The following information details many of the ways in which Otus helps schools comply with HB 3606.
Furthermore, since Otus allows Illinois K-12 school systems to consolidate the number of duplicative and disconnected edtech tools that are used in their schools, there is an additional benefit of Otus in that there is only one platform for many pieces of student data that are traditionally stored across different platforms and vendors.
Quick Facts:
Otus does not sell any data that is managed on the platform.
Otus employees sign a Data Privacy Pledge upon being hired into our company.
Otus will notify school districts within the five day mandated window in the unlikely event of a data breach. In all likelihood, school districts will be notified within 24 hours.
Otus offers both student and parent rights with regard to how data is stored within the system.
Data is stored with Otus only as needed for educational purposes by an authorized user.
Data is then deleted once the data is no longer needed for the student within the context of school.
How can students, parents/guardians, and other access our Privacy Policy?
Our privacy policy is available on our company home page and may be viewed by anyone by visiting https://otus.com/privacy-policy/
How does Otus manage information provided to Otus by a school organization?
We receive and store any information you knowingly enter through Otus. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:
Registration information, including your name, username, email address, profile picture, and school affiliation
The grade level and names of classes that you teach or attend
Any documents that you upload, create, or complete using Otus, such as items added to your bookshelf, as well as notes, groups, and assessments (including tests, quizzes, assignments, and papers) that you create or complete
Information that Educators provide about Students, including evaluations, grades and test results, attendance, notes and feedback, and any other information provided by the Educator about a Student
Information about parents/guardians provided by Educators or Students, including name, relationship to Students, email address, and phone number
Any other information uploaded to or entered into Otus
If you use our referral service to tell someone about Otus, we will collect that person’s name and email address
How does Otus manage information collected automatically through the appropriate use of the system?
We receive and store certain types of usage information whenever you use Otus. When you access or use an Otus mobile application, navigate to our websites or use the browser provided in an Otus mobile application, we automatically receive and record information on our server logs, including your IP address, cookie information and the page you requested. We also record the details of your activity and the number and frequency of visitors to Otus, including your location when accessing Otus. For example, we receive and store information about whether you access Otus from a school, home, or other location. We use various technologies to collect web browsing information, and this may include sending cookies to your computer or tablet. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us to improve Otus and your experience, understand which areas and features of Otus are popular, and count visits. We may also collect information using web beacons (also known as “tracking pixels”). Web beacons are electronic images that may be used in Otus or emails and that help deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness, and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon. For more information about cookies, and how to disable them, please see “Your Choices” below. When you download an Otus mobile application, we automatically collect information about the type of device, name and version of the operating system, name and version of the application, the unique device ID, as well as actions performed by the user in accessing the application. We also use analytics software to allow us to better understand the functionality of our application and Services. This software may record information such as how often you use Otus, what you do using Otus, and performance data.
How does Otus use information that is managed on the platform?
We use the information we collect to provide, maintain, personalize, and improve Otus; to respond to your comments, questions, and requests; to provide customer services, including technical support; and for any other purpose for which the information was collected. If you are an Educator, we may use the information we collect to send you marketing and product communications to the email address you provide or by other means. If you are a Student, we may use your email address to send you product updates, such as information about new features or functionalities. We use automatically-collected information to enable us to figure out how often users use parts of Otus, so that we can make Otus appealing and relevant to as many users as possible, and customize and improve those Services.
How does Otus share information managed on the platform?
We may share information about you as described in this section below or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. Our Services are designed to facilitate the sharing of certain information among Educators, Students, and parents and guardians. For example, Educators may use Otus to share information with Students or with parents and guardians or with other Educators within their school or school district. Such information includes, but is not limited to, Students’ grades, notes about Students, assessments (including blank assignments, quizzes, and tests as well as those that have been completed by students), and flags. In addition, certain material posted to Otus by Educators may be shared with the broader Otus community, which includes Educators outside of your school district. This information includes, but is not limited to, bookshelf documents (including online resources and original material prepared by you) and assessments (including tests, quizzes, and assignments, but not Student information). When sharing these documents, your user profile, including your screen name and email address, may also be shared with the Otus community. If you are a Student, your Educator may use the Service to facilitate the sharing of information you provide with others in your class or with your parent or guardian.
How does Otus protect information managed on the platform?
We may release personal information if we believe the disclosure is in accordance with any applicable law, regulation or legal process, or as otherwise required by any applicable law, rule or regulation, or if we believe your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, or to protect the rights, property and safety of Otus users or others.
We reserve the right to share aggregated information gathered from our user base (without personally-identifiable information about individual users) or de-personalized individual information (with names and other personally identifying characteristics removed) with our affiliates and partners. Given the nature of this information, there are no restrictions under this Privacy Policy upon the right of Otus to aggregate or de-personalize your personal information
How does Otus protect the information that is managed on the platform?
Otus takes reasonable measures to help protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Your Otus account uses the same login as your Google or Google for Education account and is protected by a password for your privacy and security. You may help protect against unauthorized access to your account and personal information or your Student’s personal information by selecting and protecting the password associated with the account appropriately.
Additionally, Otus maintains internal Data Security Protocols and Procedures which includes penetration and vulnerability testing by a highly qualified and impartial third-party.
What choices regarding data and information managed on Otus are available to students and parents/guardians?
Account Information
You may update, correct or delete personal information about you at any time by editing your profile information. Changes to your Google account information must be made through Google; Otus has no ability to make modifications to your Google account information. Note that if the Google account tied to your Otus account is deactivated, or if you revoke Otus’s access rights within your Google account, you will not be able to access your Otus account or any of the content stored with Otus. We may retain cached or archived copies of personal information about you and content stored with Otus only as needed for educational purposes by an authorized user. This information is then deleted once the data is no longer needed for the student within the context of school.
Children’s Information
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 13 and would like to request that personal information regarding your child be updated or deleted, or if you’d like to refuse further contact of your child by Otus, please contact us at support@otus.com. We will respond to a request made pursuant to this section within 30 days of our receipt of such request.
Cookies
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies.
For more information on how Otus helps your school organization comply with Illinois HB 3606, please email support@otus.com.