Terms of Service
Welcome to rifpittsburgh.org. The rifpittsburgh.org website (the "Site") is comprised of various web pages operated by Reading Is Fundamental ("RIF"). rifpittsburgh.org is offered to you conditioned on your acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein (the "Terms"). Your use of rifpittsburgh.org constitutes your agreement with RIF to all such Terms. Please read these terms carefully, and keep a copy of them for your reference.
rifpittsburgh.org is a Literacy Site that does the following:
Provide literacy content, services, capacity building, and other downloadable content (collectively, the “Services”).
Accept donations, sponsorships, and revenue from donors, sponsors, and customers.
Privacy
Your use of rifpittsburgh.org is subject to RIF's Privacy Policy. Please review our Privacy Policy, which also governs the Site and informs users of our data collection practices. Our Privacy Policy is located at https://www.rifpittsburgh.org/privacy.
Electronic Communications
Visiting rifpittsburgh.org or sending emails to RIF constitutes electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Site, satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
Your Account
If you use this Site, you are responsible for maintain the confidentiality of your account and any password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password You agree immediately to notify rifpittsburgh.org in writing of any unauthorized use of your password or account or other breach of security. You may not assign or otherwise transfer your account to any other person or entity. You acknowledge that RIF is not responsible for third party access to your account that results from theft or misappropriation of your account. RIF and its associates reserve the right to refuse or cancel service, terminate accounts, or remove or edit content in our sole discretion.
Children Under Thirteen
RIF does not knowingly collect, either online or offline, personal information from persons under the age of thirteen. If you are under 18, you may use rifpittsburgh.org only with permission of a parent or guardian.
Links to Third Party Sites/Third Party Content
rifpittsburgh.org may contain third party content (“Third Party Content”) or links to other websites ("Linked Sites"). The Third Party Content and Linked Sites are not under the control of RIF and RIF is not responsible for the Third Party Content and contents of any Linked Site, including without limitation any errors or omissions in Linked Sites link contained in a Linked Site, any content that may infringe or violate any third party’s rights in a Linked site, or any changes or updates to a Linked Site. RIF is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by RIF of the site or any association with its operators. Any opinions or advice offered by Third Party Content or Linked Sites are solely those of the applicable authors and you acknowledge and agree that you must assess the accuracy and completeness of such content yourself. You hereby release RIF from any liability arising from your use of that Third Party Content or Linked Sites. RIF reserves the right to track your use of all of RIF’s content on the Site.
Certain services made available via rifpittsburgh.org are delivered by third party sites and organizations. By using any product, service or functionality originating from the rifpittsburgh.org domain, you hereby acknowledge and consent that RIF may share such information and data with any third party with whom RIF has a contractual relationship to provide the requested product, service or functionality on behalf of rifpittsburgh.org users and customers.
Conditions of Use/No Unlawful or Prohibited Use
You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use rifpittsburgh.org strictly in accordance with these terms of use. As a condition of your use of the Site, you warrant to RIF that you will not use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. You may not use the Site in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Site. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the Site.
Without limiting the foregoing, you are responsible for all content (“User Content”) including without limitation code, videos, images, data, text, software, music, photographs, graphics, messages and other materials that you upload, post, publish or transmit (including by email) or otherwise display (collectively, “Upload”) to rifpittsburgh.org. You represent and warrant that you own, or otherwise have the right to use and to display on rifpittsburgh.org, all User Content that you upload to the Site. You agree that RIF may require that you edit that User Content for posting on the Site, and that not all submissions will be posted. By posting User Content, you hereby grant to RIF a non-exclusive, global, perpetual, royalty-free right and license to use that content and to sublicense it to others in any form, including without limitation for marketing purposes. You agree that such User Content is not confidential and that RIF may disclose it to any third party at any time. You agree not to Upload any User Content that: (i) infringes or otherwise violates any trademarks, trade names, trade secrets, patents, copyrights or other proprietary rights of any third party; (ii) contains software viruses or other computer code or files or programs that has the potential to interrupt, destroy or restrict the function of computer hardware or software, or otherwise contains scrapers, crawlers, or other malicious material or code; (iii) creates a privacy or security risk to any individual; (iv) constitutes unsolicited advertising, junk mail or spam, sweepstakes, contests or any other types of solicitations; (iv) is harassing, defamatory, obscene, libelous, defamatory, constitutes hate speech, is pornographic, or invades any individual’s privacy; (v) falsely impersonates any individual; (vi) violates any federal, local state, or international law or is otherwise illegal; or (vii) that RIF in its sole discretion otherwise finds objectionable.
Intellectual Property
All content included as part of the Service, such as text, graphics, logos, images, as well as the compilation thereof, and any software used on the Site, is the property of RIF or its suppliers and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws that protect intellectual property and proprietary rights. You agree to observe and abide by all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices, legends or other restrictions contained in any such content and will not make any changes thereto.
You will not copy, modify, publish, transmit, reverse engineer, otherwise attempt to discern any source code, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit any of the content, in whole or in part, found on the Site other than your own User Content. You may not use robots, scraping tools or other data extraction methods to access the Site. RIF content is not for resale. Your use of the Site does not entitle you to make any unauthorized use of any protected content, and in particular you will not delete or alter any proprietary rights or attribution notices in any content. You will use protected content solely for your personal and non-commercial use, and will make no other use of the content without the express written permission of RIF and the copyright owner or owner of any other proprietary rights in that content. You agree that you do not acquire any ownership rights in any protected content. We do not grant you any licenses, express or implied, to the intellectual property of RIF or our licensors except as expressly authorized by these Terms.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
RIF respects the intellectual property rights of third parties and requires others to do so also. If you, as a user or other member of the public, believe that your copyrighted work or other intellectual property right is being used on our Site in a manner that infringes your work, you must notify RIF as set forth below in this section.
RIF will investigate notices of claimed copyright infringement and other intellectual property violations that it receives and take necessary actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) regarding any asserted or actual infringement. To report such a claim, email RIF’s “Designated Copyright Agent” or “DMCA Agent” at info@rifpittsburgh.org with the Subject line “Takedown Request Per DMCA”.
International Users
The Service is controlled, operated and administered by RIF from our offices within the USA. If you access the Service from a location outside the USA, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws. You agree that you will not use the RIF Content accessed through rifpittsburgh.org in any country or in any manner prohibited by any applicable laws, restrictions or regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, The transmission of any data is subject to U.S. export controls. You may not download any software or otherwise export such software in violation of U.S. export laws.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless RIF, its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, vendors, and other third parties, for any losses, damages, costs, liabilities, claims, and expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) relating to or arising out of your use of or inability to use the Site or Services, any user postings of any content made by you, your violation of any terms of this Agreement or your violation of any rights of a third party, or your violation of any applicable laws, rules or regulations. RIF reserves the right, at its own cost, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with RIF in asserting any available defenses. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which provides: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.” If you reside in any other jurisdiction, you waive any similar statute or doctrine that may be applicable.
Arbitration
In the event the parties are not able to resolve any dispute between them arising out of or concerning these Terms and Conditions, or any provisions hereof, whether in contract, tort, or otherwise at law or in equity for damages or any other relief, then such dispute shall be resolved only by final and binding arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, conducted by a single neutral arbitrator and administered by the American Arbitration Association, or a similar arbitration service selected by the parties, in a location mutually agreed upon by the parties. The arbitrator's award shall be final, and judgment may be entered upon it in any court having jurisdiction. In the event that any legal or equitable action, proceeding or arbitration arises out of or concerns these Terms and Conditions, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The parties agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims in regards to these Terms and Conditions or any disputes arising as a result of these Terms and Conditions, whether directly or indirectly, including tort claims that are a result of these Terms and Conditions. The parties agree that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. The entire dispute, including the scope and enforceability of this arbitration provision shall be determined by the Arbitrator. This arbitration provision shall survive the termination of these Terms and Conditions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case that either party seeks preliminary injunctive relief, that party may proceed in court without first resorting to arbitration to avoid immediate irreparable harm.
Class Action Waiver
Any arbitration under these Terms and Conditions will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class/representative/collective actions are not permitted. THE PARTIES AGREE THAT A PARTY MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN EACH'S INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PUTATIVE CLASS, COLLECTIVE AND/ OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, SUCH AS IN THE FORM OF A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION AGAINST THE OTHER. Further, unless both you and RIF agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.
Liability Disclaimer
THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN. READING IS FUNDAMENTAL AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE SITE AT ANY TIME.
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED ON THE SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE OR ABOUT ANY VIRUSES, BUGS OR OTHER ELEMENTS THAT MAY DAMAGE OR INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT UPON USING THE SITE.. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND. READING IS FUNDAMENTAL AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. RIF MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT OUR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; OR THAT OUR SERVICES WILL BE TIMELY, UNINTERRUPTED OR SECURE OR ACCURATE.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL READING IS FUNDAMENTAL AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SITE, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR RELATED SERVICES, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE SITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF READING IS FUNDAMENTAL OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT OR ACCOUNT. BECAUSE SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE SITE, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.
Modification/Termination/Access Restriction
RIF reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify the Site with or without notice. Your continued use of our Site after the date of such changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms. The most current version of the Terms will supersede all previous versions. RIF encourages you to periodically review the Terms to stay informed of our updates. RIF further reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or terminate your access to the Site and the related Services or any portion thereof at any time, without notice, or even to report the offender to law enforcement personnel. To the maximum extent permitted by law, this agreement and all pages to which this Site links are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and you hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in Allegheny County in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of the Site. Use of the Site is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these Terms, including, without limitation, this section.
Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 10, 2025
When you visit our website (https://www.rifpittsburgh.org/) or any mobile applications (collectively, the “Website”) or use our services, you trust us with your data. Reading Is Fundamental Pittsburgh (“RIF Pittsburgh”) values your trust, and protecting your information is a high priority. RIF Pittsburgh is committed to your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information RIF Pittsburgh and its affiliates (collectively, “RIF Pittsburgh” or “We”) collect, how information is collected, how we use that information, what information is shared with whom, and how RIF Pittsburgh protects your information when you use our products and services (“Services”).
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully as it will inform you on what we collect and how we use it.
When This Privacy Policy Applies
Our Privacy Policy applies to all of the Services offered by RIF Pittsburgh, and its affiliates, including Services offered on other sites, but excludes Services that have separate privacy policies that do not incorporate this Privacy Policy, and Services that you may receive as a result of your participation in a program that expressly supersedes this Privacy Policy.
Our Privacy Policy does not apply to Services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites that may be displayed to you in search results, sites that may include Services, or other sites linked from our Services. Our Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices of other companies and organizations who advertise our Services, and who may use cookies, pixel tags and other technologies to serve and offer relevant ads.
Information We Collect
The information RIF Pittsburgh collects varies based on the type of Services you use and the manner in which you access them. We do not collect or sell any identifiable or sensitive information (“Personal Information”) about you at this time. Depending on these factors, RIF Pittsburgh may collect the following information about you:
Personal Information. Including name, email address, phone number, and mailing address.
Device Information and other Unique Identifiers. Including device identifier, internet protocol (IP) address, cookies, beacons, pixel tags, mobile ad identifier, or similar unique identifiers.
How We Collect Information
We collect information in the following ways:
Information You Provide. When you email us, use our Website, or interact with our Services, you will provide us with some of the information referenced above.
Cookies and Anonymous Identifiers. We use various technologies to collect and store information when you visit an RIF Pittsburgh service, and this may include sending one or more cookies or anonymous identifiers to your device, pursuant to our Cookie Policy. We also use cookies and anonymous identifiers when you interact with Services we offer to our partners, such as RIF Pittsburgh features that may appear on other sites.
Tracking Pixels. Our Website may employ software technology called tracking pixels (a/k/a web beacons/web bugs/ clear gifs) that enable us to better manage the content on the Website by informing us what content is effective. Tracking pixels are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of visitors to a website. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, tracking pixels are imbedded invisibly on website pages and are about the size of the period at the end of a sentence. We do not tie the information gathered by tracking pixels to your personally identifiable information.
Text Alerts. By using RIF Pittsburgh’s services, including signing up for text message communications, you expressly consent to collecting, using, and sharing your personal information as outlined in our Privacy Policy. You acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, including the terms related to data collection, communication, and security. You further consent to receive text messages from RIF Pittsburgh, including transactional and program related messages. Your continued use of our services constitutes your ongoing consent to these terms. By subscribing to RIF Pittsburgh’s text messaging service, you agree to receive messages related to RIF Pittsburgh programs. Message frequency varies. You can opt out of receiving these messages at any time by following the instructions provided in each message and this Privacy Policy.
How We Use Information We Collect
To Provide Services To You. We use the information that we collect about you to provide, maintain, protect and improve the Services that RIF Pittsburgh provides to you.
Analytics. We use analytics tools and other third-party technologies, such as Google Analytics, to collect non-personal information in the form of various usage and user metrics when you use our site. These tools and technologies collect and analyze certain types of information, including cookies, IP addresses, device and software identifiers, referring and exit URLs, onsite behavior and usage information, feature use metrics and statistics, usage and demographics, and other similar information.
To Improve Our Services. We use de-identified, anonymous information that we collect about you for statistical and analysis purposes to improve our products and services, and to provide statistical analysis.
What Information We Share
No data is sold to third parties, however aggregate data may be disclosed to third parties to fulfill the legitimate business purpose.
How We Protect Your Information
We take steps to secure all data through administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect against the risk of accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted through the Internet, and where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.
Transparency, Privacy Rights and Choices, and Account Termination
Our goal is to be clear about what information we collect, so that you can make meaningful choices about how it is used. We still value the rights you have. Your privacy rights include:
Transparency and the right to information. Through this policy we explain how we use and share your information. However, if you have questions or need additional information you can contact us any time at info@rifpittsburgh.org.
Right of access, restriction of processing, erasure. You may contact us to request information about the Personal information we have collected from you, or to request that your Personal information be deleted. We will do our best to honor your requests, subject to any legal, ethical and contractual obligations. To make a request or to ask us a question about our data practices, please contact us via email at info@rifpittsburgh.org. When requesting access to your Personal information, please note that we may request specific information from you to enable us to confirm your identity and right to access, as well as to search for and provide you with the Personal information that we hold about you. You may designate an authorized agent to request information on your behalf, provided that the authorized agent complies with our verification procedures to ensure your permission has been obtained.
Your right to access or delete the Personal information we hold about you is not absolute. There are instances where applicable law or regulatory requirements allow or require us to refrain from taking certain actions with respect to some or all of the Personal information that we hold about you. In addition, some or all of the Personal information may have been destroyed, erased or made anonymous. In the event we cannot provide you with access to your Personal information, or we are unable to delete it, we will inform you of the reasons why, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions.
Right to correct your information. We endeavor to ensure that Personal information in our possession is accurate, current and complete. If an individual believes that the Personal information about him or her is incorrect, incomplete or outdated, he or she may request the revision or correction of that information. We reserve the right not to change any Personal information we consider accurate. If it is determined that Personal information is inaccurate, incomplete or outdated, we will use reasonable efforts to revise it and, if necessary, use reasonable efforts to inform agents, service providers or other third parties, which were provided with inaccurate information, so records in their possession may be corrected or updated.
Right to withdraw your consent at any time. When we process your Personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes consents regarding your participation in certain Services, email/text/other communication consents, or any other consent that you have provided to RIF Pittsburgh. You may withdraw your consent by contacting us at info@rifpittsburgh.org. Withdrawing consents may significantly limit your ability to use the Services.
Right to object or opt-out at any time. You have the right to object at any time to receiving marketing or promotional materials from us by either following the opt-out instructions in commercial e-mails or by contacting us, as well as the right to object to any processing of your Personal information or to participating in any program. We will consider any request you make to us, and provide a reply in a timely manner, according to our legal, ethical and contractual obligations. Some non-marketing communications are not subject to a general right to opt-out, such as communications about transactions and disclosures to comply with legal or ethical requirements.
Right to data portability. You have the right to data portability of your own personal data by contacting us. There are instances where applicable law or regulatory requirements allow or require us to refrain from transmitting your Personal information to certain recipients or may require additional documentation before transmitting your information. In addition, some or all of the Personal information may have been destroyed, erased or made anonymous. In the event we cannot fulfill your data portability request or require additional information to do so, we will contact you.
Text Message Opt-Out. You may choose to stop receiving text messages from RIF Pittsburgh at any time. To opt out, simply reply to any text message you receive from us with the word ‘STOP’. Once we receive your opt-out request, we will promptly remove your number from our messaging list.
Your State Privacy Rights. State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia provide (now or in the future) their state residents with rights to:
Confirm whether we process their personal information.
Access and delete certain personal information.
Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information's nature processing purpose (excluding Iowa and Utah).
Data portability.
Opt-out of personal data processing for:
targeted advertising (excluding Iowa);
sales; or
profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (excluding Iowa and Utah).
Either limit (opt-out of) or require consent to process sensitive personal data.
The exact scope of these rights may vary by state. To exercise any of these rights please email us at info@rifpittsburgh.org.
Retention of Collected Information
Except as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law or regulatory requirements, we will retain all data collected through your use of our Services only for as long as we believe it is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the data was collected (including for the purpose of meeting any legal, accounting or other reporting requirements or obligations).
Compliance and Cooperation with Regulatory Authorities
We regularly review our compliance with our Privacy Policy. If we receive a formal written complaint, we will contact the person who made the complaint to follow up. We work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of Personal information that we cannot resolve with our users directly.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal rights in or on behalf of any party. If we change this Privacy Policy, we will post any privacy policy changes on this page and, if the changes are material, we will provide a more prominent notice by sending you an email and/or posting a notice in the Services. RIF Pittsburgh reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently.