Privacy Policy (November 2020)

Last updated: November 6, 2020

INTRODUCTION

A. This promotional website (the “Site”) is owned by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (“WPI”) and operated jointly by The ASSISTments Project at WPI and The ASSISTments Foundation.  

B. ASSISTments (the “Platform”) is a free public service tool for teachers and students.

This Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) explains how we collect, protect, use, and share information obtained through the Site and Platform. We may make modifications to this policy. When we do we will update the revised data at the top of this page. We will notify users of the changes by sending an email to our users and have a pop-up notice on our site.

By using this Site, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Policy. WPI may amend or modify this Policy by posting an update to this Site, and you agree to accept the new Policy by using or relying on our services and materials after such notice. You should take the time to read through this Policy, and if you have any questions, please contact us at the address listed at the end.

COMMERCIAL USE

The ASSISTments Platform operates on a non-profit basis. We are committed to keeping ASSISTments free forever. We crowdsource content from educators to further the goal of improving educational resources and to make these resources open and publicly available (we use CREATIVE COMMON 3.0 BY-NC as the default license of user created content). Because of our mission and goals, ASSISTments will never use our Platform for commercial use. We will never advertise on our site. Additionally, we will never sell personally identifiable or non-personally identifiable information to third parties. In the event of a merger, we commit that the successor entity will treat the data in accordance with this privacy policy.

PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

If you wish to become a Registered User (Student User, Parent User, Teacher User) of the Platform, you must provide us with certain information as part of the registration process. In this Privacy Policy, when we use the term "Personally Identifiable Information", we mean any information that can be used to identify or contact a specific individual. We comply with all relevant laws and regulations regarding the collection of Personally Identifiable Information. When registering a User who is under 13 years of age, we request and collect Personally Identifiable Information only if we receive prior approval from the child's parent or guardian or are authorized by the child’s school or district. Registered Users for whom we are permitted to collect Personally Identifiable Information are "PII Users."

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We use Personally Identifiable Information to process requests made through this Site and Platform, such as registration requests, requests to receive our e-newsletters, and questions or comments submitted through the Site or Platform. We also collect and use Personally Identifiable Information when PII Users communicate with us by phone or email to ask questions, request assistance, make suggestions, or apply for employment. We may collect names, contact information (such as addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses), and other information about PII Users who communicate with us, so that we can follow up with them effectively. Communications from you are governed by the Terms of Service. The user name that is assigned to you during the registration process will identify you on the Platform in conjunction with content that you submit to the Platform, and this information may be viewed by Users. All user data is encrypted in transit and at rest (all passwords are SALTED before being stored, so we are not aware of the passwords of any users) . PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS ON THE PLATFORM OF YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.

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We will delete all Personally Identifiable Information once the account has been dormant for 2 years. We reserve the right, from time to time, to contact teachers (we never contact students) who have used our site in the past 2 years for various purposes, including without limitation sending updates; surveys; and changes to terms, conditions, and policies.

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We may collect certain information automatically when you visit the Platform or Site, such as the browser you are using, the Internet address from which you linked to the Platform or Site, the operating system of your computer, the unique IP address of the computer you used to access the Platform or Site and usage and browsing habits. We use this information to administer and improve your experience on the Platform and Site, to help diagnose and troubleshoot potential server malfunctions, and to gather broad demographic information. If a Student User enters a class code provided by a Teacher User, then the Teacher User may view information about that student. A Parent User identified on the Site as the parent or guardian of a Student User may view information about that student.

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To help make sure you receive information that is relevant to you, the Platform uses data "cookies." These cookies are small data files stored on your computer that identify you as a previous visitor to the Platform and help us to personalize your experience when you arrive. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. You can instruct your browser not to accept cookies. However, if you disable this function, you will not be able to use some of the features on the Platform.

Our Web pages and our e-mail newsletters may contain "web beacons" and other technology that allow us to count users that have visited a web page or opened an email and collect other types of information. Using this information, we are able to measure the effectiveness of our content and how visitors use the Site and Platform. This allows us to learn what pages are most attractive to our visitors, which parts of the Site and Platform are the most interesting and what kind of offers our visitors like to see.

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We work with third parties who provide services such as data analysis (for example we use Google Analytics), infrastructure provision (for example we use Amazon Web Services), IT services (for example we use Cloudfare to prevent denial of service attacks), email delivery services (for example we use MailChimp to communicate with non-student stakeholders), and other similar services. We may share Personally Identifiable Information about account holders with these parties solely for the purpose of enabling them to provide these services. We only share with those that have privacy policies entirely consistent with our privacy policy.

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We may use Personally Identifiable Information about you for internal purposes, including without limitation data analysis and audits. The data we collect via Facebook Ads and Google Ads will be used only for ASSISTments marketing purposes; we never put ads on our site for teachers or students.

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Parents may request to delete personally identifiable data about their child or children after students are no longer enrolled in classes that utilize ASSISTments or request to review personally identifiable information. Parents may contact us with this request by emailing contact@assistments.org with the email subject line WITHDRAW STUDENT DATA and their child’s login name. If you make this request while your child is enrolled in a class using ASSISTments, this may affect the student’s grade. You can sort out the details on a case-by-case basis with your teacher.

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Notwithstanding any other provision of this Policy to the contrary, we reserve the right to disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to others as we believe to be appropriate (a) under applicable law; (b) to comply with legal process (c) to respond to governmental requests; (d) to enforce our Terms of Service; (e) to protect our operations; (f) to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of WPI, you or others; and (g) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain. For example, we may, to the fullest extent the law allows, disclose Personally Identifiable Information about you to law enforcement agencies to assist them in identifying individuals who have been or may be engaged in unlawful activities.

NON-PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

Non-Personally Identifiable Information is aggregated information, demographic information, and other information that does not reveal a person’s specific identity. We may collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information (e.g., interests, geographic location, zip codes, etc.) when you voluntarily provide such information to us, such as through survey responses. Such information constitutes Non-Personally Identifiable Information because, unless combined with your name or other Personally Identifiable Information, it does not personally identify you or any other user. We will never link student non-personally identifiable information with student personally identifiable information but will retain aggregated student data exclusively for the educational purpose of improving the ASSISTments Platform.

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Additionally, we may aggregate Personally Identifiable Information in a manner such that the end product does not personally identify you or any other user of the Platform or Site. For example, we might use Personally Identifiable Information to calculate the percentage of our Users who have a particular zip code. Such aggregate information is considered Non-Personally Identifiable Information for purposes of this Policy. Because Non-Personally Identifiable Information does not personally identify the student, we may use or disclose such information for any purpose. After two years of dormancy, user names will be removed leaving only ‘non-personally identifiable information.”

DATA SECURITY AND BREACH INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN

We have implemented software and hardware security measures, such as firewalls, intended to protect your Personally Identifiable Information from unauthorized access. Although we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us through or in connection with the Platform. Despite our precautions, no system can completely protect against unauthorized access to your Personally Identifiable Information, and your use of the Platform indicates that you are willing to assume this risk. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, you must immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us.

In the event of a Security Incident, we shall (i) investigate the Security Incident, identify the impact of the Security Incident and take commercially reasonable actions to mitigate the effects of any such Security Incident, (ii) provide notification in a timely manner to Subscriber or individuals affected by the Security Incident, subject to applicable confidentiality obligations and to the extent allowed and/or required by and not prohibited by Applicable Laws or law enforcement.

Except to the extent prohibited by Applicable Laws or law enforcement, ASSISTments shall, upon Subscriber’s written request, provide Subscriber with a description of the Security Incident and the type of data that was the subject of the Security Incident.

Upon written request by Subscriber, which request shall be no more frequently than once per twelve (12) month period, ASSISTments shall respond to security questionnaires provided by Subscriber, with regard to ASSISTments's information security program applicable to the Services, provided that such information is available in the ordinary course of business for ASSISTments and it is not subject to any restrictions pursuant to ASSISTments’s privacy or data protection or information security-related policies or standards. Disclosure of any such information shall not compromise ASSISTments’s confidentiality obligations and/or legal obligations or privileges. Additionally, in no event shall ASSISTments be required to make any disclosures prohibited by Applicable Laws. All the information provided to Subscriber under this section shall be Confidential Information of ASSISTments and shall be treated as such by the Subscriber.

Upon written request by Subscriber, which request shall be no more frequently than once per twelve (12) month period, ASSISTments's data security measures may be reviewed by Subscriber through an informal audit of policies and procedures or through an independent auditor’s inspection of security methods used within ASSISTments's infrastructure, storage, and other physical security, any such audit to be at Subscriber’s sole expense and subject to a mutually agreeable confidentiality agreement and at mutually agreeable timing, or, alternatively, ASSISTments may provide Subscriber with a copy of any third party audit that ASSISTments may have commissioned.

OTHER SITES

The Site and Platform contain links to and displays content from third-party websites (“Linked Sites”) (such as Khan Academy videos) not under the control of WPI, and we are not responsible for the privacy policy or the contents of any such Linked Site or of any site linked directly or indirectly from any Linked Site. We provide such links and display such content only as a convenience, and the inclusion of such links and the display of such content on the Site and Platform does not imply our endorsement of the Linked Site or of any site linked directly or indirectly from any Linked Site.

If you provide any Personally Identifiable Information through any Linked Site or any site linked directly or indirectly from any linked site, the Personally Identifiable Information you provide may be collected by, and controlled by the privacy policy of, that third party. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the Linked Sites or of any site linked directly or indirectly from any Linked Site. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies and practices of any Linked Site and of any site linked directly or indirectly from any Linked Site. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POLICY DOES NOT ADDRESS THE PRIVACY OR INFORMATION PRACTICES OF ANY LINKED SITE OR OF ANY SITE LINKED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM ANY LINKED SITE.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:‍

The ASSISTments Project at WPI
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Fuller Labs
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
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‍contact@assistments.org