Welcome to the Creston Academy, Inc. This Privacy Policy tells you about our policy regarding the data that we collect, use, disclose and transfer, including your personal data. If you are the parent/legal guardian of an applicant understand that this Policy refers to the personal data of your child.

We respect your right to privacy and aim to comply with the requirements of all relevant privacy and data protection laws, particularly the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA). In line with this, we will cooperate fully with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) when it goes about its work of implementing the DPA. Like the NPC, we are also committed to striking a balance between your personal privacy, which is important to us, and the free flow of information, especially when this is necessary to uphold our legitimate interests, and to effectively carry out our responsibilities as an educational institution.

In this Policy, the terms, “data” and “information” are used interchangeably. When we speak of “personal data”, the term includes the concepts of personal information, sensitive personal information, and privileged information. Among them, the first two are typically used to distinctively identify you. For the exact definitions of these terms, you may refer to the text of the DPA. You should also note that while we give examples here to explain this Policy in simple and clear language, these examples do not make up an exhaustive list of all the data that we process.

We collect, acquire, or generate your personal data in many forms. They may consist of written records, photographic and video images, digital material, and even biometric records. Examples include:

a. Information you provide us during your application for admission. When you apply with us for admission, we collect directory information, like your name, email address, telephone number, and other contact details. We also collect data about your personal circumstances, such as your family history, previous schools attended, academic performance, disciplinary record, employment record, medical record, etc.

b. Information we collect or generate after enrolment and during the course of your stay with us. After you join the Academy, we may also collect additional information about you, such as:

(1) your academic or curricular undertakings, such as the scholastic performance, attendance record, etc.;

(2) co-curricular matters you may engage in, such as service learning, outreach activities;

(3) your extra-curricular activities, such as membership in student organizations, leadership positions, and participation and attendance in seminars, competitions, programs, outreach activities, and study tours; and

(4) any disciplinary incident that you may be involved in, including accompanying sanctions. There will also be times when we will acquire other forms of data like pictures or videos of activities you participate in, via official documentation of such activities, or through recordings from closed-circuit security television cameras installed within school premises.

c. Unsolicited Information. There may be instances when personal information is sent to or received by us even without our prior request. In such cases, we will determine if we can legitimately keep such information. If it is not related to any of our legitimate educational interests, we will immediately dispose of the information in a way that will safeguard your privacy. If it is related to our legitimate educational interests, it will be treated in the same manner as information you provide us.

If you supply us with personal data of other individuals (e.g., person to contact in the event of an emergency), we will assume that you have obtained the consent of such individuals before providing us with their personal data.

To the extent permitted or required by law, we use your personal data to pursue our legitimate interests as an educational institution, including a variety of academic, administrative, research, historical, and statistical purposes. For example, we may use the information we collect for purposes such as:

• a. evaluating applications for admission to the academy;
• b. processing confirmation of incoming or transfer students in preparation for enrollment;
• c. recording, generating, and maintaining student records of academic, co-curricular and extracurricular progress;
• d. recording, storing, and evaluating student work, such as homework, seatwork, quizzes, long tests, exams, research papers, reflection papers, essays and presentations;
• e. recording, generating, and maintaining records, whether manually, electronically, or other means, of class attendance and participation in curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities;
• f. establishing and maintaining student information systems;
• g. sharing of grades between and among faculty members, and others with legitimate official need, for academic deliberations and evaluation of student performance;
• h. processing scholarship applications, grants and other forms of financial assistance;
• i. investigating incidents that relate to student behavior and implementing disciplinary measures;
• j. maintaining directories and alumni records;
• k. compiling and generating reports for statistical and research purposes;
• l. providing services such as health, insurance, counseling, information technology, library, sports/recreation, parking, , safety and security;
• m. managing and controlling access to campus facilities and equipment;
• n. communicating official school announcements;
• o. sharing marketing and promotional materials regarding school-related functions, events, projects, and activities;
• p. soliciting your participation in research and non-commercial surveys;
• q. sharing your information with persons or institutions as provided below. We consider the processing of your personal data for these purposes to be either necessary for the performance of our contractual obligations with you, or necessary for our compliance with a legal obligation, necessary to protect your vitally important interests, including your life and health, necessary for the performance of tasks we carry out in the public interest (e.g., public order, public safety, etc.), or necessary for the pursuit of the legitimate interests of the Academy or a third party. We understand that the DPA imposes stricter rules for the processing of sensitive personal information, and privileged information, and we are fully committed to abiding by those rules. If we require your consent for any specific use of your personal data, we will collect it at the appropriate time and you can withdraw this at any time, unless otherwise provided by law. Without your prior consent, we will not use your personal data to carry out any wholly automated decision-making process that affects you.

To the extent permitted or required by law, we may also share, disclose, or transfer your personal data to other persons or organizations in order to pursue our legitimate interests as an educational institution, including a variety of academic, administrative, research, historical, and statistical purposes. For example, we may share, disclose, or transfer your personal data for purposes such as:

• posting of acceptance to the school, awarding of financial aid and merit scholarship grants, class lists, and class schedules, online, in school bulletin boards or other places within the school;
• sharing of your personal data with your parents, guardians, or next of kin, as required by law, or on a need-to-know basis, as determined by the school, in order to promote your best interests, or to protect your health, safety, and security, or that of others;
• sharing information to potential donors, funders or benefactors for purposes of scholarship, grants, and other forms of assistance;
• publishing of scholars’ graduation brochure for distribution to donors, funders, or benefactors;
• distributing the list of graduates and awardees during commencement exercises;
• reporting and/or disclosing information to the NPC and other government bodies or agencies (e.g., Department of Education, Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, etc.), when required or allowed by law;
• sharing information with entities or organizations (e.g. Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, etc.) for accreditation and academy ranking purposes;
• sharing information with entities or organizations (e.g., Tarlac City Private Educational Institution Associations, Tarlac City Meet, Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association) for determining eligibility in sports or academic competitions, as well as other similar events;
• complying with court orders, subpoenas and/or other legal obligations;
• conducting internal research or surveys for purposes of institutional development;
• publishing academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements and success, including honors lists and names of awardees in school bulletin boards, tarpaulins, website, social media sites and publications;
• sharing your academic accomplishments or honors and co-curricular or extra-curricular achievements with schools you graduated from or were previously enrolled in, upon their request;
• sharing general (not individual) statistical information on entrance exam performance to senior high schools, upon their request, for the purpose of evaluation of their curriculum;
• marketing or advertising to promote the school, including its activities and events, through photos, videos, brochures, website/social media posting, newspaper advertisements, physical and electronic bulletin boards, and other media;
• live-streaming of school events in social media and other media;
• publishing communications with journalistic content, such as news information in school publications, and social media sites.

Your personal data is stored and transmitted securely in a variety of paper and electronic formats, including databases that are shared between the school and its different units or offices. Access to your personal data is limited to school personnel who have a legitimate interest in it for the purpose of carrying out their contractual duties. Rest assured, that our use of 4 your personal data will not be excessive. Unless otherwise provided by law or by appropriate school policies, we will retain your relevant personal data indefinitely for historical and statistical purposes. Where a retention period is provided by law and/or a school policy, all affected records will be securely disposed of after such period.

We recognize your rights with respect to your personal data, as provided by the DPA(Data Privacy Act). If you decide to exercise any of your rights, we will consider your action and address the same in accordance with the law. Should you have any concern or question regarding your rights, this Policy, or any matter involving the school and data privacy, you may contact the School Data Protection Office (SDPO) at:

email: crestonacademy@yahoo.com.ph
admissions.crestonacademy@gmail.com
landline: +63 45 491-0123
address: Mc Arthur Highway Brgy. San Rafael, Tarlac City, Tarlac, Philippines 2300

If you are not happy with the way your data is being handled, or with the response received from the school, or if you suspect that a security incident involving personal data has occurred, you may lodge your complaint or notify us at crestonacademy@yahoo.com.ph or admissions.crestonacademy@gmail.com

We may, from time to time, make changes to this Policy. On such occasions, we will let you know through our bulletin board and, when permissible, other means of communication. Any modification is effective immediately upon posting on the bulletin board.

Other policies of the school, which are not inconsistent with this one, will continue to apply. If any provision of this Policy is found to be unenforceable or invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision will not affect the validity of the other provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.