Privacy Policy

Emerald Stage Academy ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your data when you visit our website, enroll in our courses, or interact with us in any other way. This policy is effective as of October 26, 2023.

1. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information from and about users, including:

• Personal Information: This includes your name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, and other contact information you provide when registering for courses, subscribing to our newsletter, or contacting us through our website.
• Payment Information: When you enroll in our courses, we collect payment information, such as credit card details or bank account information, to process your payment. This information is processed securely through our payment gateway providers. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers.
• Demographic Information: We may collect demographic information, such as your age, gender, and interests, to better understand our audience and tailor our services.
• Website Usage Data: We collect information about how you use our website, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages visited, and the dates/times of your visits. This data helps us improve our website's functionality and user experience.
• Communications: We retain records of your communications with us, including emails, phone calls, and online chat logs, to provide customer support and improve our services.
• Student Records: If you enroll in our courses, we maintain records of your attendance, grades, performance evaluations, and other academic information.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• Providing and Improving Our Services: We use your information to provide you with access to our courses, workshops, and other programs, and to improve the quality and relevance of our services.
• Processing Payments: We use your payment information to process your enrollment fees and other payments.
• Communicating with You: We use your contact information to send you important updates about our courses, events, and other news, as well as to respond to your inquiries and provide customer support.
• Personalizing Your Experience: We use your information to personalize your experience on our website and in our courses, such as by recommending courses or content that may be of interest to you.
• Marketing and Advertising: With your consent, we may use your information to send you promotional materials about our courses, events, and other offers. You can opt out of receiving these materials at any time.
• Research and Analytics: We use aggregated and anonymized data for research and analytics purposes, such as to understand trends in our student population and to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs.
• Legal Compliance: We may use your information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, such as to respond to legal requests or to protect our rights and interests.

3. Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect it from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These measures include:

• Encryption: We use encryption to protect sensitive data, such as payment information, during transmission and storage.
• Access Controls: We restrict access to your personal information to authorized personnel who need it to perform their job duties.
• Regular Security Assessments: We conduct regular security assessments to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in our systems.
• Data Backup and Recovery: We maintain regular backups of our data and have procedures in place to recover from data loss events.
• Employee Training: We train our employees on data privacy and security best practices.

Despite our efforts to protect your information, no security system is perfect, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please notify us immediately.

4. Sharing Your Information

We may share your information with third parties in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party service providers who assist us in providing our services, such as payment processors, email marketing providers, and website hosting providers. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes we specify.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request, such as a subpoena or court order.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.
• With Your Consent: We may share your information with third parties with your explicit consent.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

5. Your Rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• Access: You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information we hold about you.
• Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Objection: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Restriction: You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.
• Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the address listed below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

6. Data Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Student records are typically retained for a period of seven years after graduation or last attendance.

7. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete the information.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post any changes to this policy on our website and, if the changes are significant, we will provide you with additional notice, such as by email.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Emerald Stage Academy
123 West 44th Street, Suite 200
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 555-ACT1 (2281)
Email: [email protected]

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of New York.

Policy Author: Dr. Alistair Finch, Chief Privacy Officer, Emerald Stage Academy