Privacy Policy

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Date of Last Revision: August 16th, 2024

We, SEMAFOX INC., (“SEMAFOX”) provide our college management system (“College Office”) through our websites located at https://login.collegeoffice.com and https://login.collegeoffice.net . Please read this Privacy Policy carefully: it explains our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of information stored in College Office.

About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to https://login.collegeoffice.com and https://login.collegeoffice.net and covers any functionality provided by College Office to manage the information of an educational institution such as students personal information, teachers personal information, academic data and educational records, financial transactions, schedules and other data used in the management of an educational institution (the "Service").

This Privacy Policy applies to all users of College Office, both the educational institutions which use College Office to manage their institution (the "Customers"), and the individuals who have been granted access by the Customer to access and use College Office via a unique login (the customer's "Authorized Users").

By accessing our Service, you accept our Privacy Policy, and you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

EU-U.S. DATA PRIVACY FRAMEWORK (DPF)

College Office stores the data of all our customers in a secure data center in the USA.

SEMAFOX is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the US Federal Trade Commission and complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union to the United States in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF.

SEMAFOX has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Data Privacy Framework Principles, the Data Privacy Framework Principles shall govern. To learn more about the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/.

In compliance with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles, SEMAFOX commits to resolve complaints about our collection or use of your personal information. EU individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework policy should first contact SEMAFOX by emailing us at: support@collegeoffice.com or by writing to Semafox, 630 Charles Street Ave, Towson MD 21204, USA

SEMAFOX has further committed to cooperate with the panel established by the EU Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) with regard to unresolved EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework complaints concerning data transferred from the EU.

Pursuant to Article 27 of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), SEMAFOX has appointed European Data Protection Office (EDPO) as its GDPR representative in the EU (see our certificate here). You can contact EDPO regarding matters pertaining to the GDPR:

by using EDPO's online request form: https://edpo.com/gdpr-data-request/
by writing to EDPO at Avenue Huart Hamoir 71, 1030 Brussels, Belgium.

An individual has the possibility, under certain conditions, to invoke binding arbitration for complaints regarding EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework compliance not resolved by any of the other EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework mechanisms as detailed in Section C of Annex I of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

EU data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in the EU.

SEMAFOX shall remain liable under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles if its agents process personal information in a manner inconsistent with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles, unless SEMAFOX proves that it is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

Summary

This is the essence of what this privacy policy is about:

We are only processing personal information on behalf of our customers, the educational institutions which use College Office: read their Privacy Policy to understand how they handle personal information.
We only use the personal information stored and collected via College Office to provide the service of College Office to our customers and their authorized users.
We do not share this information with any third party, but we use the services of third party technology companies to store encrypted copies of the data or its backups.
We may disclose your personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
We only send emails to inform you about changes of policy or features or other issues with the system we deem important: you cannot opt out of these emails.
You can view the personal information stored about yourself in College Office by clicking your name on the upper left corner of the home page. Your academic & financial records can also be accessed from the home page.
Contact your institution if you want to correct or remove information stored about yourself.
We take all reasonable measures to protect your information from unauthorized access and from loss, but we cannot guaranty that loss or unauthorized access will never occur.
Your information is stored and processed in a data center in the USA.
We only use 'essential' cookies (technically required small text files saved by your browser to manage your access to College Office.) No non-essential cookies are used.
We may change this Policy at any time, but we will let you know.
You cannot use College Office unless you consent to our Privacy Policy.
If you have questions about the privacy of your data contact us at support@collegeoffice.com

The rest of this document explains those points with more details

Section 1: Customers

Customers are the institutions and their employees that use College Office to manage the records of their students and instructors. They are ultimately responsible for the information they choose to store in College Office. We only use the information stored in College Office to provide the Service of College Office to our Customers and their Authorized Users.

Section 2: Authorized Users

Authorized Users are the employees, instructors and students authorized by our Customers to access College Office. This section of the Privacy Policy applies to information that SEMAFOX may receive about Authorized Users.

2.1 What kind of information do we collect and how do we obtain this information?

The institutions that use College Office collect both “Non-Personal Information” and “Personal Information” about you and record that information into College Office.

“Non-Personal Information” includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you.

“Personal Information” includes information that can be used to personally identify you, such as your name, address, date of birth and email address.

College Office is not designed to collect sensitive information such as religious belief, ethnicity, sexual orientation or medical information, but our Customers could configure College Office in such a way as to collect this kind of information: you should contact your educational institution and read their privacy policy.

All Personal Information we receive with respect to Authorized Users is collected by and held on behalf of our Customers and for the sole purpose of providing the Service of College Office to our Customers and their Authorized Users. If you are an Authorized User, you acknowledge and agree that any Personal or other information that you provide to the Customer via College Office is received, used, and processed by us on behalf of the applicable Customer in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

This information is collected by the Customer in a way pursuant to their applicable information collection practices, which are typically outlined in a privacy policy like this one and made available on their website. We encourage all Authorized Users to read the privacy policies or statements of the applicable Customer and other online services they access or use.

2.2 How do we use information about Authorized Users?

We only use this information to provide the Service of College Office to our Customers and their Authorized Users. We will never use it for any other purpose.

2.3 Modifying or Deleting Your Information

If you are an Authorized User, you can access the Personal Information associated with your Account via your Account. In order to modify the Personal Information associated with your Account however, you must contact the Customer directly. If instructed by our Customer, we will take steps to delete the applicable information as soon as is practicable.

2.4 Data Retention Policy

Your personal and academic data is retained in College Office for as long as your institution chooses to keep it: ask your institution about their data retention policy. Once your data has been deleted from College Office by your institution it may remain in archived/backup copies for our records for several weeks or as otherwise required by law.

2.5 Access to Your Information

Users can access all their personal information on record in College Office via their web portal. To view your personal information click your name of the upper left corner of the home page.

2.6 Communications from College Office

College Office may require certain communications to Account-holders, such as periodic updates to our Privacy Policy, Service-related announcements on occasions when it is necessary to do so (for instance, if our Service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, or a new enhancement is released, which will affect the way you use our Service); these communications are considered part of College Office and you will not be able to opt out of receiving them.

You will never receive emails from College Office for marketing purposes or emails asking you to share or verify any personal information or user login information: if you do, those emails are a fraud, contact us at support@collegeoffice.com.

2.7 Communications from Customers

You may also receive communications from your Institution via College Office. Contact your Institution if you wish to opt out of these communications.

Section 3: Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are saved by your browser when you access College Office. We only use essential cookies (cookies that are technically required for the site to operate.) You will not be able to log into College Office if you configure your browser to reject cookies.

We do not share any information with any third party except as described below:

4.1 Information Shared with Third Party Service Providers

We use the services of third party companies which provide us with cloud servers and/or data storage. These companies all conform to current data privacy laws and our data is always encrypted.

4.2 Merger or Acquisition

If we go out of business or enter bankruptcy or if we are acquired as a result of a transaction such as a merger, acquisition or asset sale, your Personal Information will be transferred to the third-party acquirer in connection with the transaction to enable such third-party acquirer to continue to provide the services of College Office to our Customers and their Authorized Users.

You acknowledge and consent that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Privacy Policy, and that any acquirer of our assets may continue to process your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If our policy changes at any time in the future, we will inform you so that you may opt out of the new information practices.

4.3 Information Disclosed for Our Protection and the Protection of Others

It is our policy to protect you from having your privacy violated through abuse of the legal systems, whether by individuals, entities, or governments, and to contest claims that we believe to be invalid under applicable law. However, it is also our policy to cooperate with government and law enforcement officials and private parties. Accordingly, we reserve the right to disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary:

To satisfy or comply with any applicable law, regulation, or legal process or to respond to lawful requests, including subpoenas, warrants, or court orders
To protect our property, rights and safety and the rights, property and safety of third parties or the public in general
To prevent or stop activity we consider to be illegal or unethical or in violation of our Terms of Service

4.4 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

When handling student educational records as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), SEMAFOX will abide by the limitations and requirements imposed by 34 CFR 99.33(a). SEMAFOX will disclose student educational records as directed by school officials, or in order to comply with a court order, subpoena, or other legitimate demand by government authorities.

Section 5: The Security of Your Information

We implement reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices in order to protect your Personal Information and ensure that such Personal Information is not accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed. However, these measures do not guarantee that your information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such precautions. By using our Service, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to assume these risks.

Section 6: International Transfer

If your institution is located outside of the US, your Personal Information will be transferred to a data center in the United States and processed there.

Section 7: Our Policy Toward Children

College Office does not knowingly collect Personal Information from people under 18. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information of a person under 18, we will take steps to delete such information from our files as soon as possible.

We are not responsible for the collection of Personal Information of children by our Customers and their Authorized Users. It is the responsibility of our Customers and their Authorized Users to utilize College Office in a manner that complies with FERPA and any similar regulations in force in the jurisdiction(s) within which our Customers operate.

Section 8: Changes to Privacy Policy

Any information stored in College Office is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is collected. We may, however, modify and revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you of such changes by posting them on College Office or by sending you an email or other notification, and we will indicate when such changes will become effective.

Section 9: Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact SEMAFOX at:

support@collegeoffice.com

SEMAFOX
630 Charles Street Ave
Towson, MD 21204 USA