EAST Privacy Statement

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SPATIAL TECHNOLOGY, INC. (“EAST,” “we,” or “our”) is a project-based, service/learning-oriented program that provides students with the opportunity to use some of the most advanced technology in the world. EAST offers online learning opportunities in a loosely structured, self-driven environment. EAST program instructors (called “facilitators”) manage curricula designed for students to learn computer-based technologies, while also helping their communities and schools. Facilitators receive EAST training but are not EAST employees; facilitators are teachers at a child's school district (a Local Educational Agency or “LEA”). EAST seeks to provide students an educational atmosphere that lets them gain insight into their own experience in acquiring and using information to solve problems. Our address is 6215 Ranch Dr., Little Rock, Arkansas, our telephone number is 501-371-5016, and our email address is communications@eaststaff.org.

EAST offers a website and a mobile software application for LEAs and the students they are instructing, some of whom are under the age of 13 (“Child” or “Children”), (“Student” or “Students”).

EAST is committed to protecting the privacy of Students who use www.eastinitiative.org (our “website”). This Online Privacy Statement explains our practices with respect to the collection, use, and disclosure of information provided by Students and our effort to obtain parental consent before we collect, use, or disclose information provided by Children. We publish this privacy statement in voluntary compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6505 (“COPPA”). For more information about COPPA and general tips about protecting Children's online privacy, please visit this Federal Trade Commission webpage.

EAST uses Google Analytics. For information about how Google uses data when anyone uses our sites or apps, please visit this website.

Anyone who uses the internet should always be aware of their environment. This Privacy Statement applies only to our website. EAST provides links to other websites and, from time to time, EAST may offer services and activities from third parties that include internet resources provided and managed by those third parties. Facilitators, LEAs, students, parents, and any other participants in EAST projects should be aware that the privacy terms of these third-party sites and resources that are not a part of the eastinitiative.org domain will not be the same as the privacy protection described here. We are not responsible for any third-parties' privacy practices. You should be vigilant when you leave this website and read the privacy statements of third-party websites. Particularly when a user is able to input information on a webpage, including making selections on a webpage, it is important first to review the privacy statements of those third-party sites so you understand how those site use and share your information.

1. The Information Our Website Collects, How We Use It, and How and When We Communicate With Parents:

Our website offers resources and activities, some of which may collect information from Students. We have summarized below some instances in which we collect information from Students, and we have outlined how and when we will provide parental notice and/or seek parental consent for our information collection activities regarding Students. In any instance that we collect personal information from a Students, we will retain that information (i) for the Students to participate fully in the activity, (ii) for the Students to verify participation in the activity at any point in the future, (iii) ensure the security of our users and systems, and (iv) as required by law. In the event we discover we have collected information from a Students in a manner inconsistent with COPPA's goals or this statement, we will either delete the information or take reasonable steps to obtain parental consent.

About Verifiable Parental Consent:
Consent:

Prior to providing its web-based services to LEAs and their Students, LEAs provide written assurances that notifications and permissions to and from parents1 have been obtained by the LEA to allow for the creation of Student accounts and the use of EAST resources.

We may, but routinely do not, collect information about or from a Child WITHOUT parental consent for the following purposes:

To obtain verifiable parental consent;

To give voluntary notice to a parent about their Child's participation on a site or service that doesn't collect personal information;

To respond directly to a Child's specific one-time request;

To respond directly more than once to a Child's specific request;

To protect a Child's safety;

To protect the security or integrity of our website or services, to take precautions against liability, to respond to judicial process, or — as permitted by law — to provide information to law enforcement;

To provide support for internal operations of our website or service. This includes:

  • maintaining or analyzing the functioning of our website,
  • performing network communications,
  • authenticating users of the site or personalizing content,
  • serving contextual ads or frequency capping,
  • protecting the security or integrity of the user or our website
  • legal or regulatory compliance, or
  • fulfilling a Child's request under the one-time contact or multiple contact exceptions.
User Accounts:

EAST programs feature user accounts for Students that are either created by LEAs or facilitators or created by Students with LEA or facilitator approval.

User accounts enable Students to participate in the EAST learning experience by doing activities such as creating and maintaining journals, answering surveys (created by, and for the use of, EAST or facilitators), and scheduling educational resources.

During the registration process to create a user account, facilitators provide, or we ask a Student to provide, the Student's first name, last name, date of birth, email address, and school name, and we may allow or require a Student to create a user name and password, which may be unique.

Students may also use the website to register for EAST's Student training or events. The conference registration process may also allow a Student to provide a t-shirt size or register for conference-specific activities such as attending a particular educational session.

For some EAST activities, EAST may ask a Student to obtain written parental consent for EAST to acquire and publish a Student's image, including still photographs or video images. EAST does not condition a Student's participation in EAST activities on obtaining parental consent to acquire and publish a Student's image.

We may also use the information you provided us to contact you from time to time to provide you with important information and required notices.

EAST may also invite, encourage, or allow a Student to download and use one or more of EAST's mobile applications (“EAST Conference Apps”) or to use a live chat feature on its website (“Live Chat”). EAST Conference Apps may collect the same information our website may collect. EAST Conference Apps may also collect information about user activity on the EAST app. For more information about what data an EAST Conference Apps collects, please see the privacy notice associated with that EAST Conference App.

The Live Chat services shall not be used for any purpose that is unlawful or unethical. The Live Chat services are designed to enable communication with others.

We will not require a Student to provide more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in an online activity.

EAST uses information it collects from Students to enable facilitators to conduct and oversee Students' educational activities, to learn Students' answers to survey questions, and to schedule educational resources and activities.

EAST does not and will not sell any information it collects. Although EAST does not access any content created by any Student (except in the limited instances stated elsewhere in this statement), a facilitator may. For example, some activities include Students creating and maintaining a journal, the contents of which are reviewed by a facilitator.

Geolocation Data:

Our site may collect geolocation information about a Student's school or LEA.

Other Automatically Collected Information:

In addition, the website may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of browser you are using, the IP address of the device you are using, your device's unique device ID, your operating system, and information about the way you use the website.

2. When Information Collected From Students Is Available To Others

We will sometimes share or disclose personal information collected from Students, including in the following scenarios:

  • We may share information with our service providers to allow the service provider to perform a business, professional, or technology support function for us.
  • We will disclose personal information without a Student's consent if permitted or required by law, for example, to comply with a court order or a subpoena or to meet other regulatory requirements. We also may disclose personal information collected from Students (i) in response to a request from a law enforcement or public agency (including a school or a children protective services agency); (ii) if we believe disclosure may prevent the instigation of a crime, facilitate an investigation related to public safety or protect the safety of a Student using our website, an EAST Conference App, or the live chat feature; (iii) to protect the security or integrity of our website, an EAST Conference App, live chat feature, or other EAST technology, as well as the technology of our service providers; (iv) enable us to take precautions against liability; or (v) to provide to our lawyers or consultants in the event of litigation or an investigation.

3. Parental Choices and Controls

At any time, parents can refuse to permit us to collect further personal information in association with a particular account and can request that we delete from our records the personal information we have collected in connection with that account. Please keep in mind that a request to delete records may lead to a termination of the Student's account or other service.

In any correspondence to EAST such as email or regular mail, please include your Child's username and the parent's email address and telephone number.

4. Other General Information

Donations Pages:

Within our website's domain (www.eastinitiative.org), you can navigate to pages where you can make a donation to EAST Initiative®. These pages have links to other websites that collect payment information and other information about your donation. You may be invited to share information on social media about your donation, including a personal comment. We may add a hashtag or related technologies to follow and analyze our fundraising. Your use of social media is governed by their terms of service and privacy policies of those account providers.

Off-Site Links:

Our website domain (www.eastinitiative.org) contains links to other websites. EAST Initiative® is not responsible for the content, terms, or policies of linked websites.

Security:

We are concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. We provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect information we process and maintain. For example, we limit access to this information to authorized employees and contractors who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve our website and services. Please be aware that, although we endeavor provide reasonable security for information we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.

Changes:

This Privacy Statement may be updated from time to time for any reason. We will notify you of any changes to our Privacy Statement by posting the new Privacy Statement here. You are advised to consult this Privacy Statement regularly for any changes, as continued use is deemed approval of all changes.

Your Consent:

By using the website, you are consenting to our processing of your information as set forth in this Privacy Statement now and as amended by us. "Processing,” includes using cookies. Cookies are pieces of data that a website transfers to a user's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. You have many choices with regards to the management of cookies on your computer. All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system. To learn more about your ability to manage cookies and web beacons, please consult the privacy features in your browser.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding privacy while using the website, or have questions about our practices, please contact us via email at communications@eaststaff.org.

1 The term "parent" refers to parent and/or guardian.