Privacy Policy

We collect personal and institutional information only when you voluntarily provide it through our website or during pre-accreditation consultations and service engagements. This includes:

• Contact information submitted via our online contact form (name, email address, phone number, and message).
• Booking information submitted when scheduling a consultation through our appointment scheduling system (name, email, selected service, and preferred date and time).
• Usage and analytics data collected automatically through our web analytics platform, including pages visited, session duration, device type, and general geographic location (not personally identifiable).
• Document download activity when accessing files hosted through our document management platform.
• Institutional and organizational information shared during pre-accreditation consultations or service engagements, including but not limited to program descriptions, academic structures, operational data, and internal documentation provided voluntarily by institutional representatives. This information is treated as confidential and is used exclusively for the purpose for which it was shared.

We do not collect payment information, government-issued identifiers, or sensitive personal data through our website.

The information we collect is used exclusively for the following purposes:

• To respond to inquiries submitted through our contact form.
• To confirm, remind, and manage consultation appointments.
• To create and manage lead records in our CRM system for follow-up on accreditation or consulting inquiries.
• To improve our website experience using aggregated, anonymized analytics data.
• To send occasional marketing communications, including service updates, events, and educational opportunities, when you have provided consent.
• To evaluate, support, and provide pre-accreditation consulting services to institutions that voluntarily share organizational information with us.

We will never sell, rent, or share your personal or institutional information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

The ED Council uses third-party technology platforms to power its website and service operations. These providers may collect or process personal data on our behalf as part of service delivery. The following categories of tools are currently in use, along with the specific providers at the time of this policy's effective date:

• Contact form and data collection: Zoho Forms
• Appointment scheduling and booking management: Zoho Bookings
• Customer relationship management (CRM): Zoho CRM
• Unified platform and single sign-on (SSO): Zoho One
• Web analytics: Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
• Document hosting and file delivery: Google Drive

The specific providers listed above are subject to change as The ED Council's technology stack evolves. In all cases, The ED Council will only engage technology providers that maintain adequate data protection standards. Each provider's privacy practices are governed by their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review. The ED Council has configured all platforms in use in accordance with applicable data protection standards.

You may opt out of web analytics tracking by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on or by declining analytics cookies when prompted by our cookie consent banner.

The ED Council retains personal and institutional information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the specific purpose for which it was collected, comply with applicable legal obligations, or support legitimate ongoing business operations. The following retention periods apply:

• Contact form submissions: retained for a maximum of 24 months from the date of submission, after which they are securely deleted or anonymized unless an active service relationship exists.
• CRM lead records: retained for up to 36 months from last meaningful interaction. Records associated with active accreditation or consulting engagements are retained for the duration of the engagement plus 36 months.
• Consultation booking records: retained for 12 months following the scheduled consultation date.
• Institutional and organizational information shared during consultations: retained only for the duration of the service engagement and deleted or returned upon conclusion, unless a longer retention period is required by law or mutually agreed upon in writing.
• Analytics data: subject to the data retention settings of our analytics platform, configured by The ED Council to the minimum period necessary for operational analysis.

Upon expiration of the applicable retention period, data will be securely deleted or rendered permanently anonymized. You may also request early deletion of your data at any time by contacting us at info@theedcouncil.org.

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Request deletion of your personal data.
• Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.
• Opt out of email communications by clicking 'Unsubscribe' in any marketing email.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@theedcouncil.org.

The ED Council shall not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations under this Privacy Policy or its related services where such failure or delay results from causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, natural disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, epidemics or pandemics, government-imposed restrictions or orders, power or telecommunications outages, cyberattacks or third-party service disruptions (including disruptions to any technology provider integrated with our services), labor disputes, civil unrest, or any other event that could not have been reasonably anticipated or prevented.

In the event of a force majeure occurrence, The ED Council will make reasonable efforts to notify affected users as promptly as practicable and to restore normal operations in a timely manner. The ED Council's obligations shall be suspended for the duration of the force majeure event.

For any privacy-related questions, data requests, or concerns, please contact: