Privacy policy

Purpose

Oakland Conservation District is a local unit of government serving Oakland County, Michigan. This policy explains what information the District collects through oaklandconservationdistrict.org, why it is collected, and what happens to it.

Information collected

  • When you place an order. Your name, email address, phone number, billing address, and the contents of your order. Payment is processed by Shopify, and the District never sees or stores your full card number.
  • When you join the email list. Your email address, and your name if you provide it.
  • When you contact the District. Whatever you choose to send: your name, contact information, and the substance of your question, including any photographs you attach.
  • When you register for a program. Registration details for the Backyard Habitat Certification Program, soil testing, workshops, and events.
  • Automatically, when you browse. Standard web analytics collected by Shopify: pages visited, approximate location, device and browser type, and how you arrived at the site.

Use of information

Information is collected to fill your order and tell you when to pick it up, to answer your question, to run the programs you signed up for, to send the emails you asked for, to understand which parts of the site are useful so they can be improved, and to meet the District’s reporting obligations to the state and federal agencies that fund its programs. Reporting to funders is generally in aggregate rather than by name.

Michigan Freedom of Information Act

Oakland Conservation District is a public body under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Public Act 442 of 1976. Records held by the District, including some information you provide, may be subject to disclosure if a member of the public requests them. This is a difference between the District and a private business.

Certain information is exempt from disclosure, including Social Security numbers, records protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and anything else the law prohibits the District from releasing. Payment card information is not released. Every request is evaluated against the exemptions in Section 13 of the Act before anything is released.

The District’s full FOIA policy is available at /pages/foia.

Disclosure to others

The District does not sell your information. It is shared only where necessary to operate:

  • Shopify, which hosts the online store and processes payments and email.
  • Soil testing laboratories, when you order a soil test and your sample must be submitted for analysis.
  • Where required by law, including a valid FOIA request or a court order.

Email communications

The District sends seasonal announcements, program information, and conservation tips. Every email carries an unsubscribe link and the District honors it. The email list is not sold, rented, or traded, and the District does not purchase lists.

Children

District programs sometimes serve schools and youth groups. The District does not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided information through this site, contact the District and it will be removed.

Records retention

Records are retained according to the District’s records retention schedule and the requirements of the grants that fund its programs. Order records are generally kept seven years for audit purposes.

Individual choices

You may unsubscribe from email at any time. You may ask what information the District holds about you, ask that it be corrected, or ask that it be deleted, and the District will do so unless a records retention requirement or an open grant obligation requires that it be kept. Contact the District to make a request.

Cookies

Shopify sets cookies necessary for the cart and checkout to function, along with analytics cookies. You may block cookies in your browser, though the store will not work properly without the essential ones.

Changes to this policy

Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

Oakland Conservation District
7150 Dixie Highway, Suite 1, Clarkston, MI 48346
(248) 922-7822
info@oaklandconservationdistrict.org

Adopted by the Oakland Conservation District Board of Directors, August 19, 2026.