How We Safeguard Your Family's Educational Data
At Achiya, we work with families navigating some of the most sensitive moments in their children's educational journeys. That responsibility extends to how we handle the information you share with us. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, and what control you have over it.
Last updated: June 2025
Our Commitment to Protecting Your Family's Privacy
Parents and educators trust us with details about children's learning needs, developmental milestones, and educational assessments. We treat that trust as non-negotiable.
Every staff member and volunteer at Achiya who handles family data completes privacy training specific to educational and student records. This isn't a checkbox exercise. Our protocols were developed through ongoing consultation with data protection specialists familiar with Israeli privacy law and educational data standards, a process we've maintained since 2020.
We collect only what serves a direct purpose in supporting your family. If a piece of information doesn't help us deliver better educational guidance, we don't ask for it.
Information We Collect From Parents and Educators
The data we handle falls into a few distinct categories. Here's a straightforward breakdown:
- Contact information: Name, phone number, email address, and mailing address provided when you reach out to us or register for programs.
- Student details: Child's age, grade level, school name, and relevant educational or developmental assessments you choose to share.
- Program participation records: Which workshops, consultations, or educational programs your family engages with, including attendance and progress notes.
- Communication logs: Records of phone calls, emails, and meetings with our team, stored to maintain continuity of support.
- Website usage data: Anonymous browsing patterns on our site, collected through standard analytics tools. This includes pages visited and time spent, but not personally identifiable information unless you submit a form.
We do not collect financial information directly. Any donation processing happens through secured third-party payment platforms that maintain their own privacy standards.
One distinction worth noting: assessment documents you share with us (psychoeducational evaluations, IEP summaries, diagnostic reports) are stored separately from general contact data, with restricted access limited to the specific staff members assigned to your family's case.
How We Use Your Data to Support Education
Data without purpose is just liability. Here's how the information you provide gets used:
| Data Type | Primary Use | Secondary Use |
|---|---|---|
| Contact information | Coordinating services and scheduling | Sending relevant program updates (with consent) |
| Student details | Tailoring educational advocacy and support plans | None |
| Program participation | Tracking continuity of your family's support | Aggregate reporting for program improvement |
| Communication logs | Ensuring consistent follow-up across team members | Internal quality review |
| Website analytics | Understanding which resources families find most useful | Improving site navigation |
When we reference outcomes in our impact reporting, we use aggregated, de-identified data. No individual family is ever identifiable in published statistics or program summaries. The aggregation thresholds we apply mean that data groups smaller than about ten families are excluded from any reporting entirely.
Third-Party Partnerships and Data Sharing Limits
We share personal data with outside parties only under specific, limited circumstances. This section names them plainly.
We work with technology vendors for email communication, secure file storage, and website hosting. These providers process data on our behalf under written agreements that prohibit them from using your information for their own purposes. We review these agreements about once a year.
When collaborating with schools or municipal education departments on your family's behalf, we share information only with your explicit written consent. You decide what gets shared and with whom, every time.
Legal obligations can compel disclosure. If Israeli law or a court order requires us to share specific records, we comply, but we will notify affected families to the extent legally permitted before doing so.
It's worth acknowledging that third-party data handling practices evolve, and while we vet partners carefully, no chain of custody is entirely immune to external changes in vendor policy. We mitigate this through contractual safeguards and periodic audits, though audit frequency varies by vendor tier.
Your Rights Regarding Personal and Student Data
You have concrete rights over the information we hold. These aren't theoretical.
- Access: Request a copy of all personal data we store about your family. We fulfill these requests within about 30 days.
- Correction: If any information is outdated or inaccurate, tell us and we'll update it promptly.
- Deletion: Ask us to remove your data from our systems. We'll comply unless retention is required by law or necessary to complete an active service commitment.
- Restriction: You can ask us to limit how we use your data while a concern or dispute is being resolved.
- Withdrawal of consent: If you previously consented to communications or data sharing with educational partners, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal doesn't affect the legality of processing that happened before you withdrew.
- Data portability: Request your data in a standard digital format so you can share it with another organization if needed.
To exercise any of these rights, contact our team directly. We don't require formal legal language. A simple email or phone call stating what you need is enough.
For families enrolled in special education support programs, we retain case files for a minimum of seven years after the last interaction, consistent with educational record-keeping standards. After that period, records are securely destroyed unless you request earlier deletion.
Policy Updates and How to Contact Our Team
Privacy practices aren't static. As regulations change and our programs grow, this policy will be updated. When changes are substantive (not just formatting or clarification), we notify families through email and post a summary of changes on this page.
Minor clarifications happen without individual notification, but the "last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the most recent revision.
Questions, concerns, or requests related to your data can be directed to our team through our contact page. We aim to respond to privacy-related inquiries within around five business days.
If you prefer to speak with someone directly, our staff members listed on the team page can connect you with the appropriate person.
We're a nonprofit focused on educational advocacy, not data management. But we recognize that doing the first well depends on doing the second responsibly. Your family's information deserves the same care we bring to supporting your child's education.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Achiya share my child's educational assessments with other organizations?
Only with your explicit written consent. We never share assessment documents, IEP summaries, or diagnostic reports without first getting your permission for each specific instance of sharing.
How long does Achiya keep my family's data?
Active case files are maintained throughout your engagement with us. After the last interaction, records for families in special education programs are retained for seven years in line with educational record-keeping standards. You may request earlier deletion at any time.
Can I see what data Achiya holds about my family?
Yes. Submit a request through our contact page and we'll provide a full copy of your stored data within about 30 days.
Does the website track my browsing activity?
We use standard analytics to understand which pages and resources are most useful to families. This data is anonymous and not linked to your personal identity unless you voluntarily submit a form on the site.