Information We Collect

When you sign up for our courses or contact us, we gather certain details to provide you with a better learning experience. Here's what we typically collect and why:

Personal Identifiers

Your name, email address, phone number, and sometimes your mailing address. We need this to send course materials, answer questions, and keep you informed about program updates. If you're enrolling in our autumn 2025 programs, we'll also ask for emergency contact information.

Educational Background

We ask about your prior coding experience and educational history. This helps us place you in the right course level and tailor instruction to match your starting point. Nobody benefits from being thrown into advanced database architecture when they're still getting comfortable with basic server concepts.

Payment Information

When you pay for courses, we process your payment details through secure third-party processors. We don't store your full credit card numbers on our servers – that's handled by payment partners who specialize in financial security.

Technical Data

Like most websites, we collect IP addresses, browser types, and device information. This helps us fix technical issues and improve site performance. If you're accessing course materials from multiple devices, this data helps us sync your progress properly.

How We Use Your Information

We're not in the business of selling your data to marketers. Everything we collect serves specific purposes related to your education:

• Course Delivery: Sending you login credentials, course materials, assignment feedback, and instructor communications.
• Administrative Tasks: Processing enrollments, managing payments, issuing certificates, and maintaining student records.
• Support Services: Responding to your questions, troubleshooting technical problems, and providing guidance on course selection.
• Program Improvement: Analyzing how students interact with course content to identify areas where we can teach more effectively.
• Communication: Sending updates about new courses, schedule changes, or important announcements. You can opt out of promotional emails anytime.

Data Sharing and Third Parties

We share your information only when necessary to operate our educational programs. Here's who might receive your data:

Service Providers

Companies that help us run the platform – payment processors, email services, cloud hosting providers, and learning management systems. These partners are bound by contracts to protect your data and use it only for specified purposes.

Educational Partners

If you enroll in joint programs with other institutions, we may share relevant academic records with those partners. You'll always be informed before we do this.

Legal Obligations

We'll disclose information if required by Taiwanese law, court orders, or regulatory authorities. This also applies if we need to protect the safety of students, staff, or the public.

Business Transfers

If Sparkpulsedrive merges with another organization or undergoes restructuring, your data would transfer as part of that process. The new entity would remain bound by this privacy policy unless you consent to changes.

Data Retention Periods

We keep your information for different lengths of time depending on its purpose:

After these periods expire, we securely delete or anonymize your data. If you withdraw from a program early, we still maintain basic enrollment records for administrative purposes.

Your Rights and Controls

You have significant control over your personal information. Here's what you can do:

Access Your Data

Request a copy of all personal information we hold about you. We'll provide this within 30 days in a readable electronic format. You can make up to two free requests per year.

Correct Inaccuracies

If your contact information changes or we have incorrect details on file, let us know and we'll update our records promptly. You can often make these changes yourself through your student portal.

Delete Your Information

Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements. We can't delete financial records needed for tax purposes, but we can remove marketing profiles and optional data fields.

Restrict Processing

Ask us to limit how we use your data. For instance, you might want us to keep your records but stop sending promotional emails about new courses.

Data Portability

Request your information in a structured format that you can transfer to another educational provider. This includes course transcripts, assignment submissions, and progress records.

Withdraw Consent

For data processing based on consent rather than legal obligation, you can withdraw permission at any time. This won't affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

Security Measures

We take data protection seriously and implement multiple layers of security:

• Encryption: All data transmitted to and from our servers uses TLS encryption. Student records and sensitive information are encrypted at rest using industry-standard protocols.
• Access Controls: Staff members can only access data necessary for their roles. Instructors see student performance in their courses but not payment details or personal addresses.
• Regular Audits: We conduct quarterly security assessments and penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities.
• Backup Systems: Student data is backed up daily to geographically separate locations to prevent loss from hardware failures or disasters.
• Employee Training: All staff complete annual privacy and security training to maintain awareness of best practices.

Despite our precautions, no system is completely impenetrable. If we experience a data breach that affects your information, we'll notify you within 72 hours and explain what happened, what data was involved, and what steps we're taking.

International Data Transfers

Our servers are primarily located in Taiwan, but we use some cloud services with international infrastructure. When your data moves across borders, we ensure it remains protected through:

• Contracts with service providers that include data protection clauses meeting international standards
• Use of providers certified under recognized privacy frameworks
• Transfer mechanisms approved by relevant data protection authorities

If you're enrolling from outside Taiwan, your data may be processed in Taiwan and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. We maintain the same protection standards regardless of location.

Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience and track how you interact with course content. You'll see a cookie notice when you first visit, and you can manage preferences through your browser settings.

Types of Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies: Required for the site to function – logging in, accessing course materials, submitting assignments. These can't be disabled without breaking core functionality.

Performance Cookies: Track which pages you visit and how long you spend on different sections. This helps us identify confusing navigation or slow-loading pages.

Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences like language settings, video playback quality, or whether you prefer dark mode.

Analytics Cookies: Provide aggregated statistics about site usage. We might see that most students access video lectures between 8-10 PM, which influences when we schedule live sessions.

Children's Privacy

Our programs target adult learners and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If a parent or guardian believes we've inadvertently gathered data from a minor, contact us immediately and we'll delete it.

For students aged 16-18 enrolling in our programs, we may require parental consent depending on local regulations in their jurisdiction.

Changes to This Policy

We update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make significant changes, we'll notify current students via email and post a notice on our website for at least 30 days.

The "Last Updated" date at the top shows when we most recently revised this document. Continued use of our services after changes take effect means you accept the updated terms.

Taiwan-Specific Provisions

As an educational institution operating in Taiwan, we comply with the Personal Data Protection Act and regulations from the Ministry of Education. This includes:

• Registering our data processing activities with relevant authorities
• Maintaining student records according to educational standards
• Providing data access rights as outlined in Taiwanese privacy law
• Cooperating with government audits and compliance reviews

If you have concerns about how we handle data under Taiwanese law, you can contact the National Development Council's Department of Cyber Security for guidance.