Vernier Software & Technology, LLC

Privacy Notice

Last Updated July 1, 2020

At Vernier, we value your privacy and we understand the need to protect and safeguard your sensitive information. This privacy notice (the “Privacy Notice”) constitutes an agreement between you and Vernier Software & Technology, LLC and its affiliates, corporate parent(s), and subsidiaries (collectively, “Vernier,” “us,” “our,” or “we”) while accessing and using www.vernier.com and other websites we own or operate (collectively, the “Site”), our mobile applications (the “App”), software, or other products and services we offer (collectively, with the App, the “Software”), and is governed by and part of our Terms of Use. Any terms defined in the Terms of Use have the same meaning when used in this Privacy Notice.

This Privacy Notice also contains information about privacy rights specific to California residents, residents of the European Union and citizens of Canada.

Scope. This Privacy Notice applies to information we collect from individuals who visit the Site, register with or submit information to Vernier, download or install the Software, or use the App, from Schools, and from third parties. This Privacy Notice does not apply to information collected by us through websites, applications or content not operated by Vernier. Software and services that Vernier distributes or promotes, but did not develop, is governed by the respective software developer’s privacy notice, and Vernier has no control over their privacy practices.

This Site is Intended for Educators, not Students. Vernier develops and offers educational Software. Vernier markets its Software to educators and their schools, school districts and other organizations (collectively, “Schools”). As such, this Site is not intended for students or children under 16 years of age. If you are under age 16, please do not provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or username. If the Vernier learns we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 16 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe that we might have received information from or about a child under 16, please contact us info@vernier.com.

Consent. By accessing the Site, registering with Vernier, downloading or installing the Software, or submitting information to Vernier in any manner, you consent to this Privacy Notice and the collection and use of information as described herein. We will take reasonable steps to notify you and confirm that you agree at different stages of collecting your information. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you may not be able to access or benefit from certain portions of this Site or our Software.

Consent for Students. Each School that uses our Software initiates student access to the Software and agrees to be fully responsible for all student, instructor and other end user’s use of the Software. Each School that provides our Software to students, provides consent for the students’ use of the Software, including collection of Personal Information as described in this Privacy Notice, and is responsible for determining and obtaining any additional consent for students, including parental consent, that may be required by applicable privacy laws. Please note that Software published by Vernier does not collect any Personal Information from students or instructors, nor does it include any advertising.

Personal Information. As used in this Privacy Notice, “Personal Information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual consumer or device, such as:

• Identifiers (e.g., name, address, telephone number, email address, username);

• Sensitive Personal Information (e.g. state identification number, financial information);

• Internet or other similar activity (e.g. browsing history);

• Employment-related information (e.g. current or past employment); and

• Commercial information (e.g. products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies).

Personal Information does not include (a) publicly available information; (b) aggregate information, meaning data about a group or category of services or users from which individual identities and other Personal Information has been removed; or (c) de-identified information that cannot be easily linked back to the individual.

Lawful Basis. We will only collect your Personal Information (a) when applicable, with your consent; (b) if we have a legitimate interest in doing so; or (c) as authorized or required by law. We will limit the collection of Personal Information to that which is reasonable and necessary. If we collect or use your Personal Information based on your consent, we will also notify you of any changes and will request your further consent as needed.

COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The types of Personal Information we collect about you and the manner of collection depends on how you interact with Vernier, including the portions of our Site and which of our Software offerings you use. We only collect Personal Information as reasonable and necessary.

During the preceding 12 months, we have collected these categories of Personal Information:

• Identifiers

• Sensitive Personal Information

• Internet or other similar activity

• Employment-related information

• Commercial information

We collect Personal Information from these sources:

• Directly from you, with your consent. We collect your contact information like your name, email address, and telephone number when you contact Vernier via an online form, email, or by phone in order to request information about our Software, sign up for our mailing list or request a demo of our Software. We may also collect the name of your School and any other information that you choose to provide to us. When you create an account on the Site to place orders, post on our forum, or download Software or other resources we offer, we collect additional registration information including your School address, and a password. We will collect payment information when you make a purchase on the Site, by email, phone or fax. All payments are processed via a PCI-compliant payment processor. Depending on your use of the Site and Software, we will also collect information you provide to us through your account or by phone when you call Vernier for customer support, as well as communications you submit related to the Software, your purchases, or other interactive features of the Site.

• From Schools and Software end users, as a service provider with a legitimate interest. The Personal Information we may collect in our capacity as a service provider may include technical information about a Software end user’s device, such as device ID, IP address, browser type and operating system, transfers to Vernier’s servers when Software end users install or use the Software on their device. If a Software end user calls Vernier for Software support, we may collect their name, School name, email address, and phone number. Vernier makes every effort to minimize the scope of Personal Information we collect from Software end users. Note that our Software does not collect Personal Information about end users or transmit data to Vernier regarding Software use or content created using the Software. We will only use the Personal Information that we collect about Software end users in our capacity as a service provider as permitted by our agreement with the School or for other purposes as permitted by law.

• From Publishers of Software Titles We Resell, with a legitimate interest. We may collect Personal Information about you from other persons in our role as a reseller of another publisher’s software titles, or in order to provide, offer, or advertise our Software. More specifically, we may collect contact information and other Personal Information of educators and students, as provided to Vernier from publishers of software titles that we resell. Please note that the publisher collects this Personal Information and shares it with Vernier in accordance with the publisher’s privacy notice. Vernier has no control over the publisher’s privacy practices. We use this information to provide customer support and other services as permitted by our reseller agreement and applicable law.

• From Third Parties, with a legitimate interest. Vernier collects contact information for educators and key personnel at Schools identified as prospective customers that we obtain from marketing companies, professional associations, or educational resource companies. We may combine this information with Personal Information we previously collected about you or your School. We use this information for our own marketing purposes and in accordance with applicable law. You have the right to opt out of Vernier’s marketing communications at any time.

• Indirectly from you, with a legitimate interest. Vernier uses Google Analytics™ to research the usage of the Site. We collect technical information from your device including the date and time of the visit, the type of browser and operating system used, and aggregate information regarding what pages users of the Site access or visit. IP address information is stored for one year in case of security incidents. All other log data is stored for 26 months to allow us to see trends. If an App user chooses to include or embed Personal Information into a video uploaded via the App, we may collect that Personal Information. Vernier does not intend or wish to collect any Personal Information that an App user may choose to include or embed in a video or other App user content, and Vernier is not responsible for the collection, processing, storage or use of such Personal Information. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information in this manner, we reserve the right to delete it. To avoid loss of data, App users should save video files locally or in a cloud-based location. Like most commercial websites, we use cookies and other technologies to track use of our Site. Please read our Cookie Notice for more information about how we use cookies. We collect this information to achieve our legitimate interest of providing and improving our Services and offering you a tailored experience. We may also use this information to deliver targeted advertising.

USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use the Personal Information we collect for the purposes described at the time of collection and for other purposes with your consent and as permitted by law. Depending on your interactions with Vernier, we may use your Personal Information for the following purposes:

To provide your School with our Software. We use the Personal Information we collect directly from you to provide your School with the Software, resources, and customer support. In doing so, we may use your Personal Information to:

• Respond to your inquiries about the Software or our company, communicate with your Schools, instructors and, in some cases, students about their use of the Software, and to provide customer support.

• Tailor the content and information that we may send or display to you, such as providing you with information about workshops near your School or offering your School personalized help and instructions for the use of our Software.

• Maintain accurate records.

As a service provider, to support the use of our Software. We use the Personal Information we collect in our capacity as a service provider to provide your School’s instructors, students, and other Software end users with technical support and, in some cases, to fulfill other customer service purposes. In doing so, we may use your Personal Information to:

• Provide technical support or other customer service support by telephone, mail, email, or other means.

• Identify necessary modifications to the Site or Software to improve the function or user experience for Software end users.

• Support the safe and appropriate use of the Software by Schools and Software end users.

To improve the Site and the Software. Vernier is constantly working to improve our Site and Software to achieve our legitimate interest of supporting Schools and instructors in their efforts to educate students. Toward that legitimate interest, we may use the information we collect from your or your use of the Site or Software, including Personal Information, to:

• Analyze how Site visitors access, use, and navigate the Site, both on an aggregated and individualized basis.

• Evaluate use of our Site using automated devices and applications, such as Google Analytics, to help us understand Site visitors’ behavior, view technology trends, improve usability, and test functionality.

• Support our internal development, diagnostics, and corrective efforts.

For our direct marketing efforts. We may also use your Personal Information to communicate with you about our Software and other offerings that may be of interest to you in order to achieve our legitimate interest of direct marketing. We will only send you marketing communications in ways that are compatible with your communications choices. As part of our direct marketing efforts, we may:

• Send you email you news, newsletters, and email marketing materials.

• Send you our catalogues by email or mail.

• Determine relevant advertising, including advertising on social media and other third party websites.

• Evaluate the success of our adverting campaigns through third party channels (including our online targeted advertising and offline promotional campaigns).

For other purposes as permitted by law. In addition to the specific uses and purposes described above, we might use information that we collect about you, including Personal Information, to:

• Comply with law, regulation, legal process, or court order.

• Support our general business operations, as permitted by law.

• Investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person or violations of our Terms of Service or this Privacy Notice.

• Protect our rights and property, and the users of our Site or Software.

• For other purposes with your consent.

SHARING PERSONAL INFORMATION

In the preceding 12 months, Vernier has disclosed the following categories of Personal Information for a business purpose:

• Identifiers

• Sensitive Personal Information

• Internet or other similar activity

• Employment-related information

• Commercial information

Vernier may disclose your Personal Information for a business purpose to the following:

• Our Service Providers. Vendors that provide Vernier with various services (collectively, “Service Providers”) may have access to your Personal Information while they are performing their contractual obligations. These Service Providers include but are not limited to companies that provide Vernier with certain marketing campaign services, data analytics, and payment processing services. We prohibit our Service Providers from selling or disclosing the Personal Information we provide, and we require all Service Providers to maintain confidentiality standards that are reasonable to ensure the security of your Personal Information.

• Other Third Parties. As permitted by applicable law, for example: if we go through a business transition (e.g., merger, acquisition, or sale of a portion of our assets); to comply with a legal requirement or a court order; when we believe it is appropriate in order to take action regarding illegal activities or prevent fraud or harm to any person; to exercise or defend our legal claims; or for any other reason with your consent.

Aggregated and De-Identified Information. We reserve the right to share aggregate, anonymized, or de-identified information about any individuals with non-affiliated entities for research, product development, marketing, or other purposes, without restriction.

CONTROLLING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Vernier provides you the ability to exercise certain controls and choices regarding our collection, use and sharing of your information. Depending on where you reside, your options to control your Personal Information may include some or all of the following:

• Changing your preferences for how and about what we communicate with you.

• Correcting, updating, and deleting the Personal Information in your account. Please note that certain legal obligations may limit or prevent our ability to fulfill these requests, and that copies of information that you have updated, modified or deleted may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Site or Software for a period of time.

• Requesting access to, or that we amend or delete, the Personal Information we hold about you.

• Choosing whether to receive marketing communications from us, including promotions, surveys, and information about products and services that may be of interest to you.

• Controlling how the cookies we use interact with your browser.

At any time, you may exercise any of these controls and choices, express concerns, lodge a complaint, or obtain additional information about the use of your Personal Information by contacting us via the customer dashboard or by email at privacy@Vernier.com. Read more about privacy rights available to residents of California and the European Union.

Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Vernier does not share your Personal Information in direct exchange for money, so we don’t sell your Personal Information in the literal sense. Like most companies, we share data with our service providers and other companies in order to help us generally enhance your experience with our Site and Software and, in some cases, deliver more meaningful ads to you. The law defines “sell” very broadly and, in some cases, sharing data for these purposes may be viewed as a “sale” under applicable privacy laws. You can opt out of these “sales” of your Personal Information by following this Do Not Sell My Personal Information link.

Do Not Track. Do Not Track signals are signals sent through a browser informing us that you do not want to be tracked. Currently, our systems do not recognize browser “do-not-track” requests. You may, however, disable certain tracking as discussed below.

California Privacy Rights

This section provides residents of the State of California (“California Consumers”) with the disclosures and notices required under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). The following paragraphs apply solely to California Consumers and describe the specific rights afforded under the CCPA.

Employee Data Exception. In most cases, the Personal Information Vernier collects from you is in a business-to-business context when you are acting as an employee to a School in the context of performing due diligence regarding potential procurement of our Software on behalf of your School employer. Personal Information collected and used in this context is not protected Personal Information under the CCPA. Exceptions related to employee data, as well as other exceptions and limitations, may apply to a California Consumer’s rights and Vernier’s obligations under the CCPA.

Without limiting the foregoing, California Consumers may exercise the following rights over their Personal Information, subject to our receipt of a verifiable Consumer Privacy Request, as well as any exceptions and limitations that may apply.

• Right to Disclosure. You have the right to request that we disclose information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past 12 months, such as (i) the categories of Personal Information we have collected about you; (ii) the categories of sources for the Personal Information we have collected about you; (iii) our business purpose for collecting or selling that Personal Information; (iv) the categories of third parties with whom we share that Personal Information; and (v) if we sold or disclosed your Personal Information for a business purpose, two separate lists stating (a) sales, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and (b) disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained. Pure Chat is only required to respond to two disclosure requests within a 12-month period.

• Right to Access. You have the right to request that we provide you with access to specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you over the past 12 months (also called a data portability request). If you submit a right to access request, we will provide you with copies of the requested pieces of Personal Information in a portable and readily usable format. Please note that Pure Chat is prohibited by law from disclosing copies of certain pieces of Personal Information (e.g., government identification numbers, financial account information, and passwords or security questions and answers) because the disclosure would create a substantial, articulable, and unreasonable risk to the security of the information, our business systems, or your account. Pure Chat is only required by law to respond to two access requests within a 12-month period.

• Right to Deletion. You have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, with certain exceptions. Pure Chat may permanently delete, deidentify, or aggregate the Personal Information in response to a request for deletion. If you submit a right to deletion request, we will confirm the Personal Information to be deleted prior to its deletion, and we will notify you when your request is complete.

• Right to Nondiscrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by law, we will not (i) deny you goods or services, (ii) charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, (iii) provide you a different level or quality of goods or services, or (iv) suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services, because you exercised a right under the CCPA.

• Right to Disclosure of Marketing Information. California’s Shine the Light Act (Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84) entitles California residents to request certain disclosures regarding Personal Information sharing with affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes.

We endeavor to respond to a verifiable Consumer Privacy Request from a California Consumer within 45 days of receipt. If we require more time, we will notify you in writing of the reason and extension period. We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding receipt of the verifiable consumer request. If we cannot comply with part or all of your request, we will explain the reasons in our response.

European Union Privacy Rights

We adopted this section to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”). This section applies solely to residents of the European Union (“EU Residents”). Vernier offers our Software to individuals located in the EU as a data controller. If you are an EU Resident, you have the following rights in relation to the Personal Information we hold about you:

• Right to know how we process your Personal Information. We have set the required notices in this Privacy Notice. We may provide you with additional notices about other ways we process your Personal Data, such as by sending you a notice via email or by other means of communication.

• Right to access your Personal Information. You can request to access your Personal Information. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of your Personal Information, along with details about the types of Personal Information we process, why we process it, and any third parties we work with to collect Personal Information on our behalf. We may have one or more legally valid reasons to refuse your request in whole or in part, for example in order to protect the rights of other individuals.

• Right to restrict processing of your Personal Information. You can request that we restrict the processing of your Personal Information if (i) the data is inaccurate, (ii) the processing is unlawful, (iii) we no longer need the Personal Information, or (iv) you exercise your right to object.

• Right to rectify your Personal Information. If you become aware that the Personal Information that we hold about you is incorrect, or if your situation changes (e.g., you change address), please inform us and we will update our records.

• Right to data portability. In some circumstances, we are required to provide your Personal Information to another organization at your request and in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format, so the other organization can read and use it.

• Right to erasure (a.k.a. the “right to be forgotten”). Upon your request, and in certain circumstances and where we are required to do so by law, we are required to delete your Personal Information. This right is not absolute, and we may be entitled to retain and process your Personal Information despite your request. If you make this request, we balance certain legal, contractual and business interests against your right to request the deletion of your Personal Information.

• Right to object to certain processing of your Personal Information. Upon your request, and in certain circumstances and where we are required to do so by law, we will limit our processing of your Personal Information as you request.

• Right to not be subject to automated decision-making. Vernier does not use Automated Decision-Making (“ADM”) as part of the Software, and we are not aware of whether a particular School uses ADM in connection with its use of the Software with its end users. Please check with your School to confirm their use of ADM. If we engage in this activity in the future, you will have the right to object to a decision we make wholly by a computer or algorithm without human input and to receive information about this type of processing.

EU Residents may exercise these rights over their Personal Information, subject to our receipt of a verifiable Consumer Privacy Request, as well as any exceptions and limitations that may apply.

Canadian Privacy Rights

We adopted this section to provide supplemental information in compliance with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). This section applies solely to residents of Canada where PIPEDA applies (“Canadian Consumers”). PIPEDA gives Canadian Consumers specific rights regarding Personal Information offering details on an identifiable person without the inclusion of name, title, telephone number and business address of an employee of a business or organization. The following paragraphs describe PIPEDA rights and explain how to exercise those rights.

• Right to know why we collect, use and distribute the Personal Information we process. We have set the required notices in this Privacy Notice. We may provide you with additional notices about other ways we process your Personal Data, such as by sending you a notice via email or by other means of communication.

• Right to expect us to collect, use or disclose Personal Information responsibly and not for any other purpose other than which you consented. We set your expectations in this Privacy Notice, and collect express or implied consent at various stages of collection or processing. If we collect or use your Personal Information based on your consent, we will also notify you of any changes and will request your further consent as needed. You may withdraw your consent at any time with reasonable notice by contacting us at privacy@Vernier.com.

• Right to accuracy of your Personal Information. We take steps to reasonably ensure that your Personal Information we are using is accurate. In most cases, we rely on you to ensure that your information is current, complete and accurate. We provide methods for you to correct, update, and delete inaccurate Personal Information in your account, and we will provide you with reasonable assistance to ensure that your Personal Information is accurate in our systems and with our service providers.

• Right to access your Personal Information. Upon written request and identity authentication, we will provide you with your Personal Information under our control, information about the ways in which that information is being used and a description of the individuals and organizations to whom that information has been disclosed. We will make the information available within thirty (30) days or provide written notice where additional time is required to fulfill the request. If limited by law or potential infringement on another’s privacy rights, we may not be able to provide access to some or all of the Personal Information you request. If we must refuse an access request, we will notify you in writing, document the reasons for refusal and outline further steps that are available to you.

Canadian Consumers may exercise the above rights over their Personal Information, subject to our receipt of a verifiable Consumer Privacy Request, as well as any exceptions and limitations that may apply.

Consumer Privacy Requests

If you wish to exercise your rights under applicable privacy laws, please submit a verifiable Consumer Privacy Request:

• using our online Consumer Privacy Request.

• by email at info@vernier.com.

• toll free at 1-888-837-6437.

Vernier may only legally fulfill a Consumer Privacy Request when we have sufficient information to verify that the requester are the person or an authorized representative of the person about whom we have collected Personal Information, and to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to the request. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to a verifiable request unless we have legal grounds to do so, such as requests that are 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. Note that if we process your Personal Information in our capacity as a service provider, we may be required to instruct you to submit your request to your School.

DATA SECURITY

It is Vernier’s policy to treat your Personal Information with complete confidentiality. We employ reasonable and appropriate safeguards both online and offline to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of information that we collect about you. Vernier maintains internal policies to govern the collection, processing, and handling of data, and reserves data access only for those employees who require such access to perform their job functions. We educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and customer privacy through standard operating procedures. We also maintain physical, electronic and procedural security measures to safeguard your nonpublic Personal Information. Personal Information is securely stored on our internal and cloud-based systems and is only accessible to our server administrators, technical support team, and front office as needed to fulfill their respective roles. Our data storage systems are protected by reasonable and appropriate safeguards including strong encryption for content delivery and passwords. We update and test our technology to improve the protection of our information about you and to assure the integrity of that information.

Your Account. When you sign up or create an account with us, you will have a login and password. We encourage you to take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone, and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared computer, choosing a robust password that nobody else knows or can easily guess, and keeping your login and password private. We are not responsible for any lost, stolen, or compromised passwords, or for any activity on your account via unauthorized activity.

Consent to Transfer Personal Information from Outside the United States. Vernier is owned and operated in the United States. If you visit the Site or use our Software from outside of the United States, Personal Information we collect about you will be transferred to our servers in the United States and maintained there indefinitely. This may require the transfer of your Personal Information out of your country of origin with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from or be more restrictive than U.S. law, or may result in governments, courts, law enforcement or regulatory agencies having access to or obtaining disclosure of your Personal Information pursuant to the laws of the applicable foreign jurisdiction. By allowing us to collect Personal Information about you, you consent to the transfer and processing of your Personal Information as described in this paragraph.

Third-party Websites and Advertising. We may provide links to third-party websites from our Site as a service to our Site visitors, but we have no ability to control, and we are not responsible for, the privacy and data collection, use, and disclosure practices of third-party websites. When you click on links that take you to external websites, you will be subject to their privacy notices and practices and not ours. We encourage you to review and understand the privacy notices of such websites before providing them with any information.

Social Networking. If you access our Site from a social networking site (e.g., Facebook or Twitter), or if you otherwise agree to associate your account with us with a social networking site, we may also receive Personal Information about you from such social networking site. Our receipt of your Personal Information via a social networking site is governed by the terms of use and privacy notice of the social networking site. We may retain this information with the information we collect from you directly.

GENERAL

Terms of Use. The Terms of Use for this Site and our services govern all matters not set forth in this Privacy Notice. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with our Terms of Use.

Changes to this Privacy Notice. Vernier reserves the right to modify this Privacy Notice at any time by updating this posting without notice and revising the effective date. All changes are effective immediately when posted and apply to all access to and use of the Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

For More Information. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments regarding this Privacy Notice, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights over your Personal Information or if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice. You can contact us at info@vernier.com or toll free at 1-888-837-6437.