Effective Date: July 29, 2026
Table of Contents
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America ("Orthodox Union", "OU", "we", "us" or "our") recognizes the importance of protecting your privacy. The following privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) is the way we handle information learned about you from your interactions with us, including but not limited to visits to our websites available at ou.org, oukosher.org, oucommunity.org, communities.ou.org, tachlismedia.com, ouwomen.org, jewishaction.com, oupress.org, israelfreespirit.com, teachcoalition.org, yachad.org, oudirect.org, ncsy.org, alumni.ncsy.org, bike.ncsy.org, tribevibenation.com, staff.ncsy.org, summer.jsu.org, torahyouth.org, teamncsy.com, ecards.ncsy.org, ncsygreatadventure.com, theprenup.org, jufny.org, teamyachad.com, oujlic.org, ouisrael.org, advocacy.ou.org, ouservices.org, torahhigh.org, jsu.org, research.ou.org, alldaf.org, outorah.org, allmishnah.org, allparsha.org, alltorah.org, allsiyum.org, allhalacha.org, careers.ou.org, campdror.com, bmbil.org, torahtidbits.com, accelerator.ou.org, genaleph.org, bgcubed.com, securethejewishfuture.com, shoreshsports.com, collegeinisrael.org, donateyourplot.org, chesed.co, ecp.ou.org, oureliefmissions.org, livingsmarterjewish.org, aveidah.com, ivdu.org, allmishnahjr.org, 18forty.org, projectprotect.info, upreaching.com, ohrbit.ai, keepingitkosher.org, shatnezlist.com, protecteducationfreedom.com, talmuddaily.org, scholarshipsforallny.com and all of their subdomains, and all other websites and mobile applications operated by OU from which you are accessing this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Site”). Please note that this Privacy Policy does not cover the information we collect in an employment context, except for the information we may collect when you apply for a job with the OU through the Site (e.g., through https://careers.ou.org/).
PLEASE REVIEW THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY. When you access or use the Site or submit information to or through the Site, you consent to our collection, use, disclosure and retention of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.
a. Personal Information
OU collects personal information from you, which may include:
This information is collected and stored electronically when you interact with us, such as when you sign up to attend and/or participate in OU services, programs, activities, initiatives and events, make donations to OU, participate in our contests, sweepstakes, and promotions, purchase our products and services, register an account with us, subscribe to our newsletter, apply for a job with us, engage with the Site’s chat functionality or otherwise contact us. We may further collect such information from third parties, such as our service providers, partners, grantees, or co-sponsors of our services, programs, activities, initiatives and events.
Where permitted by applicable law, we may combine your personal information with other information we have collected from you, whether online or offline. We may also combine your personal information with information we receive about you from other sources, such as our service providers. We treat the combined information as personal information.
b. Information Collected Automatically
In addition, information about your computer hardware and software is automatically collected by OU when you access or use the Site. This information may include:
We may also collect information regarding traffic patterns, pages visited on the Site and the time spent on each page, the actions taken on our Site, including the user’s click-stream, and your interaction with our Site and advertisements. This information is used by us for our operational purposes, including for the operation and improvement of the Site, for technical troubleshooting, to maintain quality of the Site and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Site. We may also receive similar data from organizations we work with, including online advertising networks, and from social media platforms, such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube, subject to your registration and privacy settings with such third-party social media platforms and may share such data with such third parties.
c. Cookies and Other Information Collection Tools
Cookies
A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website or use an online service. When you visit the website or use the service again, the cookie allows that website or online service to recognize your browser or device. Cookies may store unique identifiers, user preferences and other information.
We may use “session cookies” or “persistent cookies.” Session cookies are temporary and expire once you close your browser or once your session ends. Persistent cookies remain on your device for much longer or until you or your browser erase them. Persistent cookies have varying durations that are dependent on their expiration date.
The types of cookies OU may use on the Site include:
We may also use third-party cookies, like Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, for example, which sets cookies on the Site to help analyze how visitors use the Site. If you would like to opt-out from the use of your information by Google Analytics, you may use Google Analytics’ opt-out browser add-on designed for this purpose. You can visit https://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html to learn more about Google’s use of cookies. Please note that information collected via cookies may be shared with our website analytics and digital advertising partners.
Cookies help us improve the Site by providing us with information about which parts of the Site are most popular, enabling us to analyze technical and navigational information about the Site, and helping us to detect and prevent fraud. We also use cookies and other data collection tools, such as pixels, to help improve your experience with the Site.
Web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to manage and delete cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Some web browsers provide settings that allow a user to reject cookies or to alert a user when a cookie is placed on the user’s computer, tablet or mobile device. Most mobile devices also offer settings to reject mobile device identifiers. Although users are not required to accept cookies or mobile device identifiers, blocking or rejecting them may prevent access to some features available through the Site. You may manage your cookie preferences on the Site by clicking here.
Web Beacons / Pixels
A pixel/web beacon is an HTML code snippet embedded in a website or email that collects information about user behaviors and interactions with the website or email.
We may utilize pixels/web beacons both on certain aspects of the Site and in HTML-formatted email messages to you. Pixels/web beacons may be used for the purpose of, among other things, measuring the success of our marketing campaigns, compiling statistics about Site usage and tracking the activities of users of the Site and email recipients. For instance, we may use pixels from Meta, TikTok and Google on the Site to enable us to create targeted advertisements and measure the effectiveness of our advertisements. For additional information on interest-based advertising, please see Section 4 (Interest-Based Advertising). You may manage your preferences for the tracking technologies deployed on the Site, including pixels/web beacons, by clicking here. Please note that information collected via pixels/web beacons may be shared with our website analytics and digital advertising partners.
We may use the information we collect as described to you at the point of collection and/or for any of the following purposes:
We may use non-personal information or aggregate information that does not identify an individual without restriction, and we may share such information with third parties.
We may disclose your information as described to you at the point of collection or as follows:
We may collect information about your online activities on our Site to provide you with advertising tailored to your individual interests. We also may obtain information for this purpose from third-party websites on which our advertisements are served.
You may see certain advertisements on other websites because we work with advertising partners (including advertising networks) to engage in remarketing and retargeting activities. Our advertising partners allow us to target our messaging to users through demographic, interest-based and contextual means. These partners track your online activities over time and across websites, including our Site, by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of third-party cookies, web server logs, pixels/web beacons, including the pixels/web beacons that we may utilize on the Site and in our HTML-formatted email messages to you. They use this information to show you advertisements that may be tailored to your individual interests. The information our advertising partners may collect includes data about your visits to websites that participate in the relevant advertising networks, such as the pages or advertisements you view and the actions you take on the websites. This data collection takes place both on our Site and on third-party websites that participate in the ad networks. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. For example, we utilize certain of our advertising partners’ targeted advertising services to show you our advertisements on other websites based on your prior visits to our Site and other online activity.
Provided that a company participates in industry-developed programs designed to provide consumers choices about whether to receive targeted advertising, you may opt out of interest-based advertising generally through the Network Advertising Initiative website or by visiting http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ (web-based advertising) or http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices (for mobile advertising). To learn more, please visit the websites operated by the Network Advertising Initiative and Digital Advertising Alliance at www.networkadvertising.org/choices. You may also opt-out of targeted advertising by turning off the Targeted Advertising cookies and turning on the “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” option in the Site’s cookie management tool here.
Opting-out does not mean that you will stop receiving advertisements from us. It means that you still stop receiving advertisements from us that have been targeted to you based on your visits and browsing activity across websites over time.
Our Site may contain links to third-party websites and online services. Any access to and use of such third-party websites or online services is not governed by this Privacy Policy, but is instead governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites or online services, and we are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites or online services.
Some aspects of the Site may allow you to interface with social media, such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. We will attempt to identify these aspects of the Site to you, for example, by identifying them with the applicable third-party logos or trade names. By using these interfaces, you will allow us to access information about you from those other online services, including information and other content that you submit to those online services. If you interface with the Site through your social media account, we may contact you or enable you to share your experience and content via your social media account, which information may be publicly viewed by other users of those services. For a description on how such social media services and other third-party platforms, plug-ins, integrations, and applications handle your information, please refer to their respective privacy policies and terms of use, which may permit you to modify your privacy settings with that service or platform.
You may decide to subscribe to one of our short code mobile message programs (the “SMS Program”) to receive SMS/text messages from OU. If you choose to opt-in and consent, such as by providing your telephone number to us and clicking submit online, we will collect information about your interactions with the SMS/text messages that we may send to you from time to time as part of the SMS Program(s) in which you are enrolled.
By providing your telephone number and clicking submit online, you agree to this Privacy Policy, and authorize us to make or initiate sales calls, text messages and prerecorded voicemails to that phone number using an automated system. Your agreement is not a condition of purchasing any products, goods or services. Message & data rates may apply, and message frequency may vary. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. You may choose to opt out of the SMS Program at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the text message or by replying STOP. Reply HELP for help.
OU does not sell information that we obtain from you through our SMS Program, and we do not permit our third-party service providers to sell any information obtained in the course of our business relationship related to the SMS Program. We do not share that information with non-affiliated third parties for their marketing or advertising purposes and will not be used or shared with non-affiliated third parties for any purpose except as necessary to document your consent to receive SMS/text messages from OU, to send SMS/text messages to you and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations, including disclosing your mobile information to our service provider that sends SMS/text messages on our behalf.
You may choose to stop receiving our marketing emails and SMS/text messages by following the unsubscribe instructions included in such emails and text messages, updating your communications preferences in your membership account on the Site or contacting us at dataprivacy@ou.org. Additionally, as stated above, you may choose to stop receiving our marketing SMS/text messages at any time by replying STOP.
You may manage the sharing of certain personal information with us when you connect with us through your social media account. If you have linked your OU account to your social media account and decide at any time that you no longer wish to have your social media account (e.g., Apple or Google) linked to your account, then you may de-link the social media account in the “preferences” section in your account settings. You may also manage the sharing of certain personal information with us when you connect with us through your social media account. Please refer to the privacy settings of your social media account to determine how you may adjust our permissions and manage the interactivity between the Site and your social media account.
You may change any of your personal information in your account by editing your profile within your account or by sending an email to us at dataprivacy@ou.org.
As set forth in Sections 1.c (Cookies and Other Information Collection Tools) and 4 (Interest-Based Advertising), you may manage your preferences on the tracking technologies deployed on the Site by clicking here.
If you are a Nevada, California, EU, UK or Switzerland resident, please see Sections 11 (Nevada Residents), 12 (California “Shine the Light” Law) and 13 (, respectively, for how to exercise your rights under applicable laws in such jurisdictions.
OU uses reasonable security measures designed to prevent unauthorized intrusion to the Site and the alteration, acquisition or misuse of personal information. However, please note that no data transmission over the Internet or data storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information.
We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by applicable laws or regulation.
Our Site does not currently take any action when it receives a Do Not Track request. Do Not Track is a privacy preference that you can set in your web browser to indicate that you do not want certain information about your webpage visits collected across websites when you have not interacted with that service on the page. For details, including how to turn on Do Not Track, visit www.donottrack.us.
Under Nevada law, OU does not sell your personal information. However, if you are a Nevada resident, you may submit a request that we not sell any personal information we have collected about you by contacting us as set forth below.
Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents with whom we have an established business relationship are entitled to request and receive, free of charge, once per calendar year, information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses in the previous calendar year. To request a copy, please contact us at dataprivacy@ou.org. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the “Shine the Light” law requirements and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response.
With respect to “personal data” as defined by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”), any national law of an European Union (“EU”) member state adopted pursuant to the GDPR, the United Kingdom (“UK”) Data Protection Act of 2018, and the Switzerland Federal Act on Data Protection (collectively, “European Data Protection Laws”) that we collect as set forth in this Privacy Policy, we serve as the “controller”.
The categories of personal information we process about you are set forth in Section 1 (Information We Collect). The purposes for processing such personal information are set forth in Section 2 (How Information is Used). We disclose the personal information we process about you with the third parties set forth in Section 3 (Disclosure of Information). However, please note that we do not disclose any sensitive personal information with nonprofit organizations, partners, grantees or co-sponsors except where strictly necessary to provide the specific service, program, activity, initiative or event that you request or sign up for.
Our legal bases for processing personal data are:
All personal data we collect may be processed in jurisdictions outside of the EU, UK and Switzerland by us or by a party acting on our behalf. For instance, the Site is currently hosted in the United States. When you provide personal data to us, you consent to the transfer of your data to, and processing of your data in, such foreign jurisdictions. We will transfer your personal data to such foreign jurisdictions through the use of appropriate safeguards as required by European Data Protection Laws.
We will retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by applicable laws or regulation.
Under European Data Protection Laws, you have the following privacy rights, which you may exercise by contacting us at Orthodox Union, 40 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006 or by emailing us at dataprivacy@ou.org.
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Orthodox Union
40 Rector Street
New York, NY 10006
dataprivacy@ou.org
Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be posted to this page so users are always aware of the information we collect and how we use it. Accordingly, please refer back to this Privacy Policy frequently as it may change.