Privacy policy

Last updated November 12, 2026.

Who we are

Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines (“Tzu Chi Philippines”, “we”) decides how and why this information is used, and is responsible for it under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and its rules. We are at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus, 1000 Cordillera cor. Lubiran St., Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila 1016.

Some of our apps and services give a short notice of their own about the information they ask for. Those notices add detail to this policy. They never take away your rights under it.

The short version

We collect what we need to run our programs and services, and no more.
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
Our website has no advertising trackers. It counts visits with Google Analytics (see Cookies and similar technology).
Health, education and family information is handled with extra care, only by the people who need it.
You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, and you can complain to the National Privacy Commission.

What we collect

What we collect depends on how you deal with us.

When you visit our websites

Your browser sends technical details with every request: your IP address, the type of browser and device, the page you asked for and the time. Our servers keep these in logs to run the sites and keep them safe. We do not use them to build a profile of you.

When you use our apps or fill in a form

Your name and contact details (email, mobile number, city or address) and the answers the form asks for. To volunteer, that is your nearest office, when you are free and how you would like to help. For an event, it can include your role, group, room and transport, an emergency contact, and any health or dietary needs you choose to tell us. We also keep your registration, its payment status and any proof of payment you upload, your tasks, your messages with the event team and your feedback.

If you sign in, we keep your account details and a record of sign-ins for security. Our mobile apps keep your saved details on your phone to fill in forms faster, and use a notification token to send you updates about the events you joined. You can turn notifications off in your phone’s settings.

When you donate

Your name and contact details, the amount, date and channel, and any reference number, deposit slip or screenshot you send us, so we can confirm your gift and issue an official receipt. You can give through your bank, GCash, Maya or Globe Rewards, or online on our Donate page, by credit or debit card, QR Ph, Maya or Google Pay.

When you give online, our website asks for your name, email, mobile number and billing address and passes them, with the amount, to Maya, our online payment provider, which runs the payment page and checks each payment for fraud. You pay on Maya’s page, not ours, so our website never sees or keeps your card number or account details. We keep a record of your gift and Maya’s reference number, and email you a thank-you. We never ask for your card number or your bank sign-in by phone, email or message.

When you apply for a scholarship

Your school records and grades, information about your family and household (including income, and tax returns or pay slips if you send them), photos of your home, the documents the program asks for, and notes from your interview and home visit.

When you come to our clinic or a medical mission

Your health information: what brings you in, your medical history, consultation notes and prescriptions. When you book a visit online, the booking page keeps your name, contact details and the time you chose.

When we help your family

In relief operations and charity cases: names, household members, address, needs, and notes and photos from home visits, so that help reaches the families who need it.

When you apply for a job

We keep job applicants’ CVs, the information sent with them, and notes from interviews.

Photos and videos

At our activities we take photos and videos for our reports, our websites, social media and Tzu Chi publications. We ask for permission before we tell a person’s story by name. If you would rather not be photographed, tell the team on the day. If you want a photo of you taken down, contact us.

When you contact us

When you call, email or message us, including on Facebook, we keep the conversation so we can answer and follow up. The platform you use has its own privacy policy as well.

How we use it

To do what you asked: register you for an event, book your visit, handle your application or sign-up, and keep you informed about it.
To assess needs and give help, scholarships and medical care, and to follow up.
To confirm donations, issue receipts and keep our accounts.
To keep our websites and apps working and secure, and to prevent fraud and abuse.
To meet our legal duties, such as tax, audit and reports to the government agencies that accredit or regulate us.
To report on our work, with numbers and stories that identify no one unless they agreed to be named.

If we send you news or appeals, you can ask us to stop at any time.

Why we are allowed to use it

The Data Privacy Act lets us use personal information when at least one of these applies:

you gave your consent;
we need it to do what you asked, such as registering you or handling your application;
the law requires it;
it protects someone’s life or health;
it serves a legitimate purpose of ours, such as keeping our services secure, that does not override your rights.

For sensitive personal information, such as health, education, age, religion, government ID numbers and tax returns, we rely on your consent or on a ground the law specifically allows, such as medical treatment.

Only the people who need your information see it: our staff and the volunteers working on your case, event or application, who must keep it confidential. Beyond them, we share personal information only in these cases, and only what is needed:

Service providers that run systems for us, such as email and office software, website hosting and protection, website statistics (Google Analytics), online payments (Maya), booking pages, video and app notification services. They may use it only to provide their service to us.
Partners in a program you take part in: hospitals and doctors when we refer a patient, schools to confirm a scholar’s enrollment and grades, local governments and agencies during relief, and hotels or transport for an event trip.
Other Tzu Chi offices, in the Philippines or abroad, when you take part in an activity they run with us.
Government agencies or the courts when the law requires it, or anyone who needs it to protect a person’s life or safety.

We do not sell or rent personal information to anyone.

Information that leaves the Philippines

Some of our service providers, and other Tzu Chi offices, store or handle information outside the Philippines. When that happens, we stay responsible for it, and we work only with providers that protect it as well as Philippine law requires of us.

Cookies and similar technology

Our website has no advertising trackers. It uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are used, so we can improve the site. A few things to know:

Google Analytics sets cookies (named _ga) to tell one visit from the next. It tells us the pages you view, how you reached the site, your city or country, your type of device and browser, and actions such as opening the Donate page, sending a form or giving online (the amount and the gift’s reference number). It does not tell us who you are, and we never send it your name, email or phone number. Google keeps this for 14 months. You can block it in your browser settings or with Google’s opt-out add-on (tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout).
If you choose a light or dark display, your browser keeps that choice on your device. It is not sent to us.
If you give online, a cookie keeps your gift’s reference number for two days, so our thank-you page can show your gift to you and no one else.
Staff who sign in to manage the website get sign-in cookies, which end when they sign out.
Our apps use a cookie or token to keep you signed in.
Videos play from YouTube in its privacy-enhanced mode: YouTube (Google) stores information only when you play a video, under its own policy.
The pictures of our videos in the news lists load from YouTube’s picture server (i.ytimg.com), so YouTube receives your IP address when you see them.
Our pages use fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser asks Google for them and Google receives your IP address.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the reason we collected it, or as long as the law requires, for example for accounting, tax and medical records. Then we delete it or remove what identifies you. For example:

event registrations, for the event and its follow-up, then in our record of who took part;
volunteer details, while you volunteer with us, and afterwards for our records unless you ask us to delete them;
donation records, as long as tax and audit rules require;
website statistics in Google Analytics, for 14 months;
website logs, for a short time, for security.

How we protect it

We limit who can see personal information to the people who need it, use encrypted connections on our websites and apps, keep our systems updated and backed up, and require staff and volunteers who handle personal information to keep it confidential. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your information at real risk, we will tell you and the National Privacy Commission, as the law requires.

Children

Some of our programs serve children: scholars, preschool pupils, young patients and the families we help. We collect a child’s information with the consent of a parent or guardian, who can use the rights below for the child. Volunteers under 18 need the consent of a parent or guardian.

Your rights

Under the Data Privacy Act you have the right to:

be informed about how your personal information is used (this policy is part of that);
access it: ask what we hold about you and get a copy;
correct it if it is wrong or out of date;
object to its use or withdraw your consent, for example to stop receiving our messages;
ask for its erasure or blocking when it is no longer needed, was collected unlawfully, or is used without your permission;
data portability: get a copy in a common electronic format to use elsewhere;
claim damages if you were harmed by inaccurate, unlawfully obtained or misused information;
file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission.

If a person has died or cannot act for themselves, their heirs or legal representatives can use these rights for them. To use any of them, contact us as below. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we act, and we will tell you if the law requires us to keep something.

Contact us

Reach our Data Protection Officer:

Phone: 8714-1188
By mail or in person: Data Protection Officer, Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines, Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus, 1000 Cordillera cor. Lubiran St., Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila 1016

Our other numbers are on the Get involved page, under Contact us.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission at privacy.gov.ph.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our services or the law change. The date at the top shows when it last changed. When a change matters, we will point it out on our website and in our apps.