Privacy Policy

At Sonlight, we appreciate the trust you place in us when you choose to visit our website and we take that responsibility seriously. This Sonlight Privacy Policy (the "Policy") describes how we collect and use information about you when you visit our website, chat with an Advisor, or call us on the phone.

In this Policy, "we" and "our" mean Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd., and "you" means any person who visits our website.

We Respect Your Privacy

We always have and always will maintain your privacy to the highest degree possible. Both online and off, we use (and will use) the information you give us solely to fulfill our obligations to you as a customer, and to improve our services to you and other customers and prospective customers. The following privacy policy explains in detail what information we collect, how we use that information, and your options.

Privacy Policy Table of Contents:

What Information We Collect

  • Device and browsing information, including information about your phone, tablet, computer, or device, and online browsing activity (collectively, "automatically collected information"). Automatically collected information may include IP addresses, unique device identifiers, cookie identifiers, device and browser settings and information, and Internet service provider information. Automatically collected information also may include information about when and how you access and use our website, such as the date and time of your use, the websites you visit before coming and after leaving our website, how you navigate and what you search for using our website, the website pages and items you view using our website, and the items you purchase. We use all of this information to help maintain accurate accounts, to provide and to change services, to provide accurate billing and shipping, to answer your inquiries, to market services and products, and to help make our website useful to you.
  • Contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, or email address as you provide it;
  • Purchase information, such as the items you purchase, items you have altered or custom made, payment method and payment information (such as debit or credit card number and information), billing and shipping address, and contact information (such as for receipts or order and shipping updates);
  • Preference information, such as your contact and marketing preferences;
  • Profile and account information, which may include Contact, Purchase, and Preference information as well as your account password, information about wish list items, Rewards program, items in your online shopping cart or saved for future purchase, product review information, gift card and other information about your profile or account;
  • Demographic information, which may include age or birthdate, gender, ZIP code, and other information about you;
  • Call recordings including information about your call, and information you share with our representatives for quality assurance and training when you call us on the phone;
  • If you apply for a Time Payments Plan, we will use your information to submit a Credit Check via Transunion. You may read more about that process here: sonlight.com/paymentplans
  • We offer public forums for people to discuss homeschooling in general and Sonlight Curriculum in particular. Each forum is moderated to ensure currency, pertinence, and good taste. Although users must be registered in order to access many of the forums, please remember that any information you share on our forums is public information, so use caution in disclosing personal information.

Sonlight.com is not intended for children under 16 years of age. No one under age 16 may provide any information to or on Sonlight.com. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information on this website or through any of its features, register on the website, make any purchases through the website, use the interactive or public comment features of this website, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 16 without verification or parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 16, please contact us at main@sonlight.com or 303-730-6292.

You may always remove your information from our system. (See You May Access or Correct Any Information We Collect below.)

How We Collect Information

We collect information on our website, during telephone calls, and through customer surveys. We acquire this information directly from you when you visit our website, speak with us on the phone, or answer a survey. We also collect information from third parties. For example, we collect and obtain information about you . . .

  • Directly from you … such as the days and times you make purchases, interact with Customer Relations or Advisor personnel, register for Rewards or a Sonlight account, participate in contests or sweepstakes, respond to surveys, engage in promotional activities, or sign up for emails or marketing.
  • From third parties, such as service providers, analytics companies, advertising networks, demographic companies, and other third parties that provide us with information about you and the different devices you use online. Click here for a complete list of third parties we use.
  • From social media platforms and networks that you use in connection with our website, or that share or allow you to share information with us. At the present time, these platforms and networks include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram. If you use functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools from social media platforms or networks in connection with our website (e.g., to log into an account, or to share inspiration, finds, purchases, and other content with your friends and followers on social media), we will collect the information that you share with us, or that those social media platforms or networks share with us. For more information about social media platform and network privacy practices, please review the privacy policies and settings of the specific social media platforms and networks that you use.
  • Using cookies and automatic collection methods. For example, we and third parties we work with may collect information from the computer, tablet, phone, or other device that you use to access our website, or that you use to open an email or click on an advertisement from us. The information we collect in this way generally does not include personal information unless you provide it through our website or you choose to share it with us. We collect this information by means of …
    • cookies (which may be session-based or persistent, and are typically small data files that are stored on your hard drive or in connection with your Internet browser);
    • web beacons or tags (small images embedded into websites or emails that send information about your computer, tablet, phone, or other device when you visit our website, or open an email we send to you);
    • website application log files (which we create automatically in connection with access to and use of our website).

How We Use Personal Information

We use the information that we collect in order to efficiently conduct our business and to provide you with the best possible products, services, and experiences. Examples of how we use information:

  • To provide you with proper products and services. Examples: fulfilling your orders and processing your payments; maintaining and servicing your account(s).
  • To respond to you appropriately. Examples: to identify you when you place an order, call us, make a request or inquiry, enter a contest or sweepstakes, complete a survey, or share a comment or concern.
  • To personalize your experiences with us. Such personalization may include remembering your interests and preferences; customizing the products and services we share with you; tracking and categorizing your activities and interests on our website (including identifying the different devices you use) so as to enrich your experience on our website or in interaction with our customer service personnel, and to determine when to send cart reminders via email and text message.
  • To enhance our ability to communicate with you as much as possible about products or services that are likely to be of interest to you and as little as possible about products or services that are not of interest.You always have the ability and right to choose not to receive mailed promotional items by changing your user settings at sonlight.com/myaccount. You may also unsubscribe from email marketing at any time by using the link at the bottom of each email we send or by contacting us.
  • To improve our efficiency and effectiveness as a company both online and off.This means we seek to understand how our customers use our website and how they shop with us. It also means we seek to determine the methods and devices they use to access our website and otherwise communicate with us. We seek to use such knowledge to improve our website's usability.
  • For Sonlight's forum. We use your email address when forwarding emails to you from other members through our online forum. When such messages are sent, your address is not shared with the sender. You may communicate with others through the forum service without disclosing your email address to us or to others on the forums
  • For our business purposes, such as: to operate and improve upon our business, product offerings and, lawful business activities; to maintain our programs, accounts, and records; for research; to determine your satisfaction with our products and services; to detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our services; and for any other business purpose that is permitted by law;
  • For legal and safety purposes, such as to: defend or protect us, our customers, you, or third parties, from harm or in legal proceedings; protect our rights; protect our security and the security of our customers, employees, and property; respond to court orders, lawsuits, subpoenas, and government requests; address legal and regulatory compliance; and notify you of product recalls or safety issues.

What Information We Share

We do not disclose, sell, or trade personal information about you to or with third parties for their or any other third-party company's marketing or advertising purposes. We do share personal information with third parties for other purposes. For example, we share personal information with:

  • Third parties and service providers that help us market or advertise to you (including co-branded marketing and advertising). Click here to see a complete list of third-party companies we work with.
  • We also, by nature of our relationship with them, share information with third-party companies and services that provide services to us and products directly to you (that you purchase through us. Such sharing is necessary for us to fulfill our business obligations to you and/or for you to fulfill your obligations to us. Examples of this kind of information and the companies we are talking about: the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, the bank or credit card company that processes payments you make, e-product providers like Rosetta Stone, and so forth. Visit sonlight.com/about/policies/third-party-services/ for a complete list.
  • Social media platforms and networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram that offer functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools in connection with our website (e.g., to log into an account, or to share inspiration, finds, purchases, and other content with your friends and followers on social media). If you choose to use these functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools — which are always branded and provided by those platforms and networks and are notbranded nor provided by Sonlight, certain information may be shared with or collected by those social med1ia companies. For more information about exactly what information we share with or acquire from those platforms or networks, and how those companies use your information, see the applicable companies' privacy policies;
  • Additional third parties such as law enforcement, government entities, courts, or other third parties as required by applicable law, such as for the legal and safety purposes described under the "How We Use Personal Information" Section above, or otherwise to help prevent harm or fraud to us, you, our customers, or other third parties. We also may share personal information with third parties upon your request or with your approval, though we may not be able to accommodate such requests.

Online Advertising and Third Parties We Work With

  • We work with third-party companies for advertising purposes,
    • to track and categorize visitors' activity and interests over time on our website and on third-party websites.

      Such tracking … helps us understand our customers' (and likely customers') interests . . . which helps us to serve you (and all our other customers and potential customers) more effectively. It also helps us figure out how to identify where we are most likely to find other people like you who will likely enjoy our products and services.

    • to help us show advertisements across the Internet.
  • We work with third-party companies to identify the different device(s) our visitors use to access our website. This helps us improve our visitors' experience when using our website.
  • We also work with third party cloud service providers to host our website and process all orders.

We share information with these companies, and these companies may collect information (including automatically collected information) when you use our website. We share and they collect by means of the methods described in the "How We Collect Information" section above (see "Using cookies and automatic collection methods").

For information about how you can control the online advertising practices described in this section, please see the "Your Choices and Access Requests" Section immediately below.

Your Choices and Access Requests

We strive to offer you with choices about how we use and share your personal information. Your choices include:

  • Online Advertising. We strive to work only with third-party advertisers that pursue best-practices like those detailed on the referenced websites.
  • Third-party vendors, including Google, may show ads for Sonlight.com on websites across the internet. Some of these ads may be served based on information collected from the Sonlight.com website through the use of cookies. The Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") is a cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies which provides information regarding Internet advertising and marketing companies. The NAI website provides an opt-out tool which allows consumers to opt-out of the advertising delivered by NAI member companies. The NAI opt-out tool is located at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.
  • Social Media Platforms and Networks. We encourage you to review your privacy options and settings with the social media platforms and networks you use. They explain the choices you have about sharing information from those platforms and networks with us.
  • Email Choices. You can opt out of marketing or advertising emails from Sonlight by utilizing the "unsubscribe" link or mechanism made available in every marketing or advertising email you receive from us. If you would like to be added to OR removed from any or ALL our email lists, please contact us. You may also send an email to main@sonlight.com with a request to unsubscribe you from one or all lists. For service or transactional emails, please contact Customer Relations at 303-730-6292 or via email at main@sonlight.com. Please note that, even if you unsubscribe from all marketing-oriented emails, if you have an outstanding order or some other business dealings with our company, we reserve the right to contact you via email concerning those matters.
  • Telephone Choices (calls and texts). You may opt out of receiving marketing or advertising calls by contacting Customer Relations at 303-730-6292 or via email at main@sonlight.com. You can also opt-out of receiving SMS marketing messages by texting the single keyword command STOP to +18559818594 or click the unsubscribe link (where available) in any text message to cancel.
  • Access Requests. If you have registered for an online account with us, we allow you to access and update certain personal information that you have provided to us by logging into your online account and using the features and functionalities available there. You may also make a request for access to personal information by sending an email or writing to us at the address specified below. We are not able to grant all access requests, and in order to protect your privacy, we will seek to confirm your identity before we grant access to your information, or before we make any corrections or deletions.

We Use Your Reviews

When you post a review of one of our products on our site, make a comment about Sonlight on our forums, or submit a testimonial and/or photo, you grant us permission to use your words--either in original form or edited for clarity only--in our promotional materials, web content, and other publications. No personally identifying information will be attached to these to keep your privacy safe. We may include your name and last initial (e.g. Jane D or D Family Sonlighters) as well as the city or town you are from so others will know that it is real customer feedback. If you live in [a country we know to be less friendly to homeschoolers or Christians], we will ask for clarification about how you would like your location to be identified. In any case, if you are concerned we might inappropriately identify your location, please contact us. As noted immediately below, we are deeply concerned about your security.

We are Committed to Protecting Your Information

We are committed to protecting your information from those who would seek to do you harm. As such, we secure our website with the industry standard for protecting web communications (SSL technology). Because of the encryption, your transactions on this site, financial and otherwise, are safe and protected. We have also acquired PCI Level 3 status (click here to learn more), which assures you of significant additional protections related to any transaction involving a credit card. Furthermore, our employees and maintenance personnel use IDs and passwords to further protect access to your information.

How to Contact Us

You may contact us at any time if you want to correct the information we maintain about you or to request that we no longer contact you. Ways to contact us include:

  1. Email main@sonlight.com
  2. Visit sonlight.com/contact
  3. Mail 8042 South Grant Way, Littleton, CO 80122-2705
  4. Phone 303-730-6292
  5. Fax 303-795-8668

Please contact us with any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy.

Updates to This Policy

We may make changes to this Policy, and may apply any changes to information previously collected, as permitted by law. When we make material changes to this Policy, we will notify you by posting the updated Policy on our website, and we will update the effective date at the end of this Policy.

We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our website, prior to the change becoming effective. We will also update the "effective date" at the end of this Privacy Policy.

Please review this Privacy Policy periodically in case you miss one of our notices. Changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective when they are posted on this page.

Effective date

This policy is effective 5/25/18.