Privacy Policy

Educational Freedom Institute, Inc.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

Educational Freedom Institute, Inc. (“EFI,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is an Arizona nonprofit organization based in Phoenix. EFI is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is funded by donors. This policy covers our website at https://www.efinstitute.org, including the EFI Research Archives and the archive file server at files.efinstitute.org (together, the “site”). It explains what information we collect when you use the site, what we do with it, and the choices you have.

We do not sell your personal information.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Contact form. When you write to us through our contact page, we receive your first and last name, email address, phone number (if you choose to give it), and your message.
• Donation form. When you give through our donate page, we receive your gift amount, first and last name, email address, and billing address (street, city, state, and ZIP code). We also note whether you checked the box to receive email updates from EFI. Your card or PayPal account details are entered into PayPal’s payment fields, not ours. See Section 5.
• Email updates sign-up. The “Subscribe” box at the bottom of our pages asks only for your email address.
• Archive search. When you search the EFI Research Archives, the words you type are sent to our site to return results. We do not ask you to sign in, and we do not link searches to your name.

We do not offer user accounts to the public. Comments are turned off across the site.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs. Like most websites, our servers record basic technical details each time a page or file is requested. These include your IP address, the date and time, the page or file requested, the address of the page that sent you, and your browser and device type. This applies to both www.efinstitute.org and files.efinstitute.org.
• Page-view counter. A small script on our site sends the ID number of the page you are reading to our server, so we can count how many times each page is viewed. The script does not set cookies and sends nothing else about you. The counter stores only the page’s ID number and the time of the view. It does not record your IP address, browser, or where you came from. We use it only to count page views.
• Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to see how many people visit and which pages they read. See Section 3.
• Cookies and similar tools. See Section 3.

2. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• answer your questions and messages;
• process donations, keep records of gifts, and send receipts and thank-you notes;
• send email updates to people who asked for them, which may include requests to support EFI's work;
• understand which research, maps, and pages are useful, and improve the site;
• keep the site and forms secure and block spam and abuse; and
• meet our legal, tax, and accounting duties as a nonprofit.

3. Cookies and analytics

Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. Some pages also use your browser’s local storage, which works in a similar way.

Our cookie notice. Every page on our site shows a cookie notice until you make a choice. It lets you choose OK or Decline.

Our own cookie. We set one cookie, efi_consent, and keep the same value in local storage. It records whether you chose OK or Decline so we don’t ask again. It lasts one year and does not identify you.

Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID. They let Google count visits and tell one visit from another. Google may receive your IP address, browser and device details, the pages you view, and how you reached the site. We have set Google’s advertising options to “denied” for our site, and we do not use Google Analytics data for advertising. We keep Google Analytics data for up to 14 months.

• Analytics runs unless you choose Decline.
• If you choose Decline, we turn analytics off and delete its cookies from our site.
• If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal and you have not made a choice, we treat that as Decline.
• You can change your choice at any time with the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page.

Cookies from other services. Embedded content and services from other companies may set their own cookies when they load. This includes YouTube, Brightcove, Tableau, PayPal, Google reCAPTCHA, and Cloudflare. Our cookie notice does not control these. You can block or delete them in your browser settings. Some features, such as videos, the donation form, or the contact form, may not work if you block them.

We do not use advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or social media tracking pixels on the site.

Email updates. EFI does not add its own open or click tracking to our email updates. Our email updates are sent through Substack, and Substack records whether emails are opened and which links are clicked. See Substack’s privacy policy for how Substack handles that information.

4. Third-party services

We use outside services to run the site. When a page loads content from one of them, your browser connects to that company directly. The company can see your IP address and browser details, and it may set cookies. Each company handles data under its own privacy policy.

Our pages also link to other websites, including EFI’s pages on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter), and share buttons for social networks. Share buttons are plain links. They send information to a social network only if you click them. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites.

5. Donations

Donations made on our site are processed by PayPal. You enter your card number or PayPal login in PayPal’s secure payment fields. EFI does not receive or store your full card number, security code, or bank details. PayPal’s privacy statement governs how PayPal handles that information.

We keep the details of your gift (amount, date, name, contact details, and billing address) in our website’s database and in EFI’s own secure donor database. We use them to record the gift, send your receipt, thank you, and meet tax and accounting rules.

We do not publish donor names. We do not sell, rent, trade, or exchange donor information or donor lists with other organizations.

EFI reports donor information only as required by applicable laws and IRS rules.

6. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it for advertising.

We share information only:

• with the service providers listed in Section 4, so they can do work for us;
• when the law requires it, such as in response to a valid subpoena or court order, or to meet tax reporting rules;
• to protect the rights, safety, or property of EFI, our visitors, or others, or to prevent fraud or abuse; or
• with your permission.

If EFI ever merges with or transfers its assets to another organization, information may be transferred as part of that change, and this policy, or one that protects you at least as well, will continue to apply.

7. Children’s privacy

The site is meant for adults. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please tell us through our contact form and we will delete it.

8. How long we keep information

We keep information only as long as we need it for the reasons described in this policy:

• Contact messages: 24 months.
• Donation records: 7 years, to meet tax, audit, and accounting rules.
• Email update sign-ups: until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you.
• Server and Cloudflare logs: up to 18 months.
• Analytics data: up to 14 months.

9. Your choices and rights

• Email updates. Our email updates may include requests for donations. You can unsubscribe at any time. Use the unsubscribe link in any update, or tell us through our contact form.
• Analytics. Choose Decline in our cookie notice, or use the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of any page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or turn on Global Privacy Control.
• Access, correction, and deletion. You can ask us what personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. Use our contact form and say “Privacy request” in your message. We may need to confirm your identity first. We may keep some records, such as donation records, when the law requires it.

Where you live. EFI is an Arizona nonprofit. Some states give their residents extra privacy rights, and many of those laws do not apply to nonprofits. Even so, we will honor reasonable privacy requests from anyone, wherever they live. We do not sell personal information and do not use it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. If we cannot fully meet a request, we will tell you why, and you can ask us to look at it again. We will not treat you differently for making a privacy request.

10. Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect the information we hold. These include encrypted (HTTPS) connections to our site, spam protection on our forms, and limiting access to people who need it. Payment details are handled by PayPal. No website or online service is completely secure, so we cannot promise that information will never be accessed without permission.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the new version on this page and change the date at the top. If we make a significant change in how we use personal information, we will make that clear on the site.

12. Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or want to make a privacy request, please reach us through our contact form:

https://www.efinstitute.org/contact/

Educational Freedom Institute, Inc.
Phoenix, Arizona