Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Effective Date:  October 28, 2024 

The PushBlack program includes the following services (the “Services”):

Free Text messages sent 3-5 times per week with information about news, media, campaigns, and other content we believe to be relevant to the black experience now and in the future. Access to any PushBlack website.  Receipt of PushBlack emails.

Text STOP to unsubscribe from PushBlack’s Services.

In exchange for the provision of the Services provided by PushBlack, which you and PushBlack agree constitutes good and valuable consideration,  and by indicating your consent on the website, you are agreeing  to these Terms and Conditions (“Terms”). .  You should review these Terms carefully, as your acceptance of these Terms  creates a binding legal agreement between you and us.

PushBlack is a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation exempt from tax as a charitable and educational organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. .  In these Terms, PushBlack will also be referred to as “we”, “us”, or “our”.  The terms “you”, “your”, “user”, or “subscriber” will refer to you.

If you do not agree to these terms, you should not subscribe to or make any use of PushBlack’s services and you should not use or visit PushBlack’s website.

PushBlack is available only to individuals who are at least thirteen (13) years old. By using PushBlack you represent that you are at least 13 years of age and otherwise able to enter into a valid and binding legal agreement and acknowledge that the Terms constitute a valid, binding agreement between you and us.

IMPORTANT: These Terms contain limitations on our liability to you and an agreement that all disputes be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis only.  See below for more details on these provisions.

Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time.  If we do, those revised Terms will supersede prior versions.  Unless we say otherwise, revisions will be effective upon the effective date indicated at the top of these Terms.  .  We encourage you to check the effective date of these Terms whenever you visit PushBlack’s website. Your continued access or use of our Services after any revision to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of any revisions.  If you don’t agree to the revisions, you should stop using PushBlack’s Services and stop visiting PushBlack’s website, and we are not obligated to provide you with the Services.

Consent to be Contacted

By providing your mobile telephone number  to us, you understand and agree that you are consenting to be contacted via voice and/or text using an autodialer or other means in regard to any content relevant to PushBlack or other similar campaigns we may develop in the future.  If PushBlack is ever sold, assigned, or transferred to a different parent entity, your consent to be contacted will automatically be transferred to such entity so that you may continue to receive the Services provided by PushBlack, unless you have previously revoked the consent granted under this Section.

Ownership of the Services

As between you and PushBlack, we exclusively own and reserve all copyright and other rights,, , title, and interest in and to our Services and to all content in any form, written, graphics, pictorial, audio or audiovisual, through any media or on any platform, sent to you or made available to you by PushBlack, on  PushBlack’s websites, through utilization of the Services or otherwise (“PushBlack Content”) , except to the extent that any content is the property of and/or has  been licensed to PushBlack by a third party, in which case some right, title, and interest in such content is owned by such third party.  By subscribing to PushBlack, you agree not to transfer, resell, lease, license, or otherwise make available our Services or any PushBlack Content  or offer them on a standalone basis, or otherwise use our Services in any manner that violates any applicable law, including law pertaining to copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE

Text messages sent 3-5 times per week with information about news, media, campaigns, and other content we believe to be relevant to the black experience now and in the future.

You can cancel the SMS service at any time. Just text "STOP" to the short code. After you send the SMS message "STOP" to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time, and we will start sending SMS messages to you again.

If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly info@pushblack.org.

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

As always, message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. Message frequency varies. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider.

If you have any questions regarding privacy, please read our privacy policy: https://www.pushblack.us/privacy-policy

Warranties and Disclaimers

Without limiting PushBlack’s express warranties and obligations under these terms, we hereby disclaim any and all other warranties, express or implied,  with respect to the Services or any content sent or made available to you by PushBlack through any media, on any platform or through any means, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, title, non-infringement, and fitness for a particular PushBlack’s Services and content are provided “as is” to the fullest extent permitted by law.  To the extent this disclaimer conflicts with applicable law, the scope and duration of any applicable warranty will be the minimum permitted under that law.

Except as expressly provided in these Terms, under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort, contract, or otherwise, will PushBlack be liable to you for any  loss or damage arising from your use of the Services or any indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages of any character, including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, lost profits, lost sales or business, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, lost data, or for any and all other damages or losses, even if we had been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages. Except as described in this section, under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort, contract, or otherwise, will PushBlack be liable to you for any direct damages, costs or liabilities in excess of $100.

The provisions of this section allocate the risks under this agreement between the parties, and the parties have relied on the limitations set forth herein in determining whether to enter into this agreement.

Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify and hold PushBlack and its employees, agents, and affiliates harmless against any actual or threatened claim, loss, liability, proceeding, third-party discovery demand, governmental investigation, or enforcement action arising out of or relating to your use of any PushBlack website, the Services or any PushBlack Content,  or your acts or omissions in connection with your use of the Services, including, without limitation, any intellectual property claims (“Claim”).  We and our affiliates will cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any Claim, at your expense.  We reserve the right, at your expense, to retain separate counsel for ourselves in connection with any Claim or, if you have not responded reasonably to the applicable Claim, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any Claim in which you are a named party and that is otherwise subject to indemnification under this Section. You will pay all costs, reasonable attorneys’ fees and any settlement amounts or damages awarded against us in connection with any Claim. You will also be liable to us for any costs and attorneys’ fees we incur to successfully establish or enforce our right to indemnification under this Section.

FORCE MAJEURE

We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform any obligation under the Terms if the delay or failure is due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

*MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE ANY DISPUTES; LAW GOVERNING 

These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of the District of Columbia, notwithstanding the District’s choice of law rules. 

You agree that any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, or to breach of these Terms, or to the use of the Services, use of or interaction with any PushBlack website or use of any PushBlack content,  or arising for or relating to any communication from PushBlack shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Consumer Arbitration Rules. 

A copy of the Consumer Arbitration Rules can be found at https://adr.org/sites/default/files/Consumer%20Rules.pdf

Such arbitration shall be subject to the Federal Arbitration Act.  Any  judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Disputes that you agree to arbitrate, and thereby agree to waive any right to a trial by jury, include, but are not limited to, any statutory claims under state or federal law, including claims arising under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). 

However, if you have a claim that can be heard by a small claims court in your state, you can pursue that claim in small claims court instead of proceeding with the arbitration. 

If you cannot or do not proceed in small claims court, then any dispute described above will not be heard by a court, but by an arbitrator appointed in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules

One arbitrator will be appointed.  The place of arbitration will be Washington, D.C. However, if you do not want to travel to Washington, D.C. for an arbitration, PushBlack will agree to conduct the arbitration hearing by video platform (such as Zoom) so that no travel will be necessary. 

All disputes subject to this agreement must be arbitrated as individual claims.  Specifically, you agree that you may bring claims against PushBlack only in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or member in any purported class, representative, or collective proceeding.  Similarly, you understand that we may only pursue claims against you in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or member in any purported class, representative, or collective proceeding.  You waive any right you may otherwise have to pursue, file, participate in, or be represented in actions brought in any court as a class, representative, or collective actions.  This waiver applies to any claims covered by this agreement to the fullest extent that such a waiver is permitted by law.

You agree that prior to filing a Demand for Arbitration, the complaining party must first notify the other party, by certified mail and email, of its intent to arbitrate. You acknowledge and agree that the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules have been made available to you at the link in these Terms and that you have had the opportunity to review the AAA Rules to the extent that you believe is necessary to knowingly and willfully enter into this agreement.  You agree that the arbitrator shall have the power to decide any motions brought by the parties to the arbitration, including motions to dismiss, prior to any arbitration hearing.  You also agree that the arbitrator shall have the power to award any remedies available under applicable law.

If you cannot afford or otherwise do not want to pay the Administrator’s or arbitrator’s filing, administrative, hearing and/or other fees and cannot obtain a waiver of fees from the Administrator, we will consider in good faith any request by you for us to bear the cost of those fees.  We will pay any administration fee, arbitration fees, and fees and charges of attorneys, experts and witnesses if and to the extent we are required to pay such fees and charges by law or AAA Rules or in order to make this Section enforceable.

You agree that the arbitrator has no jurisdiction to certify any group as a class, representative, or collective action.  You agree that the decision of the arbitrator shall be in writing and shall reveal the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.

Except as provided by this agreement or mandated by applicable law, arbitration shall be the exclusive and final forum for the resolution of any dispute between you and PushBlack.

You understand and acknowledge that both you and PushBlack desire to agree to arbitrate any and all claims that can be arbitrated under applicable law.  To that end, you expressly intend and agree that the provisions of this agreement are severable.  If any provision of this agreement, including, but not limited to the mutual class, representative, and collective action waiver, is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, you agree that such provision shall be severed and that the remainder of the agreement shall be enforced.

You acknowledge and agree that you are executing this agreement voluntarily. You further acknowledge and agree that you have carefully read this agreement and that you have asked any questions necessary to understand the terms, consequences, and binding effect of this agreement, including that you are waiving your right to a jury trial.  Finally, you agree that you have been provided an opportunity to seek the advice of an attorney of your choice before entering into this agreement.

The arbitration agreement contained in this Section is made pursuant to a transaction involving interstate commerce and shall be governed by the FAA, and not by any state law concerning arbitration.  This Arbitration Provision shall survive the termination of your use of the Services, the Terms themselves, and the fulfillment of all our and your obligations under the Terms.

PushBlack Privacy Policy

PushBlack (“PushBlack” “we” or “us”) is the provider of the Services. PushBlack respects your privacy, and we created this privacy policy (the “Policy”) to explain how we collect, use, and disclose your information when you use the Services or visit or interact with any PushBlack website, PushBlack social media account or PushBlack email. . The Policy is only applicable to our Services and any PushBlack website and not to any other website, service, or online platform. Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Policy have the meaning given them in our Terms and Conditions. BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS, YOU AGREE  THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS POLICY.

Types Of Information Collected

PERSONAL INFORMATION

PushBlack may ask you for some or all of the following types of information which may be identifiable to you when you register for our Services, access various content or features, complete email, SMS, telephone, online, or in-person surveys, or directly contact us: (i) contact information for you and your family and friends, such as names, email addresses, and telephone numbers (ii) demographic information, such as your age, gender identity, race/ethnicity, education level, zip code, household structure, household income, number of children, ages of children, children’s birthdays, and names of children’s schools; and (iii) information for the purpose of authenticating yourself or your account if we have reason to believe, in our sole discretion, that you may be violating Service policies or for any other reason we deem necessary (collectively “Personal Information”). You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all Personal Information you submit to PushBlack.

We also collect and store the Personal Information you voluntarily submit to us through registering with us or uploading or posting User Content through our Services. If you are signed into your Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook account and you “like” or “comment” on PushBlack Content or other User Content, your Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook username will be displayed and so available to the public. You agree that your username, likes, feedback, and any associated comments may become public information; we therefore urge you to exercise caution when deciding to disclose any Personal Information through the Services.

In addition, if you choose to purchase or subscribe to a Service of PushBlack that requires a Fee or to make a donation to PushBlack, you will be required to provide us with your billing information, including, without limitation, bank account numbers, credit card or debit card numbers, account details, ACH information, and similar data (collectively, “Billing Information”).

PushBlack does not collect or maintain the names of, or any information about any individual who is not a resident of the United States.  If you are not currently a resident of the United States, present in the United States, please do not provide your name or any identifying information through the Site. 

NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION

Information Collected Automatically

We automatically receive and collect information such as your IP address, the URLs of websites you arrive at PushBlack sites from or leave PushBlack sites to go to, your type of browser and language, access times, the content of any undeleted cookies that your browser previously accepted from us, your operating system, your mobile provider, your mobile device, and your internet service provider (“Automatically Collected Information”). 

We may use such  Automatically Collected Information to better understand how PushBlack visitors use our Services, to analyze trends, administer the website, prevent fraud, and gather broad demographic information.

In addition, we may at any time make Automatically  Collected Information available to the companies operating platforms through which the Services are provided (for example, to Meta, which operates Facebook Messenger) through a cookie, pixel, or similar technologies (see below). 

Cookies and Other Technologies

We may utilize cookies and other technologies, such as, web beacons (also known as “clear gifs” and “pixel tags”) to recognize you, customize your experience, and serve advertisements. Cookies are very small files placed on your computer, and they allow us to count the number of visitors to PushBlack sites and distinguish repeat visitors from new visitors. They also allow us to save User preferences and track User trends. We may also use a cookie, pixel or similar technology that allows the operator of a platform through which the Services are provided (for example, Facebook) to intercept, store and analyze your Automatically Collected Information, for purposes of enabling targeted advertising to you by advertisers on that platform and for related purposes. 

Such cookie, pixel or similar technology may also be used to enable advertisers and ad servers to promote third party products and/or services by serving advertisements through PushBlack Services. These advertisers and ad servers may use cookies and/or web beacons to monitor information related to served advertisements. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This Policy covers the use of cookies by PushBlack and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers. If you do not want us to deploy cookies in your browser, you can opt out by setting your browser to reject cookies or to notify you when a website tries to put a cookie in your browser software. If you choose to disable cookies in your browser, you can still use our Services, although your ability to use some of the features may be affected.

PushBlack does not monitor, recognize, or honor any opt-out or do not track mechanisms, including general web browser “Do Not Track” settings and/or signals.

Our Use Of Your Personal Information

Our primary purpose in collecting  Personal Information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. You agree that we may use your information to: provide the Services and customer support you request; troubleshoot problems and prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities; customize, measure and improve our Services, content, and advertising; 

Our Disclosure Of Your Information

PushBlack is committed to maintaining your trust and we want you to understand when and with whom we may share information collected about you. We may disclose Personal Information and Automatically Collected Information to respond to legal requirements, enforce our policies, respond to claims that content violates the rights of others, or protect anyone’s rights, property, or safety. Such information will be disclosed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

We may also use and/or share your Personal Information and Automatically Collected l Information with, and you authorize us to use and/or share this information with:

• Service providers under contract who help with our business operations. We employ these companies and people to perform tasks on our behalf and need to share your information with them to provide products and services to you. These companies will never be authorized to contact you directly. 
• Certain of PushBlack’s program participants under confidentiality agreement, as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity.
• Other nonprofit organizations which, in PushBlack’s judgment, share the values, goals and objectives of PushBlack, for purposes of promoting their programs and activities to you, for fundraising and for other purposes. 

We may combine your information with information we collect from other companies and use it to improve and personalize our Services, content, and advertising.

Except as expressly set forth in this Privacy Policy, we will not sell or rent your information to third parties without your explicit consent.

In an ongoing effort to better understand our Users, we may analyze certain Personal Information in order to operate, maintain, manage, and improve the Services and/or potential products and services we may offer in the future. This aggregate information does not identify you personally. We may share and/or license this aggregate data to our affiliates, agents, business and promotional partners, and other third parties. We may also disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe the Services and these products and services to current and prospective funders and business partners and to other third parties for other lawful purposes.

If you do not wish to receive marketing communications from us or participate in our ad-customization programs, simply indicate your preference by following the directions provided with the communication or advertisement.

Use and Maintenance of Billing Information

When you make a donation or pay a fee directly to PushBlack through this Site, we will collect credit card information from you.  That information is used solely for processing your contribution; is not maintained by PushBlack; and is never disclosed to anyone, for any other purpose other than for processing your contribution, under any circumstances.

PushBlack uses industry standard security measures to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of all of the personally identifiable information that you provide to us.  Our server is located in a locked, secure environment.  All supplied credit card information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our payment processing provider’s database.

No Spam Or Spyware

We do not tolerate spam. If you would like to report an incident of spamming or other unauthorized communications from other Users, please contact us at info@pushblack.org. We maintain the right to investigate such incidents and take suitable action.

Account Protection

We take commercially reasonable steps to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Nevertheless, no transmission over the Internet and no data storage method can be guaranteed to be safe 100% of the time. PushBlack cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to PushBlack or guarantee that your end user data stored through the Services may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of our safeguards. In particular, email or SMS messages sent to us may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email or SMS.  Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, you agree to release PushBlack from any claim or liability for loss or disclosure of your Personal Information

Information associated with our Services is hosted on servers in the United States. Accordingly, if you are located outside of the United States, any information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States. By providing us with any information, you consent to its transfer and storage in the United States.

Email And SMS Communications

We may use your email and/or telephone number to deliver PushBlack’s Services. We may use your email for other promotional purposes  (e.g., new product offerings, special offers by us)  Email and SMS messages we send you may contain features that enable our databases to track your usage of the messages we send you, such usage includes whether the message was opened and what links (if any) were clicked. If you send a message to us, or fill out forms as a part of our Services, we will collect your contact information and the full content of your message including attached files, and other information you provide. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages

You may indicate your preference to opt out of receiving promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the promotional message you receive or by contacting us directly at info@pushblack.org. If you want your data completely erased, please indicate so by emailing info@pushblack.org.

Third Parties

Except as otherwise expressly included in this Policy, this document addresses only the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. If you disclose your information to other Users through our Services or on other sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. We do not control the privacy policies of third parties, and you are subject to the privacy policies of those third parties where applicable. We are not responsible for any information we do not collect. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your Personal Information to others.

Children

PushBlack does not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not give us any Personal Information. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through our Services without their permission.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

PushBlack complies with the California Online Privacy Protection Act.  As part of that Act, all registered users of our Site may make any changes to their information at any time by logging into their Control Panel and going to the “Edit Profile” page.  Changes to billing and/or credit card information must be made through PushBlack staff and may be initiated by contacting info@pushblack.org

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact PushBlack via email at info@pushblack.org with “Privacy Policy” in the subject line.