GEORGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING PRIVACY POLICY Georgia Public Broadcasting (the “Company”) is committed to maintaining robust privacy protections for its users. Our Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to help you understand how we collect, use and safeguard the information you provide to us and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our Service. For purposes of this Agreement, “Service” refers to the Company’s service which can be accessed via our website at www.gpb.org or through our mobile application in which users can read the digital magazine Your GPB and access the Georgia Studies Digital Textbook and its related content. The terms “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company. “You” refers to you, as a user of Service. By accepting our Privacy Policy, you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

I. INFORMATION WE COLLECT We collect “Non-Personal Information” and “Personal Information.” Non-Personal Information includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you, such as anonymous usage data, general demographic information we may collect, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, preferences you submit and preferences that are generated based on the data you submit and number of clicks. Personal Information includes your email and school information, which you submit to us through the registration process at the Site (for the Georgia Studies Digital Textbook –“the Textbook” - only). Information collected via Technology To activate the Service you do not need to submit any Personal Information other than what is required in the registration form on the Site. To use the Service thereafter, you do not need to submit further Personal Information. However, in an effort to improve the quality of the Service, we track information provided to us by your browser or by our software application when you view or use the Service, such as the website you came from (known as the “referring URL”), the type of browser you use, the device from which you connected to the Service, the time and date of access, and other information that does not personally identify you. We track this information using cookies, or small text files which include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to a user’s browser from our servers and are stored on the user’s computer hard drive. Sending a cookie to a user’s browser enables us to collect Non-Personal information about that user and keep a record of the user’s preferences when utilizing our services, both on an individual and aggregate basis. For example, the Company may use cookies to collect the following information:

  • which Units/ Chapters you utilize in the Textbook
  • types of content you click most (i.e. interactive maps, videos) to better provide you the content you enjoy using. The Company may use both persistent and session cookies; persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your session and until you delete them, while session cookies expire when you close your browser. For example:
  • Information you provide us by registering for an account In addition to the information provided automatically by your browser when you visit the Site, to become a subscriber to the Service you will need to create a personal profile. You create a profile by registering with the Service and entering your email address and school information into the registration form. We create a user name and a password and send that to you. We do not keep a list of passwords and you may change that at any time after the initial registration. By registering, you are authorizing us to collect, store and use your email address in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

A. OCULUS APP DATA COLLECTION This section of our Privacy Policy explains how we treat information from or about our users in connection with our Oculus app. The app was created in such a way that we do not collect any personal information. For instance, we encrypt and anonymize all the data that relates to your VR experience in our app before we actually store any usage data. This means no information regarding your profile, IP-address etc. reaches us.

II. STUDENT PRIVACY NOTICE The Company does not collect, use, or disclose students’ personal information online unless the teacher, parent, or other legal guardian (“you”) consents or as permitted by law.



Consistent with applicable law, you or the student remain the owner and controller of, and are solely responsible for, any and all student data you provide in connection with your use of the Site. The Company will collect, use, and disclose information protected by FERPA and applicable law only for the purpose of performing institutional services or functions for which the school or district would otherwise use its own employees consistent with this Student Privacy Notice. To the extent that the Company discloses student data to authorized third party service providers, such third party service providers shall only collect and use student data for authorized school purposes as directed or authorized by the school. The Company will not sell student data or use student data for targeted advertising purposes. The Company does not require student logins or student information when utilizing the site for educational usage.

Teachers, parents, caregivers, and guardians can request that we return, delete, or destroy all personally identifiable student data it may contain in connection with your use of the Site.  All such requests should be directed to digital@gpb.org

 

III. HOW WE USE AND SHARE INFORMATION Personal Information Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not sell, trade, or rent your Personal Information with third parties. We do share Personal Information with vendors who are performing services for the Company, such as the servers for our email communications who are provided access to user’s email address for purposes of sending emails from us. Those vendors use your Personal Information only at our direction and in accordance with our Privacy Policy. In general, the Personal Information you provide to us is used to help us communicate with you. For example, we use Personal Information to contact users in response to questions, solicit feedback from users, provide technical support, and inform users about promotional offers or service updates. Non-Personal Information In general, we use Non-Personal Information to help us improve the Service and customize the user experience. We also aggregate Non-Personal Information in order to track trends and analyze use patterns on the Site. This Privacy Policy does not limit in any way our use or disclosure of Non-Personal Information and we reserve the right to use and disclose such Non-Personal Information to our partners, advertisers and other third parties at our discretion. In the event we undergo a business transaction such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your Personal Information may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge and consent that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Privacy Policy, and that any acquirer of our assets may continue to process your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If our information practices change at any time in the future, we will post the policy changes to the Site so that you may opt out of the new information practices. We suggest that you check the Site periodically if you are concerned about how your information is used.

A. COOKIES AND ANALYTICS We use cookies on our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored by your browser when you visit a website. This identifies the browser used and can be recognized by our web server. This manner of processing serves our legitimate interest in making our website more user-friendly, effective and secure. Most of the cookies we use are known as “session cookies”. They are deleted after the end of your visit. Other cookies (“persistent cookies”) are automatically deleted after a specified period, which may vary depending on the cookie. You can delete cookies at any time in the security settings of your browser. You can object in principle to the use of cookies through your browser settings. Please note that by deleting our cookies or disabling future cookies, you may not be able to use certain areas or features. If you only wish to restrict third-party advertising cookies, you can disable such cookies in your web browser.We use pixels or web beacons to help us measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. These are tiny pieces of JavaScript code that we have incorporated into certain pages of our website. These pieces of code provide a series of functions for transmitting specific events and user-defined data to authorized vendors such as Facebook. This also allows us to use remarketing services to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited our website. We and our third-party vendors use cookies, pixels, and web beacons to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past visits to our Service. We only use these pixels or web beacons on pages that are intended for a general audience and not intended for children or part of our educational content.We use the “visitor action pixels” from Meta Platforms, Inc. (1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA,(“Facebook”)) on our website. This allows user behavior to be tracked after they have been redirected to the provider’s website by clicking on a Facebook ad. This enables us to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes. The data collected in this way is anonymous to us, i.e. we do not see the personal data of individual users. However, this data is stored and processed by Facebook, which is why we are informing you, based on our knowledge of the situation. Facebook may link this information to your Facebook account and also use it for its own promotional purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Usage Policy https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. You can allow Facebook and its partners to place ads on and off Facebook. A cookie may also be stored on your computer for these purposes.You can object to the collection of your data by Facebook pixel, or to the use of your data for the purpose of displaying Facebook ads by contacting the following address: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.

IV. HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION We implement security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. Your account is protected by your account password and we urge you to take steps to keep your personal information safe by not disclosing your password and by logging out of your account after each use. We further protect your information from potential security breaches by implementing certain technological security measures including encryption, firewalls and secure socket layer technology. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks.

V. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING THE USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION You have the right at any time to prevent us from contacting you for marketing purposes. When we send a promotional communication to a user, the user can opt out of further promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each promotional e-mail. Please note that notwithstanding the promotional preferences you indicate by either unsubscribing or opting out, we may continue to send you administrative emails including, for example, periodic updates to our Privacy Policy.

VI. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES As part of the Service, we may provide links to or compatibility with other websites or applications. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those websites or the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site and the Service. Therefore, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of a third party website accessed by selecting a link on our Site or via our Service. To the extent that you access or use the Service through or on another website or application, then the privacy policy of that other website or application will apply to your access or use of that site or application. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of other websites before proceeding to use them.

VII. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY The Company reserves the right to change this policy and our Terms of Service at any time. We will notify you of significant changes to our Privacy Policy by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account or by placing a prominent notice on our site. Significant changes will go into effect 30 days following such notification. Non-material changes or clarifications will take effect immediately. You should periodically check the Site and this privacy page for updates.

VIII. CONTACT US If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of this Site, please contact us by sending an email to ask@gpb.org.

 

Last Updated: This Privacy Policy was last updated on January 10, 2024.