This Privacy Policy explains how We collect, use, and protect information from you. It applies to information We get over the Internet, by phone, via email, through the postal mail, or by any other means. By using the Sites (defined below), you accept the Privacy Policy. Please read it carefully before you use Pioneer’s Sites.
What definitions apply to the Privacy Policy?
“Pioneer” (or “We”) means Pioneer Online Academy and any subsidiaries and Affiliates it controls. “Control” means the direct or indirect possession of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management policies of an entity.
“Personal Information” (or “PI”) means information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate someone. “Non-PI” means information that cannot be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate someone.
“Sites” means Pioneer’s websites, including this one.
What laws generally apply to student records?
Pioneer obeys laws that protect education records. This includes the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) and state laws about student records. Other entities can access those records only if allowed by those laws and they agree to keep them confidential as required by those same laws. (Currently, the only parties Pioneer envisions for this use would be scholarship program managers, and state boards of education, but only if and when required by law, or in the sending of transcripts to other schools or colleges where students seek admission.) Pioneer does not sell a student’s PI. Pioneer does not illegally create profiles about a student. Pioneer does not use (unless We ask for and receive permission) a student’s PI for purposes unrelated to providing or improving their education, where We are prohibited by law from doing so. If any part of this policy conflicts with FERPA or other laws, Pioneer will obey the standard that provides more protection for the education records.
What non-personally identifiable information does Pioneer collect?
We automatically receive Non-PI from your web browser or device connected to the Internet. That includes your IP address (the string of numbers that identifies the device), the name of the Web page you visited immediately before visiting ours, the page or pages you visit on our Sites, and how much time you spend on each page. Such information is not deliberately collected by us, but is often collected by browser manufacturers and web advertising companies, such as Google, who operate outside Pioneer’s control, or web hosting companies, who passively monitor traffic to and from their client’s websites, such as Pioneer.
How does Pioneer use non-personally identifiable information?
Pioneer has no plans to use any student web traffic information. We may, someday, use this information to monitor and improve our Sites. We may also use it to study Internet traffic trends, administer the Sites, and gather information.
When does Pioneer share non-personally identifiable information?
Although we have no plans to do so, when allowed by law, we may share or sell non-Personal Information, such as aggregate or de-identified user statistics, demographic information, and usage information with nonaffiliated third parties. We may also share non-PI when: (i) required by law, such as by a court order, ii) We are allowed for law enforcement, health or safety purposes, iii) for the use of other schools or colleges your student may someday attend, iv) for the use of other companies that help us provide the Pioneer School Program, or v) where permitted, to protect Pioneer’s legal rights.
How do Pioneer’s Sites use “cookies”?
Pioneer does not directly create or establish the use of cookies. However, when you visit our Sites, the web hosting company’s server may create a piece of text known as a “cookie” to put on your device. The cookie is unique to your browser. It lets the server remember information about your visit. Cookies do not collect PI. We may, someday, use cookies to follow how you use the Sites to adapt Web content to your interests. Further, advertising presented on our website, as in an embedded educational video, may also rely on cookies, as this use is beyond our control.
We may, someday, use cookies from other companies to provide relevant information to you. These cookies may record that you visited our Sites and the websites you visited immediately before visiting our Sites. These cookies can be used to provide relevant information to you on other websites.
You can accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser setting to decline cookies. Use the “help” feature of your browser to learn more. If you decline cookies, you may not be able to see or use the interactive features of our Sites and some services on the Sites may not function the way they should.
You can opt out of the use of third party cookies for marketing messages on other websites by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice Page and the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page and opting out with companies that participate in those choices. On this policy’s effective date, those sites were at http://www.aboutads.info/choices and http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices. Opting out will not prevent you from seeing ads on the Internet; it will only affect ads that use cookies to serve messaging on the specific networks. We are not responsible for the activities of the third parties.
Does Pioneer share information collected from cookies?
We will not share or sell individual information contained in cookies to any third party, except if required by law or permitted to do so for law enforcement purposes.
What personally identifiable information does Pioneer collect?
You can use parts of our Sites without providing PI. Our Sites do not collect personal information about people except when the information is given on a voluntary basis (for example, when requesting information by contacting us or changing the information on your account with us).
When you enroll and create an account with us, you provide us with information about you and your child. The information you provide may include first and last name; postal address; telephone number; the name and age of your child; the services you request; registration and enrollment information about your child; scholarship program eligibility; an e-mail address where We can contact you; and other information. If you are making payments directly, we may also collect credit card information. If we use an external payment gateway, it may save PI in a manner beyond our control, as in any purchases made online.
Does Pioneer share personally identifiable information?
Information you provide may be given to schools, colleges, state educational officers, scholarship program managers, or to other parties if legally required, integrated into other programs you are or may become enrolled in (such as a scholarship program manager, like UFAScholarship.com), or if requested. Information you or the child provide may be given to state and federal agencies, including law enforcement if required or permitted by law.
If you are a job applicant, we may share your personal information for example, with a third-party provider to complete our background check requirements. If you are an employee, we may share personal information with third party providers that support us in administering employment benefits and employee services. We may also use third party providers to collect biometric data of employees (such as fingerprints) for security related purposes.
Students may be required to create online portfolios to showcase their work, to assist with scholarship program manager attestations of suitable academic progress, and so forth. Those third party web hosting companies (e.g., WordPress.com) may collect data per their own terms of use and privacy policies which lie outside of Pioneer’s control. However, students are not required to make that coursework and other information they post on their portfolio publically available. It is hoped that being able to share a private link with potential colleges or employers will be a help to students in the future.
If others help Pioneer provide online services, they are given the least information needed to do their work for Pioneer, as required by law. They have no other rights to the information and have agreed to keep the data private, to use it only to perform the work they provide for Pioneer and to keep the data safe.
If permitted by state and federal law, Pioneer may share your information with other companies to improve the education performance so that Pioneer can offer services to you or give you information about services of third parties. You can ask that your personal information not be shared with third parties by writing to pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com.
When allowed by law, Pioneer may share or sell your PI (such as name, address, and phone number) for commercial and/or marketing purposes, including product and service offerings, with schools or colleges that are not connected to Pioneer but may want to send you information about their products or services. We may also email you information on their behalf. For example, if a college wants to offer students admission, we may make arrangements to alert you to students’ acceptance or possible acceptance. You can ask that your PI not be shared with or sold to nonaffiliated third parties by writing to pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com. Please be aware that we may require you to verify your identity before processing any such request. When allowed by law, We also may share your PI with nonaffiliated third parties, as disclosed at the time you provide us with information.
How does Pioneer use personally identifiable information?
Pioneer uses PI to provide educational services to students, and to otherwise support you and your child for things such as testing, academic progress, attendance, customer service, student affairs or for health or safety purposes. Pioneer may also use PI to protect its own legal rights.
Pioneer responds to requests for information and to questions from students and possible students, collecting that information from you when offered. We only respond to students and potential students at the contact information they leave us, Pioneer does not call people by using random or sequential telephone numbers or by purchasing email address lists.
Once you have registered your child for Pioneer Services, there may be a page that contains some or all of the personal information.
Pioneer may use PI you provide to contact you or your child’s instructors or mentors about your child’s progress, testing, attendance, or other school issues or for customer service, and quality control. Pioneer also uses PI you supply to satisfy requests for information, and to deliver requested services to you and your child.
Pioneer will use or share PI if required to do so by law, such as a court order, or permitted to do so for law enforcement, health or safety purposes or to protect Pioneer’s legal rights.
If permitted by law, Pioneer may use your information to provide you with information about new products or services available through Pioneer and may analyze PI to improve the educational experience or to determine how Pioneer’s educational products and services may interest other people. Course evaluations may be included in marketing, such as testimonials on this website, yet are obscured by only using first names. Coursework may be offered to future students as a learning resource, or as examples of exemplary student work, with names replaced on and within the work with obviously artificial names (e.g., Addison Academia).
How does Pioneer treat information about children under 13 years old?
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) protects the privacy of children under the age of 13. It requires web site operators and online services to post privacy policies and obtain true parental permission before collecting information from those children.
Pioneer receives personal information about children who are under the age of 13 strictly from their parents or guardians. The only information received directly from your child is the information he or she provides (such as test answers, electronic mail and class discussions) in the online learning system as part of his/her education.
Other than through the online learning system, the website does not ask children under 13 to provide personal information. We do not intentionally contact or collect PI from children under 13 except as noted above.
If you want to tell us that We accidentally received information for a child under the age of 13, for example, by lying about others, please email us at pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com. Also, you can review some personal information that Pioneer has about your child by contacting that same email address.
What are my additional privacy rights if I’m a resident of certain states?
If you are a California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, or Virginia resident, or a resident of a state with similar statutory or regulatory requirements as those of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, or Virginia, as a consumer you may have several specific privacy rights that supplement this Privacy Policy. This section describes those rights and applies them to the extent required by the laws of those states.
If you are a student in the state of California or a student of a state with similar statutory or regulatory requirements as those of California, the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act or similar state law protects the use and disclosure of “covered information.” To the extent required by law, We comply with the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act and other applicable student privacy laws.
You can request information about the disclosure of your Personal Information for commercial or marketing purposes to other entities. You can also tell us not to disclose Personal Information to unaffiliated third parties for their commercial or marketing purposes. You can do so by emailing us at pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com or calling 424-666-7150.
As a resident of one of the states mentioned above, those consumers have certain additional rights related to their Personal Information collected by and on behalf of a business subject to the state’s privacy laws. Generally, these state consumer privacy laws, including the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) statutes, do not apply to non-profit or public educational institutions. Much of the information collected by us is collected for the benefit of non-profits and public education institutions, such as colleges students may enroll in the future. Depending on whether information is collected for Pioneer’s business or for the benefit of non-profit and public education institutions, some of what is described below may not be applicable to at least some of your information that We collect.
Over the past twelve months, We may have collected and disclosed some or all of the following types of PI in connection with providing services to you. The type of information, how it is collected, why it is collected and to whom it is disclosed can vary from person to person depending on the services the person receives from us and how the person interacts with us.
Non-Public Education Information: If you are enrolled in or applying for enrollment, We may collect “education records” from you that are not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in FERPA. This information may also collected from other curricular software and other third parties. This information can include past and present education, including institutions attended, years of attendance, courses of study, grades, external studies submitted for academic credit, as well as assignments and other student-generated work.
Identifiers: This information is collected from you and is used to identify users and includes such things as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, usernames, IP addresses or other identifiers.
Audio, Photo and Video Data: We may collect audio, photo, video and other electronic information from you.
Professional or Employment-Related Information: If you are applying for employment with us or are a Pioneer employee, We collect PI from you and third parties about your current and past job history, reference information and other professional or employment-related information. We collect this information from you in order to complete our background check requirements or to administer employment benefits and employee services. We may also use third party providers to collect biometric data of employees (such as fingerprints) for security related purposes when required by law.
Customer Records: If you purchase our products or services, We collect from you information about what products or services you are considering, purchasing, or using. This may include your name, signature, education history, and payment information. We collect this information from you in order to provide our services and for business purposes. Similarly, if a scholarship program manager approaches us on your behalf, we may retain information they provide so that we may use those funds to pay for tuition and fees.
Protected Class Characteristics: We may collect information about protected classification characteristics under federal, state or local laws, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, veteran or military status. We collect attestations about immunization records when required by law; however, to our knowledge, we are not required to share that information with any other entity, for any reason, so at this time, we have no plans to do so.
Network Activity: We may collect information about your interactions with websites and the internet. We may collect this information from you and third parties.
Geolocation Data: We may collect information from you about the geographic location from where your device accessed our Sites. We may collect this information from you and third parties.
Inferences Drawn from Other Personal Information: We may make inferences to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, abilities, and aptitudes.
Depending on your relationship with us, We may use your PI for one or more of the following purposes: administering applications and enrollment, providing educational services, providing support and services you requested, personalizing content and experiences, analyzing and improving our services, content, functionality and the usability of our Sites, completing applicant background checks, administering employment benefits and providing employee services, securing and protecting our assets and rights and preventing misconduct and violations to our Terms of Use, complying with legal obligations, inviting you to participate in surveys and provide feedback to us, having a better understanding of your needs and interests, contacting you with information that may be of interest to you, applying for specific or generalized admission into other schools and colleges, improving marketing and promotional efforts and supporting our general business.
We may share your PI with other schools or colleges you may enroll in the future, other entities that perform certain functions for us, analytics and service providers, benefits providers, transaction processors, and law enforcement (if necessary). We may also share it with our affiliates, third-party social media platforms (e.g., if you “comment” on content posted), and other carefully selected business partners for educational, commercial, and/or marketing purposes, or as part of a business transfer.
If you are a job applicant, we may share your personal information, for example, with a third-party provider to complete our background check requirements. If you are an employee, we may share personal information with third party providers that support us in administering employment benefits and employee services. We may also use third party providers to collect biometric data of employees (such as fingerprints) for security related purposes.
As a resident of one of the states mentioned above, you have several rights regarding the collection, use, transfer, and processing of your PI. We have the right to reasonably verify your identity, to limit your rights to the extent they adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others and, if your request is excessive, repetitive or unfounded, to require payment from you. If a fee will apply, We will advise the person making the request before completing the request, explain why a fee applies and provide an estimate. We may have additional rights under law and do not waive them.
Only you, your parent or legal guardian (if you are not yet 18 years of age), or a person registered with the applicable Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf may make a request related to your PI. To verify your identity as a resident of one of the states mentioned above, We may request PI from you to compare against our records.We will only use Personal Information provided in your request to verify your identity and will delete any Personal Information you provide after processing the request. If We believe that your request is fraudulent, We may take additional steps as necessary to verify your identity as a resident of the applicable state. We may also request that you sign a declaration under the penalty of perjury. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us.
If you choose a person registered with the applicable Secretary of State to act on your behalf to submit your requests, We will require that you provide the agent and that the agent provide us with written permission to allow them to submit your request. We will also require that you verify your identity directly with us.
Our goal is to respond to requests within 45 days. If We need another 45 days, We will advise the person making the request within 45 days after receiving the request.
You have the right to request We inform you of the PI We collected, used, and disclosed about you to third parties over the previous twelve months. If you make such a request, We will provide you with information about the categories of your PI collected, the categories of sources from which your PI is collected, the business purpose for collecting or selling the information, and the categories of third parties to which your PI is shared or sold. If you request it, We will provide you with information about specific pieces of PI collected about you. You may request this information twice in a 12-month period. We will inform you if an exception to your right to this information is applicable.
You have the right to request that We and our service providers delete your PI that We collected from you and have retained. This right is also subject to certain exceptions. We will let you know if an exception applies. These exceptions include where We or a service provider uses the PI to complete a transaction for which the PI was collected, provide goods or services that you requested or reasonably should have anticipated within the context of our relationship with you, use the information internally in a way that is compatible with the purpose for which you originally provided the information, detect or protect against security incidents, or malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity or otherwise comply with law. As a resident of California or a resident of a state with similar statutory or regulatory requirements as those of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, or Virginia, if We decide not to act on your request you have the right to appeal our denial of your request. We will provide you with an explanation for such denial and instructions on how to appeal our decision.
You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your PI by a business subject to certain laws and regulations.To the extent that third party advertising cookies and related technologies are ultimately determined to be a “sale” We may engage in that activity.
If you would like to request your PI, that your PI be deleted or that your PI not be sold, please send the request to pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com or calling 424-666-7150. You may also opt-out, by clicking “Your Privacy Choices”. If you are a Nevada resident, you may notify us to put you on a list of persons who have opted-out of the sale of Personal Information. Our address for such requests is pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com. Please be aware that we may require you to verify your identity before processing any such request.
IMPORTANT:Please direct all requests related to education records and to course data directly to the public school in which the student is enrolled. As a service provider to those schools, We cannot delete or modify education records or other records collected or processed for, or on behalf of, a school, unless directed to do so by the school.
You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights under the applicable state statutes. We will not discriminate against you (by, for example, denying goods or services to you or providing a different level of quality of goods or services to you) because you exercised any of these privacy rights.
What information is collected or shared on message boards and chats?
We do not currently, but may have message boards or chat rooms on our website in the future. The information you put on a message board or in a chat room will be available to all users of that message board or chat room, and is no longer private. We cannot promise privacy of information that you disclose online in public areas. Disclosure is at your own risk. We reserve the right, but not the duty, to monitor the message boards and to publish your postings from message boards or chat rooms in other places on the Internet or in other formats.
What happens when I link to other websites from Pioneer’s Sites?
The Sites may contain links to other websites that We provide for your convenience (“Linked Sites”). These sites are not under Pioneer’s control. Pioneer is not responsible for the content on any Linked Site or the actions of any Linked Site. The links do not suggest that Pioneer recommends the Linked Site. Pioneer has no liability for your access to the Linked Sites. Access to the Linked Sites is at your own risk. You should review the Privacy Policy that may be on the Linked Sites because those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy.
What is Pioneer’s commitment to data security?
To reduce the risk of unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and secure the correct use of information, We use commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to protect the information We collect. We also use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol on your account information and registration pages to protect personal information. We encrypt credit card numbers that you provide to us. No security system for data is completely secure. Therefore, Pioneer cannot promise that PI you supply will not be intercepted by others.
What happens if Pioneer’s corporate structure changes?
If all or part of Pioneer is sold, merged, or transferred to another business, the personal information you have given may be transferred as part of that process. However, Pioneer will take steps to assure that the personal information is used in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.
What if I do not live in the U.S.?
Our products and services are operated in the United States. If you are not located in the United States, you are not authorized to use the products and services and are directed not to do so, unless permitted by your local authorities. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the products and services, or providing us with any information, you fully understand and unambiguously consent to this transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the United States, a jurisdiction in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you are located, reside, and/or are a citizen.
Will this Privacy Policy change?
We may change this policy to be consistent with the law and our practices. We reserve the right to do that at any time. If Pioneer materially changes its use of your personal information, We will inform you of the change on the OLS, and will note it in this Privacy Policy. We will post any changes to this policy. The effective date of this Privacy Policy is stated below. If you have any questions about Pioneer’s Privacy Policy, please contact us in writing at pioneeronlineacademy.org@gmail.com.