Opened Culture, LLC (“Opened Culture,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of the educators, learners, and partners who engage with our work, including through the Opened Learning Alliance (“OLA”). This Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use, share, and protect information when you visit our websites, register for or participate in our learning experiences, or otherwise interact with us (together, the “Services”).
By using our Services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Statement. If you do not agree, you should not use the Services.
This Privacy Statement applies to the Opened Culture website and associated pages, the Opened Learning Alliance course catalog and registration pages, online learning environments we host or manage (such as D2L Brightspace), virtual events and meetings facilitated through platforms such as Zoom, and email communications, surveys, forms, and other interactions where we link to or reference this Privacy Statement.
This Privacy Statement does not apply to websites or services operated by third parties that are linked from our Services. Those sites are governed by their own privacy policies.
Information you provide to us. You may provide information when you complete a contact or inquiry form, join a waitlist, subscribe to updates, create an account, register for a course, participate in a learning community or event, respond to surveys or research activities, or communicate with us by email or other channels. This information may include contact details (such as name, email address, job title, institution, and country), account and profile information, registration details, learning data (such as discussion posts, reflections, and assignments), and communications you send to us. Payment card information is processed directly by our payment processor (Stripe) and is not stored by us. When you submit a form on our site, the information you provide may be checked by an automated spam detection service before it is delivered to us.
Information collected automatically. When you use our Services, we and our service providers may automatically collect device and browser information (such as IP address, browser type, and operating system), usage data (such as pages viewed, links clicked, and time spent on the site), and course participation data (such as modules accessed, progress, and completion status). In connection with our forms, we may also collect technical details used by automated spam detection services to identify and block unwanted submissions. We typically collect this information through cookies, web beacons, log files, and similar technologies.
Information from third parties. We may receive information about you from your institution or employer (if they sponsor your participation), partners and collaborators who co-host programs with us, and service providers that support our Services (such as D2L Brightspace, Stripe, and Zoom).
We use the information we collect to provide and operate our Services (including delivering courses, issuing credentials, and facilitating communications); to support learners and partners (including responding to inquiries and providing technical assistance); to improve our offerings and user experience (including conducting research and program evaluation, often using aggregated or de-identified data); to communicate with you about service-related updates and, with your ability to opt out, new offerings and opportunities; and to protect our community and comply with law (including the use of automated tools to detect spam, abuse, or malicious activity).
We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate our Services (such as D2L Brightspace, Stripe, Zoom, email platforms, automated spam detection services, analytics services, and cloud hosting providers). For sponsored or co-developed programs, we may share limited information (such as enrollment counts or completion status) with institutional and program partners, consistent with our agreements. We may also disclose information to comply with applicable law or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Opened Culture, our learners, partners, or the public. In the event of a merger, acquisition, or other change in control, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction.
We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies to remember your preferences, keep you signed in, understand how our Services are used, and improve performance. You can typically control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of the Services.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services, maintain records, comply with legal obligations, and resolve disputes. We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information, though no method of transmission or storage is completely secure.
You may opt out of non-essential email communications at any time. Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information we hold about you, to object to certain types of processing, or to receive a copy of your information in a portable format. To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information below.
Opened Culture is based in the United States. Information we collect may be processed in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. Where required by law, we take appropriate steps to ensure that international transfers include appropriate safeguards.
Individuals in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. If you are located in these regions, you have certain additional rights under applicable data protection laws, including the right to withdraw consent, request restriction of processing, and lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Our primary legal bases for processing are performance of a contract, legitimate interests, compliance with legal obligations, and consent where requested.
California residents. If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, access, delete, and correct your personal information. We do not sell personal information, nor do we disclose it to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
Our Services are designed for adult learners and professional audiences. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or a higher threshold where required by local law).
We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and may provide additional notice where appropriate.
If you have questions about this Privacy Statement, our privacy practices, or your rights, you may contact us through our online form:
If you are located in a region with specific data protection rights (such as the EEA, UK, Switzerland, or certain U.S. states including California), you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection or consumer protection authority. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.