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If you have questions regarding our Privacy Policy, contact us by email, or write us at:

The College Board

45 Columbus Avenue

New York, NY 10023

Attention: Customer Service

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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 3, 2012

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. References in this Privacy Policy may, as the context requires, include College Board affiliate or subsidiary websites. The College Board provides access to information, goods, and services that facilitate the transition from high school to college to make the college experience more enjoyable and cost-efficient. We recognize the importance of protecting the privacy rights of our users.

The College Board is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to build user trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the College Board website(s). Because the College Board wants to demonstrate its commitment to privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact us directly. If you do not receive an acknowledgment, or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php. TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison to resolve your concerns.

This Privacy Policy applies only to personally identifiable information collected on these website(s) and does not apply to any other information collected by the College Board through any other means. This Privacy Policy applies to the use and sharing of personally identifiable information collected on and after the date that this Privacy Policy is posted.

Within this policy statement you will find:

Children Under 13 Years of Age

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information online from children under the age of 13. If a child provides us with this type of information online, please contact us to have the account deactivated by sending an email or by calling 866-756-7346.

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Changes to Privacy Statement

These guidelines have been developed with the recognition that Internet technologies are rapidly evolving. From time to time, we may need to change our Privacy Policy because of changes in the law, technology, our business, or our attempts to better serve user needs. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post the changes within the Privacy Policy itself, on the homepage, or in other places we deem appropriate. This is to ensure that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our homepage. All information collected after any updates to the Privacy Policy will be subject to the new policy.

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Types of Information Collected Online

The choice regarding how much personally identifiable information you disclose is completely at your discretion. While it is not mandatory to answer any question, you will need to provide personally identifiable information to access certain areas of our site(s); obtain or register for special services; or complete transactions. If you choose not to provide this information, we may not be able to permit access to such areas, provide those special services, or complete certain transactions. Some specific examples include creating an exam registration, saving college lists, and purchasing products from our online store.

We respect your privacy. Except as described in this privacy statement, your information collected on the College Board website(s) will not be shared, rented, or loaned to third parties.

We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our website(s).

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Information Collected Through Traffic Monitoring

Like many other websites, the College Board website(s) are equipped with a program that monitors site traffic. It automatically records every visitor's host, domain name, pages visited, length of user session, browser type and/or IP address. This program tracks the number of times the site(s) are visited, how many visitors come to the site(s), which parts of the site(s) are frequented, and the length of time of each visit. This information does not contain personally identifiable information and is used to evaluate areas of interest and to improve the website(s).

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Information Collected Through Account Creation, Test Registration, Sign-In, and Obtaining Services

Following are examples of the types of accounts and services offered on these website(s) and the type of information that is collected from the user. By providing any such information, the user consents to our Privacy Policy.

Student Sections

We may collect personally identifiable information directly from users who are interested in obtaining services, products, or using tools within the sections of the site that are aimed at students, such as the SAT sections or BigFuture, our college planning site. Users do not need an online account to view most parts of the website(s); however, to perform certain tasks or to save personalized information, accounts are required. Some examples of these tasks include: registering for an exam, saving college or scholarship searches, and viewing exam results.

Account creation: We collect the following personally identifiable information from users who wish to create an online account: first name, middle initial, last name, zip code, gender, date of birth, date of high school graduation, email address, username, and password. In addition, users can supply a parent or guardian's first and last name, and email address.

CC a Parent feature: Our CC a Parent service allows a parent or guardian to receive copies of the important emails that we send students. We require the parent or guardian's first and last name, as well as an email address. The parent or guardian must accept the email confirmation sent by the College Board in order to receive copies of any emails. This service currently includes the following automatic emails:

  • Reminders about upcoming dates and deadlines
  • SAT® registration receipts and notifications
  • SAT Admission Tickets for test day
  • Test center alerts
  • Score announcements

Parents may also choose additional services and receive emails concerning those services. To protect the security of your College Board website account, we do not send copies of username or password reminders.

Test registration: We typically collect the following information from students registering for an exam: postal address, telephone number, date of birth, social security number (optional), and email address. We may also collect other types of information such as gender, graduation date, financial information for loan and scholarship tools, academic information and interests, citizenship, and religious affiliation. To process your registration, credit card information will also be collected.

Student Search Service® program: Student Search Service is a voluntary program that allows students to receive information about educational and financial aid opportunities from colleges, universities, scholarship programs, and educational organizations. Students may choose to participate when registering for exams. If the student chooses to participate, the following information is sent to the participating colleges, universities, scholarship programs, and educational organizations: name, postal address, gender, birth date (if provided), school, grade level, ethnic identification (if provided), intended college major (if provided), and email address (if provided).

Pay for College section: In the Pay for College section in BigFuture, we offer a variety of tools and services which provide access to current information on college costs, scholarships, financial aid applications, and college financing. These include Scholarship Search and CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE®. We typically collect the following information when these tools are used: first and last name, address, telephone number, date of birth, gender, anticipated graduation date, family information, and social security number (optional). For the sole purpose of processing loan or financial aid applications, or Scholarship Search requests, we also collect detailed family financial information such as income, taxes, and assets.

Online store: When you purchase products or services from us, we capture credit card information, the type of services or products ordered or purchased, and the date of the order or purchase.

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Educator Sections

We may collect personally identifiable information directly from users who are interested in obtaining services, products, or using tools, within the sections of the site that are aimed at education professionals. Users do not need an online account to view most of the website; however, to perform certain tasks or save personalized information, accounts are required. Some examples of these tasks include: ordering AP® materials or PSAT/NMSQT® exam materials, registering for workshops, and requesting additional fee waivers. The information may be provided through one or several of the services discussed below.

Account creation: We collect the following personally identifiable information from users who wish to create an online account: first name, middle initial, and last name, name suffix, gender, job title, school affiliation, username, password, email address, and birth month and day.

Creating Test Coordinator account: Establishing yourself as a Test Coordinator for your designated school allows you the benefit of ordering testing materials online. When creating an online account, we may collect first and last names, email address, work and fax numbers, and an alternate contact name from the school. We use the alternate contact name in case there are questions regarding an order. In addition, Test Coordinators may also provide information, such as: name, work phone, fax number, and email address, which can be displayed on the public Web page for the school's testing center.

Online event registration: If you register for a workshop, meeting, or conference through the site, we'll capture credit card information, the type of services or products ordered or purchased, and the date of the order or purchase.

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Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small text file placed on your computer's hard drive when you visit a website. The cookie gives you a unique, random ID, and this ID enables our website(s) to readily recognize each user on a subsequent visit to the site(s). For example, a cookie may indicate the preferences you selected on a prior visit. This facilitates more efficient browsing on subsequent visits, by using your preferences to customize the content and/or layout of our site(s). We may use cookies in this fashion. Visitors are free to set their Web browsers to prevent the acceptance of cookies. However, subscribers of College Board's MyRoad™ product must enable cookies to access member areas. Be aware that the College Board website cookies do not contain personally identifiable information.

Some of our service providers use cookies on our site(s). We have no access to or control over these cookies. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by the College Board website(s) only and does not cover the use of cookies by any third-party providers.

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How Information Is Used

Personally identifiable information collected during the account registration process and by users choosing to receive certain email communications may be used to:

  • Improve the College Board and its products, offerings, and services. Typically, this information is collected from email surveys and online polls.
  • Verify user identity during Customer Service calls.
  • Share information with our operational partners for the sole purpose of administering testing services, and producing and generating student score reports.
  • Customize and/or personalize the content and/or layout of our page for each individual user, including use in Public Forums and College Board Communities if the user elects to participate in these features.
  • Send customized college-planning newsletters.
  • Pre-fill an exam registration with stored personal information.
  • Fulfill online purchase requests or other transactions performed on the site(s). Personally identifiable information is shared with the relevant supplier or selected vendor so that they can complete purchases or transactions.

We may also aggregate information that users provide in order to:

  • Generate statistical studies and conduct research related to our professional work.
  • Identify, develop, and offer products and services that help in the transition from high school to college, may make the college experience more enjoyable and cost-efficient, or help obtain such products and services from suppliers and selected vendors;

In support of operating, hosting, and enhancing our website(s), personally identifiable information may be accessed by contractors who assist with programming and technical aspects of website operation. All contractors adhere to the College Board's confidentiality and privacy conditions.

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Suppliers and Selected Vendors; Linked Sites

We maintain relationships with outside service providers for some of the services offered through our site(s). Although, the information these providers make available may be presented in a framed format, with the College Board border surrounding the service provider's pages, the service provider is prominently identified. Please be aware that any information supplied on those framed pages is sent directly to those service providers, and is subject to their security and privacy policies. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these outside service providers, because their privacy practices may differ from ours.

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Service Providers

We use outside companies to process credit cards and to ship free or purchased goods. These companies do not retain, share, store, or use personally identifiable information for any other purpose.

In addition, we use an outside company to process outbound email to our customers. This company does retain and store limited personally identifiable information for the sole purpose of their service obligation to our organization. They do not share, sell or rent this information for any other purpose. Examples of the information provided are: First and Last Name, Address, Date of Birth, Home and Cell Phone number, and email address.

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Communication Options from the Website(s)

We communicate electronically with our users through two types of emails: mandatory system-generated emails and optional emails. System-generated emails are a direct response to a user's action on the site(s). Examples include: confirmation of a purchase, an SAT Web Admission Ticket, and username and password reminders. Optional emails are selected by the user based on specific services chosen. Examples include product promotions, The Official SAT Question of the Day™, student newsletters, parent newsletters, onboard newsletters, alerts, and surveys.

You always have the choice not to receive optional email or other means of communication from the College Board website(s). We respect your privacy and realize that not everyone likes to receive special offers or information. You have the ability, upon registering at the site(s), to opt out from receiving elective communications. Even if you initially choose to receive such email or communications, you later may request removal from our lists in any of these ways:

  1. Students and parents can unsubscribe by signing in, going to their individual My Organizer page, clicking on My Info in the left-hand menu, scrolling down to Email Subscriptions, and clicking Manage Subscriptions.
  2. Educators can unsubscribe from AP Central newsletters by signing into their professional account, selecting Manage Enrollment for AP Central, and selecting Do not send next to Email options.
  3. Click the Unsubscribe link located in the footer of College Board elective email communications.
  4. Call Customer Service at 866-756-7346.
  5. Write to us at:
    The College Board
    45 Columbus Avenue
    New York, NY 10023
    Attention: User Account Manager

Student Search Service: Student Search Service communications are sent by outside colleges, scholarship programs, and educational opportunity organizations. All entities who receive student information from Student Search Service are required to maintain strict confidentiality. We actively monitor these entities to ensure adherence to our guidelines. The frequency and mode of communication is determined by the entity which receives the student's name. Every communication from individual entities is required to contain specific instructions on how to unsubscribe from that particular institution. To unsubscribe from the entire program, call 800-626-9795 or write to:

The College Board
11955 Democracy Drive
Reston, VA 20190-5662
Attention: Student Search Service

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Access to Personally Identifiable Information

You can change your personally identifiable information in any of these ways:

  1. Sign in to your College Board account and go to your personal My Organizer page. Click on My Info in the left-hand menu. In the Account Information section, click Update My Account. Make any changes and then click Update.
  2. Call Customer Service at 866-756-7346, or write to:
    The College Board
    45 Columbus Avenue
    New York, NY 10023
    Attention: Customer Service

    Additional personally identifiable information is stored within your test registration. To view or edit this information:

  3. Sign in to your College Board account and go to your personal My Organizer page. Click on My Tests in the left-hand menu. In the section called The SAT, click on SAT Registration.
  4. Make any changes and then click Save and Exit.

To close or deactivate your account, you must:

Call Customer Service at 866-756-7346, or write to:
The College Board
45 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
Attention: Customer Service

Please be aware that College Board test scores are not deleted simply by closing an account. All test scores remain on file with us, indefinitely.

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Contacts for More Information

If you have questions, contact us by email, or write us at:

The College Board
45 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
Attention: Customer Service

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College Board Communities: When creating an account or joining a College Board Community ("Community"), the user will be asked to provide a display name. Users have the option of being identified by their first and last name as it appears in their online Education Professional account or by their display name. By choosing to use the first and last name, users understand that their first and last name will be seen by other participants in the Community.

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Security

We exercise great care in providing secure transmission of information from your computer to our servers. You must have a secure browser — one that supports secure transmission of data across the Internet — to purchase items on the College Board website(s). For more information, use your browser's Help feature.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. When sensitive information such as credit card or social security numbers is transmitted, we use industry standard secure socket layer (SSL) encryption.

Your College Board website password is protected so that only you can access it and view the member information relevant to the account. We recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. No one at the College Board will ever ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or email. Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and any account information.

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