This privacy notice for Initiative Science, LLC (doing business as STEM.org Educational Research™) ("we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your information when you use our services ("Services"), such as when you:
Visit our website at http://www.stem.org, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice
Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events
Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at info@stem.org.
SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. Learn more about personal information you disclose to us.
Do we process any sensitive personal information? We may process sensitive personal information when necessary with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Learn more about sensitive information we process.
Do we receive any information from third parties? We do not receive any information from third parties.
How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. Learn more about how we process your information.
In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties. Learn more about when and with whom we share your personal information.
How do we keep your information safe? We have organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Learn more about how we keep your information safe.
What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information. Learn more about your privacy rights.
How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by submitting by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Want to learn more about what we do with any information we collect? Review the privacy notice in full.
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
Personal information you disclose to us
In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.
Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:
names
phone numbers
email addresses
mailing addresses
billing addresses
debit/credit card numbers
Sensitive Information. When necessary, with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law, we process the following categories of sensitive information:
financial data
student data
Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number, and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Stripe . You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://stripe.com/privacy.
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.
We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including:
To facilitate account creation and authentication and otherwise manage user accounts. We may process your information so you can create and log in to your account, as well as keep your account in working order.
To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may process your information to provide you with the requested service.
To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may process your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the requested service.
To send administrative information to you. We may process your information to send you details about our products and services, changes to our terms and policies, and other similar information.
To fulfill and manage your orders. We may process your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Services.
To enable user-to-user communications. We may process your information if you choose to use any of our offerings that allow for communication with another user.
To request feedback. We may process your information when necessary to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Services.
To send you marketing and promotional communications. We may process the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. You can opt out of our marketing emails at any time. For more information, see "WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?" below.
To deliver targeted advertising to you. We may process your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising tailored to your interests, location, and more.
To protect our Services. We may process your information as part of our efforts to keep our Services safe and secure, including fraud monitoring and prevention.
To identify usage trends. We may process information about how you use our Services to better understand how they are being used so we can improve them.
To determine the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional campaigns. We may process your information to better understand how to provide marketing and promotional campaigns that are most relevant to you.
To save or protect an individual's vital interest. We may process your information when necessary to save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm.
3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e., legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into or fulfill our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfill our legitimate business interests.
If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information:
Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e., consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Learn more about withdrawing your consent.
Performance of a Contract. We may process your personal information when we believe it is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations to you, including providing our Services or at your request prior to entering into a contract with you.
Legitimate Interests. We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests and those interests do not outweigh your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, we may process your personal information for some of the purposes described in order to:
Send users information about special offers and discounts on our products and services
Develop and display personalized and relevant advertising content for our users
Analyze how our Services are used so we can improve them to engage and retain users
Understand how our users use our products and services so we can improve user experience
Legal Obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
Vital Interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person.
If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you.
We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e., express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e., implied consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time.
In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example:
If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way
For investigations and fraud detection and prevention
For business transactions provided certain conditions are met
If it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claim
For identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kin
If we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be victim of financial abuse
If it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province
If disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of records
If it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was produced
If the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes
If the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations
4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
In Short: We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following third parties.
We may need to share your personal information in the following situations:
Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
When we use Google Maps Platform APIs. We may share your information with certain Google Maps Platform APIs (e.g., Google Maps API, Places API). We obtain and store on your device ("cache") your location. You may revoke your consent anytime by contacting us at the contact details provided at the end of this document.
Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy notice. Affiliates include our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners, or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us.
Business Partners. We may share your information with our business partners to offer you certain products, services, or promotions.
Other Users. When you share personal information or otherwise interact with public areas of the Services, such personal information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly made available outside the Services in perpetuity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of your activity, communicate with you within our Services, and view your profile.
5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.
We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice.
6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than thirty six (36) months past the termination of the user's account.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?
In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.
8. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Services. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at info@stem.org.
9. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.
In some regions (like the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; (iv) if applicable, to data portability; and (v) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below.
We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below or updating your preferences.
However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
Opting out of marketing and promotional communications: You can unsubscribe from our marketing and promotional communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send, or by contacting us using the details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?" below. You will then be removed from the marketing lists. However, we may still communicate with you — for example, to send you service-related messages that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes.
Account Information
If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:
Contact us using the contact information provided.
Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our legal terms and/or comply with applicable legal requirements.
Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services.
If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at info@stem.org.
10. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.
11. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
What categories of personal information do we collect?
We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months:
Category
Examples
Collected
A. Identifiers
Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account name
YES
B. Personal information as defined in the California Customer Records statute
Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial information
YES
C. Protected classification characteristics under state or federal law
Gender and date of birth
YES
D. Commercial information
Transaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information
YES
E. Biometric information
Fingerprints and voiceprints
NO
F. Internet or other similar network activity
Browsing history, search history, online behavior, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisements
YES
G. Geolocation data
Device location
YES
H. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information
Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities
NO
I. Professional or employment-related information
Business contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level or job title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us
YES
J. Education Information
Student records and directory information
YES
K. Inferences drawn from collected personal information
Inferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics
YES
L. Sensitive personal Information
Debit or credit card numbers
YES
We will use and retain the collected personal information as needed to provide the Services or for:
Category A - As long as the user has an account with us
Category B - As long as the user has an account with us
Category C - As long as the user has an account with us
Category D - As long as the user has an account with us
Category F - As long as the user has an account with us
Category G - As long as the user has an account with us
Category I - As long as the user has an account with us
Category J - As long as the user has an account with us
Category K - As long as the user has an account with us
Category L - As long as the user has an account with us
Category L information may be used, or disclosed to a service provider or contractor, for additional, specified purposes. You have the right to limit the use or disclosure of your sensitive personal information.
We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:
Receiving help through our customer support channels;
Participation in customer surveys or contests; and
Facilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries.
How do we use and share your personal information?
Learn about how we use your personal information in the section, "HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?"
Will your information be shared with anyone else?
We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Learn more about how we disclose personal information to in the section, "WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?"
We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be "selling" of your personal information.
We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. We will not sell or share personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.
California Residents
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Services, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g., backups, etc.).
CCPA Privacy Notice
This section applies only to California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you have the rights listed below.
The California Code of Regulations defines a "residents" as:
(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and
(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose
All other individuals are defined as "non-residents."
If this definition of "resident" applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.
Your rights with respect to your personal data
Right to request deletion of the data — Request to delete
You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.
Right to be informed — Request to know
Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:
whether we collect and use your personal information;
the categories of personal information that we collect;
the purposes for which the collected personal information is used;
whether we sell or share personal information to third parties;
the categories of personal information that we sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;
the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;
the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information; and
the specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.
In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.
Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights
We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.
Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information
If the business collects any of the following:
social security information, drivers' licenses, state ID cards, passport numbers
account login information
credit card numbers, financial account information, or credentials allowing access to such accounts
precise geolocation
racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, union membership
the contents of email and text, unless the business is the intended recipient of the communication
genetic data, biometric data, and health data
data concerning sexual orientation and sex life
you have the right to direct that business to limit its use of your sensitive personal information to that use which is necessary to perform the Services.
Once a business receives your request, they are no longer allowed to use or disclose your sensitive personal information for any other purpose unless you provide consent for the use or disclosure of sensitive personal information for additional purposes.
Please note that sensitive personal information that is collected or processed without the purpose of inferring characteristics about a consumer is not covered by this right, as well as the publicly available information.
To exercise your right to limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal information, please email info@stem.org.
Verification process
Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g., phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate.
We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.
Other privacy rights
You may object to the processing of your personal information.
You may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the information.
You can designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA.
You may request to opt out from future selling or sharing of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving an opt-out request, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of the request submission.
To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at Info@stem.org, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.
Colorado Residents
This section applies only to Colorado residents. Under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.
Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
Right to access your personal data
Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data
Right to request deletion of your personal data
Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ("profiling")
To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email info@stem.org.
If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at info@stem.org. Within forty-five (45) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.
Connecticut Residents
This section applies only to Connecticut residents. Under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.
Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
Right to access your personal data
Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data
Right to request deletion of your personal data
Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ("profiling")
To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email info@stem.org.
If we decline to take action regarding your request and you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at info@stem.org. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions.
Utah Residents
This section applies only to Utah residents. Under the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), you have the rights listed below. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law.
Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
Right to access your personal data
Right to request deletion of your personal data
Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising or the sale of personal data
To submit a request to exercise these rights described above, please email info@stem.org
Virginia Residents
Under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA):
"Consumer" means a natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth acting only in an individual or household context. It does not include a natural person acting in a commercial or employment context.
"Personal data" means any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person. "Personal data" does not include de-identified data or publicly available information.
"Sale of personal data" means the exchange of personal data for monetary consideration.
If this definition of "consumer" applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal data.
Your rights with respect to your personal data
Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
Right to access your personal data
Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data
Right to request deletion of your personal data
Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ("profiling")
Exercise your rights provided under the Virginia VCDPA
You may contact us by email at info@stem.org.
If you are using an authorized agent to exercise your rights, we may deny a request if the authorized agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf.
Verification process
We may request that you provide additional information reasonably necessary to verify you and your consumer's request. If you submit the request through an authorized agent, we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity before processing your request.
Upon receiving your request, we will respond without undue delay, but in all cases, within forty-five (45) days of receipt. The response period may be extended once by forty-five (45) additional days when reasonably necessary. We will inform you of any such extension within the initial 45-day response period, together with the reason for the extension.
Right to appeal
If we decline to take action regarding your request, we will inform you of our decision and reasoning behind it. If you wish to appeal our decision, please email us at info@stem.org. Within sixty (60) days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If your appeal is denied, you may contact the Attorney General to submit a complaint.
12. DO OTHER REGIONS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: You may have additional rights based on the country you reside in.
AustraliaandNew Zealand
We collect and process your personal information under the obligations and conditions set by Australia's Privacy Act 1988 and New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act).
This privacy notice satisfies the notice requirements defined in both Privacy Acts, in particular: what personal information we collect from you, from which sources, for which purposes, and other recipients of your personal information.
If you do not wish to provide the personal information necessary to fulfill their applicable purpose, it may affect our ability to provide our services, in particular:
offer you the products or services that you want
respond to or help with your requests
manage your account with us
confirm your identity and protect your account
At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section at the bottom of this page.
At any time, you have the right to request access to or correction of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?"
If you are unsatisfied with the manner in which we address any complaint with regard to our processing of personal information, you can contact the office of the regulator, the details of which are:
Complaints (complete POPIA/PAIA form 5): PAIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za & POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
13. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?
In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
14. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at info@stem.org or contact us by post at:
Initiative Science, LLC
24001 Southfield Road, Suite #219
Southfield, MI 48075
United States
15. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?
Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please contact
Initiative Science, LLC
24001 Southfield Road, Suite #219
Southfield, MI 48075
United States
Phone: 1-855-367-7836
Fax: 1-855-367-7836
info@stem.org
Take the first step: Apply Online
Contact Us
STEM recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of our web sites, subscribers to our services, registrants for our events, and all other customers of our products and services. We created this policy with a fundamental respect for our customers' right to privacy and to guide our relationships with our customers. This Privacy Statement discloses the privacy practices for all products and services owned by STEM.
Information Collection and Use
STEM collects information from our website users, subscribers and other customers. In this section of our Privacy Statement, we describe the type of information we collect and how we use it to provide better services to our customers.
Registration and Ordering
Using our website and signing up for certain selected services (such as personal business lists), users must first register. During registration, users are required to give their contact information (such as name, e-mail address, mailing address and phone number). For internal purposes, we use this information to communicate with users and provide requested services, and, for our website visitors, to provide a more personalized experience on our sites. We also may collect demographic information. We use aggregate demographic information about our audience to improve our service, for marketing purposes and/or industry reporting purposes.
Many of our products and services are free to subscribers who meet certain demographic criteria. Independent auditors may need to certify the eligibility of these subscribers. In order to do that, we may collect unique identifiers (such as mother's maiden name) that we disclose to the auditors strictly for industry reporting and audit verification purposes.
For our services that require payment (Business Subscriptions), we also collect credit card information (such as account name, number and expiration date), which is used for our or our agent's billing purposes only, and is not otherwise shared.
Surveys and Contests
From time to time we invite web site users and other customers to provide information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the website user or other customer therefore has a choice whether to disclose requested contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip code or job title). In addition to the other uses set forth in this policy, contact information collected in connection with surveys and contests is used to notify the winners and award prizes and to monitor or improve the use of, and satisfaction with the website or other STEM product or service. Subject to the given customer's preferences (as described in the "Permission" section below), such information also may be shared with third party sponsors of such surveys or contests.
Tell-A-Friend
If customers elect to use our referral service for informing a friend about our sites and services, we may ask them for the friend's name, interests and e-mail address. STEM will store and use this information to send the friend an invitation. This information may also be used to provide information about our company and related products and services. The friend may contact us as specified in the tell-a-friend message to request that no further communications be sent.
Communications with Us
We have features where our customers can submit information to us (such as our feedback forms). Where such submissions include requests for service, support or information, we may forward them to our agents, as needed, to best respond to the specific request. In addition, we may retain e-mails and other information sent to us for our internal administrative purposes, and to help us to serve customers better. Please note that letters to the editor and similar submissions may be made public, unless they refer to current registered businesses, in which case information is not disclosed.
Communications from Us: Service Updates, Special Offers
STEM will never send email notifications to users unless they specifically request so.
Automatic Data Collection
STEM has features that automatically collect information from customers, to deliver content specific to customers' interests and to honor their preferences. This information assists us in creating products and services that will serve the needs of our customers.
For example, we use "cookies," a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies benefit the user by requiring login only once, thereby saving time while on our web site. If users reject the cookies, they may be limited in the use of some areas of our web site. For example, the user may not be able to participate in sweepstakes, contests or drawings.
For our internal purposes, we gather date, time, browser type, navigation history and IP address of all visitors to our web sites. This information does not contain anything that can identify users personally. We use this information for our internal security audit log, trend analysis and system administration, and to gather broad demographic information about our user base for aggregate use.
We may combine demographic information supplied by a customer at registration with web site usage data to provide general profiles, in aggregate non-personally identifiable form, about our customers and their preferences in the content of the site and advertising. We may share this composite information with our advertisers and business affiliates to help them better understand our services.
Other than as set forth above, we do not share personally identifiable information with other companies, apart from those acting as our agents in providing our product(s)/service(s), and which agree to use it only for that purpose and to keep the information secure and confidential. Also, our parent, subsidiary and affiliate companies, entities into which our company may be merged, or entities to which any of our assets, products, sites or operations may be transferred, will be able to use personal information. We will also disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena or other legal obligation, in response to a law enforcement agency's request, or in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property. Users should also be aware that courts of equity, such as U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, might have the authority under certain circumstances to permit personal information to be shared or transferred to third parties without permission.
We may share aggregate information, which is not personally identifiable, with others. This information may include usage and demographic data, but it will not include personal information.
Permission
Our customers are given the opportunity to choose whether to receive information from our affiliates and us not directly related to the product or service for which they registered (or which they otherwise agreed to receive). Customers also have the opportunity to choose whether to have personal information shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
Please note that we will endeavor to implement your permission requests within a reasonable time, although for a time you may continue to receive mailings, etc., transmitted based on information released prior to the implementation of your request. In addition, please note that even after such request is implemented, your page will continue to update information directly related to the service for which you registered (or which you otherwise agreed to receive), so you always are kept updated.
Security
We use reasonable precautions to protect our customers' personal information and to store it securely. Sensitive information that is transmitted to us online (such as credit card number, only applies to Businesses) is encrypted and is transmitted to us securely. In addition, access to all of our customers' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted. Finally, the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
Links
STEM may contain links to other sites. STEM is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each web site to which we may link that may collect personally identifiable information.
Children
STEM websites are not directed at individuals under thirteen years of age, and STEM does not intend to collect any personally-identifiable information from such individuals.
Notification and Changes
If we change our Privacy Statement, we will post those changes on this page so our users are aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under which circumstances, if any, we disclose it. Users should check this policy frequently to keep abreast of any changes.
Terms & Conditions
These Website Standard Terms and Conditions written on this webpage shall manage your use of our website, www.STEM.org.
These Terms will be applied fully and affect to your use of this Website. By using this Website, you agreed to accept all terms and conditions written in here. You must not use this Website if you disagree with any of these Website Standard Terms and Conditions.
Minors or people below 18 years old are not allowed to use this Website.
Intellectual Property Rights
Other than the content you own, under these Terms, STEM.org and/or its licensors own all the intellectual property rights and materials contained in this Website.
You are granted limited license only for purposes of viewing the material contained on this Website.
Restrictions
You are specifically restricted from all of the following:
publishing any Website material in any other media;
selling, sublicensing and/or otherwise commercializing any Website material;
publicly performing and/or showing any Website material;
using this Website in any way that is or may be damaging to this Website;
using this Website in any way that impacts user access to this Website;
using this Website contrary to applicable laws and regulations, or in any way may cause harm to the Website, or to any person or business entity;
engaging in any data mining, data harvesting, data extracting or any other similar activity in relation to this Website;
using this Website to engage in any advertising or marketing.
Certain areas of this Website are restricted from being access by you and STEM.org may further restrict access by you to any areas of this Website, at any time, in absolute discretion. Any user ID and password you may have for this Website are confidential and you must maintain confidentiality as well.
Your Content
In these Website Standard Terms and Conditions, "Your Content" shall mean any audio, video text, images or other material you choose to display on this Website. By displaying Your Content, you grant STEM.org a non-exclusive, worldwide irrevocable, sub licensable license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate and distribute it in any and all media.
Your Content must be your own and must not be invading any third-party's rights. STEM.org reserves the right to remove any of Your Content from this Website at any time without notice.
No warranties
This Website is provided "as is," with all faults, and STEM.org express no representations or warranties, of any kind related to this Website or the materials contained on this Website. Also, nothing contained on this Website shall be interpreted as advising you.
Limitation of liability
In no event shall STEM.org, nor any of its officers, directors and employees, shall be held liable for anything arising out of or in any way connected with your use of this Website whether such liability is under contract. STEM.org, including its officers, directors and employees shall not be held liable for any indirect, consequential or special liability arising out of or in any way related to your use of this Website.
Indemnification
You hereby indemnify to the fullest extent STEM.org from and against any and/or all liabilities, costs, demands, causes of action, damages and expenses arising in any way related to your breach of any of the provisions of these Terms.
Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid under any applicable law, such provisions shall be deleted without affecting the remaining provisions herein.
Variation of Terms
STEM.org is permitted to revise these Terms at any time as it sees fit, and by using this Website you are expected to review these Terms on a regular basis.
Assignment
STEM.org is allowed to assign, transfer, and subcontract its rights and/or obligations under these Terms without any notification. However, you are not allowed to assign, transfer, or subcontract any of your rights and/or obligations under these Terms.
Entire Agreement
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between STEM.org and you in relation to your use of this Website, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
Governing Law & Jurisdiction
These Terms will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan, and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in The United States of America for the resolution of any disputes.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
We are a Data Controller of your information.
STEM.org's legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Information we collect and the specific context in which we collect the information:
STEM.org needs to perform a contract with you
You have given STEM.org permission to do so
Processing your personal information is in STEM.org legitimate interests
STEM.org needs to comply with the law
STEM.org will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies.
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. If you wish to be informed what Personal Information we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.
In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:
The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you.
The right of rectification
.
The right to object.
The right of restriction.
The right to data portability
The right to withdraw consent
Log Files
STEM.org follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit STEM.org. All hosting companies do this and a part of hosting services' analytics. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users' movement on the STEM.org, and gathering demographic information.
Cookies and Web Beacons
Like any other website, STEM.org uses 'cookies'. These cookies are used to store information including visitors' preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users' experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors' browser type and/or other information.
DoubleClick DART Cookie
Google is one of a third-party vendor on our site. It also uses cookies, known as DART cookies, to serve ads to our site visitors based upon their visit to www.STEM.org and other sites on the internet. However, visitors may choose to decline the use of DART cookies by visiting the Google ad and content network Privacy Policy at the following URL - https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads.
Some of advertisers on our site may use cookies and web beacons. Our advertising partners are listed below. Each of our advertising partners has their own Privacy Policy for their policies on user data. For easier access, we hyperlinked to their Privacy Policies below.
You may consult this list to find the Privacy Policy for each of the advertising partners of STEM.org.
Third-party ad servers or ad networks uses technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on STEM.org, which are sent directly to users' browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit.
Note that STEM.org has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
Third Part Privacy Policies
STEM.org's Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options. You may find a complete list of these Privacy Policies and their links here: Privacy Policy Links.
You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers' respective websites. What Are Cookies?
Children's Information
Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.
STEM.org does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.
Online Privacy Policy Only
This privacy policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they shared and/or collect in STEM.org. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.
Consent
By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its Terms and Conditions.
