Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 20, 2026

The Region 6 Adult Protective Services Advisory Board (also referred to as the Region 6 APS Advisory Board, “Board,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects the privacy of visitors to our website. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information in connection with our website at https://www.apsboardhouston.org (the “Site”).

Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through the Site, including information you submit through our contact, Board membership, donation, or other online features.

The Board also works directly with Adult Protective Services (APS) personnel and community partners in carrying out its mission, including providing resources to APS clients. Information provided to the Board through separate official APS, case-support, resource-request, or other organizational processes is not collected through the Site and is outside the scope of this Website Privacy Policy.

Similarly, when you follow a link from our Site to a third-party website or service, information you provide directly to that third party is generally governed by that third party’s privacy practices rather than this Privacy Policy.

Important Notice About Adult Protective Services Reports

The Region 6 APS Advisory Board is a nonprofit community organization that supports and works in partnership with Adult Protective Services. The Board is not the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), does not investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or financial exploitation, and does not operate the Texas Abuse Hotline.

Please do not use this Site, our contact forms, Board membership application, or general email address to report suspected abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or financial exploitation or to submit confidential APS case information.

Suspected abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or financial exploitation should be reported through the official Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 or through the Texas Abuse Hotline website. If there is an immediate threat to someone’s life or safety, call 911.

Information We Collect

We may collect information in several ways when you use our Site or communicate with the Board through the Site.

Information You Provide to Us

Depending on how you interact with us, you may provide information such as:

  • your first and last name;
  • email address;
  • telephone number;
  • mailing or billing address;
  • information contained in messages or inquiries submitted through our Contact form;
  • information submitted when expressing interest in joining the Board, including where you live or work in Region 6, your reasons for wanting to participate, and information you choose to provide about your personal or professional background, experience, interests, or perspective;
  • information associated with donations;
  • information associated with event participation, sponsorships, or other Board activities when those opportunities are offered through the Site; and
  • other information you choose to provide when communicating with us.

Some Site forms include open-text fields. Information entered into those fields is provided at your discretion. Please do not submit Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, medical records, confidential APS case information, or other highly sensitive information through general Site forms.

Donations and Payment Information

The Site currently allows visitors to make online donations by selecting a PayPal donation button, which directs the donor to a PayPal-hosted page. Depending on the options PayPal makes available, donors may be able to complete a donation using PayPal, Venmo, a credit card, or a debit card.

Payment information submitted on the PayPal-hosted donation page is collected and processed by PayPal and, where applicable, its affiliated or participating payment services. The Board’s Site does not directly collect or store your complete credit card, debit card, bank account, or other payment credentials when you donate through this process.

PayPal may provide the Board with information concerning a completed or attempted donation, which may include information such as:

  • donor name;
  • email address or other contact information;
  • donation amount;
  • transaction date;
  • transaction identifier or status;
  • mailing or billing information made available with the transaction;
  • donor designation or message, if applicable; and
  • other information that PayPal provides to recipients in connection with processing and documenting the donation.

Information you provide directly to PayPal or Venmo is subject to the privacy policy and terms applicable to the service you use. We encourage you to review those policies before completing a transaction.

The Board may use information it receives concerning donations to administer the donation, maintain financial and tax records, acknowledge gifts, issue or facilitate donation receipts, respond to donor questions, honor donor restrictions or anonymity requests where applicable, prevent or address unauthorized transactions, and communicate with donors concerning their gifts or the Board’s activities.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit or interact with the Site, our website software, hosting provider, security services, and other service providers may automatically collect certain technical and usage information. Depending on the technologies in use, this information may include:

  • Internet Protocol (IP) address;
  • browser type and version;
  • device type;
  • operating system;
  • pages or features accessed;
  • referring and exit pages or websites;
  • date and time of visits;
  • approximate geographic information derived from an IP address;
  • searches or other interactions with Site features;
  • website performance and diagnostic information; and
  • cookie or similar technology identifiers.

We may use this information to operate and secure the Site, understand how visitors use it, identify technical problems, and improve the Site and its content.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Site uses a limited number of cookies and similar technologies that support website security, spam prevention, and transaction functionality.

For example, we use Google reCAPTCHA to help protect Site forms from spam, bots, and other abusive activity. Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and similar technologies for security and risk analysis.

Our donation page also uses services provided by PayPal. PayPal may use cookies and similar technologies in connection with its donation and payment services, including technologies used for security, fraud prevention, authentication, and transaction integrity. Information collected directly by PayPal is also subject to PayPal’s own privacy practices.

The Board does not intentionally use cookies for behavioral advertising or cross-site tracking and does not currently use cookies for website analytics.

You can generally view, block, or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking technologies required by reCAPTCHA, PayPal, or other Site security or transaction functions may interfere with those features.

We periodically review the cookies and similar technologies used by the Site and may update this Privacy Policy if our website practices or services change.

How We Use Information

We may use information collected through the Site to:

  • operate, maintain, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the Site;
  • respond to questions, inquiries, and requests;
  • communicate with individuals and organizations interested in the Board or its activities;
  • review and administer expressions of interest or applications to join the Board;
  • support the Board’s efforts to maintain broad community representation among its membership;
  • administer programs, events, sponsorships, collaborations, and other Board activities;
  • process and document donations and other transactions;
  • acknowledge donations and maintain donor and financial records;
  • honor donor preferences, restrictions, and requests for anonymity where applicable;
  • maintain administrative and organizational records;
  • provide communications that individuals have requested or that relate to their interactions with the Board;
  • understand how visitors interact with the Site;
  • diagnose technical problems and prevent fraud, misuse, spam, or security incidents;
  • comply with applicable legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements; and
  • protect the rights, property, safety, and interests of the Board, Site users, and others.

We may also use information for other purposes that are consistent with the reason the information was provided or that are disclosed at the time of collection.

Communications

If you contact us, apply to join the Board, make a donation, register for or participate in a Board activity, or otherwise request information, we may use your contact information to communicate with you concerning that interaction and, where appropriate, other Board activities.

If we send recurring nonessential communications, you may request that we stop sending them by using any unsubscribe mechanism provided or by contacting us.

We may continue to send communications that are reasonably necessary in connection with a transaction, donation, application, request, or other interaction you initiated.

How We Disclose Information

We do not sell or rent personal information.

We do not disclose donor information to unrelated organizations for their own marketing or fundraising purposes unless a donor directs or authorizes us to do so.

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances.

Service Providers

We may provide or make information available to organizations that perform services for or on behalf of the Board, such as providers of:

  • website hosting and maintenance;
  • website security, spam prevention, and technical support;
  • online forms and communications;
  • payment and donation processing, including PayPal;
  • event registration or event-related services;
  • accounting and financial administration;
  • data storage and backup; and
  • website performance and diagnostic services.

These providers may process information as reasonably necessary to provide their services and are also subject to applicable legal, contractual, and privacy obligations.

Board Officers, Directors, Volunteers, and Other Authorized Persons

Information may be made available to Board officers, directors, committee members, volunteers, contractors, professional advisers, or other authorized persons when reasonably necessary to:

  • respond to a request or inquiry;
  • review a Board membership application;
  • administer a donation or activity;
  • maintain organizational or financial records; or
  • otherwise carry out the Board’s activities.

Access should be limited to persons who have a legitimate need for the information.

When a donor requests anonymity, the Board will seek to limit disclosure of the donor’s identity consistent with that request, except where disclosure is reasonably necessary for financial administration, legal or tax compliance, payment processing, or other legitimate organizational purposes.

Legal and Safety Purposes

We may disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to:

  • comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request;
  • satisfy tax, accounting, audit, or regulatory requirements;
  • protect or enforce the Board’s legal rights or interests;
  • investigate or respond to suspected fraud, misuse, unauthorized transactions, or security incidents; or
  • protect the safety or rights of the Board, Site users, or others.

Organizational Changes

If the Board undergoes a reorganization, merger, dissolution, transfer of activities, or similar organizational change, information may be transferred or disclosed as reasonably necessary in connection with that change and subject to applicable law.

Third-Party Websites and Services

The Site contains links to websites and services operated by other organizations, including governmental agencies, community organizations, social-media or other online services, and payment services such as PayPal.

The Board does not control and is not responsible for the privacy, security, content, or practices of third-party websites or services. When you leave our Site or provide information directly to a third party, that organization’s own privacy policy and terms govern its collection and use of your information.

A link from our Site to another organization does not, by itself, mean that the Board controls that organization or its privacy practices.

Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

The Site uses encrypted HTTPS connections to protect information transmitted between your browser and the Site. We also rely on our website hosting, payment, security, and other service providers to maintain safeguards appropriate to the services they provide.

However, no method of transmitting information over the Internet or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee the absolute security of information submitted through or stored in connection with the Site.

Please do not transmit confidential APS case information, Social Security numbers, financial account credentials, medical records, or other highly sensitive information through general Site forms or ordinary email.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and for legitimate administrative, operational, financial, legal, recordkeeping, and security purposes.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the purpose for which it was collected. For example, donation, payment, accounting, tax, corporate, and organizational records may need to be retained for periods required or appropriate under applicable law and accepted recordkeeping practices.

Information submitted through a Board membership application may be retained while the application is under consideration and afterward for reasonable organizational and recordkeeping purposes.

Information may also remain for a limited period in backups, email archives, payment-provider records, or other systems after it has been removed from active Board records.

Your Choices and Privacy Requests

You may contact us to:

  • ask what personal information we maintain about you;
  • request correction of inaccurate information;
  • request deletion of information that is no longer needed;
  • request a copy of information you previously provided to us;
  • request removal from recurring Board communications; or
  • ask questions about how your information is used or disclosed.

We will consider and respond to requests as appropriate and as required by applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

We may be unable to delete information when continued retention is reasonably necessary for legal, tax, accounting, financial, security, recordkeeping, dispute-resolution, or other legitimate organizational purposes. Information maintained independently by a third-party service such as PayPal or Venmo must generally be addressed directly with that service.

Depending on where you reside, applicable law may provide additional rights concerning your personal information. Where such rights apply to the Board, we will respond to requests in accordance with applicable law.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly use the Site to solicit or collect personal information from children under 13.

If we learn that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected through the Site without appropriate authorization, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, services, legal requirements, or other circumstances.

When we update the Privacy Policy, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If changes materially affect the way we collect, use, or disclose personal information, we may provide additional notice when appropriate.

We encourage visitors to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, or personal information you have provided to the Board, or if you would like to make a privacy-related request, please contact us at:

Region 6 Adult Protective Services Advisory Board
PO Box 8452
Houston, TX 77288
Email: apshouston6@gmail.com