PRIVACY POLICY
1. Introduction.
The Council of Chief State School Officers (“CCSSO”) invites parents, students, teachers, and schools to submit student work at the elementary and secondary school levels to the EdSteps Project at www.edsteps.org. (the “Web Site”). Such student work is submitted for the purposes of using a process for assessing the skill level of the assembled work; and presenting examples of the assembled work at different levels of mastery on a the Web Site as a means of demonstrating appropriate skill expectations at different age and grade levels (the "Project"). In connection therewith, CCSSO is committed to respecting your online privacy and recognizes your need for appropriate protection and management of any personally identifiable information you or your children share with us. CCSSO strives to comply with all applicable laws that are designed to protect your and your children's privacy, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
Although legal requirements may vary from state to state and country to country, CCSSO intends to adhere to the principles set forth in this online privacy policy even if, in connection with the above, we transfer your Personal Information (as defined below) from your state to other states (or to a different country) that may not require an "adequate" level of protection. In other words, our goal is to provide protection for your Personal Information no matter where that Personal Information is collected, transferred, or retained.
This privacy policy statement describes our privacy practices, including what information we collect from you through the Web Site, and what we then do with this information. If you are under the age of 18, please be sure to get your parents to review and discuss this privacy policy statement with you, and get their permission, before using the Web Site.
PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY. This privacy policy statement explains how we collect information about you (whether you are a parent or a child) through the Web Site and how this information is then used or disclosed. We may update this policy from time to time by posting the updated terms on our Web Site. You are responsible for periodically reading this policy. If you use our Web Site after we have updated this policy, you acknowledge that you have read the updated terms and consent to our revised privacy practices. This statement is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal right in or on behalf of any person.
2. Information Collected.
This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Information collected from the Web Site. "Personal Information" means, any information that may be used to identify an individual, including, but not limited to, a first and last name, gender or age, your school, home or other physical address, password, email address or other contact information. In general, you can visit the Web Site without telling us who you are or revealing any Personal Information about yourself.
CCSSO may collect Personal Information if or when:
- You register as a user of the Web Site;
- You submit content or information to the Web Site for use with the Project;
- You request information or additional materials from us; and
- You submit questions or comments to us.
3. How CCSSO Uses Personal Information.
CCSSO uses the Personal Information you provide to: - Process, analyze, aggregate and use any content, data or information submitted by you for the Project pursuant to the Registration Agreement at www.edsteps.org and incorporated herein by reference; and
- Contact you to answer your questions or provide you additional information or materials.
CCSSO does not collect and keep Personal Information from children under the age of 13, without consent of a parent or legal guardian, except in limited circumstances authorized by law and described in this policy.
CCSSO will not use or disclose any Personal Information provided by a user of the Web Site for commercial purposes.
4. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies.
Some of our Web Site pages utilize "cookies" and other tracking technologies. A "cookie" is a small text file that may be used, for example, to collect information about Web Site activity. Some cookies and other technologies may serve to recall Personal Information previously indicated by a user. Most browsers allow you to control cookies, including whether or not to accept them and how to remove them.
You may set most browsers to notify you if you receive a cookie, or you may choose to block cookies with your browser, but please note that if you choose to erase or block your cookies, you may need to re-enter your original user ID and password to gain access to certain parts of the Web Site.
Tracking technologies may record information such as Internet domain and host names; Internet protocol (IP) addresses; browser software and operating system types; clickstream patterns; and dates and times that our site is accessed. Our use of cookies and other tracking technologies allows us to improve our Web Site and your Web Site experience. We may also analyze information that does not contain Personal Information for trends and statistics.
5. Notice.
When you send us an E-mail message or submit information to the Web Site you may be providing us with Personal Information about you such as your name, your parent or guardian's name, your address, school, E-mail address, etc. We may store the information in order to respond to your E-mail or request, or to otherwise resolve the subject matter of your E-mail or request. By visiting and utilizing these features of our Web Site, you consent to the use of your Personal Information in this manner.
CCSSO may share such information if we conclude that we are required by law or have a good faith belief that access, preservation or disclosure of such Personal Information is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of the Web Site, its users or the public.
We may store and process Personal Information collected on our Web Site in the United States or any other country in which the Web Site or its agents maintain facilities. By using our services, you consent to the transfer of your information among these facilities, including those located outside your country.
In the event of a transfer of ownership of CCSSO or the data collected for the Project, we will provide notice before any Personal Information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
From time to time, we may use Personal Information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future we will use for these new purposes only data collected from the time of the policy change forward.
6. Special Provisions Concerning Children Under the Age of 13
If a child under the age of 13 sends an E-mail message to us, CCSSO will keep their e-mail address only long enough to respond to them. This information is deleted from CCSSO's system after their question or request is answered.
A child under the age of 13 can only submit content to the Web Site with the consent of a parent or guardian, as set forth in the terms of the Registration Agreement at www.edsteps.org.
7. Choice.
You may choose whether or not to provide Personal Information to CCSSO. The notice we may provide where CCSSO collects Personal Information on the Web Site could help you to make this choice. If you choose not to provide the Personal Information we request, you can still visit most of the areas of CCSSO’s Web Site, but you will be unable to submit content to the Web Site.
8. Security.
Wherever your Personal Information may be held within CCSSO or on its behalf, we intend to take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect the Personal Information that you share with us from unauthorized access or disclosure. However, no system can ensure complete security, and we are not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties we believe to be responsible. Access to your information will be limited to appropriate personnel and contractors needing such information in the performance of their job functions.
9. Access/Accuracy.
To the extent that you do provide us with Personal Information, CCSSO wishes to maintain Personal Information accurately. Where we collect Personal Information from you on the Web Site, our goal is to provide a means of contacting CCSSO should you need to update or correct that Information. If for any reason those means are unavailable or inaccessible, you may send updates and corrections about your Personal Information to help@edsteps.org and we will make reasonable efforts to incorporate the changes in your Personal Information that we hold as soon as practicable.
10. Third Party Services.
Other third parties may provide certain services available on CCSSO’s Web Site or in connection with the Project. CCSSO may provide information, including Personal Information that CCSSO collects, to such third-party service providers to help us further the goals of the Project. Service providers are also an important means by which CCSSO maintains its Web Site. CCSSO will take reasonable steps to ensure that these third-party service providers are obligated to protect Personal Information on CCSSO’s behalf. CCSSO does not intend to transfer Personal Information without your consent to third parties who are not bound to act on CCSSO’s behalf unless such transfer is legally required.
11. Commitment.
We are committed to privacy and to preserve individual privacy rights on the Internet. Protecting your privacy online is an evolving area, and CCSSO’s Web Site is constantly evolving to meet these demands.
If you have any comments or questions regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Margaret Reed Millar
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001
202.336.7032
While we cannot guarantee perfection in maintaining the privacy of all information, we will address any issue to the best of our abilities in a timely fashion.
12. Disclaimer.
CCSSO may provide links to web pages that are not a part of our company or related companies. Organizations, companies, or individuals not under our control manage these sites, and we are not responsible for the information or links you may find there. We provide these links merely as a convenience and the presence of these links is not an endorsement by us of the site.
Once you leave our Web Site and enter another web site through a link, be aware that any information you disclose on or through those sites is not subject to this Privacy Policy. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third party web sites to which we may link. You should always review the privacy policy for those sites to understand how they treat your Personal Information.
13. Your Consent.
By using this Web Site, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy and to CCSSO’s processing of Personal Information for the purposes given above as well as those explained where CCSSO collects Personal Information on the Web. Should the Privacy Policy change, we intend to take every reasonable step to ensure that these changes are brought to your attention by posting all changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will also provide a more prominent notice.
14. Terms of Use.
Please read our Terms of Use at www.edsteps.org to understand the terms that apply to your use of our Web Site. By using our Web Site, you acknowledge that you have read our terms of use and consent to them. You further affirm your consent by submitting content or materials to or through our Web Site.
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