Literacy Design Collaborative Privacy Policy

Last updated June 24, 2020.

The Literacy Design Collaborative (“LDC”; “we”; “us”) is committed to safeguarding your privacy. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) – effective as of the above date – governs your access to and use of the website https://www.ldc.org and all pages combined within it that are owned or operated by LDC (such as http://coretools.ldc.org) including but not limited to text, content, photographs, video, audio, graphics, and services therein (collectively, the “Site”).

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the Site, and please consult it regularly. By accessing or using the Site or its services (including but not limited to donating online to LDC), you signify your acceptance of all provisions of this Privacy Policy, in addition to our terms of use (“Terms”), available at https://www.ldc.org/terms-of-use. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy and/or our Terms, you should elect not to visit the Site.

Changes to Privacy Policy

LDC reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time at its sole discretion. Such changes shall be effective immediately upon posting them to the Site. Your use of the Site after such changes have been posted shall constitute your acceptance of all provisions in the revised Privacy Policy.

How We Collect Your Personally Identifiable Information

“Personally Identifiable Information” is data that can be used to uniquely identify or contact you. We may request that you voluntarily provide us with certain Personally Identifiable Information in order to engage in certain activities on our Site. For example, when you create an account with us, or contact LDC via the Site, we may request Personally Identifiable Information from you, such as your name, email address, title, school affiliation, school district, and/or state of residence.

You may also choose to voluntarily provide us with additional Personally Identifiable Information through a profile you create through our Site (such as a screenname and password), as well as further user-generated information and/or quality scores. You can update or correct your Personally Identifiable Information by logging in and clicking on your user name at the top of the Site to access the “Profile” section. If you no longer wish LDC to use or share your Personally Identifiable Information you may contact us to request removal of such information as indicated below.

• “Cookies”

Additionally, like many other websites, the Site may also place a “cookie,” or small file, in the browser of a user’s computer. This cookie may, for example, collect your IP address and/or assign a user a unique number that allows LDC to save information concerning your usage of the Site (including page views, statistical information, etc.) so LDC can learn how to improve users’ experience on the Site, and/or collect information you voluntarily provide to the Site so that it does not need to be reentered. You do not have to accept the cookie to continue browsing the Site. If you do not wish to have the Site place a cookie in your browser, you may set your browser preferences to refuse all cookies before accessing the Site.

• Purchases & Donations

If you choose to donate to LDC via the Site, or purchase any products or services through the Site, we may request additional Personally Identifiable Information from you, such as your address, phone number, or credit card information. We do not store or retain your credit card information; we use a secure third-party service provider to process your credit card information. For that reason, you may be asked to accept the third party processor’s privacy policy or other terms as a condition of your purchase or donation. The third-party processor is not permitted to store, retain, or use billing information except for the purpose of credit card processing on LDC’s behalf.

Our Site also may offer you the opportunity to donate anonymously. If you elect to do so, your donation information will be shared only with our third party processor; the processor will share only the amount of your donation with LDC, and none of your other Personally Identifiable Information.

• Third Party Services

LDC does not permit third parties to collect Personally Identifiable Information from a user through the Site without the user’s consent. However, our Site may provide links to services provided by third parties, including, for example, allowing you to connect with us through Facebook. Any information collected by a third party service is governed by the third party service’s policies which may substantially differ from ours, and may allow the third party service to share your information with LDC. Please review the policies of the relevant third party service before submitting your information to that provider. To the extent that we receive Personally Identifiable Information about you from third party services, we will treat such information as described in this Privacy Policy.

• Children Under Thirteen (13) Years of Age

LDC does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from anyone under the age of thirteen (13) through the Site. If we become aware that we have collected Personally Identifiable Information through the Site from a child under the age of thirteen without verified parental consent, we will delete that information from our records.

While LDC is exempt from compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 as a non-for-profit organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, we take children’s privacy seriously, and encourage users and their parents to review our Privacy Policy and Terms to understand our information collection practices.

How We Use Your Personally Identifiable Information

LDC may use the Personally Identifiable Information that it collects via the Site amongst its employees, agents, affiliates, educational and technology consultants, and LDC-endorsed professional development providers listed on the Site in order to:

• help us operate, analyze, develop, deliver, maintain, and improve the Site, its products, services, content, advertising, and communications;
• administer your account;
• contact you regarding information relevant to LDC’s business, products, or services, or respond to your inquiries; or
• engage in ordinary business, fundraising, marketing, and relationship-building communications with you.

We may also disclose Personally Identifiable Information we collect from you to additional third parties to the extent necessary or appropriate to: (1) comply with the law or respond to a subpoena, court order, government request, or other legal process; (2) protect the interests, rights, safety, or property of LDC, its employees, agents, and affiliates; (3) enforce this Privacy Policy or our Terms; (4) act in connection with a merger, acquisition, liquidation, reorganization, divestiture, or dissolution of LDC or its affiliates, or (5) address fraud, security, technical issues, or otherwise operate the Site or its infrastructure systems properly.

• Third Party Licensors

Note that we also may provide your Personally Identifiable Information to third party licensors (including but not limited to school districts and state or municipal education agencies) pursuant to contractual agreements. While we require that those contractual agreements contain reasonable restrictions on the third party licensors’ use and/or disclosure of the information, the privacy practices of such third party licensors may differ substantially from ours, and may permit sharing of your information to additional third parties beyond those contemplated here.

Retention of Personally Identifiable Information

We will retain the Personally Identifiable Information that we collect for the duration required to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law. We may store Personally Identifiable Information in locations outside the direct control of LDC (for example, on servers or databases collocated with hosting providers). We may also transfer or assign such information in the course of a merger, acquisition, liquidation, reorganization, divestiture, or dissolution of LDC or its affiliates.

LDC also keeps a record of each donor’s giving history on file for IRS purposes, to analyze giving patterns, make more accurate budget projections, and solicit future donations. LDC does not share its donor file with any other party or organization.

Security of Personally Identifiable Information

LDC uses commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard the privacy and integrity of any Personally Identifiable Information collected though our Site. Please note however that transmissions made via the Internet cannot be made absolutely secure. LDC does not represent, warrant, or guarantee that your Personally Identifiable Information will be protected against unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Similarly, LDC disclaims liability for disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information submitted through the Site due to errors in transmission or unauthorized acts of third parties. LDC makes no representations or warranties regarding the sufficiency of our security measures to prevent unauthorized access or interception by third parties.

Collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Tracking; Analytics)

Like most websites, we may automatically collect certain usage information from you through the Site, including through the use of Google Analytics. This information may include, for example, the number and frequency of visitors to the Site, which URL you just came from, which URL you go to next, the resources and tools that you use (including what browser you are using), the time and date of your visit to the Site. We use such data only in the aggregate, combined with Non-Personally Identifiable Information of other Site users. This collective data helps us determine how much our visitors use parts of the Site, and helps us perform internal research on our users’ demographics, interests, and behavior to better understand and serve you.

We may share such aggregated Non-Personally Identifiable Information with third parties, including but not limited to research organizations; philanthropic organizations who provide LDC with monetary support; LDC partners listed on the Site; and state, regional, or local educational agencies or organizations.

Do Not Track Requests

Our Site does not respond to Do-Not-Track requests.

Governing Law; International Users

You agree that your use of this Site, this Privacy Policy, our Terms, and any controversy, claim, or dispute relating thereto, shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York, excluding its conflicts of law rules. Any dispute relating to this Site, our Privacy Policy, or our Terms shall be resolved solely in the state or federal courts located in New York, New York, whose jurisdiction and venue to which you hereby expressly consent. In addition, you hereby waive the right to bring or participate in any claim against LDC, its employees, agents, or affiliates, as a class action, consolidated, multi-district, or collective action, or private attorney general action. If LDC prevails against you in any arbitration or proceeding concerning this Privacy Policy or our Terms, we shall be entitled to recover our legal costs, including attorneys’ fees, in addition to all other available legal and equitable relief.

LDC and the Site are operated in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you provide will be collected in or transferred to the United States. By using the Site and/or providing LDC with your information, you consent to that collection and transfer.

Entire Agreement; Severability

This Privacy Policy together with our Terms constitutes the entire agreement between you and LDC, superseding any other written or oral agreements or understandings. If a court or other tribunal finds any provision of this Privacy Policy or our Terms to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent possible and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Contact Us; Opt-Out and Removal Requests

To review the Personally Identifiable Information that LDC has collected from you or your child through the Site, request corrections to or removal of that information from our records, opt out of receiving marketing emails from LDC, or inquire about our Privacy Policy or Terms, please contact Janice Gordon, Operations Manager, at The Literacy Design Collaborative, 90 Broad Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10004, or via email at info@ldc.org. You may also contact us using this form. You will also have the opportunity to opt out of further communications from LDC by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the e-mail or newsletter you receive.

Requests to opt out of receiving marketing emails from LDC will be honored within 10 business days of our receipt of your request. Requests to remove Personally Identifiable Information collected from you or your child via the Site which are properly submitted as indicated above will be honored within 10 business days our receipt of your request, unless doing so would conflict with LDC’s legal obligations or unless LDC can otherwise anonymize or render invisible the information to prevent individual identification of the user. Note that removal may not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the information from the Site or LDC’s records