Last updated: January 15, 2015
College Debt Services greatly respects privacy concerns and understands individual’s values of privacy and security. This Privacy Policy has been issued to define how we collect information, what we do with the information we accumulate, and what steps we take to preserve privacy and protect personal information.
This Privacy Policy encompasses how we handle any personal information you submitted or authorized us to obtain as well as any other information that we may collect when our website is accessed. The Privacy Policy also covers any personal and other information that any of our business affiliates may share with us. Please note that our policies and procedures apply only to College Debt Services and not to websites maintained by other companies, any website to which we may link or to unrelated business with which we may share information.
To ensure that this privacy policy is up-to-date with changes in our website, relevant laws and regulations and developments we reserve the right to change and/or amend this Privacy Policy at any time. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page, and/or send an email notifying you of any changes. By using our site, you consent to our websites privacy policy.
Personal Information
Personal information is any information that you provide or authorize us to use in which uniquely identifies, contacts or locates you. All personal information is willingly submitted or authorized by you. When registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address, or social security number. You may however, visit our site anonymously.
We collect and use personal information to better respond to requests for products and services offered through our website and those of our business affiliates. We also collect personal and other information to inform you of products and/or services that may be of interest to you.
Other information provided that we collect and maintain when accessing our website are:
· Information provided to us when requesting product(s) or service. This information may include your name, address, telephone number, and email address. In some cases, additional information such as the amount of current unsecured debt and the identity of creditors, mortgage information, and other financial and personal information may be asked of you to provide.
· Information provided to us when requesting a quote, product, or service offered by or through our website.
· Information, such as e-mail addresses that are provided to us when registering to receive communications from us or otherwise correspond with us.
College Debt Services also collects non-personal information. This information is not and cannot be directly associated with you (i.e. Zip code). With appropriate authorization we may request and obtain other information about you from other on-line or off-line sources.
Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one or more of the following ways:
· To personalize your experience. Your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs.
· Processing. To provide a product or service that you request.
· Enhance your experience. Personal information can be used to enhance experience on our website by displaying content based on your preferences.
· To send information. The email address you provide may be used to send information and updates about additional products or services. Note: If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include detailed unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.
For Research, analysis and modeling purposes, personal information provided to us may be used and “depersonalized.”
How Information Is Collected.
Non-personal information and technical data is gathered from each user who accesses our website through cookies.
· Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.
We use cookies to compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings. Like most websites, if you turn your cookies off, some of our services may not function properly.
Sharing Personal Information
Personal and other information you supply when submitting a request for product or service will be shared with those providers that have agreed to participate in our network. Use of the information provided to product and service providers for any other purpose than suggested are prohibited. College Debt Services does not share your social security number with anyone, except credit agencies for the function of attaining your credit report when specifically requested by you.
By submitting a request you have agreed to be contacted by us or by our business affiliates through any means, based on the information you provided to us. If you have opted into the National Do Not Call List administered by the Federal Trade Commission, any state Do Not Call List or the Do Not Call List of any specific institution, you are still consenting to being contacted by us or by our business affiliates through any means. If you do not wish to be contacted by the product or service provider after prior interaction, you must make a specific request to that provider, not College Debt Services.
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety.
Information Protection
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you enter, submit, or access your personal information. Some measures we take are:
· Minimal Access. Access of personal information is limited to those employees who are critical to the distribution of products and services to you.
· Implementation of Procedures. Appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures have been established to guard against unauthorized access or use of personal information.
· Consent. Before we share any personal information, the proper consents and protections are required from our business affiliates.
We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our database only to be accessible by those authorized with special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential.
Personal information will be retained for as long as your account is active or as needed to deliver you with services. Your personal information will be retained and used as necessary to fulfill our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Non-personal information may be held indefinitely. Federal and/or state law may require us to hold your personal information for different periods of time. Consequently, we may not be able to delete or remove your personal information from our systems.
Third Party Link
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
College Debt Services holds the right to post and not post customer provided testimonials. By submitting a testimonial you consent to posting your testimonial for public use. Your Testimonial will be posted as provided to us from you. Please be aware that any personal information you submit as a testimonial to be posted can be read, collected, or used by the general public and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. College Debt Services is not responsible for the personal information you choose to include in any testimonial.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance.
We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act); we do not collect any information from anyone under 18 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 18 years old or older.