Privacy Notice for California Residents

Last Updated: July 9^th, 2024

This Privacy Notice for California Residents (“Privacy Notice”) supplements the information contained in the Search Degrees Online Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) made available on the website located at https://searchdegreesonline.com (the “Site”).  The Site is owned and operated by Path56 Media (“Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”).  This Privacy Notice applies solely to residents of the State of California, as well as businesses organized under the laws of the State of California (“Users”).  We adopt this Privacy Notice in compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”), and other applicable California State privacy laws.  Any terms defined in the CCPA and/or CPRA have the same meaning when used in this Privacy Notice.  Users with disabilities who wish to access this Privacy Notice in an alternative format can contact us by emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

Personal information does not include:

• Publicly available information from government records.
• De-identified or aggregated User information.
• Information excluded from the scope of the CCPA and CPRA, such as:

• health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data; and
• personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994.

We obtain the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:

• Directly from our Users. For example, from online registration forms that our Users submit to us related to the products and/or services that we (and our third party service providers) offer by and through the Site.
• Indirectly from our Users. For example, through information we collect from our Users in the course of providing our products and/or services to them.
• Directly and indirectly from activity on the Site. This includes the type of browser that you use (e.g., Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer), your IP address, the type of operating system that you use (e.g., Windows or iOS) and the domain name of your Internet Service Provider.  In addition, we obtain certain Site usage details and analytics as same are collected automatically by us and our third party partners such as Jornaya and ActiveProspect, Inc. (including its TrustedForm service).
• From third-parties that interact with us in connection with the products and/or services that we offer to our Users. For example, third party entities that assist us in sending direct and electronic mail, removing duplicate information from User lists, analyzing data and providing marketing analysis.
• From third-party data brokers or aggregators.
• From publicly availably sources, such as Internet search engines.

Retention of Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information

We retain all categories of your personal information and sensitive personal information (including the information set forth in the “Personal Information Collection” section above) that we collect for the maximum period permitted by applicable law. We may also use certain criteria to determine whether and when to delete certain categories of collected personal and sensitive personal information including:

• Date of collection.
• Frequency of consumer interaction with us.
• Last interaction the consumer had with us.
• Whether the purpose of collection has been completed.

Use of Personal Information

We may use or disclose the personal information that we collect for one or more of the following business purposes:

• To fulfill or meet the reason for which the information is provided. For example, if you provide us with personal information in connection with your request for information regarding your eligibility for education related products and/or services, as well as information regarding the other products and/or services featured on the Site, we will use that personal information to better provide you with the requested information.
• To enable the third-party education service providers featured on the Site to conduct diligence in connection with your request for education-related products and/or services from those service providers.
• To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us.
• To create, maintain, customize and secure your account with us.
• To provide you with e-mail, direct mail and telemarketing messages concerning certain Search Degrees Online™ products and/or services, as well as third-party products and/or services, that we believe may be of interest to you.
• To deliver relevant Site content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve to you.
• To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including the Site’s Terms and Conditions.
• To improve the Site and better present its contents to you.
• For customer service purposes and to respond to inquiries from you.
• For testing, research, analysis and product development.
• As necessary or appropriate to protect our rights, property or safety, and that of our clients or others.
• To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.
• As described to you when collecting your personal information or as otherwise set forth in the CCPA and/or CPRA.
• To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by us is among the assets transferred.

We will not collect additional categories of personal information or use the personal information we collected for materially different, unrelated or incompatible purposes without providing you with notice.

Sharing Personal Information

Subject to your right to opt-out of such sharing/sale, we may share, rent and/or sell your personal information: (a) with/to third party providers of the education related products and services featured on the Sites; and (b) with/to third parties for marketing purposes, only where you expressly opt-in to such use and (c) for the other business purposes set forth above.

When we disclose personal information to a third party service provider or other entity, we enter into a contractual relationship that describes the purpose for which such third party may use the personal information and requires that third party to both keep the personal information confidential and not use it for any purpose other than the performance of its services under the applicable contract.  Please note, we do not collect information from Users that we actually know are less than eighteen (18) years of age and we do not share or sell the personal information of Users that we actually know are less than eighteen (18) years of age.  Without limiting the foregoing, we have not shared or sold the personal information of Users that we actually know are less than sixteen (16) years of age in the preceding twelve (12) months.

In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for a business purpose:

Category A:           Identifiers.
Category B:           California Customer Records personal information categories.
Category C:           Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law.
Category F:           Internet or other similar network activities.
Category I:           Professional or employment-related information.
Category L:           Sensitive Personal Information (disclosed solely as necessary in connection with facilitating your request for education related products and/or services)

We disclose your personal information for a business purpose to the following categories of third parties:

• Our affiliates.
• Service providers.
• Third parties who provide the products and/or services featured on the Site.
• Only where you expressly opt-in to such use, third parties who purchase and/or license your personal information for marketing purposes, including: (a) providers of direct marketing services and applications, including lookup and reference, data enhancement, suppression and validation; (b) e-mail marketers; (c) telemarketers (where permitted by applicable law); and (d) direct marketers. If a third party purchaser of your personal information wants to resell it, that purchaser is required by law to provide you with explicit notice and an opportunity to opt-out of further sales.
• Third parties to whom you authorize us to disclose your personal information in connection with the products and/or services that we provide to you.

In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have sold the following categories of personal information to third parties:

Category A:           Identifiers.
Category B:           California Customer Records personal information categories.
Category C:           Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law.
Category F:           Internet or other similar network activities.
Category I:           Professional or employment-related information.
Category L:           Sensitive Personal Information (disclosed solely as necessary in connection with facilitating your request for education related products and/or services)

In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have sold the above referenced categories of personal information to the third parties who purchase and/or license your personal information for marketing purposes, as well as the third parties who provide the products and/or services featured on the Site.

Your Rights and Choices

The CCPA and CPRA provide Users (California residents) with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA and CPRA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Opt-Out from the Sale of Your Personal Information

You have the right to opt-out of our sale of your personal information to/with third parties. To exercise your right to opt-out of our sale of your personal information to/with third parties, please submit a verifiable User request to us by either:

• Clicking here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

We endeavor to act on all opt-out requests as soon as practicable, but in all cases within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of your request.

Opt-Out from the Sharing of Your Personal Information

You have the right to opt-out of our sharing your personal information with third parties.
To exercise your right to opt-out of our sharing your personal information with third parties, please submit a verifiable CA User request to us by either:

• Clicking here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

We endeavor to act on all opt-out requests as soon as practicable, but in all cases within fifteen (15) business days of the receipt of your request. Subject to the aforementioned fifteen (15) business day period, where we receive and confirm your verifiable opt-out request, we will cease sharing your Personal Information with third parties.

Opt-Out from the Use and/or Sharing of Your Sensitive Personal Information

You have the right to limit our use of your sensitive personal information, including any sensitive information from Category B (California Customer Records personal information), Category C (Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law) and/or Category I (Professional or employment-related information), to those uses which: (i) are necessary to perform the services or provide the goods requested by you; (ii) help us to ensure security and integrity of your personal information to the extent the use of your sensitive personal information is reasonably necessary and proportionate for these purposes; (iii) are short-term, transient uses including, but not limited to, non-personalized advertising shown as part of your then-current interaction with the Site, provided that your personal information is not disclosed to another third party and is not used to build a profile about you or otherwise alter your experience outside the then-current interaction with the Site; (iv) involve performing services on behalf of Search Degrees Online™, including maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying customer information, processing education related inquiries, providing financing where applicable, providing analytic services, providing storage, or providing similar services on behalf of Search Degrees Online™; and (v) include activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of a service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by, Search Degrees Online™, and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by, Search Degrees Online™.

You also have the right opt-out of our sharing your sensitive personal information with third parties, including any sensitive information from Category B (California Customer Records personal information), Category C (Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law) and/or Category I (Professional or employment-related information).

To exercise your right to limit our use of your sensitive personal information and/or opt-out of our sharing your sensitive personal information with third parties, please submit a verifiable CA User request to us by either:

• Clicking here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

We endeavor to act on all such requests as soon as practicable, but in all cases within fifteen (15) business days of the receipt of your request.  Subject to the aforementioned fifteen (15) business day period, where we receive and confirm your verifiable opt-out request, we will cease using your Sensitive Personal Information/sharing your Sensitive Personal Information with third parties (and direct our service providers and contractors to do the same).

Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights

You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past twelve (12) months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable User request, we will disclose to you:

• The categories of personal information we collected about you.
• The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
• Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information.
• The categories of third parties with whom we have shared that personal information.
• The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request).
• If we sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, two separate lists disclosing:

• sales, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and
• disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.

Deletion Request Rights

You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Subject to the time period allotted to comply with such requests, where we receive and confirm your verifiable User request, we will delete (and direct our service providers, contractors and third parties to whom we sold/shared your personal information, to delete) your personal information from our (their) records, unless an exception applies. 

We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service providers, contractors and/or third parties to whom we sold/shared your personal information, to:

1. Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our obligations in connection with our contract with you.
2. Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
3. Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
4. Exercise free speech rights, ensure the right of another User to exercise her/his free speech rights or exercise another right provided for by law.
5. Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 seq.).
6. Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information's deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research's achievement, and where previously provided informed consent.
7. Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with User expectations based on your relationship with us.
8. Comply with a legal obligation.
9. Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

Right to Request Correction of Inaccurate Personal Information or Sensitive Personal Information

You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information and/or sensitive personal information that we collect. Upon receiving a verifiable consumer request for correction, we will make commercially reasonable efforts to correct information identified as inaccurate. Where we correct inaccurate personal and/or sensitive personal information, we shall instruct all service providers and/or contractors that maintain such personal and/or sensitive personal information in the course of providing services to us to make the necessary corrections in their respective systems.

Exercising Access, Data Portability, Right to Correct and Deletion Rights

To exercise your access, data portability, right to correct and/or deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable User request to us by either:

• Clicking here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

You may only make a verifiable User request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable User request must:

• Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify that you are: (1) the person about whom we collected personal information; or (2) an authorized representative.
• Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm that the personal information relates to you.  Making a verifiable User request does not require you to create an account with us.  We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable User request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.

Response Timing and Format

We endeavor to respond to all verifiable User requests to exercise Access, Data Portability, Right to Correct and Deletion Rights within forty-five (45) days of the receipt thereof. If we require more time (up to an additional (45) days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the twelve (12) month period preceding the receipt of your verifiable request. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable User request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded.  If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Opt-Out Preference Signal Processing

Global Privacy Control (“GPC”) is a setting you can enable in your web browser to communicate your privacy preference for not having certain information about your webpage visits collected across websites. For all the details, including how to turn on GPC, please visit: https://globalprivacycontrol.org/. Our websites that are associated with, and link to, this Privacy Notice (including the Site) recognize and respond to GPC signals.

Right to Opt-Out of Profiling

You have the right to opt-out from any Profiling that may be conducted by Search Degrees Online™. For purposes of these Provisions, "Profiling" means any form of automated processing performed on your personal data to evaluate, analyze or predict personal aspects related to you or your economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or movements. You have the right to opt-out of our Profiling you. To exercise your right to opt-out of our Profiling you, please submit a verifiable User request to us by either:

• Clicking Here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

We endeavor to act on all Profiling opt-out requests as soon as practicable, but in all cases within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of your request.

Right to Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising

You have the right to opt-out from Targeted Advertising conducted by Search Degrees Online™. For purposes of these Provisions, "Targeted Advertising" means displaying advertisements to you where the advertisements are selected based on personal data obtained from your activities over time and across nonaffiliated websites or online applications to predict your preferences or interests. You have the right to opt-out from Targeted Advertising. To exercise your right to opt-out of our Targeted Advertising, please submit a verifiable User request to us by either:

• Clicking Here
• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.

We endeavor to act on all Targeted Advertising opt-out requests as soon as practicable, but in all cases within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of your request.

Authorized Agents

Users may permit an authorized agent to exercise any rights granted under the CCPA and CPRA as set forth above. Any individual acting on your behalf as an agent must register with the California Secretary of State. Further, in order to utilize an authorized agent, you must provide the authorized agent with written permission from you to act on your behalf for these purposes. When you use an authorized agent to submit a request to delete, request to correct or a request to know, we may require the authorized agent to provide proof that you gave the agent signed permission to submit the subject request. We may also require you to do either of the following: (a) verify your own identity directly with us; or (b) directly confirm with us that you provided the authorized agent permission to submit the request.

Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA and/or CPRA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA and/or CPRA, we will not:

• Deny you goods or services;
• Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties;
• Retaliate against any employee, job applicant or independent contractor;
• Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services; and/or
• Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Notice in our discretion and at any time. When we make changes to this Privacy Notice, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the Site’s homepage.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Notice, our Privacy Policy, the ways in which we collect and use your personal information, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us by either:

• Emailing us at: info@searchdegreesonline.com; or
• Sending us U.S. Mail to: Search Degrees Online, 377 Valley Rd, Unit #2572, Clifton, NJ 07013.