Privacy Policy

 

Your privacy is extremely important to us.  We want to protect and safeguard your private information.  This Privacy Policy describes the information we collect, how we use it, and the standards and procedures in place to safeguard your personal nonpublic information.  We also describe here important information on privacy, disclosure and escalation.

 

This Privacy Policy is part of our Terms of Use.  When you use The Zone you accept and agree to the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy.  If you do not agree to all the terms in the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, then you should stop using The Zone immediately.  By accessing and using The Zone, you affirm that you have read the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy and that you understand, agree to and acknowledge all the terms contained in both of them.

 

This Privacy Policy applies to users of The Zone app.  It is intended to inform you of The Zone’s policies and practices regarding how we collect, use and disclose information that you provide through the platform.  This Privacy Policy does not apply to the collection and use of certain employment-related information.  If you are a current or former Zone employee, owner, director, officer, contractor, or job applicant, please contact us at info@thezone.com for the appropriate notice.

 

INFORMATION COLLECTED

 

To operate The Zone, we collect, use and store information that you provide when you sign up for the site and information that you share on the site.  Except as permitted by law or otherwise described below, The Zone does not disclose your personal information to anyone.  The Zone does not sell lists or customer information.

 

The information we collect is received directly or indirectly from you or your school and generated in the course of your use of The Zone.  The information we collect is not used for marketing or any other purposes except as specified in this Privacy Policy.

 

The information we collect includes:

 

• Information that you provide when you sign up for The Zone, and that you share when using the platform.

• Your name, email address, phone number, and school sport team(s).

• Your interaction with the website, including data entered and responses to question prompts, pages visited or viewed, and the amount of time spent on the app.

• We may use your email address to communicate with you or to connect you with school personnel. Your email address is not used for any other purpose and is not shared with outside parties except your school for the limited purpose specified.  While The Zone may use a link to your email address to help you establish a connection with your school point of contact, The Zone does not review, access or store any emails that you draft or send through that email contact.

• Information about your mobile device ID to identify your account and deliver notifications.

 

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

 

The Zone may use the information we collect for purposes including:

 

• To communicate with you, including providing you with information, alerts and suggestions directly related to your use of the platform; to verify your sign-on credentials; to assist you in beginning an email to your school’s point of contact; and, in limited circumstances specified here, to reach out to you directly or via your school if you indicate you are feeling “not great” a specified number of times, in order to assist you in seeking or obtaining additional support.

• To deliver services to you, including to create your account and enable you to log into your account and use the platform; to manage your account and provide you with customer support; to personalize your experience with The Zone by enabling guided self-reflections and suggesting particular on-platform content and services based on the data you input and using our algorithms and machine learning programs; and to connect you with indirect or direct points of contact at the school who may be able to provide you with assistance and support.

• To assist your school in assessing and addressing the mental wellbeing of its students, athletes, coaches and trainers by providing information regarding user engagement with The Zone at the school, as described in this Privacy Policy.

• To administer and improve The Zone, including to administer, assess and improve the functionality, services and security, and the overall effectiveness, of The Zone; to enforce applicable Terms of Use; to ensure the safety and security of The Zone and our users; and to develop content based on research and trend analysis.

• To comply with the law, namely, if we are obligated to respond to law enforcement requests or otherwise required by law, court order or government regulation.

• Other uses with consent, if you are informed and agree to another purpose.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON PRIVACY, DISCLOSURE AND ESCALATION:

 

Your privacy, and also your safety and wellbeing, are important to us.  We do not share nonpublic personal information about our users with anyone, expect as required by law or as follows:

 

• To any person when you authorize such disclosure;

• To computer services consultants and technicians or other security consultants, in order to ensure the confidentiality and security of customer and employee records;

• To government or regulatory agencies, and to comply with a legal summons, court order, subpoena or similar legal process, audit or investigation; and

• To your school as noted below.

 

By using The Zone you agree to provide contact information that we can share with your school under the limited circumstances below.  You also acknowledge and agree to The Zone’s disclosure and escalationprotocols, as follows:

 

• Your data is encrypted and is not shared with or sold to third parties, except it is shared with your school, who subscribes to the Zone so that you can have access to the app, as described below.

 

• Your identity is generally kept anonymous, except as noted below, and the subscribing school will receive aggregate data regarding students’ input and engagement with the app.  (For example, your school will receive information regarding the number of students using the app, the percentage of students reporting they are feeling “great” or “not great,” on a given day, etc.)

 

• If you enter in the app six times (6x) in a two-week period that you feel “not great,” then The Zone will ask you if you want help reaching out to your school to schedule an appointment with someone at the school.  The Zone also will ask you if you give permission for The Zone to provide a school point of contact with your name and contact information to let them know you have said you are “not great” and would like the person at the school to reach out to you.  If you answer yes, The Zone would send the designated point of contact at your school that information.  If you answer no, then The Zone would not disclose your identity to the school at that that time.  (And we will remind you that, under The Zone’s Terms of Use, we would give your contact information to the school if you enter “not great” 10 times in a two-week period).

 

• If you enter in the app that you are feeling “not great” 10 times (10x) in a two-week period, then under these Terms of Use you automatically consent that The Zone can disclose your identity and contact information to your school point of contact, with the information that you indicated you are feeling “not great” 10 times within two weeks, so your school can contact you directly.  The Zone is only a conduit for helping you collect and receive information, and is not a mental health provider.  We provide this information to your school to help you engage directly with your school’s point of contact or other designated person.  

 

• These protocols are in no way intended to suggest that you should wait until a certain point to reach out for direct contact with a your school or a qualified mental health professional; The Zone encourages you to do so as often and as early as may be helpful to you.  The Zone also has no responsibility for the actions, inactions, communications or interactions between you and your school or mental health providers.  The Zone is not and should not be considered medical advice.

 

• Your school has designated a point of contact who will receive information from The Zone.  The Zone has no responsibility for your school’s privacy policy or for the actions, inactions, communications and interactions between you and your school.

 

The Zone may use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design and operate our platform, to provide anonymized updates to your school, and in other research and trend analysis.  For example, we may notify your school that X number of individuals at the school or on a sports team are using The Zone on a daily basis, or that Y percent of students at the school or on an identified sports team have indicated they are feeling “great” or “not great” for particular reasons (i.e., academic, physical, etc.).  Except for the limited, specified circumstances discussed below under “Important Information on Privacy, Disclosure and Escalation,” we do not disclose information that identifies particular individuals.  

 

The anonymous and aggregated data may be published in school reports or through media platforms/academic journals.  No personal identifying information is tied to those results, and The Zone does not share information that could be used to identify your account or your private data.  From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice.  If our information practices change, we will contact you before we use your data for these new purposes to notify you of the policy change and to provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses.

 

The Zone stores data only for as long as necessary to provide products and services to you and others, including those described above, and for legal protections or as required by applicable laws and regulations.

 

The Zone may gather and analyze information regarding use of the app, including domain name, number of hits, pages visited and length of user session.  This information may be gathered using cookies and similar technologies.  A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is sent to your device browser and stored on your device.  The Zone uses cookies and similar technologies to track use of the app, address security issues, and store your preferences regarding the app.  Cookies record information about your preferences and allow us to tailor The Zone to your interests.  This information can help us analyze and improve our services to provide you with a user-friendly navigation experience.

HOW WE PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

 

The Zone uses industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving consumer data exchanged with our site.  While using any internet-based service carries inherent security risks that cannot be 100% prevented, our systems, infrastructure, encryption technology, operation and processes are designed and maintained with your privacy and security in mind.  We apply industry standards and best practices to prevent any unauthorized access, use and disclosure.  We also comply with applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding data privacy.

 

We restrict access to information about you to those employees who need to know that information as part of their job responsibilities.  We also educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and customer privacy through standard operating procedures and training.  To protect your nonpublic personal information, we:

 

• Restrict access to only to those personnel for whom the information is necessary;

• Enter into written confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements with third-party service providers;

• Maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with relevant laws and regulations; 

• Educate employees about information security policies and procedures and their role in safeguarding information and systems;

• Use firewall barriers, digital certifications and encryption to maintain security

• Do not collect information except that information provided voluntarily or through use of the platform;

• We only use cookies and similar technologies to track use and address security issues, and to store your preferences relating to the platform. 

 

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

 

The Zone does not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 13, or knowingly allow such persons to become our user.  If you are aware that we have collected personal information from a user under age 13, please contact us at info@itsthezone.com and we will delete that information.

 

THIRD PARTIES

 

The Zone does not market or sell your data.  We may employ third parties to assist us in maintaining, securing, operating, and further developing our platform, or to provide audit, legal, operational and other services to assist our operations.  For example, we may work with third parties regarding customer service, technical maintenance and updates, communications, database management, security, analytics, reporting and improvements to The Zone.  Those entities or individuals would only have access to the information and systems necessary to perform their tasks and would be subject to The Zone’s confidentiality requirements.

 

PRIVACY DISPUTES

 

You agree that any claim, cause of action or dispute you have with us regarding this Privacy Policy or The Zone’s compliance therewith would be brought only in a state or federal court located in New York.  The laws of the State of Delaware will govern this Privacy Policy as well as any claim that might arise between you and us, without regard to conflict of law provisions. 

 

QUESTIONS AND UPDATES

 

For any questions regarding our Privacy Policy, you may contact us at: info@itsthezone.com.  

 

Note that The Zone may update this Privacy Policy at our sole discretion; the date of the last revision of the policy appears at the end of the page.  Please periodically review this page for any updates to our Privacy Policy and practices.  If our information practices change, we will contact you before we use your data for these new purposes to notify you of the policy change and to provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses.

 

 

PRIVACY NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

 

This PRIVACY NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), supplements and is expressly made part of The Zone Privacy Policy and applies solely to users who reside in the State of California.  The Zone does not sell user data to third parties.  Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, known as California’s “Shine the Light Law,” residents of California have the right to request, once a year, if The Zone has shared their personal information with other companies for direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year.  To do so, contact us at info@itsthezone.com; please allow a reasonable time for a response.

 

If you are a California resident under the age of 18 and a registered user of The Zone, California Business and Professionals Code Section 22581 permits you to request and obtain removal of content or information you have publicly posted on The Zone (this is referred to as the “Eraser Law”).  Note The Zone does not have users below age 13 and does not typically allow any users to publicly post information.  However, if you feel you publicly posted information on The Zone and are between the ages of 13 and 17, please contact us at info@itsthezone.com to request the removal of data or content that you have posted, where such removal is not otherwise prohibited.

 

Under the California “Right to Know,” you may request access to the specific pieces of personal data we have collected about you in the last 12 months.  You also may request additional details about our information practices (including categories of personal data collected about you, sources of the collection, categories of personal data shared for a business or commercial purpose, and categories of third parties with whom we may share your personal data).  You may make these requests by contacting us at info@itsthezone.com.  You also may designate an agent to make a request on your behalf (the “California Designated Agent”); that Designated Agent must have access to your account so we may verify the request.

 

Non-Discrimination:  The Zone will never discriminate against you, including by denying or providing a different level of service should you choose to exercise your rights under the CCPA.

 

Reasonable time:  For any requests under CCPA, please allow for a reasonable time for a response.  

 

PRIVACY IN INTERNATIONAL USE AND THE GDPR

 

This section further supplements The Zone’s Privacy Policy to provide additional information relevant to users in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  The GDPR is a regulation on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the EU and EEA, and also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA.  Under the GDPR, The Zone is the Controller with respect to your personal data.

 

The Zone is controlled and operated by us from the United States.  By accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy, you agree that any personal information you provide to The Zone by using the platform may be stored and processed, transferred between, and accessed from the United States and other countries that may not guarantee the same level of protection of personal information as the one in which you reside.  If you do not consent to this, you should stop using the platform immediately.

The Zone may use your personal information:

• When necessary to perform our obligations under any contract with you, to manage your account, or to address inquiries about your use of The Zone.

• When we or a third party have a legitimate interest to use personal information in such a way to ensure that we operate The Zone most effectively and efficiently.  This includes our legitimate interest in using your personal information for product development and internal analytics purposes, and to improve the safety, security, and performance of The Zone, provided your rights and interests do not override these interests.

• When necessary to comply with applicable law or any other legal obligations imposed upon us.

• When you consent to the use of your personal information.

As noted in our Privacy Policy, The Zone does not sell or transfer user data for marketing purposes.  At The Zone, we encrypt your data and store it in an anonymized form.  Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy specify the consent we seek from you regarding your data and you are required to accept those terms before engaging with The Zone as part of an “informed consent” process.  We also want to inform you that, under the GDPR, you have specific rights including:

• Right of access: You may be entitled to ask us for a copy of any personal information which we hold, in the form of a “Subject Access Request.”

• Right to rectification: If personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, you may request that we check, and, where appropriate, we will correct any inaccuracies.

• Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may be entitled to ask us to erase your personal information.

• Right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you may wish to move, copy, or transfer the electronic personal Information that we hold about you to another organization.

• Right to object: The Zone does not use your personal information for marketing but we note that, under the GDPR, you may object if your personal information were being used for direct marketing. You also may object to the continued use of your personal information in any circumstances where we rely upon consent as the legal basis for processing it. Where we rely upon legitimate interests as the legal basis for processing your personal information, you may object to us continuing to process your personal information, but you must give us specific reasons for objecting. We will consider the reasons you provide, but if we consider that there are compelling legitimate grounds for us to continue to process your personal information, we may continue to do so. In that event, we will let you know the reasons for our decision.

To exercise these rights, or for any questions about this policy or your personal information, you can contact us at: info@itsthezone.com; please provide enough specificity and allow us a reasonable time to respond to your request.

We would like to work with you to resolve any concerns you may have about the use of your personal information.  We also note that, under GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence if you have any concerns about our use of your personal information.