International Mahayana Institute (IMI)
Last updated: December 2025

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://imisangha.org

The International Mahayana Institute (IMI) is a worldwide community of Buddhist monastics within the FPMT organization.

Information We Collect

When You Donate or Become a Member

We collect:

• Name and contact details (email, postal address, phone number)
• Donation and payment information (processed securely via Stripe and PayPal)

When You Subscribe to Our Newsletter

We collect:

• Name and email address

When You Leave Comments

We collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Process donations and provide membership services
• Send newsletters and updates about IMI activities (with your consent)
• Respond to your enquiries
• Improve our website and services

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

Comment Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

Login Cookies

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

Editing Cookies

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who We Share Your Data With

We do not share your personal data with third parties except:

• Payment processors to complete donations (securely, via encrypted connection)
• If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email
• Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service

How Long We Retain Your Data

• Comments: Retained indefinitely so we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically
• Donor/member records: Retained as required for financial and legal compliance
• Newsletter subscribers: Retained until you unsubscribe
• User accounts: Stored until you request deletion; you can view, edit, or delete your information at any time (except username)

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request an exported file of your personal data
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request erasure of your data (except data we must keep for legal purposes)
• Withdraw consent and unsubscribe from communications at any time

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including SSL encryption for all transactions.

Contact Us

For questions about this policy or to exercise your data rights, contact us at: office@imisangha.org

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy periodically. Please review it regularly.