Privacy Policy

Welcome to DocSCALE, a community feedback survey platform created to help learn about the social impact of public interest media. We value and respect your privacy and the information collected from you. This Privacy Policy explains what information of yours may be collected while using DocSCALE, how that information may be used, and how you can control or limit the collection and/or use of your information. DocSCALE will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that we may collect by other means, including offline or from other sources.

Independent Television Service, Inc., and its affiliates, funders, and sublicensees (hereafter collectively referred to as “ITVS,” “We,” or “Us”), use DocSCALE to conduct user surveys on the DocSCALE mobile website, which exact URL may change from time to time (hereafter collectively referred to as the “Site”). This Privacy Policy applies to the Site and any other website or online service that We operate and that links to this DocSCALE Privacy Policy.  

If applicable, you may be required to submit personal information to access portions of the Site. You are responsible for your use of the Site, for any and all content you submit to the Site (including, but not limited to, photographs, images, graphics, videos, survey responses and comments). This DocSCALE Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and forms a part of, the DocSCALE Terms of Service, which is a legally binding contract between you and ITVS (the DocSCALE Terms of Service are available here).

By using the Site, you are providing your acknowledgement of, and agreement to be bound by, this DocSCALE Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to any terms herein, do not use the Site. Your continued use or access of the Site after any updates to this Privacy Policy have been published to the Site constitutes your acceptance of any such revisions or updates.

1. Information We May Collect From You:

We may collect and store information about you when you access the Site, upload Content (as described in the Terms of Service), engage with the Site, communicate with customer service, send Us an email, or otherwise use the Site. Such information may include information that you provide to Us directly, such as:  your e-mail address; your name; your age; your gender; survey responses; comments, and poll responses you may make while using the Site; photographs, images, videos or graphics you may upload to the Site; and/or your zip code. We also may collect certain information automatically when you use our Site, such as your IP address, the duration of your use of the Site; your browser type and language, as well as other device identifiers; pages that you visit before and after using the Site, the date and time of your uses of the Site; information about the links you click and pages you view within the Site or Service, and other standard server log information. We may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect this information. By using the Site, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies. You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some or all features of the Site may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled. We also may receive information about you from other sources, including through third-party services and organizations. For example, if you access third-party services, such as Facebook or Twitter, through the Site to share information about your experience on the Site with others, We may collect information from these third-party services about you.

2. How We May Use Your Information:

We may use the information We collect from you to: create, customize, operate, maintain, or optimize the Site; facilitate use of our Site; analyze the use of and improve the Site, and related services; identify and protect against fraudulent transactions and other misuses of our Site; to enforce the DocSCALE Terms of Service; and to protect the rights and safety of Us, our funders, members, officers, employees, sublicensees, successors, and customers.

By providing your email address (including by “following,” “liking,” linking your account to the Site or Service, etc., on a third party website or network), you consent to Our using the email address to send you Site related notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by U.S. mail. You also agree that We may send you notifications of activity on the Site to the email address you provide to Us. We may use your email address to send you other messages, such as newsletters, changes to features of the Site, or other information. If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may opt out at by following the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of emails We send you, or by sending your request to docscale.support@itvs.org with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Following removal of your access to DocSCALE and/or cessation of your use of the Site (“Termination”), We may retain your information and any Content you uploaded to the Site. Furthermore, We may retain and continue to use indefinitely all Content you provided to the Site after Termination, unless otherwise prohibited by law.

3. How We May Share Your Information:

We may disclose some or all of your information with third-party partners, vendors, service providers and other users of the Site (“Third Parties”). We may share your information with these parties to help Us operate, maintain, or improve the Site; for third parties to review, evaluate, and improve their respective participation or involvement with the Site; monitoring, analyzing, reviewing and evaluating data; for ITVS and/or Third Parties to collect, aggregate and/or anonymize data from survey responses, comments and answers to poll questions; to use data in order to provide ITVS and/or Third Parties with data-driven insights collected from the Site (including feedback, identification of trends and optimization of responses); to publish any collected data and insights; and for marketing purposes and follow up communications on subjects and matters related to your use of the Site.

We may also disclose your information to investigate allegations of fraud, harassment, threats, or abuse, to protect against misuse of the Site or to otherwise protect our rights and safety, and those of our shareholders, members, employees and users/customers, including to respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, law enforcement requests, legal claims, or government inquiries. We may transfer your information in the event of a substantial corporate transaction, such as the sale of a website, merger, consolidation, asset sale, acquisition, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy. We may share your information for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time We collect the information or pursuant to your written consent. We may also share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information with third parties. If you access third-party services, such as Facebook or Twitter, through the Site to share information about your experience on the Site with others, these third-party services may be able to collect information about you, including information about your activity on the Site, and they may notify your connections on the third-party services about your use of the Site, in accordance with their own privacy policies. Please note that any content you post to the Site may be viewed by other users of the Site and through third-party services and websites. You should only provide content that you are comfortable sharing with others.  

4. Your Options:  

You have the choice to: not provide personal information directly to Us, although that may result in your inability to use the Site, or use certain features of our Site; stop receiving promotional emails or newsletters from Us by following the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of emails We send you, or by sending an email to docscale.support@itvs.org with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line (although We may continue to respond to any emails from you or to use your email for non-promotional communications); and review and update your personal information by contacting Us at docscale.support@itvs.org. You may be able to refuse or disable cookies by adjusting your web browser settings. Because each web browser is different, please consult the instructions provided by your web browser (typically in the “help” section). Please note that you may need to take additional steps to refuse or disable such technologies. If you choose to refuse, disable, or delete these technologies, some of the functionality of the Site may no longer be available to you.

5. Children’s Personal Information.

Visitors under the age of 18 are prohibited for accessing or using the Site or Service. Your use of the Site and Service constitutes your representation and warranty that you are over the age of 18. Our Site is directed to a general audience, and We do not knowingly allow visitors under the age of 18 to access or utilize the Site, nor do We knowingly collect personal information from visitors under the age of 18.  

6. Security:

We use reasonable measures to help protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. No data storage system or transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100 % secure. Please note that information collected by third parties may not have the same security protections as information you submit to Us, and We are not responsible for protecting the security of such information.

7. Third-party Sites:

 The Site may contain links to content and websites maintained by third parties that We do not control. We may allow third parties to place and read their own cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect information automatically through the sites and online services. We may also allow Third Parties to use the Content and publish the Content and related data on third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-parties or the use of any publications by Third Parties, and We recommend that you visit the privacy policies of each website that you visit.

8. International Users:

The Site is designed for and targeted to a U.S. audience and is governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of the U.S. We make no representation that the Site is operated in accordance with the laws or regulations of any other nations. By using the Site and providing Us with information, you understand and agree that your information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside your resident jurisdiction and, to the extent you are a resident of a country other than the United States, you consent to the transfer of such data to the United States for processing by Us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

9.  California Visitors:

Residents of the State of California may request a list of all third parties to which We have disclosed certain information during the preceding year for the third parties' direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and want such a list, please contact Us by sending an email to docscale.support@itvs.org. For all requests, you must put “DocSCALE” in the subject line, and you must put the statement “Your California Privacy Rights” in the body of your request and include your name, street address, city, state, and zip code. Please note that We will not accept requests via the telephone, U.S. mail, or by facsimile, and We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or that do not have complete information.

10.  Notification of Changes:

Any changes to this DocSCALE Privacy Policy will be posted to the Site and will become effective as of the date of posting. It is and will be your responsibility to review this DocSCALE Privacy Policy from time to time to make sure you are aware of any changes. Your use of the Site after any changes to the DocSCALE Privacy Policy have been posted to the Site constitutes your acceptance of any such changes.

11. Questions:

If you have any questions about this DocSCALE Privacy Policy, feel free to contact Us by email or U.S. mail at the following addresses:

docscale.support@itvs.org

(Please put “DocSCALE Privacy Policy” in the subject line)

ITVS

Attention: DocSCALE

1435 Folsom Street

San Francisco, CA 94103


Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. "education records" are those records, files, documents, and other materials which 1) contain information directly related to a student; and 2) are maintained by an educational institution. FERPA applies to all institutions or educational agencies that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education, as well as any parties acting for those institution or education agencies. If DocSCALE is conducting surveys in conjunction with your educational institution, you may have rights under FERPA.

FERPA was written specifically for students and guarantees them the right to inspect and review their education records, the right to seek to amend their education records, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from their education records.

Generally speaking, FERPA allows educational institutions, educational agencies, and third parties acting on their behalf to disclose education records or personally identifiable information from education records in the following circumstances: with the written consent of the student, if the disclosure meets one of the statutory exemptions (e.g., compliance with subpoenas and pursuant to health and safety concerns), or if the disclosure is “directory information” and the student has not placed a hold on release of directory information. If you are participating in surveys or otherwise using the Site at the direction of your educational institution, DocSCALE will obtain your informed written consent prior to the collection or disclosure of any of your information. In addition to obtaining your prior written consent before the collection or disclosure of your information, you may have additional rights under FERPA.

FERPA affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. An “eligible student” under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution. These rights include:

  1. The right to provide written consent before DocSCALE discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.  

DocSCALE may collect and disclose your information pursuant to your prior written consent. DocSCALE may discloses education records without your prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by DocSCALE or your educational institution in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of DocSCALE or your educational institution who performs an institutional service or function for which DocSCALE or your educational institution would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of DocSCALE or your educational institution with respect to the use and maintenance of personally identifiable information from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, collection agent, or a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for DocSCALE or your educational institution.

  1. The right to inspect and review your education records within 45 days after the day DocSCALE receives a written request for access from you. A student desiring to exercise this right should submit to DocSCALE a written request to docscale.support@itvs.org  that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. DocSCALE will deliver any applicable electronic records in its possession for inspection by the student.  
  2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.

A student who wishes to ask DocSCALE to amend a record shall submit a written request to DocSCALE, clearly identifying the part of the inaccurate record the student is requesting be changed, and shall also specify why it should be changed.

If DocSCALE decides not to amend the record as requested, DocSCALE will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

  1. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by DocSCALE or your educational institution to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

    Family Policy Compliance Office

    U.S. Department of Education

    400 Maryland Avenue, SW

    Washington, DC  20202

If you have any questions about your rights under FERPA as they pertain to your use of the DocSCALE platform, or if you would like to exercise your rights under FERPA, please send a written request via email to docscale.support@itvs.org  with “FERPA” included in the subject line.