Disclosure
Paradigm knows that privacy is important to its clients. Your privacy is important to us as well. We have developed this Privacy Policy in order to help you understand how we collect, process and share your data as you utilize Paradigm’s Sites and Services. Paradigm cannot govern websites that are not under our direct control, so this privacy policy only applies to your Personal Data as it relates to your use of Paradigm and its Sites and Services.
Please review this Privacy Policy in its entirety to fully understand the choices available to you regarding the retention and use of your Personal Data.
What Personal Data does Paradigm collect?
Depending on the type of Paradigm service or site you are using, we may collect or use one or more of the following:
Reservation Information
End Users whose Organization(s) offers the CeDiploma®, CeCertificate®, CeCredential™ or other Certified Electronic documents offered by Paradigm Inc., may be presented with the ability to pre-register and reserve their credential before it becomes readily available. The Personal Data that we collect during the reservation process is used to send notification of availability of the credential. We may require you to provide us with your name and email address during the reservation process. You may need to provide additional Personal Data to use other aspects of the CeCredential Trust Service.
Registration Information
End Users whose Organization(s) offers the CeDiploma®, CeCertificate®, CeCredential™ or other Certified Electronic documents offered by Paradigm Inc., may be presented with the ability to register an account with the CeCredential Trust Site and/or Services. The Personal Data that we collect during the registration process will be used to send notification of availability of new credentials, Sites, Services or features as they apply to CeCredential Trust or the authorizing Organization (for example, a University or Association). The information collected may include name, address, phone number, email address and/or information associated with identity (such as a driver’s license or passport).
Payment Transaction Information
End Users whose Organization(s) offers the CeDiploma®, CeCertificate®, CeCredential™ or other Certified Electronic documents offered by Paradigm Inc., may select their credential(s) for purchase on the CeCredential Trust website. To finalize payment, Users are transferred to PayPal (www.paypal.com) in order to complete the purchase process. Paradigm does not collect, store or process sensitive payment data. However, Paradigm may collect transaction numbers, payment status information and additional, non-sensitive Personal Data related to your transaction in order to help communicate support options and assist in resolving issues related to your purchases.
Why does Paradigm retain my Personal Data?
Paradigm retains Personal Data for legitimate business purposes and to meet Federal, State, Local and other legal and regulatory requirements. Due to the nature of certain products (CeDiploma®, CeCertificate®, CeCredential™ and other Certified Electronic documents offered by Paradigm Inc., Paradigm may retain your information indefinitely in order to fulfill its requirements to its clients and their End Users. In the event that Paradigm receives a request from authorized sources to shut down access to an individual or organizational account or service, Paradigm may mask any information related to that account, but may continue to retain any information that we are permitted to retain by law.
Why is Paradigm processing my Personal Data?
Paradigm obtains information from universities, colleges and other organizations in order to produce documents, both physical and electronic and for the distribution of those credentials. The following list contains the potential uses for your Personal Data:
- For production and distribution of paper and/or electronic documents
- For notification of credential availability
- For personalization of Sites and Services offered by CeCredential Trust and Paradigm.
- For display of credential information to recipients or validating entities of the CeDiploma® and other CeCredential products.
- For the creation and update of your User account on Paradigm Sites and Services
- For correction or update of documents (paper and electronic)
- To communicate with you when offering support options and to assist in resolving issues
- To meet regulatory and legal requirements
- To meet business needs and financial requirements
- To allow the purchase of products and services offered by Paradigm, Inc. and/or CeCredential Trust
- For marketing of Paradigm products and services
- To respond to email, phone or other communications initiated by you
- To manage authentication and security related to your use of Paradigm Sites and Services
Does Paradigm share my Personal Data?
Paradigm may share your Personal Data for a number of reasons. The following list details how your data may be shared:
- Paradigm may share your information with the organization that requested the production of your credential.
- Paradigm may share your information with state, local or federal agencies or other entities as required by law.
- Paradigm may share your information with payment processors to allow you to complete a purchase.
- Paradigm may share your information within our organization in order to produce documents
- Paradigm may share your information with vendors working on our behalf.
- Paradigm may share your information to protect lives.
- Paradigm may share your information to protect your interests.
- Paradigm may share your information to protect property, legal rights or Services.
- Paradigm may share your information to investigate fraudulent use or other misuse of its Sites and Services.
How can I gain access to/remove my Personal Data?
Paradigm knows that privacy is a top concern. When it comes to your Personal Data, you have choices when it comes to the data we collect and how we use it. Your choices depend on how the data was submitted to Paradigm.
Personal data submitted to Paradigm by a client organization as part of a User Account setup
If your Personal Data was submitted to Paradigm by one of our client organizations as part of their User Account setup process, this means that the information may be subject to the processes and policies of your organization. Please contact the organization account administrator to find out how you can gain access to and/or remove your information. Paradigm cannot remove this information without prior authorization from the administrator of the client organization responsible for the account.
Personal Data submitted to Paradigm by a client as part of a document order
If your Personal Data was submitted to Paradigm directly through an order from one of our client organizations or their authorized representatives, you will need to contact the organization directly in order to update, change or gain access to this information.
Personal Data submitted to Paradigm by an End User through the CeCredential Trust® reservation
End Users are not required to reserve their CeDiploma prior to its availability. However, if you submitted your Personal Data to Paradigm directly through the reservation form, you may send an email to [email protected] to request removal of your information from our systems. Please note that this relates to the CeCredential Trust reservation page only.
Personal Data submitted to PayPal by an End User through the CeCredential Trust site
PayPal is a third-party payment processor and maintains databases, sites and services that are separate from those of Paradigm Inc. End Users must contact PayPal directly for any questions or concerns related to the data that they retain and process.
How are you using cookies and other tracking technology?
We use “cookies” (small text files stored locally on Users’ computers) to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors to our site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our Users to enhance the experience on our site. Most popular Internet browsers have configuration settings to disallow the acceptance of cookies. However, setting a browser to reject cookies may, in certain instances, prevent the User from taking full advantage of the site, and the materials, products, and services that are made available on it. PayPal requires that you accept cookies in order for our shopping cart to work properly. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site.
How do you protect my Personal Data?
We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via our site, your information is protected both online and offline.
Wherever we collect sensitive information, that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon on the URL/Address bar of your web browser, or looking for ‘https’ at the beginning of the address of the web page.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers and servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment with both electronic and physical protective measures in place. As a User of Paradigm’s Sites and Services, it is your responsibility to make sure that you maintain the privacy and security of your passwords and other sensitive information related to your account, including email addresses, Usernames and registration information. You should not share your sensitive account information, such as Username and passwords with anyone. Paradigm is not responsible for the protection of any access of your Personal Data due to your sharing of account login information. Additionally, Paradigm is not responsible for the protection of Personal Data that you have given a third-party permission to access through any Sites or Services offered by Paradigm.
Can children under 13 access Paradigm Sites and Services?
Paradigm understands that there may be exceptional individuals under the age of 13 who may require access to its Sites and Services. However, our Sites and Services are not meant to be used by children under the age of 13 without written parental consent. If Paradigm unknowingly collects the Personal Data of anyone under the age of 13 through our Registration or Reservation Services, it will be deleted promptly upon notification, except if retention is required by law. You may contact us at [email protected] to notify us of any Personal Data that we may have retained for a child under the age of 13 years old. If the Personal Data of a child under the age of 13 has been received by Paradigm from one of our client organizations, the organization will need to be notified by a parent directly so that the information can be removed.
Privacy Policy Updates
Because changes in laws, regulations and business practices occur, Paradigm may change the terms of this Privacy Policy as necessary. Any changes made are effective as of the listed date of publication.
Transfer of your personal data to other countries
Because of the nature of the Products, Sites and Services offered by Paradigm, your Personal Data may be transferred to other countries. Paradigm will protect your Personal Information as outlined in this Privacy Policy. Paradigm is located in the United States of America. Other countries may have significantly different laws regarding data protection. It is up to the User to know and understand the laws of the countries, provinces, jurisdictions or other authoritative entities to which their Personal Data is being transferred. By using Paradigm’s Products, Sites and/or Services, you acknowledge and consent that your Personal Data may be transferred to other countries. We do not guarantee that our Sites or Services are available in all countries.
Contact Us
Please contact us if you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or how we use your Personal Data.
For questions regarding your Personal Data or if you have privacy concerns or questions, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to questions and/or concerns within 30 days of receipt.
Paradigm is a data processor in the cases of Personal Data related to diplomas, certificates, licenses or other paper or electronic documents created by Paradigm, Inc. and CeCredential Trust®. Please directly contact your organization, such as a university, responsible for supplying us with your credential information.
For questions regarding your CeCredential Trust account, please contact us at [email protected]. For questions regarding your Personal Data or if you have privacy concerns or questions, please contact our IT Director at Paradigm, 2600 Performance Court, Virginia Beach, VA 23453. Phone: +1 (757) 333-4823.
PayPal is a data processor and data controller in the case of Personal Data related to CeDiploma and other CeCredential products. Please directly contact PayPal to inquire about information related to your payment.
Last Update: March 23, 2023