Privacy policy
How our website collects, uses and protects the information you share with us.
- Last updated November 2026
- We never sell your information
What this policy covers
The website of TradeWinds Services, Inc. in Merrillville, Indiana.
This policy covers www.tradewindsnwi.org. It explains what information our website collects, how we use it and who we share it with.
Health information about the people we serve is not part of this policy. Our separate Notice of Privacy Practices protects it. Ask our team for a copy at any time.
Information we collect
What you type into our forms, plus a few details your browser shares on every visit.
What you give us
- Contact form: your name, email address, subject and message.
- Volunteer application: your name, address, phone numbers, email, work history, references and the hours you can help.
- Donations: the amount, the program you pick and, if you give on behalf of someone, their name. You then pay on PayPal's secure page. Your card or bank details go to PayPal and never pass through our website.
- Job applications: we take applications through Paycom, the system we use for hiring. What you enter there is covered by Paycom's own privacy policy.
- Employee portal: our staff sign in with a username and password.
What your browser shares
- Google Analytics shows us which pages people visit and how long they spend on each. It also shows the device, the browser, the general area (city level) and how people found us. It does not give us your name or email address.
- Our web host logs basic technical details, such as your IP address, browser type and the time of your visit. These logs help us protect the site and fix problems.
Cookies
Cookies are small files your browser saves when you visit a website.
Our website uses cookies for three things:
- Analytics: Google Analytics cookies count visits and show us which pages help people most.
- Signing in: when a staff member signs in to the employee portal, a cookie remembers them until they sign out.
- Videos: some pages show YouTube videos in privacy-enhanced mode. YouTube sets its cookies only after you press play.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and the website works without analytics cookies. To turn off Google Analytics on every website you visit, install Google's free opt‑out add‑on for your browser at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
How we use it and who sees it
We do not sell or rent your personal information to anyone.
How we use it
- To answer your questions and messages.
- To process your donation and thank you for it.
- To review volunteer and job applications.
- To learn which pages help visitors and to improve the website.
- To tell you about TradeWinds programs and events. You can ask us to stop at any time.
Who we share it with
Only the companies that help us with our website and these services:
- PayPal, for online donations.
- Paycom, for job applications.
- Google, for website analytics and the fonts on our pages.
- YouTube, for the videos on some pages.
- Our web host, which stores the website and the forms you send us.
Each of these companies has its own privacy policy. We may also share information when the law requires it.
Your choices and our care
You can ask what we have about you, and ask us to fix or delete it.
How we protect your information
We use physical, electronic and managerial safeguards to protect the information we collect. Every page of our website loads over a secure (HTTPS) connection.
Please do not send health or financial details through the contact form. Call us for those instead.
Your choices
Contact us to see the information we have about you, to correct a mistake or to have it deleted. We will confirm who you are before we share or change anything.
Children's privacy
Our website is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them online. If you think a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Links to other websites
Our pages link to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, PayPal, Paycom and other websites. Their own privacy policies apply once you leave our website.
Questions about your privacy
Our team in Merrillville is happy to help.
Call (219) 945-0100, email info@tradewindsnwi.org or write to TradeWinds Services, Inc., 3198 East 83rd Place, Merrillville, IN 46410.
We may update this policy when our website changes. The date at the top of this page shows when we last updated it.