DVSC Privacy Policy

Protecting your information is our priority. This privacy policy applies to the DVSC website and other public or private communication of personal information related to our program and related activities.  This is not a commercial site and is not intended to identify or target direct solicitation.

What information do we collect?

We collect contact information for area school science coordinators or science teachers (name and email address, school) and students who specifically register for our STEM program (name, address, school, email, phone).through the STEM Wizard Science Fair software. Information is not collected or stored for visitors to our website. When you send emails or other communications to DVSC, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries or respond to your request.

Applicable Statutory Discussion

This discussion implicates two federal privacy laws. The first is the Children’s Online Privacy Act (“COPPA,” 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6505), which was passed in 1998 to “prohibit[] unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with the collection, use, and/or disclosure of personal information from and about children on the internet.” DVSC agrees to conform to these requirements within the domain of the DVSC STEM Challenge and through use of STEM Wizard software. Among other things, COPPA requires operators of web sites or online services directed at children

  • to provide notice on their web sites of the information it collects from children, how it uses the information, and its disclosure practices;
  • to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to any collection, use, and/or disclosure of personal information from children;
  • to provide a reasonable means for parents to review the personal information collected from their children and to refuse to permit its further use or maintenance; and,
  • to establish and maintain reasonable procedures to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of personal information collected from children.

The second implicated law is the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act (“FERPA,” 20 U.S.C. § 1232g), which gives parents of children under the age of 18 control over their children’s education records. The act defines these records as records, files, documents, and other materials that contain personally identifiable information (“PII”) about a student and that are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution. In most cases, FERPA prohibits schools from sharing these records with third parties without written permission from a student’s parent.

What do we use personal information for?

To administer the Delaware Valley Science Council (DVSC) STEM Challenge program, contact information is needed for regular communications related to student applications and interviews.  The STEM Wizard software retains messaging between students, teachers, assigned mentors, judges and administrators, all of which are available to teachers assigned to sponsor project teams of students. Use of outside email messaging for the STEM Challenge is discouraged.

How do we protect your information?

Personal information provided by students and school coordinators or teachers is not made available publicly and is stored on private personal computers or virtual servers protected by normal security precautions including passwords, anti-virus and other vulnerability measures.

Do we use cookies?

We do not use cookies.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information.  Contact information is only provided to DVSC board members in order to perform program activities and to award sponsors (professional societies and area companies) so that they may communicate with and congratulate the students receiving their named awards.  All students (or parents if under age 18) sign a waiver for release of name and photos to area media outlets.

Your consent

By using our site, you consent to our privacy policy.

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