Privacy Policy
Last Updated: November 24, 2014
We at In-Stated LLC (“In-State Angels”) have created this Privacy Policy to describe our practices regarding information we collect relating to the service (the “Service”) on our website www.instateangels.com. Our users are important to us, and our focus is on ensuring that their privacy is protected.
We work hard to earn and keep your trust, so we adhere to the following principles to protect your privacy:
- We will never commercially profit by selling information that personally identifies you to third parties for marketing purposes.
- We use industry-standard protocols and technology to protect sensitive information that you provide us.
- Notice of changes that materially affect ways in which your personally identifiable data may be used or shared will be posted in updates to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Website or the Service means you consent to the changed practices.
Please read this privacy policy to learn more about:
- What personally identifiable information of yours is collected by In-State Angels and how it is used
- What other information may be collected by In-State Angels
- With whom the information may be shared
- How you can access and change your account information
- Security measures we take
- Changes to this Privacy Policy
- How to contact us
California residents: Under Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, residents of California have the right to request from a business, with whom the California resident has an established business relationship, certain information with respect to the types of personal information the business shares with third parties for direct marketing purposes by such third party and the identities of the third parties with whom the business has shared such information during 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 In-State Angels at contact@www.instateangels.com.
Note about Children: Children are not eligible to use our Service, and we ask that minors (under the age of 18) do not submit any personal information to us or use the Website or the Service.
Note about Third Party Sites and Providers: This Privacy Policy covers only this Website and the Service available from In-State Angels through the Website. Third party sites linked from this Website are covered by different privacy policies of third parties which may differ significantly from this policy and as to which In-State Angels has no control over. In addition, third party partners of In-State Angels from whom your order through the Service is sourced may have different privacy policies which apply to such partner’s use of your information, as further described below (under In-State Angels Partner Organizations). You are responsible for reviewing and understanding the terms of those other privacy policies if you access any third party site linked through this Website or engage in a transaction with such third party partner.
Information Collection and Use
Registration and Profile Information
During registration for the Service, you are required to give contact information such as first and last name, email address, school (if applicable), city, state and gender, as well as a protected password. We ask that you provide demographic information (such as your school, school year and gender) to us so we can provide you with a more personalized experience on our Website.
In-State Angels requests that users provide In-State Angels with their school and grade level. Once you become a user, you may provide additional information in the Profile section describing your contact information, student information and billing and shipping address changes. Providing additional information in your Profile beyond what is required at registration is entirely optional.
We use the information you provide upon registering and in your Profile to send you an informational email with confirmation details and other information. In-State Angels also may provide you with notice of Website updates from time to time and responses to any inquiries or problems of which you have notified us.
Many emails you initiate through the Service (a dispute email sent to a merchant, for instance) will list your email address and name in the header of the message. Other communications that you initiate through the Website, like a request for contact, will list your name as the initiator but will not include your personal contact information. Your contact information will be shared to provide shipping information for the merchant.
Order Communication
If you use the Service to place an order, we request certain personally identifiable information from you on our order form. You must provide contact information such as first and last name, address, city, zip, email and phone number and financial information such as credit card type, credit card number, expiration date and CVV2 (security code). All financial data submitted through the Website is 1024-bit RSA encrypted and compliant with industry standards. We use this information for billing purposes and to fill your orders. If we have trouble processing an order, we will use this information to contact you. In-State Angels may contact you by email, phone or letter. When you place an order through the Service, In-State Angels will also use your contact information to send you informational emails regarding your order, returns, extensions, purchases, gift certificate purchases, coupon purchases, and cancellations.
Mobile Use
If you use the Service through a mobile device or our mobile application, your mobile device ID, your mobile carrier, and your physical (GPS) location will be transmitted to In-State Angels and not shared with any third parties other than a location provider. You agree that In-State Angels may store and use that information for security purposes (for example, for user verification and to ensure that In-State Angel’s APIs are being used appropriately) and, if available, for purposes of assisting you in locating nearby shipping stores, schools or other places of interest. If you wish to no longer allow In-State Angels to track your physical locations you may turn this off within your device settings. When you place an order through the Service, you may be able to opt-in to receiving text messaging reminders from In-State Angels. If you choose to do so, you must provide to In-State Angels your telephone number which In-State Angels will store and use to send reminders to you. You also acknowledge and agree that use of the Service through a mobile device may cause data to be displayed on and through your mobile device which may be viewed by your mobile carrier or other access provider. To opt-out from receiving text messages you may login to your account and select .off., you will no longer receive notifications.
We may use 3rd party web beacons within our mobile application for the purpose of reporting (i.e. pages viewed) and understanding the flows of how our application is being used. We do not track any personal information through the use of these web beacons.
Facebook Connect
The In-State Angels application allows users to access Facebook Connect to interact with friends and to share on Facebook through Wall and friends’ News Feeds. If you are already logged into In-State Angels and Facebook, when you click on “Connect with Facebook” you will be prompted to merge your profiles. If you are already logged into In-State Angels but not logged into Facebook, when you click on “Connect with Facebook” you will be prompted to enter your Facebook credentials or to “Sign up for Facebook.” By proceeding, you are allowing the In-State Angels application to access your information and you are agreeing to the Facebook Terms of Use in your use of the In-State Angels application. There is no merging of profiles from the In-State Angels mobile application.
Conversely, if you are not currently registered as a In-State Angels user and you click on “Sign in Using Facebook,” you will first be asked to enter your Facebook credentials and then be given the option to register and join In-State Angels. Once you register on the In-State Angels sites and Connect with Facebook, you will be able to post recent activity back to Facebook. You have the option to disable Facebook Connect at any time by logging into “My Profile” and clicking on “My Facebook Profile.” Further, you can edit privacy settings for the reviews that appear on Facebook or disconnect this service by visiting the Facebook Application Settings page.
Gift Certificate
If you purchase a gift certificate for another person, we will ask you for that person’s name and email address, as well as for an optional personal message. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email including an invitation to visit the site as well as their gift code. In-State Angels stores information such as the gift certificate recipient’s name and email address for the sole purpose of verification. In-State Angels, Inc. does not sell or disclose any of this information to any outside sources or parties and collects this information only to maintain records that a gift certificate was purchased and sent to a recipient.
Referral Features
The Website offers customer referral features whereby users may use an email tool to invite friends to use the Service using a one-time email. In-State Angels stores this information for the purpose of verification, as well as tracking the success of our referral program. In-State Angels will not use those referred email addresses for any other purpose (unless, of course, the referred user comes to the Website and registers as a user in which case In-State Angels may use the email address provided by the referred user in accordance with this Privacy Policy). The referred person may contact us at contact@www.instateangels.com. to request that we remove this information from our database.
Testimonials
In-State Angels posts testimonials on our website which may contain personally identifiable information such as the customer’s name and photo. We do obtain the customer’s consent to post their name and photo prior to posting their testimonial. If a consenting user later requests removal, we comply with the user’s request immediately.
Special Promotions
In-State Angels may email customers special promotional emails, which may include discounts, coupons and special offers, as a part of our service. If you would not like to receive these promotional emails, please log in to your account and click the “Email & Password” link. Once you have clicked that link, there is a check box which allows you to remove yourself from the promotional-email list. In addition, in promotional emails, users can click the “Unsubscribe” link found at the bottom of the email, and they will be automatically removed from the promotional email list. Users may also send us an email to opt out of promotional emails at contact@www.instateangels.com.
Other Information that is Collected and Used
In-State Angels is an online service that provides students with an option to earn in-state tuition. Like other websites and online services, we collect from the Website and the Service information that does not personally identify you as an individual (such as, by way of example, patterns of utilization of the Service), as described below. This information is exclusively owned by In-State Angels and can be utilized by In-State Angels in such manner as In-State Angels, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.
Information Tracking
We collect some information via tracking technologies in order to improve our services. Information we track includes state, city, site usage, page views, location of usage and other standard and typical demographic and analytical tracking methods that are found in tracking programs like Google Analytics. None of this type of information we track using third-party analytic services is linked to personally identifiable information. All of the tracking information is general, not person-specific.
Log Files
Like most websites, In-State Angels uses cookies and Web log files to track Website usage. A cookie is a tiny data file which resides on your computer, and which allows In-State Angels to recognize you as a user when you return to our Website using the same computer and Web browser. Unfortunately, if your browser settings do not allow cookies, you will not be able to use our Website as fully as intended. Like the information you enter at registration or in your profile, cookie and log file data is used to customize your experience on the Website.
One type of cookie we use, known as a “persistent” cookie, is set once you’ve logged in to your In-State Angels account on the Service. If you do not log out of your In-State Angels account, then the next time you visit the Website, the persistent cookie will allow us to recognize you as an existing user so you will not need to log in before using the Service. Of course, you should log out of your In-State Angels account after each visit (for example, if you are using a Powered By In-State Angels® kiosk or someone else’s computer). If you log out of the Service, you will need to re-enter your password the next time you visit in order to log in to your account. We also use a cookie which functions as a “session” cookie, meaning that it is used to identify a particular visit to the Website. Session cookies expire after a short time or when you close your Web browser.
Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when you visit the Website we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave In-State Angels. We also receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of Web browser you are using, as well as the name of your Internet service provider (ISP). This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the Service. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is never shared with third parties without your permission, except as provided under Legal Disclosures and Business Transitions below.
Web Beacons
We, as well as our affiliate program partner, third party tracking utility company, and service providers employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web beacons/Web bugs), that help us better manage content on our site by informing us of what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users for our affiliate program. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We do not tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ personally identifiable information. This information is used to help improve the overall quality and experience of our website.
Ad Networks
We allow other companies, called ad networks, to serve advertisements to In-State Angels public or private users. Ad networks include third-party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms. In-State Angels may “target” some ads to users that fit a certain general profile for example, “engineering students at Stanford University.” In-State Angels does NOT use personally identifiable information to target ads.
To deliver these ads properly, In-State Angels may include a file, called a Web beacon, from these ad networks within pages served by In-State Angels so the networks may provide anonymous, aggregated auditing, research and reporting for advertisers, as well as to target ads to you while you visit other websites.
Because your Web browser must request these advertisements and Web beacons from the ad network’s servers, these companies can view, edit or set their own cookies, just as if you had requested a Web page from their site. These general targets may also be used by ad networks to display targeted ads on other websites as a substitute for random, irrelevant ads. You will never see additional ads when browsing the web as a result of being a In-State Angels user, and In-State Angels never provides personally identifiable information to any advertiser, nor to any third party, for marketing purposes, except with your consent.
Information Sharing
In-State Angels takes the privacy of our users very seriously. We will never sell, rent or otherwise provide your personally identifiable information to any third parties for marketing purposes without your consent or as described in this Privacy Policy. We will share your personally identifiable with third parties to carry out your instructions and to provide specific services but subject to confidentiality obligations which limit their use and disclosure of such information. We may also disclose your personal information when required by law, to defend our rights, in response to a written request from law enforcement regarding an investigation into criminal activity that may have occurred through or in any way using In-State Angels’ site or property, or as part of a business transition, as provided below.
Agents
We may use an outside partner company for shipping and fulfilling orders, a credit card processing company to bill you for goods and services, and other companies to process personal information on our behalf. We require that these companies not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any other purpose.
Service Providers
We use a third-party service to provide order transactions as part of the Service. When you place an order on the Service, we will share your name and credit card information with a third-party gateway, using security technology, in order to collect payment and transact your order. We also use third-party software and services for the purpose of providing analytics and tracking to help improve our website and Service, and for the purpose of providing certain mobile use features, such as location tracking. These third parties are prohibited from using your personally identifiable information for any other purpose.
In-State Angels may partner with other online services to give you the combined results of both services. Whenever we offer such combined services, it will be your choice to make use of the combined services or not. In these cases, your personally identifiable information will be provided by In-State Angels to the partner for the partners use (including marketing purposes) only if you choose to use the combined services. Please note that, in these circumstances, your information will be subject to the partners privacy policy. If you wish to opt out of receiving promotional communications from these partners, you may do so by following the instructions provided by the partner.
Authorized In-State Angels Affiliates
If you choose to use the Powered by In-State Angels® kiosk at a participating Authorized In-State Angels Affiliate, the affiliate will be provided with your personal information, including your contact information, the books you are renting, and rental fees. These affiliates are permitted to use your personally identifiably information only for purposes of processing the transaction and providing the service.
Sharing Aggregated Information with Third Parties
We may provide aggregated data about the usage of our Website and our Service to third parties for such purposes as we deem, in our sole discretion, to be appropriate. We may segment our users by status (i.e. freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, etc.), major, geographic location, university or other demographic criteria for the purpose of improving our Website and our Service. If you would like to be excluded from the aggregated research or products based upon aggregated data about our users’ activities on the Service, please email customer service at contact@www.instateangels.com.
Legal Disclosures
It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information when required by law. We will disclose such information wherein we have a good-faith belief that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding or other legal process served on our company.?We also may access, use, preserve and disclose your personal information if we have a good faith belief that is it necessary to (a) enforce the Terms of Use, including investigations of potential violations and for collection of amounts owed to In-State Angels, (b) identify, prevent and deal with fraud or security issues or (c) exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
Business Transitions
In the event that In-State Angels goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personally identifiable information will likely be among the assets transferred. This Privacy Policy will become binding upon the new owner of the information until amended.
Accessing and Changing Your Account Information
You can review the personal information you provided us and make any desired changes to the information, or to the settings for your In-State Angels account, at any time by logging in to your account on the Service and editing the information on your Profile page. If you close your In-State Angels account, we will remove your name and other personally identifiable information from our publicly viewable data. To request that we close your account and remove your information from the Service, please send your request to contact@www.instateangels.com. Please send your request using an email account that you have registered with In-State Angels under your name. You will receive a response to a request sent to contact@www.instateangels.com. within five business days of our receiving it.
Even if your account is closed, we may retain certain data contributed by you if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data, account recovery or if required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the terms of the In-State Angels privacy policy that you have previously agreed to.
Security
In-State Angels follows accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. For example, when you enter sensitive information such as a credit card number and CCV2 number on our checkout forms, that information is encrypted using secure socket layer (SSL) technology, to protect the communications between you and our payment partners. We take reasonable precautions to provide security to our customer information in our possession.
However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, as in any real-life scenario, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our website, you can email us at contact@www.instateangels.com.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
In-State Angels may update this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. In the event that there are significant changes to the way we treat your personally identifiable information, we will display a notice on this Website. We may also notify you by email. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account. If you continue to use the Website or the Service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our Website, you provide your consent to the changed practices.
Questions or Comments
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please email us at contact@www.instateangels.com.