Security & Privacy Policy
The Grow Network/McGraw–Hill is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for its users, and to protecting the privacy of the students whose information we report. As part of The McGraw–Hill Companies, we are committed to adhering to the comprehensive Security and Privacy Policy set forth at http://www.mcgraw–hill.com/privacy.html and the comprehensive Privacy Notice set forth below.
Be aware that once you leave the Grow Network’s websites, your user experience will be governed by the security and privacy policies of the website you go to.
Maintaining Site Security
Educational information requires the highest level of authorized access protection, and The Grow Network® knows that our users demand nothing less. Although no system can ever be fully protected against every possible hazard, we are committed to using industry–proven technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect against the loss, unauthorized access, destruction, misuse, modification, and improper disclosure of educational information. Among other steps, our systems are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week using sophisticated software and highly trained personnel.
You should also know that The Grow Network is committed to the absolute protection of all educational information. Under our agreements with our customers, we may not distribute identifiable information about students or educators to anyone except as authorized by our customers themselves.
In addition, The Grow Network strictly prohibits users from permitting unauthorized individuals to see the information on our websites. The Grow Network will terminate the access rights of users who violate this rule.
To protect the security of information about our users and individual students, we employ Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology when transmitting confidential student data on our websites. SSL is the state–of–the–art technology that is used to ensure the safety of credit–card transactions on major retail websites.
Although The Grow Network is committed to maintaining the integrity of our websites, no system can be guaranteed to be safe. Also, remember that you play an important role in maintaining security. Please sign out of your Grow Network password–protected account and close your browser window when you have finished your work.
Ensuring the Privacy of Our Users
The Grow Network believes that all users of our websites are entitled to the highest level of privacy protection. Because we take this commitment seriously, we have established policies and protocols concerning all aspects of our services.
The Grow Network collects certain information about all of our users, including which areas of our websites are visited most frequently. With this data, we can work with our customers to determine which aspects of our websites are most beneficial and how we can improve the users’ experience.
The Grow Network records our users’ IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our websites. (An IP address is a number assigned to your computer whenever you use the Internet.) We will use IP addresses only when we feel it is necessary to enforce compliance with our rules or terms of service, to protect the integrity of our services, or to monitor aggregate usage trends.
People may communicate with The Grow Network by phone or e–mail to ask questions, request assistance, make suggestions, or apply for employment. We collect names, contact information (such as addresses, phone numbers, and e–mail addresses), and other information about people who communicate with us, so that we can follow up with them effectively.
We do not to disclose e–mail addresses or other contact information from our visitors to parties outside of The McGraw–Hill Companies. Occasionally, and subject to applicable laws, The Grow Network also makes our customers’ names and e–mail addresses and other similar contact information available to other businesses within The McGraw–Hill Companies, so that they can inform you about other products and services that may interest you. If at any time you would like your name removed from lists that are shared for these purposes, please contact us at the postal or e–mail address listed below. This information will be maintained in a secure database in the U.S. and accessed only by authorized employees. In addition, we may provide name, contact information, and other information from these communications to our customers directly; in reasonable response to a search warrant, subpoena, or other legal process; in special cases when we believe that doing so is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to The Grow Network, its users, or others; or as needed as a precaution against liability. Also, we may utilize information from communications by users as set forth in the Terms of Service.
The use of cookies is common on Internet sites, and you will find them used on our sites as well. Cookies are pieces of information sent to your web browser. If you wish to turn off cookies on your browser, you may do so without losing application functionality. We do not use cookies to track users’ behavior when they leave our websites.
In order to change these cookie preferences, you must change your browser’s preferences to disable cookies or delete cookies. Please note that disabling cookies for some services may affect the ability to use that service. Security information is specific to each browser and operating system. Please check with your browser’s specific company for more information. Some examples of how to change your browser’s preferences are as follows: In Internet Explorer (versions 6 and up), this option is listed under Tools > Internet Options > Privacy. The setting has to be set to Block All Cookies; In Netscape (versions 7 and up), this option is listed under Edit > Preferences > Privacy & Security > Cookies. The Disable Cookies button should be checked.
Our websites are intended for educators and parents/guardians respectively. Children also may access certain websites, such as www.growparents.com, but we encourage parents/guardians to supervise children’s use of this and other websites.
Questions and Other Matters
If we decide to change our Security and Privacy Notice, we will post the changes here. The Grow Network may choose to post updates to this notice from time to time, and these updates will become effective immediately. You can be assured that our commitment to the integrity of our websites and the privacy of our users will never change.
If you have questions about our privacy practices or if you would like to exercise your right to access and correct the accuracy of your information, please send a request to:
Privacy Official
The Grow Network/McGraw–Hill
2 Penn Plaza, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10121
Thank you for visiting the Grow Network.