Privacy Policy

Important Note

This Policy does not control the independent privacy practices of third-party websites, platforms, or service providers.

A. Parent and Guardian Information

We may collect information such as:

• Full name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Mailing or billing address
• Account login and authentication information
• Relationship to the child
• Communication preferences
• Program interests
• Enrollment and waitlist selections
• Transaction and payment status
• Questions submitted to Griot Academy LLC
• Emergency contact information where needed
• Authorized pickup information for applicable in-person programs
• Consent and policy-acceptance records
• Information submitted through support requests or messages

B. Child and Student Information

A parent, guardian, authorized school or organization, or the student may provide information such as:

Griot Academy LLC aims to collect only the child information reasonably necessary to operate the selected program, provide instruction, support participation, maintain safety, communicate with the family, and meet legitimate operational or legal requirements.

Parents and guardians should not submit unnecessary medical, financial, identity, or other highly sensitive information about a child.

• Student name
• Age or date of birth
• Grade level
• School or organization affiliation
• Program interests
• Program eligibility information
• Enrollment and waitlist information
• Class schedule
• Attendance
• Participation records
• Assignment or activity responses
• Quiz results
• Instructor feedback
• Progress information
• Certificates or achievements
• Student-created work
• Accessibility or accommodation information where necessary
• Information needed to support safe participation

C. Instructor and Staff Information

We may collect information such as:

• Name
• Contact information
• Professional biography
• Qualifications and experience
• Program assignments
• Availability
• Attendance or instructional records
• Account and authentication information
• Communications
• Administrative records

D. School and Organization Partner Information

We may collect:

• Contact name
• Job title
• Organization name
• Organization type
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Location
• Student population or grade ranges
• Program interests
• Scheduling preferences
• Partnership requirements
• Inquiry details
• Contract or administrative contacts
• Authorized program records

E. Payment and Transaction Information

Griot Academy LLC may use a third-party payment processor to complete payments.

The payment processor may collect payment-card, bank, billing, and transaction information directly from the person making the payment.

Griot Academy LLC may receive limited information such as:

• Customer name
• Billing address
• Transaction amount
• Payment status
• Transaction date
• Transaction identifier
• Card type
• Last four digits of the payment method
• Refund or dispute status

F. Online Class and Program Information

For online classes and activities, we may collect:

Griot Academy LLC will not publicly use an identifiable child's image, voice, recording, or work for marketing without appropriate permission.

• Session registration
• Attendance
• Entry and departure times
• Display name
• Participation status
• Chat or message content when enabled
• Activity submissions
• Instructor feedback
• Technical support information
• Audio, video, or recordings when specifically authorized

G. Technical and Usage Information

When someone uses our website or platform, Griot Academy LLC or its service providers may automatically collect:

• Internet Protocol address
• Browser type
• Device type
• Operating system
• Approximate location based on an IP address
• Pages or screens viewed
• Features used
• Links selected
• Date and time of access
• Referring website
• Session information
• Cookie identifiers
• Authentication events
• Error reports
• Security and diagnostic logs

H. Communications

We may retain information submitted through:

• Emails
• Contact forms
• Support requests
• Partner inquiries
• Parent-teacher communications
• Program feedback
• Surveys
• Authorized platform messages
• Telephone communications when documented

Advertising Limitation

Griot Academy LLC does not intend to use children's personal information for behavioral or targeted advertising.

Request Handling

Griot Academy LLC may need to verify the identity and authority of the person making the request.

Withdrawing consent or requesting deletion may prevent Griot Academy LLC from continuing to provide a program or feature that requires the affected information.

Certain records may be retained when reasonably necessary for legal, accounting, security, insurance, dispute-resolution, or other permitted purposes.

Privacy requests may be sent to:

• Privacy Email: privacy@griotacademy.com
• Mailing Address: Griot Academy LLC, Washington, DC Metro Area, United States

Consent Records

Griot Academy LLC should maintain a record of:

• The consent notice presented
• The version of the Privacy Policy accepted
• The parent or guardian providing consent
• The consent method
• The date and time
• The child or program covered
• Withdrawal or revocation of consent

FERPA and Partner Data

Griot Academy LLC will use information received from an organization only for authorized educational, administrative, safety, operational, contractual, or legal purposes.

When Griot Academy LLC receives education records from a school subject to FERPA, its use and disclosure of those records should be governed by the applicable agreement and legal requirements. FERPA does not automatically apply to every Griot Academy LLC program merely because the program involves education.

A. Service Providers

We may use service providers that support:

• Website hosting
• Cloud infrastructure
• File storage
• Database hosting
• Authentication
• Payment processing
• Email and notifications
• Video classes
• Scheduling
• Analytics
• Customer support
• Learning-management functions
• Security monitoring
• Technical maintenance

Provider Access Limits

Service providers should receive only the information reasonably necessary to provide their authorized services.

Griot Academy LLC does not sell personal information for money and does not permit providers to use information for unrelated purposes.

B. Instructors and Authorized Personnel

Instructors, administrators, and authorized staff may access information necessary to:

• Manage assigned programs
• Teach enrolled students
• Record attendance
• Review student work
• Provide feedback
• Communicate with families
• Support safety
• Perform administrative duties

Role-Based Access

Access should be limited according to the person's role and responsibilities.

C. Schools and Partner Organizations

Griot Academy LLC may share information with an authorized school, district, camp, library, recreation program, or community organization when necessary to:

• Operate a jointly provided program
• Confirm eligibility
• Manage enrollment
• Coordinate scheduling
• Record attendance
• Provide authorized progress information
• Meet safety requirements
• Comply with a partnership agreement

D. Legal, Security, and Safety Reasons

Griot Academy LLC may disclose information when it reasonably believes disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with applicable law
• Respond to valid legal process
• Protect a child or another person
• Respond to an emergency
• Investigate fraud or unauthorized activity
• Protect accounts or platform security
• Enforce our agreements
• Protect Griot Academy LLC's rights, users, personnel, or property

E. Business Transactions

Information may be transferred in connection with a proposed or completed merger, financing, restructuring, acquisition, sale, or transfer of all or part of Griot Academy LLC's operations.

Any recipient should continue to protect the information consistent with applicable law and the commitments made in this Policy.

F. With Permission

We may share information for another purpose when an authorized adult, parent, guardian, or organization has given appropriate permission.

Cookie Controls

Griot Academy LLC limits nonessential analytics until a visitor accepts optional cookies on the public website, and child-facing areas should not enable analytics that are not necessary for service delivery or security.

Users may be able to block or delete cookies through browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may prevent account, enrollment, security, or payment features from functioning properly.

Communication Preferences

Adults may unsubscribe from nonessential promotional emails by using the available unsubscribe method.

Transactional, enrollment, safety, legal, and account communications may continue when necessary to provide the service.

Marketing Limitation

Participation in a program does not automatically grant Griot Academy LLC permission to use a child's identity for advertising.

Retention Schedule

Griot Academy LLC should establish and maintain a written retention schedule covering:

• Parent accounts
• Child profiles
• Unfinished registrations
• Waitlists
• Enrollments
• Attendance
• Assignments
• Progress records
• Messages
• Recordings
• Payments
• Consent records
• Support records
• Security logs
• Backups

Deletion and De-identification

Information that is no longer reasonably needed should be deleted or de-identified using appropriate measures.

Security Limits

No website, application, storage system, or transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Users should protect their account credentials and notify Griot Academy LLC promptly if they suspect unauthorized access.

Availability

Griot Academy LLC will review applicable requests and respond as required by law.

International availability should be limited until Griot Academy LLC determines the legal, consent, payment, and privacy requirements applicable to the relevant country.

Policy Updates

The revised Policy will display an updated date.

Griot Academy LLC may provide additional notice or request renewed consent when a change materially affects child information or when legally required.

When Reaching Out

When possible, please provide:

• The account, child profile, page, program, or feature involved
• The web address or program name, if applicable
• A description of the privacy question, concern, or request
• The parent, guardian, adult user, or organization making the request
• The preferred method of contact
• Any deadline, safety concern, or support need relevant to the request

Our Response Process

After receiving a privacy request or concern, Griot Academy LLC aims to:

• Acknowledge the request
• Review the request and determine what verification is required
• Determine whether immediate assistance or a temporary alternative is available
• Refer operational, legal, technical, or partner-specific issues to the appropriate team
• Communicate the available resolution or next step
• Consider whether the issue affects other users, workflows, or records