MUSIC TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION of CALIFORNIA® 

Last Modified July 10, 2023

Our Commitment to Privacy

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes the types of information that Music Teacher’s Association of California® (“MTAC” “we” or “our”), including MTAC Branches, may collect or that you may provide when you purchase, access, or use the Services, including the Site, as well as how MTAC collects, uses, maintains, discloses, and protects that information. Any terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in our Terms of Services. By visiting and/or using this Site, you are accepting the practices described in this Policy.

This Policy DOES NOT apply to information that: We collect offline or on any other websites; or you provide to or is collected by any third party. Other websites as well as third parties may have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read before providing information on or through them.

Although we periodically update the Site in an attempt to keep all information on this Site accurate, by using this Site, you assume the risk that information and materials on this Site could be incomplete, inaccurate, out of date, or may not meet your needs and requirements.

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with this Policy or Terms of Services, do not purchase, access, or use the Services.

How We Collect and Use Information

Browsing Information. During your visit to our Site, our web server automatically gathers and stores certain information about your use of the Site. Information collected and stored includes: your IP address, URLs you visit on our site, browser type and language, the date and time of your visit, and any materials that you downloaded. We use this information to evaluate, maintain, protect, and improve our content and services, and to make the Site more useful to our Users, and to comply with licensing requirements. We also use this information to diagnose issues with our server, to ensure the server operates smoothly, and to learn about the number of visitors to the Site. This information does not identify or track you personally.  Additionally, the Site uses cookies and other Trackers (as defined below) to analyze website usage.  Cookies created on your computer by using this Site do not contain Personal Information and do not compromise your privacy or security.

For more detailed information regarding automatic data collection, please see the below section entitled Children’s Online Privacy Policy-Automatic Information Collection.

Personal Information. We may collect information directly from you when you provide it to us or automatically when you use our Services, including the Site. This information may include your real name, email address, postal address, phone number, IP address, online identifier, account name, geolocation data, professional or employment-related information. This information may also include: inferences drawn from any of the information we collect to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes; and any other information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual (collectively “Personal Information”).

We do not collect any Personal Information about you unless you affirmatively choose to make that information available to us. For example, if you choose to contact us via email, and that email includes Personal Information, we may use such Personal Information solely for the purpose of such correspondence or any other use you may authorize.  Additionally, when you create a user account or purchase merchandise on the Site, you may provide certain Personal Information such as your name, email address, and credit card information. Financial information can be entered to purchase merchandise and renew membership but that information is passed directly to PayPal, Google Wallet, and/or MTAC’s other financial vendors solely for the purposes of processing and finalizing the transaction, and is not saved by MTAC or the Site.

Right to opt out of sale/sharing. Under California law, a “sale” includes disclosing or making available Personal Information to a third party (other than a service provider or contractor) in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration, and “sharing” includes disclosing or making available Personal Information to a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising. MTAC does not sell your Personal Information, unless we have received your affirmative consent to do so. We only share your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy. Member Information. MTAC members have special access to a member-only portion of the Site that requires a member account, username and password. MTAC members may use the Site to register their students for MTAC programs, including but not limited to the Certificate of Merit® (CM), Composers Today, Improvisation, VOCE and Piano Concerto & Solo. Registration procedures through the Site may ask the User to provide Personal Information such as name, address, e-mail address, and phone number. Member information is used strictly for the administration of such MTAC programs.

Student Information.When a User registers as a student or a student registers for MTAC programs, the Site may request certain Personal Information related to such student including name, school grade, date of birth, and program level, which Personal Information is obtained only (a) in the case of a student who is at least 18 years of age (an “Adult”), with the consent of such Adult or (b) in the case of a student who is less than 18 years of age (a “Teen”), with the consent of such Teen’s parent or legal guardian (a “Parent” or “Parents”). Unless a member is authorized by MTAC to administer an MTAC program, members are only able to access the Personal Information of students whom they personally teach.  Unless otherwise consented to by a student or a student’s Parent, as the case may be, student Personal Information is used for the administration of MTAC and MTAC programs only.

Children’s Personal Information.  The treatment of the Personal Information of children under the age of 13 (a “Child”, or “Children”, and such Personal Information with respect to any such Child, “CPI”) is detailed below in the Section entitled Children’s Online Privacy Policy. In order to register a Child, a Parent (as defined below) must, on behalf of such Child, create a student account, username and password for the Child and provide MTAC with the following CPI: name, birth date, email address, mailing address, phone number and grade level.  At any time, given that Parents control the account of their Child, such Parent may review the Child’s CPI maintained by MTAC, and may require MTAC to correct or delete some or all of such CPI, and/or refuse to permit MTAC from further collecting or using the Child’s CPI.  A Parent may review, change, or delete your Child’s Personal Information by calling MTAC at (800) 834-3340 or sending us an email at dpo@mtac.org. As required by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), MTAC may require you to take certain steps or provide additional information to verify your identity before we provide any information or make corrections as further discussed below under the Section entitled California Consumer Privacy Act, subsections Exercising Data Portability and Deletion Rights below.

Publicly-Shared Information.Personal Information (including CPI) submitted to the Site is not shared with individuals, companies, or organizations outside of MTAC and MTAC’s affiliated branches unless:

  • We have received your affirmative consent (i.e., you have chosen to “opt-in”) such information, including but not limited to directing us to share your Personal Information with third-party organizations, such as other music education programs that collaborate with MTAC to provide services, or posting your photo, video, audio, or statements on our website for MTAC’s promotional or educational purposes.
  • In accordance with CCPA, we also may disclose Personal Information for one or more business purposes (as detailed below in the Section entitled Disclosures of Personal Information for a Business Purpose). When we disclose Personal Information for a business purpose, we enter a contract that describes the business purpose and requires the recipient to both keep that Personal Information confidential and not use it for any purpose except for the direct performance of the contract.
  • MTAC discloses personal identifiers such as video and audio recording of musical performances to MTAC members and students who have purchased tickets for a MTAC event or competition hosted online. We disclose photos, video recordings, and audio recordings of MTAC event participants to the general public for the purpose of promoting MTAC, MTAC Branches, programs, and events.
  • Selected companies perform services on our behalf, such as external technology administrators, which service providers may, in the normal course of business, have temporary access to Personal Information; however, these service providers are prohibited from retaining or using your Personal Information for purposes other than those requested by us or required by law.

We will not collect additional categories of Personal Information or use the Personal Information we collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you notice.

Required by Law, Good Faith, or Exigent Circumstances.MTAC reserves the right to access, use, preserve, or disclose Personal Information: (a) as required by law, or in the good faith belief that such action is reasonably necessary to comply with the law or any legal process served on MTAC or the Site; (b) to protect and defend the rights, property, or interest of the MTAC; and/or (c) to protect the personal safety of MTAC members, students or members of the general public.

Third-Party Links. This Site may contain links to third-party websites that are not controlled by, or potentially affiliated with, MTAC. These third-party links are provided as a convenience, and you agree that, in the event you determine to use click on any such third-party links, you do so at your own sole risk. MTAC is not responsible for the privacy policy or practices of third-party websites, the links of which may be displayed on this Site.

Children’s Online Privacy Policy 

This section supplements the Privacy Policy only in respect of Children and their Parent(s), and does not apply to Adults or Teens.  Terms that are defined in the other provisions of this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as used in this section.  The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and the rules promulgated thereunder (collectively, “COPPA”) requires MTAC to inform Parents about MTAC’s practices for collecting, using, and disclosing CPI. It also requires MTAC to obtain verifiable consent from a Child’s Parent for certain collection, use, and disclosure of the CPI.  This section notifies parents of: (a) the types of CPI we may collect, (b) how we use collected CPI, (c) our practices for disclosing CPI, (d) our practices for notifying and obtaining Parents’ consent when we collect CPI, including how a Parent may revoke consent to previously collected CPI, and (e) all operators that collect or maintain CPI through this Site.

Automatic Information Collection. The Site uses cookies and other similar technologies (collectively, “Trackers”), that will automatically collect information about any User of the Site.  MTAC uses Trackers to automatically collect information from our Site visitors, including Child visitors, when they access and navigate through the Site and use certain of its features. Anyone, including Children, can access a significant amount of content on the Site without registering as a student or member; thus if a Child were to visit the Site, even if such Child that is not registered as a student, certain information about such Child would be collected by the Trackers.  The information we collect via Trackers may include: (a) one or more persistent identifiers that can be used to recognize a User over time and across different websites and online services such as cookies and IP addresses, and (b) information that identifies a device’s location (geolocation information).

MTAC may combine non-Personal Information we collect through Trackers with Personal Information or CPI about you or your Child that we collect online.  MTAC uses the CPI we collect from your Child to: (a) register him or her as a MTAC student with a student account, (b) communicate about MTAC programs and events that may be of interest, (c) provide music education information and resources, (d) facilitate your Child’s participation in a MTAC program or event, (e) facilitate your Child’s interactions with his or her music teacher; and (f) to promote MTAC, MTAC Branches, programs, and events.

We also use the information we collect through Trackers and other non-Personal Information we collect to improve our Site and to deliver a better and more personalized experience by enabling us to: (a) estimate our audience size and usage patterns, (b) store information about a Child’s preferences, allowing us to customize the content according to individual needs, (c) speed up your searches;, (d) evaluate, maintain, protect, and improve our content and services, (e) comply with licensing requirements; and (f) diagnose issues with our servers.

We use geolocation information we collect to estimate our audience usage patterns and evaluate the effectiveness of our servers.  For additional information about our automatic information collection practices, including how you can opt out of certain information collection, see the “How We Collect and Use Information” and “Exercising Data Portability and Deletion Rights” sections of this Privacy Policy.

A substantial amount of content and features on the Site, however, may be accessed only by registered members or students (such content and features, collectively, “Private Content”).  In order to access Private Content, the parent of a Child would need to register that Child as a student, which registration would require the Parent to provide CPI on behalf of the Child.  We only collect as much Personal Information about a Child as is reasonably necessary for the Child to register as a student and participate in any programs for which they chose to register.

Information MTAC Collects Directly. In order to register a Child, a Parent must, on behalf of such Child, create a student account, username and password for the Child and provide MTAC with the following CPI: name, birth date, grade level, email address, mailing address, phone number and grade level.  MTAC may request that Parents provide additional CPI in respect of their child during his or her participation in MTAC programs. Whether or not such additional CPI is required or optional shall be determined by CPI, in its sole and absolute discretion, at the time of such request.

Included in the Private Content of the Site are links to MTAC teachers’ email addresses, which, when clicked by a Child (or any other registered User) provides such teacher’s email address and therefore such teacher, Parent and Child may communicate directly with each other via email (any such direct email communication, an “External Communication”).  Any such External Communication does not occur on, through or is in any way enabled by MTAC or the Site, and neither MTAC nor the Site monitor, or have the ability to monitor, any such External Communication.  It is possible that additional CPI may be disclosed by a Parent or Child in one or more External Communications.

For assessment purposes, MTAC members working with your Child may request your Child submit video and/or audio recordings of themselves performing musical pieces and practicing music skills, which recordings may, by their nature, include additional CPI. MTAC may also collect video and/or audio recordings of Children’s performances (which also may contain additional CPI) and which, as part of an MTAC recital or competition, MTAC intends to disclose to certain third parties. MTAC will notify Parents and obtain consent from Parents prior to any such disclosure to third parties.

Our Practices for Disclosing CPI. We do not share, sell, rent, or transfer CPI other than with the Parent’s affirmative consent and then only as described in this Section entitled Children’s Online Privacy Policy. We may disclose aggregated and anonymized information about certain Children. In addition, we may disclose CPI:

  • To third parties we use to support the internal operations of our Site and who are bound by contractual or other obligations to use the information only for such purpose and to keep the information confidential.
  • To facilitate a MTAC program or event.
  • To promote MTAC, MTAC Branches, its programs, and/or events.
  • If we are required to do so by law or legal process, such as to comply with any court order or subpoena or to respond to any government or regulatory request.
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of MTAC, our members, students or others, including to:
  • protect the safety of a Child;
  • protect the safety and security of the Site; or
  • enable us to take precautions against liability.
  • To law enforcement agencies or for an investigation related to public safety.

In addition, if MTAC is involved in a merger, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of MTAC’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding or event, MTAC may transfer the CPI we have collected to the buyer or other successor organization.

Data Security

Transferring Personal Data from EU to US. MTAC’s principal place of business is in the United States. Information we collect from you will be processed in the United States only. The United States has not sought nor received a finding of “adequacy” from the European Union under Article 45 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). MTAC relies on derogations for specific situations as set forth in Article 49 of the GDPR. In particular, MTAC collects and transfers to the United States personal data, only in the way set forth above in this Privacy Policy. MTAC endeavors to apply suitable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of your personal data and to use it only consistent with your relationship with MTAC and the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Data Subject Rights. This Privacy Policy is intended to provide you with information about what Personal Information MTAC collects about you and how it is used. If you have any questions, please contact us at dpo@mtac.org.

Restricted Access.The security, confidentiality, and integrity of your Personal Information is very important to us. Technical, security, and administrative measures have been implemented to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, and use. We periodically review our security protocols to consider appropriate new technology and methods. Unless otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, MTAC restricts access to Personal Information to MTAC employees, contractors, and agents on a needs-only basis for performing work for us, and they are subject to contractual confidentiality obligations and may be disciplined or terminated if they fail to meet these obligations.

Encryption.We provide our Users with a secure experience when they are ordering or renewing memberships, making a donation, or purchasing merchandise. Our technical security measures include using industry standard encryption to secure the transfer of data between your browser and our servers. When our forms ask Users to enter Personal Information (such as a credit card number), that information is encrypted using SSL. Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no security measures are completely perfect or impenetrable.

User Accounts.All Users are solely responsible for the use of the Site through your account and under your username and password. If you lose your username/password or suspect unauthorized use of your account, you must contact MTAC immediately. MTAC is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from your failure to safeguard your user account, username, and password information.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time as new or updated content and services are added to the Site. You are encouraged to check this document periodically to stay informed of current information, and privacy and security guidelines. Continued use of this Site following the posting of any changes to these terms will signify that you agree to and accept the changes.

California Do Not Track Disclosures

We do not currently respond to data collection signals, such as your browser’s Do Not Track signal, and we do not permit third parties to track your activity over time on the Site. We also do not track your online browsing activity on other online services over time.

Data Protection Officer

MTAC’s principal place of business is in California, United States. MTAC has appointed an internal data protection officer for you to contact if you have any questions or concerns about MTAC’s personal data policies or practices. The data protection officer’s name and contact information are as follows:

Rhonda Williams
2121 N. California Blvd, Suite 1030
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
dpo@mtac.org
(800) 834-3340 ext. 105

California Consumer Privacy Act

This Section regarding CCPA supplements this Privacy Policy solely with respect to all visitors, Users, and others who reside in the State of California (each, a “Consumer”).  Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this Section.

Information MTAC Collects

Please see How We Collect and Use Information above for further details about the personal data we collect and the additional data that we collect.

Use of Personal Information

Please see How We Collect and Use Information—Personal Information above for further details about how we use the Personal Information we collect.

Sharing Personal Information

Please see How We Collect and Use Information—Publicly-Shared Information above for further details about how we share the Personal Information we collect.

Disclosures of Personal Information for a Business Purpose

MTAC uses your Personal Information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, which include “business purposes” under the CCPA.  Such purposes include (a) auditing related to a current interaction with a Consumer, (b) detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity, (c) debugging errors that impair functionality, (d) short-term, transient use, provided the Personal Information (i) is not disclosed to another third party, and (ii) is not used to build a profile about a Consumer or alter their individual experience outside the current interaction (for example, the contextual customization of ads); (e) performing services such as maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying customer information, processing payments, providing financing, providing advertising or marketing services, providing analytic services, or providing similar services on behalf of MTAC or the service provider; (f) undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration; and (g) undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of, or upgrade or enhance, an MTAC service or device.

Sales of Personal Information

Please see “How We Collect and Use Information—Personal Information” above for further details about how we use the Personal Information we collect.

Your Rights and Choices.  CCPA provides Covered Persons with specific rights regarding Personal Information. This section describes such rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Access to Specific Information. In the past 12 months, MTAC has collected your (a) Internet or similar network activity and (b) geolocation data to MTAC’s Internet service providers, in each case, in order to maintain, protect, and improve the Site and the content and services offered through the Site and by MTAC.

Data Portability Rights.  Consumers have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable Consumer request (see “Exercising Data Portability and Deletion Rights”), we will disclose to you: (a) the categories of Personal Information we collected about you, (b) our business or commercial purpose for collecting that Personal Information, (c) the categories of third parties with whom we share your Personal Information (in the event you have opted in to our sharing of such Personal Information with such third parties), (d) the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you (also called a data portability request), and (e) if we sold or disclosed your Personal Information for a business purpose, lists disclosing the following: (i) sales, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and (ii) disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained.

Deletion Request Rights.  You have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable Consumer request (see “Exercising Data Portability and Deletion Rights”), we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your Personal Information from our records, unless a statutory exception applies to the data.  We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to (a) complete the transaction for which we collected the Personal Information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you, (b) detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities, (c) comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.), (d) enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with Consumer expectations based on your relationship with us, (e) comply with a legal obligation, or (f) make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

Exercising Data Portability and Deletion Rights.  To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable Consumer request to us by either calling us at (800) 834-3340, or emailing us at dpo@mtac.org.

Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable Consumer request related to your Personal Information. A Parent may also make a verifiable Consumer request on behalf of your Child. To designate an authorized agent, please submit a document with your authorized agent’s full name, contact information, a statement granting the agent to access your Personal Information or request deletion of your Personal Information, and your signature to dpo@mtac.org.

You may only make a verifiable request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable request must provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative, which may include: (a) submitting evidence of your identity that matches 2 data points already in MTAC’s possession; and (b) describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you.  Making a verifiable Consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. However, we do consider requests made through your password protected account sufficiently verified when the request relates to Personal Information associated with that specific account. We will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable Consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

Response Timing and Format

We endeavor to respond to a verifiable Consumer request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time, up to 45 additional days, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.

If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by U.S. mail or electronically, at your option.  Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the receipt of a verifiable Consumer request. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your Personal Information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance, specifically as either a downloadable .pdf or .csv file.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable Consumer request unless the request is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Personal Information Sales Opt-Out and Opt-In

Neither MTAC nor the Site sell your Personal Information without your express consent (i.e., you “opt-in”).  If you are 16 years of age or older, and have chosen to opt-in, you have the right to direct us to not sell your Personal Information at any time (the “right to opt-out”). Consumers who opt-in to Personal Information sales may opt-out of future sales at any time.  To exercise the right to opt-out, you (or your authorized representative) may submit a written request to opt-out of having your information sold to dpo@mtac.org or calling (800) 834-3340. Once you make an opt-out request, we will wait at least 12 months before asking you to reauthorize sales of your Personal Information. However, you may change your mind and opt back in to Personal Information sales at any time by submitting a request in writing to dpo@mtac.org or calling (800) 834-3340 to opt back into having your information sold.  You do not need to create an account with us in order to exercise your right to opt-out. We will only use Personal Information provided in an opt-out request to review and comply with the request.

Nondiscrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not: (a) deny you services; (b) charge you different prices or rates for services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties, (c) provide you a different level or quality of services, or (d) suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for services or a different level or quality of services.

Other California Privacy Rights

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits Users of our Site that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Although we do not disclose Personal Information to third parties for such purposes, you may make such a request, please send an email to dpo@mtac.org or calling (800) 834-3340.

You have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information:

  • The right to know about the Personal Information that we collect about you and to know how it is used and shared;
  • The right to delete Personal Information collected from you consistent with applicable law;
  • The right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Information;
  • The right to non-discrimination in exercising your rights;
  • The right to correct inaccurate Personal Information that we have about you; and
  • The right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Information collected about you.

To exercise any of your data rights under applicable law, please contact us at dpo@mtac.org.