Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 23, 2018

We want to protect your privacy and security

We collect data on this website. We try to protect your privacy and security.

  • We will never sell any of your data.
  • We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) on all pages of our website. This means your data in encrypted when it travels from our website to our server and back.

If you have any concerns or questions about the privacy practices of our website, you can contact our site administrator at [email protected].

What information do we collect? How do we use it?

We collect a few kinds of information. We do our best to only collect information we need and will use.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to track visits to our site. Google Analytics uses cookies on your web browser to collect and track this data. Data is collected and presented in a way that makes it so individual users cannot be identified – we can only see trends and statistics, not information about individual, specific users. Google Analytics tracks data such as:

  • Number of sessions on the website
  • Geographic location of users – through IP address tracking
  • Behavior on the website, such as:
    • Time spent on pages
    • Pages visited
    • Links clicked
    • Use of site search, including search terms
  • Type of device (desktop, mobile phone, tablet) used

How we use Google Analytics data:

  • To track how much our content is used and visited. This helps us prioritize which content to update and promote.
  • To report to our funders and board of directors about website usage from year to year.
  • To inform how we design and present our website – so we can make it work better for more users.
  • To identify problems or barriers to access on our website.

We share Google Analytics data with:

  • Our funders and potential funders.
  • Partners in the legal aid and legal aid technology communities – for joint work on website improvement projects or for informational purposes/studies of legal aid website use.
  • Contractors performing development or maintenance work on our website.

We do not sell data, or use data to try to sell products or services to users. We may use data to target advertising of our services or website as a way of conducting outreach for the free legal services and information we provide.

You can opt-out of allowing Google Analytics to collect your data by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.  Learn more about Google Analytics Data Collection.

Guide To Legal Help/Legal Help Finder

Our interactive Guide to Legal Help tool asks for and collects information from users to help us suggest the best legal resources and information available for their legal problem or issue. This tool is optional – you can visit our website and use our content without using this tool. If you decide to use this tool, we will ask for:

  • Location of legal problem (inside or outside of Maine)
  • Town or zip code where you live
  • Demographic information:
    • Are you older than 60?
    • Are you younger than 18?
    • Are you Native American?
    • Are you in the military, or have you served in the past?
    • Do you have a disability?
    • Are you an agricultural worker?
    • Did you immigrate to the U.S. from another country?
  • The number of people in your household
  • Monthly household income
  • Legal problem or issue (picked from a list/tree)

How we use Guide to Legal Help information

All of the information we collect in the Guide to Legal Help is used to help determine the best legal resources and information – based on the region where the user lives, user age, membership in specific groups, financial eligibility for legal services, and legal problem. We collect this information because different resources are available based on these factors, and we need the information to provide users the best results.

We do not collect personally identifying information like name, address, or email address. The data we do collect and use does not allow us to identify individual users.

We keep statistics such as:

  • Number of users by county
  • Number of users with a specific legal problem
  • Percentage of users in different Federal Poverty Level ranges
  • Number and percentage of users in each demographic category
  • Number of users referred to online intake, by legal issue

We share Guide to Legal Help data with

  • Our funders and potential funders.
  • Partners in the legal aid and legal aid technology communities – for joint work on website improvement projects or for informational purposes/studies of legal aid website use.
  • Contractors performing development or maintenance work on our website.

Online Intake

For some users who complete our Guide to Legal Help tool and have very high priority legal issues, we offer the option to complete an online intake for legal services. This intake does not guarantee legal services, and it does not form an attorney-client relationship – but it does allow users to fill out more detailed information about themselves and their legal problem. We use this information to check for legal conflicts, and attempt to contact people shortly after they submit the form.

In our online intake form we do ask for personally identifying information such as:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Contact information
  • Name of household members
  • Name of opposing party
  • Detailed income information

We also compile statistics about the use of online intake in the same way we do with our Guide to Legal Help. These statistics are anonymized – this means all personally identifying information is removed.

How we use Online Intake data

We use this data to:

  • Help determine if users are eligible for legal services
  • Follow up with users by phone or by email
  • Check for legal conflicts
  • Begin filling out information in our case management system

Nobody outside of Pine Tree Legal Assistance has access to this information. It is kept strictly confidential. We do not sell this information or share it for any reason. Contact information is only used to contact users for legal services they have requested.

We share Online Intake information with

Personally identifying information

  • No person, organization, or entity outside of Pine Tree Legal Assistance

Anonymized Online Intake Usage Data

  • Our funders and potential funders.
  • Partners in the legal aid and legal aid technology communities – for joint work on website improvement projects or for informational purposes/studies of legal aid website use.
  • Contractors performing development or maintenance work on our website.

Website Feedback Form

Our website feedback form is an optional way for users to leave comments, feedback, and suggestions on our website. Users can choose to include their email, but it is not required.

How we use Feedback Form data

We use comments and feedback submitted by users to improve our website and content. If a user chooses to leave their email, we may contact them using their email if their comment or suggestion requires a response. We do not use or share these email addresses for any other purpose.

We share Feedback Form data with

  • Nobody outside of Pine Tree Legal Assistance.
  • Website contractors conducting development or maintenance on the PTLA.org website may have access to these records, but they are not exported or shared.

Feedback forms are stored based on the date they were submitted. If you have submitted a comment with your email and would like to have it deleted from our website, contact our site administrator at [email protected] with:

  • the approximate date you submitted your comment, and
  • the email address you used, and would like to have deleted from the site.  

How long do we keep your data?

We keep personal information as long as it is necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Policy. We also keep information as otherwise required by law.

Our websites do not knowingly or intentionally collect personal information from children

If you are a parent or guardian and you believe our websites have collected personal information about your child, please contact us at [email protected].

Learn more about protecting your child's privacy online.

How do we process donations?

We accept donations via credit card through a secure third-party site, DonorPerfect. Read the DonorPerfect privacy policy. We also have our own Donor Privacy Policy.

We may update this policy

We will update this policy as needed. We will post and highlight any changes on this page, and we will post the date of the latest update at the top of the page. Please check back regularly for the most up-to-date information.

Questions? Concerns? Contact Us.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data collection and usage, please contact us at [email protected].