BravoMe (“BravoMe”), was founded by PlanetBravo, LLC (“PlanetBravo, “we”, “us”, “our ) in the fall of 2006. PlanetBravo is an educational service that celebrates children's talents using the latest multimedia technology! PlanetBravo conducts after-school classes and summer camps for school children at various locations in Los Angeles, California. PlanetBravo mixes technology with entertainment!
At BravoMe, we wish to provide a fun-filled, web-based, educational network that integrates multimedia content and communications tools for students, teachers and parents. We have designed it to keep students as safe as possible in an environment that is as knowledge rich as it can be. Access to the service begins with approval from students’ teachers and, where required by law, permission by the students’ parents.
Everything outlined below is designed to help users understand how we handle the information that they choose to share and to help parents feel more at ease, more confident and more informed about letting their kids explore the digital classroom that we have created here.
Privacy Policy
By using, accessing or browsing BravoMe, you are committing that you accept the practices that are set forth below. BravoMe.com is designed to provide a positive and secure online experience for students and those who care for them. Our service follows guidelines provided by The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (referred to as COPPA).
BravoMe.com cares deeply about the online privacy of our users. If you have any questions concerning this privacy policy, please email us at privacy@BravoMe.com
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the implementing regulations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) require that, if a child is less than 13 years old (referred to here as a “Child” or “Children”), no information may be collected by any website without the consent of that Child’s parent. COPPA further states that the rule does not preclude schools from acting as intermediaries in the notice and consent process, or from serving as agents of parents. Where a school has an agency relationship with an operator that explicitly authorizes information collection, the Rule allows the operator to presume parental consent. Schools can also help to educate students and parents about online privacy issues and safe surfing practices. The FTC is currently working with the Department of Education to develop educational materials on COPPA for teachers and school administrators.
Information Collected
Teachers
The BravoMe registration process starts with a teacher signing up for an account. During this process, teachers provide us with personal information, such as their names, schools, dates of birth and their school email addresses. Once a school email address is verified, teachers may enter other personal or preference information about themselves.
Teachers may then create accounts for their students, a process which requires the teacher to import or input information about their students into our database. The information that teachers can input about their students is very limited, and will not include personal contact information such as last name, address, phone number, or email address. The information required for student registration includes student id, first name, last initial, grade level, and gender of child.
Parents
Before children under the age of 13 may begin sharing information, BravoMe requires that a parent or guardian give consent for them to do so. As of the Spring of 2007, Parents have several options to grant permission and verify their child's participation. Parents may answer four (4) contact questions OR create an account and grant BravoMe “Verifiable Parental Consent” (as per COPPA) so that their Child may participate. During the parental registration process, parents may provide us with personal information, such as their name, email address, and date of birth. One of the ways COPPA allows a website such as BravoMe.com to verify that an adult is providing consent to the Child’s participation in the service is to request the adult’s credit card information and confirm that the credit card information is correct. This is called a “Verifiable Parental Consent” however, it is not required at this time. Other “Verifiable Parental Consent” options available through BravoMe may include those already mentioned and/or: Mail or Fax-In permission form or a phone number to speak with a BravoMe representative.
Once parents have granted a Verifiable Parental Consent, they may enter other personal or preference information about themselves, interact with other parents and teachers, and monitor and review their Child’s personal information, including having it deleted and refusing to allow its further collection or use. Parents only have access to their own Children’s information, and not to the personal information of other children.
Children
Students’ identities are verified in the two-step teacher and parent process above before they can share any information. Teachers may only give BravoMe a child’s first name, last initial, grade level and gender. Students then log in and are prompted to enter their age. If they are under 13 years old and COPPA applies to them, then they cannot complete their registration without a Verifiable Parent Consent.
Once a child obtains “Verifiable Parental Consent” or is a registered user age 13 or older, then he or she may enter other personal or preference information about him or herself, such as hometown, clubs, extra-curricular involvement, favorite movie and favorite book, write a short column, or Add/Edit Journal entries. This information will be kept secure and will only be available to students and teachers in the child’s school, the child’s parents and pen pals that the child requests. “Pen Pals” are students from other schools who may exchange information with other BravoMe users only after a HANDSHAKE is performed between two schools, initiated by the administrative teachers. Parents have full control over interactions between Pen Pals (in the Parental Controls section).
Use of Personally Identifiable Information
BravoMe.com collects user-submitted personal information such as name, email address, and age to authenticate users and to send notifications to those users relating to the BravoMe.com service.
We share customer information only as described below. BravoMe.com may disclose customers’ personal information in the following situations:
In the event BravoMe.com is acquired by or merged with another company, the terms of this Privacy Policy shall continue to apply. In this event, BravoMe.com will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
Other than as set out above, you will receive notice when information about you might go to third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to share the information. BravoMe.com also reserves the right to display targeted advertisements based on personal information.
User Profile information including first names is displayed to classmates and limited groups of other users in order to facilitate user interaction in the BravoMe.com social networking community. Email addresses are used to send notifications related to the service. A user's email address is not shared or displayed to people within a user's personal network. Users within a personal network communicate on BravoMe.com with each other through the BravoMe.com service, without disclosing their email addresses. Users' full names are never directly revealed to other members by BravoMe, unless by adult (teacher or parent) choice as set in their “display preferences.” To facilitate searching and finding friends and acquaintances on the service, BravoMe.com allows users to search for other members using first and/or last name, email address, and schools where users may attend or work. Since last names are never collected for BravoMe students, searches cannot be conducted for students by last name.
We may also use a user's email address to send updates, a newsletter or news regarding the service. Users may opt out of emails of this type by following directions contained within the aforementioned email.
From time to time, BravoMe.com or a partner, may sponsor a promotion, sweepstake or contest on BravoMe.com. Users may be asked to provide personal information including name, email address or home address or to answer questions in order to participate. It will be clear at the point of collection who is collecting the personal information and whose privacy statement will apply. We may also transfer personal information to certain ad partners that you have explicitly requested to receive information from.
Use of Non-Personally Identifiable Information
When you visit BravoMe, non-personally identifiable information is collected, such as your browser type and IP address. BravoMe also uses Web cookies to help personalize the service that our users receive. A cookie is a packet of text that is sent from a web page server. Cookies are used for authenticating, tracking and maintaining information. This data is used to maintain and improve the website, provide additional security and confirm that users are logged in. They are not used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.
Non-personally identifiable information is collected for all BravoMe users, and may be shared with third-parties to provide more relevant services and advertisements to members.
This privacy policy covers the use of cookies by BravoMe and does not cover the use of cookies or other tracking technologies by any of its advertisers.
Confidentiality And Security
Except as set forth above, BravoMe.com limits internal access to your personal information to employees who we reasonably believe require this information in order to do their jobs or to provide products and services to you.
Conclusion
BravoMe.com may update this policy at any time. We will notify you about any substantive changes in the way we treat your personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address you specified in your BravoMe.com account application or by placing a notice in a prominent place on our web site. If you have further questions or suggestions regarding BravoMe.com's Privacy Policy, you can contact us at:
BravoMe.com
privacy@bravome.com
Sharing Your Information:
BravoMe helps to extend the classroom into a digital environment. We do this by allowing users to share their information with each other in a defined manner as would happen on campus. Outlined below are the ways that different users interact with each other and share information.
Teachers
When you register with BravoMe, you create your own public and private pages. Your Bravo Page information, including your name and photo are available to the teachers in your school, your students, and your students’ parents. Your name, school name and profile picture thumbnail will also be available in search results performed by teachers at other schools. This will enable teachers at other schools to send you a “Pen Pal” request; however, until you approve them, they will not be able to access your Bravo Page.
Parents
When you register with BravoMe, you also can create your own public and private pages. Your Bravo Page information, including your name and photo are available to other parents in your school, your children and your children’s teacher enabling you to interact with your digital school. Your name, school name and profile picture thumbnail will also be available in search results performed by teachers and parents at other schools. This will enable them to send you Pen Pal requests; however, until you approve them, they will not be able to access your Bravo Page.
Children
When you register with BravoMe, you too can create your own public and private pages. If you are under 13, none of your information will be available to others until you get your parent to give BravoMe consent to do so. After that, your Bravo Page information, including your first name and photo, are available to your classmates, your teachers, and your parents. Your name, school name and profile picture will also be available in search results performed by students at other schools. This will enable them to send you Pen Pal requests; however, until you approve them, they will not be able to access your Bravo Page.
Disclosure to Third Parties Outside of the BravoMe Community
BravoMe will not provide any Child’s personal information to any third party outside of the BravoMe community or any other user’s personal information to third party marketers without the user’s permission. However, we do reserve the right to share your information with third parties when necessary (1) to comply with legal requirements imposed by the courts, law enforcement agencies, the FTC or other government agencies, (2) to protect the safety of other users of our service, or (3) to enforce BravoMe’s terms of Use agreement or protect our rights.
BravoMe also reserves the right to share information and content and to transfer services to a new owner of BravoMe or PlanetBravo.
Security
BravoMe member accounts are secured with personal passwords selected and entered by the members themselves. We expect members to practice defensive measures to keep all their own account information private, and we disclaim any liability for damages caused to you or any other user by any party using your password.
Changing, Updating and Removing Information
Users may log in and change personal information at any time by accessing features like “Edit Your Bravo Page” or “My Account.” Parents have access to protect their children’s information by using the Parental Controls, and the right to remove their child from our services completely shall never be withheld.
Inform about policy changes
BravoMe reserves the right to make changes to our privacy policy. If and when we do so, we will post them on our site to make sure that our users will always be aware of how we handle the information that they impart to us. Minor changes, such as clarifications, will be effective once the member uses the site after the changes have been posted. Material changes, such as a change in the way BravoMe handles personally identifiable information, will take effect within 30 days of their posting.
Contact info
PlanetBravo, LLC
1105 Gayley Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.443.7607
privacy@bravome.com