Privacy Notice

Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at VU LLC, doing business as VU Scholarships ("VU Scholarships," “VU,” "we," "us," or "our"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice or our practices with regard to your personal information, please contact us at help@vuscholarships.com.

This privacy notice describes how we might use your information if you:

• Visit our website at http://www.vuscholarships.com or any collection of websites operated by VU, including http://app.vuscholarships.com or http://calc.vuscholarships.com‍
• Engage with us in other related ways ― including any sales, marketing, or events

In this privacy notice, if we refer to:

• "Website," we are referring to any website of ours that references or links to this policy
• "Services," we are referring to our Website, and other related services, including any sales, marketing, or events

The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to it. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately.

Our services require us to collect detailed personal information from you and in many cases share your personal information with colleges, universities, and scholarship administrators. We want you to have the information you need to make an informed decision about sharing your information with us. This privacy notice explains our information collection and sharing practices, as well as the choices you can make to limit our sharing your information.‍

Please read this privacy notice carefully, as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH?

5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

9. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

10. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

13. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Website, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Website or otherwise when you contact us.

The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Website, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:‍

Personal Information Provided by You. We collect names; phone numbers; email addresses; usernames; passwords; contact preferences; contact or authentication data; mailing addresses; date of birth; academic variables; demographic variables; college search variables such as interests; level of interest in institutions who offered a provisional scholarship; and other similar information.

You may update this information at any time after your initial registration.

Collection of Information from Children. The VU Site is intended for general audiences and is not directed to children under the age of 13. VU follows federal law and Federal Trade Commission guidelines regarding youth privacy and will not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are aware that a child under the age of 13 has created an account or provided us with personally identifiable information, please email us at help@vuscholarships.com to have the account deleted.‍

Information automatically collected‍

In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Website.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Website. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Website and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Website, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

The information we collect includes:

• Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Website and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type and settings and information about your activity in the Website (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches and other actions you take such as which features you use or which buttons are clicked), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called 'crash dumps') and hardware settings).‍
• Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet or other device you use to access the Website. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system and system configuration information.‍
• Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device's location, which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Website. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device. Note however, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of the Services.‍
• Cookies and Web Server Logs. Collect information about how you use VU Sites. Information gathered through cookies and our web server logs may include the date and time of visits, your IP address, your device ID, the pages viewed, or time spent on VU pages, or interactions with the site.
• Third Party Web Analytics Services. VU may also use third-party web analytics services on the VU Sites, such as Google Analytics. These service providers use cookies and web beacons to help us analyze how users use the VU Sites. The information collected by the cookies and Web beacons (including your IP address) will be disclosed to these service providers, who use the information to evaluate your use of the VU Sites and help VU understand usage patterns and related trends. For information about how Google uses the information, see Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.  To learn about opting out of Google Analytics, you may visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
  

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?‍

‍In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.

We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.

We use the information we collect or receive:

• To facilitate account creation and logon process. If you choose to link your account with us to a third-party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process for the performance of the contract.
• To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We use the information we collect and receive to provide you with the products, services, or information that you request, such as provisional scholarships; and to customize your experience when using the VU Sites, among other things.‍
• To post testimonials. We post testimonials on our Website that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and the content of the testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at help@vuscholarships.com and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information.‍
• Request feedback. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Website.‍
• To enable user-to-user communications. We may use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user's consent.‍
• To manage user accounts. We may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order.‍
• To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.‍
• To protect our Services. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention).‍
• To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or in connection with our contract.
• To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.‍
• Fulfill and manage your orders. We may use your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Website.‍
• Administer prize draws and competitions. We may use your information to administer prize draws and competitions when you elect to participate in our competitions.‍
• To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.‍
• To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our Website, subscribing to marketing or otherwise contacting us, we will collect personal information from you. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time (see the "WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?" below).‍
• For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing and your experience. We may use and store this information in aggregated and anonymized form so that it is not associated with individual end users and does not include personal information.
• Improve Services - We use the information we collect and receive to improve the VU Sites, for example by better tailoring content to user needs and preferences, such as by giving you more relevant scholarships; by generating and analyzing statistics about your use of the VU Sites; and by developing new products and services.
  

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

In Short: We only share information to provide you with services, or to fulfill business obligations.

We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis:

• Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.‍
• Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests.‍
• Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract.‍
• Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).‍
• Vital Interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

• Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.‍
• Vendors, Consultants and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Website, which will enable them to collect data on our behalf about how you interact with our Website over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, pages or features, and better understand online activity.‍
• Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy notice. Affiliates include our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us.‍
• Per your Intentional Interaction with Various Third Parties. We may share all categories of your personal information with colleges, universities, technical schools or armed services, and other parties related to the college admissions, and financial aid process when you take certain steps to intentionally interact with our solution.. For example, VU may share your information with colleges and universities when you intentionally interact with a particular college or university in various ways, including “liking” the college or university to denote your level of interest in that college or university; clicking on a particular college or university’s social media or website or other mechanisms of interaction with a university profile. In addition, VU may share your information with a college or university if you may be a good fit for such college or university. VU may be compensated as a result of this intentional interaction and the college or university may contact you to further promote their institution.
• High School or District.  Whether the student’s data has been provided by the school or from the student directly, via self-reporting, VU may share the scholarship results and other data with the School or District where that student is enrolled.‍
• De-Identified Information. We may share anonymized information that is not reasonably capable of being associated with you or your household for any purpose.
  

4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH?

In Short: We only share information with the following categories of third parties.

We only share and disclose your information with the following categories of third parties. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish to revoke your consent, please contact us using the contact details provided in the section below titled "HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?".

• Data Analytics Services

• Data Storage Service Providers

• Colleges and Universities

• Technical Schools

• Armed Services

• Other parties related to the college admissions, and financial aid process

• De-identified information

• Third Party Vendors

• Disclosure to Law Enforcement and Similar Disclosures

• Sale or Merger

Links to Other Sites. This privacy notice applies only to the VU Sites. While VU Sites may link to other third-party web sites, information you may provide on a linked site once you leave the VU Site is not controlled by VU and is not controlled by this privacy notice. You should consult the privacy notice of any linked sites before providing your information to those sites.  In order to opt-out of third-party communications, you will need to contact the applicable third party, such as the college or university. If you have any questions relating to opting-out, please contact us at help@vuscholarships.com, and we will do our best to answer your questions.

5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.

We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information.

6. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short: VU will auto-archive student data 5 years from their last activity to account for students who wish to access post high school.

VU will only keep your personal information for up to 5 years from your last activity with the website or VU unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than six (6) months past the termination of the user's account.

After the 5 years, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion or anonymization is possible.

7. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website within a secure environment.

8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.

If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at help@vuscholarships.com.

Account Information

If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:

• Log in to your account settings and update your user account.

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with applicable legal requirements.

Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Website.

Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or by contacting us using the details provided below. You will then be removed from the marketing email list — however, we may still communicate with you, for example to send you service-related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes. To otherwise opt-out, you may:

• Contact us using the contact information provided.
  

9. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.

10. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.

If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).

11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary.

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at help@vuscholarships.com.

13. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?‍

Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please email us at help@vuscholarships.com.