Privacy Policy

Columbia Grammar and Prep School Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 4/5/22

Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School (“CGPS,” “School,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) provides this Privacy Policy to explain how we may collect, use, and share personal information through our website, www.cgps.org (“Site”), the CGPS mobile application and our embedded web application (together, the “App”), or on other websites and apps that link to this Privacy Policy (together, the “Service”). The App is the official app of the Columbia Grammar and Prep School community.

Information Collection 
Information You or Others Provide

You may voluntarily provide personal information about yourself and others to the School or to service providers acting on our behalf when using our Service.  This may include information such as your name, contact information, employment information, demographic information, transaction-related information, information pertaining to your interests, or additional information you choose to provide to us.  For example, we may collect this information when you submit forms through our Site, donate to our School, or send us an inquiry.


When you register with us and use the App, we may also collect personal information you provide such as your name, contact information, age, user name, password and other registration information. We may also collect transaction-related information, such as when you make purchases like tickets for School events, information you provide us when you contact us for help, and information you enter into our systems when using the App. For example, students may provide personal information when they upload their homework or connect with teachers and classmates through the App.  


In addition, you may choose to provide personal information through the Service about students of the School, prospective students, and other individuals applying or registering for our programs, such as their names, ages, addresses, medical information, extracurricular interests, and educational information.  We may collect this information, for instance, when you register students for our summer programs or upload information to the App.  

 

Automatically Collected Information 
In addition to all the above, we may collect certain information automatically during the use of our Service, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device you use, your device’s unique device ID, the IP address, your operating system, the type of Internet browser you use, and information about the way you use the Service.  We may collect this information through the use of cookies and similar technology.  Please see the “Digital Advertising & Analytics” section of this Privacy Policy to learn more about the use of this information and the choices available to you.  

Information Use
We may use the information we collect for any lawful purpose.  These purposes include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

  • To provide the School’s services, including to register you or your child for School programs and create student and parent directories;
  • To respond to your inquiries and requests; 
  • To fundraise and process financial donations;
  • To communicate with website visitors, students, parents, applicants, alumni, and others;
  • To provide updates, surveys, and other content that may be of interest to you;
  • For operational purposes, such as analytics, research, and marketing;
  • To maintain, operate, customize, and improve the Service;
  • To comply with law enforcement and maintain the security of our Service and our School; or
  • As otherwise disclosed at the time of collection or use.

 

Information Sharing 
We will share your information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this Privacy Policy, including as described below:

  • With parents/guardians of a student;
  • With our teachers and other employees of the School;
  • At your direction or request, such as providing student information to third parties related to standardized testing, transfers to a new school, in connection with financial aid applications and administration, or applications and placement for higher education; 
  • With accreditation, oversight, and research authorities;
  • With other members of our School community, such as through the publication of student and parent directories; 
  • As required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process;  
  • As part of a sale, merger or acquisition, or other transfer of all or part of our assets including as part of a bankruptcy proceeding; 
  • When we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of third parties, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request;
  • With our trusted services providers who work on our behalf to support our School and do not have an independent use of the information we disclose to them; 
  • With volunteers, contractors, and consultants that support our School; or
  • With your consent (on behalf of yourself or as a student’s parent/guardian) or as otherwise disclosed at the time of data collection or sharing. 
  • Aggregated, anonymized data may also be periodically transmitted to external services to help us improve the App and our Service. 
     

Third-Party Tools & Links
In addition to our own App, the Service includes the embedded Veracross web application.  This web application, which is operated by a third party, may collect personal information from parents, students, or prospective students.  For example, parents may provide personal information about themselves or their children when they upload admissions-related information.  


The Service also includes links to third-party websites, tools, or web applications that can be used for the School.  Among others, the Service may include integrated social media tools or “plug-ins” offered by third parties.  If you use these tools to share personal information or you otherwise interact with social media features on the Service, those social media companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with the general public.  


Your interactions with third-party companies, and your use of their applications and tools, are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide those features.  We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policies of these companies. 


Digital Advertising & Analytics 
We may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) that serve ads on behalf of us and others on non-affiliated platforms.  Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your use of the Service and other sites or apps over time, including information about relationships among different browsers and devices.  This type of advertising is known as interest-based advertising.  


You can visit the Digital Advertising Alliance Webchoices tool at www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt out of this advertising on websites by companies participating in the DAA self-regulatory program.  If you delete your cookies or use a different browser or mobile device, you may need to renew your opt-out choices exercised through the DAA Webchoices tool.  Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications.  It may make the ads you see less relevant to your interests.  


We also work with third parties that collect data about your use of the Service and our other online services, and other sites over time, for non-advertising purposes.  For example, the Service uses Google Analytics to improve the performance of the Service and for other analytics purposes.  For more information about how Google collects and uses data when you use our Service, visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/, and to opt out of Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.


Additionally, your browser may offer tools to limit the use of cookies or to delete cookies; however, if you use these tools, our Service may not function as intended.
 
Your Choices 
You may opt out of receiving future marketing correspondence from us by using the unsubscribe link provided in each marketing message.  If you opt out, we will continue to send messages related to our transactions or relationship with you.


In addition, you can stop future collection of information through the App by discontinuing use of the App and uninstalling the App from your device. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your mobile device or via the mobile application marketplace or network.


Security
We take steps to safeguard the security and confidentiality of the personal information we collect, including using physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards.. Please be aware that, although we endeavor provide reasonable security for information we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.
 
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time for any reason. We will notify you of any material changes to our Privacy Policy by posting the new Privacy Policy here and informing you via email or text message. You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes.
 
Questions About Our Privacy Policy
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices, please contact us at 212.749.6200.