United States Swim School Association (USSSA) Privacy Policy

United States Swim School Association (USSSA) is serious about protecting your privacy and recognizes that you care how information about you is used and shared. We appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice (Privacy Policy) describes how we may collect personal information about you, how we may use it, what choices you have regarding it, and how we protect it. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is a part of the Terms of Use of this USSSA Web site and we encourage you to become familiar with the terms and conditions contained herein. By accessing and using this Site and membership in the USSSA, you agree that you have read and agree to this Privacy Policy, and that you accept and consent to the privacy practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Data Controller
Data controller in case of the websites www.usswimschools.org and https://my.usswimschools.org/ (collectively, “Website”) is United States Swim School Association, 4815 E Carefree Hwy, Ste 108-480, Cave Creek, AZ 85331, USA (“USSSA”).

What Information Do We Collect
USSSA may collect various types of information from or about you. USSSA may collect information in a number of ways in connection with the Website, including, without limitation, as follows:

  • When members access their USSSA Member Site.
  • When you create an account at our “Join” section.
  • When you ask us a question, we collect the e-mail address or other contact information you choose to provide.
  • When you voluntarily provide Personal Information to us for any other purpose, including seeking to become certified by USSSA.

How USSSA Uses Your Information

  • To generally provide the features and functionality of the Website to you.
  • To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us.
  • For account validation purposes.
  • For analytics and trending purposes.
  • To respond to questions and comments.
  • To improve, enhance, and tailor the Website for you, and to improve and enhance the overall Website experience for all the Website users.
  • To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collections.
  • To notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide through it.
  • To carry out specific actions you may request.
  • For any other purpose with your consent.

Disclosure of Information

USSSA may disclose to third parties Personal Information that it collects as follows:

  • Operation of the Website: We disclose your Personal Information to third parties where necessary to provide the Website and its features and functionality to you.
  • At Your Request: We disclose your Personal Information to a third party whenever you request us to do so.
  • Business Transfers: If a third party acquires all or substantially all of USSSA’s assets, your Personal Information, aggregated information, and any other information that we have collected in connection with the Website may be transferred to such third party as part of our business assets. Also, if any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding is brought by or against us, all such information may be considered one of our assets and may be sold or transferred to third parties.
  • Disclosure of Personal Information for legal purposes and protection of USSSA and others: We reserve the right to share your Personal Information with third parties if required to do so by law, or if we believe such action is necessary in order to: (1) conform to the requirements of the law or comply with legal process served upon us; (2) protect or defend our legal rights or property, the Website, or our users; or (3) investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or violations of the USSSA Terms of Use.
  • Service Providers: We use third-party service providers, including but not limited to our affiliates, to perform certain services on our behalf, such as processing, storing, maintaining and transmitting data, processing and fulfilling e-mail and other promotional campaigns, and providing certification testing and other certification assistance, marketing assistance, web analytics, and data analysis. We may provide your Personal Information to these third-party service providers when the information is necessary for them to perform their duties. These third-party service providers are contractually restricted from using Personal Information for any other purpose and required to comply with all applicable laws with respect to the Personal Information they receive.
  • Disclosures to Third Parties: USSSA also may makes certified instructor and member contact information available through the USSSA Find a School or Find an Instructor Directory to others using our Website and to those who register for our conferences. On occasion, USSSA may also provide limited data to third parties that offer products and services. These limited data may include names, job titles, companies, business addresses and e-mail addresses, business phone numbers, but do not include cell phone numbers. Users may request USSSA refrain from disclosing the data it collects to third parties on the membership application form as well as other forms. Alternatively, users may contact USSSA at privacy@usswimschools.orgor 480.837.5525 to express their preferences if they determine later that they do not wish to have the information shared.
  • Government Agencies: We will disclose your Personal Information to third parties if required to do so by law.
  • As Otherwise Permitted By Law. We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
  • With Your Consent: We may disclose your Personal Information with your consent.

Automatically Collected Non-Personal Information

When you use the Website, we also may collect certain standard information from your browser and personal computer that websites often collect, such as your IP address, your browser information (including browser type, capabilities, and language), your operating system, and the date and time you accessed the Website. We also capture the country from which the visit came and the paths taken as you move from one website or webpage to another website or webpage (i.e., your “click stream” activity). We may group some or all of this information into aggregate data in order to describe the use of the Website by our users to our existing or potential business partners, sponsors, advertisers, or other third parties, or in response to a government request. We may also group demographic information that we collect from the Website users into aggregate data for the same purposes. We reserve the right to use and share any such non-Personal Information collected at the Website with third parties for any lawful purpose.

USSSA does not typically associate such non-Personal Information with any individual. However, to the extent USSSA associates your Personal Information with non-Personal Information within our database, we will treat all the associated information as Personal Information under this Privacy Policy. Except as noted in this Privacy Policy, we do not share this associated information with third parties.

Additionally, for some e-mails sent in HTML format by USSSA to its members and non-members through its database and electronic newsletters, we will collect specific information regarding what the recipient does with that email. For those emails, USSSA will monitor whether a recipient subsequently clicks through to links provided in the message. Other information collected through this tracking feature includes: email address of a user, the date and time of the user’s “click,” a message number, name of the list from which the message was sent, tracking URL number and destination page. USSSA only uses this information to enhance its products and distribution of those products to its members. This information is not sold or distributed in any other manner.

Browsing, Cookies, Web Beacons, and Other Tracking Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including, without limitation: (1) details of your visits to our Website, logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use in the Website; (2) information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address (including geolocation), operating system, and browser type; and (3) your preferences, such as language selection.

We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time. The information we collect automatically may include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect directly from you. It helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to: (1) estimate our audience size and usage patterns; (2) store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests; (3) speed up your searches; and (4) recognize you when you return to the Website.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include cookies, web beacons, tags and scripts and are used by USSSA and our affiliates and analytics providers. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the Website, tracking users’ movements around the Website and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser or by utilizing the cookie banner that appears on the top of the Website homepage. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website. Once a cookie is placed in your browser, you can still delete it following the instructions for your specific browser. You can learn more about controlling cookies here: https://www.aboutcookies.org/.

We use cookies for setting user preferences and storing user activity. Our use of cookies is governed by our Privacy Policy.

Web Beacons

Pages of the Website and our e-mails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit USSSA, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).

Log Files

As is true of most websites, we may use gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. We do link this automatically collected data to other information we collect about you.

Local Storage Objects

We may use Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML5 content information and preferences. Third parties with whom we partner to provide certain features on our Website may also use LSOs such as HTML 5 and Flash to collect and store information. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing HTML5 LSOs. To manage Flash LSOs please click the link below:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the website.  You can read more about how Google uses your personal information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.

You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here:  https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.

Behavioral Advertising

We may use personal information to provide targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you.  For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at:

https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by:

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at:  http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Careers

If you submit your resume or other information to be considered for employment with USSSA and you choose to send your resume or other information to us through this Website or the Internet, we will maintain and use the information provided only for such purpose.

Information Posted to any Forums, Chats, or Blogs

If you choose to use a forum, a blog, participate in a chat room, or otherwise use a social networking feature available through the Website, you should be aware that any Personal Information or other information you post can be read, collected, or used by other users of the Website, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages or used in an otherwise unauthorized manner. We cannot be responsible for any Personal Information you choose to post through those means and we recommend careful consideration before you post such information.

E-mail to a Friend

You may be able to send particular information about the Website to your friends and family members through the Website by clicking on an “E-mail to Friend” or similar button on the Website. In some cases (unless you simply forward our e-mail on your own), you may provide the name and email address of your friend or family member to us. Such information will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

Third Party Websites, Content, and Resources

Please be aware that when you are using the Website, you could be directed via links or other means to third party websites, content, and resources that are not affiliated with the Website. These third party websites, content, and resources may send their own cookies to visitors, collect data, or solicit and use your Personal Information in ways different than set forth in this Privacy Policy. The privacy policies of these third party websites, content, and resources may be very different from this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of the providers of these other websites, content, and resources and cannot guarantee the security of any of your Personal Information collected, used, or shared there.

Selling or Renting of Personal Information

It is our policy not to sell or rent your Personal Information to any third party, except in the event of a bankruptcy or reorganization, or a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, as further provided in this Privacy Policy. On occasion, USSSA may provide limited data to third parties that offer products and services, as further provided in this Privacy Policy.

Consent to Processing

Our Website and services are intended for use within and directed toward the United States of America, By providing Personal Information to this Website, you understand and consent to the collection, maintenance, processing, and transfer of such information in and to the United States and other countries and territories, outside the European Union.

Personal Data and Minors

The Website is intended for use only by persons who are at least 15 years of age and who are fully able and competent to enter into and be legally bound by this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, we do not intend to collect Personal Information from anyone whom we know to be under 15 years of age. If you are under 15, do not use or provide any information on this Website or through any of its features, register on the Website, make any purchases through the Website, use any of the interactive or public comment features of this Website, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 15, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 15, please contact us at privacy@usswimschools.org or 480.837.5525.  If you are under 18 years of age, you should not use this Website without your parent or legal guardian’s prior agreement and consent, including your parent or legal guardian’s agreement to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. Access and Data Retention

You can access and modify certain Personal Information stored at the Website, if you have submitted Personal Information through our join page or the certification page, such as your name, e-mail address, mailing address, and telephone number, by emailing privacy@usswimschools.org or by logging into your account at the Website.

Where applicable, you may also delete your account. Deletion of your account will only result in deletion of your online account and will not affect Personal Information that may have been previously sent by us pursuant to your request, as in the case where you submit a resume or seeking certification. Upon deletion of your account, USSSA will delete your account from our primary Website servers. Notwithstanding the foregoing, USSSA will retain certain information (including Personal Information) provided to us for the following or other lawful purposes:

  • Auditing purposes
  • Troubleshoot problems
  • Assist with investigations
  • Enforce the USSSA Terms of Use
  • Comply with legal requirements

Therefore, you should not expect that all of your Personal Information will always be completely removed from our databases in response to your requests. In addition, please note that after your Personal Information is removed, there may be residual information that remains within one of our databases that may or may not contain your Personal Information, such as information that may be retained in back-up servers. USSSA will apply this Privacy Policy to information we maintain regarding former users of the Website.

Security

USSSA will take reasonable steps to protect the security and integrity of all Personal Information provided to this Website. However, due to the inherent nature of the Internet as an open global communications vehicle, we cannot guarantee that information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our system or otherwise in our care, will be absolutely safe from intrusion by others, such as hackers. We will have no liability for disclosure of your information, whether due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties during or after transmission or otherwise. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

You are responsible for maintaining the strict confidentiality of your account password, and you shall be responsible for any access to or use of the Website by you or any person or entity using your password, whether or not such access or use has been authorized by or on behalf of you, and whether or not such person or entity is your employee or agent. You agree to immediately notify USSSA of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security.

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers behind firewalls. Any payment transactions will be encrypted. In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your Personal Information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we will seek to notify you of that development. If a notification is appropriate, and, to the extent we have your e-mail address, we may notify you by e-mail. By using this Website you consent to our use of e-mail as a means of such notification.

State Privacy Rights

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of the Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to admin@usswimschools.org.

Nevada provides its residents with a limited right to opt-out of certain personal information sales. Residents who wish to exercise this sale opt-out rights may submit a request to this designated address: admin@usswimschools.org.  However, please know we do not currently sell data triggering that statute’s opt-out requirements.

Privacy Policy Updates

This Privacy Policy was updated on the “Effective Date” noted below. USSSA reserves the right to change, modify, or amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our privacy practices. You are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy periodically and to check the “Effective Date” at the bottom of this Privacy Policy for the most recent version to inform yourself about how your Personal Information is collected, used, and shared when you use the Website. To the fullest extent under applicable law, your use of the Website after the “Effective Date” means you are subject to the Privacy Policy then in effect.

Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments regarding our privacy practices, you may contact us at privacy@usswimschools.org.

Updated: December 22, 2022