Effective Date: 10/21/2026 | Last Updated: 10/21/2026

1. PURPOSE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY

Dental Equity Project (“Dental Equity Project,” “DEP,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to handling personal information responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect information when you visit our website, submit an application for assistance, contact us, volunteer, partner with us, donate, or otherwise interact with us.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Depending on how you interact with DEP, we may collect information such as your name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, preferred contact information, and information you voluntarily provide through forms or communications. If you apply for dental assistance, we may collect information necessary to evaluate or coordinate your request, which may include information about your dental needs, treatment needs, treating dentist or dental office, insurance or financial circumstances when requested, and other information relevant to program eligibility. We encourage you to provide only information reasonably necessary for the purpose of the form or communication.

3. HEALTH AND DENTAL INFORMATION

An application for dental assistance may involve sensitive dental or health information. DEP will use such information only as reasonably necessary to evaluate, administer, and coordinate assistance, subject to applicable law and any required authorization. DEP is not necessarily a HIPAA-covered entity or business associate for every activity it performs. Whether HIPAA applies depends on the specific parties, services, and circumstances involved. Where HIPAA or another privacy law applies, the relevant parties will comply with their respective legal obligations.

4. INFORMATION YOU CHOOSE TO PROVIDE

You may choose whether to provide information through our Website. However, certain information may be necessary to process an application, respond to an inquiry, coordinate services, process a donation, or provide another requested service. If you choose not to provide information that is reasonably necessary for a particular purpose, we may be unable to complete that request.

5. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

DEP may use personal information to:

■ Review and administer applications for assistance;

■ Communicate with applicants and participating dentists, dental offices, laboratories, volunteers, or partners;

■ Coordinate donated or reduced-cost dental restorations and related services;

■ Respond to questions and requests;

■ Process donations and maintain appropriate financial records;

■ Manage volunteers and partnerships;

■ Provide educational programs and resources;

■ Maintain and improve our Website and programs;

■ Protect the security and integrity of our systems and organization;

■ Comply with applicable laws and legal obligations; and

■ Carry out our charitable and organizational purposes.

6. COMMUNICATION WITH DENTISTS AND PARTICIPATING PARTNERS

When appropriate and authorized, DEP may communicate with a treating dentist, dental office, dental laboratory, or other participating organization to evaluate or coordinate assistance. Only information reasonably necessary for the applicable purpose should be shared. Third-party providers and organizations may have their own privacy policies and legal obligations.

7. INFORMATION COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY

When you visit our Website, certain technical information may be collected automatically by our website hosting provider, analytics services, security tools, or similar technologies. This may include IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, approximate location derived from IP address, referring website, and information about Website usage. This information may be used for security, analytics, troubleshooting, performance, and Website improvement.

8. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

Our Website may use cookies, pixels, analytics tools, or similar technologies to support Website functionality, understand Website usage, improve performance, and maintain security. You may be able to control certain cookies through your browser or device settings. Disabling certain technologies may affect Website functionality.

9. DONATIONS AND PAYMENT INFORMATION

If you make a donation through our Website or a third-party donation platform, payment information may be collected and processed by the applicable payment processor. DEP generally does not need to receive or store your full payment card number. Payment processors may have their own privacy policies and terms. We encourage donors to review the policies of the payment provider used for a transaction.

10. VOLUNTEERS AND PARTNERS

If you volunteer or participate as a dental professional, laboratory, organization, or community partner, DEP may collect contact information, professional information, credentials, availability, and other information reasonably necessary to administer the relationship.

11. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

DEP does not sell personal information to third parties. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to operate our programs, including to participating dentists, dental offices, laboratories, service providers, technology providers, payment processors, professional advisors, insurers, or other organizations assisting DEP, subject to applicable law and appropriate safeguards. We may also disclose information when required by law, legal process, court order, governmental request, or when reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, property, or security of DEP, our users, or others.

12. SERVICE PROVIDERS

DEP may use third-party companies and service providers for functions such as website hosting, form processing, email communications, analytics, payment processing, cloud storage, cybersecurity, and administrative support. These providers may process information on DEP’s behalf to perform the services for which they are engaged.

13. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Our Website is not intended to knowingly collect personal information directly from children without appropriate involvement or authorization from a parent or legal guardian when required by law. If a child is receiving dental assistance, information may be provided by a parent, legal guardian, dentist, or other authorized adult as appropriate.

14. HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION

DEP uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. No method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. DATA RETENTION

DEP retains information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including program administration, legal and regulatory obligations, accounting, recordkeeping, dispute resolution, and organizational needs. Retention periods may vary depending on the type and sensitivity of information and applicable legal requirements.

16. YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES

Depending on applicable law, you may have rights concerning personal information we maintain about you, including the right to request access to certain information, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion where legally applicable, or ask questions about our privacy practices. Certain information may need to be retained because of legal, regulatory, accounting, security, or other legitimate requirements.

17. CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

California privacy law may provide certain rights to California residents regarding their personal information. Depending on the law and whether DEP is subject to a particular requirement, these rights may include requesting information about categories of personal information collected, requesting access to or deletion of certain information, requesting correction, and receiving information about disclosures or uses. Because nonprofit organizations and small organizations may be treated differently under certain California privacy laws, the availability and scope of these rights may depend on DEP’s circumstances and the applicable law at the time of the request.

18. REQUESTING PRIVACY INFORMATION

To ask a privacy question or submit a privacy-related request, contact DEP using the information provided below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests to help protect personal information from unauthorized disclosure.

19. EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

If you contact DEP by email, we may retain the communication and contact information associated with it so that we can respond, maintain appropriate records, and administer our programs. If DEP sends optional informational or fundraising communications, you may request to stop receiving those communications by using the unsubscribe option provided or by contacting us.

20. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites and services. DEP is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, content, or policies of third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any external website you visit.

21. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

DEP may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, programs, technology, or legal requirements. The updated version will be posted on this Website with a revised “Last Updated” date. Your continued use of the Website after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy to the extent permitted by applicable law.

22. CONTACT US

Dental Equity Project If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how DEP handles personal information, please contact us using the information above.