Overview of our Online Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting Smarter College or other websites powered by Smarter College (the Website), a website of Smarter College LLC (Smarter College, we, us and our). This privacy policy (the Policy) explains our policies and practices with respect to personally identifiable information (Personal Information) collected through the Website. Please take the time to read and understand this Policy so that you can understand how we use your Personal Information. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POLICY APPLIES ONLY TO PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THE WEBSITE. WE MAY HAVE DIFFERENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES REGARDING INFORMATION OBTAINED OFFLINE OR FROM OTHER WEBSITES OWNED OR MAINTAINED BY Smarter College. Remember, if you use the Website or register with or provide any Personal Information to the Website, you agree to these terms.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Policy, you should contact the Smarter College site coordinator by sending an email to resources@smartercollege.org
Changes to Our Policy
Because our business needs may change over time, we reserve the right to change this Policy, including the way we use your Personal Information, at any time. Please review this Policy from time to time and before you provide any Personal Information to the Website. If we change this Policy, we will post those changes on the homepage of the Website and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of any changes to this Policy means you accept such changes. This Policy is effective as of the date indicated at the beginning of the policy. Please review this Policy from time to time and before you provide any Personal Information to the Website.
The Information We Collect
Personal Information
At the Website, you may be able to request information or register and save your entries for later reference. The types of Personal Information that may be collected at these pages of the Website include name and email address, address, and telephone number.
Except as permitted by law or as otherwise disclosed in this Policy, we will not share your Personal Information with any person or entity without your opt-in or opt-out consent, with the following exceptions:
* You may be given the option to complete a form on the Website to request information online about your eligibility for some loans. The Personal Information you enter on that form may be shared with lenders and may be used by a lender to contact you and help you complete a loan application or answer questions.
* We may share your Personal Information with websites of our partners that are powered by Smarter College.
* We may also share your Personal Information with other partners that are acting as our agents and are bound contractually to use or disclose your Personal Information only in accordance with this Policy.
Click-stream Data
We also may collect certain non-personally identifiable information (that is, generic information that does not identify you personally) when you visit the Website or any of our web pages. Such generic information may include the type of loans you are interested in, the amounts of these loans, the type of browser you are using (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer), the type of operating system you are using, (e.g., Windows ’98 or Mac OS) and the domain name of your Internet service provider (e.g., America Online or Earthlink). As you use the Internet, a trail of electronic information is left at each website you visit. This information (which is sometimes referred to as click-stream data) can be collected and stored by a website’s server. Click-stream data can tell us the type of computer and browsing software you use and the address of the website from which you linked to our Website.
We may use click-stream data and other non-personally identifiable information to anonymously determine how much time visitors spend on each page of our Website, how visitors navigate throughout our Website and how we may tailor our web pages to better meet the needs of visitors. We sometimes may use the non-personally identifiable information that we collect to improve the design and content of our Website and to enable us to personalize your Internet experience. We also may use this information in the aggregate to analyze how our Website is used, as well as to offer you additional products, programs or services. We may share aggregate information with others, including our affiliates (Related Companies) and non-affiliated companies
Cookies
To enhance your online experience with us, we may use cookies. Cookies are text files placed on your hard disk by our web server to store your preferences. Cookies, by themselves, do not reveal your email address or other Personal Information unless you choose to provide this information to us. However, once you choose to provide the Personal Information, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie. We use cookies as a convenient feature to save you time, to understand how our Website is used, and to improve the content and offerings on our Website. For example, we may use cookies to personalize your experience at our web pages or recall your specific information on subsequent visits. We also may use cookies to offer you products, programs or services. You can opt to have your browser reject cookies. If you do that, you may need to re-register with us every time you visit our Website in order to participate in certain promotions and programs. You should also know that companies that may advertise on our Website (and their agents) might use their own cookies. This Policy does not cover how these companies use their cookies.
How We Use Your Personal Information
We will use the Personal Information you provide to the Website for the purposes you have requested or we have disclosed in this Policy. If you want us to stop using the Personal Information you provided in these ways, please email us at: resources@smartercollege.org. This email address requires the use of Javascript.
We will use your email address to send you a confirmation email to acknowledge your activity on the Website. Unless you opt out from receiving other News and Updates, we will also subscribe you to our Newsletter and send you student loan Alerts. Alerts include reminders about essential student loan deadlines, major industry changes, new lenders that have been added to the site, etc. At any time after your site visit, you may opt out from receiving such mail either by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link from within the email, by visiting the web site or by contacting us using the information at the end of this document.
How We Share Your Personal Information
We will not share the Personal Information you provide except (a) as permitted by applicable law; (b) where such disclosure has been described on the Website or in this Policy or you have otherwise consented to such disclosure; (c) as a result of our belief that the disclosure may be permitted or required by law or may be necessary to protect our company or others from injury (e.g., in response to a court order or subpoena or law enforcement agency request or when we believe that someone is causing or may cause injury or is interfering with the rights or property of another); or (d) with third parties with which we contract to carry out our business activities (e.g., sending out a promotional item that you have qualified for on the Website, contacting you to complete your loan application, or sharing information with our business partners in connection with the operation of a loan comparison site that is powered by Smarter College LLC. and operated under another brand).
Your Consent to Disclose Personal Information to a Third Party
Except as otherwise indicated in this Policy, we will only supply your Personal Information to a third party with your opt-in or opt-out consent. In these cases, you will be given the option to opt in or opt out based upon information disclosed at the time your information is collected. If you do not opt in, or you opt out, your information will not be disclosed.
Finally, please note that the Personal Information you provide to the Website is considered a company asset and may be included among transferred assets if Smarter College, any of its Related Companies or any of their assets are ever acquired by a third party.
Collection of Information by Others
Our Website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties (collectively, the Third-Party Sites). Such Third-Party Sites may have information practices that are different from those described in this Policy. You should check the other privacy notices made available on such Third-Party Sites.
On this Website, when you provide us with an email address for a referral, we will share your name and email address as well as the recipient’s email address with a third party as necessary in order to provide this referral service. This information will not be used for any other purpose. If you choose to use our referral service to tell a friend about our Website, we will ask you for your friend’s name and email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the Website. This third party stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral program. You or your friend may contact us at resources@smartercollege.org, or use the link provided in each email, to request that we remove this information from our database.
Supplemental Information
From time to time we may supplement the Personal Information you provide through our Website with information from other sources, such as information validating your address. Thus, information we obtain through our Website may be intermingled with and used in conjunction with information obtained through sources other than our Website, including both offline and online sources.
Discussions and Community Tools
We may, from time to time, make chat rooms, forums, message boards, news groups and other community tools available to you. Please remember that any information, including any Personal Information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information for other users to view and for us to use. For example, from time to time, we may use the content you write (including your name or screen name if you post it) for promotional purposes, in email newsletters or elsewhere, and by using our Website or these chat rooms, forums, message boards, news groups, and other community tools, you agree that we may do so. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in these areas, since anyone — not just us – -may use publicly posted information.
Security Notice
We maintain physical, electronic, and managerial procedures designed to comply with federal guidance to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access to, maintain data security of and correctly use the Personal Information collected through our Website. However, no Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error free. In particular, email sent to or from our Website may not be secure. When your Personal Information is passed on to non-affiliated companies, to the extent practical, we require that they also have in place the appropriate safeguards. We cannot, however, guarantee that they do. Please keep these disclaimers in mind when disclosing any Personal Information via our Website.
Correcting or Changing Your Personal Information
For instructions on how you can correct any errors in such information, please email us at resources@smartercollege.org. If your Personal Information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, delete, or deactivate it by clicking on the link provided at the bottom of our emails, by emailing resources@smartercollege.org, or by contacting us by postal mail at the contact information listed below.
A Special Note for Parents
Our Website is not geared towards children. Our Website will not knowingly accept Personal Information from anyone under 13 years old. If you believe that your child under 13 has gained access to our Website without your permission, you may contact us at resources@smartercollege.org.