Pactful — back to home← Back to home

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last updated:

Introduction

This Privacy Policy provides information on how the University of San Diego (“USD”) collects, uses, and protects personal information with regard only to the proprietary education tool referred to as “Pactful” as described within the Terms of Use available at https://app.pactful.org/terms-of-use. It is incorporated into and subject to our Terms of Use. When we refer to “us,” “we,” “our,” “USD,” or Pactful in this Privacy Policy, we are referring to USD and its affiliates.

This Privacy Policy provides disclosure for two separate situations that may apply to the use of Pactful. First, it provides disclosure regarding our practices when we are working directly with individuals that are not covered by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The second is when we are working with a school or school district where FERPA applies, such that the school or school district is a customer of Pactful. If the second scenario applies, the customer’s privacy policy (the school or school district’s privacy policy) will apply.

Your Use of Pactful as an Individual Where No Portion of the Interaction Is Subject To FERPA

Information We Collect

We may collect two types of information, information that allows you to be identified (“Personal Information”) and information which does not identify you (“Aggregate Information”). We collect these types of information as described below.

Directly from you. We collect information necessary to provide the educational technology services as directed by you. This may include information in the following data categories:

  • Account information: The exact elements will depend on what specific information you provide to us, including your name, username, password, and the login credentials to third party services as appropriate.
  • Other Information you contribute voluntarily to us: This could include information concerning educational activities, including any information you may choose to share with us via a third party service, to the extent such functionality is offered, such as Google Drive.

Indirectly from you. We collect device and usage information when you access and use our products and services, including information that your browser or the mobile app sends when you are using it. This data may include your unique device identifier, IP address, your browser type and configuration, location data, the date and time of your use of the product or service, and cookie data.

From third parties. We may receive information from our affiliates or other third parties. For example, we may receive limited personal information from third-party services that integrate with or complement Pactful in order to provide you with the best possible user experience.

How We Use This Information

We use your information to provide you the features and functionality of Pactful, as well as to communicate directly with you and allow you to communicate with other users if available. We may also use Aggregated Information to understand and improve our products and services, for research purposes, and for other purposes at our discretion. We may share general contact information with certain partners as is necessary to offer and provide our products and services to our current and prospective users. No user data other than general contact information is provided for these purposes. For absolute clarity, we do not market to students nor do we provide any student data or personally identifiable information to any partners for marketing purposes.

How We Share This Information

We share information to provide Pactful to you and further improve Pactful and related services or offerings. Within Pactful, information that allows others to identify you will be limited to authorized users with a need to access this information, including our support team. We use vendors to help us provide Pactful. For example, if you are using Pactful in a manner where a portion is hosted, vendors such as Amazon Web Services and Azure may provide our cloud hosting facilities. Third-party analytics tools may also have access to your personal information to help us understand how Pactful is used.

We engage directly with certain third-party companies to help us provide Pactful to our customers or to you or to perform work on our behalf (“vendors”). Our vendors are required to abide by this privacy policy and our security instructions and are contractually restricted from using any personal information they access or receive from us for any purposes other than as needed to perform such services. We may use vendors to help us conduct marketing campaigns or events and disclose customer contact information necessary for those activities.

We may also share your information where required under the following circumstances:

  • Where permitted by applicable law and by contracts with our customers, we may disclose your information in the course of a corporate transaction such as a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or a financing, or pursuant to a bankruptcy, dissolution proceeding or reorganization.
  • We may need to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements and to respond to lawful requests, court orders, and legal processes. Where such disclosures relate to personal data we hold as a data processor on behalf of our customers, we will refer such requests to our customers where permissible.
  • We may need to disclose your information to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Pactful, our customers, or third parties, including enforcing contracts or policies, or in connection with investigating and preventing fraud or other misuse of our systems.
  • We may utilize aggregated or de-identified (anonymized) information that is no longer associated with a person to enhance and promote Pactful. Pactful does not rent, sell, or otherwise provide access to student personal data to third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

How To Change or Remove This Information

You may contact us to modify or remove any data by email at support@pactful.org.

Where You Are Using Pactful Through a Customer (School or School District) of Pactful

When a customer’s privacy policy governs. If you are an end-user (student or teacher) of our customer (a school or school district) and you are using Pactful through a customer of Pactful (your school or school district), your school or school district’s privacy policy or privacy notice governs the use of any personal information. Our Privacy Policy does not supersede the terms of any agreements between us and your school or school district (our customer), nor does it affect the terms of any agreement between the student and the student’s school or school district.

Parents and Students

The school or school district decides how your personal information is used. Pactful provides learning products and services to end users of a school or school district (our customers). This also means that the school or school district’s own Privacy Policy governs the use of student personal information. Pactful’s customers determine what information we collect through Pactful and how it is used, and we process that information according to our customer’s instructions and the terms of our contract with our customer.

This section of our Privacy Policy is provided for informational purposes and describes how parent and student personal information is used when Pactful products and services are provided through a school or school district. How that information is used depends on the school or school district, so please consult your institution’s Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect

Information provided to us by a school or school district. Pactful may integrate with our customer’s systems. The specific information that is collected from the school or school district depends upon the Pactful product or service, but in general, this information includes but is not limited to name, email address, and avatar, as well as information kept in student records and additional records as provided by the school or school district. Pactful will receive regular updated information to keep account information accurate and up to date.

Directly from a parent or student: Depending on how your school (or your child’s school) uses Pactful, we will collect information necessary to provide the educational technology services. This may include information in the following data categories:

  • Account information: The exact elements will depend on what specific information provided to us, including name, username, and password, and the login credentials to third party services as appropriate. Pactful will receive regular updated information to keep account information accurate and up to date.
  • Other Information you contribute voluntarily to us: This could include information concerning educational activities, including any information you may choose to share with us via a third party service, to the extent such functionality is offered, such as Google Drive.
  • Indirectly from a parent or student: We may collect device and usage information when users access and use Pactful, including information that your browser or the mobile app sends when you are using it. This data may include your unique device identifier, IP address, your browser type and configuration, location data, the date and time of your use of the product or service, and cookie data.

How We Use This Information

On behalf of your school or school district. We use your information on behalf of and under the instruction of your child’s school or school district. We use the information in accordance with our agreement with your child’s school or school district to operate, maintain, and provide the features and functionality of Pactful. Your child’s school or school district determines how the personal information is used.

How We Share This Information

We share student information in accordance with our agreement with your (or your child’s) school or school district. Generally, this includes the sharing of such information inside and outside Pactful under certain terms. Student information will be accessed inside Pactful only by those who have a need to know to provide Pactful’s services and improve them. For example, our technical and client support teams may have access to personal information when Pactful is implemented for your school or school district or when software or other changes are required for support and maintenance purposes. We use vendors to help us provide Pactful to you (or to your child) on behalf of our school or school district customer.

Other Types of Disclosures. We may also share your information where required under the following circumstances:

  • Where permitted by applicable law and by contracts with our customers, we may disclose your information in the course of a corporate transaction such as a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or a financing, or pursuant to a bankruptcy, dissolution proceeding or reorganization.
  • We may need to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements and to respond to lawful requests, court orders, and legal processes. Where such disclosures relate to personal data we hold as a data processor on behalf of our customers, we will refer such requests to our customers where permissible.
  • We may need to disclose your information to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Pactful, our customers, or third parties, including enforcing contracts or policies, or in connection with investigating and preventing fraud or other misuse of our systems.
  • We may utilize aggregated or de-identified (anonymized) information that is no longer associated with a person to enhance and promote Pactful. Pactful does not rent, sell, or otherwise provide access to student personal data to third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

Marketing Practices Generally

Marketing

We conduct marketing to promote Pactful, but do not use or disclose information (whether personal information or otherwise) about students that we collect through the provision of Pactful products and services for targeting of advertisements to students. When we conduct (or sponsor) events, conferences, and webinars, we will collect information about attendees, such as the session they attend and their contact information to provide them information about Pactful products and services and other Pactful information.

Marketing Preferences and Opt-Out

Our marketing emails will always include an “unsubscribe” link so that you can change your preferences and opt-out of receiving marketing emails or communications from Pactful. Please note that even if you opt-out of marketing emails, we may still need to contact you with important information about your Pactful account.

Interest-based Advertising

We may use third-party advertising tools to collect information about your visits to the Pactful websites to provide targeted advertisements to you based on your browsing history on other websites or on other devices you may use. If you would prefer to not receive personalized ads based on your browser or device usage, you may generally express your opt-out preference to no longer receive tailored advertisements. Please note that you will continue to see advertisements, but they will no longer be tailored to your interests. To learn more or opt-out of interest-based advertising by participating companies in the following consumer choice mechanisms, please visit:

Google Analytics and Advertising

We also use Google Analytics and other third-party services and cookies to collect certain information about your visits to our Pactful websites. You can opt-out of third-party cookies from Google Analytics using the Google Analytics opt-out browser setting addon or other ad management tools.

“Do Not Track” Signals

Without a common industry or legal standard for interpreting so-called “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals, Pactful does not respond to browser DNT signals. We will continue to monitor further development of a DNT standard by the privacy community and industry.

Data Retention

Website Users

We keep website usage information for as long as necessary for the purposes described above. Account information is retained until you delete the account and for a limited period thereafter. Please note that aggregated or de-identified data is not subject to deletion. Where you have provided information in forms, we retain the information as long as it is required, depending on the nature of the request. If you unsubscribe from receiving marketing communications from us, we will keep a record of this to ensure that you do not receive such communications in the future.

Customers (Schools and School Districts)

We keep information collected on behalf of our customers for as long as necessary and pursuant to contractual terms. We dispose of information that is not held pursuant to contractual terms in a commercially reasonable time period or at the request of a customer.

Successor Entities

In the case of a merger or acquisition by another entity, any successor will be subject to these privacy commitments.

Children’s Privacy

We do not knowingly collect any information from children under the age of 13 unless and until the Pactful customer (school or school district) has provided authorization for a student under 13 to use Pactful and for us to collect personal information from such student.

Please contact us at support@pactful.org if you believe that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without proper consent. This will allow us to delete such information as soon as possible.

Security

Pactful employs a variety of physical, administrative, and technological safeguards that are designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized access or disclosure. We strive to continuously enhance our technical and operational security measures. Our measures consider the type and sensitivity of the data being collected, used, and stored, and the current state of technology and threats to information. Pactful’s security measures include data encryption, firewalls, and data use and access limitations for personnel and vendors. Pactful also aligns its privacy and security operations to best practices.

United States Federal and State Education Privacy Laws

Pactful, in its role as a vendor to educational agencies and institutions, both public and private entities (“Educational Agencies”), receives disclosures from the Educational Agencies, which include the personal information and other data (“Student Data”) contained in student records as well as directly from students and parents of students. Only information that is needed for Pactful to perform services, which are outsourced to Pactful by the Educational Agencies, is disclosed to Pactful. These disclosures are authorized by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Pactful considers Student Data to be strictly confidential and do not use Student Data for any purpose other than improving and providing our products and services to the Educational Agencies or on the Educational Agencies’ behalf. Our collection, use, and sharing of Student Data is governed by our contracts with the Educational Agencies, the provisions of FERPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and other applicable state and federal laws and regulations that relate to the collection and use of personal information of students. If you have questions about reviewing, modifying, or deleting personal information of a student, please contact the relevant Educational Agency (ies) directly.

Links To Other Sites

Our Pactful websites may provide links to third party websites or resources. The information practices of those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy or any other policies or terms applicable to the Pactful websites or the Pactful products or services. We recommend that you review any terms of use and privacy policy of any linked third party website before providing any information.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy and its last updated date to reflect changes to our data governance practices. If we propose to make any material changes, we will notify you by email 30 days prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

For U.S. Educational Agency Customers

Pursuant to state law, the following state specific language is hereby incorporated into this Privacy Policy, provided that Pactful is providing and/or offering you Pactful products or services in one of the following states (capitalized terms below which are not otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy are as defined either in the applicable state law or in your Pactful agreement):

  • California – Pactful will not use your data for any purpose beyond the indicated purposes in the Terms of Use which includes this Privacy Policy. This includes, but is not limited to, Pactful’s policy to never use PII from a Pupil’s Records to engage in targeted advertising.
  • Colorado – Pactful will not use your data for any purpose beyond the indicated purposes in the Terms of Use which includes this Privacy Policy. Only the Pactful employees or contractors that have a legitimate interest in accessing your data will be granted authorization by Pactful.
  • Connecticut – Pactful will not use your data for any purpose beyond the indicated purposes in the Terms of Use which includes this Privacy Policy. This includes, but is not limited to, Pactful’s policy to never use any student’s PII to engage in targeted advertising. Pactful also avers to utilize industry standard security, or better, to ensure the protection of said student PII. Connecticut law shall govern this agreement between you and Pactful. All terms herein are defined in accordance with Public Act No. 16-189, and in case of any ambiguity or conflict between the terms herein and Public Act No. 16-189, then Public Act No. 16-189 will govern.
  • Florida – Pactful will provide notification of a security breach pursuant to requirements as mandated in the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014.
  • Maryland – Pactful will not use Covered Information to engage in targeted advertising.
  • New York – In accordance with New York Education Law § 2-d, Pactful will comply with and attach to your contract the Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security, as applicable.
  • Pennsylvania – Pactful will provide notification of a security breach pursuant to the requirements of Pennsylvania’s Breach of Personal Information Notification Act.
  • Washington – Pactful will provide notice before making material changes to this Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about your privacy or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at The Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110, 619-260-7616. You may also contact us via email at support@pactful.org.