Privacy Policy

Student Privacy Pledge logo

The WNET Group, producer of Mission US, is a proud signatory of the Student Privacy Pledge. 

Last updated: August 2024

THIRTEEN Productions LLC (“THIRTEEN”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) understands that privacy is important to our users. This Privacy Policy describes our practices regarding the collection, use, sharing, and protection of your Personal Information by https://www.mission-us.org/ (the “Website”) and the Mission US school dashboard (the “Dashboard”) (collectively, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy also tells you about the rights and choices you have with respect to your Personal Information, how you can assert those rights, and how you can contact us to get answers to your questions.

  • We are committed to respecting and protecting information collected from visitors of our Services:
  • We only collect Personal Information and Student Data reasonably necessary to provide the Services.
  • We only use Student Data for the educational purpose for which it was collected.
  • We only share Personal Information and Student Data with third party service providers who help us operate and support the Services.
  • Our Services do not contain third party advertising or targeted advertising.

We encourage our Educational Customers (as defined below) and parents to learn more about Mission US by visiting this page.

IF YOU ARE HAVING ANY TROUBLE ACCESSING THE SERVICES OR THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE CONTACT US AT missionus@thirteen.org.

BY USING OR ACCESSING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH OUR POLICIES OR PRACTICES, YOU SHOULD NOT USE OR ACCESS THE SERVICES OR PROVIDE US WITH ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION.

WHAT OUR PRIVACY POLICY COVERS

This Privacy Policy applies to the Personal Information that we obtain from (i) users who create a non-Dashboard account on the Website (“Non-Dashboard Users”), and (ii) school districts, schools and teachers (collectively, “Educational Institutions”) and their students (together with Educational Institutions, “Educational Customers”) who use the Dashboard pursuant to a written agreement.

We may provide different or additional privacy notices in connection with certain activities, programs, and offerings. Additionally, we may provide additional “just-in-time” notices or notices at collection that may supplement or clarify our privacy practices or provide you with additional choices regarding your personal information.

STUDENT DATA

The Dashboard is intended for teachers and students under the supervision of their parents and teachers. The Dashboard allows teachers to create accounts for their students (including those under the age of thirteen) and for students to submit their Personal Information, including first name, the first two initials of last name, school, grade range, and city and state(collectively, “Student Data”).

We obtain the Educational Institution’s authorization to collect Student Data and we use and disclose Student Data only for school-authorized, educational purposes, and not for any commercial purposes. The Educational Institution may review the Student Data that we collect, refuse to permit us to continue using or collecting the Student Data, and direct us to delete the Student Data that we have collected. To exercise these rights, as applicable, or if you have any questions about the Student Data we collect, please send an email to missionus@thirteen.org.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

“Personal Information” refers to information that reasonably identifies, relates to, describes, or can be associated with an individual. Data that has been deidentified or that otherwise cannot reasonably be related back to a specific person is not considered Personal Information. The precise definition of personal information may vary depending on your place of residence, but we take the same general approach to protecting your privacy, subject to any additional measures that may be required by applicable laws.

The following are the categories and types of Personal Information that we may collect through the Services:

  • Teachers’ first names, last names, and email addresses;
  • Non-Dashboard User email addresses;
  • Students’ first names and the first two letters of last names;
  • Students’ usernames and passwords;
  • Students’ grade level range;
  • Students’ school or school district;
  • General demographic information, like city and state;
  • Device and online identifiers and related information, including internet protocol (IP) address;
  • Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to and information regarding your interaction with the Services and gameplay data for saved games;
  • Coursework and content created by students, such as notes and responses to questions, activities, bookmarks, highlights, time spent in the games, game play, assessments, and other assignments, whether through open text fields or multiple choice questions.
  • Aggregate and anonymous data, which is used to improve gameplay.

HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal Information You Provide. We collect Personal Information that you provide to us directly. This may include, but is not limited to, information you provide when you contact us via email or through other Internet-enabled communications, register to use the Services, create a profile or account, or complete a survey for us. We also collect any other information that you provide us on or through the Services.

Personal Information We Collect Automatically. When you visit our Services, we or third parties we work with may automatically collect information through “clickstream data”, which can tell us the type of computer and browsing software you use and the address of the website from which you linked to the Services. With respect to Educational Customers, we use this information solely for school-authorized educational purposes.

We may work with third-party vendors who use the technologies described in this section to conduct website analytics to help us understand how visitors use the Website and other services. One such provider is Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies to help analyze how users use the Website. The information generated by these cookies about your use (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the Website, compiling reports on activity for its staff, and providing other services relating to web page activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. By using the Website and accepting cookies, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. Please refer to the currently available opt-outs for Google Analytics by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect and use Personal Information for the following purposes:

  • To communicate with you about the Services, respond to your direct inquiries, requests, issues or feedback, and provide customer service;
  • If you are an Educational Institution who has opted into our newsletter, to add you to our mailing lists and send you emails from time to time;
  • To create, maintain, and otherwise manage your account or profile;
  • To assess game performance and inform design and technical improvements;
  • To enable teachers to assess students’ performance;
  • For research and analytics to improve our Services and product offerings, and understand how students and teachers interact with our Services;
  • For security and fraud prevention;
  • To comply with legal obligations;
  • To support core business functions; and
  • For any additional purposes that you specifically consent to.

We may collect information that is not personal information (“non-personal information”), including anonymous or aggregate data related to use of the Services. Because non-personal information does not personally identify you, we may collect, use, and disclose such information subject to any restrictions imposed by law or our agreement with the Educational Institution. In some instances, we may combine non-personal information with Personal Information, and the combined information will be treated by us as Personal Information to the extent that it is capable of personally identifying you.

We reserve the right to develop and derive aggregate data (meaning information that relates to a group or category of individuals, from which individual identities have been removed) from Personal Information in order to enhance and maintain the Services, demonstrate the effectiveness of the Services, and for broad educational impact research. Such aggregate data will be treated as non-personal information.

HOW WE DISCLOSE OR SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION

We do not disclose any Student Data or Personal Information about the users of our Services to any third party, except in the following instances:

  • Service Providers. We may share Student Data and Personal Information with third-party vendors who use the information to provide us with services in connection with the Services, including, but not limited to web developers, hosting and infrastructure providers, and information technology service. These vendors may have access to Student Data and Personal Information that is necessary to perform their functions, but they are only permitted to do so in connection with performing such services for us. They are not authorized by us to use the information for their own benefit.
  • Legal Compliance and Defending Our Rights. We may disclose Student Data and Personal Information and other information as we believe necessary or appropriate: (a) under applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (b) to comply with legal process; (c) to respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (d) to enforce our Terms of Service; (e) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you, or others; and (g) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
  • Business Transfers. We may share Student Data and Personal Information with third parties in connection with a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of the assets of THIRTEEN, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which the assets transferred may include information about users of the Services.
  • Non-Personal Information. We may share non-personal information with unaffiliated third parties, such as software and app developers, to improve and enhance your experience using the Services, and for our own market research activities, subject to any restrictions imposed by law or our agreement with the Educational Institution. We publicly commit to maintain and use the information in de-identified or aggregate form, and not to attempt to re-identify the information.

LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES

If you are an Educational Institution using the Services, we may collect your information when you interact with us on social media or use features, such as plugins, widgets, or other tools made available by social media platforms or networks (such as Facebook) in connection with our Services. Please review the privacy policies and settings of the social media platforms and networks that you use for more information about their privacy practices.

HOW WE PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal Information is maintained on our servers or those of our vendors, and is accessible by authorized employees, independent contractors, representatives, and agents as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We maintain a comprehensive information security program and seek to use reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and resilience of Personal Information. These measures align with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and include user authentication and industry standard encryption of Personal Information in transit and at rest. However, no method of safeguarding information is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that our safeguards will be effective or sufficient. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please immediately notify us of the problem by emailing missionus@thirteen.org.

DATA RETENTION

We delete all Personal Information obtained from Educational Customers within 365 days of receipt, unless earlier deletion is requested by the Educational Customer or their parents or Educational Institution. If an Educational Institution provides Personal Information, we will request renewed permission to retain that information every 365 days in order to allow continued use of the Services. Even if we delete some or all of your information, we may continue to retain and use anonymous or aggregate data, or any other data that constitutes non-personal information. Please note that we will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.

For more information about our data retention practices, click here.

YOUR CHOICES

Consistent with applicable law, you may exercise the choices described in this section regarding your Personal Information and communications from us. You may also have certain additional rights available depending on laws in your state or country of residence, as described further below in the Privacy Policy.

  • Opting Out of Messages. If you have created an account as an Educational Institution or Non-Dashboard User and have opted into our newsletter, we may send you marketing messages via email. If you receive a marketing message from us, you may unsubscribe from future messages in accordance with our standard unsubscribe process (such as by using the unsubscribe link included in an email), or by sending an unsubscribe request to us at missionus@thirteen.org. We will process your request within a reasonable time after receipt. Please note that if you opt out in this manner, certain aspects of our Service may no longer be available to you.

We do not, and will not, send marketing communications to students who use the Services.

CROSS-BORDER DATA TRANSFERS

If you submit Personal Information to us, that information may be processed in a jurisdiction where privacy laws may be less stringent than those in your country of residence. By submitting your Personal Information to us, you agree to the transfer, storage, and processing of such information in foreign jurisdictions including, but not limited to, the United States. Please note that personal information transferred to the United States is subject to access by law enforcement.

FERPA & COPPA

THIRTEEN has designed the Services to comply with all applicable laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). As between THIRTEEN and its Educational Customers, all Personal Information subject to FERPA and COPPA is the property of the Educational Customer. For purposes of FERPA, in furnishing the Services, THIRTEEN functions as a “school official” performing a service or function for which the Educational Institution would otherwise use school employees. THIRTEEN relies on Educational Institutions to provide consents required under applicable law or district policy for us to collect, process or maintain Personal Information.
NEW YORK PARENTS’ BILL OF RIGHTS
THIRTEEN is committed to complying with the New York State Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security to the extent it applies to education technology providers, and to supporting our Educational Customers in meeting their obligations thereunder. For more information about New York State Education Law §2-d and the New York State Parents’ Bill of Rights, please visit the New York State Department of Education and the New York Regional Information Centers.

If you would like to obtain a copy of THIRTEEN’s New York State Data Security and Privacy Plan, please submit a request to missionus@thirteen.org.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions from this Privacy Policy at any time, provided that any such modifications will only be applied prospectively. We encourage you to periodically review the Services for the latest information on our privacy practices. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy means you accept such changes.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about our privacy or security practices, please contact missionus@thirteen.org.