At Vernier, we value your privacy, and we understand the need to protect and safeguard your information. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect and treat information through Vernier’s suite of applications, which includes Vernier Video Analysis®, Logger Pro™, LabQuest Viewer®, Vernier Thermal Analysis®, and the Go Direct® Sensor Companion Apps including Vernier Graphical Analysis®, Vernier Graphical Analysis® Pro, Vernier Spectral Analysis®, and Vernier Instrumental Analysis® (collectively, the “Applications”). This Privacy Notice is governed by and part of the Vernier Applications Terms of Use. 

Please note that Vernier’s Website and Platforms are governed by their own privacy notices, not this one.

You consent to our privacy practices as described in this Privacy Notice by downloading, installing, or using an Application in any manner. If you do not agree with this Privacy Notice, do not access or use our Applications. 

Summary of Privacy Practices

Our goal is always to support educators and help students, including offering the Applications to schools, school districts, and other organizations (collectively, “Schools”) with privacy in mind. We want you to have a very clear understanding of how our Applications collect, protect, and use data. Here is a summary of our privacy practices, as detailed in this Privacy Notice:

• The Applications are designed to not collect or transmit any student information to Vernier.
• Vernier does not receive any student information from the app stores where our Applications are available for download. 
• Your School determines student and educator access to the Applications, including collecting parent or guardian consent. 
• The Applications never contain advertising content. 
• Vernier will never sell or share your Personal Information (defined below) for a commercial purpose.
• Any third-party software distributed or promoted by Vernier must be designed to protect your privacy, such as only collecting the minimal Personal Information necessary to perform its functions. 
• Vernier’s contractual relationship with your School does not change our privacy promises to you. 

If you have questions about this Privacy Notice or any of our Applications, please contact us at info@vernier.com or toll free at 1-888-837-6437.

Personal Information

As used in this Privacy Notice, “Personal Information,” means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. Personal Information falls within certain categories, for example:

• Identifiers (e.g., name, email, telephone number, address, username); 

• Sensitive Personal Information (e.g., government identification number, precise geolocation, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health information, contents of messages when we are not the recipient, and in some cases, information about a known child);

• Legally protected information (e.g., race, citizenship, marital status, sex);

• Employment-related information (e.g., current or past employment);

• Non-public educational information, including information protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99);

• Biometrics (e.g., DNA, face/voice prints, health data) and audio, electronic, visual, thermal, or olfactory information;

• Commercial information (e.g., products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies); 

• Internet or other similar activity (e.g., browsing history; content interactions); and

• Inferences drawn from Personal Information to create a profile about preferences, characteristics, trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, and aptitudes. 

Not all information about you is legally protected as Personal Information. Depending on where you live, publicly available information, aggregated information (meaning data summaries or reports with Personal Information removed), employment-related information, or anonymized information (that cannot be linked back to you as an individual) may not qualify as “Personal Information.” 

Consent and Responsibility for Students

Each School that uses our Applications initiates student access to the Application and agrees to be fully responsible for all student, instructor, and other end user use of the Application. Each School that provides our Applications to students provides consent for its students to use the Application, including consent to the privacy practices described in this Privacy Notice. The School is responsible for determining and obtaining any necessary consent for students, including parental consent, that may be required under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or other applicable laws. The School, not Vernier, is responsible for obtaining any legally required end user or parent or guardian consent to use the Applications.

Applications and Personal Information

The Applications are designed to not collect any student Personal Information. In instances where Vernier might collect or receive Personal Information, it is our policy to only do so with consent, with a legitimate interest, or as authorized or required by law. We only collect, use, retain, and disclose Personal Information as adequate and relevant to provide our products and services and for the operation of our websites. 

In some cases, Vernier might collect identifiers, internet activity and related data, or other Personal Information Personal Information when end users of the Applications submit it to Vernier, for example when contacting customer support. 

Vernier’s privacy practices related to the Applications are described in more detail below:

• The Applications are designed to not collect any Personal Information and never contain advertising. 
• Vernier does not collect, process, or retain student data. The Applications do not collect, process, retain, or transmit student Personal Information to Vernier. 
• Some of our Applications allow instructors to share experiment results or other data with their students or offer a peer-to-peer data sharing feature. Vernier does not collect any data from these features. 
• Graphical Analysis Pro® and Vernier Video Analysis® do not track individual users or collect any personally identifiable info. Vernier only knows which School license is associated with a given device using these Applications. No information is captured that can track or identify the device or user.
• End Users of Vernier Video Analysis can insert a video into that Application for analysis. All videos are stored locally on the end user’s device. Vernier will never collect the video or any Personal Information that might be included as video content. Vernier is not responsible for the collection, processing, storage, or use of any Personal Information that may be included in video content.  
• If an Application end user calls Vernier for support, we may collect their name, School name, email address, and phone number. Vernier makes every effort to minimize the scope of Personal Information we collect from end users, and we only use this Personal Information as permitted by our agreement with the School or for other purposes as permitted by law. 

In addition to the specific uses described above, Vernier might also use your Personal Information to (i) monitor your compliance with any of your agreements with us; (ii) protect your privacy and enforce this Privacy Notice; (iii) if we believe it is necessary, to identify, contact, or bring legal action against persons or entities who may be causing injury to you, to us, or to others; (iv) comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or court order; or (v) fulfill any other purpose to which you consent.

Retention of Personal Information

It is Vernier’s policy to collect the minimum Personal Information necessary and retain that information for the minimum period necessary to achieve our business purposes. Vernier intends to collect no Personal Information through the Applications, and at most may collect very little Personal Information that Application end users choose to provide to us. Any Personal Information that may be collected related to the Applications will be retained for one year or less, after which we securely delete that data unless otherwise instructed by the applicable School. We reserve the right to retain data for longer periods as necessary to comply with our legal obligations.  

Disclosing Personal Information 

Vernier will only disclose Personal Information to trusted third parties as described in this paragraph, with your permission, or as required by law. Vernier collects little to no Personal Information through the Applications. Any Personal Information that may be collected related to the Applications may be disclosed to the following recipients:

• Our Service Providers. Vernier’s third-party service providers may have access to Personal Information as needed to perform their contractual obligations to us. We use a variety of service providers such as data hosting companies, analytics services, fraud prevention vendors, and payment processors. The type of information that we disclose to a service provider will depend on the service that they provide to us. We prohibit our service providers from selling or disclosing Personal Information, and we require all service providers to maintain confidentiality standards and appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of your Personal Information
• Other Third Parties, as permitted by applicable law, for example: if we go through a business transition (e.g., merger, acquisition, or sale of a portion of our assets); to comply with a legal requirement or a court order; when we believe it is appropriate in order to take action regarding illegal activities or prevent fraud or harm to any person; to exercise or defend our legal claims; or for any other reason with your consent.
• Law enforcement, and other governmental agencies, at our sole discretion in connection with an investigation of any matter that is illegal or that could expose Vernier or our affiliates or subsidiaries to liability.

Your Privacy Rights

This section provides informational notices pursuant to consumer privacy laws that require companies to inform consumers about their privacy rights, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations and its counterpart in the United Kingdom, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and U.S. state consumer privacy laws. Some of these laws may not apply to you or your use of the Application, in which case these notices are offered as a courtesy.

Vernier’s obligations under these laws are limited to the extent we collect or process your Personal Information and are subject to statutory exceptions and limitations. Some or all the protections afforded under these laws may not apply to Vernier or your use of the Applications. Please contact privacy@vernier.com if you have any questions.

Depending on where you live, your rights over your Personal Information may include some or all of the following:

• • Right to know how we collect and process your Personal Information. We have set the required notices in this Privacy Notice. We may provide you with additional notices about other ways we process your Personal Information, such as by sending you a notice via email or by other means of communication.
  • Right to reasonable expectations. You expect us to collect, use or disclose Personal Information responsibly and not for any other purpose other than which you consented. We set your expectations in this Privacy Notice, and we collect legally required consent at various stages of our interactions with you. If we collect or use your Personal Information based on your consent, we will also notify you of any changes and will request your further consent as required by law. You may withdraw your consent at any time with reasonable notice by contacting privacy@vernier.com. 
  • Right to accuracy, and the right to correct your Personal Information. If you become aware that the Personal Information that we hold about you is incorrect, or if your situation changes (e.g., change of address), please inform us and we will update our records.
  • No selling or sharing Personal Information. Some jurisdictions entitle consumers to opt out of the sale or sharing of their Personal Information or targeted advertising practices. Vernier does not sell your Personal Information or share your Personal Information with third parties for cross-contextual behavioral advertising purposes. If this changes in the future, we will update this Privacy Notice and provide you with a method to opt out. 
  • Limited use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Information. Vernier does not seek to collect sensitive Personal Information about anyone, and in no case will we use or disclose sensitive Personal Information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about a consumer. If this ever changes in the future, we will update this Privacy Notice and provide you with methods to limit use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Information. 
  • Right to not be subject to Automated Decision-Making (“ADM”) or the right to opt out of profiling. Vernier does not use automated decision-making or any form of automated processing of Personal Information to evaluate, analyze, or predict your performance, preferences, choices, or behavior. If this changes in the future, we will update this Privacy Notice and provide you with an option to exercise your privacy rights related to Personal Information processed using ADM or profiling.
  • Right to access your Personal Information. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of your Personal Information, along with details about the types of Personal Information we process, why we process it, and any third parties we work with to collect Personal Information on our behalf. We may have one or more legally valid reasons to refuse your request in whole or in part, for example, to protect the rights of other individuals. Certain laws may limit the scope or frequency of requests we must fulfill.   
  • Right to deletion or erasure (a.k.a. the “right to be forgotten”). Upon your request and where we are required to do so by law, we will delete your Personal Information. This right is not absolute, and we may be entitled to retain and process your Personal Information despite your request. If you make this request, we balance certain legal, contractual, and business interests against your right to request the deletion of your Personal Information.
  • Right to data portability. In some cases, we are required to provide your Personal Information to another organization at your request and in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format, so that the other organization can read and use it.
  • Right to restrict processing of your Personal Information. You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your Personal Information if (i) the data is inaccurate, (ii) the processing is unlawful, (iii) we no longer need the Personal Information, or (iv) you exercise your right to object. Your right to restrict may be limited to Personal Information that is sensitive in nature, or that is sold or shared for certain purposes.
  • Right to object to certain processing of your Personal Information. You may have the right to request, under certain circumstances and where we are required to do so by law, that we limit our processing of your Personal Information as you request. 
  • Right to non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights. If you are a resident of the State of California, we will not (i) deny you goods or services, (ii) charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, (iii) provide you a different level or quality of goods or services, (iv) retaliate against you as an employee, applicant for employment, or independent contractor; or (v) suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services, because you exercised your statutory right unless permitted by law.
  • Right to disclosure of certain information. You may have a right to request information about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past 12 months, such as (i) the categories of Personal Information we have collected about you; (ii) the categories of sources for the Personal Information we have collected about you; (iii) our business purpose for collecting, using, disclosing, or selling that Personal Information, as applicable; and (iv) the categories of third parties with whom we disclose that Personal Information. Vernier does not sell or share your Personal Information, but if we did you could request two separate lists stating: (a) sales, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and (b) sharing for a business purpose, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained. Certain laws may limit the number or frequency of requests we must fulfill.    

• Health Data Rights. Vernier does not collect any health data through the Applications. Some laws entitle consumers to certain details about health data collected about them, including (i) confirmation of whether the entity collects, shares, or sells the consumer’s health data and access that data, including a list of all third parties and affiliates with whom the entity has shared or sold the health data and a method to contact those third parties, (ii) a method to withdraw consent related to use of health data, and (iii) the right to have their health data be deleted. 

• Right to disclosure of marketing information. If you are a resident of the State of California, note that California’s Shine the Light Act (Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84) entitles California consumers to request certain disclosures regarding Personal Information sharing with affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your Personal Information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. If you are a resident of Switzerland, you have the right to complain to the Swiss data protection authorities. 

Consumer Privacy Requests

Students, educators, and other Application end users should contact their School with any questions or privacy requests. 

Questions to Vernier can be sent to privacy@vernier.com. To respond to an inquiry, Vernier must have sufficient information to verify that the requester is the person or an authorized representative of the person about whom we have collected Personal Information, and to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to the inquiry. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to a verifiable inquiry unless we have legal grounds to do so. If we determine that a fee is warranted, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate. We endeavor to respond to inquiries in accordance with applicable law. 

Data Security 

Vernier employs reasonable and appropriate security procedures and practices to help protect your Personal Information from unauthorized or illegal access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. The Applications are designed with data security in mind to continuously protect your data and our systems. Our security measures are appropriate to the volume, scope, and nature of the Personal Information processed and designed to meet our duty of care with respect to your Personal Information. Vernier maintains internal policies to govern the collection, processing, and handling of data, and reserves data access only for those employees who require such access to perform their job functions. We educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and privacy through standard operating procedures. We also ensure that our employees, contractors, and agents responsible for handling privacy inquiries are informed of applicable privacy law requirements and we restrict access to those who need that information to process it. Anyone with this access is subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations and may be disciplined or terminated if they fail to meet these obligations. 

Please note, however, that no transmission of data over the Internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not defeat our security measures or use your Personal Information for improper purposes. We encourage you to take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your account and device by choosing a robust password and signing off after each session. Vernier is not responsible for any lost, stolen, or compromised passwords, or for any activity on your account via unauthorized activity.

Cross-Border Data Transfers

Vernier is a United States company using technical infrastructure in the United States and other countries to provide the Applications. You are solely responsible for determining whether your use of the Applications complies with applicable laws. If your School permits you to use the Applications from outside the United States, any Personal Information processed through the Application may be transferred to, processed, stored, and used in the United States or elsewhere. When your information is moved from your home country to another country, the laws and rules governing your Personal Information may be different from those of your home country. By using the Applications, you consent to the transfer and processing of your Personal Information as described in this section.

Third-Party Software and Websites

Software and services that Vernier distributes or promotes, but did not develop, are governed by the respective software developer’s privacy notice, and Vernier has no control over their privacy practices.  

The Applications may contain links or access to websites or materials provided by a third party. Vernier includes this in the Applications as a convenience only. Vernier is not responsible for and has no ability to control the privacy and data collection, use, and disclosure practices of any third party. When you click on links that take you to external websites or third-party materials, you will be subject to their Privacy Notices and practices and not ours. You are encouraged to review and understand the Privacy Notices of such third parties.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

Vernier reserves the right to amend this Privacy Notice at any time by updating this posting without notice and revising the effective date. All changes are effective immediately when posted and apply to all access to and use of our Applications. Your continued use of our Applications following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.