ThinkingStorm Privacy Policy

How Do We Collect Your Data?

If you create a ThinkingStorm account via our public website (hereinafter a Consumer Account), you directly provide ThinkingStorm with the data we collect. If your ThinkingStorm account originates from your school or another program that finances your ThinkingStorm use (hereinafter an Affiliate Program), that program may provide your data so we can provision your account (hereinafter an Affiliated Account) and allow usage of our services.

We collect and process data when:

  • You create or register for a Consumer Account or Affiliated Account.
  • Use or view ThinkingStorm’s website via your browser’s cookies.
  • You use online tutoring services, including drop-in tutoring, scheduled appointments, and/or asynchronous submissions.
  • Complete a post-session survey on our website or via email.
  • A program financing your ThinkingStorm account shares data with us related to your Affiliated Account.


What Data Do We Collect?

ThinkingStorm collects the following data, which is provided directly by you or the financier of your ThinkingStorm account:

  • Personal Identification Information: Name, email address, phone number, location (city and state), IP address.
  • Other Information: Web browser, operating system, access method (e.g., direct login with credentials, access from your school’s portal, etc.), post-session survey responses, operational metadata related to online tutoring use (e.g., tutoring chat transcripts, file uploads, and whiteboard materials).
  • School Information: School name (if applicable). Some schools also elect to share course enrollment data and other related metadata so your ThinkingStorm use can be linked to the courses you are taking for reporting purposes.

How Will We Use Your Data?

ThinkingStorm collects your data so that we can:

  • Complete your registration, review your account, and provide billing support.
  • Provide you with information about our services.
  • Request your feedback so we can make your experience better.
  • Build student learning profiles so our tutors can understand the strengths and weaknesses, grade levels, and specific needs of our students.
  • Archive tutoring sessions so that we can review them, share them with you upon request, and use them to improve our tutoring practices.
  • Respond to your customer service needs.
  • If applicable, provide reporting on your online tutoring activity to the Affiliate Program associated with your Affiliated Account.
  • Optimize our website and services based on aggregated activity patterns of our users

How Do We Store Your Data?

ThinkingStorm stores your data in privately-owned data centers in the United States. Our data centers’ practices meet or exceed relevant standards for data security.

ThinkingStorm keeps your data until you delete your Consumer Account or the program financing your Affiliated Account discontinues its agreement with us. Once this occurs, your Personal Identification Information will be deleted upon your request or in accordance with the data security agreement established by your Affiliate Program, if applicable. ThinkingStorm will retain ownership of non-identifiable metadata related to your usage of services for operational purposes.


Marketing

ThinkingStorm will occasionally send you information about our services. If you would prefer not to receive these messages, you can contact us to opt out at any time.


What Are Your Data Protection Rights?

ThinkingStorm would like to make sure you are aware of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

The right to access: You have the right to request that ThinkingStorm provide copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.

The right to rectification: You have the right to request that ThinkingStorm correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that ThinkingStorm complete any information you believe is incomplete.

The right to erasure: Under certain conditions, you have the right to request that ThinkingStorm erase your personal data.

The right to restrict processing: Under certain conditions, you have the right to request that ThinkingStorm restrict the processing of your personal data.

The right to rectification: You have the right to request that ThinkingStorm correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that ThinkingStorm complete any information you believe is incomplete.

The right to object to processing: Under certain conditions, you have the right to object to ThinkingStorm’s processing of your personal data.

The right to data portability: Under certain conditions, you have the right to request that ThinkingStorm transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us in writing:

  • By email: care@thinkingstorm.com
  • By mail: ThinkingStorm Online Tutoring, 1483 Chain Bridge Road, Suite #203, McLean, VA 22101


What Are Cookies?

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behavior information. When you visit our websites, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology.

For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org.


How Do We Use Cookies?

ThinkingStorm uses cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our website, including:

  • Keeping you signed in
  • Understanding how you use our website (how often you visit, which pages you visit, etc.)
  • Sometimes we use files from other companies (called third-party cookies) to help us see where people go on our website, to improve our services. Third-party cookies do not contain any personally identifying information, and the third party cannot identify you or contact you.


What Types of Cookies Do We Use?

There are a number of different types of cookies. ThinkingStorm’s website uses:

  • Functionality: ThinkingStorm uses these cookies so that we recognize you on our website and remember your previously selected preferences. A mix of first-party and third-party cookies are used.
  • Advertising: ThinkingStorm uses these cookies to collect information about your visit to our website, the content you viewed, the links you followed, and information about your browser, device, and IP address. ThinkingStorm sometimes shares some limited aspects of this data with third parties for advertising purposes. We may also share online data collected through cookies with our advertising partners. This means that when you visit another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our website.


How to Manage Cookies

You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and the above website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our website features may not function as a result. Therefore, we recommend allowing cookies for an optimized user experience on ThinkingStorm.


Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

If you are under age 13, a law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) says that we must have a parent’s permission before we may collect and use your Personal Information to create a Consumer Account. We will need this permission before we are able to create an account for you or provide you with any tutoring.

Note to parents of children under the age of 13: You are welcome to contact us to review any identifiable information we have collected about your child. If you desire, you may request that we delete this information and/or specify that we collect no more of your child's information. Please note that we will need to verify the identity of anyone requesting information about a child to ensure that the person is in fact the child's parent or legal guardian, and that a request for us to delete all personal information about a child requires us to cancel the child's tutoring account.


Note to Students Over the Age of 18

By law, students over the age of 18 do not have to share any information with their parent(s)/guardian or school without authorization. However, ThinkingStorm will consider the use of our services as an authorization to release such information to the financier of your account. If students over the age of 18 would like to specifically deny ThinkingStorm this authorization, please contact us in writing to do so.


Additional Information Security Provisions

ThinkingStorm complies with relevant portions of information security provisions including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), and the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).


Privacy Policies of Other Websites

Sometimes, ThinkingStorm may link to other websites. ThinkingStorm does not make or manage these websites and cannot be held responsible for any content posted on those websites. However, we will only link to websites which, at the time the link is created, are appropriate to our users and relevant to our common goals.

ThinkingStorm’s Privacy Policy applies only to our website, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy.


Changes to Our Privacy Policy

ThinkingStorm keeps its Privacy Policy under regular review and places any updates on this web page. This Privacy Policy was last updated on December 11, 2020.


How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about ThinkingStorm’s Privacy Policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please contact us in writing:

  • By email: care@thinkingstorm.com
  • By mail: ThinkingStorm Online Tutoring, 1483 Chain Bridge Road, Suite #203, McLean, VA 22101