VitalSource Technologies LLC Terms and Conditions of Use

Effective Date and Last updated: October 28, 2024 

These Terms and Conditions of Use (the "TOUs") are applicable to you ("User," "you," or "your"). These TOUs set forth the terms and conditions for your use of this website, including the VitalSource Store (the "Site") and your use of our Bookshelf mobile app, Discover Lens mobile app, and other digital content distribution and learning software (including any associated documentation and any updates to that software) and the digital content that can be read by that software that we make available for access and download from the Site (respectively "Software" and "Licensed Content" and together "Products"). These TOUs also apply to any of the services accessible through any Products, Software or Site (the "Services"), unless separate or additional terms apply, in which case they will be displayed on-screen or accessible via a link.

The Site and the Products are operated by VitalSource Technologies LLC ("VitalSource," also "we," "our," and "us"). We are a limited liability company, formed under the laws of the State of Delaware in the United States. Our registered number is 2411480, and our principal office is at 227 Fayetteville Street, Suite 400, Raleigh, NC 27601.

You agree with and accept these TOUs, our Privacy Policy, our Cookies Notice, and our Refund Policy as a condition of your use of the Site and Products. If you do not agree with the terms of these TOUs, do not access or use the Site or Products. We reserve the right to change these TOUs from time to time. Users of the Site are advised to please refer back to these TOUs periodically to review any changes we may make from time to time. Users of Products will be notified with the TOUs being displayed on-screen or with a link to the updated TOUs when you next start the Software or download new Licensed Content, although no such changes will apply retrospectively. You warrant to us that you have the authority to enter into an agreement with us on the terms of these TOUs.

These TOUs were last updated on October 28, 2024.

 

United States Jurisdiction

The Services and Products and marketing efforts are only available to residents of the United States. Please visit our other websites that are available and intended to be used by persons residing outside the United States. Unless otherwise specified, all transactions made within the Site shall use United States currency. The Services and Products are not intended for distribution or use in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation.

License and Use

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Site and any Product for your personal use only. Any commercial use, use in violation of these TOUs, or use for data collection and/or profit is not allowed.

You may retrieve and display content from the Site or any Product on a computer or other device, print and copy individual pages and, subject to the next section, store such pages in electronic form on that device. Additional terms may also apply to certain features, parts or content of the Site and, where they apply, will be displayed on-screen or accessible via a link ("Other Terms").

You must only use the Site or Product and anything available from the Site or a Product for lawful purposes (complying with all applicable laws and regulations), in a responsible manner, and not in a way that might damage our name or reputation or that of any of our affiliates.

You remain responsible for:

• all of your activity on and in connection with the Site and/or Product;
• all of the content and details that you submit into, or post onto, the Site or any Product ("Your Content");
• what you access on the Site or Product, how you interpret or use the Site or Product and any actions you may take as a result of using the Site or Product.

Access to the Site and Products

Products may only be downloaded, accessed and used on a computer or other device owned or controlled by you and running the relevant operating system for which the Product concerned was designed, so you must make sure you have a compatible device which meets all the necessary technical specifications to enable you to download any Product you wish to download and to access and use each downloaded Product.

All purchases of any Products of Licensed Content is subject to VitalSource’s Refund Policy. By using the Products and/or Site, you acknowledge that you have read the Refund Policy and agree to be bound by the terms set forth therein.

You will be assumed to have obtained permission from the owner of any computer or other device that is controlled, but not owned, by you to download any Product to that device. You accept responsibility, in accordance with these TOUs, for all access to, and use of, any Product by you on any device, whether or not it is owned by you.

You acknowledge that the mobile service provider for any mobile device to which you download, or on which you access or use, any Product may charge for internet access on that device and that you are solely responsible for such charges, if any.

We may, from time to time, restrict access to certain features, parts or content of the Site or a Product, or the entire Site or Product, to users who have registered with us. You must ensure that any registration details you provide are accurate and you must keep those details accurate and up to date. You agree that VitalSource may, at any time and with or without prior notice, remove Licensed Content from the Service or Site if we determine, in our sole discretion, that we do not possess the appropriate or necessary rights to provide you with access to such Licensed Content. In the event VitalSource elects to remove Licensed Content from the Service AND SUCH REMOVAL OCCURS WITHIN THE FIRST 12 MONTHS FOLLOWING YOUR DATE OF PURCHASE, you agree that your sole and exclusive remedy shall be a refund of all amounts previously paid by you to VitalSource for the removed Licensed Content. IN THE EVENT VITALSOURCE ELECTS TO REMOVE LICENSED CONTENT FROM THE SERVICE AT ANY TIME AFTER 12 MONTHS FROM YOUR DATE OF PURCHASE OF SUCH LICENSED CONTENT, YOU AGREE THAT YOU SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY REFUND FROM VITALSOURCE.

If you choose, or you are provided with, a log-on ID (such as a username and password or other identifier) as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential and must not reveal it to anyone else. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your log-on ID and must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use or other security breach of which you become aware. We reserve the right to disable any log-on ID, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these TOUs or if any details you provide for the purposes of registering as a user prove to be false.

We cannot and do not guarantee the continuous, uninterrupted or error-free operability of the Site, Services or any Product or that any Site or Product content will respond at a certain speed (since this depends on a number of factors outside our control). Specific service level agreements between VitalSource and an institution or other business entity may be a part of another agreement, and such an SLA would not be bound by this paragraph.

We reserve the right to withdraw or suspend the operation of any Product or the Site, with or without notice to you, if we need to do so for security or legal reasons.

You may, at any time, terminate the rights granted to you under these TOUs to access and use any Product by permanently uninstalling and deleting your copy of that Product, and removing the specific machine activations you have created

Paid-for Licensed Content

The downloading of paid-for Licensed Content may require you to pay a fee, the amount of which will be as set out on the Site from time to time, unless you have been issued with a code (for example, by an institution with whom you are studying, a publisher or retailer of a publication you have already purchased in hard copy) in which case you may redeem that code against an eligible download.

Payment for all orders must be made by credit or debit card via the checkout page. We use a reputable third-party payment services provider to take payment. Payment is accepted by most major credit and debit cards. Payment is taken, in full, immediately. You should be aware that online payment transactions are subject to validation checks by your card issuer and we are not responsible if your card issuer declines to authorize payment for any reason. Please note, it is possible that your card issuer may charge you an online handling fee or processing fee. We are not responsible for such charges.

The relevant download will be made available immediately when payment is authorized or you enter a valid code. You acknowledge that there are no refunds once you authorize payment or enter a valid code and, therefore, you will have no right to change your mind (sometimes known as a ‘cooling off’ right) once the download has started.

Where you pay to download any paid-for Licensed Content, we warrant that it will, when downloaded, substantially comply with the description provided by us at the point of download and that any services we provide through it will be provided with reasonable care and skill.

Prohibited Uses

You are prohibited from and agree not to:

• rent, lease, loan, sell, license, or transfer access to the Site or Product to any third party or exploit the Site or Product for commercial purposes or otherwise use any information on the Site or in a Product (either directly or indirectly) for profit or gain;
• use, choose, or select the username of another party with the intent to impersonate that party, to otherwise deceive us or any party, or to otherwise engage in fraudulent behavior;
• use, choose, or otherwise select the username that is subject to the rights of another party, without that party’s express authorization;
• use, choose, or otherwise select a username containing any terms which would be vulgar, obscene, lewd or otherwise offensive in nature.
• copy or store any Product or the Site (or any part thereof) other than for your own non-commercial, personal use;
• store the Site or any Product on a server or other storage device connected to a network or create a database;
• interfere with, disrupt, alter, translate, or modify the Site or Product or any part thereof, or create an undue burden on the Site or Product or the networks or services connected to the Site or Product, nor attempt to circumvent the security of any servers on which the Site or Product is hosted;
• reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or reverse compile the Site or any Product;
• introduce software or automated agents or scripts to the Site or Product so as to produce multiple accounts, generate automated searches, requests and queries, or to strip, scrape, or mine data from the Site or Product;
• transmit, distribute, introduce or otherwise make available in any manner through the Site or Product any computer virus, keyloggers, spyware, worms, trojan horses, time bombs or other malicious or harmful programming; or
• use any Product of the Site in a way that might damage our name or reputation or that of any of our affiliates;
• export any Product in breach of the applicable export or import laws of any country;
• publicly display, perform, republish, or reproduce any Product or any product we make available for download from the Site (including without limitation by way of email, newsgroups, file or discussion areas, intranet or internet site or any other means);
• tamper with, bypass or alter any security, digital rights management, or other licensing enforcement procedures relating to the Product, Site or Services; or
• otherwise, do anything not expressly permitted by these TOUs.

All rights granted to you under these TOUs will terminate immediately in the event that you are in breach of any term of the TOUs.

To do anything with any Product that is not expressly permitted by these TOUs, you will need a separate license from us. Please contact us, using the Contacting us details at the end of these TOUs.

Privacy and Collection and Use of Information

You acknowledge that when you download, install, or use the Products, you also may be required to provide certain information about yourself as a condition to downloading, installing, or using the Products or certain of its features or functionality, and the Products may provide you with opportunities to share information about yourself with others. all collection and use of your personal data submitted to us (via our Site or any Product) is governed by our Privacy Policy and Cookies Notice, which is expressly made part of these TOUs. If you have not already read our Privacy Policy and Cookies Notice, you should do so now. By downloading, installing, using, and providing information to or through the Products or Site, you consent to all actions taken by VitalSource with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy

Intellectual Property

We license, but do not sell, to you any Product you download. We or the licensors of the Licensed Content remain the owners of all Products at all times.

All intellectual property rights in any content of the Site, the Licensed Content, and in each Product and its content (including VitalSource®, VitalSource Bookshelf® and other trademarks, text, graphics, software, photographs and other materials, images, videos and audio) (collectively, "Content"), other than Your Content, are owned by VitalSource or our licensors. Except as expressly set out herein, where necessary for viewing the Content on the Site or your browser, or as permitted by applicable law which may not be excluded or limited, nothing in these TOUs gives you any rights in respect of any intellectual property owned by us or our licensors and you acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading the Site or any Product or any of its content. When you submit, post, upload, or otherwise interact with or publish Your Content in connection with the Products or and Services, you grant us and our affiliates and authorized representatives a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable right and license to any and all underlying copyright, trademark, and publicity rights you may have in Your Content including, without limitation, the right to use, publish, distribute, copy, display, modify, sell, offer for sale, create derivative works from, and otherwise use Your Content in any media known now or in the future without the need to obtain any further consent or permission. We are not required to host, display, or distribute Your Content and may remove Your Content at any time. Further, by posting Your Content, you represent and warrant that you own Your Content, or otherwise have the right to grant the licenses set forth herein, and the posting of Your Content in connection with the Products or Services does not violate the copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity rights of any third party.

In the event you print off, copy or store pages from the Site (only as permitted by the "License and Use" section of these TOUs), you must ensure that any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right notices contained in the original content are reproduced and are not modified in any manner.

The Software may contain code, commonly referred to as open source software, which is distributed under any of the many known variations of open source license terms, including terms which allow the free distribution and modification of the relevant software’s source code and/or which require all distributors to make such source code freely available upon request, including any contributions or modifications made by such distributor (collectively, "Open Source Software"). Please note that, to the extent that any Software contains any Open Source Software, that element only is licensed to you under the relevant license terms of the applicable third party licensor ("Open Source License Terms") and not under these TOUs, and you accept and agree to be bound by such Open Source License Terms. A copy of the source code for any Open Source Software contained in any Software and the relevant Open Source License Terms will be made available to you upon request.

Content

We may change the format and Content of the Site from time to time without notice. We reserve the right to change the design, features and/or functionality of any Product or Service by making the updated Product or Service available for you to download or, where your device settings permit it, by automatic delivery of updates. You are not obliged to download any updated Product or Service, but we may cease to provide and/or update content to prior versions of any Product or Service and, depending on the nature of the update, in some circumstances you may not be able to continue using a Product or Service until you have downloaded the updated version.

Since electronic services are subject to interruption and breakdown, you agree that your use of the Site is on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis and at your sole risk. You also agree that downloading, accessing and use of any Product or Service is on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis and at your sole risk. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data, or other proprietary material due to your use of the site or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any third-party website linked to it.

We may, but are not obliged to, make updates available to any Product or Service or its content and we may cease to make such updates available at any time, with or without notice to you.

Parts of the Site, Product or Service may not be correct, accurate, reliable, complete or up to date from time to time. You should check with us or the relevant information source and make any other appropriate inquiries before acting on any such information, and notify us if you notice any inaccurate, incomplete or out of date Content on the Site or in a Product or Service.

Neither we nor our licensors can guarantee that any content of the Site or any Product or Service and its content will be free from viruses or other code that may have contaminating or destructive elements, or that access to the Site, Products or Service will function as intended or be uninterrupted. It is your responsibility to implement appropriate IT security safeguards (including anti-virus and other security protections) to satisfy your particular requirements as to the safety and reliability of the Site, any Product or Service.

Products for download

VitalSource makes available Products for download by you through the Site. Prices are displayed with the applicable Product or Service. Prices and availability of all Products and Services are subject to change at any time without notice before we accept your order. Prices may or may not be inclusive of applicable sales, use, or other taxes; however, such taxes shall be identified, calculated and collected at the point of sale. A confirmation email will be provided after the checkout for each order. We are not responsible for any interruption to or failure in any communication or process, howsoever caused, which results in an order, or in any payment or payment details not being received or processed by us. A payment will be regarded as received when we are able to credit or transfer the amount required into our designated bank account. Products and their download are subject to these TOUs.

You must be 13 years of age or older to download any Product from the Site. While individuals under the age of 13 may use any Product, they may do so only with the involvement, supervision, and approval of their parent or legal guardian or at the direction of their school instructors and administrators.

Third-party links and tools

The Site and certain Products may, from time to time, include links to external sites or applications owned, operated or produced by third-party organizations independent of us, which may include links to third party offers and promotions. We include these for convenience only, to provide you with access to information, products or services that you may find useful or interesting. We have not verified and are not responsible for the content of these sites or for anything provided by them and do not guarantee that they will be continuously available. The fact that we include links to such external sites does not imply any endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation of, or association with, their operators or promoters or any materials on them.

Certain tools, devices, software programs or other features available on or through the Site or Products may be provided by third parties. These tools are provided or made available as a convenience to you. These tools are not owned or operated by us and we are not responsible for examining the content, availability, accuracy, adequacy, timeliness, validity, copyright compliance, legality, decency, quality, completeness or any other aspect of these tools.

Our Liability

Nothing in these TOUs is intended to limit or exclude our liability to you or the liability of our licensors to you:

• for death or personal injury caused by our negligence; or
• for fraudulent misrepresentation,
• or to exclude, restrict or modify rights which you may have under any law which may not be excluded, restricted or modified by agreement ("Your Consumer Rights"). You can find out more about Your Consumer Rights from consumer organizations and bodies such as your local Trading Standards Office or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Subject to the above (including Your Consumer Rights), in no event shall we or our licensors be liable to you for:

• any business losses;
• any losses that were not reasonably foreseeable; or
• any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations that is caused by events outside our reasonable control.

If you suffer any loss in connection with the Site or Product, you must take all reasonable steps to minimize your loss, including notifying us without delay if there are steps we can take to help minimize your loss. Any liability we do have for losses you suffer shall not, in aggregate, exceed the total fees paid by you for the relevant paid-for Product in respect of which the liability arises.

Limitation on Availability of Certain Damages and Remedies. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL VITALSOURCE AND/OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING ANY CLAIMS FOR LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, INABILITY TO STUDY, TEACH OR LEARN, LOST INFORMATION OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE VITALSOURCE PRODUCT. IN ALL EVENTS, VITALSOURCE’S SOLE OBLIGATION OR LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IN THE AGGREGATE IS THE REPLACEMENT OR REPAIR OF THE MEDIA ON WHICH THE VITALSOURCE PRODUCT IS PROVIDED OR A REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE PAID FOR THE VITALSOURCE PRODUCT. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE.

EXCEPT AS SET FORTH HEREIN, THE VITALSOURCE PRODUCTS, SITE, AND SERVICES ARE FURNISHED BY VITALSOURCE TO YOU ON AN "AS IS" AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY TYPE NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED BY VITALSOURCE AND ITS LICENSORS. NO REPRESENTATION OR DEMONSTRATION SHALL CONSTITUTE A WARRANTY OF THE VST PRODUCT UNLESS EXPRESSLY INCORPORATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.

Limitation of Time to File Claims. ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR SITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES OTHERWISE SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS OF TIME TO BE CONTRACTUALLY IMPOSED IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES SO THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless VitalSource and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, successors, and assigns from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities, deficiencies, claims, actions, judgments, settlements, interest, awards, penalties, fines, costs, or expenses of whatever kind, including attorneys’ fees, arising from or relating to your use or misuse of the Products, Services, or Site, or your breach of this Agreement, including but not limited to the content you submit or make available through the Products or Site.

General

You may not transfer or assign any or all of your rights or obligations under these TOUs.

If we fail to enforce any of our rights, that does not result in a waiver of that right.

If any provision of these TOUs is found to be unenforceable, all other provisions shall remain unaffected.

These TOUs may not be modified except with our express written consent.

These TOUs and the Other Terms represent the entire agreement between you and us in relation to their subject matter.

These TOUs shall be governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee without giving effect to any conflicts of laws principles. You agree that any claim, dispute, suit, action, controversy or proceeding ("Dispute") arising out of or relating to these TOUs or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof (collectively, "Disputed Claim(s)") will be resolved, upon notification by you or us, exclusively and finally by binding arbitration. The Arbitration of the Dispute will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association pursuant to its Commercial Arbitration Rules (including, without limitation, the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes, if applicable). Neither you nor we will have the right to litigate arbitrated Disputed Claims in court or to have a jury trial on Disputed Claims or to engage in pre-arbitration discovery, except as provided for in the applicable arbitration rules or by written agreement of the parties involved. The arbitration may be conducted by telephone, online, or based solely upon written submissions.

A party who desires to initiate arbitration must provide the other party with a written Demand for Arbitration as specified in the AAA Rules. The arbitrator will be either a retired judge or an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and will be selected by the parties from the AAA's roster of consumer dispute arbitrators. If the parties are unable to agree upon an arbitrator within ten (10) business days of delivery of the Demand for Arbitration, then the AAA will appoint the arbitrator in accordance with the AAA Rules. An award of damages, if any, must be consistent with the terms of Limitation of Liability section of these TOUs as to the types and the amounts of damages for which a party may be held liable. The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the claimant and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the claimant's individual claim.

Further, you will not have the right to participate as a representative or member of any class of claimants pertaining to any Disputed Claim. Notwithstanding any choice of law provision included in these TOUs, this arbitration is subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16) and not by any state arbitration law. The arbitration will take place exclusively in Nashville, Tennessee. In connection with any arbitration proceeding, each party must submit or file any Disputed Claim that would constitute a compulsory counterclaim (as defined by Rule 13 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) within the same proceeding as the Dispute to which it relates. Each party involved will bear its own cost of any legal representation, discovery or research required to conduct and complete arbitration.

The existence or results of any arbitration will be treated as confidential. The arbitrator will not have the authority to award exemplary or punitive damages.

This section shall survive any expiration or termination of your relationship with VitalSource.

Termination

We may terminate, disable, lock, block or suspend your access to the Site or any Product if you fail to comply, or if we suspect on reasonable grounds that you have failed to comply, with any of the TOUs. In the event of such termination, you must cease all use of the Site and/or Product, and VitalSource may immediately revoke your access to the Site and/or Product.

All provisions which by their nature are intended to survive termination will survive the termination of these TOUs regardless of the reason for such termination.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions, comments, or requests regarding these TOUs, please contact us:

• via email at [email protected];
• at http://support.vitalsource.com; or
• write to us at the following address:
  227 Fayetteville Street
  Suite 400
  Raleigh, NC 27601

 

 

VitalSource Technologies LLC Privacy Policy

 

Effective Date and Last Updated: Oct 28, 2024

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) is meant to help you understand the personal information that VitalSource Technologies LLC and our affiliate VST Limited (UK) (collectively, “VitalSource”) collect, why we collect it, and how you can manage it. The Policy applies to personal information that is collected when you or others interact with VitalSource, our websites (such as vitalsource.com and bookshelf.vitalsource.com) (collectively, “Sites”), any VitalSource-owned web retail store, or our products and services such as Bookshelf, Bookshelf Online, VitalSource Engagement Dashboard, VitalSource and Bookshelf mobile applications, Intrepid Platform, Acrobatiq Platform, reader software, digital content, other products controlled, owned, or licensed by VitalSource, or any other products or services that include a link to this Policy (collectively, “Products” and “Services”).

In this Policy, “you,” “yours,” and similar expressions refer to users of our Sites, Products, or Services as well as any other individuals whose information we collect and process. References to “we,” “us,” “our” refer to VitalSource.

By interacting with VitalSource through our Sites, Products, or Services, you are acknowledging that you have read, understood, and accept this Policy. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS POLICY, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS THE SITES, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES.

This Policy does not extend to anyone whose personal information is not under our control or management, including data that is collected by third-party websites that you may visit before or after the Sites, and which are not governed by this Policy. We are not responsible for the data protection or privacy policies of any third-party websites, and accept no responsibility or liability for their actions or policies.

 

1. Information We Collect and Receive.

1.1 Information We Collect and Receive.

In order for you to access and use our Sites, Products, and Services, we may collect and process certain types of personal information as you interact with us. For example, we may collect personal information from website visitors, potential customers, users of our Products and Services (such as students), K-12 educational institutions, other businesses that license our Products and Services, and content owners whose content appears in our Products and Services. Depending on your activities on our Sites, Products, and Services, the personal information we collect and receive may include personal information you provide to us directly, or that others (such as educational institutions and professors) may provide about you:

• • Information you provide to us by completing forms on our website: For example, your name, contact, and address information, and any other information you may provide to our 24/7 Live Support, or through our App.
  • Information you provide to us by contacting us, including any personal information you may provide to us when you email or call us, such as name, phone number, employer, and any other details you provide in your communications. We may also request your contact information for the purposes of having someone contact you for additional information, or in response to your request for information from us;
  • Transaction information when you purchase our Products and Services: This may include, for example, information about which Products and Services you have purchased, obtained, or considered purchasing, as well as other consumer-related purchasing data;
  • Information about your activity when using our Products and Services: This may include information we collect from the device you use, such as your IP address, the type of device or browser you use, information about your interaction with and usage of the Products, Services, and Sites, including applications, widgets, and advertisements.
  • Information about your geolocation, such as physical location based on IP address, device data, or region;
  • Professional or employment information you provide to us or that we receive from you or your educational institution;
  • Physical characteristics or descriptions, for example, if you upload a photograph of yourself or your ID;
  • Non-public education information we may receive under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232(g), 34 C.F.R. Part 99)), such as education records, grades, transcripts, class lists, and student schedules; and
  • Inferences we draw from your personal information, such as a profile reflecting your preferences, characteristics, and behavior with our Products, Sites, and Services.

Within the last year, VitalSource has collected all these categories of personal information for its business purposes described in Section 3 below.

You may choose not to provide us with personal information we may request, but in general, most of the personal information we request is required for us to provide the Products and Services and the lack of such personal information will prevent us from doing so.

Please note that personal information does not include aggregate information from which individual identities have been removed.

1.2 Information from Children.

VitalSource does not knowingly solicit or collect any personal information from anyone under 13 years of age, and children under 13 are not permitted to register for or use our Sites, Services, or Products, including by subscribing to receive information from VitalSource. If we become aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it. For Products and Services offered to K-12 educational institutions, we either provide those Products and Services without collecting, using, or disclosing “personal information” (as defined in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”)), except as permitted by COPPA, or we obtain consent from the educational institution or a parent or legal guardian. We do not collect personal information from children under 16 in the European Union without legally-valid consent.

2. How We Collect Personal Information.

2.1 Personal Information

You Provide Directly. We collect the personal information you provide to us directly when you take actions such as filling out a form on our Sites; registering for an account with us; contacting us by email, letter, or phone; interacting with us on social media; interacting with our Products, Services, or Sites; or engaging in a transaction with us.

2.2 Personal Information Provided About You.

We also collect personal information about you provided to us by others in order to enable you to use our Products and Services. For example, educational institutions and their personnel may create student accounts with us so that their students can use our Products and Services. These educational institutions authorize us to collect or provide us with personal information about their students to enable their students to use our Products and Services. Please note that VitalSource also offers K-12 educational institutions the ability to utilize certain Products without enabling VitalSource to collect or use student personal information, such as name or login credentials. Specifically, VitalSource, through our integration partners, utilizes reference accounts in order to create and manage content through Bookshelf accounts. In such instances, VitalSource only uses and stores the reference account number for the student account, along with the content made available to the student and the student’s notes and highlights, in managing these accounts.

2.3 Automatically Collected Personal Information - Cookies and Tracers.

We may use cookies and similar technologies (e.g., web beacons, pixels, ad tags and device identifiers) to recognize you and/or your device(s) on, off, and across the Sites and different Products, Services, and devices. Cookies are also used to enable certain website features and functionalities. A cookie is a small file that is placed onto your device (e.g., computer, smartphone or other electronic device) that stores information when you visit a website. You can control certain cookies through your browser settings and other tools. You can also opt-out from our use of cookies. You can view our full Cookie Policy at https://www.vitalsource.com/cookies.

3. How We Use Personal Information.

VitalSource may use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• To meet any contractual obligations with you;
• To provide and deliver our Products, Services, and Sites and related support;
• To allow you to log into and access your account;
• To process any purchases, transactions, or payments made on our Sites;
• To keep your information and our systems secure such as by detecting security incidents, and to be able to verify your identity and contact information;
• To alert you about product updates, special offers, updated information, and other news, services, and products from VitalSource, our partners, or carefully selected third parties, provided that you have not opted out of these communications;
• For testing, research, analysis, and product development, including to develop and improve our content, Sites, Products, and Services;
• To ensure our content, Sites, Products, and Services are functional, efficient, and relevant to you and your interests;
• To respond to your inquiries and requests;
• To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations; and
• To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets.

We do not use K-12 student personal information for any purposes other than K-12 educational institutions’ educational purposes, unless that personal information is de-identified. We do not use K-12 student personal information for behaviorally-targeted advertising purposes.

4. How Information May Be Shared

VitalSource does not sell or rent any of your personal information, and we do not share your personal information without ensuring it is protected with appropriate levels of security and confidentiality. We may disclose your personal information to help us provide, improve, promote, and protect our Products and/or Services. Whenever we disclose personal information, we require that the recipient follow all applicable privacy laws, and that they use your information only for the purposes we’ve authorized. We only disclose your personal information for the following business and operational purposes:

• To your educational institution or company: For example, we disclose student personal information to their educational institutions in order to provide the students access to our Products and/or Services. Other companies also may wish to provide our Products or Services to select individuals. We may disclose the personal information of those individuals to those companies in order to provide access to those Products and/or Services.
  To the owners of the content found in our Sites, Products, and Services, but only for the purpose of enabling those content owners to deliver or provide access to Products purchased by you or on your behalf.
• To our service providers: We rely on certain trusted third-party service providers to provide, process, improve, promote, or protect our Products and/or Services. These service providers do things like help us store your data, process your payments, deliver the Products and/or Services to you, improve our advertising, and secure our systems.
• To other users of the Products or Services: If you submit content to publicly accessible portions of the Products or Services, other visitors or users may be able to view your content and personal information that identifies you as the author. Please note that the Products do not permit any student’s account or the content and grades thereon to be viewed or accessed by the general public.
• To other entities within the VitalSource enterprise: We may disclose your personal information to other operations and businesses owned or operated by VitalSource.
• In the event of a change in control: We may disclose personal information to other companies for the purpose of evaluating or conducting a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets.
• As necessary or otherwise required by law: We also reserve the right to disclose personal information when it is reasonably necessary to conduct our business, protect VitalSource’s legal rights and property, and to comply with the law.

5. Protection of Your Personal Information.

We take the security of your personal information seriously. VitalSource has therefore put in place commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the personal information that we collect.

Please remember, however, that the safety and security of your personal information also depend on you. Where you have chosen, or where we have given you, a user name and password for access to certain parts of the Sites, Products, or Services, you are responsible for keeping the user name and password confidential and for using secure connections. No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, so VitalSource cannot guarantee its absolute security.

 

6. Data Transfers.

Because VitalSource is a US-based company, your personal information may be collected and processed in the United States. Additionally, as part of the Products and/or Services offered to you through our Sites, information that we receive about you may be transferred to and stored in one or more countries other than where you currently reside. For example, this may occur if any of our servers or third-party service providers are located in a country other than yours. These countries may have different data protection laws than your current residence. However, if we transfer your personal information in this way, we will put in place appropriate protection to make sure it is treated in line with this Policy.

By doing business or interacting with us through the Sites, Products, and/or Services, you are consenting to the transfer, storage, and processing of your personal information to and within facilities located in the United States and other locations selected by VitalSource.

In addition, VitalSource participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework (collectively, the “Data Privacy Frameworks”) as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the processing of personal information from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, and Switzerland. VitalSource has further certified that we adhere to the principles of the Data Privacy Frameworks. Click https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/ to learn more about the Data Privacy Frameworks. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Policy and the Data Privacy Frameworks principles, the principles shall govern.

If VitalSource transfers personal information received under the Data Privacy Frameworks to a third party, the third party’s processing of the personal information must also be in compliance with our Data Privacy Frameworks obligations, and we will remain liable under the Data Privacy Frameworks for any failure to do so by the third party, unless we prove we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

VitalSource is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the US Federal Trade Commission. In certain situations, VitalSource may be required to disclose the personal information we process under the Data Privacy Frameworks in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

If you have a question or complaint about our handling of your personal information under the Data Privacy Frameworks, please contact us at [email protected]. If you have complaints related to the Data Privacy Frameworks that we cannot resolve directly, we have chosen to cooperate with JAMS. JAMS is an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgement of your DPF Principles-related complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your PDF Principles-related complaint to your satisfaction, please visit https://www.jamsadr.com/dpf-dispute-resolution for more information or to file a complaint. The services of JAMS are provided at no cost to you. As further explained in the Data Privacy Frameworks principles, binding arbitration is available to address complaints not resolved by other means. More information can be found here: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/framework-article/ANNEX-I-.

 

7. Mobile and Email Notifications.

We try to give you the ability to opt-in/opt-out to any marketing communications we may send. For example, we may send you email relating to the Services and/or Products we offer. You may also elect to receive certain marketing communications in accordance with your preferences, and from which you may opt-out at any time. You can always opt-out of receiving our marketing emails or mobile device notifications (other than certain required communications, such as messages confirming orders, and notifying you of any privacy policy updates, and the like), by following the unsubscribe instructions on promotional communications sent to you, or by contacting VitalSource Support at https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/requests/new stating your request.

 

8. Retention.

We will keep your personal information (1) for as long as is necessary to perform the processing activity for that information, (2) as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us, (3) according to the instructions of a controller when we act as a processor, (4) according to the instructions of K-12 educational institutions for student personal information, or (5) as required or allowed by law.

The relevant retention period is determined on a case-by-case basis because it depends on things like the nature of the data, why it is collected, why it is processed, and any legal or operational retention needs. For example, we may retain your data for as long as you are a customer of ours so that we may process and complete any orders you may make with us. When the relevant processing activity has been completed, we may destroy your data, or alternatively anonymize the data such that the data is not personally identifiable.

 

9. Legal Basis for Processing - European Residents.

Data protection law in the European Economic Area (EEA) requires a lawful basis for collecting and retaining personal information from EU residents. Our lawful bases for processing personal information include:

• Performing the contract(s) we have with you: In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations, such as to deliver our Products and/or Services, and answer any questions you may have.
• Consent: We may rely on your consent to process your personal information in certain situations. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Legal compliance: Sometimes the law requires us to collect, store, or use your data for legal purposes, such as to comply with fraud monitoring and to report illegal activity.
• Legitimate interests: This is a term in data protection law that allows us to process your personal information if we have a legitimate reason to use your data, and only if we do so in ways which do not hurt your interests and rights. For example, we sometimes process your data to pursue our legitimate interests in running our business, including for delivering our Products and/or Services, protecting you from fraud, improving our Products and/or Services, quality assurance, and marketing purposes.

10. Personal Information Requests Regarding K-12 Students.

VitalSource is committed to working with the parties involved with K-12 student data. K-12 educational institutions can delete student personal information through the Products and Services that they have access to. K-12 educational institutions may also request the review or deletion of student personal information by contacting us at [email protected]. Upon the request of a K-12 educational institution, VitalSource will also assist with requests from students or legal guardians relating to the students’ personal information.

K-12 students and legal guardians may request access, review, correction, or deletion of K-12 student personal information in the Products and Services by contacting the student’s K-12 educational institution. If the K-12 educational institution determines that the request should be granted, the K-12 educational institution will either make the change itself or submit the request to VitalSource.
If student personal information is deleted from the Site, Products, or Services, please be aware that the student and others with access may lose access or functionality relating to the Site, Products, and Services.

 

11. Personal Information Requests.

There legally applicable, VitalSource offers individuals residing in the European Economic Area and in certain U.S. states the opportunity to choose whether their personal information may be disclosed to third parties or used for a purpose that is materially different from the original processing purpose of the information. To the extent required by the DPF principles, VitalSource also obtains opt-in consent for certain uses and disclosures of sensitive personal information. Unless VitalSource offers you an appropriate choice, VitalSource uses personal information only for purposes that are materially the same as those indicated in this Policy. To exercise your choices, you may contact VitalSource as indicated below. Unless an exception or exemption applies, these rights may include:

• The ability to request that we provide the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you;
• The ability to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions;
• The ability to request correction of inaccurate personal information;
• The ability to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information; and
• The ability to request data portability;

In California, residents have the right to request that we provide you with information about the financial incentives that we offer to you, if any exists, as well as the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights.

Certain information may be exempt from the above requests under certain circumstances. For example, we may retain certain information for legal compliance reasons, and to secure our Services. We may also require certain information in order to provide the Services to you. Accordingly, if you ask us to delete it, you may no longer be able to use the Services or access any of the content you were previously able to access.

You may submit a request using the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Request Form or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Request Form (for EU residents) available at https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Residents of California may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on their behalf.

To protect your privacy and security, VitalSource may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before processing or fulfilling your request. We will generally respond to your request within 45 days, unless a longer response time is necessary, in which case we will let you know. Please note that we may retain certain personal information as required or allowed by law or as necessary for our legitimate business purposes.

In situations where we process personal information only on behalf of a customer such as an educational institution, we may refer data requests to the relevant party and cooperate with their handling of the requests.

 

12. Nevada Residents.

We do not sell your covered information, as defined by Section 1.6 of Chapter 603A of the Nevada Revised Statutes. If you reside in Nevada, you have the right to submit a request regarding the sale of covered information to our designated address: Privacy, 227 Fayetteville Street, Suite 400, Raleigh NC, 27601.

 

13. Questions, Comments, or Complaints.

If you have questions or comments about this Policy, we invite you to contact us at [email protected], or by visiting https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. If you have an applicable disability, you may also contact us at the above email address to request access to this Privacy Policy in an alternative format.

VitalSource strives to satisfy our customers’ and visitors’ privacy concerns. However, if you have contacted VitalSource about your issue and are still unhappy with our response, and if you are also a resident of the European Economic Area, subject to applicable law, you may contact your local Data Protection Authority (DPA) regarding your issue. VitalSource commits to cooperating with the panel established by the DPA, and to comply with the advice given by the panel with regard to data transferred from the EU. More information about local DPAs is available here.

If you have any questions, comments, or requests regarding this Policy, please contact us by post or email using the following contact information:

VitalSource Technologies LLC
ATTN: Info Data Sec and Privacy Officer
227 Fayetteville Street
Suite 400 Raleigh NC, 27601
[email protected] 

 

14. Updates and Changes to this Privacy Policy.

This Policy was last updated on October, 28 2024. We may update this Policy from time to time. If we do, we’ll let you know about any material changes, either by notifying you on this webpage or by sending you an email. Any updates to this Policy will not apply retroactively. By continuing to use our Sites, Products, and/or Services after a change, you are accepting the terms of this Policy.

 

VitalSource Technologies LLC Cookies Policy

Effective Date and Last Updated: October 28, 2024

1. Introduction

This website (the “Site”) is operated by VitalSource Technologies LLC and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, representatives, consultants, employees, officers, and directors, including our affiliate VST Limited (UK) (collectively, “VitalSource,” “we,” “us”, “our” or other similar expressions). VitalSource provides services that relate to digital course materials and eTextbooks. We are a company based in North Carolina. For more information visit our About Us page.

This policy explains how VitalSource uses cookies and related technologies when you visit or use our Site or Services, including any of our desktop applications, mobile applications, communications, websites (such as www.vitalsource.com and www.bookshelf.vitalsource.com), any VitalSource owned web retail store, our products known as Bookshelf, Bookshelf Online, VitalSource Engagement Dashboard, VitalSource and Bookshelf mobile applications, Intrepid Discover Platform, Intrepid Learn Platform, Acrobatiq Platform, reader software, digital content, other products controlled owned or licensed by VitalSource, and any other products or services that include a link to this Policy (collectively, the “Services”). In this Cookie Policy, any use of the words "you," "yours," or similar expressions refers to users of this Site and our Services, as well as any other individuals whose information we collect and process.

We use cookies and related technologies to operate, improve, and protect our Site and Services. We ask that you read this Cookie Policy carefully as it contains important information on our use of cookies or similar technologies on our Site. This policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which explains how and why we collect, store, use and share personal information, and our Terms and Conditions of Use.

2. Our Site

This Cookie Policy only relates to your use of our websites listed above (the “Site”). Throughout our Site we may link to or embed content and features from other websites owned and operated by third parties who may also use cookies or similar technologies in accordance with their own separate privacy and cookie policies. We do not control these third-party websites and associated cookies. We encourage you to read the privacy notices of these sites to understand their privacy practices and your options. VitalSource is not responsible for the content on other websites.

3. What Cookies Are

A cookie is a small file that is placed onto your device (e.g., computer, smartphone, or other electronic device) that stores information when you visit a website. Pixel tags (also called web beacons, clear gifs, or tags) are a similar technology that consists of small images or snippets of code that can allow the website to function and can help the website owners understand how you interact with websites and emails.

4. Why We Use Cookies

VitalSource uses cookies and related technologies on our Site to help us recognize your device as a repeat visitor, and enable certain Site features and functionalities. Some of this data will be aggregated or statistical, which means that we will not be able to identify you individually.
Specifically, we use cookies and other similar technologies on this Site:

• Recognize you whenever you visit this Site (this speeds up your access so you do not have to log in each time);
• Support security and authentication features on our Site;
• Obtain information about your preferences and use of our Site;
• Carry out research and statistical analysis to help improve our content, products, and services, and to help us better understand our users’ requirements;
• Improve the speed and performance of our Site and Services;
• Make your online experience more enjoyable and efficient, and to keep our advertising relevant to your interests; and
• Keep track of the items stored in your shopping cart and take you through the checkout process.

5. Types of Cookies

Cookies are typically classified as either “session cookies,” which do not stay on your device after you close your browser, or “persistent cookies,” which will usually remain on your device until you delete them from your cache, or they expire. Sometimes cookies are placed by us (“first-party cookies”) and sometimes they are placed by others (“third-party cookies”).

The cookies that we place on your device may include:

• Essential cookies: these cookies are essential for you to be able to navigate our Site and use its features. Without these cookies, the services you have asked for could not be provided.
• Performance cookies: these cookies collect information about how you use our Site, for example, which pages you go to most often. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information about you. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and anonymous, and is only used to improve how our Site works.
• Functionality cookies: these cookies allow our Site to remember the choices you make (such as your user name, language, last action, and search preferences) and provide enhanced, more personal features. The information collected by these cookies is anonymous and cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
• Marketing cookies: also known as advertising cookies, these cookies are used to deliver advertisements more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement on our Site and help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. This is sometimes referred to as online behavioral advertising. In some cases, our partners may use cookies to provide us with information about your interactions with their services. These cookies remember that you have visited a website, and this information is shared with other organizations such as advertisers. Those third-party cookies would be subject to the third party service’s policies.
  
  You can opt-out of online behavioral advertising cookies and similar technologies by using the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Choice Tool available here, or if located in the European Union you can make your choices here. Please note you may continue to receive generic ads.

6. Consent to Use Cookies

The first time you visit our Site, a cookie notice is displayed describing our use of cookies and linking to this Cookie Policy. As described in that notice, if you use the Site after this notification has been displayed to you, we will assume that you consent to our use of cookies for the purposes described in this policy. By using our Site, you agree that we can place cookies and similar tracking technologies on your device. You have the ability to manage your cookies and similar tracking technologies preference. For more information on how to administer your preference, please see “Managing Cookies” section below.

7. Managing Cookies

You can opt-out of all non-Essential cookies by clicking on the “Reject All” button on the cookie banner at the bottom of the Site homepage. In addition, your browser may give you the ability to control some types of cookies. If you want to customize the kinds of cookies you can control, you can change your browser settings so that certain types of cookies are not accepted. Please be aware that the cookie selections you make for this Site may override your browser or any adblocker settings.

If you turn off any cookies, please be aware that you may lose some of the functionality of this Site. For more information about cookies and how to disable them please check the following resource: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ 

For more information about targeted advertisements and/or to learn how to opt out of advertising cookies, please visit the below independent associations. You can visit these independent associations’ websites to opt out of all cookies served by their members. These independent websites are not sponsored by or affiliated with VitalSource.

• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI)
• Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA)
• European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA)
• Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC)

When opting out, a cookie will be set to let advertisers know not to use your data for targeted advertising purposes. You will still see advertisements, but they will not be tailored to your interests. If you opt-out of these targeted advertising cookies, your opt-out will be specific to the web browser or mobile device from which you accessed the opt-out. If you use multiple devices or browsers, you will need to opt-out each browser or device that you use.

8. Your Privacy Rights

VitalSource takes measures to review cookie providers and, where possible, endeavors to restrict its cookie providers from using personal information for their own unique purposes outside of the contracted services. Certain consumer privacy laws may provide residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information, where applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, or change your current preferences, please email us at [email protected]. Please note that Essential Cookies are required for the operation of our Site and you are not able to opt-out of Essential Cookies.

9. How to Contact Us

Please contact us if you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or the information we hold about you. You can reach us by email at [email protected].

10. Our Do Not Track Policy

Certain browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you over time and across websites. These features are not all uniform. We do not currently respond to those signals. If you block cookies, certain features on our sites may not work. If you block or reject cookies, not all of the tracking described here will stop. Many of these options are specific to your device or browser. Learn more about Do Not Track.

11. Changes to This Policy

This Cookie Policy is effective from October 28, 2024. We may update this policy from time to time. If we do, we’ll let you know about any material changes, either by notifying you on the Site or by sending you an email. If you keep using our Site or Services after a change, that means you accept this Policy.