iMentor Privacy Policy

Welcome to iMentor!

We want mentees, their parents, and our mentors to understand what kinds of personal information is gathered when students and mentors use our website (the “iMentor Site” or “Site”) or the services we offer in connection with our website (the “Services”), and what happens with that information once it is gathered.  At iMentor, we strive to help our visitors protect their privacy while using our Site and Services.

This Privacy Policy describes, among other things:

• The personal information that iMentor collects from users of the iMentor Site and how iMentor uses and discloses such information.
  
• The iMentor procedures for obtaining parental consent for such collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of students.

• Procedures for changing or deleting personal information from a user’s profile.
  
• The protections employed by iMentor in safeguarding such personal information.

This Privacy Policy is a legal notice regarding these and other privacy matters. It applies to all Services sponsored by or affiliated with iMentor, except as otherwise stated on the Site or in the Services.  By using (or allowing your student or child to use) the iMentor Site, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.  If you do not agree with the Privacy Policy, please do not use the iMentor Site.

Introduction
In connection with the registration of users ("Users") of the iMentor Site and subsequent use of the Site, iMentor.org ("iMentor") collects information from and about Registered Users and uses and discloses such information in a variety of ways, as described below. In some cases (such as the use of cookies and IP addresses described below), we might also collect limited information from users that have not applied for registration with iMentor.  Registered Users of the iMentor Site fall into four categories: Registered Schools, Registered Mentees, Registered Parents/Guardian, and Registered Mentors.

Registered Schools:
A Registered School is a high School or after school facility that has registered for the iMentor Site through a school administrator, teacher, or other authorized representative (the "School Representative"). Upon registration, the School Representative or instructor must provide information to complete the Registered School's Profile, which contains, among other things, the first and last name of the School Representative, the street address and telephone number of the Registered School, and the e-mail address of the Registered School or the School Representative... After a Profile has been created, Registered Schools may voluntarily create an e-mail account for the Registered School and/or for particular teachers’ classrooms.

Registered Mentees:
A Registered Mentee is a young person who attends a Registered School and who uses the iMentor Site under the supervision of and as authorized by the Registered School. Registered Schools are responsible for controlling the information that Registered Mentees provide to iMentor in connection with registration, which includes (but is not limited to) the student’s name, address, phone number, gender, age, birthdate, and certain optional information relating to a student’s background, interests, and level of computer skill.  In addition, iMentor provides registered mentees with a unique identifier, password and email address. Under the supervision of the Registered School (or if available, from other independent locations such as the mentee’s home) Registered mentees may use the iMentor Site to use an email account for communication with a Registered Mentor by allowing mentees to register on the iMentor Site, Registered Parents and Registered Schools authorize iMentor to collect such personal information from Registered Students and to use and disclose such information as described in this Privacy Policy.  Prior to allowing a mentee to become a Registered mentee, iMentor (or the Registered School on iMentor’s behalf) obtains written consent from parents for the collection, use, or disclosure of information collected from students who register with iMentor.

Registered Parents and Registered Mentees should be aware that Registered Schools and iMentor staff have access to the content of any email messages that are sent to or from a Registered Mentee’s iMentor email account (“Mentees Emails”).  i Mentor will not disclose Mentee’s Emails, including email content to any third party other than the mentee’s Registered School unless iMentor believes such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court order, or other official process; or to protect iMentor’s systems, Site or Services; or to protect the health, safety, or welfare of any person.  Registered Parents and/or Registered mentees may contact school administrators regarding privacy procedures applicable to access, review, maintenance or disclosure of Mentees Emails by the Registered School.

Registered Parents/Guardian:
A Registered Parent or guardian is an individual who is the parent of a mentee who attends a Registered School and who provides personal information on a written form in connection with giving permission for that parent’s child to use the iMentor Site. In connection with registration, Registered Parents provide iMentor the parent’s name, address, and phone number.  This information will be disclosed to the Registered mentee’s mentor for purposes of at least an initial communication between the Registered Mentor and the Registered Parent, unless the Registered Parent indicates that he or she does not desire such contact.  Registered Parents do not have any authority to use the iMentor Site on behalf of their child or otherwise, although Registered Parents are encouraged to participate with their child in the activities offered by iMentor.  Registered Parents and Registered Mentees should be aware that Registered Schools and iMentor staff have access to the content of any email messages that are sent to or from a Registered Student’s iMentor email account (“Mentee Emails").  iMentor will not disclose Mentee Emails to any third party other than the mentee’s Registered School unless iMentor believes such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court order, or other official process; or to protect iMentor’s systems, Site or Services; or to protect the health, safety, or welfare of any person.  Registered Parents and/or Registered Mentees may contact school administrators regarding privacy procedures applicable to access, review, maintenance or disclosure of Student Emails by the Registered School.

Registered Mentors:
A Registered Mentor is an individual who agrees to provide mentoring via email and face to face meetings to a Registered Mentee through the iMentor Site, and who has been approved by iMentor after the prospective mentor’s completion of screening which includes an application form and a background check.  Prospective mentors provide certain personal information on the Mentor Application, including (but not limited to) name, address, phone number, employment information, social security number, previous addresses, previous jobs, criminal background history, and other personal background information to enable iMentor to conduct a screening and background check (collectively, the “Mentor Background Information”). Mentor screening may include fingerprinting by the New York City Department of Education.  Prospective mentors should be aware that the background check includes (but is not limited to) a criminal background check, employment verification, contact with references supplied by the prospective mentor, and a personal interview with the prospective mentor.  In the course of performing the background check, iMentor may have discussions with the supplied references and/or other relevant individuals regarding, without limitation, the prospective mentor’s character, background, employment history, criminal history, and general fitness for the mentoring relationship.  iMentor uses the Mentor Background Information to determine whether a prospective mentor is eligible for participation in the iMentor program as a Registered Mentor.  Apart from necessary disclosures related to the background check, iMentor will not disclose Mentor Background Information to any third party unless iMentor believes such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court order, or other official process; or to protect iMentor’s systems, Site or Services; or to protect the health, safety, or welfare of any person. 

Upon selection, a Registered Mentor also creates a user name and password upon registration for his or her Profile (which will also include employment and other relevant background material), which will be contained in the iMentor database.  A Registered Mentor may voluntarily provide additional information to be displayed on iMentor web pages or databases for the purposes of providing further information to Registered Students.  Please understand that anything posted in Public Areas is open for others to read and view and is not considered confidential information.  Registered Mentors should be aware that the iMentor staff has direct access to any email messages sent to or from a Registered Mentor’s iMentor email account (“Mentor Emails”), and that Registered Schools and iMentor staff have access to the content of any email messages that are sent to or from a Registered Mentee’s iMentor email account, including Mentor Emails sent to a Registered Student (“Mentee Emails").  In addition, once a Registered Mentor is paired with a Registered Mentee, iMentor and/or the Registered School may provide the Registered Mentor’s contact information to the Registered student’s Parent.  iMentor will not disclose Mentee Emails or Mentor Emails to any third party (other than to the appropriate Registered School) unless iMentor believes such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court order, or other official process; or to protect iMentor’s systems, Site or Services; or to protect the health, safety, or welfare of any person.  iMentor may use email content for training or promotional purposes with written consent of mentors and mentees who write or receive these emails. Registered Mentors may contact the Registered School regarding privacy procedures applicable to access, review, maintenance or disclosure by the Registered School of Mentee Emails or Mentor Emails sent to a Registered Mentee.

Cookies:

iMentor also places small files known as "cookies" on the hard drives of its Users.  The use of cookies is an industry standard; you will find them at most major websites.  iMentor’s cookies reflect identifying information about each User and retain certain information about the User’s use of the Site. These cookies are accessible to iMentor as Users browse www.imentor.org , and may be accessible to other websites as Users browse those sites.  iMentor may use cookies to authenticate registered Users, to assist in the navigation of the Site, to personalize the Site for Users, to control access to Site content, and for any other use that does not otherwise exceed the scope of this Privacy Policy.  iMentor uses a form of encryption with the intent of masking the meaning of such cookies to websites not affiliated with iMentor, but the privacy of such information cannot be guaranteed.  iMentor does not enter agreements authorizing unaffiliated entities to access the information in iMentor’s cookies.

IP Addresses:

An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a computer whenever the computer accesses the Internet.  Web servers - the computers that “serve up” Web pages - automatically identify a User’s computer by its IP address.  iMentor collects IP addresses for the purposes of system administration, statistical purposes and to audit the use of the Site.  When Users access the Site, iMentor’s servers log the Users’ IP address, a standard function of all Web servers.  iMentor does not normally link IP addresses to any personally identifiable information, which means that a User’s session will be logged but the User will not be identified to iMentor by means of the IP address (although a User is personally identifiable through his or her user name and password).  iMentor can and will use IP addresses to identify a User when iMentor believes it is necessary to protect the Site, the iMentor service, Users, or others.  IP addresses may be automatically included in outgoing mail message headers.

Use and Disclosure of Information; Reasons for Collection of Information:
iMentor uses information collected from Users to personalize services on the Site; to facilitate participation in email and related iMentor services; to allow Registered Schools, Mentees, and Mentors to interact with each other using email, and other communications tools; to direct communication to Users from iMentor; and otherwise to facilitate the secure, efficient and practical operation of the Site.

Any information that a User transmits to another User using the iMentor Site is governed by the disclosure procedures set forth in the relevant sections above pertaining to each category of User.  If iMentor permits any additional posting to the iMentor Site or portions of the iMentor Site, these postings may be viewed by persons who are granted access to such areas of the Site and, in some cases (such as in the Public Areas), may be accessible by the general public.  Information posted on other areas of the Site is accessible to the public.

iMentor may disclose personal information collected from a User to iMentor's affiliates and partners (including, without limitation, Registered Schools) for their internal use. iMentor does not otherwise disclose information about a User to unaffiliated third parties (apart from the disclosures described above) unless (1) the User expressly authorizes iMentor to disclose such, (2) iMentor aggregates such information with information of other Users from which the data field(s) that iMentor believes constitute or create personally-identifiable information have been removed, or (4) iMentor in its sole discretion elects to disclose such information in connection with claims of copyright infringement or any unlawful acts associated with the User’s use of the Site, or if iMentor believes such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court order, or other official process; or to protect iMentor’s systems, Site or Services; or to protect the health, safety, or welfare of any person.  Registered Users will also receive email notices from iMentor about new and updated features of the Site and about upcoming iMentor events or programs.  Information about a registered user may be modified or deleted by anyone possessing the User’s user name and password.  It is your responsibility to keep your password confidential and to avoid disclosing it to anyone.

By registering for and/or using the Site, each User consents to all of the foregoing uses of User information, and consents to all other uses of such information reasonably necessary to facilitate such uses, including but not limited to transmission of such information worldwide.

Protection of Information:
Information collected from Registered Users is stored in databases and servers kept in secure locations under the custody and control of iMentor or its third party hosting services.  iMentor also uses technologies and processes such as encryption, access control procedures and network firewalls to protect such servers. User accounts and Profiles are password-protected using industry-standard, commercially reasonable methods.  iMentor makes commercially reasonable efforts to protect such information and to limit its use and disclosure as described herein, but cannot guarantee that such efforts will be successful.

Changing or Deleting Information:
Registered Users may make changes to their Profiles (or, in the case of Registered Parents, changes to their child’s Profile) at any time by accessing their Profiles with their password.  Registered Schools may delete their Profiles or, with written authorization from a Registered Parent or Mentee, the Profiles of such affiliated Registered Parents or Mentees, by sending a request to info@iMentor.org. iMentor may require a copy of the written authorization from a Registered Parent and/or Mentee before making such changes or deletions.

Other Websites:
The iMentor Site may link to a wide variety of other unaffiliated sites on the World Wide Web.  iMentor is not responsible for the privacy policies of those other sites or how they treat information about their users.

Revision of Privacy Policy:
iMentor reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by providing notice on the iMentor Site if there are any material changes to the Privacy Policy.  Each User agrees to review the Site regularly for changes in the Privacy Policy, and to review the revised Policy if such notice is provided.  By continuing to use the Site and/or the Services after notification of changes to the Privacy Policy, you consent to the Revised Policy and all of the terms within it.  If a User has not consent to any provision in the Revised Policy, the User can send an email to info@imentor.org to to delete his or her User Profile and/or terminate his or her registration.

The information that we gather according to this Privacy Policy will help us to improve the process of pairing mentees with mentors, to help young mentees explore their career interests, learn about professional opportunities they may not have previously considered, and discover what it takes to achieve success in life both personally and professionally.  Thank you for your interest in iMentor and for taking the time to read this Privacy Policy.