Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy.

This policy is separate from our general Privacy Policy. It describes only how Marker Learning collects, uses, shares, and protects consumer health data, and the rights you have with respect to that data. Where this policy and the general Privacy Policy differ as to consumer health data, this policy controls.

1. What we mean by consumer health data

Consumer health data means personal information that is linked or reasonably linkable to a consumer and that identifies the consumer’s past, present, or future physical or mental health status. In the context of the Marker Learning Norming Study, the only consumer health data Marker Learning collects is information that a participant, or a participant’s parent or legal guardian, chooses to tell us about a diagnosed condition, a learning or attention difficulty, or services the participant receives such as an individualized education program or a Section 504 plan.

2. Categories of consumer health data we collect

What we do not collect. Marker Learning does not collect medical records, treatment records, evaluation reports, neuropsychological or psychoeducational reports, prescription information, health insurance or payment information, precise geolocation, biometric identifiers used for identification, or records obtained from a healthcare provider or from a school. We ask participants and parents not to send us such documents. If a document is sent to us notwithstanding that instruction, we do not retain it.

3. Sources of consumer health data

The sole source of consumer health data is the participant, or the participant’s parent or legal guardian, who provides it directly to Marker Learning on a study intake form. Marker Learning does not obtain consumer health data from healthcare providers, schools, data brokers, public records, or any other third party, and does not infer health status from other data.

4. Purposes for collection and use

Marker Learning collects and uses consumer health data for one purpose: to characterize the composition of the norming sample so that assessment norms and scoring methods can be developed and validated to perform accurately and fairly for learners with diagnosed conditions and learning difficulties as well as for other learners. Consumer health data is used to describe the sample in the aggregate and to conduct and publish research about the performance of the assessment across groups.

Marker Learning does not use consumer health data to make any decision about an individual, does not use it for advertising, marketing, or profiling, and does not use it to provide any individual result, score report, screening, or diagnosis.

5. Sharing

We do not sell consumer health data. Marker Learning does not sell, and will not sell, consumer health data. Marker Learning does not collect, and will not seek, any authorization to sell consumer health data.

Marker Learning does not share consumer health data with any third party in the form in which the participant provided it. Where consumer health data is shared at all, it is shared only as a general category attached to a study code, without any direct identifier and with indirect details coarsened.

The categories of third parties with which coarsened category information may be shared are:

• Partner research institutions. Accredited colleges and universities, academic medical centers, and nonprofit research organizations conducting approved research in education, psychology, assessment, or the learning sciences, in each case under a written data use agreement that prohibits re-identification, prohibits any attempt to contact a participant, prohibits further disclosure, and requires destruction on completion. A current list of partners is published at markerlearning.com/research-partners.
• Service providers. Hosting and storage providers processing data solely on Marker Learning’s documented instructions under written contract, and prohibited from using the data for their own purposes.
• Affiliates. Marker Learning does not share consumer health data with any affiliate.

Marker Learning may also disclose consumer health data where required by law, in response to a valid legal process, or where necessary to report suspected abuse or neglect of a child or a risk of serious harm, as described in the participant consent form.

6. Consent

Marker Learning collects consumer health data only with consent that is separate and distinct from any other consent, obtained before collection, and given in response to a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the categories collected, the purpose, and the third parties with which the data may be shared. Providing consumer health data is optional. A participant may take part in the study without providing it, and nothing about the study changes if consent is declined. Consent is not obtained by a pre-selected box, by inaction, or by acceptance of general terms of use.

7. Your rights

You have the right to:

• confirm whether Marker Learning is collecting, sharing, or selling your consumer health data, and access that data, including a list of all third parties with which it has been shared and an active contact for each;
• withdraw your consent to the collection and sharing of your consumer health data at any time;
• have your consumer health data deleted, including by any affiliate, processor, contractor, or other third party to which Marker Learning has provided it; and
• appeal a refusal to act on a request.

To exercise any of these rights, contact Marker Learning at hello@markerlearning.com or in writing at 111 Town Square Pl, Ste 1238, PMB 85307, Jersey City, New Jersey 07310-1755. We verify the identity of the requester before acting. We respond within 45 days and may extend that period once by a further 45 days where reasonably necessary, in which case we will tell you within the first 45 days. Where a participant is a minor, the parent or legal guardian may exercise these rights on the participant’s behalf.

Deletion. On a verified deletion request, Marker Learning deletes the consumer health data from its records and from all backups within the ordinary backup rotation, and notifies every affiliate, processor, contractor, and third party to which it has provided the data, directing deletion and obtaining confirmation.

Appeals. If we decline to act on your request, we will tell you why and how to appeal. To appeal, reply to our response or write to hello@markerlearning.com with the subject line “Consumer Health Data Appeal.” We will respond in writing within 45 days with our decision and the reasons for it. If the appeal is denied, we will provide a method to contact the Attorney General of your state to submit a complaint.

8. Security

Marker Learning stores consumer health data with the same protections applied to direct identifiers, including encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls restricting access to personnel with a documented need, access logging, and periodic security testing. Consumer health data is stored separately from assessment responses and is associated with them only by study code.

9. Retention

Consumer health data is retained for 36 months after the participant’s last completed session, after which it is deleted. A coarsened general category may remain in the coded research dataset after that point, in a form that cannot be connected back to the participant. The full schedule is published at markerlearning.com/research-retention-policy.

10. Changes and contact

If Marker Learning makes a material change to this policy, it will notify affected consumers before the change takes effect and, where the change affects previously collected consumer health data, will obtain fresh consent before applying the change to that data. Questions may be directed to Marker Learning at hello@markerlearning.com.