Effective date: June 23, 2026 

Lifeline of Ohio (“us”, “we”, or “our”) operates the https://lifelineofohio.org/ and https://tributesofhope.org websites (the “Service”).  

This page (the “Policy”) informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.  This Policy does not apply to information collected by us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by us or any third party, or information collected by any third party through any application or content that may link to or be accessible from the Service.  

We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as any of our Terms and Conditions, accessible from https://lifelineofohio.org/  

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your information and how we will treat it.  If you do not agree with our policies and practices, then please do not use our Service.  By using our Service, you agree to the terms of this Policy.  The Policy may change from time to time.  Your continued use of our Service after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy periodically for updates.  

Information Collection and Use  

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.  

Types of Data Collected  
Personal Data  

While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Data”). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:  

  • Email address  
  • First name and last name  
  • Phone number  
  • Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code 
  • City Cookies and Usage Data  
User-Submitted Content 

We may collect content that you voluntarily submit to us for publication on our websites and related social media platforms, including but not limited to: written narratives, photographs, videos, and other media (“Submitted Content”). Submitted Content may include personal information about you, your family members, or your loved ones, including sensitive information relating to medical circumstances, organ and tissue donation, and personal loss. By submitting content, you acknowledge that such information may be made publicly available on our website and linked social media accounts. 

Usage Data  

We may also collect information on how the Service is accessed and used (“Usage Data”). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.  

Tracking & Cookies Data  

Cookies. We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information.  

Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.  

Examples of Cookies we use:  

  • Session Cookies. We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.  
  • Preference Cookies. We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.  
  • Security Cookies. We use Security Cookies for security purposes.  

Pixels. We may permit certain third parties, including advertising networks, analytics providers, and social media platforms, to place pixels on our Services. These third parties may use pixels to collect information about your visits to our Services and other websites over time for purposes of targeted advertising, analytics, and audience measurement. Such third-party data collection and use is governed by the privacy policies of those third parties, and we encourage you to review those policies. 

Third parties whose pixels may be present on our site include, but are not limited to: 

  • Analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics, as explained in more detail below); 
  • Advertising platforms (e.g., Meta Pixel, Google Ads, LinkedIn Insight Tag); and 
  • Other marketing and measurement tools we may deploy from time to time. 

Web Beacons.  A Web Beacon is an electronic image.  Web Beacons can track certain things from your computer and can report activity back to a web server allowing us to understand some of your behavior.  If you choose to receive emails from us, we may use Web Beacons to track your reaction to our emails.  We may also use them to track if you click on the links and at what time and date you do so.  Some of the third-party marketers we engage with may use Web Beacons to track your interaction with online advertising banners on our Website.  This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your Personal Data.  Please note that any image file on a webpage can act as a Web Beacon. 

Use of Data  

Lifeline of Ohio uses the collected data for various purposes:  

  • To provide and maintain the Service.  
  • To notify you about changes to our Service.  
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so.  
  • To provide customer care and support.  
  • To provide analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the Service.  
  • To monitor the usage of the Service.  
  • To provide you with a personalized experience when you use the Service.  
  • To improve the content, functionality, and usability of the Service.  
  • To contact you with information and notices related to your use of the Service.  
  • To detect, prevent, and address technical issues and for security, credit, or fraud prevention purposes.  
  • To review, edit, and publish Submitted Content on our website and associated social media platforms, with your consent.

Duration: The length of time we intend to retain Personal Data is for as long as reasonably necessary to carry out our intended business purpose for such information. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Submitted Content that has been published on our website or social media platforms may be retained indefinitely unless you submit a removal request as described in the “Donor Family Content Submission and Publication” section above. Please note that we cannot guarantee retrieval or deletion of Submitted Content from third-party platforms or from sources that have independently republished or shared such content. 

Transfer of Data  

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.  

If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the United States and process it there.  

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.  

Lifeline of Ohio will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.  

User Content Submission and Publication  

Submission and Review Process.  Our website provides an opportunity for individuals with a connection to organ, eye and tissue donation (i.e. donor families, recipients, living donors, etc)  to submit personal stories, photographs, videos, and other content (“Submitted Content”) for potential publication on our website. All Submitted Content is reviewed by Lifeline of Ohio staff prior to publication. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to approve, reject, edit, or remove any Submitted Content at any time. 

Consent to Publish.  By submitting content to us, you grant Lifeline of Ohio a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, display, distribute, and adapt your Submitted Content on our website and associated social media platforms (including but not limited to LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram). You represent and warrant that: (a) you own or have all necessary rights to the Submitted Content; (b) the Submitted Content does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, intellectual property rights, or any other rights of any third party; and (c) you have obtained the consent of any identifiable individual featured in the Submitted Content.  

Sensitive Information in Submitted Content. Submitted Content may include sensitive personal information, including information about deceased individuals and medical circumstances. You should not submit information about any individual without their consent (or, where applicable, the consent of their next of kin or legal representative). Once Submitted Content is posted publicly on our website or shared on social media, Lifeline of Ohio cannot guarantee retrieval or deletion of that content from all platforms or from third-party sources that may have copied or shared it. 

Social Media Sharing.  Our website is linked to Lifeline of Ohio’s social media accounts. Published Submitted Content may be shared on or linked from those accounts. Once content is shared on social media platforms, it is subject to the privacy policies and terms of service of those platforms, over which Lifeline of Ohio has no control. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of all relevant social media platforms.  

Requests for Removal.  If you wish to request removal of Submitted Content that has been published, please contact us at media@lifelineofohio.org. We will make reasonable efforts to remove the content from our website; however, we cannot guarantee removal from social media platforms or third-party sites that may have shared the content. 

Disclosure of Data  
Legal Requirements  

We do not sell or lease your Personal Data to any third party.  Lifeline of Ohio may share your data with trusted partners to provide customer care and support.   

We may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:  

  • To comply with a legal obligation, such as applicable law, regulation, subpoena, or court order.  
  • To respond to duly authorized information requests from law enforcement or other governmental authorities.  
  • To enforce our agreements or policies.  
  • To protect and defend the rights or property of Lifeline of Ohio.  
  • To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service. 
  • To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public.  
  • To protect against legal liability.  
Merger or Restructuring of Organization 

There are circumstances where we may decide to reorganize our services and incorporated structure.  Under these circumstances, it may be necessary to disclose or receive Personal Data with prospective or actual partners or affiliates.  In such circumstances, we will ensure your information is used in accordance with this Policy.  

Security of Data  

The security of your data is important to us, but 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 Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.  

Service Providers  

We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service (“Service Providers”), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used. These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.  

Social Media Platforms 

When Submitted Content is published on or linked from Lifeline of Ohio’s social media accounts, information contained in that content (including any personal data) will be processed by the applicable social media platforms in accordance with their own privacy policies. Lifeline of Ohio is not responsible for the data practices of these platforms, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies prior to submitting any content. 

Communication Preferences 

We want to provide you with the relevant information that you have requested. When possible, we will always provide options as to what information we collect and how you can manage any preferences that pertains to such information.  

If we provide subscription-based services, such as email newsletters, we will allow you to make choices about what information you provide at the point of information collection or at any time after you have received a communication from us while you are subscribed.  Transactional or service-oriented messages, such as delivery confirmation messages, are usually excluded from such preferences, as such messages are required to respond to your requests or to provide goods and services, and are not intended for the purposes of marketing. 

From time to time, we may send you email newsletters and marketing emails.  You may opt out of them at any time by selecting the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email.  Please note that by opting out or unsubscribing you may affect other services you have requested we provide to you, in which email communication is a requirement of the service provided. Even if you opt-out of receiving marketing material, we may still need to contact you with important information about your account or responding to your requests or questions. 

Text Messaging 

You may have the opportunity to receive SMS or “text” messages, pre-recorded voice messages or auto-dialed phone calls from Lifeline of Ohio, its affiliates and related entities as well as third parties.  Such messaging may be used to authenticate your identity or mobile device, as well as provide you informational updates about services or products you may have requested.  In providing your mobile device number or cell phone number to Lifeline of Ohio, you knowingly consent to such communications from Lifeline of Ohio or for Lifeline of Ohio to use your cell phone number or mobile device number.  In providing your number, you represent that you have the authority to agree to receive text messages at the telephone number that you provide to Lifeline of Ohio, or from which you sent the text message request to us.  You further acknowledge that: (a) no purchase is required to opt into this service; (b) you may opt out at any time by following the instructions provided in our communications to you; and (c) your receipt of text messages may result in separate charges from your mobile provider.  

Any such communications you receive from us will be administered in accordance with your preferences and this Policy. 

Analytics  

We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service. 

Google Analytics  

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.   

Links to Other Sites  

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.  

Children’s Privacy  

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 18 (“Children”). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children have provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers. Additionally, users should not submit Submitted Content that includes personal information of individuals under the age of 18 without the consent of a parent or legal guardian. 

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. We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy. 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.  

Contact Us  

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at media@lifelineofohio.org.