Privacy Policy
GROTON PRIVACY NOTICE
At Groton School, we care about your privacy. This Privacy Notice provides information about our privacy practices when you use our Services. When we say Services, we mean the websites and apps owned or controlled by us, including the main Groton website, www.groton.org (the Site), and apps that we make available to students and parents, such as myGroton, hosted by Blackbaud, and the Magnus health portal. This Notice does not apply to information we collect offline, such as in-person or through mail, including information we collect offline from our students. It also does not apply to information collected from or about current or former employees, contractors, volunteers, or applicants for employment.
When we use the term “Personal Information,” we mean information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person.
What Information Do We Collect About You?
We and our third-party vendors collect certain information regarding you on our Sites.
Information You Provide to Us on the Site
When you choose to share information with us on the Site, we collect Personal Data, such as:
We use apps, such as myGroton and the Magnus health portal, to facilitate our communications with students, parents, and alumni and to enhance their experience at Groton. In most cases, the information we collect on these apps is provided directly by you; however, we may also collect information used in our apps from others, such as parents, teachers, medical professionals, and other third parties. The information we collect through our apps includes:
We collect information through our Services during the admission process. For example, as part of the admission process, we may collect information directly from you if you submit an Inquiry Form to us on the Site. Additionally, we may receive admission-related information from third-party sources such as Gateway to Prep Schools and from admission test providers such as the Enrollment Management Association, which administers the SSAT. If you are admitted to Groton, we will further process this information in connection with our Services.
Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies
When you use our Services, we use various technologies to collect other types of information automatically, such as:
How We Share and Disclose Your Information
We may disclose Personal Data that we collect to the following recipients:
Cookies and Related Technologies
How we use Cookies:
We use cookies and related technologies (“Cookies”) to provide services, to gather information and to enhance and personalize the experience when users navigate through the Sites, to understand usage patterns, and to improve our Sites. To find out more about cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Cookies on our Sites are generally divided into the following categories:
Essential Cookies: These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Sites and to use some of their features. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the Sites, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our Sites function.
Performance and Functionality Cookies: These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our Sites but are non-essential to their use. However, without these cookies, certain functionality of our Sites may become unavailable.
Analytics and Customization Cookies: These cookies collect information that is used to help us understand how our Sites are being used or how effective our marketing efforts are or to help us customize our Sites for you in order to enhance your experience.
Targeting Cookies: These cookies record your visit to our Sites, the pages you have visited, and the links you have followed to recognize you as a previous visitor and to track your activity on the Sites and other websites you visit. These Cookies qualify as persistent cookies because they remain on your device for us to use during a next visit to our Sites. You can delete these cookies via your browser settings. See below for further details on how you can control third-party targeting cookies.
We may also allow third parties to use Cookies on our Sites to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites you visit. This information may be used to provide advertising tailored to your interests on websites you visit, also known as interest-based advertising, and to analyze the effectiveness of such advertising.
How to control Cookies:
You can review your Internet browser settings, typically under the sections “Help” or “Internet Options,” to exercise choices you have for certain Cookies or you can opt out of the collection and use of this information through tools like the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. If you disable or delete certain Cookies in your settings, you may not be able to use features of the Sites.
We use Google Analytics, which uses cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about use of the Site and report on activities and trends. This service may also collect information regarding the use of other websites, apps, and online resources. To learn more about the use of Cookies by Google for analytics and to exercise choice regarding those Cookies, you may visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and you may opt-out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
The opt-outs described above are device- and browser-specific and may not work on all devices. If you choose to opt out through any of these opt-out tools, this does not mean you will cease to see advertising. Rather, the ads you see will just not be based on your interests.
Other Websites
Some of our Sites contain links to other sites, including Social Media sites, whose information practices may be different from ours. Information you submit to other sites will be governed by the other sites’ privacy policies and terms, and you should carefully review those terms before providing your information.
Social Media Sites
You may post information about yourself and/or your experiences with us through various social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Remember that any information you post will become publicly available, so please use discretion. We are not responsible for the collection, usage, and disclosure policies and practices (including data security) of these sites.
Managing Your Communication Preferences
We may contact you by email regarding emergencies, news, events, and ways you may support Groton School; however, we want to communicate with you only if you want to hear from us. If you wish to opt-out of receiving these communications from us through our mailing list, you may do so at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” in the email you receive from us and following the instructions on the screen. We strongly discourage community members from opting out as they may miss emergency or other important communications.
Information Protection
This site has security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Cross Border Transfers
The Sites are controlled and operated by us from the United States and are not intended to subject us to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country, or territory other than that of the United States. Any information you provide to us through use of the Site may be stored and processed, transferred between, and accessed from the United States and other countries, which may not guarantee the same level of protection of personal data as the one in which you reside. However, we will handle your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice regardless of where your personal data is stored/accessed.
Data Subject Rights
Depending on your residency, you may have certain data subject rights. These rights vary by state and country, but they may include the right to: (i) request access to and rectification or erasure of their personal information; (ii) restrict or object to the processing of their personal information; and (iii) obtain a copy of their personal information in a portable format. Individuals may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority about the processing of personal information. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights, for example, by charging a different price or denying goods or services.
How to Exercise Data Subject Rights:
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please email privacy@groton.org with the phrase “Data Subject Rights” in the subject line. We will review your requests and respond accordingly. The rights described herein are not absolute and we reserve all of our rights available to us at law in this regard. In many instances, these rights are not applicable to not-for-profit entities like Groton School. Additionally, if we retain your Personal Information only in de-identified form, we will not attempt to re-identify your data in response to a Data Subject Rights request.
If you make a request related to Personal Information about you, we will need to verify your identity. To do so, we will request that you match specific pieces of information you have provided to us previously, as well as, in some instances, that you provide a signed declaration under penalty of perjury that you are the consumer whose personal information is the subject of the request. If it is necessary to collect additional information from you, Groton will use the information only for verification purposes and will delete it as soon as practicable after complying with the request. For requests related to particularly sensitive information, we may require additional proof of identification.
If you make a Data Subject Rights request through an authorized agent, we will require written proof that the agent is authorized to act on your behalf.
We will process your request within the time provided by applicable law.
Changes to this Notice
This Privacy Notice may be amended from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page.
Effective Date
The effective date of this notice is 11/2/20.
At Groton School, we care about your privacy. This Privacy Notice provides information about our privacy practices when you use our Services. When we say Services, we mean the websites and apps owned or controlled by us, including the main Groton website, www.groton.org (the Site), and apps that we make available to students and parents, such as myGroton, hosted by Blackbaud, and the Magnus health portal. This Notice does not apply to information we collect offline, such as in-person or through mail, including information we collect offline from our students. It also does not apply to information collected from or about current or former employees, contractors, volunteers, or applicants for employment.
When we use the term “Personal Information,” we mean information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person.
What Information Do We Collect About You?
We and our third-party vendors collect certain information regarding you on our Sites.
Information You Provide to Us on the Site
When you choose to share information with us on the Site, we collect Personal Data, such as:
- When you communicate with us through the Site or submit an Inquiry Form, we may collect your contact information, the content of the communication, and any other information associated with the communication such as information about your interests, education, family information, and other information you provide. We may use information you provide to respond to your inquiries or requests as appropriate.
- When you submit identifiable comments, forms, or other content to us on the Site, we collect whatever information you supply and use that information to communicate with you, if requested, or otherwise fulfill the purpose of the content submission.
- When you give online, we collect billing information, gift designation, and other information related to your gift.
- When you purchase an item from the Site’s Groton School Store, we collect information about your purchases as well as shipping and billing information.
We use apps, such as myGroton and the Magnus health portal, to facilitate our communications with students, parents, and alumni and to enhance their experience at Groton. In most cases, the information we collect on these apps is provided directly by you; however, we may also collect information used in our apps from others, such as parents, teachers, medical professionals, and other third parties. The information we collect through our apps includes:
- When you log in, we may collect your username and password and other information to verify your identity.
- When you communicate with us, we may collect your contact information and the content of your communication.
- When you complete a form, the information you provide.
- Other information you or third parties may provide, such as: contact information like your name, home address, email address, and phone number; demographic information, such as gender, age, and other information you share; payment information, if you make a purchase from us; education history, such as prior schools, transcripts, awards, and honors; health and dietary information; and your image.
We collect information through our Services during the admission process. For example, as part of the admission process, we may collect information directly from you if you submit an Inquiry Form to us on the Site. Additionally, we may receive admission-related information from third-party sources such as Gateway to Prep Schools and from admission test providers such as the Enrollment Management Association, which administers the SSAT. If you are admitted to Groton, we will further process this information in connection with our Services.
Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies
When you use our Services, we use various technologies to collect other types of information automatically, such as:
- Logging Functionality: As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We generally only use this data for purposes such as security, fraud detection, and protecting our rights.
- Cookies and Other Data Collection Technologies: We and our service providers use cookies, scripts, and similar technologies to manage our websites and to collect information about you and your use of our Site. These technologies help us to recognize you, customize or personalize your experience, and analyze the use of our Sites to make them more useful to you. These technologies also allow us to aggregate demographic and statistical data and provide this information to our service providers to facilitate their provision of services. For more information about how we use Cookies and other data collection technologies and how to control such uses, see below.
- Location Information: We may use your IP address to identify the general geographic area from which you are accessing our website.
How We Share and Disclose Your Information
We may disclose Personal Data that we collect to the following recipients:
- Within Groton School: We may share your information with Groton School units and controlled entities (collectively, “Groton Entities”).
- Service Providers: We may disclose your information to third-party service providers to provide us with services such as website hosting, professional services including information technology services and related infrastructure, email delivery, auditing, marketing and analytics, and other similar services.
- Social Media Platforms: We may also use services provided by third parties (such as social media platforms) to serve targeted ads or sponsored content on third-party platforms.
- Other Legal Reasons: In addition, we may use or disclose your Personal Data as we deem necessary or appropriate: (1) if required under applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (2) to respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (3) to comply with subpoenas and other legal processes; (4) to pursue available remedies or limit damages we may sustain; (5) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; (6) to protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of Groton Entities, you, and others; and (7) to enforce our Terms of Use.
Cookies and Related Technologies
How we use Cookies:
We use cookies and related technologies (“Cookies”) to provide services, to gather information and to enhance and personalize the experience when users navigate through the Sites, to understand usage patterns, and to improve our Sites. To find out more about cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Cookies on our Sites are generally divided into the following categories:
Essential Cookies: These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Sites and to use some of their features. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the Sites, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our Sites function.
Performance and Functionality Cookies: These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our Sites but are non-essential to their use. However, without these cookies, certain functionality of our Sites may become unavailable.
Analytics and Customization Cookies: These cookies collect information that is used to help us understand how our Sites are being used or how effective our marketing efforts are or to help us customize our Sites for you in order to enhance your experience.
Targeting Cookies: These cookies record your visit to our Sites, the pages you have visited, and the links you have followed to recognize you as a previous visitor and to track your activity on the Sites and other websites you visit. These Cookies qualify as persistent cookies because they remain on your device for us to use during a next visit to our Sites. You can delete these cookies via your browser settings. See below for further details on how you can control third-party targeting cookies.
We may also allow third parties to use Cookies on our Sites to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites you visit. This information may be used to provide advertising tailored to your interests on websites you visit, also known as interest-based advertising, and to analyze the effectiveness of such advertising.
How to control Cookies:
You can review your Internet browser settings, typically under the sections “Help” or “Internet Options,” to exercise choices you have for certain Cookies or you can opt out of the collection and use of this information through tools like the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. If you disable or delete certain Cookies in your settings, you may not be able to use features of the Sites.
We use Google Analytics, which uses cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about use of the Site and report on activities and trends. This service may also collect information regarding the use of other websites, apps, and online resources. To learn more about the use of Cookies by Google for analytics and to exercise choice regarding those Cookies, you may visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, and you may opt-out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
The opt-outs described above are device- and browser-specific and may not work on all devices. If you choose to opt out through any of these opt-out tools, this does not mean you will cease to see advertising. Rather, the ads you see will just not be based on your interests.
Other Websites
Some of our Sites contain links to other sites, including Social Media sites, whose information practices may be different from ours. Information you submit to other sites will be governed by the other sites’ privacy policies and terms, and you should carefully review those terms before providing your information.
Social Media Sites
You may post information about yourself and/or your experiences with us through various social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Remember that any information you post will become publicly available, so please use discretion. We are not responsible for the collection, usage, and disclosure policies and practices (including data security) of these sites.
Managing Your Communication Preferences
We may contact you by email regarding emergencies, news, events, and ways you may support Groton School; however, we want to communicate with you only if you want to hear from us. If you wish to opt-out of receiving these communications from us through our mailing list, you may do so at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” in the email you receive from us and following the instructions on the screen. We strongly discourage community members from opting out as they may miss emergency or other important communications.
Information Protection
This site has security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Cross Border Transfers
The Sites are controlled and operated by us from the United States and are not intended to subject us to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country, or territory other than that of the United States. Any information you provide to us through use of the Site may be stored and processed, transferred between, and accessed from the United States and other countries, which may not guarantee the same level of protection of personal data as the one in which you reside. However, we will handle your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice regardless of where your personal data is stored/accessed.
Data Subject Rights
Depending on your residency, you may have certain data subject rights. These rights vary by state and country, but they may include the right to: (i) request access to and rectification or erasure of their personal information; (ii) restrict or object to the processing of their personal information; and (iii) obtain a copy of their personal information in a portable format. Individuals may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority about the processing of personal information. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights, for example, by charging a different price or denying goods or services.
How to Exercise Data Subject Rights:
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please email privacy@groton.org with the phrase “Data Subject Rights” in the subject line. We will review your requests and respond accordingly. The rights described herein are not absolute and we reserve all of our rights available to us at law in this regard. In many instances, these rights are not applicable to not-for-profit entities like Groton School. Additionally, if we retain your Personal Information only in de-identified form, we will not attempt to re-identify your data in response to a Data Subject Rights request.
If you make a request related to Personal Information about you, we will need to verify your identity. To do so, we will request that you match specific pieces of information you have provided to us previously, as well as, in some instances, that you provide a signed declaration under penalty of perjury that you are the consumer whose personal information is the subject of the request. If it is necessary to collect additional information from you, Groton will use the information only for verification purposes and will delete it as soon as practicable after complying with the request. For requests related to particularly sensitive information, we may require additional proof of identification.
If you make a Data Subject Rights request through an authorized agent, we will require written proof that the agent is authorized to act on your behalf.
We will process your request within the time provided by applicable law.
Changes to this Notice
This Privacy Notice may be amended from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page.
Effective Date
The effective date of this notice is 11/2/20.
Groton School Mission: To inspire lives of character, scholarship, leadership, and service within a diverse, inclusive, and close-knit community.
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