Privacy Policy

Computer-Based and Online-Proctored Tests
Series FLEX Performance Assessments

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY

THIS STATEMENT PROVIDES GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRIVACY POLICY OF THIS WEBSITE AND ITS RELATED PLATFORMS (MOBILE OR OTHERWISE). IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY WITH YOUR PARENTS OR GUARDIAN AND ASK THEM QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

YOUR USE OF THIS SERVICE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE BY YOU OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

The Evaluation Systems group of Pearson, a business of NCS Pearson, Inc. ("Pearson"), respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Data that Pearson may collect or process in providing testing registration and testing services. This Personal Data may be shared, as described below, with the educator certification agency in any state in which you are pursuing certification with the Foundations of Reading Test ("State Agency"). For purposes of this Privacy Policy "Personal Data" is any information that can be used to identify you or that when added with other Personal Data can be linked to you and includes those listed below.

This Privacy Policy discloses how we collect, protect, use and share information gathered on this Service. Your use of this Service is further subject to the terms of use ("Terms of Use") posted on this website or app (this Privacy Policy is part of the Terms of Use).

If you have any questions or concerns about the Privacy Policy, please contact us. For information on how to contact us, see How to Contact Us below.

Your Rights and Responsibilities

You agree that by visiting and/or providing, transmitting, or having another party you have authorized provide or transmit your Personal Data to us on any of our Sites, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and any updates made to this Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to read this Privacy Policy and check for updates on a regular basis. By continuing to use our Site, products or services after such updates have been made you are agreeing to be bound by any changes to this Privacy Policy.

You are never required to provide us with your Personal Data. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not provide, transmit or allow anyone else to provide or transmit your Personal Data to us; however, if you decide to not provide to us your Personal Data it may affect our ability to allow you to register, schedule, and take a test administered and delivered by us on behalf of the State Agency; or to provide to you any other products or services offered.

You agree that we may collect or receive, use, process, disclose, transfer and retain your Personal Data as described herein. This Privacy Policy governs your use of any and all of our Sites, our testing services, and in purchasing our products and services in general. We will use your Personal Data only for the purposes set forth herein.

As the subject of the Personal Data collected, you have rights related to the Personal Data that we hold about you.

At any time you have the right to:

Request access to the information we hold about you, subject to the approval of the State Agency.
Ask us how to correct any inaccurate or incomplete information we have about you or request us to make the corrections, subject to the approval of the State Agency.
Request us to delete your information from our records, subject to the approval of the State Agency.

You may request access, correction, or deletion of and correct the Personal Data you have submitted by logging into your account, calling our toll-free number at 1-877-460-2204, or contacting us by email.

Upon receiving any request listed above, we may need to verify your request. In this case, we may ask you to provide additional information, including information you have previously disclosed to us, to confirm your identity. If you wish to designate an authorized agent under any law or regulation, please contact us at the toll-free number above and we will coordinate that designation. We will respond to access requests within a reasonable amount of time in accordance with state and national laws and requirements. We recognize that you may have a right to not receive discriminatory treatment by exercising any of the rights listed above.

Additionally, if you have questions or requests regarding the above, please contact us as outlined in the How to Contact Us section below.

Purpose of Collecting Personal Data. Pearson collects Personal Data about examinees (a) to perform test registration and collect payment for the test registration fees; (b) to communicate with the examinee about the test registration, test process, and test results; (c) to administer and score the test and prepare and communicate test results reports to the State Agency, the examinee, and the examinee's designated reporting institution; and (d) to otherwise communicate with examinees related to the Foundations of Reading test. Providing Personal Data is voluntary but necessary if the examinee wishes to register for and take the examination. Pearson may use the information you provide to contact you related to your test registration, or with regard to other test-related information or other opportunities for participation in other testing-related studies or activities. If you do not wish to be contacted regarding these opportunities, please contact us at es-postmaster@pearson.com.

Personal Data Collected at the Time of Registration. The personal data that Pearson collects or receives in registering an examinee may include name, address, e-mail address, phone number, fax number, social security or other government-issued identification number, credit/debit card information, language, date of birth, employment information, previous examination history, and educational information, including educational institutions attended. In addition, Pearson collects information about the examinee's designated reporting institution—the educational institution specified by the examinee to receive the test results.

Personal Data Collected at the Time of Testing. Depending upon test security requirements, Pearson may collect your signature, photographic image, and fingerprint, thumbprint, or palm vein pattern scan manually or digitally when you arrive at the testing center to take the test. In addition, examinees may be monitored and audio- and videotaped while taking the test. When the test is administered to you, Pearson collects and scores your test responses and then derives test scores and generates a report about your test results. In instances where we have collected a palm vein pattern scan for Illinois residents, this data will be retained no longer than three years.

Data Categories. We may collect and/or disclose to third parties the following categories of data in order to manage day to day business needs including, but not limited to, providing you with our services, performing services on behalf of a business, payment processing and financial account management, business planning and forecasting, system improvements, security and fraud prevention, and compliance with legal and regulatory obligations:

Identifiers such as a real name, address, unique personal identifiers, or email address
Customer records such as signature
Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law
Commercial information, such as products or services purchased, obtained, or considered
Biometric information
Internet or other electronic network activity information such as information regarding a consumer's interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement
Geolocation data
Sensory data, such as audio, electronic, visual, or similar information
Professional or employment-related information
Education information
Inferences about preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, preferences, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes

Protection of Personal Data. We use reasonable precautions to protect Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These precautions include appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures. We provide a secured transmission method for the electronic transmission of credit/debit card and Social Security number information.

Transfer of Information to the State Agency and the Reporting Institution. By registering for a test through Pearson, you consent for your Personal Data (with the exception of your debit/credit card information) to be transmitted by Pearson to the State Agency and to the reporting institution that you specify. Please contact the State Agency or the reporting institution for information about how they may use your Personal Data if you have questions about their privacy policies and practices.

Other Transfer of Information. We do not and will not sell your Personal Data. We may disclose your Personal Data as disclosed herein. In addition to transmitting certain personal data about you to the State Agency and the reporting institution that you specify, we may disclose personally identifiable information (a) in response to a subpoena, court order, or legal process, to the extent permitted and required by law; (b) to maintain test security and integrity, to address violations of law, and/or to protect your security or the security of other persons, consistent with applicable law; (c) in connection with a sale, joint venture, or other transfer of some or all of the assets of Pearson; (d) to organizations who are working as contractors or agents of Pearson and who are committed or obliged to protect your privacy in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy; and (e) as required by the State Agency. By registering for the test, you give your consent for your Personal Data to be transmitted in the situations outlined above. This website does not participate in any "Do Not Track" frameworks that would allow us to respond to signals or mechanisms from you regarding the collection of your Personal Data.

Resolution of Concerns. If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we have handled personal data, please contact us at es-postmaster@pearson.com.

Aggregation of Non-Person-Specific Data. Pearson may statistically aggregate in non-person-specific form test responses and other information collected in the test registration and delivery process and may transfer this information to the State Agency. Such aggregated non-person-specific information may be used for quality control, operations management, and security and to enhance, develop, or improve testing processes, testing services, and tests.

Information from Children

This website and our testing services are not directed to children or anyone under the age of thirteen (13). Pearson will not, through this website or through its test registration and administration process, knowingly collect, maintain, or use any personally identifiable information about anyone under the age of thirteen (13).

Information Received from Internet Service Providers Through This Website

This website receives information that is automatically generated by a user's Internet service provider (ISP). This information may include the IP address (a number automatically assigned to a computer by the ISP); the associated URLs; domain types; the browser type used to access our site; the country, state, and telephone area code; the location of the ISP's servers; the pages of our site that the user views during the visit; any search terms entered on this site; and the user's website address and email address. This information may be collected for system administration purposes, to gather broad demographic information, and to monitor the level of activity on the site. Pearson does not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information; however, we reserve the right to link IP addresses and other information supplied by the ISP to personally identifiable information in order to protect the integrity of our system and for security purposes.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that a website transfers to your computer's browser. We use cookies to measure traffic patterns, personalize content, and control security. The cookies we use supply non-personally-identifiable information, but they may identify your computer, browser, and Internet specifications.

Transmission of Information

The Internet is a global environment. By using this website and sending information to us electronically, you consent to electronic transmission of any data that you may choose to supply us. Information transmissions to this site and emails sent to us may not be secure. Given the inherent operation and nature of the Internet, all Internet transmissions are done at the user's own risk.

Links to Other Sites

This website may contain links to other websites on the Internet that are owned and operated by third parties, or by Pearson or its affiliates. The information practices of those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy, but by their own terms and policies, which you should read carefully. These other sites may send their cookies to users, collect data, or solicit Personal Data. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected or received in connection with testing registration and services for the Foundations of Reading test. This Privacy Policy is not intended to apply to other Pearson websites, or other types of information which may be subject to different privacy policies.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting an updated Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes or updates. This Privacy Policy is effective as of December 7, 2021, at 12:00 a.m. EDT.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at es-postmaster@pearson.com.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY

YOUR USE OF THIS SERVICE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE BY YOU OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

The Evaluation Systems group of Pearson, a business of NCS Pearson, Inc. ("Pearson") respects your privacy. Pearson are providing you this site and its related applications and services (collectively, "Service"). The Service may be delivered to you through the Internet via your browser or app (mobile or otherwise). This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Data that Pearson may collect or process in providing testing registration and testing services. This Personal Data may be shared, as described below, with the relevant state agency responsible for educator certification ("State Agency"). For purposes of this Privacy Policy "Personal Data" is any information that can be used to identify you or that when added with other Personal Data can be linked to you and includes those listed below.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Privacy Policy, please contact us. For information on how to contact us, see Contacting Pearson below.

Your Rights and Responsibilities

You are never required to provide us with your Personal Data. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not provide, transmit or allow anyone else to provide or transmit your Personal Data to us; however, if you decide to not provide to us your Personal Data it may affect our ability to allow you to register, schedule, and take an assessment administered and delivered by us on behalf of the Client; or to provide to you any other products or services offered.

As the subject of the Personal Data collected, you have rights related to the Personal Data that we hold about you.

At any time you have the right to:

Request access to the information we hold about you, subject to the approval of the Client.
Ask us how to correct any inaccurate or incomplete information we have about you or request us to make the corrections, subject to the approval of the Client.
Request us to delete your information from our records, subject to the approval of the Client.

You may request access, correction, or deletion of the Personal Data you have submitted by logging into your account, calling our toll-free number at 1-877-460-2204, or contacting us by email at es-postmaster@pearson.com. Upon receiving any request listed above, we may need to verify your request. In this case, we may ask you to provide additional information, including information you have previously disclosed to us, to confirm your identity. If you wish to designate an authorized agent under any law or regulation, please contact us at the toll-free number above and we will coordinate that designation. We will respond to access requests within a reasonable amount of time in accordance with state and national laws and requirements. We recognize that you may have a right to not receive discriminatory treatment by exercising any of the rights listed above.

Additionally, if you have questions or requests regarding the above, please contact us as outlined in the Contacting Pearson section below.

What personal information do these Services collect?

The Personal Data Pearson collects or receives about you in providing these Services may include:

first name,
last name,
address,
email address,
phone number and/or fax number,
gender,
race/ethnicity,
assessment,
Social Security number or other government-issued identification number,
credit/debit card information,
language,
date of birth,
preparation program/institution affiliation, and
Educational information including educational institutions you attended and the educational institution you have specified to receive your assessment results ("reporting institution").
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Information including: IP address, URL's, domain types, browser type used to access the site, and location of the ISP's servers, pages visited by you while on our site, search terms entered by you on the site, your website and email address. This information may be collected for administration purposes, to gather demographic information, and to monitor activity levels on the site. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information; however, we reserve the right to link IP addresses and other information supplied by the ISP to personally identifiable information in order to protect the integrity of our system and for security purposes.

After you have completed your Series FLEX submission, Pearson also collects your submission, derives your assessment score, and generates a report about your assessment results.

This website and our Services are not directed to children or anyone under the age of thirteen (13). Pearson will not, through this website or through its assessment registration and administration process, knowingly collect, maintain or use any personally identifiable information about anyone under the age of thirteen (13).

Data Categories.

We may collect and/or disclose to third parties the following categories of data in order to manage day to day business needs including, but not limited to, providing you with our services, performing services on behalf of a business, payment processing and financial account management, business planning and forecasting, system improvements, security and fraud prevention, and compliance with legal and regulatory obligations:

Identifiers such as a real name, address, unique personal identifiers, or email address
Customer records such as signature
Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law
Commercial information, such as products or services purchased, obtained, or considered
Internet or other electronic network activity information such as information regarding a consumer's interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement
Geolocation data
Sensory data, such as audio, electronic, visual, or similar information
Professional or employment-related information
Education information
Inferences about preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, preferences, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes

How and why does the Service collect my personal information?

Pearson collects personal information provided by you for purposes of registering, taking and reporting the results of the assessments related to these Services for a variety of reasons:

To perform assessment registration and collect payment for assessment registration fees;
To communicate with you about the assessment registration, assessment process, and assessment results on behalf of the Client;
To administer, score and prepare assessment results;
To communicate assessment results reports to you, the Client and your specified reporting institution;
To improve products and services.

In addition, Pearson may use the information you provide to contact you with regard to other assessment-related information or other opportunities for participation in other testing related studies or activities. If you do not wish to be contacted regarding these opportunities, please contact us at es-postmaster@pearson.com.

What is the legal basis for Pearson using my personal information?

Pearson is processing your personal information with your consent and in order to fulfill our contract obligations to the Client. Providing personal information to register and take the assessment covered by this Notice is voluntary. By reading and acknowledging this Notice and registering for the Services associated with this Notice, you consent to have your personal information transmitted and processed in accordance with this Notice.

Will Pearson share my personal information with anyone else?

We do not and will not sell your personal information. We may disclose and share your personal information, including:

To the Client and your specified Reporting Institution; and/or
With relevant third parties (such as law enforcement agencies, your employer or educational institution) if we reasonably believe you may be in breach of the law (e.g., in response to a subpoena, court order, or legal process, to the extent permitted and required by law); and/or
To maintain assessment security and integrity, and/or to protect your security and safety and the security and safety of other persons, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law; and/or
In connection with a sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of our company or assets, subject to the commitment of the acquiring entity to comply with this Notice; and/or
With our contractors, agents, or service providers who are committed and required to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your privacy consistent with applicable law and this Notice; and/or
In other situations, with your consent or as required by the Client.

We also use personal information in aggregate form (so that no individual user is identified by name) to identify types of users, assessment responses and other information, audit and analyze how our Services are used, to help with strategic development of our Services, to conduct quality control, operations management, and to develop or enhance security and testing processes, services and assessments. This information may also be shared with the Client.

What is Pearson's applicable Cookie policy for these Services?

Will Pearson send my personal information to another country?

The Services associated with this Notice are hosted within the United States. The internet is a global environment. By using this website and sending information to us electronically, you consent to the electronic transmission of any data that you may choose to supply. Information transmissions to this site and emails sent to us may not be secure. Given the inherent operation and nature of the Internet, all Internet transmissions are done at the user's own risk.

Links to other sites

This website may contain links to other websites on the Internet that are owned and operated by third parties, or by Pearson or its affiliates. The information practices of those websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy, but by their own terms and policies, which you should read carefully. These other sites may send their cookies to users, collect data, or solicit personal information. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected or received in connection with assessment registration and services for the Client. This Privacy Policy is not intended to apply to other Pearson websites, or other types of information which may be subject to different privacy policies.

Changes to this Notice

We may update this Notice from time to time. We will always include the date of a new version so that you know when there has been a change.

Contacting Pearson

If you have any questions or concerns about this Notice, please do not hesitate to contact us at es-postmaster@pearson.com.

Updated August 27, 2024

Top of Page