Privacy Policy
I. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) collects, uses, shares and safeguards Personal Data and Non-Personal Data on www.aacte.org, www.edprepmatters.net, www.aacteconnect360.org, mobile websites, microsites, mobile applications, AACTE profiles on AACTE social media sites and any other digital services and platforms officially operated or used by AACTE from time to time (“Sites”), as well as by phone or in print. In certain Sites operated overseas, the privacy policy displayed on those Sites, and not this Privacy Policy, may govern the collection, use and sharing of information.
II. Changes to the Privacy Policy
If we change our Privacy Policy for the AACTE Websites, we will post those changes here to ensure you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and to whom we will disclose it. Any such changes will become effective immediately on posting (or upon your receipt of other notification expressly required by applicable law). We encourage you to visit this page periodically to learn of any updates.
We welcome your comments concerning this Privacy Policy. Members who believe may contact us by emailing membership@aacte.org. Non-members may contact us at communications@aacte.org.
III. Types of Data We Collect
What is Personal Data?
Personal Data means any information which can be used to individually identify a natural person, such as a name, a unique identification/account number, location data, an online identifier or one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that person.
Personal Data Submitted by You
You may voluntarily provide Personal Data about yourself when using the Sites. There are five types of information you might provide to us:
- Contact information you knowingly choose to disclose
- Registration information when registering for an event
- Billing information when you donate, join, subscribe, or make a purchase
- Demographic or other information about you
- Technical information collected by us as you interact with our Sites
Contact Information
In some areas of the AACTE Sites, we request that you provide Personal Data, such as your name, address, email, and telephone number. In some donor and purchaser information areas of the AACTE Sites, we request that you provide your credit card number, contact information, and other billing information.
Registration Information
In some areas of the AACTE Sites, we request that you provide Personal Data in connection with your registration for an account on the Sites, which may include your name, address, email, and telephone number.
Demographic Information
In some areas of the AACTE Sites, we may request or collect demographic information about you, such as your age, career, preferences, gender, educational degrees, ethnic background, interests, etc. Sometimes, we may collect a combination of information types. Examples of areas of the AACTE Sites where we may collect demographic Personal Data include pages where you can donate to AACTE, sign up to be a member, register for a program or event, or purchase a product or service offered on the Sites.
Technical Information
We also may gather certain information about your use of our Sites, such as what areas you visit and what services, pages, or features you access. Moreover, there is information about your computer hardware and software that we may collect. This information can include, without limitation, your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times, hardware specifications, and referring website addresses. Some of this information is collected through the use of cookies (described below).
IV. How We Use Your Data
Use of Personal Data
Information collected on the Sites may be used by AACTE for the purpose of providing you with the content you request, operating and improving AACTE Sites, providing a positive user experience, and delivering the products and services we offer. We may also use the information we gather to inform you of other products or services available from AACTE or to contact you about your opinion of current products and services or potential new products and services that may be offered. We may use your contact information in order to send you email, postal mail, or other communications regarding updates at AACTE, such as newsletters, member information, event and programmatic information, and additional listings which may be of interest to you. We may also use it to send you information about third-party products and services that match your interests and preferences if you opt in for this type of communication. The nature and frequency of these messages will vary depending upon the information we have about you. In addition, at the time of registration for certain services, you have the option to elect to receive additional communications, information, newsletters, and promotions relating to topics that may be of special interest to you. If in the future we intend to process your Personal Data for a purpose other than that for which it was collected, we will provide you with information on that purpose and any other relevant information including the option to opt out. We do not provide your name and address or email to outside parties, except as described in this Privacy Policy. To learn more about our encryption policies, please review the section on “Protecting Personal Data” (below).
For visitors and subscribers located within the European Union or the European Economic Area (collectively, “EU”) only, the following table provides information required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) relating to our use of your Personal Data:
Personal Data Legal Basis for Processing
We collect various information from you, including contact information, purchaser information, demographic information, and technical information. Contact information: name, address, email, and telephone number. Purchaser information: credit card number, contact information, and billing information. Demographic information: age, preferences, gender, educational degrees, ethnic background, and interests. Technical information: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times, and referring website addresses. We use this consent to provide you with the content you request. It has a legitimate purpose of providing tailored content to you, authenticating subscribers, and optimizing website performance.
Retention of Personal Data
We retain, indefinitely, all the Personal Data we gather about visitors or subscribers as necessary to fulfill our obligations under the Sites’ respective Terms of Use (and any other applicable agreement with you). We retain indefinitely certain anonymized information we gather about visitors or subscribers for the legitimate purpose of performing website analytics and providing use of our website to all visitors in an efficient, practical, and relevant way.
Notification Guidelines
AACTE does not send unsolicited commercial communications to individuals with whom they do not have consent/permission or a pre-existing or current business relationship. AACTE provides all notified recipients with clear, easy, and effective methods to unsubscribe to any and all online and electronic communications.
V. How We Share Your Data
Sharing of Personal Data
We do not share or disclose your Personal Data to third parties except as set forth below:
Personal Data, such as technical and contact information, is shared with AACTE business contractors to help us understand usage patterns for AACTE Sites and those of our contractors and with web hosting and other technical service providers for hosting our web servers and ensuring information security for our networks. It is shared with consultants and vendors for the legitimate purpose of providing customer support and marketing assistance; with credit card processors for purposes of processing credit card transactions in connection with AACTE websites; and with our business contractors, with your consent, for the purposes of providing you with products or services tailored to your interests and preferences. In addition, we disclose Personal Data if legally required to do so, if requested to do so by a governmental entity, or if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process, (b) protect the rights or property of AACTE, (c) prevent a crime or protect national or local security, or (d) protect the personal safety of users or the public. In the event any one or all AACTE Sites become the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding, whether voluntary or involuntary, AACTE or its trustee in bankruptcy may sell, license, or otherwise dispose of such information in a transaction approved by the bankruptcy court as is legally required. In the event AACTE is acquired in whole or part by a third party by way of merger, consolidation, or purchase, we will disclose and transfer such information to the third party. AACTE may also share aggregated, anonymous information about visitors to AACTE Sites with its clients, suppliers, and other third parties so that they may understand the kinds of visitors to AACTE Sites and how those visitors use the site.
Your Rights Under the GDPR With Regard to Your Personal Data
Under the GDPR, visitors and subscribers located in the EU have the right to request from us access to Personal Data we store about you, to amend (or rectify) this Personal Data, to restrict our processing of the Personal Data, to erase the Personal Data, and to receive a copy of the Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (data portability). If you wish to invoke a right under the GDPR, you may contact us at communications@aacte.org. Please use the subject line “GDPR Request” in the subject line. Your email should include a sufficiently detailed description of the GDPR right with which you seek assistance along with appropriate contact information for you. We may need to contact you for further information about your request. AACTE will notify you if your request has been granted or declined, or if exemptions apply. If you have provided consent for the processing and storing of your Personal Data, you have the right (in certain circumstances) to withdraw that consent at any time, which will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent was withdrawn. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe that we have not complied with the requirements of the GDPR regarding your Personal Data.
Association Policies Regarding Disclosure of Personal Data
AACTE, like many other non-profit organizations, occasionally makes available the names and postal addresses of our contributors to third parties, predominantly other non-profit organizations. In addition, member and non-member names are provided to a credit card vendor as part of our affinity program. These companies are carefully screened. Names and addresses are provided on a one-time basis; therefore, these third parties will not have continued access to your name and address unless you respond to them directly, which you are free to do or not to do. You can request that we do not share, sell, or exchange your information for third-party fundraising or marketing purposes by emailing us at membership@aacte.org. If you use more than one email address, postal address, or telephone number, please identify each one you would like to opt out.
AACTE may provide aggregate statistics about our customers, sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will include no Personal Data, and to the extent Personal Data is referenced in these statistics, the Personal Data will have been anonymized and rendered in a format such that it cannot be used to individually identify you or any other person.
VI. How You Can Manage the Processing of Your Data
Information You Post
If you post any Personal Data in public and/or social network areas of AACTE Sites, e.g., in online community forums or chat rooms, the information disclosed may be displayed to other users of these services and may be collected and used by others over whom we have no control. AACTE is not responsible for the use made by third parties of information you post or otherwise make available in public areas of AACTE Sites and communities. If you remove information that you have made public on AACTE Sites and communities, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of AACTE Sites or if others have copied or saved that information. You acknowledge that any submission, posting, or sharing of your Personal Data on such portions of the Sites is at your own risk.
Opt-In and Opt-Out
The registration forms and other sections of AACTE Sites where we collect your information provide you with relevant opt-in and opt-out choices regarding promotional activities and other communications. To access and determine your account preferences, including opt-in/opt-out online preferences, you may login to the Profile Manager.
AACTE members and participants of AACTE events and programs may opt in for first- or third-party informational emails or opt out of all email communication, except for transactional emails such as payment receipts and event/program specific information for which you registered. You may log in to the Profile Manager in order to access your opt-in/opt-out preferences.
Subscribers to AACTE’s Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) may opt in for first- or third-party informational emails or opt out of all email communication, except transactional emails such as subscription renewal, by contacting us at membership@aacte.org. Please use the subject heading “Opt-In Request” or “Opt-Out Request” (as applicable) in your message to help us to identify and respond to your request.
VII. Linking to Other Internet Sites
Links to Other Sites
AACTE Sites may provide links to other websites, platforms, applications, or other resources owned and/or operated by third parties. AACTE does not have any control over those platforms, or any content, features, or functionality available on those platforms, including the data collection practices of third parties. We encourage you, to read the applicable privacy statements or policies of those platforms to understand how the third-party operators may use your Personal Data. However, we will not be responsible for the policies of third parties regarding your Personal Data on such platforms.
VIII. Cookies and Other Web Devices
Monitoring of Information and Cookies
We collect standard information, by way of a standard feature of browser software known as a “cookie,” to help us evaluate how our sites are being used. A cookie is a small, uniquely identifiable text file that is stored on your machine. A cookie collects information that is used for statistical purposes and does not identify you in any way. We use cookies to deliver information specific to your interests and to save your password, so you don’t have to re-enter it each time you visit our site. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can change your browser settings to prevent that. Even without accepting cookies, you can still use most of the features throughout AACTE Sites.
Analytics
Often times, we may use certain advertising networks and exchanges that participate in the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). NAI has developed a tool that allows consumers to opt out of certain interest-based advertising delivered by NAI members’ ad networks. To learn more about opting out of such targeted advertising or to use the NAI tool, click here. Please be aware that such opt-outs do not affect non-targeted ads. We are not responsible for the effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third parties’ opt-out mechanisms or programs, or the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs.
We monitor customer traffic patterns and site usage to help us develop the design and layout of AACTE Sites. We may use the information we collect to occasionally notify you about important changes to websites, new services, or features offered by AACTE and special offers and information we think you will find valuable. If you would rather not receive this information, please contact us through one of the channels identified in “How to Correct or Update Information” (below).
Google Analytics is used to analyze traffic to this website. Google Analytics does not maintain individual profiles for visitors, nor does Google Analytics collect data that might identify the individual visitor. Google Analytics only collects aggregate data. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and uses data when you use our Sites, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
IX. How We Protect Personal Data
Protecting Personal Data
We are concerned with protecting your privacy and data. When you register for an event or program, place orders, access your account information, or request information, we use a secure server. This secure server software, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. Furthermore, all customer transactional data we collect is protected against unauthorized access with the use of digital certificates. We provide reasonable technical, administrative, and physical controls to secure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Personal Data. If you have any questions about security on AACTE Sites, you may contact us at communications@aacte.org.
Payment Processing
All credit transactions occur in a secure area of our site to protect you from any loss, misuse, or alteration of information collected. When you subscribe or place an order online at any AACTE Site, your credit card information is protected with encryption of web content using Transport Layer Security.
Information Security
AACTE maintains reasonable safeguards to protect the security, integrity, and privacy of the information that you provide to us. However, no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the security of the information we collect. Nor can we guarantee that the information you supply won’t be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the internet or any other communications medium outside of our direct control.
X. Children
Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. We adhere to the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We do not knowingly collect or process Personal Data of any individual under 13 years old for any purpose. If we learn that we have unintentionally collected personal information regarding any individual less than 13 years old, we will promptly delete that information. For more information, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s COPPA site.
XI. Contact Information and Notifications
How to Correct or Update Information
If you have any concerns about the collection or use of your Personal Data, or any other aspects of this Privacy Policy, please address your questions or complaints to:
Email: membership@aacte.org
Mail:
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
ATTN: Membership
1602 L Street, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20036
Legal Requests
AACTE reserves the right to share your information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law.
California and the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA)
Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (also known as S.B. 27), if you are a California resident and your business relationship with AACTE is primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, you may request certain data regarding our disclosure, if any, of Personal Data to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to membership@aacte.org with “Request for California Privacy Information” in the subject line. If applicable, we will provide you, by email, a list of the categories of Personal Data disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the third parties’ names and addresses. Please note that not all Personal Data sharing is covered by S.B. 27’s requirements.
We respect your privacy and ability to choose whether to share information with us and third parties. You may opt-out from receiving e-mail communications from us regarding marketing and promotion for new products and services by logging in to the Profile Manager and selecting Manage My Subscriptions in order to access your opt-in/opt-out preferences. Similarly, if we ask a third-party company to send email offers regarding our products and services to customers, we will share with that company a list of email addresses collected from visitors of our Sites who have opted-out of our email program to ensure that their privacy preferences are honored.
Acceptance of These Terms
Your continued use of AACTE Sites indicates your understanding and acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy (together with the applicable Terms of Use for the Sites). If you do not agree with all the terms herein, you are not permitted to use AACTE Sites or services.