SCHOLASTIC PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated and Effective as of: September 2024

 

Scholastic Inc. and its affiliates (“Scholastic,” "we," "us," or "our") take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through our web sites, mobile applications or online services that link to this Privacy Policy (each, a "Site"), how we will use, disclose and protect this information, and how you can opt out of some of our uses and disclosures of your information. This Policy does not apply to information that we collect in other ways, such as over the phone, by mail, or in person, except where we specifically state otherwise or as required by law.

 

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU SHOULD NOT ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THE SITE.

 

Please note:

• Our Scholastic Kids Privacy Policy, not this Privacy Policy, applies to our Sites that are directed to kids under age 13 (our "Kids Sites").
• Our Scholastic Education Technology Products Privacy Policy, not this Privacy Policy, applies to data collected through our educational software products.

 

We obtain a variety of information from and about you as you use the Site; this Policy covers that information when it is personal data or personal information, as defined by applicable law (“Personal Information”). 

 

If you do not provide information that we need to collect by law, we will not be able to provide services to you. Similarly, if we need certain information from you pursuant to the terms of a contract with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you. In this case, we will not be able to provide services to you.

 

We may collect Personal Information when you:

• create an account;
• subscribe to our service or publications or make a purchase;
• request marketing be sent to you;
• enter a competition, promotion or survey;
• comment on content;
• contact customer service;
• give us feedback; or
• otherwise interact with our Site.

 

Information You Provide

 

We collect information that you choose to provide us directly through your use of our Site, including:

• Contact and registration information, which includes name or similar identifiers, postal or physical address, email address, your company or the school with which you are affiliated, your role there (if you are an educator) and telephone number
• Profile information about yourself or your child (if applicable and you provide it) such as your month and day of birth of yourself or your child, your child’s first name, gender and grade, the school they attend
• Financial data and Transaction data, which includes credit card information (tokenized and processed by our payment processors), other payment information and details about your purchases
• Inquiries and feedback, including comments and questions you submit through customer service.
• Certain household or demographic information you provide, such as household income range and ethnic origin;
• Photos, videos, audio, and similar information, such as recordings of webinars you attend or other live interactive events you participate in.
• User generated content you create on or upload to our Site. 

 

Information We Collect Through Automated Means

 

When you use our Site, we collect certain information automatically. We and our service providers (third-party companies that work on our behalf) may use a variety of technologies, including cookies, pixels and similar tools (“Cookies”), to assist in collecting this information.

 

Automatically collected information may include:  

• Technical Device and Browser Data, which includes, your Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, the files viewed on our Sites (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), search terms, type of device used, device or advertising identifiers, statistical identifiers, browser, operating system, and date/time stamp.
• Usage Data, which includes your interaction with our Site such as movement, scrolling, time spent on certain features or actions, and/or clickstream data to analyze trends in the aggregate and administer and improve the Sites.
• Location Data, which may be a physical address or general location information (i.e., region or city and state).

 

The third parties we use to collect this data include advertising or analytics companies (e.g., Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Adobe Analytics, DoubleClick and Mouseflow).

 

Mouseflow is a website analytics tool that provides session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, feedback campaigns, and similar features/functionality. Mouseflow may record your clicks, mouse movements, scrolling, form fills (keystrokes) in non-excluded fields, and other analytic and usage data described above. 

 

As described in more detail under “How Is Your Information Is Used and Disclosed”, we use these third parties and these technologies to collect this data to help us remember you and enhance your use of our Sites, to manage and analyze service usage, and to promote content, products and services based on that usage.

 

Text Messaging

 

If you elect to receive text messages from us (“Text Message services”), we may send you information about transactions, promotional offers and more. These Text Messages may use information automatically collected based on your actions while on our Site and may prompt messaging such as cart abandon messages. Data obtained from you in connection with any Text Message services may include your cell phone number, your provider’s name, the date, time and content of your text messages or when you read a Text Message. We may use this information to contact you and to provide the services you request from us. You may opt out of receiving Text Messages at any time by texting “STOP” to our Text Messages. For more information about Text Messages, see our Terms of Use.

 

Information We Collect from Third Parties

 

We may collect information about you, including updated contact information and demographic information (to the extent permitted by, and in accordance with, applicable law) such as age bracket, income bracket, gender, marital status, ethnicity, political party affiliation, languages spoken, household information, lifestyle and interest information from third parties such as advertising networks, data brokers or social media platforms. We may also receive information about you from other users, such as contact information for gifts or “refer-a-friend” types of features.

 

Information from Suppliers, Vendors, Business Partners, and Similar Businesses (and Representatives Thereof)

 

If you are a company or other organization that we engage with, or a representative of the foregoing, we may collect:

• Contact and Business Information, including name, phone number, email address, and postal address, government identifier, and business name, industry, locations, other information related to your employer, and any other information you choose to provide us, including through third-party portals and platforms.
• Financial and Transactional Information, if we need to make payments to you or receive payments from you, including financial account and related transactional information.
• Communications Information including information such as your name, email address, and phone number and the contents of any communications you have with us.

 

Our Use of Your Information

 

We may use or disclose your information for these purposes:

• To authenticate users
• To maintain and administer the Site and user accounts
• To process and fulfill transactions and respond to customer requests
• To analyze the Site, monitor Site performance and diagnose Site issues
• To perform customer service and troubleshoot customer service calls about difficulty using the Site
• To improve the Site and develop new features and products
• To send email marketing and other communications, including information about products, services, and events, of ours and of others
• To personalize customer’s experience of our Site based on user interests and history with us (for example, remembering items in a shopping cart, or providing a consistent Site experience across multiple devices)
• To provide location-based services
• To match your information with other data or supplement your information with other data that we may obtain directly or through third parties
• When you otherwise consent to a particular usage
• To protect our rights and property and the rights, property, and safety of others
• To investigate suspected fraud or other unlawful activity
• Where otherwise permitted or required by applicable law.

 

We may disclose your information to:

 

Service Providers

 

Our vendors and subcontractors may access your information to provide services for us, including: fulfilling orders and delivering packages, payment processing, providing customer service, hosting and serving content and general website operations, sending marketing communications, fulfilling subscription services, and conducting research and analysis. These vendors and subcontractors can only use your information as specifically allowed by us.

 

Affiliates, Promotional Partners and Other Third Parties

 

If you are not situated in the United Kingdom (UK) or the European Union (EU), and to the extent permitted by law, we may allow our affiliates and promotional partners to use your Personal Information for their marketing and related purposes, including our co-sponsor(s), if we receive Personal Information through a contest, sweepstakes, offering or other activity that is jointly offered by us. If you are situated in the UK or the EU, please see the section “Additional UK and EU Disclosures” for how we use your Personal Data for marketing.

 

Targeted Advertising Partners

 

We or our third-party partners may use Cookies, similar technologies and non-cookie technology, to deliver targeted advertising to you when you visit other web sites or our Site. Such partners may use data gathered via this technology for their own purposes.

 

We do not engage in targeted advertising on our Kids Sites or in our education technology products.

 

Teacher Look-Up Tool

 

If you are a registered teacher on our Site, we may make your name, school name and school location available in an online lookup tool – for example, so parents can match Reading Club purchases to their child’s class. To opt out, please contact us at the email address or phone number under "Contact Us" below.

 

Corporate Changes

 

We may transfer your information in connection with or in contemplation of a corporate change or dissolution, including for example a merger, acquisition, reorganization, consolidation, bankruptcy, liquidation, sale of assets or wind down of business; and due diligence related to these events.

 

Legal Obligation

 

We may disclose the information we collect and maintain about you if required or permitted to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (i) comply with law or legal process (e.g., a subpoena or court order); (ii) enforce our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, or other contracts with you, including investigation of potential violations thereof; and/or (iii) protect the rights, property or personal safety of Scholastic, its agents and affiliates, its users, and/or the public. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection, spam/malware prevention, and similar purposes.

 

Your Consent 

 

If you have consented to our disclosure of your information for other purposes not listed above, we will also disclose your information consistent with your consent.

 

Anonymized Information

 

We may share anonymized data with others, for their own use, in a form that does not include your name or contact information.

 

Privacy Rights & Choices

 

Data Access, Correction and Deletion Through Account Controls

 

You can review, change or delete certain of your information in your user account on the Site (if you have one) by logging in to "My Account" or a similar area of the Site.

 

Data Privacy Rights

 

Your local laws (such as those in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, the UK and the EU) may entitle you (or your authorized agent) to exercise certain rights with respect to the information we collect from and about you. 

 

Specifically, you have the right to ask us to:

 

• Inform you about the categories of personal information we collect or disclose about you; the categories of sources of such information; the business or commercial purpose for collecting your personal information; and the categories of third parties with whom we disclose personal information.
• Provide you access to and/or a copy of certain personal information we hold about you.
• Correct or update personal information we hold about you.
• Delete certain personal information we have about you.
• Provide you with information about the financial incentives that we offer to you, if any.
• Opt you out of the processing of your personal information for purposes of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, if applicable.
• Oregon residents can request a list of the specific third parties, other than natural persons, to which we have disclosed personal information.

 

As provided in applicable law, you may also have the right to not be discriminated against for exercising your rights.

 

Residents of the UK and EU also have the right to:

• Object to processing of your Personal Information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party), including where we process such data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
• Request restriction of processing of your Personal Information in certain scenarios.
• Request the transfer of your Personal Information to you or to a third party.
• If we are relying on your consent to process your Personal Information, you have the right to withdraw your consent.

 

Please note that your rights vary depending upon your location, and that we may request you provide us with information necessary to confirm your identity before responding to your request as required or permitted by applicable law. Certain information may be exempt from such requests under applicable law. For example, we need certain types of information so that we can provide you with access to the Site and the services available through it, or to comply with a legal obligation. In some circumstances, if you still ask us to delete your information, you may no longer be able to access or use our Site.

 

If you or your authorized agent would like further information regarding your legal rights or would like to exercise any of them, email us at customerservice@scholastic.com or complete this Request Form.

 

Depending on applicable law, you may have the right to appeal our decision to deny your request, if applicable, including in Montana, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Colorado, and Connecticut. To exercise such an appeal right, contact us at customerservice@scholastic.com. We may also provide you with an appeals form to complete when your request is denied.

 

Opt Out Choices: Marketing Communications, Sale of Personal Information, Targeted Advertising, Cookies, Analytics and Device Settings

   

     Opt Out of Marketing Communications from Us

 

You can opt out of receiving marketing emails from us by clicking on the opt-out link in those emails. You will still receive transaction emails from us.

 

     Sale of Personal Information and Targeted Advertising

 

Residents of certain states such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia may opt out of the “sale” of their personal information or the “sharing” or processing of their personal information for targeted advertising. Targeted advertising is when we or our partners display ads to you based on your personal information that is collected across different businesses. We allow third parties on our Site to receive certain information such as cookies, IP address, device identifiers, browsing behavior and/or other activity to enable the delivery of targeted advertising about the Services to you.  This activity is processing for targeted advertising and may be considered a sale under applicable law.

 

If you would like to opt out of this activity, you may do so at using this Request Form. In addition to the options set forth above, all users can opt-out of targeted advertising from certain providers at www.aboutads.info/consumers, http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ and https://www.edaa.eu/.

 

You may still receive advertising on other sites and services, it just may not be tailored to your interests.  Please note, if you use different browsers, devices, or services, you will need to opt out on each browser or device where you want the choice to apply. You may also be presented with a form field to complete, in which case we ask for your email address or other information so we may add it to an appropriate suppression list. 

 

Nevada residents: We do not sell “Covered Information” as defined under Nevada law. If you would like more information about our practices with respect to Covered Information under Nevada law, please contact us at privacy@scholastic.com.

 

Opt Out Choices for Cookies, Analytics, and Certain Device Settings

 

You can control the use of cookies through settings at the individual browser level, but if you disable cookies, it may limit your use of our Sites. For more information about cookies, go to https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

 

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

 

To opt out of Mouseflow session replay analytics, visit https//mouseflow.com/opt-out.

 

Some of our mobile applications may require or request access to certain features of your device. Such permissions may include location, camera, photos, microphone and Wi-Fi or cellular connection information. You can manage access to those features through device settings or through your mobile service provider or device manufacturer.

 

        Do Not Track

 

Please note, except as provided herein, we do not respond to or honor “do not track” (a/k/a/ DNT) signals transmitted by web browsers. For more information about “do not track”, go to https://allaboutdnt.com/. 

 

We follow generally accepted standards designed to protect your information and have in place appropriate security measures designed to prevent your information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorized way. We use appropriate security measures while your information is in transit and at rest, including encryption. You can verify whether a website is secure by looking for “https” at the beginning of the web address of the Site page you are on.

 

No website, however, can guarantee that information will be absolutely safe from intrusion or other unauthorized access. Except as expressly required by applicable statute or regulation, we will have no liability for disclosure of information due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties during or after transmission.

 

We typically keep information related to marketing activities for as long as you accept marketing communications from us, and on request, we will securely delete such data in accordance with applicable law. For information that we collect and process for other purposes, as described above, we typically keep such information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, and as otherwise needed to address tax, corporate, compliance, litigation, and other legal rights and obligations. In some cases we may de-identify your data instead of deleting it.

 

We use social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to communicate with our customers and integrate social networking services with our Site. Information you voluntarily submit to or post in a publicly accessible social network or other online forum may be viewed and used by others. Our Site may also contain links, banners or ads that lead to other third party sites, apps or services. We cannot control such third party uses of your information, so by using or navigating to those services, you assume that risk.

 

We encourage you to read the policies and terms of every web site, app or service you visit.

 

IF YOU ARE SITUATED IN THE UK OR THE EU, THIS SECTION APPLIES TO OUR COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND ADDITIONAL RIGHTS YOU HAVE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

 

Data Controller

 

Scholastic Inc. is the data controller of all Personal Information collected through our Site. If you are situated in the UK or EU and have any complaints regarding our privacy practices, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to your local supervisory authority. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach your supervisory authority so please contact us in the first instance. If you have a complaint, please contact us at: privacy@scholastic.com.

 

Legal Basis of Processing

 

Some jurisdictions require an explanation of the legal basis for the collection and processing of your Personal Information. We have several different legal grounds on which we collect and process Personal Information, including: (1) as necessary to perform a contract (which may include responding to your requests); (2) as necessary to comply with a legal obligation (such as when we use Personal Information for record keeping to satisfy legal and compliance obligations); (3) consent (where you have provided consent as appropriate under applicable law, such as for marketing); and (4) necessary for legitimate interests (such as when we act to maintain or improve our business generally or to prevent fraud) to the extent permitted by law.

 

If you are a situated in the UK or EU, you have certain rights, as set forth in Privacy Rights above. 

 

Data Transfer

 

Information provided to or collected by us on our Sites is transmitted to us and processed in the United States and other countries, either by us or our service providers on our behalf, and will be protected subject to this Privacy Policy and applicable laws, which may not be as protective as the laws in other countries. To the extent permitted by law, your use of the Site or provision of any Personal Information constitutes your consent to the cross-border transfer of Personal Data and the other activities identified in this Privacy Policy.

 

Our affiliates and many of our service providers are based outside the UK and EU, so their processing of your information will involve a transfer of data outside the UK and EU. Whenever we transfer your Personal Data out of the UK or EU, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it.

 

Please contact us at privacy@scholastic.com if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your information out of the UK or EU.

 

Last Updated and Effective as of June 30, 2023

 

California Residents

 

If you are a California resident, California law requires us to provide you with some additional information regarding how we collect, use, and share your “personal information” (as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”)).

 

This California Privacy Notice does not apply to Personal Information we collect from job applicants or independent contractors, or from our current or former full-time or part-time and temporary employees and staff, officers, directors or owners.

 

This California Privacy Notice also does not apply to any Personal Information collected by us in connection with our educational software products. Requests for access to Personal Information collected through our educational software products should be directed to your school district.

 

California Consumer Privacy Act

 

As required by CCPA, we are providing the following details, in addition to those set out in the rest of our Privacy Policy, regarding the categories of Personal Information (as defined under the CCPA, and including applicable Personal Information collected online or offline, “CCPA Personal Information”) about California residents that we have collected or disclosed within the preceding 12 months.

 

What We Have Done in the Preceding 12 Months

 

(1) We collected the following categories of CCPA Personal Information:

    A. Identifiers, such as name, contact information, online identifiers;

    B. Payment information including payment card number or other payment information;

    C. Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as sex and marital status;

    D. Commercial information, such as transaction information and purchase history;

    E. Internet or network activity information, such as browsing history and interactions with our website;

    F. General geolocation data derived from IP address;

    G. Audio, electronic, visual and similar information, such as recordings of customer service calls, webinars you attend or other live events you participate in whether via our Site or in person, and security video footage if you visit one of our offices;

    H. Professional or employment-related information, such the school with which you are affiliated; and

    I. Inferences drawn from any of the CCPA Personal Information listed above to create a profile/summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics.

 

As described above in our general Privacy Policy, we collected this CCPA Personal Information from you and/or from other categories of sources such as data brokers.

 

Also as described above, we may use this CCPA Personal Information to operate, manage, and maintain our business, to provide our products and services, and to accomplish our business purposes and objectives, including, for example, to: develop, improve, repair, and maintain our products and services; personalize, advertise, market, sell and distribute our products and services; communicate with customers; conduct research, analytics, and data analysis; maintain our facilities and infrastructure; undertake quality and safety assurance measures; conduct risk and security control and monitoring; detect and prevent fraud; perform identity verification; perform accounting, audit, and other internal functions, such as internal investigations; comply with law, legal process, and internal policies; maintain records; and exercise and defend legal claims.

 

(2) We disclosed the CCPA Personal Information set forth in A-I immediately above to our affiliates, service providers, third-party sponsors of and prize providers for sweepstakes, contests, and similar promotions, and our business partners, for our operational business purposes.

 

(3) We have “sold” or “shared” the following categories of Personal Information:

    A. Identifiers, such as name, contact information, online identifiers;

    B. Internet or network activity information, such as browsing history and interactions with our website;

    C. General geolocation data derived from IP address; and

    D. Inferences drawn from any of the CCPA Personal Information listed above to create a profile/summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics.

 

All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

 

For purposes of this California Privacy Notice, “sold” or “sale” means the disclosure of CCPA Personal Information for monetary or other valuable consideration, and this may include for targeted advertising purposes, but does not include, for example, the transfer of CCPA Personal Information as an asset that is part of a merger, bankruptcy, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business.

 

You can opt out of the “sale” of your personal information or the “sharing” or processing of their personal information that takes the form of browser- or cookie-based targeted advertising here. You may still receive advertising on other sites and services, it just may not be tailored to your interests.  Please note, if you use different browsers, devices, or services you will need to opt out on each browser or device where you want the choice to apply.

 

You can opt out of any “sale” of Personal Information such as your contact information by filling out this Request Form, emailing customerservice@scholastic.com or privacy@scholastic.com, or calling us at (877) 713-3114.

 

Retention

 

We typically keep information related to marketing activities for as long as you accept marketing communications from us, and on request, we will securely delete such data in accordance with applicable law. For information that we collect and process for other purposes, we typically keep such information until we determine it is no longer necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, and as otherwise needed to address tax, corporate, compliance, litigation, and other legal rights and obligations. Our retention is based upon the amount, nature and sensitivity of the information, the purposes for which we process the information, applicable legal requirements, and our legitimate interests.  The purposes for which we process information may dictate different retention periods for the same types of information. In some cases, we may de-identify your data instead of deleting it.

 

Additional rights

 

If you are a California resident, you also have the rights set forth in Privacy Rights above.

 

Financial Incentives

 

Under the CCPA, certain features on our Site may be considered a financial incentive program, such as coupons or content offered in connection with joining our email mailing list or a “refer a friend” campaign. You can opt out of receiving email marketing from us at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link contained in emails we send you. We do not discriminate against California consumers who exercise their rights under the CCPA; if you do opt out, you can still get the benefit of any coupon or other similar benefit previously provided to you.

 

Generally, we do not assign monetary value to consumers’ personal information. To the extent the CCPA requires a value to be assigned to certain programs, the value of the data is related to the estimated cost of providing the relevant financial incentive.

 

Children’s CCPA Personal Information

 

Under the CCPA, sale of CCPA Personal Information of children ages 13 through 16 requires opt-in consent from the child. CCPA Personal Information under the age of 13 cannot be sold without parent or guardian permission. We do not knowingly sell children’s CCPA Personal Information.

 

Scholastic’s child-directed Site is kids.scholastic.com, and it is governed by our Scholastic Kids Privacy Policy, not this Privacy Policy.

 

Your California “Shine the Light” Rights

 

Under California “Shine the Light” law, California residents have the right to opt out of disclosures of Personal Information (as defined by the law) to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose such personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing use. You can opt out of our share of information for targeted advertising purposes as described in this Privacy Policy.

 

California Minors

 

If you are a resident of California, under 18, and a registered user of the Services, you may ask us to remove content or information that you have posted to the Services by writing to customerservice@scholastic.com. Please include a description of the content you would like removed, and if possible, the URL for the site and the name of the feature where the content was posted. Please note that your request does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information, as, for example, some of your content may have been reposted by another user.

 

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our information practices or our business. If we make any material changes we may notify you by email (sent to the e-mail address in your account) and/or by a notice on this Site when the change becomes effective, unless otherwise required by applicable law. This Privacy Policy replaces our former privacy policy which you can find posted here.

 

Scholastic Inc. is the data controller of all Personal Information and Personal Data collected through the Site. You may contact us at:

 

Scholastic Inc. (attn: General Counsel)
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
U.S.A.
Phone: 1-800-SCHOLASTIC
Email – Customer Service: customerservice@scholastic.com
Email – Privacy: privacy@scholastic.com