Last Updated August 7, 2024
I. Introduction
This Privacy Policy sets forth the National Education Association’s and its NEA-related organizations’ (“NEA”) practices regarding: (1) what personal information we collect about you — both online via the NEA website and NEA Intranet and offline via traditional, hard copy forms (collectively, the “Services”); (2) how we use that information; (3) under what circumstances we disclose it; (4) what choices are available to you regarding such information collection; and, (5) what security we use to protect such information. This Privacy Policy also provides some additional information for users of the NEA website and NEA Intranet.
By accessing, using, or otherwise interacting with any part of the Services, you consent to this Privacy Policy and any additional applicable policies and terms you may agree to which govern your use of the Services. Please be sure to read this Privacy Policy before using or submitting information or content to the Services. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy and the applicable Terms of Use, do not access or use the Services or provide personal information to us.
II. Definitions
As used in this Privacy Policy, the following terms have the meanings indicated below:
The term "we" or "us" means NEA.
- The term "you" means a current or former NEA member or other person who has provided personal information to us in connection with obtaining an NEA product or service (e.g. a person who has purchased a book from the NEA Professional Library or a person who subscribes to an NEA-produced electronic newsletter).
- The term "personal information" means any piece of information that on its own can specifically identify a current or former NEA member or other person who has provided personal information to us in connection with obtaining an NEA product or service. This would include, but is not limited to, full name, postal address, e-mail address, social security number, or financial information.
- The term "NEA website" means NEA's external website located at: nea.org, public-groups.nea.org, private-groups.nea.org, blogs.nea.org and any future websites that we may develop.
- The term "NEA Intranet" means NEA's internal, private, and secured website for local leaders and staff.
- The term "NEA-related organizations" means NEA's Member Benefits Corporation, NEA Member Insurance Trust, NEA Foundation, NEA Health Information Network, and any other entity created by NEA.
- The term "third party" means a legal entity that is separate and independent from NEA, its state and local affiliates, or any NEA-related organization.
- The term "cookie" means a small file, including similar tracking technologies, that is placed on your computer that allows a website to store, and sometimes track, information about how you use that website.
- The term "discussion forum" means an asynchronous website component that enables users to exchange ideas by posting questions and answers on relevant subjects. Discussion forums are also commonly referred to as "discussion groups," "discussion boards," "message boards," "bulletin boards," and "online forums."
III. Personal Information Collected
Some of the data we or third parties collect through the Services may be considered “personal information” under applicable laws. We also treat additional information (such as your IP address and cookie identifiers) as personal information where required by applicable law. If we combine non-personal information with personal information, then we will treat the combined information as personal information under this Privacy Policy. We may collect personal information about you from the following sources:
- Personal Information that you voluntarily provide to us on your membership application and other NEA forms — whether online via the Services (such as your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, social security number, etc.).
- Other Personal Information that you voluntarily provide to us via the Services (such as an e-mail address if you subscribe to an NEA-produced electronic newsletter or other personal information contained in an e-mail that you send to us via the feedback feature of the NEA website).
- Personal Information that we receive from our state and local affiliates or other NEA-related organizations (such as your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, social security number, etc.).
- Personal Information that we receive from third parties (such as insurance claim information in connection with the NEA Educators Employment Liability Program and publicly available voter registration information).
- Personal Information that we and our third-party business partners collect automatically (such as through cookies and other third party tracking technologies, including information like your IP address, device identifier, browser type, mobile network, and the areas of the Services you interact with (“Usage Information”)).
IV. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
We use the following tracking technologies to automatically collect information when you interact with us online:
- Cookies: The Services may use the software technology known as “cookies” and similar tracking technologies to support our Services and track and improve activity on the Services. Cookies are small text files stored locally on your device to store your preferences. These technologies may be used for many purposes by us and our third-party business partners, such as to automatically collect Usage Information, help us to customize and personalize our website for you and to make its navigation easier. If you do not want to accept cookies, you can block them by adjusting the settings on your browser. You can find more information about cookies and how they work at www.allaboutcookies.org.
- Web Tags (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”): Web tags are small pieces of code placed on a web page, application, or email that collect information about how you use our Services. They help us determine, for instance, whether a page has been viewed.
- Embedded Scripts are programming code designed to collect information about your interactions with the Services, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your device from our server or a third-party service provider, is active only while you are connected to the Services and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.
V. Third-Party Analytics Providers
We may work with third-party business partners (such as analytics service providers) to provide us with information regarding use of and traffic on the Services (such as the pages viewed and the actions users take when visiting the Services). These third parties may set and access their own tracking technologies on your device (including without limitation cookies and web tags) and may otherwise collect or have access to information about you (such as Usage Information and device identifiers). Some of these parties may collect personal information over time when you visit the Services or other online websites and services. We may share certain information such as device identifiers, Usage Information, pseudonymized, and de-identified information with these analytics providers.
VI. How We Use That Information
The personal information that NEA collects about you helps us and our state and local affiliates and NEA-related organizations to efficiently and effectively represent you and provide you with valuable member benefits. We may also use information collected through the Services, including personal information, to:
- enable you to use the Services;
- manage our business relationship with you;
- send you communications;
- enhance and personalize your experience;
- facilitate your requests, and;
- otherwise, as disclosed to you in this Privacy Policy and/or at the time of collection.
Sometimes we use third-party service providers and business partners to provide services to our visitors. We may use non-personal information for any purpose allowable by law, including for research and marketing purposes, and to improve the design, experience, and content of our Services.
VII. Information Sharing
We may share the information we have collected about you (including personal information) in the circumstances described below or elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, as disclosed at the time you provide information, or otherwise with your consent.
Third Parties Providing Services on Our Behalf: In order to provide you with efficient and effective representation and member benefits, we may share the personal information that we collect about you with our state and local affiliates and NEA-related organizations, as well as third parties that perform services on our behalf (such as third-party service providers for hosting the Services features, providing website usage and analytics, sending communications, and other administrative services).
Feedback, Questionnaires and Surveys. You may choose to participate in surveys and questionnaires. We may ask that, in addition to providing your responses, you also provide us with your contact information. In these instances, we use any personal information you choose to provide to us in connection with these activities for the purposes for which you submit the information. You are not obligated to participate in any of these activities and, if you undertake these activities, you will have the ability to opt-out.
Discussion Forums: If you participate in a discussion forum on the NEA website or NEA Intranet, your comments, along with any personal information that you voluntarily disclose, may be collected, used, and shared by anyone with access to that forum. We are not responsible for the personal information that you choose to submit in a discussion forum.
When You Agree to Receive Information From Third Parties or Direct That We Share Your Information: We may share information when you consent or direct us to do so. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. If you later decide that you no longer want to receive communications from a third party, you will need to contact that third party directly.
Administrative and Legal Reasons: We will disclose information (including personal information) we maintain when we believe in good faith it is required by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We also may disclose such information in response to a specific law enforcement agency’s request, to protect the integrity of the Services, to fulfill your requests, to protect and defend the legal rights or property of NEA, our affiliates, subsidiaries, and shareholders, the Services or its users, or any other party, or in an emergency, to protect the health and safety of our users or the general public.
Business Transfers and Transitions: In the event NEA goes through a transition, we may transfer our operations or assets. In such transactions, personal information generally is one of the transferred assets. By providing your personal information, you agree that we may transfer such information to the acquiring entity without your further consent, except where otherwise required by law.
Additionally, we may share any of the personal information that we collect about you with certain third parties that share our interests or as otherwise permitted by law.
All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent, which will not be shared with any third parties, provided that the foregoing does not apply to sharing (1) with vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to strictly carry out work on our behalf (and who will not use such information for their own purposes); (2) if we believe disclosure is required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation or to comply with law enforcement or legal process; and (3) if the user consents to our sharing of such information.
VIII. Third-Party Links
This Privacy Policy applies only to Services. It does not cover any websites that are linked to or from the Services for which we are not responsible ("linked-sites"). These linked-sites will have their own policies and practices which may be different from ours. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the policies and practices of the linked-sites especially if you provide personal information to them.
IX. Consent to Transfer
NEA is a United States company. By using the Services, or providing us with any information, you fully understand and unambiguously consent to this transfer, processing, usage, sharing, and storage of your information in the United States and other jurisdictions, for which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen. As a result, this information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States and other countries according to laws in those jurisdictions.
X. Your Choices & California “Shine the Light” Rights
Any personal information that you provide to us is voluntary. NEA members may update their personal information at any time by contacting us. For information on how to contact us, please visit the NEA website at: https://www.nea.org/about-nea/contact-us.
If you subscribe to any NEA-produced electronic newsletter, you may cancel your subscription at any time by following the instructions at the bottom of all such newsletters. If you have any problems canceling such a subscription, please contact us at [email protected].
Your California “Shine the Light” Rights. California residents have a right under state law to ask entities with whom they have an established business relationship to provide certain information regarding the sharing of personal information for direct marketing purposes during the past year. NEA will honor such a request coming from any current or former NEA member or other person who has provided personal information to us in connection with obtaining an NEA product or service—whether residing in California or not. Simply submit a request to us at one of the following addresses: [email protected] or NEA Office of General Counsel, 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington DC 20036, and we will respond within thirty days of receiving your request.
XII. Information Security
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to: (1) safeguard the security and confidentiality of your personal information; (2) protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information; and (3) protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information. 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, NEA cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our Services, and you provide information at your own risk. You use the Services and provide us with information at your own initiative and risk.
XII. General Audience Platform
The Services are intended for a general audience and is not intended for use by or targeted to minors younger than the age of 18. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a minor who is younger than 18, we will delete that information from our active databases. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor and believe that we have inadvertently collected personal information from your child, please contact us using the information in the “Contact Us” section below.
XIII. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We retain the right to amend or otherwise update this Privacy Policy at any time for any reason and will provide you notice where required by applicable law. If we amend or update our Privacy Policy, we will post the changes online at the Services. You may also contact us at [email protected] to request an up-to-date hard copy version of this Privacy Policy.
XIV. Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, you can contact NEA at [email protected].
