ALEKS Privacy Statement for University of Illinois End Users
(Last Updated 5/01/2008)
This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices of ALEKS Corporation ("ALEKS" or “We”) for our website: www.aleks.com (the "ALEKS Website").
ALEKS or the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois or you are the sole owners of the information collected on the ALEKS Website. ALEKS will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement or as stated in the underlying University of Illinois-ALEKS-McGraw Hill Agreement. ALEKS collects information from our users at several different points on our website, including information about the knowledge of users of our services in order to provide instructional services suitable to their needs. The University of Illinois will share any information it collects or receives via the ALEKS Website pursuant to the University’s Privacy Notice at http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/policies/web_privacy.asp.
ALEKS agrees to notify you of:
- What personally identifiable information is collected through the ALEKS Website
- The organization collecting the information
- How the information is used
- With whom the information may be shared
- What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information
- The kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under ALEKS' control
- How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information
If you have any questions of any kind or feel that we are not abiding by our posted privacy policy, you should contact our Director of Customer Support at: http://support.aleks.com.
Registration
In order to use the ALEKS Website, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to provide contact information (such as name, mailing address and email address), and choose the educational grade level and topic on which the user wishes instruction.
Billing Information
We request information from the user or the parent or guardian of the user on our billing information form for the services offered on the ALEKS Website. Here a user must provide contact information (name and billing address) and financial information (credit card number and expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes. If we have trouble processing the billing information, this contact information is used to get in touch with such user, parent, or guardian.
Website Operator
The ALEKS Website is operated by ALEKS Corporation; 15641 Red Hill Avenue, Suite 150; Tustin, California 92780; phone: 714.245.7191; e-mail: contact us at http://support.aleks.com/contact.
Plug-ins and Cookies:
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. A plug-in is software which the user downloads and is installed into the user's web browser that enables certain web software to operate. Cookies enable us to protect confidential data, and track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on the ALEKS Website. In order to use the ALEKS Website, a user must accept the installation of one or more ALEKS plug-ins into the user's browser. Cookies and the ALEKS plug-in are not linked to any personally identifiable information.
Log Files
As is true of most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. We use this information to analyze trends, administer the site, track users' movements, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. Log files are linked to personally identifiable information for purposes of (i) tracking and fixing software "bugs" and (ii) as and to the extent required by applicable law.
Sharing Personally Identifiable Information: ALEKS does not share personally identifiable information with third parties except for the limited situations described below.
Credit Card Processing: We use an outside credit card processing company to bill users for our services. This company does not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Third Party Partners: ALEKS will partner only with the University of Illinois to provide specific information to the University about users of the ALEKS Website and with McGraw Hill to provide anonymized aggregate data about users of the ALEKS Website. The University will use such personally identifiable information for any purpose including educational and research purposes. McGraw Hill will use such anonymous aggregate information for marketing and distribution purposes.
Non-Personally Identifiable Information: ALEKS reserves the right to disclose to third parties non personally identifiable information about our users and their use of the ALEKS Website and related services. For example, ALEKS may disclose aggregate data about the overall patterns or demographics of the users of the ALEKS Website to third parties.
Links
This web site may contain links only to other ALEKS or University of Illinois sites. Please be aware that ALEKS is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by the ALEKS Website.
Transmission Errors or Unauthorized Acts
Although ALEKS will use reasonable efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of personally identifiable information, transmissions made by means of the Internet cannot be made absolutely secure. ALEKS will not be liable for disclosures of personally identifiable information due to errors in transmission or unauthorized acts of third parties.
Required by Law
ALEKS may be required by law to release information regarding our users to law enforcement officials or to use the information internally to permit the investigation of credit card fraud, illegal use of the Internet, violation of our terms of service or other cases of misconduct on the ALEKS Website. We reserve the right to disclose personally identifiable information under such circumstances, or when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or other legal process.
Change of Ownership
In the event that there is a change of ownership or sale of assets of ALEKS, whatever information that we have collected from the ALEKS Website may be transferred to a new owner. ALEKS will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the new owners of the information follow the same privacy practices that are described in this Privacy Statement.
Updates, Student Reports and Other Communications from ALEKS
We will notify you of new ALEKS features and updates via email, only if you opt-in by adding a checkmark next to the text requesting such notification which appears under our request for your email address in our Account Creation forms. We also will send periodic student reports of student’s progress via email, only if you opt-in by adding a checkmark next to the text requesting such reports which appears under our existing student account or new student registration information in our Account Creation forms. In order to continue to receive student reports while subscribing to our services, you must provide us with your new email address each time you change it.
Security
ALEKS takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") protocol. To use this protection technology, you need to have an SSL-capable browser, such as Netscape Navigator 4.5 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 or higher. While on a secure page, such as our billing information form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when you are just 'surfing'.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment, behind a locked cage.
If you have any questions about the security at our website, you can contqact us at http://support.aleks.com/security.
Site and Service Updates
We send site and service related announcements to users on occasion when the information contained in such announcements is important. For instance, if our service were to be temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send such an email. You may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account.
Correction/Updating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your zip code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove that user's personal data provided to us.
Notification of Changes
ALEKS reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement, or any other ALEKS policy or practice, at any time. Any changes or updates to this Privacy Statement will be effective upon posting to the ALEKS Website. Although we may change or update this Privacy Statement at any time, ALEKS will provide notice of any material changes to this Privacy Statement by posting a notice on the home page of the ALEKS Website. For your information, the date of the last update to this Privacy Statement is listed at the top of this page. We have also provided a print button below so that you can keep a copy of this Privacy Statement for your records.
Contact Us
Privacy and security are important to us all. We welcome your feedback and thoughts on privacy and security. If you have any questions, or feel that we are not abiding by this Privacy Statement, please contact our Director of Customer Support at http://support.aleks.com.
NOTE: Where terms become inconsistent over time between this ALEKS Privacy Statement for University of Illinois End Users and the terms of the then current ALEKS Privacy Statement, then the terms of this ALEKS Privacy Statement for University of Illinois End Users control. | 