Privacy Notice

Friends of Israel Scouts, Inc. (DBA Tzofim North America)

Last updated: July 1, 2026

Friends of Israel Scouts, Inc., doing business as Tzofim North America (“Tzofim,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), is a US based 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth movement serving youth in grades 3-12 through chapter activities and immersive programs in North America and Israel. This Privacy Notice explains what personal information we collect, how we use and share it, and the choices and rights available to parents and guardians. It applies to our website israelscouts.org and our online registration platform CiviCRM.

Because our programs serve children, we are committed to being transparent about the information families provide to us and how we use it, and to giving parents and guardians meaningful control over that information. If you are a Washington or Nevada resident, additional information about how we handle health-related data is provided in our separate Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (Washington & Nevada residents), available [link].

We collect information from parents and guardians, not from children

Tzofim does not collect personal information directly from children. All information about a child is provided by the child’s parent or legal guardian.
We do not operate a child-facing website, app, or portal that collects information from children, and children do not have their own logins, profiles, or accounts.
Communications about a child are sent to the parent or guardian.
A parent or guardian provides the child’s information voluntarily when they register the child; we do not require a separate consent to collect it.

Information we collect

We collect the following categories of personal information. Except for website and device data, which is collected automatically when you visit our website, all of this information is provided by the parent or guardian:

Identifiers about the child - name, date of birth, age/grade, address, and photograph. If the participant is a teen (ages 13+ up to 18) we may also collect a phone number and email address
Identifiers about the parent/guardian - name, address, phone, email, relationship to the child, and signature. Parents/guardians volunteering in any of our programs or activities may also have their picture taken as part of the event vibe documentation.
Government-issued identifiers - passport information for participants in out of state activities / camps or Israel-based programs (and, where applicable, a driver’s license for adults driving on programs). Collected only for travel purposes when required.
Education information - school name and grade level.
Demographic information - religion and citizenship as stated on a passport, limited to travel purposes when a passport is required.
Health and medical information - allergies, medications, medical conditions, dietary restrictions, and insurance information, for camp and travel programs, as well as for weekly activities.
Emergency contact information - names, relationships, and phone numbers.
Payment-related information - payer name, the last four digits of a card, transaction amount, and date. Payments, including credit card information, are processed by a third-party payment provider; Tzofim does not collect or store full card or bank account numbers.
Content of communications - emails, messages, and customer-service interactions with the parent/guardian, alumni, or participants.
Online identifiers and device data - IP address, essential cookies, and device/browser information collected when you visit israelscouts.org or related properties.
Photographs and video of program participants - still photos and video taken at chapter events, camps, and programs.

Financial aid application data is handled separately - see “Financial aid” below.

How we use information

To register and enroll participants and operate our programs (e.g., Tzofim Tzabar chapters, Gap Year, Summer Programs, Summer Delegation, and Friendship Caravan).
To protect health and safety of all participants during programs, including medical, dietary, and emergency response.
To coordinate travel for out of state or Israel-based programs, including passports, flights, and lodging.
To communicate with parents and guardians about program updates, schedules, billing, and emergency notifications.
To maintain alumni relations - for example, to invite alumni to events, share job and volunteer opportunities within Tzofim, and invite alumni to support Tzofim through donations.
To enable trusted partner organizations to invite parents to register for their youth programs, and for related PR activities aimed at encouraging families to join our community and register their children to our programs, encouraging donations, and funder-reporting purposes (see “How we share information”).
To take and use photographs and video for program documentation and for promoting our programs (see “Photographs and video”).
To operate and improve our website and understand how it is used.
To comply with legal obligations and respond to legal process.
To maintain the security and integrity of our programs and systems and to prevent abuse.

We do not use personal information for purposes materially different from those described at the time of collection.

How we share information

We share personal information only as described below. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it in exchange for money, services, advertising, or any other thing of value.

Service providers and program partners

We share information with vendors and partners who perform services on our behalf and are contractually limited to using it only for those services:

Technology providers such as Wix (website hosting) and DonorPerfect (donor management), and email/SMS vendors.
Our payment processors Stripe, PayPal, Authorize, and Safe Save (which may change over time by the Tzofim), that processes program fees and donations. Tzofim does not store full credit card numbers.
Tzofim Olami in Israel, for coordinating Israel-based programs.
Travel vendors - airlines, lodging providers, medical providers, ground transportation, travel agents, and travel insurers - for Israel-based program logistics.

Sharing with Tzofim Olami and travel vendors involves transferring information internationally for participants in Israel-based programs.

Aligned community organizations

We share only your email address and your child’s age range, without any additional information, with aligned community organizations, so they can tell you about programs suitable for your child’s age. You can unsubscribe from any such organization’s emails at any time, using the unsubscribe link in their messages.

Health information for Washington and Nevada residents

Where a participant or parent is a Washington or Nevada resident, sharing of health-related information - for example, with camp medical staff who are not Tzofim employees or a treating healthcare provider - is governed by our separate Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (Washington & Nevada residents). [Link]

Legal and safety

We may disclose information when required by law, to respond to legal process, or to protect the safety of participants.

Photographs and video

We photograph and record participants, staff and volunteers at chapter events, camps, and programs and may use these images for program documentation, marketing (promoting programs), recruitment, and fundraising on Tzofim’s website and social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn) and in printed materials.

General (group) photography. By taking part in Tzofim activities, you acknowledge that your child (and you, if you are a staff member or volunteer) may appear in photographs and video taken to document our programs. We may use these group and activity images across Tzofim’s channels and materials - including our website, social media, presentations, recruitment, and donation appeals that show an overview of our programs - and no separate consent is required for this use. If you would like a photo of your child removed, you can ask us at any time (see “Removing a photo” below).
Featured use of an individual child. In the rare case that we want to feature an identifiable child as the subject of a specific item - for example, a close-up portrait, a named profile, or a child spotlighted as the face of a recruitment or donation campaign - we will ask the parent for separate written consent for that specific use at that time. We do not ask for photo consent at registration; this is different from the group and overview photography described above.
Removing a photo. At a parent's request, we will make reasonable efforts to remove a child's photo from Tzofim's own publications and channels. Once an image has been posted publicly on social media, however, third parties may copy or repost it, and we cannot guarantee removal of those copies.
We do not use facial recognition or other biometric processing on photographs.
You may request that we remove an image from Tzofim-controlled channels at any time (see “Your choices and rights”).

Children’s privacy

All of a child’s information is provided voluntarily by the parent or guardian at registration; it is not collected directly from the child and is not gathered passively. We do not require a separate consent to collect this general information - the parent provides it in order to register the child. Health information is the exception: where the law requires it, we obtain the parent’s consent, as described in our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy. A child’s participation in a program requires the parent to provide the information reasonably necessary for that program. If we make a material change to what we collect or how we use a child’s information, we will notify parents and, where required by law, obtain consent.

Your choices and rights

As a parent or guardian, you may:

Review the personal information we have collected about your child.
Ask us to delete your child’s contact details (email address and phone number) - for example, at the end of a program year (a former member may also request this directly). We keep a member’s other information for the reasons explained in “How long we keep information,” so we do not delete the full record.
Refuse to allow further collection or use of your child’s information (understanding that this may mean we can no longer provide certain programs).
Withdraw a consent you previously gave - for example, health-data consent, or consent to feature your child in a specific item.
Unsubscribe from any aligned organization’s emails directly, using the unsubscribe link in their messages.
Request takedown of a photograph or video from Tzofim-controlled channels.

To make a request, contact us using the details in “Contact us.” To protect your child’s information, we will verify your identity as the parent or guardian before acting on a request, and we will respond within a reasonable time and no more than 30 days.

Cookies and online tracking

israelscouts.org uses cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to operate (including Wix default cookies). Our site also includes embedded social media features (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn) and a donor platform integration (DonorPerfect). These third-party features may collect certain information from your device subject to their independent privacy policy.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information about members for as long as we need it for program operations, to meet our legal, medical, and insurance obligations, and to maintain alumni relations. In practice this means we retain a member’s core information on an ongoing basis, including after a member becomes an alumnus, so that we can stay in touch - for example, to invite alumni to events, share job and volunteer opportunities, and invite donations. On request, we will delete a member’s contact details (email address and phone number). Donor and payment records are kept as required by tax and accounting rules (generally seven years), and medical, emergency, and travel-program records are kept for the duration of the program and for a further period for liability and audit purposes. If your child is a Washington or Nevada resident, health information is also subject to the deletion right described in our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy (Washington & Nevada residents) [Link].

How we protect information

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.

Financial aid

If you apply for financial aid, separate information about how we handle your application is provided with the financial aid form. Financial aid information is not collected through this website and is not covered by this Notice.

Changes to this Notice

We may update this Notice from time to time. If we make a material change to how we collect or use children’s information, we will notify parents and guardians and, where required by law, obtain renewed consent before the change takes effect.

Contact us

Attn: Ayelet Avrahami-Sembira

Friends of Israel Scouts, Inc. (DBA Tzofim North America)

575 8th Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018

Email: fois@israelscouts.org

Phone: 212-390-8130 ext. 302

Tzofim is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 13-3843506), incorporated in New York.