Privacy Policy
SOLARO is an online educational program for students grades 3-12 to receive educational content and assessments. SOLARO is provided by Castle Rock Research Corporation (referred to as “Castle Rock,” “we,” “us” or other similar terms in this Privacy Policy). To better protect your privacy, we provide this Privacy Policy to explain our information practices relating to SOLARO. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings assigned to them in our Terms of Service, available at http://www.solaro.com/terms-of-service. This Privacy Policy is applicable only to personal information collected through SOLARO as we maintain and follow separate privacy policies in relation to our other businesses.
We take privacy very seriously and are particularly committed to protecting the privacy of minors. For that reason, we will refuse to open an account for a person under the age of majority in your state or province of residence without parental or guardian consent and we reserve the right to verify the existence of that consent. If you are under the age of majority in your state of residence, please do not attempt to register for membership on or send any information about yourself to us without consent. If we learn that information from a person under the age of majority in your state of residence has been submitted to us without proper consent, we will delete that account and information as soon as possible.
Castle Rock cooperates with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of Castle Rock or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, any illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity.
As used in this Privacy Policy, the terms “using” and “processing” information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and using or handling information in any way, including, but not limited to collecting, storing, evaluating, modifying, deleting, using, combining, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our affiliates within Canada, the United States or internationally.
Acceptance and Notification of Changes
WHEN OUR WEBSITE IS ACCESSED OR A STUDENT (WITH PARENTAL CONSENT, IF REQUIRED) OPENS A SOLARO ACCOUNT, THE STUDENT OR THE PARENT/GUARDIAN (IF APPLICABLE), FOR HIM/HERSELF (AND ON BEHALF OF THE STUDENT, IF APPLICABLE) AGREES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, AS AMENDED. IF A VISITOR, MEMBER OR PROSPECTIVE MEMBER (OR THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF ANY OF THOSE PERSONS, IF APPLICABLE) DOES NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, OR TO ANY CHANGES WE MAY SUBSEQUENTLY MAKE TO IT, THE VISITOR, MEMBER OR PROSPECTIVE MEMBER MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP ACCESSING OUR WEBSITE AND THE SOLARO SERVICE. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post any changes on our website and provide notification so that members and their parents will always be aware of what changes have been made to how personal information is collected, used and disclosed, and continued use of SOLARO shall constitute consent to the changes to the Privacy Policy.
What is “personal information”?
“Personal information” (or similar terms, such as “personally identifiable information”) is information about an identifiable individual. It includes such things as name, age, gender, educational background and performance, occupation, contact information, financial information and other information which can be linked to an individual’s identity. It does not apply to the information of non-individuals, such as corporations and other business entities and, generally speaking, to business contact information of individuals.
Collection, Use and Disclosure by Castle Rock
Contact, Billing and Other Information Provided by Members, Parents/Guardians and Visitors
When a student or parent/guardian registers a student as a member with and the member uses SOLARO, the member can create his or her own avatar and profile. Members may also submit/post information, such as personal information, comments, messages, etc. to their profiles. All personal information collected for SOLARO is stored on servers located within Canada. When signing up for SOLARO, Castle Rock collects information submitted by and regarding the student, including but not limited to: name, email address, physical address, username (that the user or the SOLARO system creates), location, grade and school attended. In addition, as parental consent is required to access and use SOLARO for students under the age of majority, we collect information regarding the parent(s) or guardian(s), including name, email address, physical address and credit card billing information.
A member may change or remove any of his or her personal information visible to other members on their Profile at any time by logging into their account and accessing the “Profile” in the “My account” areas of the website, except for the username, which cannot be altered.
We may use members’ and their parents’/guardians’ external email addresses and other contact information to confirm and administer membership accounts and information, respond to members’ and their parents’/guardians’ inquiries or send updates or other news regarding SOLARO, but especially to provide parents/guardians with updates regarding their children’s progress. We also use personal information of members included in a member’s Profile and that of members’ parents/guardians to deliver updates and information regarding new features of the SOLARO service. We will disclose information about payment of members and parents/guardians to our third-party credit card process provider for billing and payment purposes and where there is suspicious credit card use or a dispute concerning a charge. We may also contact financial institutions directly to verify credit card information provided. In doing so, we may share the information we received about the credit card and the member and cardholder to whom the payment relates. We sometimes receive calls or emails from and/or attempt to contact parents or guardians and credit card holders where a credit card belonging to a person other than the parent or guardian of the member (i.e. the student) has been submitted. We will first attempt to verify the identity of the person inquiring or being contacted as being the credit card holder and, if this is verified, we may release the name of the member (student) for whose membership the credit card information was submitted. It is important that each student has the full consent of the credit card holder before submitting the card number to us to pay for services. We reserve the right to cancel or suspend or restrict an account at any time and prohibit future use of the site if a student attempts to use a credit card without prior authorization. From time to time, we may hold a promotion, sweepstake or contest on or otherwise. Members and other participants may be asked to provide personal information such as name, email address or home address or to answer questions in order to participate. If a minor wishes to participate, he or she must have parental or guardian consent. In such case, Castle Rock may collect and use personal information to administer the promotion, sweepstake or contest. The information that is being collected and how it may be used or disclosed (and to whom) will be made evident at the time of collection through the relevant promotion, sweepstake or contest rules.
Educational Information Collected Through Use of SOLARO
In addition to contact, billing and profile information and personal information that a member posts, which is described above, Castle Rock also collects and creates information regarding members’ educational background and activities and performance through members’ use of the online tutoring and testing services provided through SOLARO. This educational information is utilized by Castle Rock only for the purposes of providing SOLARO to the member in question and only disclosed to the member, parents and/or guardians of the member, or the teacher authorized by the member or the parent/guardian of the member, as applicable. This educational information is also used in a non-personally identifying way to conduct research and analysis regarding the results and performance of SOLARO in order to improve and customize SOLARO and develop new products and services. This information may also be utilized and disclosed in aggregated, non-personally identifying form for statistical and research purposes.
Information Collected Automatically through the SOLARO Website
We automatically collect certain information from members and visitors when they access our website. This information can include, among other things:
the Internet domain and internet protocol (IP) address from which a member or visitor accesses our website,
the type of browser used (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.),
the third-party website, if any, from which the visit originated,
the operating system that the member or visitor is using (e.g., Windows, Mac OS, etc.),
the domain name of the member or visitor’s Internet service provider,
the search terms that a member or visitor uses on our website,
the specific web pages and/or content visited, and
the date, time and duration of visits.
An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the internet. Web servers (computers that “serve up” web pages) automatically identify your computer by its IP address. When members or visitors request pages from our website, our servers typically log their IP addresses. Your IP address may personally identify you depending, in part, on the naming standards followed by your internet service provider. However, we do not use or disclose this information other than for system administration, statistical purposes, to report non-personal aggregate information to others, and to track the use of our website. Still, you may wish to ask your internet service provider about their policies and practices regarding naming standards.
Cookies
A “cookie” is a small piece of information/text sent by a web server to be stored on a user’s web browser so it can later be read back from that browser on subsequent visits to a website. The website uses cookies to store users’ preferences and to record session information, and allows communications, advertising, and Web page content to be customized according to browser type and member Profile information. A member or visitor may be able to configure his or her browser to accept or reject all or some cookies, or to provide notification when a cookie is set, however, cookies must be enabled in order to access most functions on the SOLARO website. Since each browser is different, members and visitors should check the "Help" menu of their browsers to learn how to change cookie preferences.
Monitoring
While we do not generally, or undertake any obligation to do so, we may monitor content, messages and other exchanges if we suspect members of being under the age of majority and utilizing SOLARO without parental or guardian’s consent or using our services in violation of our Terms of Service, which include this Privacy Policy. Postings that appear on the public areas of the website may be edited, deleted or removed in accordance with our Terms of Service.
Links
SOLARO may contain links to other sites. Castle Rock is not responsible for the privacy policies and/or practices on other sites. Members and visitors should read the privacy policy stated on any site being accessed in order to help protect their privacy. The SOLARO Privacy Policy only governs the privacy policies and practices of Castle Rock as it relates to SOLARO. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our website and business and welcome any feedback about these other sites.
Membership De-Activation
Members who wish to deactivate their SOLARO account may do so by contacting Castle Rock in accordance with the Terms of Service. Members’ accounts may also be de-activated by Castle Rock in accordance with the Terms of Service, including where payments for membership, as applicable, are not made. Personal information relating to members who have deactivated accounts may persist in backup copies of the SOLARO service’s databases for a reasonable period of time but will not be available to other members of SOLARO and will be subsequently deleted except for information incorporated into aggregated (non-personally identifying) information.
Security
SOLARO uses physical and electronic precautions to protect member information stored within our databases, and we restrict access to personal information to those employees and contractors who need to access it to perform their job functions, such as our customer service personnel and technical staff.
SOLARO uses email addresses, usernames and passwords to assist in the security of member accounts. It is a member’s and his or her parent’s or guardian’s responsibility to protect their password as disclosure of it allows anyone to access a member’s account, including all of that member’s sent and received messages, profile information and educational information. Members and parents/guardians should also take precautions to protect their email account as anyone can request that a member password be sent to the member’s and/or the parent’s/guardian’s email addresses. As such, if someone else uses or controls a member’s or parent’s/guardian’s email account, that person may be able to gain access to a member’s SOLARO account. To protect a SOLARO account, members and parents/guardians should ensure that they do not use the “Remember Me” feature or set their browser to remember details on any public or shared computers. While we take measures to attempt to protect members and visitor’s information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of personal information due to actions of other members with whom members share their pages and information and factors such as unauthorized third-party entry or use, or hardware or software failure which may compromise security. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you disclose or transmit to us online and you do so at your own risk.
If you are a user of the SOLARO service resident in the United States, we will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored “personal data” (as defined in applicable state statutes on security breach notification) to you via email or conspicuous posting on this website in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with (i) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (ii) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the website’s data system.
Additional Disclosure of Personal Information
Except as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, Castle Rock will not disclose your personal information to any third party unless we believe that disclosure is necessary for one of the following reasons: (1) as required by law, including to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other legal process received by Castle Rock; (2) to enforce the Terms of Service or to protect our rights; or (3) to protect the safety of the public and members of and visitors to SOLARO. Castle Rock may also sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your personal information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy and reserves the right to do so.
How to Contact Us
To protect your privacy and security, we take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access to information held by us or making corrections. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with Castle Rock, please contact support@solaro.com or by mail at 11710 87 Avenue NW #404, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G0Y3.
Revised: April 2024