Certification Partners, LLC Privacy Policy
Last update: November 2024
This document is available for download here.
Who we are and the Scope of this Privacy Policy
Owned and managed by Certification Partners, CIW is the world’s premier vendor-neutral IT and web technology education and certification program. Since 1997, CIW has trained more than 1 million students and professionals and has awarded more than 250,000 professional IT certifications through thousands of universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools, learning centers and corporations worldwide. CIW has become the educational standard adopted by academic institutions, governments and businesses worldwide for web technology skills.
In 2016 Certification Partners introduced the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Essentials Suite, and additional products, as an earlier educational digital literacy pathway through CIW to IT careers. ICT is intended to raise digital technology literacy in a variety of topics and will prepare students of all ages with the skills needed to meet the challenges of an increasingly technical world and opening doors of opportunity for pursuing a wide range of IT-related industry certifications and careers.
We collect information from customers, students, and certification candidates. Our services include delivery of courseware content, certification exams, and certification credentials, all through web-based applications. Information is collected about you from correspondence you submit, purchases you make, telephone contacts, applications on file, and visits to our web sites. When you visit our web sites, we may access additional information, such as your service provider, browser type, operating system, pages accessed on our web site, and dates and times of access to optimize your user experience and enhance your time spent with us online. When you send us an email, we retain the content of the email, your email address and our response in order to handle any follow-up questions you may have. We also use this information to measure how effectively we address your concerns.
Definition of Terms
• Account: means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
• Candidate: any individual who has taken or plans to take a CIW (or partner) exam for the purpose of earning certification. Includes individuals have actively earned certification, as well those who may do so in the future.
• Certification: an award that confirms an individual has demonstrated their mastery of the subject encompassed in the certification title.
• Company: (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to Certification Partners, LLC, 4600 E Washington, Suite 300, Phoenix, AZ 85034, USA.
• Cookies: small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.
• Country: refers to: Arizona, United States.
• Courseware: a collection of information about a subject, intended to be delivered on a computer device.
• Customer: an organization, public or private, who purchases or considers the purchase of courseware and exams for purposes of teaching the topic to one or more students. Individuals who are studying a course independently are also customers.
• Device: means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.
• Exam: an objective assessment of a Learner’s mastery of a subject. In context of this Policy, exams are delivered to learners via computer systems exclusively.
• Learner: any individual who accesses courseware to acquire an understanding of the subject matter. Also referred to as “student,” “candidate,” and/or “user.”
• Learning Management System (LMS): platform specifically designed to host courseware and deliver it to Learners and Instructors.
• Instructor: any individual acting on behalf of a customer, who is responsible for communicating CIW subject matter to learners. Also referred to as “Teacher,” or “Educator.” An Instructor may also act (providing the same personal data, using the same services) as a Learner at any time.
• Personal Data: any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.
• Proctor: any individual acting on behalf of a customer, who is responsible for administering Exams to Learners.
• Profile: a collection of personal data about a User of a system. Also known as an Account.
• Service: refers to the websites used by Certification Partners to deliver courseware, exams and certifications.
• Service Provider: means any natural or legal entity who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.
• User: any individual who provides personal data in exchange for access to Services.
• Usage Data: refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).
• Website: refers to services, content and information provided by third parties through web-based applications. Service websites may be provided by third party providers on behalf of the Company. Also referred to as a “Portals.”
• You: means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.
Systems that Collect Data
Certification Partners provides services through a variety of proprietary and third-party Web-based applications. These systems collect and store different kinds of information about learners and customers.
Courseware: Certification Partners hosts all CIW and partner courses on a third-party learning management (LMS) platform.
Exam Testing Services: Certification Partners makes its high stakes certification exams available through multiple testing services, including public systems (who deliver exams for many test publishers) and our private proprietary testing system. From time to time, public or private testing services may be added or terminated. Each system has its own data collection requirements.
Credential Management: Learners who take CIW (and partner) exams may be eligible for certification. Certification processing is managed through a credential management system, licensed and customized from a third party. This system can receive data in the form of imported exam results from current and former testing services.
ERP/CRM: Certification Partners licenses an ERP/CRM system for accounting, sales transactions, contact management and customer communications.
User Categories who Provide Data
Due to the variety of services and content we offer, and the systems they are accessed through, we have several categories of users who provide personal or organization information.
Learners: Learners includes any individual who is accessing courses, taking exams or pursuing certification. A learner may also be an instructor, proctor and/or a customer, and use multiple systems, providing different data to different systems.
Instructors: Instructors includes any users who are guiding learners through a course. They may also be Proctors and customers. Instructors often access multiple systems and must provide different data to different systems.
Proctors: Proctors are individuals authorized to administer certification exams to learners, on behalf of their employer, who is a customer of Certification Partners. In addition to using our proprietary testing system, a proctor must also sign a personal agreement to abide by our terms (protection of exam content, protection of candidates), and attend video training.
Customers: Any organization (school, school district, learning center, community college, technical education institution, or university) who is offering CIW (or partner) courses to students. Customers purchase course content and certification exams from Certification Partners. As part of their financial transactions, they must provide basic organization information.
Collecting and Using Personal Information
The different third party systems that Certification Partners uses each collect information from users in different ways. Most systems have a registration protocol, where users must provide basic information about themselves, in order to gain access to the system. Each system uses this information as a basis of a user profile.
Certification Partners does not sell or share personally identifiable information to third parties.
Aggregate data may at times be generated. For example, Certification Partners may create reports on quantities of exams or certification or progress in courses, etc. This information may be published on our websites or shared with organizations who have a direct interest in it. For example, a customer school district may request a custom report on the pass rates of students in their own schools who are using CIW courses and exams.
Types of Data
The types of data that Certification Partner collects varies according to system and type of user.
Courseware: Our LMS system requires all Learner and Instructor users to provide an email address and first name/last name, at a minimum. Additional information (address) is optional. In some cases, customer organizations may elect to provide lists of learner information for automated setup and access to courses.
Learner information collected and stored: First name, Last name, email address/State Student ID, and password. These are used to create a student account in the online learning platform. We also collect similar information for the Teacher, as well as school address and additional information regarding section/class naming, so teachers will be associated with their own students. The data we collect and store is available for Certification Partners employees that support the schools and products, and our LMS partner. Our LMS system does not collect demographic information such as age, gender, race, etc.
Exams: Exam testing systems do not collect demographic information such as age, race, gender, etc.
• Certiverse system (remote proctored testing services under contract at time of this policy publishing): Candidates taking certification exams in the Certiverse system will be required to provide the following information.
• First name, Last name, email address and password during initial registration.
• Personal address (including state & country) when launching an exam.
• Credit card information, if candidate is purchasing their exam directly through Certiverse.
• CTC Online system (proprietary testing system exclusive to Certification Partners): All user profiles for candidates who will be taking exams must provide the following information.
• First name/Last name
• Email address
• Username
• Password
• Student ID (optional)
Profiles can be created through user self-registration, manual data entry by the Proctor(s) who will set up and administer the exam or by bulk upload of data files.
Some learners require special accommodations during exams, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For auditing purposes, Certification Partners has an approval process for granting accommodations. Proctors must request the accommodation (citing the learner by name or Student ID) and provide documentation of the disability. Most school organizations have standardized documentation of these disabilities, and the accommodations to be provided. This standardized documentation meets Certification Partner’s requirements.
Certifications: Data of passed exam results, current and past, is automatically transferred to our credential management system, including related personal information about the learner. Instructions on how to access their credentials are emailed automatically to the email address on record for the candidates. In our proprietary testing system, our Proctors are also provided information on how to obtain certificates for their students. Students and Proctors can access their credentials through this web-based service (provided by third party partner, Accredible) at any time.
Customers: Organizations who purchase courseware or exams from Certification Partners, must provide billing and shipping address information, phone numbers, email addresses and payment information. In some cases, tax status information may also be collected, including entity identification numbers. We accept payment via credit card, purchase orders, check, and wire transfer. Each payment method collects unique payment information. Credit card information is not permanently stored.
Usage Data, Tracking Data (Cookies, Logs, other)
Most of the systems used by Certification Partners collect usage data. Some systems use cookies, as well. All of them maintain usage logs. Tracking data and usage logs are used to analyze overall system performance and diagnose technical issues.
Use of Personally Identifiable Data
Data stored in systems used by Certification Partners are generally accessible by Certification Partners employees who have need to access the information. Employees who are providing services directly to Learners, Instructors, Proctors and Customers have access to the systems where data about them is stored. They use this information to verify identity, answer questions and resolve problems. Employees may make modifications to user information stored in these systems upon request or to correct errors or omissions. Employees may generate additional information in these systems, such as creating orders, processing credit card payments, delivering access to courseware and exam content, etc.
Inquiries from financial institutions, audits, or regulatory compliance may require us to provide reports of information stored in our systems.
Retention of Personal Data
Due to the transactional nature of most information collected by Certification Partners, most data is permanently stored and retained indefinitely, unless explicitly requested otherwise.
Courseware: Access to courseware is a subscription and is available for a limited period of time, usually one year. After a subscription terminates, user data is retained for up to one year, and then may be archived and deleted. Certification Partners may archive certificates, for long term reference and reporting to customers.
Exams: CIW exam history and related learner profile information is retained permanently.
Certifications: CIW certification history is retained permanently in our internal databases. Some CIW certifications expire after a period of time. However, record that the certification was awarded is and will be retained, even after the period of validity has expired.
In very rare cases, a candidate may be decertified, meaning, the credential is rendered null and meaningless. However, a history and explanation of the event is retained permanently.
Customers: Financial transactions and related records are never deleted.
Transfer of Personal Data
At times, personal data may be transferred between systems used by Certification Partners. Specifically, the testing systems that deliver CIW (and partner) exams to candidates, directly transfer exam result data, and personal candidate information to the credential management system.
Disclosure of Personal Data
Certification Partners does not sell or share personally identifiable information to third parties.
Learners/Course progress: Upon request, Certification Partners employees may generate reports on selected learner progress in subscribed courses. These reports may be provided to the education institution (who is a customer of Certification Partners), that the learners are associated with. Reports may include Learner first name, last name, Student ID, and email address, in addition to course performance data.
Candidates/Exams: Upon request, Certification Partners employees may generate reports on selected learner/exam performance. These reports may be provided to the education institution (who is a customer of Certification Partners), that the learners are associated with. Reports may include Learner first name, last name, email address, and Student ID values, in addition to exam performance data.
Candidates/Certifications: Upon request, Certification Partners employees may generate reports on selected learner/certifications earned. These reports may be provided to the education institution (who is a customer of Certification Partners), that the learners are associated with. Reports may include Learner first name, last name, email address, and Student ID values in addition to the certificate and exam data.
Note: The CIW Certification Agreement includes statements that permit Certification Partners to provide proof of certification to independent third parties who provide personally identifiable candidate information (first name, last name and/or email address). This is typically in response to processing job applications or admission to educational institutions. All CIW candidates must accept the terms of the CIW Certification Agreement when launching a CIW exam.
Customers/Financial transactions: Certification Partners does not disclose information about customers to third parties.
Information about candidate learners may be suppressed or deactivated in selected systems, upon request of customer (school district, college or similar entity). User profiles can be deactivated so that they are hidden from further exposure. Certification Partners must receive written request that cites the exact profiles to be processed. Student ID values can be substituted for names. Note that it is not physically possible full delete a profile if there is one or more completed exam result associated with that profile. Deactivation hides the profile from further access by customer users (Proctors, School Administrators, District Administrators).
Security of your Personal Data
Certification Partners takes all reasonable precautions to safeguard the security of personal data stored in our systems. Our contracts with third party service providers include extensive data privacy and security clauses.
Children’s Privacy
Certification Partners does not have a minimum age requirement for candidates to take CIW or other exams. Many of our content programs are specifically designed for learners as young as 10 years old. Underage candidates and the Instructors and Proctors supervising them, have options to protect their students’ privacy. Proctors can use district-issued email address in student profiles for both courseware and certification testing. Proctors can retrieve certificates for students on their behalf. Proctors can also use a form to request parental consent for underage minors to accept the terms of the CIW Certification Agreement at the start of all CIW exams.
Links to Other Websites
Certification Partners contracts with third parties to provide services. Each of these organizations also maintain their own Privacy Policies.
• Learning Management System (LMS) (uCertify): https://www.ucertify.com/about/privacy.html
• Certification Testing (Certiverse): https://enterprise.certiverse.com/privacy-statement
• Credentialing service (Accredible): https://www.accredible.com/trust-center
Opting Out of Communications from Certification Partners
Due to the transactional nature of most information collected by Certification Partners, it is permanently stored and retained indefinitely. To effectively provide service to our customers, we generally request users provide valid email addresses and other contact information. Learners, Instructors and Candidates can opt out of receiving promotional communications from Certification Partners. Certification Partners employees can modify user profile information to remove or change email and contact information, so that users do not receive unwanted communications.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This policy may be updated from time to time, when new or different data storage systems are adopted, or when major changes to the company’s products and services are made.
Contact Us
If you have questions about how personal information is collected and used, feel free to contact us.
Certification Partners, LLC
4600 E Washington, Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ, 85034, United States
800-228-1027 Main office