Privacy Policy
Revised: September 18. 2026
Your information privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, protect, disclose, and retain information when you use the website located at familiesandteachersunited.org (the “Site”) and any other services we offer (the “Services”), including our text messaging program. It also explains your choices for managing your information, including your rights under California law.
Covered entity. This Privacy Policy is issued by Families and Teachers United (“FTU,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). FTU is sponsored by California Charter Schools Association Advocates and receives major funding from Charter Public Schools PAC. Information about FTU's funding is available at www.fppc.ca.gov.
BY USING THE SITE OR SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
1. Quick Summary
● We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California law.
● We do not share mobile phone numbers or text messaging opt-in data with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes — ever, and regardless of any other provision of this Policy.
● This Site provides political and advocacy content and does not solicit or process financial contributions.
● You can opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP.
● California residents have rights to know, delete, correct, and limit the use of certain information. See Section 8.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Personal Information
We collect information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked with you or your household (“Personal Information”), including:
● Identifiers: name, postal address, email address, and telephone number, including mobile telephone number.
● Internet and network activity: as described in Section 2.3.
● Inferences drawn from the above to understand your interests in charter public school policy and advocacy.
You may be asked to provide Personal Information when you register on the Site, sign up for communications, opt in to text messages, or otherwise use the Services.
2.2 Sensitive Personal Information
We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information, as that term is defined under California law, through the Site. If that changes, this Policy will be updated to describe the categories collected and the limited purposes for which we use them.
2.3 Usage Data and Site Activity
We automatically collect information about your interactions with the Site (“Usage Data”), such as browser type, operating system, internet service provider, IP address, pages viewed, referring page, and the time and duration of your visits. We use Usage Data to understand how the Site and Services are used and to improve them.
2.4 Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies (small text files placed on your device) and similar technologies such as pixels and anonymous identifiers to operate and analyze the Site and Services. Most web browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You may reset your browser to refuse cookies or to notify you when a cookie is sent, although certain features of the Site or Services may not function if you disable cookies.
We use Google Analytics to collect Usage Data and analyze how the Site and Services are used. You may opt out of Google Analytics by installing the browser add-on available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.
2.5 Sources of Information
We collect information directly from you, automatically from your device as described above, from service providers who act on our behalf, and from our sponsoring and funding organizations described in the Covered Entity statement above.
3. How We Use Information
We use Personal Information and Usage Data for the following purposes:
● To provide, operate, secure, and improve the Site and Services.
● To send you information, advocacy alerts, and updates about issues affecting charter public schools.
● To send you transactional communications, such as notices about your account or subscription preferences.
● To send you text messages, if and only if you have opted in (see Section 4).
● To personalize content and improve search results within the Site and Services.
● To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, security incidents, and illegal activity.
● To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.
4. Text Messaging (SMS/MMS) Program
4.1 Consent and Enrollment
If you opt in, we may contact you by SMS or MMS text message, including by means of an automatic telephone dialing system or with prerecorded or artificial voice messages, at the mobile number you provide. You opt in by [submitting a sign-up form on the Site, texting a keyword to our number, checking a consent box, or providing written or verbal consent]. We obtain your consent before sending you any text message.
Consent is not a condition of anything. You are not required to agree to receive text messages in order to use the Site or receive any Services from us.
4.2 Program Description and Message Frequency
Our text messaging program sends advocacy alerts, legislative and policy updates, and event information relating to charter public schools. Message frequency varies.
4.3 Cost
Message and data rates may apply. Your mobile carrier's standard messaging and data charges will apply to each message sent or received. Contact your wireless provider for details about your plan.
4.4 Opting Out and Help
You may opt out of receiving text messages at any time by replying STOP to any message you receive from us. After you send STOP, we will send one confirmation message and you will receive no further text messages from us unless you opt in again. For help, reply HELP or contact us at FTU@ccsaadvocates.org.
4.5 Delivery
Message delivery is subject to the transmission limitations of your mobile carrier. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
4.6 Mobile Information Is Not Shared
Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. All of the information-sharing categories described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties. We will disclose mobile information only to service providers who deliver messages on our behalf and who are contractually prohibited from using it for any other purpose, or where we are required to do so by law.
4.7 Eligibility
Our text messaging program is intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly enroll individuals under 18 in the text messaging program.
5. When We Disclose Information
We disclose Personal Information only as described in this Section.
5.1 Service Providers and Contractors
We engage vendors to perform services on our behalf, such as website hosting and maintenance, data storage and management, email and text message delivery, and analytics (“Service Providers”). We provide Service Providers only the information necessary to perform those services. Each Service Provider is contractually required to use reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information, and is prohibited from retaining, using, or disclosing Personal Information for any purpose other than performing the services we specify.
5.2 Sponsoring and Funding Organizations
We may share Personal Information with California Charter Schools Association Advocates, our sponsoring organization, and with other organizations under common control or affiliation, specifically CCSA and CCSA Families, for purposes consistent with this Policy. We may also share your name and contact information, including your email address and mobile telephone number, with any political action committee, independent expenditure committee, issues committee, or other campaign committee that CCSA or CCSA Advocates operates, sponsors, or is affiliated with (each, an “Affiliated Committee”), including Charter Public Schools PAC, for the purpose of coordinated advocacy and political communications. For information about how these organizations use information, please consult their privacy policies. Mobile phone numbers and text messaging opt-in data shared with an Affiliated Committee for this purpose remain subject to the restrictions in Section 4.6 and may not be used by any Affiliated Committee for marketing or promotional purposes unrelated to this shared advocacy program.
5.3 Legal Process and Safety
We may disclose Personal Information and other information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary or appropriate to respond to legal process (including subpoenas and court orders), to protect the safety, property, or rights of FTU or any third party, to prevent or stop illegal or legally actionable activity, or to comply with applicable law.
5.4 What We Do Not Do
We do not sell your Personal Information, and we do not share your Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act. We do not disclose Personal Information to unaffiliated third parties for those parties' own direct marketing purposes.
6. Online Tracking and Opt-Out Preference Signals
We do not sell or share Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To the extent any activity on the Site is treated as “sharing” under California law, we honor opt-out preference signals.
Global Privacy Control. Our Site recognizes and honors the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal and other opt-out preference signals transmitted by your browser or device as a valid request to opt out of the sale or sharing of Personal Information. When we receive and process such a signal, we will display a confirmation that your opt-out request has been honored.
You may also opt out of interest-based advertising more generally at www.networkadvertising.org or www.aboutads.info/choices/, and you may manage your communication preferences with us as described in Section 10.
7. Data Retention
We retain each category of Personal Information for no longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, applying the following criteria:
● Contact information used for communications: retained while you remain subscribed and for a reasonable period afterward for suppression and recordkeeping purposes.
● Text messaging opt-in and consent records: retained for the period necessary to demonstrate consent under applicable telecommunications law, and after opt-out, only as necessary to honor your opt-out.
● Usage Data and analytics: retained on a rolling basis consistent with our analytics configuration.
● Records retained to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce agreements: retained for the applicable limitations period.
8. Your California Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident, you have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information:
● Right to know. You may request the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclose it. You may request information covering the period beginning January 1, 2022.
● Right to delete. You may request that we delete Personal Information we have collected from you.
● Right to correct. You may request that we correct inaccurate Personal Information we maintain about you.
● Right to opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell or share Personal Information. You may nonetheless submit a request, and you may transmit an opt-out preference signal as described in Section 7.
● Right to non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
8.1 How to Submit a Request
You may submit a request by emailing privacy@familiesandteachersunited.org or by writing to the address in Section 14. We will acknowledge your request within 10 business days and respond within 45 calendar days, which may be extended by an additional 45 days where reasonably necessary, in which case we will notify you.
We must verify your identity before fulfilling a request to know, delete, or correct. Verification may require you to provide information matching what we already maintain. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with written permission signed by you; we may require you to verify your own identity directly with us.
8.2 Shine the Light
California residents may request once per year information regarding our disclosure, if any, of Personal Information to third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes during the prior calendar year. As stated in Section 5.4, we do not make such disclosures. To make a request, contact us at privacy@familiesandteachersunited.org or at the address in Section 14.
9. Security
We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality and security of information transmitted to us. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect information transmitted on or through the Site or Services, we cannot guarantee its security, and you transmit information at your own risk.
10. Managing Your Information Preferences
You may review, correct, update, or change your Personal Information, or opt out of certain communications, by emailing privacy@familiesandteachersunited.org. You may opt out of marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of any marketing email. You may opt out of text messages by replying STOP.
11. Children's Privacy
The Site and Services are intended for users 13 years of age or older, and our text messaging program is intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected Personal Information from a child under 13, we will delete it from our records.
California users under 18 may request removal of content or information they have publicly posted on the Site or Services by emailing privacy@familiesandteachersunited.org. Please note that content may be stored or controlled by third-party providers, and complete removal may not be possible.
12. Third-Party Websites
The Site may contain links to third-party websites. A link does not mean we endorse or are affiliated with the third party, and we do not control third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party before providing information to it.
13. Other Transfers and Processing Location
If FTU's operations are reorganized or transferred in whole or in part, we may disclose or transfer Personal Information and Usage Data in connection with that transaction. Where such a transfer would result in handling of your Personal Information that differs materially from this Privacy Policy, we will provide notice and an opportunity to opt out. Text messaging opt-in data will not be transferred for marketing purposes without your consent.
We process and store information in the United States. If you are located outside the United States, your information may be transferred to and maintained on servers located in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
14. Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, contact us at:
Families and Teachers United
Attn: Privacy
1017 L Street, #141
Sacramento, CA 95814
FTU@ccsaadvocates.org
15. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site and update the “Revised” date above. Where changes are material, we will provide additional notice as required by law. Your continued use of the Site or Services after the revised Policy takes effect constitutes acknowledgment of the changes.