Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Texas Indo-American Physicians Society Southwest ("TIPS-SW", "we", "our", or "us") is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in San Antonio, Texas. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect information about you when you visit tipssw.org, become a member, register for an event, donate, or otherwise interact with us.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide to us

• Account & membership data: name, email, phone, mailing address, specialty, practice information, NPI, professional affiliations, and login credentials.
• Payment data: TIPS-SW accepts Membership dues and donations via Zelle and PayPalonly. Both are manual / out-of-band methods — payment happens entirely within your bank app (Zelle) or your PayPal account, and TIPS-SW does not collect or process payment-card information on this website. We do not receive your card number, CVC, bank-account number, or any other payment credentials.What we do see is what your bank or PayPal sends us alongside the credit: the sender's name and email, the amount, the date, and any memo / note you include with the payment. See Section 5 below.
• Communications: messages you send via the contact form, newsletter signups, RSVPs, and support requests.

Information we collect automatically

• Device, browser, and IP address information.
• Usage information collected via cookies and similar technologies, including pages viewed, referring URLs, and approximate location.
• Aggregated analytics from Google Analytics to understand site traffic and improve the website.
• Behavioral analytics from Microsoft Clarity(operated by Microsoft Corporation) so we can see how visitors use the site — which links are clicked, how far pages are scrolled, and where visitors run into friction — through aggregated heatmaps and session replays. A session replay is a reconstruction of on-page interactions (mouse movement, clicks, taps, and scrolling), not a video of your screen. Clarity masks the text you type into form fields by default; because its replays can otherwise capture on-page text, we keep Clarity's content-masking enabled and do not rely on it to capture anything you enter. Clarity sets first- and third-party cookies and may collect your device, browser, IP address, and the pages you view. See Microsoft's privacy statement at https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement.
• Error and performance telemetry from Sentry(operated by Functional Software, Inc.) so we can detect and fix bugs. When the site hits an unexpected error, Sentry records the error message and stack trace, the URL of the page where it happened, your browser and operating-system version, and a small sample of page-load and route-change timings. Sentry also captures a short replay of the page when an error occurs — all text, form inputs, and media in the replay are masked before they leave your browser, so the replay shows the shape of the page, not its contents. We have configured Sentry to notsend your IP address. Events are retained by Sentry for up to 90 days under their standard plan, then deleted. See Sentry's privacy policy at https://sentry.io/privacy/.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and administer membership, events, and the member portal.
• To process dues, donations, and event registrations.
• To send newsletters, event invitations, and organizational updates you have opted into.
• To respond to inquiries submitted through the contact form.
• To maintain security, prevent fraud, and comply with legal obligations.
• To improve the website, our programs, and member services.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as follows:

• Service providers that help us operate the website, payment processing, email delivery, and analytics, under contractual confidentiality obligations.
• Public member directory: if you are a member, certain professional information (name, specialty, city, practice name) may be listed in the members-only physician directory. You can opt out by contacting us.
• Legal requirements: when required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of TIPS-SW, our members, or the public.

5. Payment Processing — Zelle and PayPal

TIPS-SW accepts Membership dues, event fees, and donations through two manual / out-of-band channels: Zelle (sent to [email protected]) and PayPal (sent to [email protected]). TIPS-SW is not a payment processor and does not operate a payment gateway on this website.

How Zelle works.Zelle is operated by Early Warning Services, LLC and is integrated into your bank's mobile app. When you send funds, the entire flow happens inside your bank app and the Zelle network. TIPS-SW does not see your bank-account number, your bank credentials, or any other payment credentials. See Zelle's privacy notice at https://www.zelle.com/privacy-policy.

How PayPal works.PayPal Holdings, Inc. (“PayPal”) operates the Send Money flow you use to pay us. The entire flow happens within PayPal's app or website. TIPS-SW does not see your PayPal credentials, card number, or bank-account number. PayPal may deduct a processing fee (typically up to ~3%) from the amount we receive, depending on the funding source you use and whether you classify the payment as “Goods & Services” or “Friends & Family”. See PayPal's privacy statement at https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/privacy-full.

What TIPS-SW receives. When a Zelle or PayPal payment lands in our recipient account, the bank / PayPal shows us:

• The sender's name and email (as it appears on the sender's account).
• The payment date and amount.
• The transaction reference / confirmation number assigned by the bank or PayPal.
• Any memo / note you include with the payment.

We use this information to record your Membership payment, manually reconcile it against your TIPS-SW account, send you an acknowledgment, and maintain financial records required by the IRS and applicable law.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as your TIPS-SW account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Specific retention categories:

• Payment records:records of dues, donations, and event-fee transactions — including transaction IDs, amounts, dates, and the last four digits of payment cards — are retained for at least seven (7) yearsto comply with IRS recordkeeping requirements applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations and any related audit obligations.
• Membership records: if you cancel your Membership, we retain your account record for a period sufficient to honor lifetime-Membership grandfathering for a return, to comply with our bylaws, and to respond to any inquiries about your historical Membership.
• Communications: contact-form submissions and support correspondence are retained for a reasonable period to enable follow-up and to maintain an audit trail of inquiries.

After applicable retention periods expire, we delete or anonymize the information, subject to ongoing legal obligations to retain records.

7. Cookies & Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication, session management, preference storage, and analytics — including the traffic-analytics cookies set by Google Analytics and the session-replay and heatmap cookies set by Microsoft Clarity (see Section 2). You may disable cookies in your browser, but parts of the site (including the member portal) may not function correctly without them.

8. Your Choices

• Marketing emails: you can unsubscribe from newsletters at any time via the unsubscribe link in any message, or by emailing [email protected].
• Account information: members can review and update their profile via the member portal.
• Access & deletion: you may request a copy or deletion of your personal information by writing to [email protected]. We will respond within a reasonable period, subject to legal record-keeping obligations.

9. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Because TIPS-SW does not process payment-card information on this website (all payments are made directly via Zelle or PayPal — see Section 5), the website itself is not in scope for PCI DSS. No method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

10. Children's Privacy

TIPS-SW programs and the website are intended for individuals who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

11. Third-Party Services and Links

Our website integrates with, and may link to, third-party services. The principal third parties with whom we share data, and the purpose for which we share it, are:

• Early Warning Services, LLC (Zelle) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PayPal)— the two manual / out-of-band channels through which TIPS-SW receives Membership dues, event fees, and donations. Neither processes payment data on our behalf as a sub-processor; both operate their own end-to-end payment flows that you, the sender, use directly. See Section 5 above for details, and the platforms' own privacy notices at https://www.zelle.com/privacy-policy and https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/privacy-full.
• Google LLC (Google Analytics)— aggregated traffic analytics to help us understand site usage and improve the website. See https://policies.google.com/privacy.
• Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft Clarity)— behavioral analytics (heatmaps and session replays) to help us understand how the site is used and improve it. See Section 2 above for what Clarity collects, and Microsoft's privacy statement at https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement.
• Functional Software, Inc. (Sentry)— error and performance telemetry to help us detect and fix bugs. See Section 2 above for what Sentry receives, and Sentry's privacy policy at https://sentry.io/privacy/.
• Other linked third parties— we may link to partner organizations, donation platforms, and event platforms. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised policy on this page with a new effective date.

13. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy? Contact us at [email protected] or write to: Texas Indo-American Physicians Society Southwest, San Antonio, Texas.