The Road Scholar Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 2021

Protection of your personal data and your privacy is important to us at Road Scholar. We do our utmost to properly look after your personal data and protect your privacy. This privacy policy is designed to inform you of what information we may collect, why we collect such information, and how we use, collect, disclose, transfer and store your data, whether from our website, social media accounts or any personal data that you provide to us by other means. By using this website, you are agreeing to this privacy policy, and you hereby consent that we will collect, use, and share your information in the following ways.

 

Remember that your use of Road Scholar’s services is at all times subject to the Terms of Use, which incorporates this privacy policy. Any terms we use in this Policy without defining them have the definitions given to them in the Terms of Use (www.roadscholar.org/terms-of-use).

 

What does this privacy policy cover

This privacy policy covers our treatment of personally identifiable information ("Personal Information") that we gather when you are accessing or using our services, but not to the practices of companies we don’t own or control, or people that we don’t manage. We gather various types of Personal Information from our users, as explained in more detail below, and we use this Personal Information internally in connection with our services, including to personalize, provide, and improve our services, to allow you to set up a user account and profile, to contact you and allow other users to contact you, to fulfill your requests for certain products and services, and to analyze how you use the services. In certain cases, we may also share some Personal Information with third parties, but only as described below.

 

We do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13 for marketing purposes. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register to receive marketing communications or send any Personal Information about yourself to us. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided us Personal Information without the express consent of his/her parent or guardian, please contact us at contact@roadscholar.org.

 

Why we collect data

We collect data to be able to send you electronic marketing communications, catalogs, brochures and, once you enroll in a program, program information; to be able to respond to your needs and requests; and to enable us to understand and improve how our website is being used and to promote our programs and services.

 

What information we collect

We may collect, retain and use Personal Information that you knowingly provide us by filling in forms on our website; subscribing to receive marketing communications such as email newsletters, catalogs or brochures; opening an account on our website; corresponding with us by phone, email, mail or live-chat; or posting on message boards or social media. Such information may include, but is not limited to, first and last name, address, email address, telephone/mobile number, country of residence, and username and password. The information you choose to submit may also include text, photographs, video, graphics and any other materials you might submit as part of, or in conjunction with, your use of our website or participation in Road Scholar programs. The Road Scholar website may include chatrooms, blogs, message boards, program reviews, or other message areas that allow users to post information to the website.

 

When enrolling in a program additional information is required to enable us to complete your enrollment, make travel arrangements, and deliver program services. Such information may include payment information, date of birth, gender, health and medical information, and passport numbers. We only collect this information when you enroll in a program and choose to provide it to us. When you submit your Personal Information to us, you are giving us your consent to the collection, use and disclosure as stated in this privacy policy. If you are enrolling a travel companion or another person, it is your responsibility to obtain his or her consent before providing us with their Personal Information.

 

We may also use third parties to improve our ability to identify visitors to our website.  As part of this service, we may make available identifiers to these third parties including our visitors’ IP addresses, cookies, hashed versions of email addresses and/or certain HTTP header fields captured from your visit.  We, and third parties, may use this information to obtain more information about our visitors and reach out to them through other channels, such as email, direct mail, digital and/or other marketing channels. You have the right to opt-out of this activity.  To opt-out, please contact us.

 

Road Scholar may also collect and track digital information sent by your web browser, such as IP address, usage habits, unique device identifiers and other information. We may use and disclose such information for any number of reasons, such as working with business partners and improving our website and services.

 

How we use your information

Our primary goal in collecting your information is to provide you with a personalized, relevant, and positive experience with Road Scholar. Road Scholar does not sell or rent your Personal Information or purchase history to any other person or company.

 

We save the email addresses of those who send them to us but will only contact individuals directly with their permission, which can be changed in the My Account section of our website, or by calling or emailing us. We use the information that you voluntarily share with us to send you electronic marketing communications, catalogs, brochures or offers we believe may be of interest to you; customize our communications to you; and personalize your use of our website. We may also use the information you share with us to process your enrollment and send you enrollment confirmations; manage your account, respond to inquiries or requests by you; make travel arrangements for you; deliver program services; and collect feedback on programs you have attended.

 

How we protect your information

Road Scholar is committed to protecting the information we collect from you. We have put in place technical, administrative and physical security measures that are designed to safeguard your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, disclosure and alteration. When you are conducting an account transaction or registering to receive electronic marketing communications, catalogs or brochures from us, we always use industry-standard encryption practices to protect your Personal Information. We limit the personally-identifying information we provide to business partners with whom we contract to only what they need to carry out their responsibilities.

 

Please be aware though that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. Although we will do our best to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security of the information you provide to us, and any information provided to us is at your own risk. In addition, you must prevent unauthorized access to your account and Personal Information by selecting and protecting your password appropriately and limiting access to your computer or device and browser by signing off after you have finished accessing your account.

 

Access and disclosure of your information

Road Scholar does not share your Personal Information with any other organizations for their marketing or advertising purposes. Whenever your Personal Information is transferred, stored or processed by us, we take reasonable steps to safeguard the privacy of your Personal Information.

 

We may share your Personal Information with third-party service providers and as necessary so that they can perform requested services. Our third-party service providers are only authorized to use your Personal Information to perform services on our behalf, and they are required to protect the confidentiality of your Personal Information.

 

We restrict access to non-public Personal Information about you to employees and third-party service providers who we reasonably believe need access to that information in order to provide necessary products or services. Those parties process information, make travel arrangements, fulfill and deliver programs, process credit card payments, and provide support services on our behalf. For example, we would share participant names and other information relevant and necessary to their enrollment with a program provider. These third parties are prohibited from using your Personal Information for any purposes other than providing us with the requested products or services.

 

Please note that once we share your Personal Information with another company, the information received by the other company becomes subject to the other company's privacy practices.

 

Certain user information, including your name, location, and any video or image content that you have uploaded to the services, may be displayed to other users to facilitate user interaction within the services. Please remember that any content you upload to your public user profile, along with any Personal Information or content that you voluntarily disclose online in a manner other users can view (on discussion boards, in messages and chat areas, etc.) becomes publicly available, and can be collected and used by anyone. Your user name may also be displayed to other users if and when you send messages or comments or upload images or videos through the services and other users can contact you through messages and comments.

 

We reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any Personal Information that we believe is necessary to comply with law or court order; enforce or apply our Terms of Use (https://www.roadscholar.org/terms-of-use/) and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of Road Scholar, our employees, our users, or others.

 

How we collect technical information and use cookies

We may collect information about your computer, such as your IP address, browser and device type. This enables aggregated statistical information to be gathered and analytical reports produced, and allows us or third parties to reach out to visitors through other channels, such as email, direct mail, digital and/or other marketing channels.

 

We may also use technologies, such as cookies, which are small text files sent by our website to your computer or other access device, which are accessed when you visit our site in future. Cookies allow us to recognize you every time you visit our site and remember specific information about you and your preferences. We may use cookies to collect information about the way you use our site, to assist us in analyzing your interests and needs, provide you with personalized online display advertising, and to improve the content and function of our site. Cookies help with the program registration process,storing information from screen to screen to help make your visit more efficient. Knowing how you use the site enables us to better tailor our content and services to most effectively suit your needs. We do not sell cookie-based information, and cookies cannot be used to install programs or deliver viruses to your computer. You may be able to change the preferences on your browser or device to prevent or limit your device’s acceptance of cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our features.

 

Through cookies we place on your browser or device, we may collect information about your online activity after you leave our services. Just like any other usage information we collect, this information allows us to improve the services and customize your online experience, and otherwise as described in this privacy policy. Your browser may offer you a “Do Not Track” option, which allows you to signal to operators of websites and web applications and services (including behavioral advertising services) that you do not wish such operators to track certain of your online activities over time and across different websites. Our services do not support Do Not Track requests at this time, which means that we collect information about your online activity both while you are using the services and after you leave our services.

 

To opt out of our cookies used for online advertising, please contact us at: contact@roadscholar.org

 

Links to third party websites

For your convenience, our website contains links to other sites. Road Scholar is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. We strongly suggest you read the privacy policy of any website carefully before providing any Personal Information. Also, if you click on a link to a third party website or service, a third party may also transmit cookies to you. This privacy policy does not cover the use of cookies by any third parties, and we aren’t responsible for their privacy policies and practices. Please be aware that cookies placed by third parties may continue to track your activities online even after you have left our services, and those third parties may not honor “Do Not Track” requests you have set using your browser or device.

 

How to access, change or correct your information

If you have signed up to receive electronic marketing communications, or have attended a Road Scholar program, you have an online account with us. You can access, update or correct your Personal Information, your contact information, and marketing preferences in the My Account section of our website. To protect your privacy and security, we require you use your email address and password to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

 

If you do not have an online account, have forgotten your password, or wish to remove or make other changes concerning your Personal Information, you may contact us by phone, mail or email.

 

Phone

1-800-454-5768 (Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET)

1-978-323-4141 (from outside the U.S. and Canada)

 

Email

contact@roadscholar.org

 

Mail

Road Scholar
PO Box 56033
Boston, MA 02205-6033

 

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page. If you use the services after any changes to the privacy policy have been posted, that means you agree to all of the changes. Use of information we collect now is subject to the privacy policy in effect at the time such information is collected.