eLearning Platform Privacy Policy

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 4, 2025 

Overview 

The Partnership for Public Service (“The Partnership,” “we” or “us”) values your privacy. The Partnership is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that strives for a more effective government for the American people.  

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) applies to interactions with individuals visiting the Public Service Leadership Institute (“PSLI”) eLearning Platform (“Platform”), as well as our communications (via email, phone and postal mail). This Policy does not cover the Partnership’s media activities or advocacy activities by individual Partnership staff members. 

Please note the following about our privacy practices: 

• We do not sell, rent, share or disclose our donor lists to third parties for their own use. 

• We collect and maintain your personal information when you provide it, including when you register an account with us, purchase a service, and sign up to receive updates. 

• If you receive marketing emails from us and do not want more, please contact us to opt out at mail@ourpublicservice.org. 

Introduction 

In this Policy, we describe how we collect, use and disclose information that we obtain about users of the Public Service Leadership Institute (“PSLI”) eLearning Platform, (the “Platform”), and the services available through our Platform, related events, and communications (“Services”). By visiting the Platform or otherwise using our Services, you agree that your information will be handled as described in this Policy. Your use of our Services, and any dispute over privacy, is subject to this Policy and our Terms of Use, including its applicable limitations on damages and the resolution of disputes. Our Terms of Use are incorporated by reference into this Policy. 

Collection of Information 
Use of Information 
Disclosure of Information 
Analytics and Tracking 
Interest-based Advertising 
Third-Party Sites and Services
Security
Your Choices
Children
Blog Comment Rules
Changes to this Policy
Contact Us

Collection of Information 

We collect information directly from you, from non-affiliated entities and by automated means as set out below. The type of information that we collect from you depends on your particular interaction with our Services or with our Platform, but generally includes the below information:  

Participating in Courses. If you are interested in taking any of our courses, we may ask you to submit account information, such as your name, email, phone, address and other information.  If your course registration requires a purchase, we may collect information including your name, email, phone, zip code, payment amount, payment methods and payment history.  If you participate in one of our surveys, we may collect information shared with us including your name, email, employer, past experience and your personal opinions related to the course and your customer experience. If you subscribe to receive our emails, we may collect information including your name, email, professional area and interest areas.  

Communications. We maintain records related to user support and customer service-related requests, including the nature of the request, name and contact information of the requestor, and information related to the resolution of the request.  Also, you can sign up to receive our newsletter, updates, marketing and other information we think may interest you by providing your email address.  

Usage Data. We automatically collect information such as the following about your use of our Services through cookies, web beacons, log files and other methods: IP address, browser type, device type, domain name, the website that led you to our Services, the website to which you go after leaving our Services, the dates and times you access our Services and perform certain activities; device name and model; operating system type, name and version; the length of time that you are using our Services, and the links you click and your other activities within the Services (“Usage Data”). We may combine Usage Data with other information that we have collected about you, including your personal information. We may combine Usage Data with other information that we have collected about you.  Please see the section “Analytics and Tracking” below for more information. 

Use of Information 

We use your information, including personal information, for the following purposes:  

Providing and Improving Our Services. To provide and maintain our Services; to improve our Services; to develop new features or services; to process your transactions; to perform technical operations, such as updating software; and for other customer service and support purposes.  

Communications. To communicate with you about your use of our Services, including to send you updates; to respond to your inquiries; to provide you with news and newsletters, marketing and other information we think may interest you; and for other informational purposes.  Please see the “Your Choices” section for more information about how to change your communications preferences.  

Personalizing Content. We may use the information we collect about you to personalize the information and content we display to you, including promotional content.  

Research and Analytics. To better understand how users access and use Partnership Services, and for other research and analytical purposes, such as to evaluate and improve our services and operations and to develop additional products, services and features.  

Protecting Rights and Interests. To protect the safety, rights, property or security of the Partnership, the Services, any third party or the general public; to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; to prevent or stop activity that we consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity; to use as evidence in litigation; and to enforce this Policy or our Terms of Use.  

Legal Compliance.  To comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, including as part of a judicial proceeding; to respond to a subpoena, warrant, court order or other legal process; or as part of an investigation or request, whether formal or informal, from law enforcement or a governmental authority.  

General Operations. Where appropriate for the administration of our general accounting, recordkeeping and legal functions.  As part of our routine administration, such as employee training, compliance, auditing and similar internal activities. 

Disclosure of Information 

In general, we may share your information, including personal information, as follows:  

Service Providers. We may disclose the information we collect from you to service providers who perform functions on our behalf.  For example, we may disclose your information to third-party payment processors to process payments on our behalf.  

Organization Changes. We may disclose your information to another organization in connection with a merger with another organization, transfer of assets or as part of any other similar organizational transfer or restructuring, including during negotiations related to such transactions.  

Protecting Rights and Interests. We may disclose your information to protect the safety, rights, property or security of the Partnership, the Services, any third party or the general public; to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; to prevent or stop activity which we, in our sole discretion, may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity; to use as evidence in litigation; and to enforce this Policy or Terms of Use.  

Legal Compliance. We may disclose your information to comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, including as part of a judicial proceeding; in response to a subpoena, warrant, court order or other legal process; or as part of an investigation or request, whether formal or informal, from law enforcement or a government official.  

Aggregate and De-Identified Information. We may share aggregate or de-identified information about users with third parties for research, compliance or other purposes.  

Analytics and Tracking 

We and our service providers use cookies, pixels, java script, Urchin Tracking Modules (UTM) and other tracking mechanisms to track information about your use of our Site. We may combine this information with other personal information we collect from you (and our service providers may do so on our behalf).  

Cookies.  Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your device’s hard drive through the Services for record keeping purposes. Some cookies allow us to make it easier for you to navigate our Services, while others allow us to track your activities in our Services.  Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can edit your browser options to block them in the future. The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie or how to disable cookies altogether.  

Clear GIFs, pixel tags and other technologies. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer’s hard drive, clear GIFs are embedded invisibly on web pages. We may use clear GIFs (a.k.a. web beacons, web bugs or pixel tags), in connection with our Site to, among other things, track the activities of Site visitors, help us manage content, and compile statistics about Site usage. We and our service providers also use clear GIFs in HTML emails to our customers, to help us track email response rates, identify when our emails are viewed and track whether our emails are forwarded.  

Third Party Analytics. We may use non-affiliated analytics companies, for example Google Analytics (see privacy policy and opt-out), to evaluate use of our Services. We use these tools to help us understand use of, and to improve, our Services, performance, ad campaigns and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies, such as web beacons or local storage objects (LSOs), to perform their services.  

Do-Not-Track. Currently, our systems do not recognize browser “do-not-track” requests. You may, however, disable certain tracking as discussed in this section (e.g., by disabling cookies). 

Interest-based Advertising 

In order to display more relevant advertising on our Services, to manage our advertising on third-party sites and online services and to measure and improve our ads and marketing efforts, we may work with third-party ad companies, ad exchanges, channel partners, measurement services and ad networks.  These third parties may use cookies, web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and your activities across other websites and online services, which they may associate with cookies and persistent identifiers, in order to provide you with more relevant advertising or other content on our Services and other websites or services, and to measure the performance of such advertising. Their activities and your choices regarding their use of your information are subject to and set out in their own policies.  

Custom Audiences and Matching. We may disclose certain information (such as your email address) with third parties—such as Facebook (more information on Facebook Custom Audience here or see above) so that we can better target ads and content to our Users, and others with similar interests on these third parties’ platforms or networks (“Custom Audiences”). We may also work with third party ad networks and marketing platforms that enable us and other participants to target ads to Custom Audiences submitted by us and others. As noted above, you may also control how Facebook and other third parties display certain ads to you, as explained further in their respective privacy policies.  

More Info and Choices. You can also obtain more information about targeted advertising and how to opt-out of interest-based ads by many third-party ad networks at: www.aboutads.info/choices (Digital Advertising Alliance). Opting out of participating ad networks does not opt you out of being served advertising. You may continue to receive generic or “contextual” ads on our Services. You may also continue to receive targeted ads on other websites, from companies that do not participate in the above programs. Please note, that many opt-out mechanisms are cookie based; so, if you delete cookies, block cookies or use another device, your opt-out will no longer be effective.

Third-Party Sites and Services 

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites. 

Security 

We have implemented safeguards, including using accredited, secure third-party systems (Salesforce, Authorize.net, Soapbox Engage, and others) to protect the personal information (including applicable purchase information) we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.  Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no data security measures can guarantee 100% security. In the event of a breach, the Partnership will notify affected individuals about the incident, including the types of information potentially involved, steps taken by the organization and recommendations and/or actions to further protect you. You should also take proactive steps to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared device. 

Your Choices 

We may send periodic promotional emails to you. You may opt out of such communications by following the opt-out instructions contained in the email. Please note that it may take up to ten (10) business days for us to process opt out requests. If you opt out of receiving promotional emails about recommendations or other information we think may interest you, we may still send you emails about your account or any Services you have requested or received from us.

Children 

Our Services are not designed for children under 18, and we do not intentionally collect information on our Apps from those we actually know are under 18.  If we discover that a child under 18 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such information from our systems.   

User Comment Rules 

 We want to hear your thoughts in commentary sections and shared with your peers on course message boards where available. As such, we encourage you to do so by posting relevant comments. We reserve the right to remove any comments and/or edit comments at any time for any reason. The Partnership owns all posted content and comments and reserves the right to republish and reuse the comments at our discretion. While we do our best to moderate comments, the Partnership is not responsible or accountable for comments posted by others.  

Please abide by the following rules when commenting or posting on the Platform:  

1. Comments of a foul, offensive, harassing, derogatory or inflammatory nature will be disapproved. We have the right to ban users who attempt to post this type of content.  
2. Any comments that include language threatening to a group or individual will be passed to any relevant legal authorities, along with the commenter’s name, email address, I.P. address, and any other information relating to the comment or the comment’s metadata.  
3. Limit the use of links to external content. We want to build a community of relevant content and will review each link to ensure its relevance to the comment or post.  
4. Please do not use anchor text or keywords to identify yourself and do not post comments using someone else’s name unless you are asking or responding to a direct question.  
5. Comments should not include language promoting specific products or services.

Changes to this Policy 

This Policy is current as of the Effective Date set forth above. We may change this Policy from time to time, so please be sure to check back periodically. We will post any changes to this Policy on our Site.  If we make any changes to this Policy that materially affect our practices with regard to the personal information we have previously collected from you, we will endeavor to provide you with notice in advance of such change. 

Contact Us 

If you have questions about the privacy aspects of our Services or would like to make a complaint, please contact us at mail@ourpublicservice.org or 1100 New York Ave NW, Suite 200 East, Washington, DC 20005.