Effective November 3, 2026
This policy covers ascend-ce.org and ASCEND Academy at learn.ascend-ce.org, both run by Ascend Education Group, Corp., 884 Lincoln Way, Suite 38, Auburn, CA 95603, United States (info@ascend-ce.org).
1. What we collect
- When you contact us or join a waitlist: your name, email, organization and the interests you pick.
- When you create an Academy account: your name, email address, username, password (stored only in a scrambled form we can't read), time zone and anything you add to your profile.
- While you learn: the courses you're enrolled in, the pages and activities you open, your answers in quizzes and scenarios, forum posts, the ratings and written feedback instructors give you, your competency results, and the certificates and badges issued to you.
- When you buy a course: the course, price, date, the version of the Terms of Purchase and Refund Policy you accepted, and payment status. Stripe collects your card details on its own checkout page; we never see or store your full card number.
- Automatically: your IP address, browser type and the times you use the sites, in server and Academy logs, and the cookies described in section 5.
2. How we use it
To run your account and courses; to review and give feedback on your work; to issue and verify certificates; to process payments and refunds; to send account and course emails (sign-up confirmation, password reset, receipts, feedback notices); to keep the sites secure; and to tell you about ASCEND programs if you joined a waitlist. We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.
3. Who we share it with
- Service providers that run parts of the service for us: DigitalOcean (hosting the Academy), Stripe (payments), Postmark (sending Academy email), Google Workspace (our email inbox), Google Firebase (hosting the website and storing website form and waitlist entries) and Resend (sending website email).
- Instructors and reviewers assigned to your course see your work, your results and the feedback on it.
- Anyone you give a certificate link or code to can confirm it on the public verification page. That page shows your name, the credential, who issued it, its status and its dates, and nothing else.
- When the law requires it, or to protect people or the service from fraud or harm.
4. How long we keep it
Account and learning records are kept while your account is open. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete it within 90 days, except: records of credentials we issued and the assessments behind them, kept for as long as the credential can be verified, plus 5 years, so employers and continuing-education bodies can rely on them; and purchase records, kept as long as tax and accounting rules require.
5. Cookies
The Academy uses a session cookie to keep you logged in and, if you choose, a cookie that remembers your username. Stripe sets its own cookies on its checkout page to prevent fraud. The website doesn't use analytics or advertising cookies. You can block cookies in your browser, but the Academy won't let you log in without its session cookie.
The sites don't respond to browsers' Do Not Track signals. We don't allow other companies to track you across other websites through our sites.
6. Your choices and rights
You can see and change most of your account details in your Academy profile. To get a copy of your data, correct something you can't edit, or delete your account, email info@ascend-ce.org from the address on your account. We'll reply within 30 days. You can unsubscribe from waitlist emails at any time; account and course emails are part of the service and stop when your account is closed.
7. Children
ASCEND courses are professional training for adults. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If you think a child has given us information, email us and we'll delete it.
8. Security
We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), limited staff access, scrambled passwords and regular backups. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, we'll tell you as the law requires.
9. Changes to this policy
We'll post any change here with a new effective date. If a change matters, we'll also email Academy users before it takes effect.
10. Contact
Ascend Education Group, Corp., 884 Lincoln Way, Suite 38, Auburn, CA 95603, United States. info@ascend-ce.org.