Grad Team knows that privacy matters. We've created a website with a strict privacy policy in order to keep your trust. Read on to learn more about the types of information we collect, how the information is collected, how it is used, and how users can restrict its use or disclosure.

Grad Team has placed specific limitations on the collection of and use of your personal data.

We will collect and store your personal information in order to provide Grad Team information resources and services to you. Matching you with scholarships, financial information or job search services for which you are potentially eligible cannot happen without this collection and storage of personal data.

However, we will not, without your explicit permission, use your personal data for purposes beyond those just described as necessary to the Grad Team services search process. Unless you have given us explicit permission to do so, we will not resell, distribute, or share your personal data with third parties.

In order to use this website, a user must first complete a Registration Profile. During registration, a user is required to give their contact information (first and last names, email address, etc.). This information is used to contact the user about the services on our site.

It is also necessary for the user to provide additional personal data throughout the site while completing the Registration Profile as the profile allows Grad Team to customize and personalize search results for our users. Personal information (such as income level, gender, etc.) and unique identifiers (such as date of birth), is collected so we can provide our services and produce quick and accurate results for you.

We may request information from the user on a transaction page. A user must provide contact information (like name and address for address verification purposes) and financial information (like credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes. If we have trouble processing an order, the user's contact information is also used to get in touch with the user.

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Grad Team does not use cookies, nor do we have plans to implement such technology in the future. Some of our business partners may use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.

We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

We may share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person.

We may use a credit card processing company to bill users for services. This company is prohibited from retaining, sharing, storing or using personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

We may also share the information that you voluntarily entered, if you explicitly give us permission to do so through the OPT-IN section of your profile. For OPTED-IN users only: We may make your information available to our carefully selected list of partners. These are reputable companies and organizations that provide products and services that are useful and of interest to students and parents.

This web site contains links to other sites. Although Grad Team cannot be responsible for the accuracy or the privacy practices of other sites, we encourage our users to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. The Grad Team privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.

Our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and users have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (age level). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site.

If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend's name and email address. Grad Team will automatically send the friend an email inviting them to visit the site. The friend may contact Grad Team at info@gradteam.com to request the removal of this information from our database at any time.

This website takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, that information is protected both online and off-line.

We use our own SQL Server not a shared one. Any sensitive data, such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc. will not be stored permanently online. When filling out any online loan or consolidation application we use our secure SSL certificate via our sister site, www.alsstudentloans.com, so all sensitive data transmitted is encrypted. Because our site may require electronic or credit card transactions, we have taken steps to ensure that your transactions will be secure. All of the customer information we gather is protected against unauthorized access.

We also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. 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 are granted access to personally identifiable information. All employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every quarter, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our customers' information is protected. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment with limited key-only access.

If you have any questions about the security at our website, you can send an email to info@gradteam.com.

We send all new users a welcoming email to verify their username and to explain the login process. We also send users site and service announcement updates, newsletters, and other appropriate email messages. Users are able to opt-out from site and service announcements and other emails by changing their email preferences on the unsubscribe page. We communicate via email with users to provide requested services and for issues relating to their profiles. And for users who have given us explicit permission to do so, we send out customized email offers on behalf of our partners.

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done by updating your E-Profile on the website. Because we want to protect you from the loss, misuse and/or alteration of the information under our control, we have authorized only you to update your profile. Please respect this security measure and refrain from sharing your password information to another party.

Grad Team will not knowingly collect any personal information from or allow the registration of students under the age of 13. Parents should monitor and be involved with their child's Internet usage to prevent them from disclosing personal information or from accessing inappropriate sites.

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes online so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of an email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. This privacy policy contains the following information:

1. What personally identifiable information of yours or third party personally identification is collected from you through the web site
2. The organization collecting the information
3. How the information is used
4. With whom the information may be shared
5. What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information
6. The kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under Grad Team control
7. How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

If you feel that we are not abiding by this posted privacy policy, you should contact the operations department of Grad Team by sending an email to info@gradteam.com.