Privacy Policy
As your financial privacy is very important to us, this notice discusses the Thedebtfreeteacher.org and its subsidiaries and affiliates' (“Thedebtfreeteacher.org”) privacy practices with respect to guarding the confidentiality and security of your personal information and the information you submit through this website.
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, any notices we provide and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by means of a notice on our homepage and/or any other acceptable means.
What information does Thedebtfreeteacher.org collect through its website?
On our website, we collect personal information about you that you willingly provide to us for purposes of generating offers for financial products and services that may be of interest to you. This information includes your first and last name, address, email address, state of residence, phone number, date of birth, monthly income, certain expenses information regarding your bills, your IP address, your website interaction on the site and how you heard about us. Thedebtfreeteacher.org wishes to convey to its users that the only types of communications that are sent out are service-related emails that are in response to a user's online inquiry on our website to learn about potential offers for financial products or services. Users cannot opt out from receiving these service-related emails while engaged in ongoing transactions with Thedebtfreeteacher.org. If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may contact us at the contact information provided at the end of this policy to correct, update, delete or deactivate your personal information.
We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required to complete the requested transaction, as required by law or when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our website.
We also may collect information that is not personally identifiable. Our website automatically collects clickstream information about your visit. This can include the address of the website from which you originated before visiting our website, the pages you visit on our website, and the browser you use.
If you use our website to find out about financial products or services that may be helpful to you, we may collect additional personal information about you, including information about your home address, employment, financial and outstanding credit obligations, creditors, life events and financial condition.
How does Thedebtfreeteacher.org use the information it collects?
Thedebtfreeteacher.org does not share any information that it collects through its website with any other person or entity except as permitted by law and indicated in our privacy policy. The personal information we collect is initially used to evaluate your eligibility for offers for financial products and services with Providers. We will use the information you submitted to show you offers from various financial product and service Providers.
We may share personal information about you to: (1) third party Providers who may be able to offer a financial product or service that may be helpful to you. We may receive personal information about you from other parties such as credit reporting agencies, third parties who assist in identifying prospective consumers, data brokers, social media and marketing sources or your creditors.
Thedebtfreeteacher.org uses Google Analytics reporting to gather information on visitors to our website. We do not facilitate the merging of personally-identifiable information with non-personally-identifiable information previously collected from display advertising features that is based on the DoubleClick cookie unless we have robust notice of, and your prior affirmative (i.e. opt-in) consent to, that merger. We have implemented Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting to gather information such as age, gender, and interests through our website. Thedebtfreeteacher.org uses this information to further enhance our visitors' experiences on our website and to support display advertising. Using the Ads Settings, visitors can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads.
As necessary, we may share non-personal information with our trusted third-party service providers, such as the corporations that manage or host our website, to perform services on our behalf. They typically use non-personal, anonymous information – like clickstream information regarding visit duration – that isn't identifiable with a particular visitor to further improve the website.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this site. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site.
We use persistent cookies. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser's “help” file.
We set persistent cookies to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. If you reject cookies, you will not have any difficulties using our site.
Some of our business partners/affiliates use cookies on our site. We have no access to, or control over these cookies. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by Thedebtfreeteacher.org only and does not address the use of cookies by any other party.
Pixels
Pixels allow third parties to collect browsing information across sites and helps us to make the ads and content displayed more relevant to users. The Pixels also allow us to provide information to third parties about how viewers engage with content or advertisements and how to reach the most interested audience.
Pixels collect IP address and location, date and time stamp, user agent, cookie IDs (if applicable), URL, time zone, and other browser-level data or cookie data.
Pixels for ad or content optimization is only used after such data has been aggregated with other data collected from advertisers or other third parties.
We may share aggregate statistics, metrics and other reports, such as the number of unique user views, demographics about the users who engaged in ads or content, conversion rates, and date and time information.
Does Thedebtfreeteacher.org have safeguards in place to protect my personal information?
We restrict access to your personal information only to those employees who need to know that information to service and maintain your account with us. We also maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal requirements to guard your personal information. All employees are trained on information security expectations to ensure the confidentiality and proper usage of data and the systems protecting the data.
Your California Privacy Rights
This section applies to any California residents about whom we have collected personal information from any source, including through your use of our Website(s), by providing information to us regarding acquiring financial services and products via or website, or by communicating with us electronically, in paper correspondence, or in person.
Thedebtfreeteacher.org applies privacy and security protections to your personal information. Certain of the personal information that we may process about you may be exempted from the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and certain other personal information may be subject to the CCPA.
For purposes of this section, “personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular California consumer/resident or household. Personal information does not include publicly available information or information that has been de-identified. In our descriptions, we have included all data collected without regard to exempt data under GLBA.
However, by doing so, we do not intend to waive claims of preemption under the GLBA and other similar regulations.
Information We collect
We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or device (“personal information”). In particular, the chart below depicts the categories of personal information relating to consumers we have collected within the last twelve (12) months:
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| A. Identifiers. | A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver's license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. | YES |
| B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). | A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. | YES |
| C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. | Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). | YES |
| D. Commercial information. | Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. | YES |
| E. Biometric information. | Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as, fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. |
NO
for customers
YES
for certain employees
|
| F. Internet or other similar network activity. | Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. | YES |
| G. Geolocation data. | Physical location or movements. | YES |
| H. Sensory data. | Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. | YES |
| I. Professional or employment-related information. | Current or past job history or performance evaluations. | YES |
| J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). | Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. | NO |
| K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. | Profile reflecting a person's preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. | YES |
Personal information does not include:
- Publicly available information from government records.
- De-identified or aggregated consumer information.
- Information excluded from the CCPA's scope, like: ul.pl-8.list-disc.li health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data; li personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994.
We obtain the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:
- Directly from our clients or their agents. For example, from documents that our clients provide to us related to the services for which they engage us.
- Indirectly from our clients or their agents. For example, through information we collect from our clients in the course of providing services to them.
- Directly and indirectly from activity on our website (www.Thedebtfreeteacher.org). For example, from submissions through our website portal or website usage details collected automatically.
- From third-parties that interact with us in connection with the services we perform. For example, from affiliate marketers who place ads and forward activity to us or from credit reporting agencies (“CRA”), and third-party data providers to verify identity and other information that you provide us.
- Information that is publicly available online or elsewhere and
- Employees and job applicants
Use of Personal Information
- We may use or disclose the personal information we collect for one or more of the following business purposes:
- To fulfill or meet the reason for which the information is provided. For example, if you provide us with personal information in order for us to assist you in finding a financial product or service that can help you lower your bills.
- To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us.
- To provide you with email alerts, newsletters and other notices concerning products or services, or events or news, that may be of interest to you.
- To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collections.
- To assist you in identifying appropriate resources if we cannot serve you for any of a number of reasons including, but not limited to, inability to operate in the state of request or lack of income.
- To provide a third party or affiliate with qualified leads for a program that they may administer
- To improve our website and present its contents to you.
- For testing, research, analysis and product development.
- To conduct audit, compliance or other legal work associated with our business.
- To perform financial reporting and accounting and other general business administration
- To assess third party vendors and services providers
- As necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of us, our customers or others.
- To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.
- To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by us is among the assets transferred.
Sharing Personal Information
We may disclose your personal information to a third party for a business purpose. When we disclose personal information for a business purpose, we enter a contract that describes the purpose and requires the recipient to both keep that personal information confidential and not use it for any purpose except performing the contract.
In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for a business purpose:
- Category A:
- Identifiers.
- Category B:
- California Customer Records personal information categories.
- Category D:
- Commercial information
- Category E:
- Biometric data
- Category F:
- Internet or other similar network activity.
- Category I:
- Professional or employment-related information.
- Category K:
- Inferences drawn from other personal information
We disclose your personal information for a business purpose to the following categories of third parties:
- Our affiliates
- Lenders and lending networks
- Loan buyers
- Service providers
- Third parties to whom you or your agents authorize us to disclose your personal information in connection with products or services we provide to you.
We may also disclose your personal information to a third party for a commercial purpose. When we disclose personal information for a commercial purpose, which may include providing your information to a provider which can assist you, we have a compensatory relationship which requires the recipient to abide by data privacy regulations and not use it for any purpose except as described.
In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for a commercial purpose:
- Category A:
- Identifiers.
- Category B:
- California Customer Records personal information categories.
- Category D:
- Commercial information
We disclose your personal information for a commercial purpose to the following categories of third parties:
- Our affiliates
- Lenders and lending networks
- Corporate credit facility lenders
- Service providers
- Vendors
- Other third parties including marketers
Your Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident, subject to applicable law, you have the following rights under California law with respect to your personal information, to the extent your personal information is not already subject to federal law and the required privacy and security measures applied under federal law:
- Right to Know.
- You have the right to request what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and/or sell, as applicable.
- Right to Delete.
- You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information that is collected or maintained by us.
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale.
- You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information by us. You may access our Notice of Rightto Opt-Out by clicking here.
- Right to Data Portability.
- You have the right to request a portable version of your data.
- Right to Non-Discrimination.
- You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment by us for the exercise of the privacy rightsdescribed above.
You may also authorize someone to exercise the above rights on your behalf. In order to have a third party exercise rights on your behalf as an agent, the third party would need to fill out the same forms as the consumer and have a notarized letter authorizing them to act on your behalf The agent would also need to be able to have sufficient data to verify the identity of the consumer in question.
The above rights are subject to our being able to reasonably verify your identity and authority to make these requests. These rights are also subject to various exclusions and exceptions under applicable laws. In order to verify your identity for prospective consumers, you must provide first and last name, state of residence, phone, physical address and email. If you are a current customer, you must also provide the social security number or other identifying account number in addition to the items required for prospective consumers.
If you are a California resident and wish to seek to exercise these rights, please reach us in one of the following ways:
- Email us at [email protected]
- Our website at www.Thedebtfreeteacher.org and “clicking” on the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” (here)
For more information regarding this Privacy Policy, or if you have any questions or concerns, you may contact us in the following ways:
- Email us at [email protected]
- Our website at www.Thedebtfreeteacher.org and “clicking” on the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” (here)
Notice of Right to Opt-Out
You have the right to direct Thedebtfreeteacher.org not to sell your personal information and to refrain from doing so in the future. If you wish to opt-out of such sales, please do so in one of the following ways:
- Email us at [email protected]
- Our website at www.Thedebtfreeteacher.org and “clicking” on the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” (here)
Please consult the other sections of our Privacy Policy for further information on our practices regarding your personal information.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy statement, please send them to us by emailing [email protected]
If you have other questions, comments, or technical difficulties using our Website, please contact us at [email protected]
Effective 10/2021