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Privacy Notice
Greenheart International
Effective Date: 1/9/2019
This privacy notice describes how Greenheart International collects, uses, and discloses Personally Identifying Information (also known as “PII”) or Personal Data (collectively “Personal Information”) from and about users of Greenheart International websites. This privacy notice also applies to any associated paper forms. Please read this privacy notice before using Greenheart International websites or submitting any personal information.
These practices may be changed at any time. Changes will be posted along with the date of the change. You should review this privacy notice when you visit Greenheart International websites to make sure that you understand how Personal Information is collected, used, and disclosed.
The Personal Information you provide to us is only used to:
We may use non-Personal Information for additional reasons described in the remainder of this privacy notice.
If you identify yourself to us by sending us an email with questions or comments, we may retain your comments for future reference.
Greenheart collects Personal Information, which is information that on its own or in combination with other information may be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual. Examples include:
Greenheart International collects other information that relates to you but does not identify you. Examples include clickstream data and web-browsing information (such as the date and time you visit a website, whether you click on various advertisements or links and the search terms you enter when using a website), and information about your computer, device and internet connection, and geographic location.
We collect Personal Information from you in the following ways:
We may share information gathered by us from Greenheart International websites with governmental agencies or other companies assisting us in providing services to you. We may do so when:
Information provided under one of the four preceding bullet points will not be used by those receiving it for marketing purposes, unless specifically authorized by the user.
Third parties who provide webhosting services or other services that make possible the operation of Greenheart International websites and the services you request through the websites may have access to information that you provide us to the extent that those third parties require access to our databases to service the websites.
In connection with the sale or transfer of all or part of our assets, we reserve the right to transfer information we have obtained from or about you.
We are not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties that receive information from us.
Greenheart International websites are hosted and maintained in the United States of America. Your Personal Information may be transmitted to countries outside of the European Economic Area, including the United States of America. You can obtain details of the mechanism under which your personal data is transferred outside the EU by contacting us. If your Personal Information is transferred outside the European Economic Area to third party service providers, we will take steps to ensure that your Personal Information receives the same level of protection as if it remained within the European Economic Area, including by entering into data transfer agreements using the European Commission approved Standard Contractual Clauses, or by relying on certification schemes such as the EU–US Privacy Shield.
Greenheart International websites use cookie and tracking technology to collect non-Personal Information. Our system also automatically gathers information about areas you visit on our websites, and about the links you select from within one of our websites to the other areas of the World Wide Web or elsewhere online. We use such information in the aggregate to understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our websites. This way we know which areas of our websites are preferred by our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our websites. Personal Information cannot be collected via cookies and other tracking technology, however, if you previously provided us with your Personal Information, cookies may be tied to such information. Aggregate cookie and tracking information may be shared with third parties but that aggregate information does not identify individual website users. Our web servers do not record visitor email addresses unless that information is submitted by the visitor. We may determine what technology is available through your browser to provide you with the most appropriate version of a web page. Greenheart International uses Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Gravity Forms, Yoast, Formstack, Calendly, GoOverseas, and other web traffic tracking tools.
Greenheart International websites contain links to other websites. These links are for your convenience. We do not control, endorse or review the privacy notices of other websites, which may be different than this privacy notice. You should review the privacy notice of other websites before choosing to disclose Personal Information.
Greenheart takes steps to secure your Personal Information. We exercise care in providing secure transmissions when we need to transfer your Personal Information from our servers. Our websites use secure server software encryption, which is indicated by https in the url of the website. Encryption is a common method of ensuring that information remains private. Greenheart International cannot guarantee or warrant that the information that you transmit to us, or any communications is completely secure.
Greenheart International only retains data for as long as necessary for the purposes indicated in this privacy notice or for such other period as may be permitted or required by law.
For children age 14-16, Greenheart International takes additional steps to protect their Personal Information. We do not intend to collect Personal Information from children aged 13 or younger. These additional steps include:
The marks Greenheart, Greenheart Heart Logo, and Sobresmesa are either registered or unregistered trademarks of Greenheart International. All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized use is prohibited.
Certain jurisdictions provide their residents or citizens with certain rights about their Personal Information. These may include the right to request access to the data we hold about you, to obtain a copy of your Personal Information, to request that your Personal Information be erased, to correct inaccurate information, to ask us to restrict how we process your Personal Information, or to withdraw your consent to our processing of your Personal Information. Your individual rights will depend on your residency and citizenship.
Please contact us using the following information for more information about this privacy notice, to notify us of a concern or complaint, or to exercise any of the individual rights you may have.
Data Protection Officer
By mail: 742 N LaSalle Dr. Chicago, IL 60654 Suite 300, USA
By email: click here
By phone: +1 312-944-2544
Additionally, all marketing emails and newsletters from Greenheart International allow you to opt out of further correspondence. You can do so by clicking the link within the emails, which will guide you on how to opt-out.
We recently heard from one of our Local Coordinators about Verena a high school exchange student from Germany hosted in Kansas. She shared:
“Verena was featured in the school magazine for her cross-country accomplishments. She was given the school award for Cross-Country Athlete of the Year. She had never run cross-country before and was the only female from Shawnee Heights High School in Kansas to qualify for state competition. She also got a spot in the highly competitive Jazz Band, plays piano with the High School Chamber Orchestra and will do a piano solo and accompany a French Horn student for music competitions in the spring. She takes private piano lessons and is working on completing a piano certification program. In addition to all that, Verena is on the debate team! She is doing winter conditioning and intends to be on the track and field team in the spring. Best of all she has the most sparkling, optimistic attitude! She’s a treasure! She is hosted by the Kramars, who are so proud of her!”
Greenheart Exchange sponsors hundreds of international high school exchange students who come to the USA to learn about how we live and sometimes they learn about themselves. We asked Verena to tell us more about her busy life in the USA. Here’s her story:
I wouldn’t say they are better than German ones, but I love the environment in them. I learn with less pressure than I was used to in my German High School, and I just have more fun learning and enjoying going to my classes without being afraid of an upcoming quiz, which I was always afraid of in Germany. But it is not the classes I like most. I like the extracurricular activities.
I was on the cross-country team in the fall and plan to join the track team in the spring. I am playing piano in the Jazz Band, and chamber orchestra and will accompany the band in spring. These activities just make it so much fun, because these are things you like to do, and you are good at. You do them with people that share the same passion you have. And therefore these activities brought me lots of friends, too. I hadn’t these opportunities in Germany because German schools don’t offer that much.
I decided to try it out because I am athletic and people told me, doing sports in a High School is very fun and you get to know people. I really enjoyed doing it, although at first, I thought every day after school would be too much, I got used to it and in the end, I was even mad when I missed a practice, or it got canceled. We had nearly every Saturday a cross-country meet, where we would meet in the morning at school and drive together to our competition. In High School, you must run five kilometers. Honestly, I hate running in a meeting. I always give what I have and therefore I am exhausted and tired and just want to cross the finish line. But, I liked those meets. Not because of the run itself but because of the people there. When we girls ran, the boys would stand next to the course and cheer for us, and when they would run, we would cheer for them. A lot of the runner’s parents were there and would cheer, too. Always when I saw them or heard them shouting, I ran a little faster because I just have the feeling of support in me at this moment. After the run, the others would come to you and tell you their congrats. And that is the best part of doing cross country: having this feeling of being in a team and getting support. It doesn’t matter if you are an exchange student or not, you run for the team, and therefore you a part of it.
The parents would also support the team in bringing snacks, water, and something to eat after the run. They also organized those so-called “pasta meets”. Always the day before a meet, we would come together and eat pasta because “eat pasta, run faster” was our motto. So, we would meet without having practice, more for just spending time with the team and eating different kinds of pasta dishes like lasagna or spaghetti, which I personally love. This wouldn’t have been possible without the parents. The team also met weekly for bonfires, where we would go to someone’s house and have a bonfire, eat snacks, and play games like hide and seek and talk. Although I don’t like going to bed late, I always stayed until the end at 11 pm because I didn’t want to leave early. Getting tired was totally worth it!
I had this fall a unique experience and I am so happy I decided to join the cross-country team and all the other extracurricular activities I am doing. I can just say to other people to do an exchange year, too. You see a lot, experience a lot, and learn a lot, which is just unique and wonderful.
Thank you Verena for sharing your experience!
Greenheart Exchange is currently looking for families to host international exchange students this fall. If you are interested in hosting a student like Verena, please visit HostwithGreenheart.org to apply.