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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.
By Jillian Sims, AYP Compliance and Operations Manager
One thing is clear, this Texas host family has embraced their student Ben from Germany in a big way, and he clearly returns the sentiment. When we asked host parents, David and Saralyn, to share some of their favorite moments, we received a plethora of anecdotes, fun family photos, and stories of international family bonding. At CCI Greenheart, we are so happy to be part of their hosting adventure. Here are just a few of the wonderful memories being created so far:
Why did you family decide to host:
Saralyn: “My family hosted a French teenager for a month one summer when I was the age my own kids are now. It taught me about showing hospitality and opened for me a door to friendship and travel. So as our two kids reached their teenage years, my husband and I considered the idea of hosting. We thought it would be a great way to expose them to a world beyond the one they see day-to-day, while also giving an international student an opportunity to experience American life.”
What moment has made you laugh the most since Ben has arrived?
David: “Ben insisting that they don’t have different size eggs in Germany … and his sister calling him on it.”
Saralyn: Ben is one of only seven exchange students at our high school of over 3,200 students, which I think made him something of a ‘novelty’ to his classmates at first, but I can see that his popularity with them now is genuine. He likes to joke around and is fun to be with, and has been invited to many birthday parties and social events since he’s been here.
Whenever I’m picking him up at school there’s always someone calling out, ‘See ya’, Ben!’ or ‘Hey, BenGerman!’
I think someone on his swim team coined that nickname and he has happily embraced it, even choosing that as the name to have printed on the back of his team warm-up shirt.”
What has been your favorite memory with your “new family” so far?
Saralyn: “Just this weekend we went to a local German Christmas Market and one of the vendors was selling ‘Texas German’ t-shirts. I offered to buy Ben one and after he had his purchase in hand he said, ‘Thank you! This is the best thing ever!’ and gave me a big hug.
I hug him every day, but with teenage boys there’s always that feeling that they’re just humoring Mom, so to see his eyes light up was really special to me.”
What have you learned since you’ve been living with Ben?
David: “German kids in their early teens seem to have a bit more personal freedom, mainly because they don’t have to rely on someone to drive them to all their activities, like we do in American suburbia.”
Saralyn: “If Ben is any example, I would say that European teenagers are more aware of the world outside their own country than American teenagers are. Ben’s arrival has sparked an interest in world events in my own kids, and we now watch the national evening news most days as a family.”
What would you tell someone about hosting–who has never hosted before?
David: “Don’t be anxious of the adjustments. You will be ready when the time comes and you will figure out how to relate to your new student, and also your calendar will be fuller than it was before your student arrived!”
Saralyn: “Deciding to be a host family is a leap of faith, but it can be so wonderful. You get to know this adventurous person and learn about his family and home country, and at the same time you get so see new facets of every member of your own family as they respond to this new stimulus. Just don’t expect it to be smooth sailing right from the start…”
How has Ben’s involvement in the school and community affected you as a host family? Are you seeing your community with new eyes? How have you become more involved because of him?
Saralyn: “When Ben first arrived and his LC was encouraging the kids to get involved in volunteering and even go above and beyond their required hours, Ben was unenthusiastic , to say the least. I would suggest various groups within our church that might be able to use some help and received sort of non-committal responses from him. Then, during the month of September, Ben joined our son in volunteering with three different organizations: purchasing supplies and boxing up care packages for US servicemen and -women overseas for a non-profit organization in our neighborhood, assisting at a track meet hosted by our local middle school, and watching/entertaining kids at a parents’ night out sponsored by our church youth group (with adult supervision, of course!).
A little while after that, I asked him, ‘It seemed like you weren’t really looking forward to volunteering at first. Has it turned out to be not as bad as you thought?’ and he said, ‘Yeah. I mean, isn’t everybody afraid of things they aren’t used to? But actually it’s really fun.’
I was very impressed by that insight from one so young (he’s only 15). I’m so glad he was willing to try something new and was open-minded about it, and that it’s become something he’s eager to do when the opportunities present themselves.”
David: “The main adjustment has been to our calendar, to accommodate the things he is involved in. We have supported and encouraged him in his activities. As a host parent , I was able to ‘walk’ his high-school schedule and meet his teachers, something I would not otherwise have been able to do. Through his activities, we have been introduced to people we might not have met otherwise.”
Finally, how does your family plan to share the holidays with him? How have Thanksgiving and Halloween been?
Saralyn: “Ben will take part in our usual Christmas activities: getting together with David’s family here in town to open gifts, go to worship, and share Christmas Eve dinner. We will have Christmas Day at home and the boys will finish up packing to go on a camp-out (with his Boy Scout troop).”
David: “For Halloween, our entire family attended a CCI student costume party at one of the host families’ home, on the previous weekend. Then on Halloween night, Ben attended another teens-only party hosted by one of the host siblings.
He really got into the Halloween spirit by dressing up both times — as a whoopee cushion.”
Ready to make your own memories as a host family? Click here to learn more!
http://youtu.be/wNmzqo0PMNw