Privacy Policy
Effective Date: January 1, 2023
Connections Education LLC, dba Pearson Virtual Schools USA, and its affiliates (collectively, "Connections"), part of the Pearson global learning company, respects your privacy and has established this privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") to let you know how we collect, use, manage, share, and protect information that we may gather when you visit our website, the websites of our affiliated schools, or the websites for our education management system (collectively, the "Websites"), or communicate with us.
This Privacy Policy applies to the Websites where this Privacy Policy is posted and to information we collect about you by phone, mail, electronically or in person. Connections reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes to this policy will be posted on the Websites. The most current version is always available by clicking on the "Privacy Policy" link located at the bottom of the Websites’ home page. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will become effective upon posting of the revised Privacy Policy.
By using any of the Websites, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy in effect at the time of use. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, please do not use any of the Websites.
International Users
The Websites are hosted and operated in the United States and are subject to United States law. Any personal information that you provide is being provided to us in the United States and will be hosted on United States based servers. You consent to the transfer of your personal information to the United States in order to receive services from Connections or a Connections affiliated school. If you are accessing a Website from outside the United States, please be advised that United States law may not offer the same privacy protections as the law of your jurisdiction.
What Personally Identifiable Information Do We Collect?
We collect personally identifiable information you provide voluntarily when requesting information, catalogs, or other materials or to satisfy other requests. This information may include your first and last name, postal address, email address, telephone number and the names, date(s) of birth and grade level(s) of your child(ren). We may also collect credit card information from you.
Should you decide to enroll your child in one of our programs or managed schools, we collect information from you during the application and enrollment process such as a birth certificate, certain health records and proof of residency.
We may collect personal information at other times, such as when you contact our technical support, send us an email, complete a user survey, or otherwise communicate with Connections.
We may also collect information about you or your student from external sources with your consent or as allowed under the law. For example, we may collect information from a school your child previously attended for academic placement purposes.
How Do We Use Personally Identifiable Information?
Connections uses personally identifiable information to fulfill requests for information, deliver services to you or for your school, or to carry out the transactions you or your school have requested.
Connections may also use personally identifiable information to communicate special messaging, new services, or upcoming events, to provide educational services to students and to otherwise support students, parents, legal guardians, and staff and/or your school with regard to matters such as academic progress, testing, attendance, customer service, or to share information with you related to legislative or regulatory initiatives that could potentially benefit or threaten virtual education in your state, to invite you to share your experience with virtual education, or in the event of an emergency.
Opting out of Communications
If you do not want to receive information unrelated to your enrollment in a school via email from Connections, you can email us at unsubscribe@pearson.com.
If you have provided your mobile number you consent to receive communications by way of pre-recorded and/or autodialed calls. The information will be treated confidentially within Connections, in the same way that we protect other such confidential information.
If you do not want to receive any further information from Connections you can also call us at 844-957-1091 and ask to be removed from all of Connections’ contact lists.
If you have opted to receive text message alerts, you consent to receiving important information regarding your student's enrollment via text or SMS messages at the mobile phone number you provided. You may opt out of these messages at any time by replying STOP to any text or SMS message.
How Do We Disclose Personally Identifiable Information?
We may disclose personally identifiable information with certain service providers. They will use this information to process transactions you have requested, provide customer service and inform you of products or services we offer that you may find useful. Our service providers may include consultants, vendors and companies that perform marketing services on our behalf to help us identify families who may benefit from the services and education offerings Connections or its affiliates provide. We require our service providers to protect your personally identifiable information and to use or disclose it only for the work they are performing for us, or as permitted by law.
In the event that all or substantially all of Connections’ assets are sold or transferred to another party, your personally identifiable information may be transferred to the acquiring entity. However, Connections will take steps to assure that the personally identifiable information is conveyed lawfully and in a manner consistent with the privacy policy under which it was collected.
Finally, we may disclose your personally identifiable information to third parties if we believe we are required to do so in order to comply with law (including court orders and subpoenas); to comply with lawful requests from law enforcement agencies or other governmental organizations; to enforce our Terms of Use; to protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of Connections, our affiliated schools, our employees, or other users of the Websites; and/or to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain. We exercise commercially reasonable care to not otherwise share or disclose the names of users or any other personally-identifying information with third-parties, except with your prior approval and in compliance with federal and state law.
Cookies and other Third Party Marketing Technologies
What are cookies?
Each time you visit a Website, information is automatically gathered such as your IP address domain name, the name of the page from which you entered the Website, which pages you view, and for how long you view them. This information is collected in order to improve the Website, remarketing activities and for trend analysis. As with most websites, we may use "cookies" for marketing purposes, to track usage of our Website, and to improve your experience of our Websites.
A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If, however, you choose to decline certain essential cookies, you may compromise the ability to fully experience the interactive features of our Websites or have some of our services on the Websites function properly. Further information about cookies is available using the help function of your Internet browser.
Third Party Cookies
We may use third-party cookies as part of marketing activities we conduct with Google and/or other third- party vendors, to help provide you with relevant messaging as you use the Internet. As part of these remarketing activities, these third-party cookies may record your visits to our Websites and websites visited prior. Such cookies can then be used to serve targeted messaging to you on other websites.
Managing and Blocking Cookies
Through browser settings, you can manage or block the use of cookies. In addition, you can use opt-out tools for ad networks and firms who participate in the Network Advertising Initiative at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/ or the Digital Advertising Alliance at http://optout.aboutads.info/.
To effectively manage cookies via browser settings or through these ad industry opt-out tools, you must opt-out and set cookie preferences on all browsers and all devices that you use. If you clear cache or cookies, be sure to reset your preferences.
Please note that blocking or disabling some cookies may prevent or impair functionality and use this site.
Here’s some additional information about viewing and changing your browser settings to manage or block cookies:
Google Chrome
- Click on the spanner icon (top menu in browser) and select ‘Settings’
- Click the 'Under the Bonnet' tab on the left, then select the 'Content settings' button
- Under the cookies section, choose the option that best suits your needs.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Click on 'Tools' (top menu in browser) and select 'Internet options'
- Click on the 'Privacy' tab
- Move the privacy slider to the level of privacy you require. Settings above Medium will disable cookies.
Mozilla Firefox
- Click on 'Tools' (top menu in browser) and select ‘Options’
- Select the Privacy icon
- In the history section choose 'Use custom settings for history' from the dropdown menu
- Cookies can be enabled or disabled by clicking on the appropriate check boxes.
Safari
- Click on the Cog icon (top menu in browser) and select 'Preferences'
- Click on Privacy tab and choose the option that best suits your needs.
Opera
- Click on the 'Tools' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
- Select the 'Advanced' tab and choose Cookies from the list on the left
- Choose the option that best suits your needs.
Safari on OSX
- Click on 'Safari' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
- Click on the 'Privacy' tab
- Adjust the level of cookie acceptance here.
Firefox
- Click on 'Firefox' at the top of your browser window and select 'Preferences'
- Select the Privacy icon
- In the history section choose 'Use custom settings for history' from the dropdown menu
- Cookies can be enabled or disabled by clicking on the appropriate checkboxes.
Opt-Out of Remarketing
You may choose to be exempt from the use of Google remarketing cookies at the Google advertising privacy page.
Alternatively, you may opt-out of remarketing on the Google network and similar networks at the Network Advertising Initiative opt out page. Opting out will not prevent advertisements from being served to you on the Internet; it will only affect advertisements that utilize remarketing cookies to serve messaging on the specified networks. We are not responsible for the activities of other parties that may not comply with your opt-out requests.
Third Party Websites
The Websites may contain links to third-party websites for academic and curriculum support that are not under the control or supervision of Connections. Connections is not responsible for the tracking activities of such third-party websites.
The Websites may also contain links to other websites or other resources that are provided for your convenience. Such links, unless explicitly stated, are not endorsed by Connections. The information and data privacy practices of those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy or any other policies or terms applicable to the Websites. We recommend that you review any terms of use and privacy policies of any third party website linked to the Websites before providing any information to those websites or using their products and services.
How We Use Non-Personally Identifiable Information
Because non-personally identifiable information does not identify you, we reserve the right to use it for any lawful purpose and to share it with third parties for any lawful purpose. Please note that to the extent any non-personally identifiable information is combined with personally identifiable information, the combined information will be treated as personally identifiable information for as long as it is so combined.
Student Data Privacy
Connections is an education management company that provides various management services and curriculum content (“Services”) to our customers, including public schools, special programs, school districts and charter organizations (collectively referred to as “Schools”) that wish to provide students and their families with an exceptional virtual school option. Connections also offers a private pay schooling option to families through Pearson Online Academy.
Connections uses industry best practices to protect the privacy of all of our students and families. When our Services are used as part of a School’s educational mission or a family enrolls their student in Pearson Online Academy, the personal information related to the student users (“School Users”) that is (i) provided to Connections by a parent, student or School, or (ii) collected by Connections during the provision of our services to a student or School, may include information defined as “educational records” by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) or other information protected by similar student data privacy laws. We call this information “Student Records.”
FERPA Privacy Rights
FERPA provides students with privacy rights and protection for educational personally identifiable information collected and processed on behalf of educational institutions receiving government funding from the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA provides students with rights to obtain from these educational institutions access to their educational records, as well as correction and amendment of their educational records. For more information on FERPA, students and families should refer to the FERPA policy in their respective student handbook.
Please note, only personal information directly relating to the educational interest of a student which is (1) created by a School User, and (2) created by a School (for example, when a School creates the user name, login and password to establish School User accounts), are designated as Student Records.
Our Commitment:
Our Commitment: Our collection and use of Student Records is governed by our contracts with the Schools, by our Privacy Policy, and by applicable privacy laws. For example, we work with Schools to help protect personal information from the Student’s educational record, as required by FERPA, and to protect the personal information of students under 13 consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).
- We collect, maintain, use and share Student Records only for an authorized educational use and as described in our Privacy Policy, or as directed by the School, the School User and/or the student’s parent or legal guardian.
- We do not disclose Student Records for targeted advertising purposes. We do use certain marketing technologies for the purpose of retargeting, analytics and attribution activities.
- We do not build a personal profile of a School User other than in furtherance of an educational purpose or as authorized by a Caretaker.
- We maintain a comprehensive data security program designed to protect the types of Student Records we maintain.
- We will never sell Student Records.
How we share and disclose Student Records
Depending on the features and account controls applicable to the School User accounts, we may share usernames and account information with other users on the Website, such as teachers, learning coaches, or school administrators. For example, student attendance may be shared with school administrators and learning coaches.
In the Connections proprietary education management system, access to student information and data is controlled by a central team of administrators, trained in FERPA and data privacy, using a complex system of roles, permissions, and locations. Only users in a particular location, who have permissions at that location, will be permitted to access student data that is permissioned using roles and locations. Data points and reports will be assigned to roles, including vendors with whom Connections has contracted to provide a service. Access to reports and all student data will be controlled by these roles. Only users in a location with the correct roles will meet the requirements to access the data.
The education management system contains personally identifiable information that is maintained and accessible by third parties (such as service providers, content partners or vendors). These third parties are provided access to the minimum amount of information required to allow them to perform the tasks for which they have been engaged or contracted. Such third parties have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of such information and to use or disclose it only for the work they are performing for us, or as permitted by law.
Children Under 13
Connections is concerned about the safety and privacy of children online. We take reasonable efforts to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) as well as state-specific laws that provide privacy protections for K-12 students.
The Websites are not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under the age of 13, and we do not and will not knowingly contact or collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. The only personal information we receive about children under the age of 13 is information provided by the parent or legal guardian or information provided by the child as part of that child’s participation in a course or courses as part of that child’s K - 12 education program. By enrolling a child in such course or courses, a parent is consenting to the collection of that information.
It is possible that by fraud or deception by others we may receive information pertaining to children under the age of 13. If we are notified of the receipt of information under such circumstances, once verified, we will promptly obtain parental or guardian consent, and in the absence of such consent, will delete the information. If you want to notify us that we have inadvertently received information for a child under the age of 13, please do so by emailing us at connectionsacademy-privacy@pearson.com.
You can request to review, edit, or prohibit personally identifiable information of a child under the age of 13 from being used by Connections, its affiliates, schools, and vendors acting on behalf of Connections by making a request in writing to connectionsacademy-privacy@pearson.com . Please note that if you make a request to prohibit personally identifiable information from being used by Connections, its affiliates, schools, and vendors acting on behalf of Connections, it will not be possible for your child to participate in a Connections program.
For information on our use of information covered by COPPA please contact us at the following:
Connections Education LLC: 509 S Exeter St, Suite 202, Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: 1-888-303-0506
Security
Safeguards
Connections makes commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard the personally identifiable information we collect and store. We do this, in part, by implementing account verification procedures and password protection features. As effective as our safeguards are, no security system is completely impenetrable, therefore we cannot guarantee the absolute security of our database and systems, nor can we guarantee that personally identifiable information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet.
All data accessed via the EMS will be accessed through forced SSL for privacy and security purposes. Private data transmitted between systems for data reporting purposes will always be transmitted with secure FTP or over a private VPN that provides encryption.
Breach
In the event that any information under our control is compromised as a result of a breach of the security of our systems or inadvertent release of information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and provide notice of the security incident in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Supplemental Privacy Statement for CA, CO, and VA Residents
Residents of California, Colorado, and Virginia should read our Supplemental Privacy Statement in conjunction with this Privacy Policy. The Supplemental Privacy Statement explains Connections commitment to comply with consumer privacy laws and applies to personal information collected through the Services.