Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Pacific Sequoia Inc., doing business as EDUBUS ("we", US headquarters: 720 Roosevelt, Irvine, CA 92620), collects, uses, and protects personal information through www.edub.us and its Chinese edition. It applies to website visitors and to parents and students who contact us through the website form, by phone, by email, or on WeChat. It is written to the requirements of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA, as amended by the CPRA). Whether or not those laws formally apply to an organization of our size, the rights described here are honored for every visitor.

1. What we collect

Information you provide

The site has two forms: "Book a Free Planning Call" and "Free ISEE Assessment". When you submit the planning call form, we receive:

• Contact details: name, phone number or WeChat ID (required), and email (optional).
• Student information: the student's grade band (elementary, middle school, high school, university, or graduate), and anything you choose to write in the "where your child is now, and the goal" field, such as current school, target schools, grades, or test results.
• Technical details recorded with the form: the language edition you used, and the IP address and browser information at the time of submission, recorded by the form provider to prevent spam.

When you submit an ISEE free assessment request, we receive the student's name, the grade the student is applying for (which determines the ISEE level), the email address that will receive the online practice test login, and, if you choose, a phone number or WeChat ID; the language version and technical details at submission are recorded as with the other form. A free assessment request also carries where you first entered the site (a Google ad, a link with campaign parameters, another website, or a direct visit) and the first page and date of that visit, so we can see which channels bring in requests.

Information you share with us by phone, email, or WeChat is covered by this policy as well.

Information collected automatically

• Access logs: our hosting provider records IP address, browser and device type, and the pages and times visited, for security and operations.
• Visit statistics: we use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. It sets no cookies, does not store identifiable IP addresses, and keeps data only in anonymous aggregate form.
• Google Analytics 4: If enabled, it runs with IP anonymization and sets Google analytics cookies in your browser. It is not currently enabled.
• Google Ads conversion measurement: we advertise on Google. The site loads the Google Ads tag, which records whether a visitor arrived from an ad click and whether that visit led to an inquiry form, an ISEE free assessment request or a tap on our phone number, so we can count the inquiries our ads bring in. The tag runs in restricted data processing mode with ad personalization turned off; it is not used for remarketing or to build interest profiles, and form contents are never sent to Google. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, the site does not load the tag.
• ChatGPT Ads conversion measurement: we advertise on ChatGPT. When a visitor who arrived from a ChatGPT ad successfully submits the inquiry form or an ISEE free assessment request, the site sends OpenAI one "lead created" event so we can count the inquiries the ads bring in. The event carries only a random deduplication ID and the OpenAI ad click identifier, with no form contents or contact details.
• Third-party resources: web fonts are served by Google Fonts and page images are hosted by Pexels. When your browser loads them, it sends your IP address to those providers.

Apart from the Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads conversion measurement described above, we do not use advertising cookies, do not run remarketing or track you across other sites, and do not buy information about you from data brokers.

2. How we use it

• To answer your inquiry and arrange the free planning call and any subsequent courses or planning services.
• To record the student's situation during consultation so a counselor can give specific advice.
• To prevent spam, abuse, and security incidents.
• To understand, from anonymous aggregate data, which pages are read, and improve them.
• To count the inquiry forms, ISEE free assessment requests and phone-number taps that come from our Google and ChatGPT ads, and adjust the ads accordingly.
• To meet tax, accounting, and other legal obligations (enrolled clients only).

We do not sell your personal information, do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and do not use inquiry details for marketing unrelated to your inquiry.

3. Who handles it

The parties below are service providers that process data only on our instructions and may not use it for their own purposes.

Form submissions are forwarded by Formspree to info@edub.us and handled by the counseling team in our Irvine office. Beyond these providers and our own staff and counselors, we disclose information to third parties only when the law requires it (for example, a court order) or when necessary to protect someone's safety.

We also have an office in Guangzhou, China. If your inquiry is followed up by that office, your contact details pass between the US and China teams; the data remains stored with US providers and subject to this policy.

4. How long we keep it

• Inquiry records (form, email, call notes): kept for no more than 24 months after our last contact with you, then deleted or anonymized. If you enroll, records are kept for the term of the service agreement and any period required by tax and accounting law.
• Copies held by the form provider: we clear submissions from the Formspree dashboard periodically, and delete them when you ask us to delete your data.
• Access logs: kept briefly by the hosting provider for security, normally no more than 90 days.
• Visit statistics: anonymous aggregates only, not linked to any individual.
• Ad conversion data: kept by Google under its own policy; in our ad account we see only aggregate click and conversion counts.

5. Your rights

Whether or not you are a California resident, you may exercise the rights below, and we will not refuse service or treat you differently for doing so.

• Know and access: learn what information we hold about you, its sources, purposes, and recipients, and receive a copy.
• Correct: ask us to fix inaccurate information.
• Delete: ask us to delete your information. Records the law requires us to keep (for example, an enrolled client's financial records) are excepted, and we will tell you why.
• Opt out of sale or sharing: we neither sell nor share personal information, so no request is needed. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as an opt-out and the site does not load the Google Ads tag.
• Limit use of sensitive information: student details are used for consultation only.

How to exercise them: email info@edub.us or call (949) 383-4877, and include your name and the phone number, WeChat ID, or email you used on the form so we can verify your identity. You may also use an authorized agent; we will ask the agent for your written authorization. We confirm receipt within 10 business days and respond within 45 days, extendable once by a further 45 days with an explanation.

6. Cookies and Do Not Track

For ChatGPT Ads, we store the OpenAI ad click identifier in your browser for up to 30 days and send it to OpenAI only with a successful inquiry form or ISEE free assessment request event. A random event ID in session storage prevents refreshes from being counted twice. We do not load the automatic matching SDK or send names, phone numbers, emails, WeChat IDs or form contents. Global Privacy Control disables this measurement and clears its identifiers.

The site itself sets no cookies that identify you. Browser local storage is used to remember interface preferences on this site and where you first entered the site (kept for 30 days); the latter is sent to us only with an ISEE free assessment request you submit and is never shared with anyone else, except for the ChatGPT Ads click identifier described above. The Google Ads tag sets conversion measurement cookies on this site's domain to remember whether you arrived from an ad click, for a period set by Google; you can block or clear them in your browser settings, or turn on Global Privacy Control. Some school pages embed a Google map; when it loads, Google may set cookies on its own domain, governed by Google's privacy policy. If Google Analytics 4 is enabled in the future, Google will set analytics cookies and this section will be updated at the same time.

There is no industry standard for browser Do Not Track signals, so the site does not change its behavior in response to them; apart from the Google Ads tag and ChatGPT Ads measurement recording whether an ad click led to an inquiry, we do not track visitors across sites. Global Privacy Control signals are handled as described in the previous section.

7. Children

The website is intended for parents and guardians. We do not knowingly collect information directly from children under 13 through the website; student details on the form should be entered by a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has submitted information without a guardian's consent, contact us and we will delete it promptly.

8. Security

The site is served over HTTPS throughout. Inquiry records are accessible only to the counselors and managers responsible for follow-up. We apply technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data, though no transmission over the internet can be guaranteed secure.

9. Changes to this policy

When this policy changes materially, we update the effective date at the top and describe the change on this page. Changes involving a new purpose or a new provider are published before they take effect. Please check this page from time to time.

10. Contact

• Email: info@edub.us
• Phone: (949) 383-4877 (US)
• Mail: Pacific Sequoia Inc. (EDUBUS), 720 Roosevelt, Irvine, CA 92620