How we collect, use, and protect your information.
Last updated: May 28, 2026
Gaston Fire & Rescue, the operating name of Gaston Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (“we,” “us,” or “our”), operates the website at gastonfirerescue.org, which is owned by the organization. We are an all-volunteer fire department, and this is an informational website for our community. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit our site, how we use and protect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. By using this website, you agree to the practices described here.
We collect only what is necessary to operate the site and respond to your request.
We use the information described above only to:
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising or marketing to third parties.
Our website uses minimal cookies required for basic functionality and for Google Analytics measurement. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. A service worker is used to enable offline access — it caches pages on your device but does not collect personal information.
You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, and you can opt out of Google Analytics measurement by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Blocking cookies may affect how some parts of the site function.
Because we use only essential and basic analytics tools — and do not use advertising cookies or sell personal information — we do not display a cookie consent banner.
Our website relies on the following third-party services, which may process limited data on our behalf under their own privacy policies:
We do not sell or rent your personal information. We share information only with the service providers listed above to the extent needed to operate the site and process your requests, or where required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of our members or the public. We may share aggregated, non-identifying statistics (for example, total page views) that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.
This website is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children. The one exception is our Kids Fire Camp registration, which collects personal information about children. We take this seriously and follow the principles of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Parent or guardian submission. Kids Fire Camp registrations are completed and submitted by a parent or legal guardian, not by the child. By submitting a registration, the parent or guardian provides consent for us to collect and use the information for camp purposes.
What we collect.The registration form collects the camper's name, date of birth, age, gender, school, grade, shirt size, and home address; the parent/guardian's name, address, and phone and email contact information; any special-needs and attendance details; and reference contacts.
Why we collect it. We use this information solely to evaluate eligibility, communicate with the parent or guardian, and safely organize and run Kids Fire Camp.
Who receives it.Registrations are submitted through a Google-hosted form and received only by Gaston Fire & Rescue camp staff. We do not sell this information or share it with third parties for marketing.
How long we keep it.We retain camp registration information only as long as needed to plan and run that year's camp and meet our recordkeeping needs, after which it is deleted.
A parent or guardian may review their child's information, ask us to correct it, or request that we delete it at any time by contacting us using the details in Section 12. We will not condition a child's participation on providing more information than is reasonably necessary.
We take reasonable measures to protect the information collected through our site, including transmitting data over encrypted (HTTPS) connections and limiting access to the volunteers who need it. The intake forms used for applications and camp registrations are hosted by Google and protected by Google's security infrastructure. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We keep personal information only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected. Contact form submissions are retained only as long as needed to respond to your inquiry. Membership application data is retained as long as needed to complete the membership process and satisfy volunteer screening and background-check requirements. Kids Fire Camp information is retained as described in Section 7. Aggregated analytics data is retained according to our Google Analytics configuration.
You can ask us to access, correct, or delete the personal information you have provided to us by contacting us using the details in Section 12. We will respond within a reasonable time.
Our site may link to external websites and social media pages that we do not control, including Facebook, Instagram, X, and our donation partner. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information — or if you are a parent or guardian who would like to review or delete your child's camp registration — contact us at:
Gaston Fire & Rescue
Gaston Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.
210 Old Emporia Road, Gaston, North Carolina 27832
(252) 537-8279
info@gastonfirerescue.org