Privacy Policy

General Policy

This privacy statement applies to anyone who uses LawHelpMN.org.

We collect anonymous data about how the website is used. This data does not identify individual users. See the General Usage Statistics section below for information on what data we collect and how we use it.

We only collect personal information like your name, address, or email address, when we ask for it through our Contact Form, Fact Sheet Order Form, Text/Email Results Tool, or LawHelpMN Guide Online Application. See the sections below for details on why we collect this information and how we use it.

Contact Form and Fact Sheet Order Form

If you submit a Contact Form or Fact Sheet Order Form, we collect only the information requested by the form, and only use your personal information to respond to your request. We keep a record of the contact in order to manage the request and improve our services. The records are maintained and deleted in accordance with our retention policies.

Quizzes

LawHelpMN does not collect any personal information when you take quizzes on our site. But, if you have certain cookies enabled in your browser, the site may keep track of your quiz results from different sessions and give you a “lifetime” average of your results. LawHelpMN does collect statistics and data on quiz results to help us learn how to make our website work better. All information is anonymous, and users cannot be identified.

LawHelpMN Guide

The information we collect from the LawHelpMN Guide is used to help determine the best legal resources, information and referrals to help your specific situation. This is based on where you live, your age, your membership in specific groups, your income and eligibility for legal services, and your legal problem. Resources and organizations base eligibility for services on these factors. We collect this information so we can give you the best results to help you. We manage data about how visitors use the LawHelpMN Guide through Google Analytics.

Text/Email Results Tool

If you use the Text/Email Results Tool to text or email LawHelpMN Guide results, we keep a record of your phone number or email addresses, and the content of your message. This information is deleted in accordance with our retention policies. We are not responsible for any information accessed or stored by any third-party service providers, including internet or telephone.

LawHelpMN Guide Online Application

When you use the LawHelpMN Guide to get legal referral information, some organizations in your referral list let you send them an online application.  These applications request certain information from you.

Applications to the MN Unbundled Law Project

If you submit an Online Application for legal help through the LawHelpMN Guide to the MN Unbundled Law Project, we send the following information to the MN Unbundled Law Project:

  1. You first and last name;
  2. Your street address;
  3. Your phone number;
  4. You email address;
  5. The language you speak;
  6. The category of your legal problem; and
  7. A short description of your case, if you provide one.

We keep a record that an application was sent to the MN Unbundled Law Project, but we do not keep the actual information you entered into the application form. We cannot identify individual users from the information we keep. We immediately send the information you enter in the application form to the MN Unbundled Law Project, after which we no longer have access to the information. We are not responsible for the information you provide to any organizations.

Applications to Legal Aid

If you submit an Online Application for legal help through the LawHelpMN Guide to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid or Central Minnesota Legal Services ( “Legal Aid”), we send the following information to Legal Aid:

  1. Your name, and if you provide, other names you have used or like to go by;
  2. The county where you live;
  3. Your date of birth and how old you are;
  4. Whether you have a disability, are a veteran, or live on or near a reservation;
  5. If you want an interpreter, and if so, what language you use;
  6. Your contact information, including:
    1. Your phone number and whether we can call you about your case, leave a voicemail, or text you;
    2. Your email address and whether we can email you about your case;
    3. Your mailing address, if you provide it, and whether we can mail you information about your case;
    4. The best way to reach you;
    5. Whether you need a communications accommodation;
  7. Your income and the value of your assets;
  8. Information about your case, including:
    1. Any other people, companies, or organizations involved in your case;
    2. Whether you got any papers about your case, and if so when you got them and what they were about;
    3. Whether you have a hearing scheduled, and if so, when it is;
    4. Whether you have a file number for your case, and if so, what it is;
    5. Whether you have a deadline for your case, and if so, when it is and what it is about; and
    6. A short description of your case.

We keep a record that an application was sent to Legal Aid, but we do not keep the actual information you entered into the application form. We cannot identify individual users from the information we keep. We are not responsible for the information you provide to any organizations. We immediately send the information you enter in the application form to LegalAid, after which we no longer have access to the information. We are not responsible for the information you provide to any organizations.

General Usage Statistics

We collect statistics and data on how our website and applications are used by visitors and through Google Analytics. All information is anonymous so users cannot be identified.

We use Google Analytics to track visits to our site. Google Analytics uses cookies on your web browser to collect and track this data. Data is collected and presented in a way that keeps your identity hidden. We only see trends and statistics, not information about you as a specific visitor. We use Google Analytics to:

  • Track how much our content is used and visited. This helps us decide what content to update and promote.
  • Report to our funders and potential funders about website usage from year to year.
  • Learn how to design and present our website to make it work better for more users.
  • Identify problems or barriers to access on our website.
     

You can opt-out of letting Google Analytics collect your data by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.  Learn more about Google Analytics Data Collection.

LawHelpMN Guide Online Applications

We may create reports using information about what happens to your LawHelpMN Guide Online Application so that we can improve the user experience of applying for legal services. We cannot identify individual users based on these reports

We share LawHelpMN Guide, Google Analytics, and Online Application statistics with:

  • Our funders and potential funders.
  • Partners in the legal aid and legal aid technology communities – for joint work on website improvement projects or for informational purposes/studies of legal aid website use.
  • Contractors performing development or maintenance work on our website.
     

We do not sell or use data to sell things to you. We may use data to help us learn how to best promote our services or website. 

Our websites do not knowingly or intentionally collect personal information from children

If you are a parent or guardian and you believe our website has collected personal information about your child, please contact us.

Learn more about protecting your child's privacy online.

Links

Our sites contain links to third party sites. If you click on one of those links, you are taken to sites we do not control. This policy does not apply to the information practices of other websites.

Internet Safety

The Internet is not 100% secure. We cannot promise that this website is completely safe. Use caution when using the Internet! If you are using a public or shared computer, the information you enter could be stored on that computer and other people could find it later. Make sure to close out of the browser completely when you are done.

Policy Updates

From time to time we may change our privacy practices or policies. If there are changes, the latest version of our policy will be posted in this section.

Questions about this Policy

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data collection and usage, please contact us.

Updated: 8/24/20