Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

BuildingBlocksTupelo.org is the website of Building Blocks, a nonprofit organization based in Tupelo, Mississippi, United States. We sell new and salvaged construction materials and home items, with proceeds supporting the Link Centre and ongoing community development.

In this Privacy Policy, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Building Blocks, and “you” refers to visitors, customers, and other users of our website.

This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share information when you visit BuildingBlocksTupelo.org, make a purchase, contact us, or otherwise interact with our services.

2. Information we collect

We collect information in three main ways:

  1. Information you provide directly
  2. Information collected automatically when you use the site
  3. Information received from third parties (such as payment processors and shipping carriers)

2.1 Information you provide directly

Depending on how you interact with the site, we may collect:

  • Contact details – name, email address, phone number, mailing address
  • Account information – username, password, and basic profile details if you create a customer account
  • Order and transaction details – products you purchase, billing and shipping addresses, preferred shipping method, and contact details needed to fulfill your order
  • Donation or payment information – the amount, purpose (if applicable), and contact details related to your payment
  • Messages and inquiries – information you submit through contact forms, volunteer forms, or other forms on the website, including any attachments you choose to send
  • Preferences and feedback – your communication preferences, survey responses, and feedback

2.2 Information collected automatically

When you use the website, we and our service providers may automatically collect:

  • Device and usage information – IP address, browser type and version, operating system, general location (city/region), and pages you visit
  • Log data – access times, referring website, and error logs for security and troubleshooting
  • Cookies and similar technologies – unique identifiers associated with your browser or device to remember your cart, keep you signed in, protect against fraud, and help us understand how people use the site (see “Cookies” below)

2.3 Information from third parties

We may receive some information from third parties, including:

  • Payment providers (WooPayments and related processors) – confirmation that a payment was approved or declined, limited card details (such as card type and last four digits), and fraud-prevention signals. We do not receive or store full credit card numbers on our servers.
  • Shipping carriers – tracking information and delivery confirmation
  • Tax and compliance tools – information needed to calculate and report applicable sales tax

3. How we use your information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • To operate and maintain the website
  • To process and fulfill orders and payments, including:
    • Creating and managing your order
    • Calculating shipping rates
    • Calculating and applying taxes
    • Processing payments through our payment providers
  • To respond to inquiries, requests, and messages submitted via forms or email
  • To manage customer accounts, including order history and saved details for future purchases
  • To communicate with you, such as sending order confirmations, receipts, and important service-related notices
  • To protect our website and our customers, including preventing fraud, abuse, and security incidents
  • To maintain backups and site reliability (backups may include personal data contained in the website database and files)
  • To improve site performance and user experience (we optimize our database and use caching; this may involve temporary copies of data for performance purposes)
  • To comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax reporting, and responding to lawful requests by public authorities

Where required by law (for example, for visitors from the European Economic Area or United Kingdom), we rely on legal bases such as: performance of a contract (fulfilling your order), compliance with legal obligations, our legitimate interests (operating and improving our services, preventing fraud, maintaining security), and your consent where applicable (for certain cookies or marketing communications).

4. E-commerce and payments

Our online store is powered by WooCommerce. When you place an order, WooCommerce stores information necessary to complete your transaction, including:

  • Name
  • Billing and shipping addresses
  • Email address and phone number
  • Items you purchased
  • Order date and total

For payments, we use WooPayments and its underlying payment processors. These providers handle your sensitive payment details (such as credit card numbers) on their secure systems. We do not store full card numbers or CVV codes on our servers.

WooCommerce and WooPayments may set cookies to:

  • Remember what is in your shopping cart
  • Keep your session active while you browse
  • Help prevent fraud and misuse

5. Forms and communication (Forminator)

We use Forminator to manage contact forms and other online forms. When you submit a form, the information you provide is stored in our website database and may be emailed to our staff.

Typical data collected via forms may include:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Message content and any additional details you choose to provide

We use this information to respond to your requests, manage relationships with donors and customers, coordinate volunteers, and provide the services you ask for.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser. We use cookies and similar technologies for several reasons, including:

  • Essential / functional cookies
    • Remembering items in your cart
    • Keeping you signed in to your account
    • Ensuring the security and basic functionality of the site
  • Performance and analytics cookies (if enabled)
    • Understanding how visitors use the site (for example, which pages are most visited)
    • Helping us improve layout, content, and user experience

You can usually configure your browser to refuse cookies or to notify you when cookies are being set. If you disable certain cookies, some features of the website (especially the online store and account features) may not work properly.

7. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share your information with:

  • Service providers and vendors, such as:
    • Website hosting and maintenance providers
    • Payment processors (WooPayments and associated payment partners)
    • Shipping carriers and logistics companies
    • IT and security support services
  • Professional advisors, such as accountants or legal counsel, to comply with legal or regulatory obligations
  • Government authorities or law enforcement, when required by applicable law, court order, or to protect our rights, property, or safety and that of others
  • Successors or transferees, in the unlikely event of organizational restructuring involving our assets related to the website

When we share information with service providers, we require them to use the information only as necessary to provide services to us and to protect it in a manner consistent with this policy and applicable laws.

We may also share aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify you, for reporting, fundraising, or outreach purposes.

8. Data retention

We keep personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy and as required by law. Generally:

  • Order and transaction records – kept for the period required by tax, accounting, and legal obligations (often up to 7 years or as required under applicable law)
  • Customer accounts – maintained while your account is active; if your account is deleted, we may retain certain transaction records for legal and accounting purposes
  • Form submissions and correspondence – kept for as long as reasonably necessary to respond and maintain records of our communications, or as required by law
  • Backups – retained according to our backup schedule and then deleted or overwritten on a rolling basis

Retention periods may vary based on legal obligations, dispute resolution needs, and operational requirements.

9. How we protect your information

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to help protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures may include:

  • Secure server configuration and firewalls
  • Access controls and limited staff access to personal data
  • Encryption of data in transit where appropriate (such as HTTPS connections)
  • Regular updates and maintenance of our website software and plugins

No system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot promise or guarantee absolute security.

10. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information, which may include:

  • Access – the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
  • Correction – the right to request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Deletion – the right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal and operational requirements
  • Restriction or objection – the right to ask us to restrict or stop certain processing of your data in specific circumstances
  • Data portability – the right to request a copy of certain information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (where applicable law provides this right)

If you have an online account, you can view and update some of your information directly by logging in. You may also contact us using the details in the “How to contact us” section to make a request about your data. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before responding.

If you receive any optional marketing emails from us, you can unsubscribe by using the link in the email or by contacting us.

Residents of certain U.S. states or the European Economic Area / United Kingdom may have additional rights under local privacy laws. We will respect those rights to the extent required by the laws that apply to us.

11. Children’s privacy

Our website and services are not intended for children under 13 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will take steps to delete that information as required by law.

12. Third-party websites

Our website may link to third-party websites or services that we do not control. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing personal information to them.

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we do so, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the website after an updated policy is posted means you accept the changes.

14. How to contact us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your information, you can contact us at:

  • Organization: Building Blocks
  • Mailing Address: 2211 Cliff Gookin Boulevard, Tupelo, MS 38801, USA
  • Phone: (662) 844-7327
  • Email: donate@buildingblockstupelo.org