Privacy Policy

Effective 2/20/2025

At The Smith Mountain Lake Center, your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use and protect your information when you visit our website and interact with our services, including making donations through our PayPal link.

 

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://smlcenter.com.

We are a nonprofit organization committed to serving the Smith Mountain Lake community by providing a venue for education, entertainment and community events. This website supports that mission by sharing information, accepting donations and encouraging community involvement.

Information We Collect

a. Personal Information

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide, including your name, email address, phone number and mailing address when you:

  • Make a donation through our PayPal link.
  • Contact us directly through the website.
  • Subscribe to our newsletter or sign up for events.
  • Leave comments on posts or articles.

b. Payment Information

Donations are securely processed via PayPal. We do not collect or store your payment details (e.g., credit card numbers or bank information). Please review PayPal’s Privacy Policy for more information on how they handle your data.

c. Non-Personal Information

We automatically collect certain non-identifiable data when you visit our website, such as:

  • IP address
  • Browser type
  • Pages visited
  • Date and time of access

This data helps us analyze website traffic and improve user experience.

Comments and User Content

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam.

An anonymized string (hash) created from your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to check if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here. After your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract location data from images.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to enhance user experience. Cookies are small files stored on your device that help improve website functionality. We use cookies to:

  • Save your name, email and website if you leave a comment (for future convenience).
  • Manage login sessions and screen preferences.
  • Determine if your browser accepts cookies.

Cookie Lifespan:

  • Comment cookies last for one year.
  • Login cookies last for two days (or two weeks if “Remember Me” is selected).
  • Screen option cookies last for one year.
  • Post-editing cookies expire after one day.

You can adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies or notify you when cookies are being used.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles or pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles). Embedded content behaves as if you visited the originating website directly. These third-party sites may collect data, use cookies and track your interaction, especially if you have an account and are logged in to their platform.

Donations and Third-Party Processors

We use PayPal for processing donations. When you donate, PayPal collects necessary payment information. Smith Mountain Lake Center does not store any sensitive payment data. Please review PayPal’s Privacy Policy for details on their practices.

How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Comments: If you leave a comment, it and its metadata are retained indefinitely for follow-up comment recognition and moderation.
  • Registered Users: If you register on the website (if applicable), we store your personal information in your user profile. Users can view, edit or delete their information at any time, except for their username. Administrators can also edit user information.

Your Rights Over Your Data

If you have an account on this site or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you. You can also request that we erase your data. This does not include information we are required to retain for legal, administrative or security purposes.

Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Additionally, data provided during donations is securely processed through PayPal.

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your data. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We use secure protocols and trusted third-party services to minimize risks.

Children’s Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we discover that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of our website after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact Us

For questions regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact:

Smith Mountain Lake Center
35 Westlake Road, Suite 207, Hardy, VA 24101
SmithMountainLakeCenter@gmail.com
631.786.3453