PRIVACY NOTICE
Last updated October 27, 2021
Welcome!
This privacy policy (the “Privacy Notice”) applies to the Mouse Create website and the online learning platform (the “Site”), or any of the Mouse websites or digital learning products (collectively the “Services”), owned and operated by “Mouse.,” “Mouse.org,” “Mouse Inc,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). In this Privacy Policy, “you” refers to the user of the Sites or the Institution (e.g. School or District), as context may require. Use of the Sites is also subject to the Terms of Use here.
Mouse is committed to maintaining the privacy of the information you provide to us when you use our Services. This Privacy Notice describes how we collect, use and share your information in relation to the Services. By using our Services, you are agreeing to the terms of this Notice.
Information We Collect
We collect information in a variety of contexts. For example, we may collect information:
Directly from you.
Mouse collects certain information when you register to participate in Mouse Create, such as your name and age. For our student users, we may request and you may choose to provide your gender, race, ethnicity, and email address, and, if your teacher adds you to a group on Mouse Create, we will associate your account with your school. We also collect information from our users when they interact with the Services, for example, when a student user responds to a curriculum prompt or the duration of time you spend on Mouse Create.
We may link information gathered through the Services with information that we collect in other contexts. In that event, we will handle the combined information in a manner consistent with this Notice.
Automatically when you use our Services.
We and others on our behalf may collect device data, online/mobile activity data, and other information automatically when you interact with us online. Such Device Data may include device type, IP address, web browser type and version, operating system type and version, mobile network information, general location (e.g., city, state, or country), and cookie IDs.
We may also collect information about your online/mobile activity such as login data, search history, information about how you use and interact with our Services (including content viewed, links clicked, and features used), when and how often you use the Services, the webpage from which you clicked a link to come to our Site (e.g., the referrer URL), and crash reports. These types of information are collected through a variety of online tools and technologies, such as web server logs, cookies, pixel tags, software development kits (SDKs), and Third-party Plugins. Although you may set your browser not to accept cookies, your participation in the Services will be easier if you have not disabled the cookie technology on your browser.
Our Site uses cookie technology (e.g. Google Analytics). Users and schools may implement browser controls to block and delete Mouse’s use of cookies, pixels and similar technologies; however, such actions may prevent or impair required functionality and use of the Mouse Services. You can review Google’s Privacy Policy here; and update or revoke your Google Permissions here.
How We Use Information
We use the information that we collect for a variety of purposes. These purposes include, for example, to:
- Provide you with the online learning platform so that you can engage with computer science and creative technology;
- Help educators evaluate your online skills;
- Fulfill the terms of any agreement you have with us;
- Deliver confirmations, account information, notifications, and similar operational communications;
- Respond to your questions or requests concerning the Services;
- Evaluate how the Services are used and to facilitate their use;
- Create reports for our sponsors comprised of aggregated and/or anonymized information that does not identify you personally;
- Administer the Services for fraud, security, or debugging purposes;
- Comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements; and
- Manage our business.
How We Share Information
We share your information with third parties in a variety of contexts, as described below.
Educators and consultants. We share your information with educators and our consultants to help us evaluate the Mouse Create program and your participation in it.
Other users. The online educational platform includes features that allow Mouse Create users to communicate with one another. Content you post on the platform will be shared with other Mouse Create users.
Our sponsors. We occasionally provide reports to our sponsors so that they can evaluate the effectiveness of Mouse Create. Those reports are generated using aggregated or otherwise anonymized information that does not identify you personally. In the event that Mouse Create wanted to feature an identifiable user in these reports, or elsewhere on the platform or in promotional materials, Mouse Create will obtain your affirmative consent to such disclosure.
Badge Providers. With permission from their teachers, student users over 13 can choose to have Mouse Create share their email address and a link to a digital badge they have earned in the Services to a digital badge platform so that they can share their achievements with others. Mouse Create uses Credly, Inc. to provide badging services; the Credly privacy policy can be found here.
Third Party Service Providers. We use third-party service providers that perform services on our behalf, including web-hosting companies, analytics providers, and others that help us maintain and update our Site and provide the online learning platform. These service providers may collect and/or use your information, including information that identifies you personally, to assist us in achieving the purposes discussed above. We require these third parties to maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the information provided to them.
- Legal purposes. We also may use or share your information with third parties when we believe, in our sole discretion, that doing so is necessary:
To comply with applicable law or a court order, subpoena, or other legal process;
To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, violations of our terms and conditions, or situations involving threats to our property or the property or physical safety of any person or third party;
To establish, protect, or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; or
To facilitate the financing, securitization, insuring, sale, assignment, bankruptcy, or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets.
Mouse shall ensure that a contract is in place between us and any third-party entity or agent that participates in an onward transfer of personally identifiable information. The contracts specify that such personally identifiable information may only be processed for limited and specified purposes consistent with the consent provided by the individual, applicable laws, and that the recipient will provide the same level of protection as stated in this Privacy Notice. Mouse remains liable for the acts and omissions of its third-party agents.
A list of these sub-processors will be provided upon request to info@mouse.org.
Accounts provided to students as part of a School or District License.
Mouse uses the personal information to deliver the Services for educational purposes. In delivering the Services, Mouse may provide and disclose student user personal information to the student user’s educator and institution and as otherwise directed by the institution or the educator. Educators and institutions may export information from the Services for the purpose of maintaining educational records. Mouse may also provide and disclose educator user personal information to the educator’s institution.
If your Mouse Create user account was provided to you by your institution, then your account may be managed by a school or district administrator who may have access to all of your Mouse Create account. In addition, your school or district administrator may be able to:
Change your password.
Suspend or terminate access to your account.
View statistics regarding the use of your account.
Access, delete, or copy your presentations and reports and any other information stored as part of your account.
Educator Compliance with Student Privacy Laws
If you are an Educator who has registered to participate in Mouse Create, you agree to keep confidential any information about your students that we provide to you and to use such information solely for evaluative educational purposes. You shall not disclose such information to any third party unless otherwise required or permitted by law or school policy. If you agree to use the services of a third party to issue badges publicly to students, you acknowledge that the privacy notice or policy of that third party will govern information provided to that party, and you agree that appropriate consents have been given to share such information with that party.
Account and Data Security
We store your information in a secure manner and safeguard it from unauthorized access in a secure, restricted-access database. Additionally, all interactions with Mouse’s Site are encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 grade encryption or better. However, no data stored or transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, you provide us with your information and use our Site at your own risk.
In the event that our database is subject to a breach of security resulting in an unauthorized release of data containing personally identifiable information, we will notify the school associated with your account within 7 days of discovery of the breach.
Keeping your information secure is also your responsibility. You should take action to protect your anonymity when you use this Service. Please do not share your password with anyone and change it when prompted by us. After you have finished using the online learning platform, log off and exit your browser so that no unauthorized persons can use the Services with your name and account information. When you post content, messages, or information to the Services, do not give your full name, telephone number, e-mail address, Instant Messenger screen name, home address, or the name of your high school. Keep identifying information to a minimum. Please notify us immediately by e-mail at info@mouse.org if you suspect that anyone may have gained unauthorized access to your personal information or account.
Location of Servers, Encryption, Transfer of Information, and Supported Browsers
Our servers are located in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, the information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States. By using our Site or providing your personal information to register for a Mouse Create account, you consent to this transfer and to the collection, storage, processing and use of your personal information in the United States. In addition, our service providers may not be located in your geographic area or in the United States. By providing your personal information on the Site, you also consent to the transfer of your data to these service providers.
Mouse Sites support the internet browsers below, browsers not included may experience Site functionality limitations or complete Site failure:
Windows
Internet Explorer 11 and up
Edge Browser
Chrome version 49 and up
Firefox 46 and up
MacOs
Safari 9 and up
Chrome version 49 and up
Firefox 46 and up
iOS 10 and up
Review, Change, or Delete Information
Students and educators. Any user of the Site and online learning platform can contact us to review, correct, or delete information you have provided to us either online or offline.
Parents or guardians. Parents or guardians can review their child’s personal information, have it corrected or deleted, or refuse to allow the further collection or use of their child’s personal information. You acknowledge that if your child is issued a badge via the services of a third party, the privacy notice or policy of that third party will govern information provided to that party, and you consent to share such information with that party.
If you have registered to participate in Mouse Create, you may change certain personal information you have provided to us by accessing the Profile portion of our Services. If you would like to request changes that cannot be made in the “Profile” section of our Services or are a parent or guardian, you can contact us by e-mail at info@mouse.org or by phone at 646-574-6446. You may choose to prohibit our disclosure of your personal information to others by contacting us and directing us to impose such limits. But if you impose such restrictions, we must terminate your participation on the Site and in the online learning platform. Mouse may retain your personal information in secure archives after you complete projects on Mouse Create. We do this to keep your account available if you choose to return to the Site and to accommodate access to Badges and portfolios you may have stored on the site.
Compliance with Privacy Laws
Mouse Create is designed to allow responsible parties to comply with applicable laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to the extent that Mouse Create receives and handles personally identifiable information from education records as a “school official.”
In addition, in accordance with New York Education Law § 2-D, Mouse Create will comply with and attach to its contracts a Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security, as applicable. Mouse Create does not sell personally identifiable information or use or disclose it for any marketing or commercial purpose.
Incident Response Plan
Mouse maintains an incident response plan to ensure that Mouse consistently handles information security events in an effective and efficient manner. By doing so we can minimize negative consequences to the organization, our staff, schools, students, and other people using our Services.
Questions About This Privacy Notice or Our Privacy Practices
Please contact Mouse by e-mail at info@mouse.org or at the address and number listed above with inquiries about our Privacy Notice or our privacy practices, our Services, or if you wish to update, correct, or delete your information.
