Privacy Policy
uAspire Online Privacy Policy
Effective: May 14, 2020
This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how uAspire (“uAspire,” “we,” “our,” “us”) collects, uses, and discloses certain personal information obtained through our website (“Site”), which is located at uaspire.org. By visiting our Site and/or using the features made available to you on the Site, you are agreeing to the terms of this Policy.
This Policy applies only to information collected through the Site and therefore does not apply to data we collect in other contexts.
What Information We Collect and Maintain About You
We collect personal and other information from you directly when you provide it to us through the website. We may also automatically collect certain information about you and your computer, smartphone, or other device when you use, access, or interact with our Site.
Personal Information.
You can visit the Site without submitting any information that we can use to identify you personally. However, if you use certain features on the Site, such as the “Contact Us” feature, or when you donate money to us, you will be required to provide personal information. Such information could include, for example, your name, email address, phone number, or payment information. If you are a student, we will collect your personal information, including your name and contact information, if you choose to make an appointment with a uAspire advisor.
Scholarship Applications.
If you are a student and you choose to apply for any scholarship application we may make available (through https://uaspire.submittable.com/submit), we will collect the information that you provide with your application, including your name, email address, and financial application.
Financial Aid Offer Analyzer.
If you choose to use the Financial Aid Offer Analyzer feature on our website, we will collect the information you provide as part of using this feature. This may include your name, email address, phone number, financial aid offer information, and the name of the institution providing the award letter. We collect this information with your consent, which you may revoke at any time by contacting us through the information below.
Web log data.
When you use the Site, we automatically receive and record certain information from your computer (or other device) and your browser. This may include such data as your IP address and domain name, the pages you visit on the Site, the date and time of your visit, the files that you download, the URLs from the websites you visit before and after navigating to the Site, your software and hardware attributes (including device IDs), your general geographic location (e.g., your city, state, or metropolitan region), and certain cookie information (see below). To obtain such information, we may use web logs or applications that recognize your computer and gather information about its online activity.
Cookies.
We also use cookies on the Site. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by your web browser. A cookie allows the Site to recognize whether you have visited before and may store user preferences and other information. For example, cookies can be used to collect or store information about your use of the Site during your current session and over time (including the pages you view and the files you download), your computer’s operating system and browser type, your Internet service provider, your domain name and IP address, your general geographic location, the website that you visited before the Site, and the link you used to leave the Site. If you are concerned about having cookies on your computer, you can set your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being set, allowing you to decide whether to accept it. You can also delete cookies from your computer. However, if you choose to block or delete cookies, certain features of the Site may not operate correctly.
Web beacons.
The Site or the emails that you receive from uAspire may use an application known as a “web beacon” (also known as a “clear gif” or “web bug”). A web beacon is an electronic file that usually consists of a single-pixel image. It can be embedded in a web page or in an email to transmit information, which could include personal information. For example, it can allow an email sender to determine whether a user has opened a particular email.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information that we collect for a variety of purposes. These purposes include, for example:
- To respond to your questions or requests concerning the Site or other services offered by us;
- To fulfill the terms of any agreement you have with us;
- To process your donation or volunteer application;
- To send you information about uAspire and other topics that are likely to be of interest to you, including newsletters, updates, or other communications, including promotional emails;
- To deliver confirmations, notifications, and similar operational communications;
- To improve your user experience and the quality of our Site;
- To comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements; and
- To manage our nonprofit.
In addition to the purposes above, we use the information that we collect automatically through the Site for such purposes as:
- Counting and recognizing visitors to the Site;
- Analyzing how visitors use the Site and various Site features;
- Improving the Site and enhancing users’ experiences with the Site;
- Creating new products and services or improving our existing products and services;
- Enabling additional website analytics and research concerning the Site;
- Engaging in interest-based advertising (as described below); and
- Managing our business.
We may link information gathered through the Site with information that we collect in other contexts. But in that event, we will handle the combined information in a manner consistent with this Policy.
Additionally, if you submit information through the Award Analyzer Program, we may deidentify the information you provide and use it to inform broader research initiatives around financial aid trends and policy reform that we are pursuing. When we use information for this purpose, we take reasonable measures to ensure that the information does not identify you personally.
With Whom and Why Do We Share Your Information
We share your information with other parties for a variety of purposes, as described below.
Analytics.
We partner with certain third parties to obtain the automatically collected information discussed above and to engage in analysis, auditing, research, and reporting. These third parties may use web logs or web beacons, and they may set and access cookies on your computer or other device.
Third-party service providers.
We use third-party service providers that perform services on our behalf, including web-hosting companies, mailing vendors, analytics providers, payment processing companies. These service providers may collect and/or use your information, including information that identifies you personally, to assist us in achieving the purposes discussed above.
We may share your information with other third parties when necessary to fulfill your requests for services; to complete a transaction that you initiate; to meet the terms of any agreement that you have with us or our partners; or to manage our business.
Scholarship Applications.
If you are a student and you choose to apply for any scholarship application we may make available (through https://uaspire.submittable.com/submit), we may share the information you provide to us with other third-party organizations that provide the scholarship funds, as named in the specific scholarship application you complete.
Financial Aid Offer Analyzer.
If you use the Award Letter Analyzer feature on our website through your high school, with your consent, we may share the information you provide to us with your high school, as well as with other third-party organizations that you have a relationship with and that assist you with the college affordability process.
Legal purposes.
We also may use or share your information with third parties when we believe, in our sole discretion, that doing so is necessary:
- To comply with applicable law or a court order, subpoena, or other legal process;
- To protect students’ health and safety;
- To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, violations of our terms and conditions, or situations involving threats to our property or the property or physical safety of any person or third party;
- To establish, protect, or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; or
- To facilitate the financing, securitization, insuring, sale, assignment, bankruptcy, or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets.
Aggregated information.
From time to time, we may also share aggregated information about Site users, such as by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Site. Such aggregated information will not identify you personally.
Choice
You may opt out of receiving marketing emails from us by following the instructions in those emails or by emailing us at info@uaspire.org.
How You Can Access and Correct Your Information
If you want to learn more about the personal information that uAspire has about you, or you would like to update or change that information, please contact us by email at info@uaspire.org.
External Links
This Site may contain links to third-party websites. If you use these links, you will leave the Site. We have not reviewed these third-party sites and do not control and are not responsible for any of these sites, their content, or their privacy policy. Thus, we do not endorse or make any representations about them, or any information, software, or other products or materials found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. If you decide to access any of the third-party sites listed on our website, you do so at your own risk.
Data Security
We employ physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard the personal information we collect online. However, no website is 100% secure, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to the Site or to us, and you transmit such information at your own risk.
International Users
The information that we collect through or in connection with the Site is transferred to and processed in the United States for the purposes described above. we also may subcontract the processing of your data to, or otherwise share your data with, affiliates or third parties in the United States or countries other than your country of residence. The data-protection laws in these countries may be different from, and less stringent than, those in your country of residence. By using the Site or by providing any personal or other information to us, you expressly consent to such transfer and processing.
Accessibility
uAspire strives to provide a website that is accessible to all visitors. Please contact us at info@uaspire.org if you have problems accessing any part of our website.
Using Text and Images
All information provided on this website that is not secured is considered public information. Logos of sponsors and other partners on the uAspire website are the trademarks of their respective companies. All other images, including the uAspire logo, are copyrighted material and may not be reused without explicit written permission from uAspire. Please contact the Communications department at jasonj@uaspire.org for permission to use text or images.
Children
Content on this Site is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.
Changes to this Policy
We may make changes to the Site in the future and as a consequence will need to revise this Policy to reflect those changes. We will post all such changes on the Site, so you should review this page periodically. If we make a material change to the Policy, you will be provided with appropriate notice.