The following policy applies only to the use of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website. As users navigate the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website, the user may see links that, when clicked, will take the user to other websites external to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative strongly suggests that users read the privacy policies for any external site that the users visit through a link appearing at this site.

Website Privacy: At the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website, the ACCEPT Education Collaborative attempts to protect the privacy of users to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that is received through the website is subject to the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws chapter 66, section 10, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law, the ACCEPT Education Collaborative cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that users provide to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative through this website may be made available to members of the public under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public. This website privacy policy informs users of the information that the ACCEPT Education Collaborative collects from users at this website, what is done with the information collected, to whom the information may be disseminated, and how users can access it. Based on this information, users can make an informed decision about their use of this website and whether to share personally identifiable information with the ACCEPT Education Collaborative through this website.

Personally Identifiable Information: The term “personally identifiable information” means any information that could reasonably be used to identify a user, including his/her name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, his/her child’s name, Social Security number, date of birth or any combination of information that could be used to identify either the user and/or his/her child.

Information Voluntarily Provided by the User: The ACCEPT Education Collaborative’s website collects voluntary information from the user, through surveys/forms posted on the website and/or through e-mails that the user sends directly to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative. As a result the ACCEPT Education Collaborative’s website may collect personally identifiable information the user voluntarily submits, such as name, address, e-mail address or telephone number, so that the ACCEPT Education Collaborative may contact the user for follow up to his/her question, concern or recommendation. Any e-mail  messages sent by the user to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website may contain personally identifiable information such as the user’s email address and any other information the user chooses to give to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative to help the ACCEPT Education Collaborative answer your inquiry.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by the Website: The ACCEPT Education Collaborative website uses “session cookies” to allow visitors to interact with the websites and to use online applications. “Session cookies” do not allow either the ACCEPT Education Collaborative to personally identify a visitor. These cookies are stored only on the user’s computer and may be deleted by the user.

Please also note that as a website user, you may control information that is shared by your web browser when interacting or visiting sites by checking the “help” feature or “account settings” of your own web browser to learn how to use these features.

The ACCEPT Education Collaborative’ website does collect and store a visitor’s “Internet Protocol (“IP”) address,” (which does not identify the user as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of a user’s visit, whether a file a user has requested exists, and how many “bytes” of information were transmitted to the user over the Web from the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative website uses a user’s IP address to assess the frequency of visits to the websites and the popularity of its various pages and functions. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that a user provides to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative with a user’s IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Dissemination of a User’s Personally Identifiable Information: The ACCEPT Education Collaborative does not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this website or submitted to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative in conjunction with using functions on this website, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once a user voluntarily submits personally identifiable information to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative related to the user’s use of the portal, its dissemination is governed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law, Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Fair Information Practices Act, Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ student records law and other applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. For this reason, part or all of the information a user sends to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public.

In addition, the information that a user voluntarily submits to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative will be disclosed only to employees of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative, or those under contract with the ACCEPT Education Collaborative with a “need to know” for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as; answering the user’s questions, responding to any requests for assistance, generating summary statistics about usage, auditing applications and detecting fraud, aiding in the planning, design and development of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website, and fulfilling the ACCEPT Education Collaborative’s legal obligations. Where appropriate, the ACCEPT Education Collaborative may provide the information submitted by the user through an email to an employee of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative to the person or company that is the subject of the user’s inquiry, or a federal, state or local government agency responsible for the matters referred to in the user’s communication.

The ACCEPT Education Collaborative also may collect and aggregate the information the user provides through surveys for purposes of market research to improve these websites and/or to improve the operations of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative.

A User’s Access and Opportunity to Correct: The “Public Records Law” and the “Fair Information Practices Act” provide users certain rights to get information about him or her that is in the records of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative. To learn more about the circumstances under which a user can get and correct this information, please read these laws.

Security: Because emails sent to employees of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative are not encrypted, users should not send messages containing information that a user considers highly sensitive to this website. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative uses standard security measures to ensure that information provided by a user, including a user’s personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative also uses software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Policy Changes: The ACCEPT Education Collaborative will post substantive changes to this policy at least thirty (30) days before such changes take effect. Any information the ACCEPT Education Collaborative collects under the current website privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this website privacy policy. After any changes take effect, all new information the ACCEPT Education Collaborative collects, if any, will be subject to the new policy.

Contact Information: For questions about privacy while using either the ACCEPT Education Collaborative website, please contact the Main Office at [email protected].

Definitions: Cookies are files that a website can place on a user’s computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as a user’s password, lists of web pages a user has visited, and the date when a user last looked at a specific web page, or to identify a user at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize a user as the user clicks through pages on the website and when a user later revisits the website. A website can use cookies to “remember” a user’s preferences, and to record a user’s browsing behavior on the web. Although a user can prevent websites from placing cookies on his/her computer by using the browser’s preference menu, disabling cookies may affect a user’s ability to view or interact with some websites.



An “Internet Protocol Address” or “IP Address” is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send a user the file that he/she has requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative may identify the computer from which the user is accessing the Internet, or a server owned by the user’s Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.

Disclaimer

Your use of this web site is subject to the conditions and qualifications described below. By using this ACCEPT Education Collaborative website, you agree to accept such conditions and qualifications.

NO WARRANTIES: All documents, files or data accessible on or through this web site (this term includes, but is not limited to, this page, linked pages and sub pages) of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative, its agencies, departments, boards, commissions and offices are provided solely to facilitate public access to information. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative attempts to provide current and accurate information on this web site but cannot guarantee the accuracy or currency of any materials or information on its web site. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative provides such documents, files or data accessible on or through this web site “as is” and without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, accuracy, currency, reliability, omissions or completeness. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative shall not be liable for any claim for damages, including lost profits, consequential or punitive damages, exemplary, incidental, indirect or special damages, relating in any way to the documents, files or other data accessible on or through this web site, including, but not limited to, claims arising out of or related to electronic access or the transmission of data or viruses. The content of this web site is subject to change without notice.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES: The ACCEPT Education Collaborative website has links to other local, state and/or federal agencies, as well as links to other organizations. This linking does not constitute the ACCEPT Education Collaborative’s endorsement of or support for any web page, site, organization, products, policies, services or information and theACCEPT Education Collaborative makes no representations or warranties concerning such web page or site regarding its content or suitability. The ACCEPT Education Collaborative’s disclaimer of warranties as described in paragraph one, shall apply to all links to non-ACCEPT Education Collaborative websites and pages.

NO LEGAL OR OTHER NOTICE: Communications to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative via this web site shall in no way be deemed to constitute legal or official notice to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative, its agencies, departments, boards, commissions, officers, employees, representatives or agents with respect to any existing, pending or future claim or cause of action against the ACCEPT Education Collaborative or any of its agencies, departments, boards, commissions, officers, employees, representatives or agents where notice is required by federal, state or local law. No communications to the ACCEPT Education Collaborative via this web site shall be deemed to constitute legal or official notice for any purpose.

COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED: This web site and the contents are intended only for the individual, non-commercial use of web site users. No user of this web site may resell, republish, print, download or copy any portion of this web site or the contents for commercial use without the prior written consent of the ACCEPT Education Collaborative, except that reasonable copying or printing of its contents for individual, non-commercial use is permitted.

SECURITY: For site security and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this website employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, deny service, otherwise cause damage, or access non-public information. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Infrastructure Protection Act of 1993. Information regarding possible violations of law may be provided to law enforcement officials.