VSAC transferred the servicing of your Federal Student loans to American Education Services and the guarantee of all VSAC Federal Student loans to the Trellis Company, an approved Federal Guaranty Agency, over the weekend of March 16th. CLICK HERE for more information.
VSAC Website Privacy Policy prior to April 9, 2018
This Privacy Policy describes how we collect and use information you provide to us when you use a VSAC Web site or web application. The information we collect from you and how we use it depends on how you use the Web site. By accessing or using our Web site or web application, you hereby consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to this Web site and the other VSAC Web sites or web applications that display or link to this Privacy Policy.
How we collect information
We collect personally identifiable information that you provide to us by email, Web site forms, or other electronic means. Personally identifiable information is information that can specifically identify you, such as your name, phone number, address, email address, date of birth, income, account number, Social Security number, or driver’s license number. If you email us at info@vsac.org (email contact links on our Web site use this address), we will automatically receive your email address. We will use it to respond to you by email.
We collect information related to your use of our Web site using HTTP cookies, Adobe Flash cookies, web beacons, and log information. When you visit our Web site, we collect information including, but not limited to, your domain name, your Internet Protocol (IP) address, Internet sites that linked you to our Web site, the browser you use, and the pages of our Web site that you view. We may store this information in our Web site logs. This information helps us to determine what kind of information is most useful to our Web visitors. We do not collect personally identifiable information about you from your visit to the Web site unless you provide it to us.
We may receive information about you from third parties. This may include information about your interactions with our service providers or your use of our web applications, including our social networking applications or pages. We may combine information collected about you through one VSAC service with other information collected through another VSAC service or information collected through our service providers.
How we use information
We use the information you provide to respond to your request for information from VSAC; process loan and grant applications; service your account; send you service updates, marketing information, or reminders; comply with legal or regulatory requirements; measure, improve, and customize our services; fulfill other technical, logistical, financial, tax, legal, regulatory, compliance, administrative functions; and provide customer service.
We use cookies to collect information about your use of our Web site, such as particular pages visited, so that we can understand how you and other customers navigate our site, improve your experience with our site and landing pages, facilitate application processing, and collect anonymous traffic data. Cookies are small files of data that we place on your computer to help us understand how you use the Web site. We use session cookies and persistent cookies when you visit the Web site. Session cookies expire when you leave our Web site. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer to retain information about how you use our Web site. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but you may set your preferences to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. We do not use cookies to store your name, mailing address, or other personally identifiable information.
We also use information gathered from logs and web beacons to monitor Web site performance; improve Web site design, functionality, and security; and assemble web analytics and activity trends. Web beacons are objects embedded into web pages that allow us to determine whether and for how long users view web pages. You may stop your browser from accepting web beacons. Your browser may have add-ons that may help you block web beacons. However, you may have limited functionality if you block cookies or web beacons set by our Web site.
We use Adobe Flash videos and applications to provide content such as video clips or animation. Adobe Flash uses cookies (also called Local Shared Objects) similar to browser cookies but they are usually managed using an interface different than the one provided by your browser. We use Flash cookies to remember settings, preferences, and usage. We do not use Flash cookies to serve interest-based advertising. You may control these cookies by using Adobe’s Flash Settings Manager. Your browser may also have add-ons that may help you manage Flash cookies. You may also turn off or uninstall Adobe Flash for your web browser. However, you may have limited functionality if you block flash cookies set by our Web site or if you turn off Adobe Flash.
How we share personal information
We do not share your personally identifiable information except as permitted by law. For example, we may share your personally identifiable information with individuals and companies we use to perform services on our behalf including, but not limited to, marketing assistance, data processing, sending postal mail, email or text messages, customer service, and collections. Any service providers we use must agree to keep such information confidential and not use it for any purpose we do not authorize. We may also share your information with schools, guarantors, and other government agencies if necessary to process your application for a grant or loan.
We may share your personally identifiable information when we believe it is necessary to comply with the law, assist law enforcement, enforce our Terms of Use and other agreements, or to protect your property or safety. We also may share your personally identifiable information with other companies for credit risk reduction or fraud protection.
VSAC’s websites do not respond to a do-not-track setting or other mechanisms that provide the ability to exercise choice regarding the collection of personally identifiable information of your online activities over time and across third-party websites or online services. We do not collect or share personally identifiable information about your online activities over time and across different websites.
Use and Sharing of Information Relating to Social Networks
If you access our applications or pages on social networking sites, such as Facebook, you may also be required to read and accept those sites’ terms of service or privacy policies. Among other things, those sites may use the information you provide them to serve you personalized advertising based on your background, location, demographics, likes, keywords, and any other information they receive from you, including the information you share with VSAC on those sites. You acknowledge that you have agreed to and are bound by those sites’ privacy policies and terms of use with regard to those sites’ use of your information. VSAC is not responsible for those sites’ use of your information, including the information you may submit to VSAC using those social networking sites.
If you access our applications or pages on social networking sites, you authorize VSAC to collect, store, and use all information you submit to our Facebook applications or pages. You also authorize VSAC to collect, store, and use all information that you agreed the social networking site could provide to VSAC through those sites’ application programming interfaces. For instance, if you use our Facebook applications, Facebook may pass certain information about your use of its service to us, including your user ID, status, any information you have permitted Facebook to share with us, any information you have made public in connection with Facebook, or aggregate, anonymous, or technical information relating to the use of our applications. VSAC will collect, store, and use this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You agree to these conditions when you allow this sharing on social networking sites or start using our applications or pages on those sites.
Please remember that when you interact with social networking applications or pages, you may have privacy controls at your disposal. When you publish content or information using a public setting on these social networking sites, you may be allowing everyone, including people off of those social networking sites, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you.
Security
If personally identifiable information is accessed through our Web site, it is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet. To protect your personally identifiable information, we use technical and physical safeguards and train our employees.
Children’s Online Privacy
We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13. We will delete any information from our systems if we learn that is from a child under the age of 13. Please visit the FTC’s Web site at www.ftc.gov to learn more about protecting children online.
Links to other sites
Our Web site contains both "internal" links (links to other parts of the VSAC Web site), and "external" links (links to other sites on the Web). This Privacy Policy applies only to Web sites or web applications where it is linked or displayed. Other sites to which we link may have other privacy policies and terms of use. Please review each site to determine if their terms of use and privacy policies differ from ours.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this Web site, please contact us.
Effective Date
This Privacy Policy is effective as of February 2014 and replaces any prior VSAC Web site Privacy Policy.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
You agree that we may change this Privacy Policy by posting a revision on this Web site.