VLJ’s Website Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 3, 2026

1. Introduction

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (“VLJ,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Website Privacy Notice explains how VLJ may collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit or interact with our website, submit information through website forms, communicate with us, make a donation, register for an event, apply to volunteer or work with us, or otherwise engage with VLJ online.

For purposes of this Notice, “personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked with an individual or household. Depending on applicable law, similar terms such as “personal data” may have the same or a comparable meaning.

This Notice applies only to VLJ’s website and online interactions covered by this Notice. It does not apply to third-party websites or services that may be linked from our website, and those third parties may have their own privacy notices and practices.

2. Personal Information We Collect

VLJ may collect personal information that you choose to provide to us, personal information generated through your interactions with our website, and personal information from other sources as permitted by law. The categories of personal information we collect may vary depending on how you interact with VLJ.

Information you provide may include contact information, such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone number, organization, title, or similar identifiers; intake-related information, such as information you submit when requesting, applying for, or being evaluated for legal services; communications, such as the contents of emails, web forms, messages, and other communications with VLJ; donation, event, or program-related information, such as donation details, event registration information, preferences, and related correspondence; volunteer, applicant, or professional information, such as background, qualifications, availability, employer, references, and other information submitted in connection with volunteer, employment, internship, fellowship, pro bono, or similar opportunities; and any other information you choose to provide.

Information collected automatically may include your IP address, Internet domain, browser type, operating system, device type, device identifiers, pages viewed, links clicked, dates and times of access, referring URL, general location information inferred from your IP address, and similar usage, analytics, and diagnostic information.

VLJ may also receive personal information from third parties, such as service providers, referral sources, partner organizations, event platforms, donation processors, publicly available sources, or other persons who communicate with VLJ in connection with our nonprofit services and programs.

3. How We Use Personal Information

VLJ may use personal information to respond to inquiries and communications; provide, coordinate, or evaluate eligibility for legal services or other nonprofit programs; manage volunteer, pro bono, applicant, donor, event, and program relationships; process donations, registrations, and related transactions; administer, maintain, and improve our website, programs, services, communications, and outreach; understand website use and improve user experience; maintain the security, integrity, and availability of our website and systems; detect, prevent, or respond to fraud, misuse, unauthorized activity, or legal claims; comply with legal, regulatory, contractual, professional, and ethical obligations; and otherwise operate VLJ’s nonprofit services and activities. 

4. How We Disclose Personal Information

VLJ does not sell personal information in the conventional sense. However, VLJ may disclose personal information to service providers and vendors that help us operate our website and nonprofit services, including website hosting providers, form-management providers, analytics providers, donation and payment processors, email, communications, and customer relationship management providers, event or scheduling platforms, information technology and security providers, and other operational vendors; to attorneys, volunteers, partner organizations, referral sources, and other participants involved in providing, evaluating, coordinating, or supporting VLJ services and programs; to professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, consultants, insurers, and financial advisors; to government agencies, courts, regulators, law enforcement, or other parties where required or permitted by law, subpoena, court order, legal process, or professional obligation; to protect the rights, safety, property, or operations of VLJ, our users, clients, volunteers, donors, partners, or others; in connection with organizational transactions or changes affecting VLJ; and to other parties with your consent or at your direction.

5. Cookies, Analytics, and Tracking Technologies

VLJ’s website uses cookies, pixels, tags, embedded content, analytics tools, donation platforms, scheduling tools, social media plug-ins, video embeds, and similar technologies. These technologies may collect or process information such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, referring URL, interactions with website content, and similar usage information to help the website function, understand website traffic, improve communications and programs, support security, and provide website features.

6. Sale, Sharing, Targeted Advertising, and Profiling

VLJ does not sell personal information for money. Unless otherwise disclosed, VLJ does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising or targeted advertising and does not use personal information collected through the website for profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Your browser or device may allow you to block or delete cookies, limit tracking technologies, or send browser-based privacy signals. Where required by applicable law, VLJ will honor legally recognized opt-out preference signals or universal opt-out mechanisms that apply to our website and processing activities. Some browser settings may affect website functionality.

7. Sensitive Personal Information and Legal Services Inquiries

Legal-services inquiries, intake-related communications, and related submissions may include sensitive personal information, such as information about health, finances, government identifiers, immigration status, family matters, housing, criminal history, disability, or other sensitive circumstances. Please avoid sending sensitive information through unsecured channels unless necessary, and do not submit information that VLJ has not requested. VLJ may process sensitive personal information as reasonably necessary to evaluate, provide, coordinate, or support legal services or other nonprofit programs; comply with legal, professional, ethical, or contractual obligations; protect rights and safety; or as otherwise permitted by law or with consent where required.

Submitting information through the website or by email does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship with VLJ or any attorney. VLJ will determine whether it can provide legal assistance through its ordinary intake, eligibility, conflict-check, engagement, and program procedures.

8. Your Privacy Choices and Rights

Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have certain statutory data protection rights regarding your personal information. These rights may be subject to exceptions and limitations under applicable law.

You may have the right to:

  • be informed of what personal data we hold about you and request access to and/or a copy of it;

  • request that we correct personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete;

  • request that personal information be removed from our systems (deleted), subject to certain exceptions;

  • request a portable copy of certain personal information;

  • opt out of certain processing of your personal information, including (where applicable) targeted advertising, and the sale or sharing of personal information (as those terms may be defined by applicable law);

  • withdraw your consent at any time where we process personal information based on your consent (this will not affect the lawfulness of processing before you withdrew consent);

  • not be discriminated against for exercising your rights (where applicable); and

  • appeal a decision we make about your request (where applicable under U.S. state law).

Sensitive personal information: VLJ uses sensitive personal information only for purposes such as providing services, security, fraud prevention, and compliance with law, as described above, and not to infer characteristics about you for targeted advertising.

Non-discrimination: VLJ will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us by emailing ehughes@vljnj.org or writing to:

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
PO Box 32040
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973) 645-1955
Fax: (973) 645-1954

We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

Authorized agents (where applicable): In some U.S. states, you may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. If you use an authorized agent, we may ask for proof that the agent is authorized, and we may also require you to verify your identity directly with us.

Appeals (where applicable): If we deny your request, you may have the right to appeal our decision. To appeal, please email ehughes@vljnj.org with the subject line “Privacy Request Appeal” and include your original request and our response. We will review and respond within the time required by applicable law.

9. Security and Retention

VLJ uses administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. No website, email, or electronic transmission is completely secure, and VLJ cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to or from the website. VLJ retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Notice, to provide and administer services and programs, to maintain appropriate records, to comply with legal, ethical, professional, contractual, accounting, or reporting obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce agreements, and to protect rights and security.

10. Children’s Privacy

VLJ’s website is not directed to children under 13, and VLJ does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the website without appropriate consent. If VLJ learns that it has collected personal information from a child under 13 through the website without appropriate consent, VLJ will take reasonable steps to delete the information or otherwise address it as required by law. This section does not limit VLJ’s ability to provide services or programs that may involve minors where permitted by law and consistent with applicable consent, confidentiality, legal, and ethical requirements.

11. Third-Party Websites and Services

Our website may link to or incorporate third-party websites, platforms, plug-ins, donation tools, video content, social media features, scheduling services, or other services that VLJ does not control. When you interact with those third parties, their privacy notices and practices may apply. VLJ is not responsible for the privacy, security, content, or practices of third-party websites or services.

12. Changes to This Notice

VLJ may update this Notice from time to time. The “Last Updated” date above indicates when this Notice was last revised. Any changes will be effective when posted unless the updated Notice states otherwise.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Notice or wish to submit a privacy request, please contact Volunteer Lawyers for Justice at ehughes@vljnj.org or:

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
PO Box 32040
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973) 645-1955
Fax: (973) 645-1954