Last updated: June 3, 2020

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (“ATPE”) is committed to respecting the privacy of our customers and website visitors. This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected on our website (the “Site”) and official ATPE social media webpages (“Official Social Media Pages”), including our Facebook Page.

Please note that we do not have control over the data collection and use practices of third-parties with respect to information that you submit on a social media site. Thus, the provisions of this Privacy Policy pertaining to Official Social Media Pages only apply to information submitted directly to us by or through a social media site.

In all other respects, all information or other content submitted to any website linked to the Site or any other third-party website is subject to the terms of the privacy policy applicable to such website, and not the terms of this Privacy Policy.

ATPE benefits from the services of its volunteer members for local and regional operations, advocacy, and recruiting efforts, and ATPE makes membership-related information (such as membership applications, contact information, and whether or not a membership has lapsed) available to its volunteers for such purposes.

ATPE provides regional webpages on the Site for use by members and regional volunteers. However, with the exception of ATPE’s Official Social Media Pages, ATPE does not sponsor, promote, or manage social media groups, pages, or other tools (collectively, “Other Social Media Tools”), even if the Other Social Media Tools are used for the purposes of facilitating communications and interaction among ATPE members. ATPE is not responsible for any content on a webpage associated with an Other Social Media Tool or the handling of personal information that may be submitted to any Other Social Media Tool.

Contact and Membership Information. When you contact us using one of our online contact forms, or contact us using any of the methods provided under the Site’s “Contact” tab, we receive the messages you send as well as any personal information you provide. When you apply to join ATPE, we collect information by which you may be personally identified such as your email address, zip code, phone number, the last four (4) digits of your Social Security number, and other employment information. We also collect information relating toyour use of online resources, volunteer participation, preferences, status, and activities as a member.

Payment Information. We collect transactional information that you provide directly to us for payment purposes, such as your address, billing address, email address, and credit card or bank account information. If you request that membership dues be deducted from your payroll, we may receive your employment information as well as your Social Security or employee number in connection with helping to process such a request.

Contributions. In connection with contributions to ATPE-PAC, we collect relevant information such as donor name, contribution amount, home address, phone number, employer, occupation, payment information, and email address.

We use contribution information to process the donation, to update our records of financial supporters, and to report political campaign contributions and charitable contributions as required by law.

Use of Professional Development Resources. In order to participate in webinars or use any of the other professional development resources on the Site, you may be required to register with your name, contact information, ATPE membership number (if you have one), and your job title and employer. We typically make a record of your participation and may report your participation to the Texas Education Agency or another accreditation entity, or to a recordkeeping and reporting service.

For online resources that are made available by or in conjunction with another organization, such as the Texas Computer Educators Association, we may provide information about your registration (including your name and contact information) and participation to the other organization. Use of some online resources may require that you register on another organization’s website, in which case the handling of your registration information is governed by the privacy policy applicable to that other organization’s website, and not this Privacy Policy.

Other Participation. We collect pertinent information if you choose to participate in other ATPE programs or activities or if you submit an award or scholarship nomination or application.

Insurance Coverage. As stated on the Site, professional liability and employment rights defense group insurance coverage is available to eligible ATPE members through a group insurance policy issued to ATPE. ATPE may provide the insurance company and its authorized agents and representatives with your membership information and status in order to confirm coverage. ATPE may also require that you send copies of demand letters or legal complaints to ATPE for the purposes of forwarding claims to the insurance company.

If you seek additional insurance coverage or other service offerings on special terms available only to ATPE members, we may forward your membership information and status to the third party who offers such coverage or other services.

‎Log Data. We may automatically record information concerning your activity on the Site. This may include your IP addresses or other identifiers, your browser type, the types of information you search for and view on the Site, locale preferences, and your mobile carrier. If you arrived at the Site by clicking on an advertisement or promotion on another website, we may also take note of the web page you visited before you came to the Site.

Cookies and Web Beacons. A cookie is a small data file that may be transferred to your browser or mobile device. We may use session, persistent, and third-party cookies to collect information in order to study, enhance, and improve the use and capabilities of the Site. We may also use cookies to enable certain features of the Site, preserve your preferences, and customize your experience when you visit and return to the Site. In addition to cookies, our Site also uses web beacons (either directly or from our partners), which are small electronic files (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs), to determine, for example, if a user has visited a particular website and for other website statistics.

Please note that, if you delete or choose not to receive cookies from the Site, the functionality of the Site may be impaired. The online advertising industry provides websites from which you may opt-out of receiving targeted ads from our data and advertising partners. You can access these, and also learn more about targeted advertising and user choice and privacy, at http://www.aboutads.info and at http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.

By continuing to use our Site, you are agreeing to our placing cookies and/or web beacons on your computer in order to analyze the way you use our Site.

If you do not wish to accept cookies or web beacons in connection with your use of this Site, please discontinue use of this Site.

Third-Party Analytics. We use providers of third-party analytics services and communications services to help us understand and improve the usage of the Site and the effectiveness of our communications strategies and recruiting efforts. In some cases, we may permit the third-party companies providing these services to set and access cookies (or similar data tools, such as “pixel tags” or “web beacons”) through the Site and our email messages. These companies may use your IP address or an anonymous identifier as well as certain information from your browser, together with other non-personal information about your visits to the Site and other websites, in order to provide advertisements about products and services of interest to you on other websites or via e-mail, and/or to provide analytical information for the Site and other websites. We do not control these third-parties' tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about advertisements about products and services or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible third-party provider directly.

Like many sites, this Site uses Google Analytics. Google offers a Google Analytics browser add-on (designed to be compatible only with certain browsers) to provide website visitors the ability to prevent their data from being collected and used by Google Analytics. That add-on may be obtained here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en; and other privacy controls are available here: http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.

Other Websites (including Official Social Media Pages). If you choose to enroll in a user forum on this Site using your Facebook or other social media account, we may receive limited information from the social media site associated with that other account (as further addressed below). We also receive any information you submit to us on an Official Social Media Page, which is treated in the same manner as comparable information collected from the Site under this Policy. In other respects, we do not collect personal information about your activities on third-party websites or other online services.

Linked Accounts. If you register on a user forum on this Site using the login information from your Facebook or other social media account, we will use such login information to access and collect the information that the social media site permits us to access so that we can create your user forum account on this Site and so that you can more easily connect to your family and friends. Note, however, that we will not post to Facebook or another social media account without your permission. You should review your forum registration information on this Site even if you use a social media account to sign up, so that you will be aware of and make any necessary corrections to the information the social media site has provided, so that you can see what registration information may be publicly available on the user forum, and so that you can exercise available privacy choices.

We use personal information to provide and improve services to our members and others, and to deliver news and information to you. We keep membership records for recruiting and fundraising purposes and so that we and our local and regional volunteers can communicate with you. We may publish or confirm that you are a member in connection with our lobbying efforts, to confirm your eligibility for discounts and services offered to ATPE members, and to establish eligibility for inclusion in our group insurance policy. When appropriate, we process or forward membership applications, scholarship and awards materials, insurance claim information, continuing education credit, and other information and documentation related to the activities and interests of ATPE and its members. We may communicate with your employer to facilitate payroll deductions for dues, if requested by you, and to confirm your membership eligibility.

We also use information to improve our Site, to enhance our operations and effectiveness (including the operations and effectiveness of our regional and local units), and to carry out requested transactions.

We may also provide personal information to third-party service providers who assist us in providing products and services and information to you.

In addition, we may retain and use communications, transaction details, your IP address, and identifying information in order to maintain audit trails for security purposes.

The Site may include social media features, such as the Facebook Like button and the Share This button. If you utilize any of these features, the third-party social media website may collect your IP address and information about which page you are visiting on the Site, and they may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Actions you take in connection with our social media features may be reflected in a manner visible to others; for example, if you “Like” us on Facebook, others may be able to see that you have done so.

The submission of inquiries or requests to ATPE Member Legal Services through the Site is subject to the additional terms set forth in the Member Legal Services Intake System (“MLSIS”) section of the Site. The ATPE Member Legal Services Department retains documentation of all ‎member/client contacts as set forth in the Summary of the ATPE Member Legal Services Department Archive and Destruction Policy.

We are committed to maintaining the security of personal information, and we employ reasonable security measures to protect the information we receive. Please remember, though, that neither the Internet nor any method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure.

We conduct security awareness training for our staff and volunteers. When it is necessary for our service providers to have access to your information, we expect the same level of data security, integrity and confidentiality standards as ATPE itself provides.

We disclose personal information as necessary, such as in connection with providing services and information to you or processing or facilitating your transactions. We also may share limited information with the insurer under our group policy(ies) so that the insurer and its authorized agents and representatives may contact members with other insurance and related offerings.

We may disclose information concerning you if required to do so by law or if we believe that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or to protect and defend our rights or property, or those of others.

The Site is not intended for use by minors under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, you may not use our Site. If we believe that any information has been posted by a minor under the age of 13, we will promptly delete that information. Parents may contact us using the methods set forth below to request that information concerning their child be removed from our Site.

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy. The date this Privacy Policy was last updated is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Site and this Privacy Policy to check for any changes.

Questions, comments, and feedback are very important to us. For privacy-related issues, click here to contact us via email, or write to us at: Association of Texas Professional Educators, 305 E. Huntland Dr., Suite 300, Austin, TX 78752-3792.