AEEC Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 7, 2025

Introduction

American Education Economic Commission (“AEEC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a U.S.-based non-profit organization committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information when you use our website (www.aeec.us) or otherwise interact with us. It also outlines your rights regarding your data and how you can contact us with any questions or requests. We adhere to applicable U.S. privacy laws and best practices, including principles of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) where relevant, to ensure your information is handled responsibly and transparently.

By using our site or providing us with personal information, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the website. We may update this Policy from time to time (see Changes to This Policy below), and we encourage you to review it periodically.

Collection of Personal Information

We collect personal data from you in a few different ways, including information you provide directly, and data collected automatically:

• Information You Provide to Us: When you interact with AEEC online, you may provide certain personal information:
  • Contact Forms: If you reach out via our contact forms or other inquiry forms, we collect information such as your name, email address, phone number, and any information you include in your message.
  • Donations: On our donation pages, you may provide your name, contact information, and payment details (e.g. credit card number, billing address). Payment information is processed by our payment processor (see Third-Party Services below).
  • Newsletter Sign-ups: If you subscribe to our newsletter or email updates, we collect your name and email address (and any other information you submit as part of the sign-up) in order to send you our latest news and updates.
• Information We Collect Automatically: Like most websites, our site gathers some information automatically when you visit:
  • Usage Data: We may collect technical data such as your IP address, browser type, device information, and browsing actions on our site (e.g. pages viewed, time spent). This data is generally collected via cookies or similar tracking technologies as described in Cookies and Analytics below.
  • Cookies: Our website uses “cookies,” which are small text files stored on your device, to remember your preferences and track your use of the site. Cookies help us provide a better experience (for example, by keeping you logged in or remembering preferences) and to analyze how our site is used.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Our website and services are intended for general audiences and not directed to children. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), if we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information as soon as possible​. If you believe a child under 13 may have provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can take appropriate action.

Use and Storage of Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the purposes described below, and we retain it only as long as necessary to fulfill those purposes or as required by law. Specifically, AEEC may use your information to:

• Provide and Improve Services: We use contact information to respond to your inquiries, questions, and requests. For example, if you contact us via a form, we will use your information to reply or provide the information you requested. We may also use data to improve our website, programs, and services based on user feedback and usage patterns.
• Process Donations and Transactions: If you donate to AEEC, we use your personal information to process your donation, issue confirmation and tax receipts, and fulfill our legal and financial obligations as a tax-exempt organization​. Your payment information is used only for the purpose of completing the transaction and record-keeping. (Note: We do not use your payment details for any purpose other than processing your donation and related legal compliance.)
• Send Newsletters and Updates: If you signed up for our newsletter or opted to receive updates, we will use your email (and possibly your name) to send you our newsletter, announcements about our work, upcoming events, or fundraising campaigns. We use a third-party email service to manage our mailing list and send these communications​. Each email will include an option to unsubscribe, allowing you to opt out of future emails at any time.
• Administration and Analytics: We may use automatically collected data (like IP addresses and cookies) to administer the site, monitor usage and traffic patterns, and gather broad demographic information about our user base. For instance, we use this data to understand which pages are most visited or to detect and fix technical issues. This helps us improve the website’s functionality and content over time.
• Legal Compliance and Protection: We may use or retain your information as needed to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and accounting requirements. For example, we keep donation records for financial reporting and IRS compliance. We may also use your information to enforce our website’s Terms of Service, to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and to respond to lawful requests by public authorities.

Data Retention: We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described above or as required by law. This means, for example, that contact form inquiries may be kept until we have fully addressed your questions or for a reasonable period for follow-up; newsletter subscription data is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it; and donation records are retained as long as needed for tax and accounting purposes. We follow data minimization principles, limiting the collection, use, and retention of personal information to what is reasonably necessary for our legitimate purposes​. When personal information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it.

Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience on our website and to collect analytics information:

• Cookies: As noted, cookies are small data files placed on your device. AEEC uses cookies to remember your settings and preferences and to collect anonymous usage data (such as which pages are visited). Some cookies are session cookies that disappear when you close your browser, while others are persistent cookies that remain for a period of time or until deleted​. Persistent cookies may be used for things like recognizing you on a return visit or compiling aggregate statistics about site traffic.
• Analytics: We use third-party analytics tools (for example, Google Analytics) to understand how visitors find and use our website. These tools may use cookies and scripts to collect information about your device and browsing, such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on pages​. This information is provided to us in aggregate form (e.g., overall website usage reports) and helps us evaluate how our site is performing and where we can improve. The data collected through our use of Google Analytics is subject to Google’s own Privacy Policy​. We do not receive personally identifying information through analytics — we only see aggregated statistics.
• Your Choices for Cookies: Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. You are free to disable or delete cookies in your browser settings; however, please note that some parts of our site may not function properly if cookies are disabled. For example, certain preferences might not be remembered. By continuing to use our site without disabling cookies, you consent to our use of cookies as described in this policy​.

If you do not want Google Analytics to use your data, Google provides an opt-out browser add-on you can install. Additionally, if we ever use any other analytics or tracking tools, we will provide a way for you to opt out or not be tracked by those tools as required by law. We do not currently honor “Do Not Track” signals, and treat all visits the same, because there is no consistent standard for DNT across browsers (California law (CalOPPA) requires us to state this).

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

AEEC respects your privacy. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third parties​. Your information is used only for our organization’s purposes as described in this Policy. We may disclose (share) your personal data with certain trusted third parties, but only in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: We share personal information with third-party service providers and partners who assist us in operating our website and conducting our activities, solely for the purposes of providing their services to us. For example:
  • Payment Processors: If you donate online, your payment information (such as credit card number) is collected and processed by our authorized payment processor (e.g., a credit card processing company or donation platform). We do not store your credit card information ourselves, and all credit card transactions are transmitted securely to the payment processor​. These third-party payment services are Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and are obligated to protect your information. They will only use your data as necessary to process the donation or comply with legal requirements​. Please note that your payment information is handled under the privacy policy of the payment processor; we encourage you to review the processor’s privacy policy for details on their data practices​.
  • Email Marketing Provider: If you subscribe to our newsletter, your name and email address may be stored with our email marketing service (for example, Mailchimp or a similar provider) that we use to manage our mailing list. This provider helps us send out emails and manage subscriptions​. They are not permitted to use your email for any purpose other than sending AEEC communications on our behalf. You can unsubscribe at any time, as noted above, and our email provider will process that unsubscription.
  • Cloud Storage and IT Providers: We may use secure cloud storage services or database hosting providers to store data (including your personal information) on our behalf. Any such providers are bound by contracts to keep your data secure and confidential, and to use it only for providing their services to us​.
  • Analytics Services: As described, we use Google Analytics and similar analytics services which will collect usage information and analytics on our behalf​. These analytics providers act as our data processors for analytics purposes.
• Legal Compliance and Protection: We may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is required to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request. For example, we might have to provide information in response to a subpoena, court order, or audit. We may also share information if necessary to investigate or protect against fraud, security issues, or harm to the rights, property, and safety of AEEC, our users, or the public.
• Organizational Transfers: In the unlikely event that AEEC undergoes a major business transaction such as a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or transfer of assets, personal information in our possession may be transferred to the successor or affiliated organization as part of that transaction. If this happens, we will ensure that your information remains protected by this Privacy Policy or a policy with comparable privacy protections, or we will seek your consent where required by law.

Aside from the situations above, we do not disclose your personal information to any third parties. In particular, we do not share or sell your personal data to other organizations for their own marketing or fundraising purposes​. AEEC treats your personal information with care and confidentiality. Any service providers or partners who process data on our behalf are contractually obligated to safeguard your information and use it only for the purposes we specify.

Data Security

We have implemented reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. This includes using encryption (e.g., HTTPS secure connections) for data transmission on our site, limiting access to personal data to authorized staff and service providers, and maintaining policies and training to ensure your information is handled safely. Our third-party processors (for payments, etc.) are required to follow industry security standards such as PCI-DSS for handling credit card data​.

While we strive to protect your information, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data. You should also take care with how you handle and disclose your personal information and avoid sending sensitive information via unencrypted channels. If we become aware of a data breach that compromises your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law.

Your Rights and Choices

You have certain rights and choices regarding your personal information. AEEC is committed to respecting your rights and enabling you to control your data. These rights may vary depending on applicable law (for example, California residents have specific privacy rights under the CCPA), but we extend the following core rights to all our users:

• Access and Correction: You have the right to request information about the personal data we hold about you and to request a copy of that information. You also have the right to request that we correct or update any inaccurate or incomplete personal information. If you have created any accounts with us (if applicable) or subscribed to our communications, you may update certain information by contacting us.
• Deletion (Right to Erasure): You may request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you. Upon verified request, we will delete your information from our records, unless an exception applies (for example, if we are legally required to keep certain data, such as donation records for tax reporting, or if the data is needed to complete an ongoing transaction). If complete deletion is not possible (e.g., information stored in backups), we will anonymize or secure the data and isolate it from active use.
• Opt-Out of Communications: If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter or promotional communications, you can opt out at any time. The easiest way is by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any email you receive from us, which will remove you from our mailing list​. You may also contact us directly (see Contact Us below) to request removal. Please note that even if you opt out of marketing emails, we may still send you transactional or administrative messages (for example, a donation receipt or responses to inquiries) as those are not promotional.
• Data Portability: To the extent applicable, you can request a copy of the personal information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. Where required by law, you may also request that we transmit that data to another service provider (when technically feasible).
• Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal information based on your consent (for example, you consented to receive our newsletter), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, and it will not affect processing of your personal information under other legal bases (for instance, processing donations you made).
• Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights. This means we will not deny you our services, charge you a different price, or provide a different quality of service just because you exercised your rights regarding your personal data​. We value your privacy too much to ever penalize you for taking control of your information.

California Privacy Rights: If you are a California resident, you are entitled to certain additional rights under the CCPA (as amended by the CPRA). These rights (some of which overlap with the general rights above) include the right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose, the right to request deletion of your personal information, the right to correct inaccurate information, the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information, and the right to equal service and price even if you exercise your privacy rights​. Please note that the CCPA currently does not generally apply to non-profit organizations like AEEC​. However, we have chosen to voluntarily extend key privacy rights to our supporters and website users in the interest of transparency and trust. Additionally, we do not sell personal information as defined under CCPA​, and we do not share your information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes. Therefore, the CCPA right to opt out of sale or sharing is not applicable to AEEC’s data practices (since we engage in no such activity), and you should not need to submit a “Do Not Sell” request​. If this ever changes in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide a clear method for you to exercise opt-out rights. California residents who wish to exercise their rights of access, deletion, or correction (or any other rights under applicable law) can do so by contacting us as described below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests, as required by law, to protect your privacy and security.

To exercise any of your rights or choices described above, please contact us using the information in the Contact Us section. We will respond to legitimate requests within the timeframe required by law (for example, within 45 days for CCPA requests, with the possibility of a 45-day extension). If we cannot fulfill your request, we will provide an explanation subject to legal restrictions. For instance, if you request deletion of data that we are required to keep for legal reasons, we will tell you that we cannot delete that information and the reason why.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or to ensure compliance with relevant laws. If we make material changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on this website with a new effective date, and we may notify you by email or by a prominent notice on our site prior to the change becoming effective, as appropriate. Any modifications will be effective once the updated Policy is posted to our site (unless otherwise stated). We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information on our privacy practices. Your continued use of the website after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact us:

American Education Economic Commission (AEEC)
Email: contact@aeec.us
Mailing Address: 2001 L Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036, United States

We will be happy to answer your questions or address any issues you may have. If you are contacting us to exercise your privacy rights, please provide sufficient information for us to verify your identity (such as your name, contact information, and the nature of your request). We value your privacy and will respond as promptly as we can.

Thank you for trusting AEEC. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to safeguarding your personal information in accordance with this Policy and applicable laws.