Privacy Policy

• Scope of this Privacy Policy
• Information We Collect
• How We Use Your Personal Information
• Marketing by Third Parties
• Disclosure of Your Personal Information

• Log Files and Cookies
• Links to Other Sites
• Security
• Children’s Privacy
• Your Choices
• Changes to this Privacy Policy
• Contact Us

Scope of this Privacy Policy

 At the Council for Professional Recognition, we recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of your personal information. This Privacy Policy governs our collection and use of personal information on all websites and web pages offered by the Council that provide a link to this Privacy Policy, including principally www.pds.org (collectively, the “Site”).

The Council for Professional Recognition is a non-profit company whose operations and data servers are located wholly within the United States. If you are located outside the U.S., please be aware that while we strive to collect and process your data in a fair and transparent manner consistent with industry standards, any data you submit on the Site will be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and U.S. law, which may not offer the full protection of the laws of the country where you are located. By providing information to us on the Site, you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect

The Council for Professional Recognition is committed to a policy of protecting the privacy and confidential information of the users who use the PDS Portal (“the Site”) and all functions found therein.  Upon registration and agreement to the Terms of Service, the Council collects certain “Personal Information” that member provide voluntarily when using the Site. “Personal Information” includes information that can identify you as a specific individual, such as name, e-mail address, or other information. This  “Personal Information” does not include anonymized, aggregate, or statistical information.

The information provided will only be available to Council staff and used only for Council-related business.  The Council will not sell, distribute, publish or otherwise disclose your personally identifying information.

How we Use Your Personal Information

The Find-a-PD Specialist online directory is connected to your profile. If you choose to participate in -in the Find-a-PDS registry, your first name and zipcode will be publicly available, as will your setting and language specializations. Your photo will be publically available if you choose to upload a photo. However, all other information will NOT be made available publically, including but not limited to your last name, email address, mailing address, , or phone number.

Marketing by Third Parties

The Council honors your preferences with regard to sharing your Personal Information outside the Council for marketing purposes. Prior to our sharing your Personal Information with our affiliates or other third parties for marketing purposes, you will be given the opportunity to indicate whether you wish your information to be shared with such parties.

Disclosure of Your Personal Information

Generally

Additionally, the Council will not sell or disclose your Personal Information to third parties except with your consent, or as set forth below:

• If you are under 18 years of age, we may provide your Personal Information to your parent or guardian, who may direct us to release the information to third parties. Information will not be provided to third parties without explicit consent.
• We may share Personal Information within the Council family of companies.
• We may employ third party contractors to perform functions on our behalf, which may include assisting us in processing your Personal Information. These contractors are contractually required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are restricted from using the information for any purposes other than those authorized by the Council.
• The Council may provide your Personal Information to government agencies or others as necessary to comply with the law or in response to legal or administrative processes such as subpoenas. In addition, the Council may release your Personal Information as permitted by law in the unlikely event the Council deems release necessary to protect the health and safety of its customers or others, or to legally protect the Council, its customers or service providers.

 

Log Files & Cookies

In addition, when you access the Site, certain non-personal information is automatically logged about your visit. This information may include your operating system, screen settings, Web browser software, and referring website, if any. It is used for system improvement and administration, security, statistical analysis purposes, and other internal business purposes.

Cookies are small text files that a website can send to a user’s browser for storage on the hard drive. Cookies can make use of the Web easier by saving and administering status, preferences and other user information. Cookies used by the Site do not contain your Personal Information. We use cookies in order to properly route users through the Site, customize users’ experiences on the Site, and to help us improve the Site. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies but users can change the setting to block cookies. Although disabling cookies will not interfere with your ability to access the Site, users will need to accept cookies in order to use certain services on the Site, including test registration.

Security

The security of your Personal Information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the Personal Information we receive. When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card numbers or social security numbers) on your registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee that your Personal Information will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this Privacy Policy (for example, as a result of unauthorized acts by third parties that violate applicable law).

Children’s Privacy

The Site is generally intended for use by those in the fields of education and business and other adults, as well as high school students engaged in college and career planning and their parents. The portions of the Site that collect Personal Information (e.g., www.yourcda.org) are intended for high school students above the age of 16 only. We ask that children under the age of 16 do not submit any Personal Information to us. If you are under 18, you may use this Web site only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
 

Your Choices

You can notify the site administrator (PDS@cdacouncil.org) at any time to remove your registration information from our database. If you do that, we will not keep any personally identifiable records concerning you unless required to do so by law. However, if you make this request you will be unable to further access this site or use the account previously created for you and its associated content.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

The Council reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so you should review it frequently. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post such changes here and/or on the Site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or your Personal Information, you may contact us at http://www.cdacouncil.org/feedback.html, or at the Council for Professional Recognition., 2460 16^th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20009, Attn: Webmaster.

Effective Date

The effective date of this Privacy Policy is March 1, 2013.