with its employees, contractors, service providers, and subsidiaries and related organizations. GYC may also release non-personally-identifying information about visitors (e.g., by publishing a report on website usage trends). Otherwise, GYC will not publicly release potentially-personally-identifying information except under the same circumstances as GYC releases personally-identifying information. Those circumstances are explained below.
When you visit the GYC website and use our services, you agree that:
GYC may process your personal data. We may give access to your personal data GYC as necessary to provide our services on our website(s).
GYC process your personally-identifying information to deliver the services GYC provides according to the principles set forth in this privacy policy.
Community Members
Certain members of the GYC community (contributors, customers, etc.) choose to interact with GYC in ways that require GYC and others to know more about them. The amount and type of information that GYC gathers from those members depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, members who wish to post content to certain portions of GYC’s website or participate in live chat session(s) are asked to provide usernames that identify that content as having been posted by a particular member. GYC collects personally-identifying information only insofar as is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the community member’s interaction with GYC.
GYC is an open organization that believes in sharing as much information as possible about its services, its operations and its associations. Accordingly, community members should assume – as should most folks who interact with GYC – that any personally-identifying information provided to GYC will be made available to the public. There are three broad exceptions to that rule:
GYC does not make publicly available information that is used to authenticate users, the publication of which would compromise the security of GYC’s website (e.g., passwords).
GYC may collect personally-identifying information used to organize events that community members attend. The information collected via a web form is not used for other purposes than organizing the logistics of events organized by GYC. Users have the right to ask to review, correct, as well as delete their personally-identifying information stored in this application by contacting gyc@greateryellowstone.org.
GYC does not make publicly available information that it specifically promises at the time of collection to maintain in confidence.
Outside of these three contexts, users should assume that personally-identifying information provided through GYC’s website will be made available to the public.
Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information
Where GYC has collected personally-identifying information subject to one of the three exceptions described in the Community Members section, above, it discloses that information only to those of its employees, contractors, service providers, and subsidiaries and related organizations, that need to know that information in order to process it on GYC’s behalf and that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those employees, contractors, service providers, and subsidiaries and related organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using GYC’s website, you consent to the transfer of your information to other countries, which may provide a different level of data protection than your home country. GYC does not rent or sell such information to anyone. Other than to its employees, contractors, service providers, and subsidiaries and related organizations, as described above, GYC discloses such information only when required to do so by law, or when GYC believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of GYC, members of the GYC community, or the public at large. GYC takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of such information.
Updating of Personally-Identifying Information
GYC permits users to freely review, update, correct, and suppress their personally-identifying information as maintained by GYC. To do so, users should look for links or contact information available on whichever GYC website stores the relevant information. Users have the right to ask to review, correct, as well as delete their personally-identifying information stored in web applications managed by GYC by contacting gyc@greateryellowstone.org
Cookies and Tracking Pixels
What Are Cookies?
A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Most major websites use cookies. Because the browser provides this cookie information to the website at each visit, cookies serve as a sort of label that allows a website to “recognize” a browser when it returns to the site.
What Are Tracking Pixels?
Tracking pixels (also known as web beacons) are used in combination with cookies to help website operators understand how visitors interact with their websites. A tracking pixel is typically a transparent graphic image (usually 1 pixel x 1 pixel) that is placed on a site. The use of a tracking pixel allows the site to measure the actions of the visitor opening the page that contains the tracking pixel. It makes it easier to follow and record the activities of a recognized browser, such as the path of pages visited at a website.
How We Use Cookies and Tracking Pixels.
GYC’s website uses cookies to help GYC identify and track visitors, their usage of GYC website, and their website access preferences across multiple requests and visits to GYC’s website. The website, and advertisements that the GYC may run occasionally on third‑party advertising networks, also may use tracking pixels for these purposes. The basic idea is to gather aggregate data about how people use the GYC website. The term usually used to describe this is “web analytics,” and the cookies and tracking pixels are the tools by which a website owner collects this web analytics data.
GYC will use the web analytics data only to determine aggregate usage patterns for our website as described above. The GYC website does this by using either its own internal analytics software or by sending this information to a third-party service provider to help GYC analyze this data. GYC has agreements with its third-party service providers that they will not share this information with others or use the information for purposes other than to maintain the services they provide to GYC. It is possible to link cookies and tracking pixels to personally-identifying information, thereby permitting website operators, including our third-party analytics providers, to track the online movements of particular individuals. GYC does not do so, and its third-party service providers are not allowed to correlate GYC data with any other data.
GYC uses the information provided by cookies and tracking pixels to develop a better understanding of how GYC’s visitors use GYC’s website, and to facilitate those visitors’ interactions with GYC’s website. GYC may make the aggregate data obtained from web analytics (including from our third-party analytics providers, if applicable) publicly available. If this data is made available, none of the information will be personally-identifying information or potentially-personally-identifying information.
How to Control the Use of Cookies. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. GYC visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers by GYC, its contractors, or third-party service providers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before linking to GYC’s website. Certain features of GYC’s website may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
Opt-out Procedures
If you do not want to allow your session visitation information on the GYC website to be aggregated and analyzed by GYC (or its third-party analytics providers, if you are using www.GYC.org) you may utilize the following opt-out mechanisms listed here.
Terms Specific to Donors
Our online registration forms, as well as our offline sign-up forms, contribution cards, or donor brochures require users to give us contact information that may include name, e-mail address, address, interests, phone, and other similar information. We do not store sensitive information provided by the donor, such as credit cards or Social Security numbers.
We may send you emails or mailings from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition updating you on noteworthy developments or initiatives to help protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. If you do not wish to hear from us, simply use the unsubscribe link on these emails and/or contact us directly at (406) 586-1593 or gyc@greateryellowstone.org.
We may inform you about fundraising opportunities, key conservation wins, and other organizational news, as well as events and activities hosted by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition does not trade, share, or sell your personal information to any organization or individual, nor do we send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations.
We will not divulge personal information to any other organization or individual other than when it is necessary to transact, fulfill, and or account for donations that you have authorized.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition does not share your information with telemarketing centers or use telephone marketing to solicit funds.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition will only use your phone number if we need to verify information, thank you for your contribution, ask for your opinion, request your assistance, or invite you to a special event. If email or texting is preferred, simply let us know, and we will comply.
Whenever we collect sensitive information, that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way, such as via the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. We take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. These measures include internal reviews of our data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures, as well as physical security measures to guard against unauthorized access to systems where we store personal data. Our privacy policy does not cover content that is transmitted to us via email. Email does not have the same encryption and security protocols and should not be used to transmit sensitive information.
Privacy Policy Changes
GYC may change its privacy policy from time to time. Any and all changes will be reflected on this page. Substantive changes will also be announced through the standard mechanisms through which GYC communicates with the GYC community.
By using the GYC website, you agree to the terms and conditions of this privacy policy. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this privacy policy, please do not use the GYC website. You can determine when this privacy policy was last revised by referring to the “Last Updated” legend at the bottom of this page. Any changes to this privacy policy will become effective upon our posting of the revised privacy policy on the website. By using our website following any changes, you accept the revised privacy policy then in effect.
For More Information
If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact the GYC team at gyc@greateryellowstone.org.
Last updated on July 29, 2025.