Project Spark • Ignite a Spark

Please Read this Document Carefully

Welcome to the website (the “Site”) of Project Spark (“Project Spark”, “we” or “us”). Project Spark is a website that educators and students access in order to work through courses, build cool things, learn interesting stuff, take and grade assessments, and see and share their experience and work (the “Services”).

This Privacy Policy sets for the policy that SweetRush, Inc., a California Corporation (“SweetRush”, “we” “our” or “us”), utilizes in its collection of information from visitors and users of the Services (“User” or “Users”). Other than as expressly stated herein, there are no third-party beneficiaries of this Privacy Policy.

USERS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD READ THE SECTION 11, ENTITLED “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR USERS IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA” FOR INFORMATION ON HOW WE COMPLY WITH PRIVACY LAWS APPLICABLE TO THOSE USERS.

What Information Do We Collect From Users?

(a) Information Collected From Users.

When a User interacts with us through the Services, we may collect information that, alone or in combination could be used to identify the User (“Personal Information”) and other information from the User, as further described below. This information is provided to us when a User registers for a Project Spark account or when the User enrolls for Services. We may collect the following information from Users in order to provide our Services:

First and last name;
Email address;
State of residence;
School District; and
Notes provided by the User’s teachers regarding the User’s performance.

By voluntarily providing us with Personal Information, the User is consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If the Users provide Personal Information to our Services, the User acknowledges and agrees that such Personal Information may be transferred from the User’s current location to the offices and servers of SweetRush and the authorized third parties referred to herein.

In addition to the information we collect during the enrollment process, we may collect information about how a User interacts with the Services, including information related to a User’s performance or information that is voluntarily provided by a User within a project.

(b) Information Collected From the User’s School.

We collect Personal information from the User’s school, school district and/or their administrators choose to provide to and share with us, directly and through third party service providers.

(i) Passively Collected Data:

When a User interacts with us through the Site, we receive and store certain data automatically. SweetRush may store such passively collected data itself or such information may be included in databases owned and maintained by our affiliates, agents or service providers. We may use such information and pool it with other information to track, for example, the total number of visitors to the Site, the number of visitors to each page of our website, and the domain names of User Internet service providers.

In operating our Site, we and third parties that provide certain functionality to the Project Spark Services may use a technology called “cookies.” A cookie is a piece of information that the computer that hosts our Services gives to the User’s browser when the User accesses the Site. Our cookies help provide additional functionality to our Services and help us analyze Site usage more accurately. On most web browsers, Users will find a “help” section on the toolbar. Users should refer to this section for information on how to receive a notification when Users are receiving a new cookie and how to turn cookies off. We recommend that Users leave cookies turned on because they allow the User to take advantage of some of our Services’ features. For more information about our use of cookies, please see the section entitled “Cookie Policy,” below.

(ii) Aggregated Data:

We may aggregate data, including Personal Information. This aggregate information is anonymized and does not identify Users personally. Because such information does not identify the User, we reserve the right to use it for any lawful purpose and to share it with any third parties for any lawful purpose. Please note that to the extent any non-personally identifiable information is combined with personally identifiable information, the combined information will be treated as Personal Information for as long as it is so combined.

2. Teacher Obligation to Obtain Authority/Consent.

By providing us with Personal Information about their student-Users during the enrollment process and in their student-User’s use of the Services, teachers are representing to us that they have all necessary authority or consent to provide us with such information.

Our Cookie Policy.

(a) What are cookies and what are they used for?

Cookies are small text files containing a string of characters that can be placed computers or mobile devices that uniquely identify the browser or device.

Cookies allow a site or services to know if a computer or device has visited that site or service before. Cookies can then be used to help understand how the site or service is being used, help you navigate between pages efficiently, help remember User preferences, and generally improve the browsing experience.

(b) What types of cookies do we use?

(i) Strictly Necessary Cookies. These cookies are essential, as they enable Users to move around the Service and use its features, such as accessing logged in or secure areas. Because these cookies are essential, they cannot be disabled.

(ii) Performance Cookies. These cookies collect information about how Users have used the Service, for example, information related to the unique username provided, so that less strain is placed on our backend infrastructure. These cookies may also be used to allow us to know that Users have logged in so that we can serve them fresher content than a User who has never logged in. We also use cookies to track aggregate Service usage in an anonymized fashion and experiment with new features and changes on the Service. The information collected is used to improve how the Service works.

(iii) Functionality Cookies. These cookies allow us to remember how Users logged in, when they logged in or out, and the state or history of Service tools they have used. These cookies also allow us to tailor the Service to provide enhanced features and content for Users and to remember how they have customized the Service in other ways. The information these cookies collect are anonymous, and they are not used to track User browsing activity on other sites or services.

The length of time a cookie will stay on a User’s computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies will only stay on a User’s device until they stop browsing. Persistent cookies stay on a User’s computer or mobile device until they expire or are deleted.

(d) How Users Can Control and Review Cookies.

Users can instruct their browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if Users do not accept cookies, they may not be able to use some portions of our Services.

Our Uses of User Personal Information.

We use User’s Personal Information to:

Provide the Project Spark Services;
Send Users emails regarding the Services;
Improve the Project Spark Services; and
Analyze website usage.

If at any time a User wishes not to receive any future communications or to have the User’s name deleted from our mailing lists, please contact us at support@projectspark.com. Please note that we will continue to contact the User via email to respond to requests and provide our Services.

Storage of User Information.

User information, including Personal Information, may be transferred to, and maintained on, computers located outside of the User’s state, province, country or other jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. If a User is located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Information, to the United States and process it there.

Our Disclosure of User Personal Information and Other Information.

We may share a User’s Personal Information with certain third parties without further notice to the User, as set forth below:

(a) Vendors and Service Providers. We engage third party vendors and service providers to perform certain functions on our behalf. These third parties may have limited access to databases of User information or registered member information solely for the purpose of helping us to provide and/or improve the Services and they will be subject to contractual restrictions prohibiting them from using the information about our Users for any other purpose. Such third parties do not have any rights to use Personal Information beyond what is necessary to assist us in providing and/or improving the Services.

(b) Legal Requirements. SweetRush may disclose a User’s Personal Information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of SweetRush, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Users of the Site or the public, or (iv) protect against legal liability.

(i) Our Services provide Users with the opportunity to share certain content or project(s) to the public, including any third party website, which may include sharing a User’s Personal Information. A User’s decision to share that User’s content or project(s) is entirely voluntary. Please be aware that any information that a User includes in the User’s shared content or project(s), including any Personal Information, will become available to all Project Spark Users without restriction. We do not systematically monitor the content of information that is publicly published. After publishing, we have no control over how such information is used or its further dissemination. We urge Users to think carefully about what, if any, Personal Information they include when they share their project(s) to the public.

(ii) Users may also share information about themselves with their teacher and the rest of their class during any course or session voluntarily. While Project Spark expects teachers and all others Users to abide by our standards of conduct, please note that we cannot control or monitor what Personal Information Users share with teachers or other classmates, nor what those third parties ultimately do with that information, and disclaim all responsibility in that regard.

(d) Business Transfers. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of company assets, or transition of service to another provider, User information, including Personal Information, may be transferred to a successor or affiliate alone or as part of that transaction along with other assets.

7. Special Protections for Children and Students.

Please note that a User’s Personal Information may be shared with their affiliated school or school district. Moreover, the User’s school may choose to share, and we may share at their request, the User’s Personal Information with new administrators or teachers.

If a User has been given access to the Services by the school the User is affiliated with, this Privacy Policy does not govern how the User’s school might collect, use, or disclose the User’s Personal Information. We are not responsible for the User’s school’s collection, use, or disclosure of the User’s Personal Information or information shared at the User’s school’s request. Please contact the User’s school directly for more information about their privacy practices.

(a) Children’s Data.

SweetRush is concerned about the safety and privacy of children online. As such, this section explains our information collection, disclosure, parental consent practices and parental choice procedures with respect to information provided by persons under the age of 13 (“Child” or “Child-User”). This policy is in accordance with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), and outlines our practices in the United States regarding Child-User Personal Information. For more information about COPPA and general tips about protecting Children’s online privacy, please refer here.

(i) Collection. The Site is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children, and we do not and will not knowingly contact or collect Personal Information from Child-Users. When applicable, the only Personal Information we receive about a Child-User is the information provided by the parent or legal guardian, or information provided by the Child-User as part of that Child-User’s participation in a course or courses a part of that Child-User’s K-12 education program. By allowing their Child to become a Child-User and to participate in such course(s), a parent is consenting to the collection of that information.

(ii) Use and Disclosure. Any information provided by a Child’s parent will be shared with the teacher in order to allow the teacher to enroll the Child as a Child-User for Services and provide classes. This information shall also be treated as part of the Child-User’s Personal Information and may be shared as described in the Disclosure section above (i.e., to vendors and service providers, to comply with legal requirements, etc.). Child-Users may also share information about themselves with the teacher and the rest of their class during the class session voluntarily.

While SweetRush expects teachers and all other Users to abide by our standards of conduct, please note that we cannot control or monitor what Personal Information a Child-User shares with teachers or other classmates, nor what those third parties ultimately do with that information, and disclaim all responsibility in that regard.

(iii) Parental Consent. SweetRush obtains verifiable parental consent before collecting Personal Information from the parent’s Child. If a parent does not consent to their Child’s use, then we will not collect, use or disclose any Personal Information about their Child, and their Child will not be allowed to use the Services in any way and will not be permitted to become a Child-User.

(iv) Parental Choices and Controls. At any time, a parent of a Child-User can refuse to permit us to collect further Personal Information from their Child-User in association with the User’s account, and can request that we delete from our records the Personal Information we have collected in connection with that account. Please keep in mind that a request to delete records may lead to a termination of the Child-User’s account or other service. Parents may contact SweetRush to request access to, inspect, review, change, correct or delete their Child-User’s Personal Information by sending an email to us at support@projectspark.com. A valid request to delete Personal Information will be accommodated within a reasonable time. In addition to the foregoing, we will exercise commercially reasonable efforts to delete Personal Information belonging to Child-Users when it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT BY FRAUD OR DECEPTION BY OTHERS WE MAY RECEIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION PERTAINING TO CHILDREN. IF WE ARE NOTIFIED OF THE RECEIPT OF INFORMATION UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, ONCE VERIFIED, WE WILL PROMPTLY OBTAIN PARENTAL OR GUARDIAN CONSENT, AND IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH CONSENT, WILL DELETE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION. IF A PARENT WANTS TO NOTIFY US THAT WE HAVE INADVERTENTLY RECEIVED SUCH INFORMATION FOR A CHILD, PLEASE DO SO BY EMAILING US AT SUPPORT@PROJECTSPARK.COM.

(b) Student Data and Education Records.

(i) This policy is also in accordance with the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), and outlines our practices in the United States regarding student education records. FERPA protects the privacy of student education records. SweetRush will obtain prior written consent from a parent or “eligible student” (i.e., a student who is 18 or older or who is attending a post-high school institution) before it discloses Personal Information of said User-student. Consent will specify the Educational Records to be disclosed, state the purpose of disclosure and identify the party to whom the disclosure may be made.

(ii) At SweetRush’s discretion, or upon request of any User-student’s affiliated school or district, a User-student’s education records will be transferred to each of the User-student’s affiliated school or the corresponding authority that maintains and provides access to the student-User’s education records.

(iii) Parents of non-eligible student-Users and eligible student-Users themselves (“Authorized Requestor”) have the right to review their student-User, or their own education records, respectively, and to request changes under limited circumstances. Please contact us at support@projectspark.com for any such requests.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FERPA AND GENERAL TIPS ABOUT PROTECTING STUDENT EDUCATION RECORDS, YOU MAY FIND MORE INFORMATION HERE.

Security.

We take reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information provided via the Services from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be fully secure and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any User information provided to us. We do not accept liability for disclosures beyond our reasonable control. Users and their parents are also responsible for helping to protect the security of the User’s account credentials. For instance, a User should never give out their password. Users should further safeguard their username, password and personal credentials when they are using the Services, so that other people will not have access to the User’s Personal Information. Furthermore, Users and their parents are responsible for maintaining the security of any personal computing device on which Users utilize the Services.

Access and Accuracy; Correcting Personal Information.

(i) Authorized Requestors have the right to access the Personal Information and education records we hold in order to verify the Personal Information and education records we have collected with respect to their student-User or themselves, respectively, and to have a general account of our uses of that information. Upon receipt of a written request, we will provide the Authorized Requestor with a copy of the User’s Personal Information and education records, although in certain limited circumstances we may not be able to make all relevant information available to the Authorized Requestor, such as where that information also pertains to another User. In such circumstances we will provide reasons for the denial to the Authorized Requestor upon request. We will endeavor to deal with all requests for access and modifications in a timely manner.

(ii) We will make every reasonable effort to keep Users’ Personal Information and education records accurate and up-to-date, and we will provide Authorized Requestors with mechanisms to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of the User’s Personal Information and education records. As appropriate, this amended Personal Information and education records will be transmitted to those parties to which we are permitted to disclose User information. Having accurate Personal Information and education records about Users enables us to give them the best possible service.

(iii) In certain circumstances, Users and Authorized Requestors have the right:

To access and receive a copy of the Personal Information and education records we hold about the User;
To rectify any Personal Information and education records held about the User that is inaccurate; and
To request the deletion of Personal Information and education records held about the User.

(iv) Users have the right to data portability for the information they provide to us. Authorized Requestors can request to obtain a copy of their non-eligible student-User or their own Personal Information and education records in a commonly used electronic format so that they can manage and move it.

Special Notice to Residents of California.

Please note that we may ask Authorized Requestors to verify their identity before responding to such requests. California residents are entitled to ask us for a notice identifying the categories of Personal Information which we share with our affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes, and providing contact information for such affiliates and/or third parties. Authorized Requestors who are California resident and who would like a copy of this notice should submit a written request to: support@projectspark.com.

Additional Information for Users in the European Union.

(a) Personal Information. References to “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy are generally equivalent to “Personal Data” governed by European data protection legislation, except where differences apply.

(b) Controller. SweetRush is the “controller” of a User’s Personal Data for purposes of European data protection legislation.

(c) Lawful Basis for Data Processing. We will only collect, store, and process User Personal Data where a lawful basis for such processing exists, which will typically fall under one of the following scenarios:

(i) The User, known as “the Data Subject,” has given consent to the processing of their Personal Data for one or more specific purposes, for example by consenting to terms and conditions on our website, and consenting to the terms of this Privacy Notice;

(ii) Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the Data Subject are party;

(iii) Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we as a Controller is subject;

(iv) Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us as the Controller, or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the Data Subject, which require protection of their Personal Data. The legitimate interests that underlie our processing of personal data include research and development and protecting our legal rights and interests.

(d) Use of User Personal Data for Other Purposes. We may use User Personal Data for reasons not described in this Privacy Notice where permitted by law and the reason is compatible with the purpose for which we collected it.

(e) Retention.

(i) We will only retain User Personal Data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. For example, we keep account information for as long as the account is active, and for a reasonable period thereafter to ease reactivation if a User chooses to reactivate their account. If the Services are made available to a User through an organization, we retain the User’s information as long as required by the administrator of the User’s account on their behalf.

(ii) To determine the appropriate retention period for Personal Data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the User’s Personal Data, the purposes for which we process the User’s data, whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

(iii) In some circumstances we may anonymize User Personal Data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

(f) Your Rights. European data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your Personal Data. You may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your Personal Data that we hold:

(i) “Opt-out”: Stop sending the User direct marketing communications. Users may continue to receive Service-related and other non-marketing emails.

(ii) “Access”: Provide Users with information about our processing of their Personal Data and give them access to their information.

(iii) “Correct”: Update or correct inaccuracies in Users Personal Data.

(iv) “Delete”: Delete your Personal Data.

(v) “Transfer”: Transfer a machine-readable copy of a User’s Personal Data to them or a third party of their choice.

(vi) “Object”: Object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the basis of our processing of User Personal Data that impacts User rights.

(vii) “Withdraw Consent”: If our processing is based on User consent, that User has the right to withdraw such consent at any time.

Users can submit these requests by email to support@projectspark.com. We may request specific information from the User to help us confirm their identity and process their request. Applicable law may require or permit us to decline the User request. If we decline the request, we will tell the User why, subject to legal restrictions. If the User would like to submit a complaint about our use of Personal Data or response to their requests regarding Personal Data, they may contact us as described in the preceding section of our Privacy Policy or submit a complaint to the data protection regulator in your jurisdiction. Please find the relevant data protection regulator here.

(g) Cross-Border Data Transfer. Whenever we transfer Personal Data out of the EU to countries not deemed by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of Personal Data protection, the transfer will be based on either use of approved standard contractual clauses or one of the safeguards recognized by the European Commission as providing adequate protection for Personal Data, where required by EU data protection legislation.

Links to Other Websites.

This Privacy Policy applies only to the Project Spark Services. The Services may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by us (the “Third Party Sites”). The policies and procedures we describe here do not apply to the Third Party Sites. The links from our Services do not imply that we endorse or have reviewed the Third Party Sites. We suggest contacting those sites directly for information on their privacy policies.

Other Terms and Conditions.

User access to and use of our Services is subject to the Terms of Service [link].

Changes to Our Privacy Policy.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. A User’s continued use of the Services signifies their acceptance of any changes. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy in the future, we will post or provide reasonable notice to Users. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective on the date the change is posted. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all Personal Information that we have about Users and their accounts. The date on which the latest update was made is indicated at the bottom of this document. We recommend that Users print a copy of this Privacy Policy for their reference and revisit this policy from time to time to ensure that they are aware of any changes.

Contact Us.

Please feel free to contact us with have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the information practices of our Services. Send email questions to support@projectspark.com. Send mail to:

Project Spark

via SweetRush, Inc.

1728 Ocean Ave. #366

San Francisco, CA 94112

United States

Updated as of August 1, 2020