Loan Consolidation

Educationaldirect.net, an Internet property of Affinity Direct, LLC (“Affinity,” “us” or “we”), has created this privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) in order to disclose our information gathering and dissemination practices. We understand the importance that Internet users place on privacy and have designed our website with this in mind. Affinity is fully committed to 100% permission-based marketing. You agree to this Privacy Policy, in its entirety, when you: 1) access or use our website located at www.educationaldirect.net (the “Website”); 2) agree to receive e-mail from us; 3) obtain, or attempt to obtain, multiple student loan consolidation quotes and/or lending services (the “Service”) from Affinity properties at this Website or at a website belonging to an affiliate of Affinity; and/or 4) register for one of our sweepstakes contests (the “Sweepstakes”).

This Privacy Policy will address the following:

1. What information this Website gathers/tracks about you.
2. What this Website does with the information it gathers/tracks.
3. With whom this Website shares the information it gathers/tracks.
4. This Website's opt-out policy.
5. This Website's policy on correcting and updating personally identifiable information.
6. This Website's policy on deactivating your name from our database.

For purposes of compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. 6802 (the “GLB Act”), the California Financial Privacy Act (“CFPA”) and the Vermont Consumer Protection Act, 8 V.S.A. 10202 (“VCPA”), this Privacy Policy shall serve as both your initial customer relationship and annual "Privacy Notice" as defined under the GLB Act, CFPA and VCPA, respectively. If you would like to opt-out from the disclosure of your personal information to any third-party for marketing purposes, please Click Here.

Information Collected

Online Registration/Application
We provide an online application and/or information request forms to process your request for Service. Understand that the information that you submit is voluntary, but required if you request student loan consolidation Service and/or enter one of our Sweepstakes, whether or not you enter into a formal application with Affinity or any affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers. Upon registration, users may be required to provide personal information on the application and/or request form including, but not limited to, the following:

1) Name
2) Gender
3) E-mail address
4) Street Address
5) Zip Code
6) Daytime Telephone Number and Nighttime Telephone Number or Cellular Telephone Number
7) Credit Card Information
8) Social Security Number
9) Birth Date
10) Reference Information
11) Driver's License Number
12) Answers to various eligibility questions, including providing information (or authorizing us to locate information) concerning your personal loan status.

The aforementioned registration/application information, together with information regarding your transactions with Affinity (which includes, but is not limited to, payment history, loan balances and parties to the various transactions) is referred to, collectively, herein as “Personal Information.” Affinity reserves the right to transfer and/or sell aggregate or group data about Affinity users for lawful purposes. Aggregate or group data is data that describes the demographics, usage or other characteristics of Affinity users as a group without disclosing personally identifiable information. Subject to applicable state and federal law, by submitting your Personal Information to, and/or using, the Website, you agree to allow Affinity to transfer and/or sell such aggregate data to third-parties. Registrants for our Sweepstakes may receive e-mail confirming their registration with Affinity, subsequent entries in our Sweepstakes, as well as promotional marketing of commercial products and services.

IP Addresses
We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer our Website. Your IP address is used to gather broad and specific demographic information as well as for validation purposes.

Cookies
We use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests, to save your password so that you do not have to re-enter it each time that you visit our Website (if you choose), and for other purposes.

Web Site Tracking Software
Web servers, or those of third-party vendors, utilize certain tracking software to capture your domain name address (the address of your Internet service provider) for purposes of tracking Website statistics. Note that we only collect information about you when you voluntarily provide that information through an application or registration, by visiting the Website request form, or some other Website activity we may provide from time to time. The capture of your domain name is a common practice among websites for measuring the number of hits, pages visited, and length of user session. We use this information to measure the effectiveness of the Website offerings in order to service you better.

Sharing of Information
In order for us, and our affiliated companies and vendors, to service your requests, process your applications, and conduct business from day-to-day, we must share your Personal Information (other than user student loan-specific financial information obtained from the National Student Loan Data System (“NSLDS”)) with other companies. These companies may include, but are not limited to, student loan consolidation service providers and lenders. We reserve the right to share this Personal Information in accordance with the terms of the GLB Act, for California State residents only, the CFPA and, for Vermont State residents only, the VCPA. For purposes of compliance with the GLB Act, CFPA and VCPA Affinity will not share “nonpublic personal information” with its affiliates or non-affiliates without providing customers with an annual “Privacy Notice” explaining that Affinity will be sharing this nonpublic personal information with affiliates or non-affiliates of Affinity and, for purposes of the GLB Act, providing customers with the opportunity to opt-out from such disclosures. For purposes of compliance with the GLB Act, CFPA and VCPA, this Privacy Policy shall serve as the annual “Privacy Notice” as defined under the GLB Act, CFPA and VCPA, respectively. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the nonpublic personal information of California State residents shall not be shared by Affinity with third-parties unless: (i) Affinity has obtained a fully executed consent acknowledgement from the applicable California resident; or (ii) the California resident already has a relationship with a nonaffiliated financial institution pursuant to, and as defined under, the CFPA. To fully execute a CFPA consent acknowledgement, please Click Here. For purposes of compliance with the VCPA, Affinity will not share “nonpublic personal financial information” (as defined in the VCPA) with third-parties without providing Vermont State residents with an annual notice explaining that Affinity will be sharing this nonpublic personal information with non-affiliated third-parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the nonpublic personal financial information of Vermont State residents shall not be shared by Affinity with nonaffiliated third-parties unless: (i) Affinity has obtained authorization from the applicable Vermont resident; provided, however, that such authorization must be in written form, or where the applicable Vermont resident agrees, electronic form; (ii) the disclosure is made to third-parties for the sole purpose of processing transactions or other related processes on behalf of Affinity; and/or (iii) the disclosure is made to third-parties that market Affinity’s own products and services to its customers. To fully execute a VCPA authorization, please Click Here.

We use the Personal Information that you supply to personalize your experience with the Website, to evaluate whether you are qualified for the Service and for verification purposes. The Personal Information that you submit to Affinity remains your property, but by submitting that Personal Information to Affinity you grant Affinity the right, subject to applicable state and federal law, to use that Personal Information for marketing purposes. Any and all student loan-specific financial information that we collect as part of your Service application, and from third-parties (including, but not limited to, the NSLDS, consumer reporting agencies, consumer credit bureaus and other outside parties as permitted or required by applicable laws) will be used to determine your eligibility for the Service and will not be shared with third-parties other than our affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers for purposes of evaluating your qualifications for student loan consolidation and provision of the Service, should you qualify. If you choose to provide information such as your Social Security Number, or authorize us to obtain your Social Security Number on your behalf, we may use that information to determine the status of your student loans by utilizing the NSLDS or for any other lawful purposes. If you do not provide such information, we may also use other information that you provided for the purpose of verifying your eligibility for student loan consolidation or for any other programs, offers, or services.

Subject to restrictions contained in applicable state and federal law, we may sell Personal Information (other than: 1) user student loan-specific financial information obtained from the NSLDS; 2) where you have opted-out from the use of such information; 3) where we have not received your authorization or met the requirements of an exception under the VCPA, if you are a Vermont State resident; and 4) where we have not received your acknowledgement and consent or met the requirements of an exception under the CFPA, if you are a California State resident;) and/or join together with other businesses to bring selected opportunities to our members. Affinity is able to offer its services to you, in part, based on your willingness to be reached by our third-party advertisers. This information may also be shared with advertisers on an aggregate basis. We also use contact information from your registration data to send you information about Affinity and to keep you informed of our other products and services that may be of interest to you. Please keep in mind, though, that Affinity does not control, and is not responsible for, the practices of our third-party advertisers. Your contact information is also used to reach you, when necessary, regarding issues concerning your use of the Website. If you wish to stop receiving future communications from us and/or third-party advertisers, or if you wish to prevent the transfer and/or sale of your Personal Information to third-parties (subject to restrictions contained in applicable state and federal law), please see the Opt-Out/Unsubscribe section below.

By submitting your e-mail address at the Website and/or submitting an application for the Service, you agree to receive multiple student loan consolidation applications from Affinity Direct and/or its corporate affiliates. You also agree that by submitting your e-mail address at the Website you may receive e-mail marketing from Affinity (including other Affinity properties), affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers and our third-party advertisers. In addition, you agree that such act constitutes a purchase, an inquiry and/or an application for purposes of the Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR §310 et seq. (the "ATSR"). With respect to the ATSR, and notwithstanding that your telephone number may be listed on the Federal Trade Commission’s Do-Not-Call List, Affinity retains the right to contact you via telemarketing in accordance with the terms of the ATSR. Moreover, by registering with, or requesting information from, an affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service provider via the Service or another third-party advertiser at or through the Website, such action shall constitute a purchase, an inquiry and/or an application with the respective affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service provider or third-party advertiser for purposes of their compliance with the ATSR and you may be contacted via e-mail, direct mail and/or telemarketing by such affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service provider or third-party advertiser in accordance with the terms of the ATSR.

Affinity reserves the right to release current or past user information and Personal Information: a) in the event that we believe that the Website and/or the Service is being or has been used in violation of the Website Terms and Conditions or to commit unlawful acts; b) if the information is subpoenaed; or c) if Affinity is sold or acquired. Moreover, you hereby consent to disclosure of any record or communication to any third-party when Affinity, in its sole discretion, determines the disclosure to be appropriate including, without limitation, sharing your e-mail address with other third-parties for suppression purposes in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, as amended from time to time.

To the extent that Affinity collects your credit card-specific information, if ever, we will use the information to process and complete any transaction that you request. Your credit card information will be encrypted and protected with SSL encryption software. In addition, by submitting your credit card information to us, you authorize Affinity to periodically verify that your credit card account continues to be a valid and active one by charging, and thereafter immediately crediting, a small sum to the card. Such verification may be conducted through a third-party and, in that case, Affinity would share your specific credit card information with this third-party for verification purposes. Apart from said uses, we will not share your credit card information with any third-parties (other than consumer credit agencies) without your prior informed consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Affinity reserves the right to share with third-parties the fact that we have credit card information on file for specific users, but we will not share your specific credit card information with third-parties without your prior informed consent.

Other Websites
This Website may contain links to other third-party owned and/or operated websites. Affinity is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. Additionally, affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers and marketing partners provide certain components of the Service. Some of these affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers and marketing partners may require the transfer of some or all of the Personal Information that you supplied to Affinity. When necessary, Affinity provides this information to the affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers and our marketing partners (subject to restrictions contained in applicable state and federal law). In some cases, you may be able to make a purchase through one of their third-party websites. In these instances, you may be required to provide certain information, such as a credit card number, to register or complete a transaction at such website. These third-party websites have separate privacy and data collection practices and Affinity has no responsibility or liability relating to them.

Third-Party Offers
Affinity provides you with the opportunity to receive special offers, products and/or services from other third-party companies. To receive such offers, products or services, certain of your Personal Information that is non-financial in nature and unrelated to student loans will be shared with such third-party companies (subject to restrictions contained in applicable state and federal law), so that they may provide their offer, product or service to you without requiring that you first complete another registration form.

Security
All collected information is stored in a technically and physically secure environment. When our registration/application process asks users to enter sensitive information (such as bank account information, Social Security Number, etc), and when we store and transmit such sensitive information, that information is encrypted and is protected with SSL encryption software. While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user information off-line. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our systems. Access to this information is strictly limited, and not accessible to the public. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example a loan specialist or a customer service representative) are granted access to Personal Information. Our employees are dedicated to ensuring the security and privacy of all Affinity user information. Employees not adhering to our firm policies are subject to disciplinary action. In compliance with applicable federal and state laws, we shall notify you and any applicable regulatory agencies in the event that we learn of an information security breach with respect to your Personal Information. You will be notified via e-mail in the event of such a breach. Please be advised that notice may be delayed in order to address the needs of law enforcement, determine the scope of network damage, and to engage in remedial measures.

Minors
Visitors under 18 years of age are not permitted to use and/or submit their personal information at our Website and are not allowed to participate in the Sweepstakes offered by Affinity. Affinity does not knowingly solicit or collect information from visitors under 18 years of age. Affinity encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children and to participate and monitor the interactive activities of their children.

Opt-Out/Unsubscribe
To stop receiving future communications from Affinity, please Click Here. To opt-out of having your information shared with third-parties, other than affiliated third-party student loan consolidation service providers, please Click Here. Affinity uses Personal Information to provide promotional offers by e-mail to individuals. Affinity may maintain separate e-mail lists for different purposes. If e-mail recipients wish to end their e-mail subscription from a particular list, they need to follow the instructions at the end of each e-mail message to unsubscribe from the particular list. To unsubscribe from all Affinity e-mail lists, please Click Here.

Changes in Privacy Policy
Affinity reserves the right to change or update this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a notice at the Website explaining that we are changing our Privacy Policy. If the manner in which we use Personal Information changes, Affinity will notify its users by posting the changes on the Website and sending out an e-mail notification to its customers notifying them of the changes, and providing them with the opportunity to opt-out of the provisions relating to the transfer of their Personal Information. Other than where the user opts-out, and other than where affirmative consent is required for California residents and Vermont residents, the user's continued use of the Affinity service and/or continued receipt of Affinity e-mails constitutes an affirmative acknowledgement and acceptance by the user of the modified Privacy Policy.

Correct/Update
Personal Information supplied to Affinity during registration can be modified by: 1) logging in to your Affinity account; 2) clicking on User Settings; or 3) modifying any of the desired fields.

Contacting the Website
Our "About Us" page contains information that allows you to contact us directly with any questions or comments that you may have. We listen to or read every message sent in and endeavor to reply promptly to each one. This information is used to respond directly to your questions or comments. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices of Affinity, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-895-1911 or at info@educationaldirect.net