Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY, CHILD PRIVACY AND PARENTAL CONSENT STATEMENT
Last modified 07/28/08

MCoOL understands the importance of protecting the privacy of its students and visitors to http://www.mcool.org/. This privacy policy explains how we treat all information collected online at http://www.mcool.org/. Through this site, MCoOL collects two kinds of information: general information and personal information.

MCoOL's Privacy Policy
General information is not specific to you and cannot be traced in any way to you. Such information includes certain non-personal information from visitors to the site (such as the time of day the site is accessed) and certain information in aggregate form (such as statistics relating to the number and frequency of visitors). MCoOL uses general information only in ways that do not identify you, the specific user, meaning that it is never linked to personal information.

Personal information is specific to you and includes such things as your email address or name and mailing address. This type of information is sometimes called "personally identifiable information." The only personal information collected through the http://www.mcool.org/ site is information you choose to supply in response to a request or offer. In order to improve our site and to better serve you, MCoOL may share your personal information with its subsidiaries, affiliates, legal successors and trusted third parties. From time to time, MCoOL may also contact you about updates or special offers. If you do not wish your personal information to be shared in this way, or you do not wish to be contacted beyond our initial response to your request for more information, please send an email indicating your preferences to .

MCoOL also uses the technology called "cookies" which involves placing a small text file on your computer. The cookie assigns a unique identifying number to your web browser, allowing the http://www.mcool.org/ site to recognize your browser (but not otherwise identify you) and passively tracks activities on the site. Data collected from http://www.mcool.org/ cookies is general data and used only in the aggregate; our cookies do not access, collect or reveal any personal information or other data stored on your computer.

FERPA Compliance
In order to create and maintain educational records necessary to deliver instruction and assign grades and perform related administrative tasks, we collect and use certain educational records that you have provided. In addition, records such as login, attendance, grades, and dialogue are stored on our server to enable us to carry out necessary tasks. You can update your personal information, preferences, and password, either online or by contacting the office.

Educational records are confidential. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of educational records.

Without your consent, we will only provide access to educational records:

1. To student or the student's parent/guardian
2. To school officials or representatives with a legitimate educational interest
3. Or other disclosures as authorized by FERPA and district policy

To ensure confidentiality, we have implemented the following safeguards:

1. All educational records transmitted over the Internet are encrypted using the 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This protocol encrypts or "scrambles" data sent between two points, protecting the information from unauthorized viewing. An exception to this policy is the transmission of email, which is not encrypted.
2. A user ID and valid password are required to access grades and other educational records.
3. Access to files and records containing educational records will be restricted to authorized viewers only.

A parent/eligible student has the following rights under FERPA:

1. The right to inspect and review the educational record of a student.
2. The right to request amendment of an educational record to ensure that the record is not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's rights of privacy or other rights.
3. The right to consent to disclosures of educational records contained in the student's educational record unless the disclosure is to individuals specified by law.
4. The right to report violations of FERPA to the United States Department of Education.
5. The right to obtain a copy of the district's policy/regulation relating to educational records.

Child Privacy Policy and Parental Consent Statement
General Compliance with Laws

The safety of children using http://www.mcool.org/ is of special concern to us. We comply strictly with applicable laws and regulations, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, for the protection of children's online privacy, and in general we do not:

1. Collect online contact information from children under the age of 13 without prior parental notification and consent which will include an opportunity for the parent to prevent use of the information and the child's participation in the related activity. Without prior parental consent, online information will only be used to respond directly to a child's request and will not be used for other purposes.
2. Collect the personally identifiable offline contact information of a child under age 13 without prior parental consent.
3. Distribute to third parties any personally identifiable information relating to a child under age 13 without prior parental consent.
4. Give children under age 13 the ability to publicly post or otherwise distribute personally identifiable contact information without prior parental consent.
5. Entice any child by the prospect of a special game, prize, or other activity, to divulge more information than is needed to participate in the activity.

You must be 13 years of age or older to enroll using the MCoOL Online Enrollment System. If you or your student is under the age of 13, please contact us to find out about enrolling. Please call 877-984-7587, or email us at .

Policies for Children Under the Age of 13
MCoOL encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children and to participate together in online activities. No information should be submitted or posted through our services by any student or visitor under 13 years of age without the consent of his or her parent or guardian.

Unless otherwise disclosed to children and their parents during the information collection process, MCoOL does not provide any personally identifiable information, regardless of its source, to any third party for any purpose whatsoever concerning our students or visitors under 13 years of age. When necessary to protect a child's privacy online, we may request a child to choose a screen name and secret password in registering to use our services. When a student of visitor under age 13 registers with us, he or she is required to provide the email address of a parent or guardian so that we can send that parent or guardian an email alerting them to the registration. In order for the child to use the service for which the child registered, the parent or guardian must validate the registration, as described in the alerting email. In the alerting email, we will inform the parent what we intend to do with the information the child has provided, and we will inform the parent how to review or delete the information.

We will not retain a child's email address without a parent's permission. No information collected from students or visitors under 13 years of age is used for any marketing or promotional purposes whatsoever, except as explicitly stated during a registration process for contests or promotions (and in that case, the information collected is used only for the specific contest or promotion). Although students and visitors under 13 years of age may be allowed to participate in some contests and promotions, if such a person wins, notification and prizes shall be sent to the parent or guardian identified in the initial registration process. Publication of names, ages or images for contest winners under age 13 requires explicit parental or guardian consent. We do not allow students or visitors under 13 years of age to be listed in any student or visitor directory or to receive direct marketing communications or to be sent third-party offers.

Parents' Right to Review or Delete Information
A parent may review the information a child has submitted to us by sending us a written request addressed to Children's Online Privacy Act - Information Request, Minnesota Center of Online Learning | Houston Public Schools ISD, 306 W. Elm Street, Houston, MN 55934. The request must include the name and address of the child, the child's password and any other information that will allow us to verify that writer is the parent of the child whose information is being requested. In addition, a parent can instruct us to delete a child's information at any time and can also instruct us not to collect any more personal information from the child by sending us a written request addressed to Children's Online Privacy Act - Information Request, Minnesota Center of Online Learning | Houston Public Schools ISD, 306 W. Elm Street, Houston, MN 55934. All such deletion requests may preclude the child's participation in certain activities. A parent who has a question about our child privacy policy may telephone us at 877-984-7587.

MCoOL may change its privacy policy from time to time in its sole discretion, and if our privacy policy changes, we will change this statement and post those changes here to keep you informed about how we treat your personal information. Feel free to check our privacy statement for current updates whenever you visit this site.