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Privacy Policy

Last updated December 9, 2021

Welcome to Handshake, a career services platform that connects students and employers to democratize the job finding experience, in college and beyond. From the very beginning, our goal has been to design privacy into our platform in a way that respects the rights of students, the obligations of Universities, and the needs of employers. We understand that student data privacy is a hot topic these days so we want to make clear the very basic privacy principles that guide our policies and practices:

  • Students are in complete control of what data they make public
    We give students control over whether they want to make their profile public to employers and what information they share on it. No student data uploaded to Handshake is ever viewable by any employer until a student has chosen to make their profile public.
  • Universities choose the student data they share with Handshake
    We respect the rights of students regarding their own personal data, and we are proud to work with Universities to find the best ways to maximize their career center’s value without compromising student privacy.
  • Handshake will never sell personal student data
    We have never done it and we never will! Our business model is based on offering valuable tools for our student and employer users that enhance the career discovery process. Your email address and personal data will never be sold to any third party.

You should read our full Privacy Policy to understand what data we collect, how we use it, and the limited circumstances where we may share it. Please note if that you reside in the EU or other regions outside the US, information collected through our Service will be transferred to and processed in the US or elsewhere. While Handshake participates in the EU/US Privacy Shield program as described below, these locations may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially used our Services. By using our Services, you consent to any transfer and processing in accordance with this Policy. If you have any questions, please contact us at privacy@joinhandshake.com.

Welcome to Handshake!

We are a career services platform that connects students, schools and employers to democratize the job finding experience in college and beyond.

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of the joinhandshake.com website and the Handshake Service (collectively “the Handshake Service” or “the Service”), as well as your relationship with Stryder Corp. (“Handshake”). This policy is part of Handshake’s Terms of Service. By using our Service, you agree to both our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy; if you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

This Privacy Policy may change over time. If we make minor changes to it without materially changing your rights, we will post the modified Policy on our website. We will notify you by email, through the Handshake Service, or by presenting you with a new Privacy Policy to accept if we make a modification that materially changes your rights. When you use the Handshake Service after a modification is posted, you are telling us that you accept the modified terms.

What information we collect

We collect personal and non-personal data from you when you use our Services. Personal Data is data that includes a personal identifier like your name, email or address, phone number, IP address or device identifier, or is data that could reasonably be linked back to you. It also may include demographic information, geolocation information, educational information, or commercial information as described below.

You need to have an account to use Handshake. You can create an account on Handshake as a student seeking a job or career advice or as an employer looking for exciting new talent. You may also create an account as a career center or school employee or as an invited mentor.

  • Student or alumni data:
    We receive personal data about you when you create a Student or Alumni Account, update your profile, respond to questions or surveys on our website or otherwise use our Site, from our Partner Universities, and from other third party data sources.
  • From University Partners:
    Our University Partners share information about their students with us so we can provide them with services that they use to manage their career centers. Each University Partner chooses what it shares, which may include your name, mailing and email address, major, or GPA. Where FERPA applies to data shared by University Partners, it is stored, used and shared in compliance with the statute.
  • From you, your account and your profile:
    You can choose to share additional information with us, such as an updated email address, phone number, work experience, resume and transcript, and answers to questions about your interests and activities that will be covered by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. You can also share this information by updating your profile, uploading documents that include personal information, or answering questions or surveys (such as the First Destination Survey) we email you or present to you on the Services. We will not use your phone number to send any commercial or marketing messages to you.
  • From employer reviews:
    We receive any personal information you choose to include in submitted employer reviews. Handshake collects this information even if the review is not published or made public.
  • From communications, transcripts or recordings:
    We receive and store personal information when you choose to participate in a video or audio meeting or call or webinar initiated through the Handshake Service or when you choose to communicate with other users by way of video, audio, or messaging during any Handshake video or audio conference or call (collectively, “Handshake Communications”). By participating in Handshake Communications, you are giving Handshake consent to store the content and recordings of any Handshake Communications. For audio or video recordings, you will receive a notification (visual or otherwise) when recording is enabled, and you should leave the meeting or webinar if you do not consent to being recorded. If we use a third party video and/or communications service provider to facilitate Handshake Communications, that service provider may not use your personal information or the content of the communications for any purpose other than to provide the service to us.
  • From third parties:
    We may receive additional information about you from other schools, alumni or career counseling organizations, or from other sources.
  • Usage and log data:
    When you visit the Site, we log and store your IP Address and technical information about your visit like your browser type and how you progressed through the Site, where you abandoned it, etc. (“Usage Data”). We can use your IP address to determine your general location.
  • Mobile data:
    When you use the Handshake mobile app, we collect analytic information about your device, such as IP address, OS version, and clickstream.
  • Precise location data:
    For a limited set of features, we allow users to opt-in to our collection of precise location data (GPS data). We only use this information to enable these features, such as displaying your precise location on a map at a career fair. We do not share precise location data with third parties, and we do not combine precise location data with personal information for advertising purposes.
  • Employer data:
    When Employers create a Handshake Employer Account, we request contact information, including email address and telephone number, to provide a point of contact for Universities and administrative staff and which is made available on your public profile. We will not use your phone number to send any commercial or marketing messages not related to your use of Handshake Services to you without your express consent.

How we use your personal data

We use, process and store your Personal Data to provide the Handshake Service and to maximize opportunities to connect you with potential employers. This includes:

  • Providing services such as allowing you to make appointments with career center professionals or sign up for career fairs and other events.
  • Delivering job opportunities and communications from potential employers by email in accordance with your account settings and communication preferences.
  • Allowing you to choose whether your profile is public or private, so potential employers, or others, can find you—or not.
  • Allowing you to contact employers and employers to contact you through the Handshake Service, including by way of messaging, audio and video conferencing, and webinars.
  • Allowing you to post reviews and other content on employers and employment experiences.
  • Personalizing the Service. For example, we may suggest employers to you based on the information in your resume or the demographic information you provide or suggest students with public profiles to employers based on search criteria.
  • Contacting you about additional Handshake or Partner services you might be interested in, unless you opt-out (see “How to Opt-Out of Email Communications”).
  • Researching new ways to improve the Handshake Service.
  • Using FERPA protected data only in compliance with the requirements of the statute.

When we may share your personal data

We will only share your personal data under the following circumstances:

  • With your consent. For example, you may choose to make your profile public so that we can share it with employers through the Services or choose to apply to a job and we will share your profile information, resume and transcript with the employers you choose. Employers are required to only use Handshake data to provide employment services and to safeguard any personal data they receive. If your account is associated with a University Partner, your University will be able to access and view personal data uploaded by you even when your account is set to “private” status. University Partners are required to safeguard any personal data they receive. You may also choose to make your profile public to specific audiences to help grow your professional brand and network. When posting an employer review or other related content, you may choose to publish your name and profile alongside the content publicly. You may also choose to post the content without any directly identifying information (i.e. you may post “pseudonymously”). Please note, even when posting pseudonymously, it may be possible to infer your identity from the content, and we share the identities of both public and pseudonymous content with Universities.
  • With vendors that are contractually engaged to provide us with services, such as cloud service providers, Handshake Communications related telecommunications services, and other services for maintaining our systems, order fulfillment, email management and credit card processing. These companies are obligated by contract to safeguard any personal data they receive from us.
  • With vendors that are contractually engaged to provide us with services, such as order fulfillment, email management and credit card processing. These companies are obligated by contract to safeguard any personal data they receive from us.
  • With relevant law enforcement bodies if we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation, valid legal process (e.g., subpoenas or warrants served on us), or governmental or regulatory request, to enforce or apply the Terms of Service, to protect the security or integrity of the Handshake Service, and/or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Handshake, its employees, users, or others. If we are going to release your data, we will do our best to provide you with notice in advance by email, unless we are prohibited by law from doing so.
  • With professional services, potential purchasers or investors in connection with the sale, merger, bankruptcy, sale of assets or reorganization of our company. We will notify you if a different company will receive your personal data and the promises in this Privacy Policy will apply to your data as transferred to the new entity.

When we use and share non-personal data

Non-personal data is data that itself cannot reasonably be linked back to you or data that is combined with other data in a way that cannot reasonably be linked back to you. We use and share your non-personal, de-identified or aggregated data in a variety of ways to help our Partners and the public understand trends in the job seeking market through analytics reports, statistics and other metrics and guides. For example, to understand:

  • What percentage of students from certain colleges work in a specific geographic area.
  • Whether a certain major or extra-curricular activity fits well with a particular employer’s hiring patterns.
  • How employers compare to each other in the number of applicants they receive from different colleges.

Cookies

As a Site visitor, we place a small piece of software referred to as a “session cookie” on your computer. If you use the Services and create an account, we also use this cookie to recognize you on return visits and expedite the login process. You can remove this and other cookies through your browser preferences menu, though the exact method varies depending on the type of browser you use – but note that you won’t be able to log into our service if your cookies are disabled. If you visit from a mobile device, we may reference your device identifier or other information about where your visit originated.

Our email communications contain web beacons or similar technology which track when the email has been opened or read. This functionality sends the resulting records back to our Service, which may be associated with other information you have provided us.

How to opt-out of email communications

To stop receiving notifications or promotions, please click the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of each email or update your account preferences. For EEA users: We only send marketing communications to users located in the EEA with your prior consent. Please see the section “GDPR: Information For EEA Users” below.

Storage, security and how to remove your information

We use industry standard technical, administrative and physical controls to protect your data including encrypting it at rest and as it is transferred from you to Handshake. While we take reasonable precautions against possible security breaches, no website or internet transmission is completely secure and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss or other breach will never occur. In the event of a breach, we will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and, where appropriate, notify affected individuals in accordance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Do not track signals

We are currently unable to respond to Do Not Track signals that may be sent by some browsers.

De-activating your account or deleting your personal data

You can choose to deactivate your account so that you are no longer viewable on the Service or you can make your account private. You may also request Handshake delete information about you, however we may be obligated as a service provider to your college or university to retain certain data about you. This means that if they re-send us your data to process on their behalf, we will retain it unless they request we delete it. You can request deactivation or deletion by sending a message to privacy@joinhandshake.com or by contacting your University to ask them to delete your information.

Third party links

The Services may contain links to and from third party websites of our Employer and University Partners or other Handshake Partners. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies. We also cannot be responsible for your personal data that you submit to employers using the Services. Please check their individual policies before you submit any information to those websites.

Children

Minors under 16 are not permitted to use our Site without express parental consent to both use the Services and be bound by our Terms of Service and this Policy. We do not intentionally collect information from minors under 13. If you believe we have collected any personal information from a child younger than 13 years of age, please notify us immediately here and we will take reasonable measures to remove that information from our systems.

Payments

Handshake provides the ability for employers to pay schools for collateral expenses, such as hosting a booth at a career fair, through the use of a third party payment processor. Handshake does not collect or use any of that payment information. If an employer has any conflicts regarding the method of payment acceptance, they should contact the school. Handshake claims no responsibility or liability for payment transactions.

Your California Privacy Rights

This Privacy Policy complies with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which requires that we provide California residents with notice that you have the right to:

  • opt-out of the sale of personal information,
  • know about personal information collected, disclosed or sold,
  • to request deletion of personal information, and
  • to be treated without discrimination should you exercise these rights.

More information regarding the sources from which we collect personal information can be found above in the section titled “What Information We Collect”; business and commercial purposes for which we collect your personal information can be found above in the section titled “How We Use Your Personal Data”; categories of recipients with whom personal information is shared or sold can be found in the section above titled “When We May Share Your Personal Data.”

We do not sell any personal information collected from your use of the Handshake Service.

To make a request under the California Consumer Privacy Act, or for any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy or practices, please contact us at privacy@handshake.com.

Privacy Shield Information for EU and Swiss Individuals

Handshake complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland to the United States pursuant to the Privacy Shield. Handshake has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit http://www.privacyshield.gov.

In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, Handshake commits to resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your personal information pursuant to the Privacy Shield. EU and Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our Privacy Shield policy should first contact Handshake at the contact address below:

Stryder Corp - Handshake
Attn: Privacy
P.O. Box 40770
San Francisco, CA 94104

or privacy@joinhandshake.com

Within the scope of this privacy notice, if a privacy complaint or dispute cannot be resolved through Handshake’s internal processes, Handshake has agreed to participate in the VeraSafe Privacy Shield Dispute Resolution Procedure. Subject to the terms of the VeraSafe Privacy Shield Dispute Resolution Procedure, VeraSafe will provide appropriate recourse free of charge to you. To file a complaint with VeraSafe under the Privacy Shield Dispute Resolution Procedure, please submit the required information to VeraSafe here.

In certain circumstances, the Privacy Shield Framework provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the Privacy Shield Principles.

The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over Handshake’s compliance with the Privacy Shield.

The Privacy Shield Principles describe Handshake’s accountability for personal data that it subsequently transfers to a third-party agent. Under the Privacy Shield Principles, Handshake shall remain liable if third party agents process the personal information in a manner inconsistent with the Privacy Shield Principles, unless Handshake proves it is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

Note that Handshake may be required to release the personal data of EU and Swiss individuals whose data is pursuant to the Privacy Shield in response to legal requests from public authorities, including to meet national security and law enforcement requirements.

GDPR: information for EEA users

What rights do I have?

Individuals located in the European Economic Area (EEA) have certain rights in respect of your personal information and Handshake will provide these capabilities to all our worldwide users, including:

  • The right of access to your personal data;
  • The right to correct or rectify any inaccurate personal data;
  • The right to restrict or oppose processing of personal data;
  • The right to erase your personal data;
  • The right to personal data portability; and
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the relevant Supervisory Authority.

As described in this Policy, when Handshake processes your data at the direction of a University Partner, we act as their Processor and comply with requests they send us under GDPR. As a Handshake user:

  • We rely on your consent as a lawful basis for processing personal data to provide you with marketing or promotional communications.
  • We process personal data in order to provide you with services as requested by your University, or to perform our contract with you as described in this document, including:
    • To enable the Service to function as expected; and
    • To communicate with you in response to customer service inquiries and to deliver non-promotional, service-related emails.
  • Additionally, we process personal data based on our “legitimate interests” in providing you the Service as described in this document including:
    • To provide you with job opportunities from employers; and
    • To administer surveys and questionnaires.

In some cases, Handshake may process personal information pursuant to a legal obligation or to protect your vital interests or those of another person.

How may I exercise my individual rights?

Handshake account holders may exercise their rights regarding their personal information as follows:

  • You can access your personal data through your account settings in the Handshake platform or by contacting us to request a personal data report at privacy@joinhandshake.com.
  • You may withdraw your consent to receive cookies by adjusting your browser settings.
  • You may withdraw your consent to receive marketing or promotional communications at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link found within Handshake email updates and changing your contact preferences. Please note, you will continue to receive essential account-related information, even if you unsubscribe from promotional emails.
  • You can request deletion of your data as described in the section “De-Activating Your Account or Deleting Your Personal Data.”

Users located within the EEA may contact us at privacy@joinhandshake.com with questions or requests regarding their personal information. Please note that Handshake may request additional information from you to verify your identity before we disclose any personal or account information.

VeraSafe has been appointed as Handshakes's representative in the European Union for data protection matters, pursuant to Article 27 of the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. If you are unable to reach Handshake at privacy@joinhandshake.com, VeraSafe can be contacted on matters related to the processing of personal data under GDPR. To make such an inquiry, please contact VeraSafe using this contact form.

Alternatively, VeraSafe can be contacted at:

VeraSafe Czech Republic s.r.o
Klimentská 46
Prague 1, 11002
Czech Republic

VeraSafe Ireland Ltd
Unit 3D North Point House
North Point Business Park
New Mallow Road
Cork T23AT2P
Ireland

Contact us and accessing your information

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, or if you wish to remove any of your personal information from our records please contact us at either:

Stryder Corp - Handshake
Attn: Privacy
P.O. Box 40770
San Francisco, CA 94104

or privacy@joinhandshake.com