Privacy Policy

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. Please do not use this website, our forms, or email to report an emergency. Online submissions are not monitored around the clock.

Special Operations Finding Kids, doing business as Finding Kids (“Finding Kids,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Sacramento, California (Tax ID 81-2874951). We hire licensed private investigators and retired law enforcement to help locate missing and exploited children, and we provide aftercare support to youth and their families across Central and Northern California and Northern Nevada.

Because of the work we do, some of the information entrusted to us is among the most sensitive a family can share. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through findingkids.org (the “Site”), how we use and protect it, when we share it, and the choices available to you.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through the Site, including our online forms, and through email or phone communications that originate from the Site. It does not apply to websites or services operated by third parties, even if we link to them, including our hosted donation page and our social media profiles. Those services are governed by their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review.

Our news site at news.findingkids.org is operated on a separate platform and governed by that platform’s privacy policy.

Information gathered by our investigators and aftercare team in the course of an active case, including information obtained offline, is handled under our internal case confidentiality practices in addition to the principles described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide through our Case Intake Form

When a parent, guardian, family member, or other concerned person submits our Case Intake Form on our “Ask for Help” page, we collect information about the person submitting the form and about the missing or at-risk minor. This may include:

• About the person submitting the form: first and last name, phone number, email address, preferred contact method, primary language, and relationship to the minor.
• About the minor: name, date of birth, age, street address and last known location, phone number, gender, race (optional), height, weight, photographs (including a headshot and a full-body image), social media account information, the date and time the minor was last seen, and a description of the circumstances surrounding the minor going missing.
• About the minor’s parents: names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and marital status.
• Law enforcement details: whether police have been notified, whether a missing person report was taken, the name of the investigating agency, detective name and phone number, police case number, date of notification, and whether a copy of the police report is available.
• Consents and authorizations: whether the person submitting the form is the minor’s parent or legal guardian, whether they authorize Finding Kids to access the minor’s social media accounts, and whether they authorize us to use the minor’s photo in search efforts.
• Referral source: how you heard about Finding Kids (optional).

The description of circumstances you provide may include information about the minor’s physical or mental health, substance use, exploitation, abuse, family situation, or other sensitive matters. Please share what you believe is relevant to locating the child; we treat all of it as confidential.

Information you provide through other forms and communications

• Newsletter sign-up (in the footer of every page): your first name and email address.
• General contact form (“Get in Touch” on our Get Involved page): your name and email address, and optionally your phone number and message.
• Corporate sponsorship inquiries: your name and email address, and optionally your organization name and message.
• Law enforcement contact form: your first name and email address, and optionally your last name, phone number, agency, and message.
• Donations: see Section 9. Online donations are made on a secure page hosted by our donor management provider, not on the Site itself.
• Email and phone correspondence: any information you choose to send us, such as volunteer or private investigator inquiries (which may include professional licensing and insurance information), or requests for wire transfer, stock transfer, or planned giving information.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the Site, our web server automatically records limited technical information, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, pages requested, and the date and time of your visit. This information is used to operate and secure the Site. Some third-party services used to display the Site also receive your IP address when your browser loads their content; these are described in Section 8.

We do not use analytics, advertising, or session-recording tools on the Site.

Information from other sources

To locate a missing child, our investigators may gather information from law enforcement agencies, partner organizations, family members and acquaintances of the child, public records, and publicly available online sources, including social media. This information is used solely for the purpose of locating and protecting the child and supporting law enforcement.

3. Sensitive Information

Some information submitted through our Case Intake Form is considered sensitive under privacy laws, including racial or ethnic origin, gender identity, photographs, information about a minor’s health or circumstances of exploitation or abuse, and social media account log-in information. We collect sensitive information only because it is necessary to identify, locate, and protect a missing or at-risk child, and we use it only for those purposes.

We also use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the Site, such as which pages are viewed, how long visitors stay, and how they arrived at the Site. Google Analytics uses cookies and collects information such as your IP address, device and browser type, and general location. See Section 8 for more information and your choices.

4. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Review, accept, and investigate cases involving missing and exploited children, and communicate with families about those cases.
• Share relevant information with law enforcement to support the recovery of a child and the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.
• Distribute a missing child’s photo and description in search efforts, when the parent or legal guardian has given permission.
• Provide aftercare services and coordinate support with partner community organizations.
• Respond to questions, sponsorship inquiries, and messages from law enforcement and the public.
• Process donations, issue tax receipts, and maintain donor records required for nonprofit accounting and tax compliance.
• Send our newsletter and updates about our work, if you have signed up.
• Review volunteer and private investigator inquiries.
• Operate, maintain, secure, and protect the Site, including preventing spam and abuse of our forms.
• Comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests, and protect the rights, safety, and property of children, families, our team, and others.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell, rent, trade, or exchange donor, subscriber, or family information with other organizations for their own marketing. We share information only as described below.

• Contracted private investigators: case information is shared with the licensed private investigators and investigative firms we assign to a case, who are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Law enforcement: we share information with law enforcement agencies to help locate and recover a child and to support the investigation and prosecution of those who exploit children.
• Aftercare and community partners: with the family’s involvement, we may share limited information with partner community-based organizations that provide services to recovered youth and their families.
• The public, with permission: if a parent or legal guardian authorizes use of a child’s photo, we may share it on social media, in missing person bulletins distributed in the community, and with individuals who may have seen the child.
• Service providers: we use vendors that help us operate the Site and our organization. These include our website hosting provider; Google, which provides the secure spreadsheet system our case team uses to receive and manage intake submissions, as well as website analytics, spam protection, and web fonts; DonorPerfect and its payment processors, for donations; and MailerLite. These providers may use personal information only to perform services for us.
• Legal and safety reasons: we may disclose information when required by law, subpoena, or court order, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the life, safety, or wellbeing of a child or any other person.
• Organizational changes: if Finding Kids merges with or transfers its programs to another nonprofit organization, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy’s protections.

6. Missing Child Photos and Case Stories

We use a missing child’s photo publicly only when the child’s parent or legal guardian has given permission on the Case Intake Form. A parent or legal guardian may withdraw that permission at any time by contacting us. We will stop new distribution promptly and remove the photo from channels we control, such as our Site and social media accounts, although we cannot recall bulletins already distributed or copies shared by others.

When a child has been located, we will remove or update public search materials we control. Stories about resolved cases that we publish are shared to illustrate our work and are written to protect the privacy of the youth and families involved.

7. Newsletter

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we will use your first name and email address to send you updates about our cases and our work. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every email or by contacting us. Even if you unsubscribe, we may still send you transactional messages, such as donation receipts or responses to your inquiries.

Our newsletter is sent through MailerLite, which may use standard email technologies to tell us whether messages were opened and which links were clicked.” / delete if sign-ups are only stored on the Site and emailed manually

8. Cookies and Third-Party Content

The Site uses cookies that are necessary for it to function, such as cookies our website platform sets for logged-in administrators and cookies needed to process form submissions. We also use analytics cookies, described below.

To display the Site, your browser also loads content from the following third-party services, which receive your IP address and basic browser information when they do:

• Google Analytics, which helps us understand how visitors use the Site so we can improve it. Google Analytics sets cookies and collects information about your visit, such as pages viewed, time on the Site, referring website, device and browser type, and approximate location derived from your IP address. We do not use Google Analytics to collect information you enter into our forms. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout) or by blocking cookies in your browser.
• Google Fonts, which provides the typefaces used on the Site.
• Cloudflare’s cdnjs, a content delivery network that provides code used for animations on the Site.
• Google reCAPTCHA, which helps protect our Case Intake Form from spam and automated abuse. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information, such as device and application data, and sends it to Google for analysis. Its use is subject to the Google Privacy Policy (policies.google.com/privacy) and Terms of Service (policies.google.com/terms).
• Vimeo, which hosts a video embedded on our homepage. Vimeo may set cookies when the video player loads or plays. Its use is subject to the Vimeo Privacy Policy.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the Site works, including our forms.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” setting. Because there is no common industry standard for responding to these signals, the Site does not currently respond to them. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as a request to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information; because we do not sell or share personal information for advertising, no further action is needed on your part.

9. Donations

Online donations are processed through a secure donation page hosted by DonorPerfect, our donor management provider, which opens in a new window when you select a Donate button. When you give online, you provide your name, contact information, billing address, and payment information directly to DonorPerfect and its payment processors, which may include credit card processors, PayPal, and Venmo. Finding Kids does not receive or store your full payment card number.

We receive and keep records of your donation, such as your name, contact information, gift amount, date, and any designation or dedication, so that we can process your gift, email your tax receipt, thank you, and meet our accounting and tax reporting obligations. We also maintain records of gifts made by check, wire transfer, stock transfer, phone, employer matching programs, and planned giving.

We respect donor privacy. We do not sell, rent, or trade donor information. If you prefer that your gift be acknowledged anonymously in any public recognition, please let us know.

10. How We Protect Information

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the information we collect. Information submitted through the Site is transmitted using encryption (HTTPS).

Case Intake Form submissions are delivered to a secure spreadsheet in a Google account managed by Finding Kids. Access to this spreadsheet is limited to a small number of named Finding Kids team members who need it to review and manage cases, and it is not shared publicly or by link.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we learn of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

11. How Long We Keep Information

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, including to support ongoing investigations, provide aftercare, cooperate with law enforcement and court proceedings, and meet legal, accounting, and tax obligations. These periods apply to all copies we control, including information stored in our case spreadsheet and on the Site. Our general retention periods are:

• Case information: [RETENTION PERIOD, e.g., “for the duration of the case and aftercare services, and up to X years after case closure, or longer if required by an ongoing law enforcement matter or legal proceeding”].
• Social media log-in information: deleted when access is no longer needed for the investigation, and no later than case closure.
• Donation records: seven years, consistent with IRS record-keeping guidance
• Contact, sponsorship, and law enforcement form messages: 365 days.
• Newsletter subscribers: until you unsubscribe, after which we retain only what is needed to honor your request.

12. Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for adults, including parents, guardians, family members, law enforcement, supporters, and volunteers. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 through the Site. If we learn that a child under 13 has submitted personal information through the Site, we will delete it unless it is needed to protect the child’s safety.

Information about minors that we receive through the Case Intake Form is provided by adults, typically the minor’s parent or legal guardian, for the purpose of locating and protecting the child. It is handled with the safeguards described in Sections 3 and 10.

If you are a young person and you need help, call or text 911 in an emergency, contact the National Runaway Safeline at 1-800-786-2929, or call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

13. Your Privacy Choices and Rights

Regardless of where you live, you may contact us to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate information.
• Ask us to delete your information.
• Withdraw consent you previously gave, including photo consent for a missing child.
• Unsubscribe from our newsletter and other non-transactional emails.
• Consent, where required by law, for analytics cookies

We will respond within a reasonable time and, where a specific law applies, within the time that law requires. We may need to retain certain information even after a deletion request, for example where it is needed for an active investigation, to support a law enforcement matter or court proceeding, to protect a child’s safety, or to meet legal and tax record-keeping obligations. We will tell you if that is the case.

Verification and requests involving case information

To protect the families we serve, we verify the identity of anyone making a request before acting on it. For requests involving case information, we will only discuss or release information to the parent or legal guardian of the minor, the person who submitted the Case Intake Form, or another person authorized by law. We may ask for additional information to confirm your identity and authority. We will not disclose case information to a person we believe may pose a risk to the child.

California residents

As a nonprofit organization, Finding Kids is not a “business” subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA). We nonetheless value the privacy principles behind California law and voluntarily provide the following information.

In the past 12 months, we have collected the categories of personal information described in Section 2, which correspond to the following CCPA categories:

• identifiers (such as name, email, phone number, address, and IP address)
• personal records (such as descriptions of circumstances and family information)
• characteristics of protected classifications (such as race, gender, and age)
• internet or network activity (such as server log information)
• audio, electronic, or visual information (such as photographs)
• professional information (such as law enforcement agency or organization name)
• sensitive personal information (such as racial origin, account log-in credentials, and information about a minor’s health or circumstances)

We collect this information from the sources and for the purposes described in Sections 2 and 4, and disclose it to the categories of recipients described in Section 5.

We do not sell or share personal information, as those terms are defined under the CCPA, and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of consumers under 16. We use sensitive personal information only for the purposes described in Section 3. California residents may make the requests described above using the contact information in Section 15, and we will not discriminate against anyone for doing so. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf.

Under California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section 1798.83), California residents may ask whether we share personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not.

Nevada residents

Finding Kids does not sell covered information as defined under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A. Although we do not believe the Nevada online privacy notice requirements apply to our nonprofit activities, Nevada residents may submit a request directing us not to sell their covered information by emailing info@findingkids.org, and we will honor it.

Nevada consumer health data

Nevada law (NRS 603A.400 to 603A.550) provides protections for consumer health data. Information submitted through our Case Intake Form may include details about a Nevada minor’s physical or mental health. If so, we collect it only with the consent of the person submitting the form and only to locate and protect the child, and we share it only as necessary for that purpose as described in Section 5.

We do not sell consumer health data, and we do not use geofencing. Nevada residents may request confirmation of whether we have collected, shared, or sold their consumer health data, request a list of third parties with whom it was shared, withdraw consent, and request deletion by contacting us as described in Section 15. If we deny a request, you may appeal by replying to our response, and we will respond to the appeal in writing.

Visitors from the European Union, United Kingdom, and other international locations

Finding Kids is based in the United States and serves families in California and Nevada. If you access the Site from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.

To the extent the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, Finding Kids is the controller of your personal information, and we rely on the following legal bases:

• vital interests, to protect the life and safety of a missing or at-risk child
• consent, for newsletter subscriptions, photo distribution, social media access, and sensitive information you choose to provide
• legitimate interests, to operate our programs, respond to inquiries, secure the Site, and cooperate with law enforcement
• legal obligation, for tax and accounting records

Special category data, such as racial or ethnic origin and health information, is processed with explicit consent or where necessary to protect the vital interests of a child who is not able to give consent.

Where the GDPR applies, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of your personal information, the right to data portability, the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior processing, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. To exercise these rights, contact us as described in Section 15.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we do, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. If we make material changes to how we use or share personal information, we will provide notice on the Site before the changes take effect. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to make a privacy request, please contact us:

Finding Kids
Attn: Privacy
2108 N St, Suite 9241
Sacramento, CA 95816
Email: info@findingkids.org

For the safety of our team and the families we serve, Finding Kids does not publish a physical office address. Please do not send sensitive case information by email unless our team has asked you to.