|
HEADER
|
||||
|
The SparkTop.org Privacy Policy page addresses the following: Collection of Information by Third-Party Sites and Sponsors Parental Review of Information Final Note to Parents The privacy of all online users is important to us at SparkTop.org, especially the privacy of children. We are committed to safeguarding children’s personal information collected online, and to helping parents or guardians and their children (along with teachers and their students) exercise control over personal information while exploring the Internet. We do not ask children to disclose personal information. We do not ask parents or guardians to disclose any more information on behalf of themselves or their child than is necessary for the child to participate in an activity.
To help ensure a safe, rewarding online experience for you and your child, we provide you with this summary of our information practices to empower you in connection with your child’s online experiences. This privacy notice governs the collection and use of information at SparkTop.org.
To enable families of children with identified learning differences (LD) and their teachers to maximize the benefits they receive from our services, we ask that children be registered as SparkTop.org members. Although the entire site is free of charge, and many of its features are available to all users, only registered members are able to participate in some activities including: Saving content from SparkTop.org in their own My Stuff area; participating in SparkTop.org sweepstakes and contests, subject to official rules for each sweepstakes or contest; competing with other SparkTop.org Members for high scores rankings on some SparkTop.org games; having their original content submission showcased along with their screen name in the SparkTop.org Gallery; connecting with other members through the use of SparkMail, asking email-based questions of and receiving responses from various LD experts and SparkTop.org characters, posting messages along with their screen name in the SparkTop.org filtered message boards or SparkBlog; receiving an online or print newsletter from SparkTop.org; receiving personalized Birthday Greeting from Sparktop.org; earning points and redeeming points for merchandise in the SparkMart Store, and receiving communications and recognition from SparkTop.org when they check into the site.
Registration affords SparkTop.org members, their families, and their teachers with both privacy and security. Therefore, we may ask parents (or teachers) to provide personal information on behalf of themselves or their child including name, e-mail address, address, telephone number, and date of birth.
II. How We Use the Information
We do not share personal information with third parties, except when necessary to complete certain activities as noted below.
SparkTop.org does not disclose to third parties personally identifiable information which parents or teachers provide, except from time to time, we may transfer, disclose or share such information with third parties who may be engaged by us specifically to handle and deliver certain online activities (e.g. administering contests and sweepstakes or fulfillment of prizes, premiums, or SparkMart Merchandise). Such third parties have access only to the personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes.
We use our members’ information for our internal purposes to maximize the benefits SparkTop.org provides in terms of determining eligibility for members-only sweepstakes, contests, and reward programs; accumulation of SparkPoints to each member’s personal account; and for fulfillment of premiums, prizes, and SparkMart merchandise.
We sometimes use non-personally identifiable information that we collect to improve the design and content of our site and to enable us to personalize your interaction with our site and make the most of your overall Internet experience. We also may use this information in the aggregate to analyze site usage.
We will disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency’s request.
The Professor Garfield Foundation, the operator of SparkTop.org (originally created by Schwab Learning which was formerly a service of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation), uses the secure PrivoLock™ system for registering a child, which provides parents and teachers with the tools necessary to manage a child's online identity. Neither SparkTop.org nor the Privo online registration service will use or transfer the personally identifiable information provided by you in ways that are materially different from the ones described above without also providing appropriate notification of such practices and obtaining consent for any materially different uses.
The Professor Garfield Foundation reserves the right to transfer personally identifiable information to a not-for-profit foundation with a children’s literacy mission in the event of a change of ownership of SparkTop.org to an organization of that nature. Such a transfer of data would be necessary to enable the new owner of SparkTop.org to facilitate log-on for existing SparkTop.org members and to fulfill membership benefits.
In the event of a material change in this policy by a new owner of SparkTop.org, a notification to parents and consent to the new policy will be required.
You may opt out of your child’s membership at ANY time, by logging into Manage Consent for your child with your parent user name and password, and selecting Opt-Out for SparkTop.org Membership. At that time, any personally identifiable information you have provided on behalf of yourself and your child will be deleted and your child’s SparkTop.org membership will be disabled.
III. Collection of Information by Third-Party Sites and Sponsors
SparkTop.org contains links to SchwabLearning.org (a service of Great Schools, Inc.) and to Privo (children’s registration and privacy service whose information practices are similar to ours). Nonetheless, visitors should consult those sites’ privacy policy notices as the sites are not covered by our privacy policy. From time to time we may link to select other sites which may share our overall educational mission. Visitors should also consult those sites’ privacy policy notices as the sites are not covered by our privacy policy.
Personally identifiable information is gathered from adults by Privo as part of the registration process for SparkTop.org, and is shared only with SparkTop.org and The Professor Garfield Foundation for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and in the About Registration document. This information is not made available by Privo to any other third party or sponsor.
SparkTop.org uses a software technology called “cookies.” Cookies are small text files that we place in visitors’ computer browsers to store their preferences. Cookies themselves do not contain any personally identifiable information. Although cookies could enable us to relate a visitor’s use of this Web site to personal information (e.g., e-mail address) that a visitor has provided, we do not do so for this site.
We have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect online.
VI. Parental Review of Information
Parents have the ability to accomplish any of the following:
To access your child’s account, go to the login page and click on Manage Account. To protect your child’s privacy and security online, we will take reasonable steps to help verify your identity before granting you access to the personal information that we collect and maintain about your child. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our privacy policy and/or practices, please contact us at the following email address or street address: privacy@SparkTop.org The Internet offers a world of educational and entertainment opportunity for children. Your guidance and involvement are essential to help ensure that children have a safe and rewarding online experience. We encourage you to visit the Kidz Privacy website area of the Federal Trade Commission website (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/adults.htm). The FTC has provided this information to help parents’ understand how to protect their children’s privacy when they are online . Your efforts to instill responsible information practices will help steer your children to appropriate sites, and will go a long way toward ensuring that your children have enriching experiences online.
Privo's Privacy Assurance Program
|
||||
