This policy explains what personal information The Passive House Network collects through passivehousenetwork.org, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have.
Who we are: North American Passive House Network, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in New York, doing business as The Passive House Network (PHN).
Questions or requests: info@passivehousenetwork.org, or 929-376-8539.
Updated: October 23, 2026.
On this page: What we collect, and why · Cookies and tracking · Who we share it with · Email from us · How long we keep it · Your choices and rights · Children · How we protect it · Other sites · Changes to this policy
What we collect, and why
We collect only what we need to run our training, membership, events, and donations, and to understand how the site is used.
| When you | We collect | We use it to |
|---|---|---|
| Buy a course or register for training | Your name, email, billing details, and what you bought. Your card details go straight to our payment processor; we never see or store them. | Fill your order, give you access, send receipts, and keep the records tax law requires. |
| Take a course | Your progress, quiz and exam results, and certificates, and your AIA number if you give it to us. | Run the course, issue certificates and credits, and answer your questions. |
| Join as a member | Your name, email, membership level, and payment details (through our payment processor). | Run your membership and its benefits, including your iPHA membership, and list you in the Member Directory if you opt in. |
| Donate | Your name, email, the gift, and anything you add, such as how you heard about us. | Process and acknowledge your gift, and keep the records tax law requires. |
| Sign up for our newsletter | Your email address, and your name if you give it. | Send the newsletter and news of our training and events, until you unsubscribe. |
| Apply as an affiliate | Your name, email, payment email, website, and how you plan to promote us. | Review your application, track the sales you refer, and pay your commission. |
| Write to us | What you send. | Answer you. |
| Visit the site | Your IP address and browser details, in our host’s logs, and how you use the site, through cookies (below). | Keep the site running and secure, and learn which pages and programs are useful. |
Cookies and tracking
Cookies are small files a site stores in your browser. Ours, and those of the services below, do these jobs:
| Who | What for | Your choice |
|---|---|---|
| Our site (WordPress, WooCommerce, MemberPress, LearnDash) | Keep you signed in, hold your cart, and complete checkout. | Needed for the site to work. |
| Cloudflare | Tell people from bots (the __cf_bm cookie, kept 30 minutes). | Needed for security. |
| Stripe | Prevent fraud on payment pages. | Needed for payments. |
| AffiliateWP | Remember the affiliate whose link brought you here, for 30 days, so they get credit for a purchase. | Set only when you arrive through an affiliate’s link. |
| Google Analytics | Count visits and show us how the site is used. Google keeps this data for 14 months. | Opt out. |
| Google Ads | Tell us whether a click on one of our Google ads led to a sign-up or purchase. | Your Google ad settings. |
| LinkedIn Insight Tag | Measure our LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn can also use it to show our ads to people who have visited our site. | LinkedIn’s cookie settings. |
| HubSpot | Recognize a returning visitor who has given us their email, so we know which pages interest them, and run our forms. | Unsubscribing stops our emails; your browser can clear the cookie. |
You can block or delete cookies in your browser’s settings. The site works without the analytics and advertising ones; without the ones it needs, you can’t sign in or check out.
Visitors from the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland: Google’s analytics and advertising tags are set not to store cookies for you.
How Google uses information from sites that use its services: Google’s explanation.
Who we share it with
We don’t sell, rent, or trade your personal information.
We share it only as this policy describes.
Services that work for us
These companies handle personal information on our behalf, only to provide their service to us:
| Service | What it does for us | Its policy |
|---|---|---|
| WP Engine and NitroPack | Host the site and speed it up. | WP Engine |
| Cloudflare | Delivers the site and protects it from attacks. | Cloudflare |
| Stripe and Klarna | Process card, Link, and Klarna payments. | Stripe · Klarna |
| HubSpot | Our contact records, newsletter, and forms; orders and their contacts are copied into it. | HubSpot |
| Zapier | Passes order and course records between our site and our other systems. | Zapier |
| Our email, including the site’s receipts and notices; analytics; ads; and some videos and maps. | ||
| Measures our LinkedIn ads. | ||
| Akismet | Screens donation forms and comments for spam. | Automattic |
| Zoom | Runs our live online courses and events. | Zoom |
| Vimeo and YouTube | Play our course and event videos. | Vimeo · YouTube |
| Substack | Sends our chapters’ newsletters, if you subscribe to one there. | Substack |
Organizations we work with
- The International Passive House Association (iPHA), part of PHI: members’ names and emails, to enroll them in iPHA.
- The Passive House Institute (PHI), which sets and certifies the exams our courses prepare you for: you register for its exam directly with PHI, under PHI’s privacy policy.
- The American Institute of Architects (AIA): your AIA number, name, and the course, to record your learning units (AIA’s privacy policy).
- Emu Passive, which delivers our Certified Passive House Tradesperson courses: you register on Emu’s own site, under its own policy.
When the law requires it
We may disclose information if we believe the law or a legal process requires it, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of PHN, our community, or others.
Email from us
Our newsletter and news of training and events go only to people who have signed up for them, and every one has an unsubscribe link. Our emails may record whether they’re opened and which links are clicked.
Whether or not you’ve signed up, we send the emails an account or purchase needs: receipts, course access, membership renewals, and password resets.
How long we keep it
- Orders, donations, and memberships: as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Course records and certificates: as long as your credential may need them, so we can confirm your training later.
- Newsletter contacts: until you unsubscribe, or ask us to delete your details.
- Analytics: 14 months, in Google Analytics.
- Affiliate referrals: 30 days in your browser; referral and payment records as tax law requires.
Your choices and rights
You can ask us to show you the personal information we hold about you, correct it, or delete it, and you can unsubscribe from our emails at any time. Write to info@passivehousenetwork.org. We may need to keep some records, such as orders and donations, that the law requires.
Some US states give their residents these rights by law. We honor them for everyone, wherever you live.
In the European Economic Area, the UK, or Switzerland, you also have the right to object to how we use your information, to ask us to limit it, to receive a copy in a portable form, and to complain to your data protection authority. We use your information to fulfill what you ask of us (an order, a course, a membership), with your consent (our newsletter), and for our legitimate interest in running and improving PHN’s programs. Our services are based in the United States, so your information is processed there.
Children
Our site and programs are for adults. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if you believe we have, write to info@passivehousenetwork.org and we’ll delete it.
How we protect it
The whole site runs over an encrypted connection (https). Card details go straight to Stripe or Klarna and never reach our server. We limit access to your information to the staff and vendors who need it.
If information we hold is lost or exposed, we’ll tell the people affected promptly, and the authorities where the law requires.
Other sites
Our pages link to other sites, such as our partners’, Eventbrite for some events, and our merchandise store. Their own privacy policies apply there.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we’ll post the new version here with its date at the top. If a change is significant, we’ll say so on the site or by email.
Questions about this policy, or a request about your information? Write to us at info@passivehousenetwork.org.
