Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how information about you is collected, used and disclosed by the Bezos Family Foundation (the “Foundation,” “we,” “us” or “our”). This Privacy Policy applies when you use the Bezos Scholars Program (the “Program”) website and mobile application (collectively the “Site”), or otherwise interact with us regarding the Program.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will provide notice by revising the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of this Privacy Policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with more prominent notice (such as by sending you an email notification or providing notice through the Site). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy whenever you access or use the Site or otherwise interact with us regarding the Program to stay informed about our information practices and the ways you can help protect your privacy.

Collection of Information

Information You Provide to Us

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you create an account, complete and submit an application for the Program, create a profile, make a post, submit content, send a message, communicate with us via third-party social media sites, share content from our Site with other individuals, send us an email or otherwise communicate with us.

The types of information we may collect from you include:

Account and Profile Information, such as your name, user name, email address, photo, password, location, biographical info (such as school, employment and professional information), skills, interests, and any other information you choose to provide.
Application Information, such as your name, mailing address, phone number and date of birth, information regarding your school, academic coursework, extra-curricular activities and standardized test scores, your written responses to short essay prompts, information regarding your employment history, information about your parent(s) or legal guardian(s), and information about individuals who will provide recommendations for you or for which you will provide a recommendation.
Other Information You Choose to Provide, such as the responses and content you provide when you post content or otherwise use the interactive features of our Site, participate in a survey, request technical support or contact us regarding other questions or comments you may have.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use our Site, we automatically collect certain information, including:

Log Information: We log information about your access to and use of the Site, such as your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, access times, web browser, pages viewed, links clicked and the page you visited before navigating to the Site.
Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: We and our service providers use various technologies to collect information, including cookies and web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us to improve our Site and your experience on our Site, see which areas and features of our Site are popular and count visits. Web beacons are electronic images that may be used on our Site or in emails to help us to deliver cookies, count visits and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. For more information about cookies, and how to disable them, please see “Your Choices” below.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We also may obtain information from other sources and combine that information with information we collect through our Site.

Use of Information

We may use information about you for various purposes, including to:

Provide, maintain and improve our Site;
Process and review your application to the Program, administer the Program and send you information related to the Program, including notifications and confirmations;
Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts and support and administrative messages;
Respond to your comments, questions and requests and provide customer service;
Communicate with you about the Program and its associated activities, and provide news and information we think will be of interest to you;
Monitor and analyze trends, usage and activities in connection with our Site, personalize and improve the Site; and
Carry out any other purpose for which the information was collected.

Sharing of Information

We may share information about you as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

With the Aspen Institute and other collaborating organizations who work with us in connection with the Program;
With vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to help us manage and operate the Site or administer the Program or to carry out work or perform services on our behalf;
In response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law, regulation or legal process;
If we believe your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, or to protect the rights, property and safety of the Foundation or others;
In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company or organization assets, financing or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company or organization; and
With your consent or at your direction.
We also may share aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

You understand that when you use our mobile application (the “App”), information you post or otherwise share in connection with the App, including in your profile, in public or private groups and forums, in other interactive areas of the App, will be available to other users. We recommend you be cautious about sharing any personal information with other users.

Social Sharing Features

The Site may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools (such as the Facebook “Like” button), which let you share actions you take on our Site with other media. Your use of such features enables the sharing of information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the entity that provides the social sharing feature. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please review the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.

Analytics Services Provided by Others

We may allow others to provide analytics services. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Site and other websites, including your IP address, web browser, pages viewed, time spent on pages and links clicked. This information may be used by the Foundation and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand your online activity.

The Site uses analytics services such as Google Analytics. These analytics providers will receive data about user interactions with the Site and will use such information to provide us with information and analytics related to such user interactions. For information about Google’s privacy practices with respect to analytics, including Google’s privacy policy and various privacy controls and opt-outs, please follow this link http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html. Note that any available opt-outs are specific to Google Analytics and will not affect the activities of other analytics providers that we use.

Transfer of Information to the U.S. and Other Countries

The Foundation is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed by U.S. law. By accessing or using the Site or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to the processing, transfer and storage of information in and to the U.S. and other countries, where you may not have the same rights and protections as you do under local laws.

Your Choices

Account Information You may update, correct or delete information about you at any time by logging into your account and making changes to your information or by emailing us at scholars@joinbsp.org. If you wish to delete or deactivate your account, please email us at scholars@joinbsp.org, but note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes. We may also retain cached or archived copies of information about you for a certain period of time.

Cookies Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Site.

Promotional Communications You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from the Foundation by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at scholars@joinbsp.org.