Terms of Service

Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice

[7/10/24]

This Website User Privacy Notice describes how [Kansas Education and Research Network] hereinafter “(KERN”, “we” and “our”) collects, processes, transfers and stores data from visitors to our Website at https://www.kansasern.org/ (“Website“). This Website User Privacy Notice (“Notice”) applies only to the data collected on the Website and not to other data collected, processed, transferred or stored by KERN as part of any service we provide to you.

Please read this Notice carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using this Website, you agree to this Notice. This Notice may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Website User Privacy Notice section below). Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Notice periodically for updates.

1. OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

This Website User Privacy Notice describes:

• How information about you is collected through our Website;
• How we use this information; and
• How we share this information.

If you have any questions regarding this Notice or our information collection and use practices, please contact us using the information in the Contact Us section below.

2. INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH OUR WEBSITE

KERN collects information from Website visitors and also obtains information from third parties (including from service providers) in the course of your interaction with our Website and our online services (our “Services”), which we may add to the data we obtain through the Website. The information collected through our Website includes:

• Information You Provide to Us. We collect information you provide to us, for example, when you enter information into any form fields on our Website, communications you have with us (including your communications with our Website’s chatbot), sign up to receive our emails, make a donation, or enter a promotion sponsored by us. This information may include your name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, payment card details, citizenship status, military status, or other identifier intended as a means to contact you online or offline (“Personal Information”). We collect this information to respond to requests for information from you and to communicate with you.
• Device and Usage Information. Our Website collects standard technical, non-Personal Information when you use it, including internet protocol (“IP”) addresses (which may identify the general geographic area from which you are accessing our Website), referring URL, browser types, internet service providers (“ISPs”), phone GPS, web browser and/or operating system, the webpages and content you view or interact with on our Website, time spent on each webpage, the information you search for on each webpage, and your interactions with and submissions on our Website (such as buttons you click, mouse movements, information entered into form fields, and the date, time, and location of access to the Website).
• Information Collected Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies. Our Website collects certain information through the use Automatic Data Collection Technologies which may include:
  • Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting, you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website. For information about managing your privacy and security settings for cookies, see the Your Choices About How We Collect Your Information Through Our Website section below.
  • Pixel Tags. A pixel tag is a piece of code that a third party asks us to put on our Website to deliver their cookies. Pixel tags are often single pixel, transparent GIF images posted on a webpage, and they allow the third party serving the image to read and record cookies.
  • Server Logs. A server log is a text document that contains a record of all activity related to a specific web server over a defined period of time. The web server gathers data automatically and constantly to provide administrators with insight into how and when a server is used, as well as the users that correspond with that activity.
  • Web Beacons. Pages of our Website and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).
  • Plug-ins. A plug-in is a piece of software that acts as an add-on to a web browser and gives the browser additional functionality. A plug-in can allow a web browser to display additional content it was not originally designed to display.
  • Chatbots. A chatbot is a computer program or software that simulates human conversation through text of voice interactions. We use a chatbot to communicate with visitors to our Website who are interested in learning more about our school and educational offerings.
• Third Party Use of Automatic Data Collection Technologies. Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Website are served by third parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use Automatic Data Collection Technologies (including the examples described above) to collect information about you when you use our Website. The information they collect may be associated with your Personal Information or they may collect information, including Personal Information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content. Examples of the types of third parties who use Automatic Data Collection Technologies on our Website include:
  • Google Analytics
  • Meta
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Visual Website Optimizer

We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. For information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see the Your Choices About How We Collect Your Information Through Our Website section below.

3. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We use information collected on our Website in a variety of ways intended to provide our Website and Services and to operate our business, including any of the following:

• To present our Website and its contents to you.
• To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
• To fulfill any other purpose for which you provided Personal Information to us.
• To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
• To notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide though it.
• To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website.
• In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
• For any other purpose with your consent.
• To display advertisements to our advertisers’ target audiences. Even though we do not disclose your Personal Information for these purposes without your consent, if you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, the advertiser may assume that you meet its target criteria.

4. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We may share, transfer, or disclose your information if you consent to us doing so, as well as in the following circumstances:

• Disclosure of Aggregated Information. We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
• Disclose of Personal Information. We may disclose Personal Information that we collect or you provide as described in this Notice including any of the following:
  • To our subsidiaries and affiliates.
  • To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep Personal Information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide Personal Information to us.
  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
  • With your consent.
• Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement; Protection of Our Rights. We may disclose your information (including your Personal Information) to a third party if: (a) we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental or regulatory request; (b) to enforce our agreements, policies and terms of service, including for billing or collection purposes; (c) to protect the security or integrity of our Website or Services; (d) if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the property, rights, or safety of KERN, our customers, or others from harm or illegal activities; (e) to respond to an emergency which we believe in the good faith requires us to disclose information to assist in preventing the death or serious bodily injury of any person; or (f) to investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations.
• In Significant Business Transactions. Your information, including Personal Information, may be disclosed and otherwise transferred to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of KERN’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information held by KERN about our Website users is among the assets transferred.

5. OUR POLICY CONCERNING CHILDREN

Our Website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on the Website. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on this Website or on or through any of its features. If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected].

6. CHANGES TO OUR WEBSITE USER PRIVACY NOTICE

This Notice may be updated from time to time. We will post the date our Notice was last updated at the top of this Notice. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to this Notice. Your continued use of the Website after any change in this Notice will constitute your acceptance of such change.

7. YOUR CHOICES ABOUT HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION THROUGH OUR WEBSITE

Many Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. You may be able to instruct your browser or select settings on your mobile device to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting cookies from our Website. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of our Website may then be inaccessible or not function properly.

KERN does not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals.

You can ask to review, update, or make changes to the personal information KERN maintains about you by sending a written request to the portal address or email address in the contact us section.

We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI’s website.

8. CONTACT US

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding our Notice and/or practices, please send an email to [email protected] or otherwise mail to the following:

The Community Solution Education System
ATTN: Marketing Department
203 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60601