In effect: January 1, 2020
Last updated: August 8, 2026
1. Introduction and Scope
Minds Matter of Los Angeles, doing business as Minds Matter Southern California (“Minds Matter SoCal,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), respects your privacy and protects the personal information of the students, families, mentors, volunteers, donors, and visitors who interact with us, including through our website at mindsmattersocal.org (the “Site”). This Policy addresses the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA/CPRA”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
We primarily serve residents of Southern California and are not established in the EU. Because our Site is occasionally visited by individuals in the EU, and because certain tools we use require it, we include GDPR-related provisions below as a matter of good practice.
Minds Matter SoCal is an independently operated affiliate chapter of Minds Matter National, Inc. (“Minds Matter National”), which maintains its own privacy policy at mindsmatter.org/about-2/privacy-policy. That policy, not this one, governs data once it is in Minds Matter National’s hands, as described further in Section 6.
2. Who We Are
Minds Matter SoCal is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this Policy.
Minds Matter of Los Angeles (DBA Minds Matter Southern California)
19360 Rinaldi St., #705
Porter Ranch, CA 91326
You may also reach us using the contact form at the bottom of this page.
3. Information We Collect
3.1 Information You Provide Directly
- Applications: Students, volunteers, and mentors apply through an application platform owned and operated by Minds Matter National, providing personal, academic, financial, and background information as applicable, along with parent/guardian consent for minors. Minds Matter National collects and stores this information and shares relevant data with us so we can evaluate applicants and administer our chapter’s program locally (we store this data in our own internal systems); Minds Matter National separately shares volunteer information with a third-party background check provider as part of its legally required screening process.
- Website Forms: We collect the name, email address, and other information you provide when contacting us, subscribing to our newsletter (via a third-party email marketing platform), or otherwise submitting a form on our Site.
- Donations: When you donate, we collect your name, contact information, and donation details through a third-party donation platform and store this information ourselves. The platform’s payment processor handles your credit card information directly and does not share it with us; we do not collect or store full payment card numbers.
3.2 Information Collected Automatically
We use a third-party analytics service and an advertising conversion tracking tag on our Site, both using cookies to collect information such as your IP address, browser type, and browsing activity. The conversion tracking tag measures whether visitors who click our ads take an action on our Site (such as applying or donating); it is configured with restricted data processing, so our advertising provider may use that information only to report conversions back to us. We do not display advertising on our Site and do not use remarketing or retargeting cookies.
3.3 Information About Minors
Many of our student applicants are minors. See Section 9 (Children’s Privacy) for details.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information to evaluate applications and administer our academic, mentorship, and college-success programming; communicate with and process donations from our community; operate, analyze, and improve our Site, including measuring the performance of our online advertising; and comply with legal and reporting obligations while protecting the safety of our community. We do not use personal information to serve advertising, and we do not sell it for monetary consideration.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our Site uses cookies from a third-party analytics service and an advertising conversion tracking tag, as described in Section 3.2. We do not use remarketing or retargeting cookies. Our Site displays a cookie consent banner to all visitors — including in California, elsewhere in the U.S., and the EU/UK — before non-essential cookies are set; you may withdraw consent anytime through the banner or your browser settings.
California residents may also opt out of certain cookie uses as described in Section 8. Blocking cookies may affect Site functionality.
6. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Minds Matter National: Student and volunteer/mentor application data is collected and stored by Minds Matter National and shared with us to administer our chapter’s program, as described in Section 3.1; that data is governed by Minds Matter National’s own privacy policy until we receive it, and by this Policy afterward. We may also share limited donor information with Minds Matter National for program administration and reporting. Minds Matter National separately shares volunteer information with a third-party background check provider as part of its legally required screening process.
- Service Providers: We share information with third-party providers who perform services on our behalf, including donation processing, email marketing, website forms, analytics, and advertising conversion tracking (configured with restricted data processing, so it is not used for cross-context behavioral advertising), as well as the internal systems we use to store donor and volunteer data.
- Legal, Safety, and Business Transfers: We may disclose information where required by law, to protect the rights, property, or safety of Minds Matter SoCal or others, or as part of a merger, reorganization, or similar transaction.
We reserve the right to share personal information with additional third parties in the future, consistent with the purposes described in this Policy or as otherwise permitted by law, and will update this Policy accordingly where required.
7. Data Retention
We retain applicant and donor personal information for up to five (5) years from the date of collection or last interaction, and reserve the right to retain it longer for legitimate program, legal, accounting, or reporting purposes. Retention of application data while held by Minds Matter National is governed by its own retention practices.
8. Your Privacy Rights
California residents have rights under the CCPA/CPRA to know, delete, and correct their personal information. Full details are available from the California Attorney General at oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa.
Visitors from the EU/UK have GDPR rights including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent (for example, for cookies) at any time, even though we do not direct our services to those regions. Our legal bases include your consent, performance of a relationship with you, our legitimate interests in operating our programs and Site, and legal compliance. Full details are available at commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection_en.
To exercise any of these rights, use the contact form at the bottom of this page.
9. Children’s Privacy
Because many of our applicants are minors, participation requires parent or guardian consent, as described in Section 3.1. A parent or guardian may use the contact form at the bottom of this page to review, correct, or request deletion of their child’s information, subject to Section 7. As described in Section 8, we do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of any minor.
10. Data Security and International Transfers
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure; our third-party service providers maintain their own security measures for information they process on our behalf, though no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Our service providers may process personal information in the United States or other countries; where EU/UK personal information is transferred outside the EU/UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, where applicable.
11. Changes to This Policy and Contact Us
We may update this Policy from time to time; changes will be posted on our Site with a revised “Last updated” date, and continued use of the Site after changes take effect constitutes acceptance. Questions about this Policy or requests to exercise your privacy rights can be sent to:
Minds Matter of Los Angeles (DBA Minds Matter Southern California)
19360 Rinaldi St., #705
Porter Ranch, CA 91326
You may also reach us using the contact form at the bottom of this page.