SPARKLER’S TERMS OF SERVICE
Please also read Sparkler’s Privacy Policy, Copyright Policy, Breach Notification Procedures, and Connecticut Terms of Service Addendum.
Last Updated: April 22, 2024
The following are the terms of service (“Terms of Service”) that define the relationship between Sparkler Learning, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit corporation (doing business as Sparkler (“Company,” “we,” or “us”) and you, and govern your use of Sparkler’s services.
We’ve done our best to write this policy in simple, clear terms.
Agreeing to our Terms
Thank you for your interest in Sparkler, which owns or licenses and operates the services offered on the Sparkler mobile application (“Sparkler Apps”), Sparkler’s web-based provider dashboard, and any other electronic or physical products and services that Company may provide now or in the future (collectively, the “Service”).
When using the Service, you and we will also be subject to Sparkler’s Privacy Policy and any posted guidelines, policies, or rules applicable to specific features of Sparkler which may be posted from time to time (collectively the “Guidelines”). These Terms of Service, including any other Guidelines and future modifications (collectively, the “Agreement”), govern your use of the Service and is a legal contract between you and Sparkler. If there is any inconsistency between the Terms of Service and any of the Guidelines, the additional Guidelines will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. By registering for an account on, or otherwise accessing or using the Sparkler Service, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by this Agreement.
If you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such an entity to these terms and conditions, in which case the terms “you”, “your” or “Member” shall refer to such entity. If you are using the Service on behalf of an institution there may be a separate written agreement with Sparkler governing your use of the Service, but these Terms of Service also apply. If you do not have such authority, or if you do not agree with these terms and conditions, you must not accept this Agreement and may not use the Service.
Using the Service
Permission to use Sparkler: As long as you are complying with all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Sparkler gives you permission to access and use the Service available to you through the applicable registration process. The Service is available for your personal, noncommercial use.
We are constantly changing and improving our Services. We may add or remove functionalities or features, and we may suspend or stop a Service altogether, including, for example, if you do not comply with this Agreement or if we are investigating suspected misconduct. You can stop using our Service at any time, although we’ll be sorry to see you go. We may also stop providing the Service to you, or add or create new limits to our Service or restrict your access to all or a part of the Service at any time without notice or liability. Access to and use of the Service is free to parents and caregivers working with their children, but in the future, we may offer new or additional special features which Sparkler may charge for. Please also be aware that while we currently provide our mobile services for free, your carrier’s normal rates and fees still apply, such as text messaging and data fees.
We believe that you own your data and preserving your access to such data is important. If we discontinue a Service, where reasonably possible, we will give you reasonable advance notice and a chance to get information out of that Service. The right to access and use the Service is revoked in jurisdictions where it may be prohibited, if any.
Restrictions: Except as expressly permitted under this Agreement, you agree that your permission to use the Service is conditioned upon you following all the restrictions set forth in the “Sparkler Technology” and “Acceptable Use and Conduct” sections.
Your Information and Content
Ownership: In the course of using the Service, you and other users may provide or post certain content or information (including, but not limited to, photos, videos, music, messages sent between parents, professional staff, and coaches, and feedback responding to play activities), which may be used by Sparkler in connection with the Service and which may be visible to certain other users (collectively “User Submissions”). Please visit our Privacy Policy for additional information on the types of information different types of users are able to provide. Additionally, some User Submissions may be deemed an Education Record (as defined below).
You retain all ownership rights you have in any User Submissions. Sparkler does not claim any ownership rights in the User Submissions. Please note that, while you retain ownership of your User Submissions, any template or layout in which you arrange or organize such User Submissions through tools and features made available through any of our Service are not proprietary to you — rights to such templates or layouts will remain with us.
License: In order to allow Sparkler to provide the Service, you hereby grant to us a limited, non-exclusive, sublicensable (as necessary to perform the Service), worldwide, royalty-free, and transferable (only to a successor) right and license to (i) use, copy, store, distribute, publicly perform and display, modify, and create derivative works (such as changes we make so that your content works better with our Service) such User Submissions as necessary to provide, improve and make the Service available to you and other users, including through any future media in which the Service may be distributed; (ii) use and disclose metrics and analytics regarding the User Submissions in an aggregate or other non-personally identifiable manner (including, for use in improving our service or in marketing and business development purposes); (iii) use any User Submission (including any Education Record) that has been de-identified for any product development, research or other purpose; and (iv) use for other purposes permitted by the Sparkler Privacy Policy.
Company will only share and use your personal information in accordance with Sparkler’s current Privacy Policy.
The license in (i) above will terminate when you delete any User Submissions with intellectual property rights (like photos or videos) (“IP content”), you or your Institution (as defined below) deletes an Education Record, you delete any personal information, or you delete your account, unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it. When you create shared accounts for particular student profiles, your User Submissions can be viewed by those other accounts that you have linked to yours, and that means that you are allowing others to access and use that information and to associate it with you (i.e. your name and profile picture if you provide one). However, you understand that any removed User Submission may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).
Your Responsibilities and Sparkler Rights: You are responsible for making sure that you have all rights in the User Submissions, including the rights necessary for you to grant us the foregoing licenses to the User Submissions. You are responsible for ensuring your User Submission complies with the “Acceptable Use and Conduct” Section and for any other guidelines or conditions specific to a particular category of user (e.g., teacher, parent, caregiver, or student). When you include User Submissions, you may be able to create links to external websites. If you elect to create links to external websites, you must verify the quality and substance of each external link. You are solely responsible for any links you create to external websites. Sparkler is not liable or responsible for any links created by you, or for any damages, direct or indirect, arising therefrom.
All information posted or transmitted through the Service is the responsibility of the person that posted it, and we will not be liable for any errors or omissions in any content. Sparkler cannot guarantee the identity of any other account holders with whom you may share your account, or the authenticity of any data which users may provide about themselves. You acknowledge that all content accessed by you using the Service is at your own risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage or loss to any party resulting therefrom. You acknowledge that Sparkler and its designees (such as coaches and service administrators) reserve the right, but shall have no obligation, to pre-screen, filter, remove, refuse to accept, post, display, or transmit any User Submission through or on the Service in whole or in part at any time for any reason or no reason with or without notice and without liability of any kind. Additionally, we do not guarantee that we will publish any of your User Submissions, and reserve the right to remove User Submissions from the Service at any time for any reason, such as if we receive a notice reports a User Submission infringes someone’s intellectual property rights.
Privacy and Security
Your privacy is extremely important to us, and we take great care to limit what we collect and how we use it, and to enable you to understand our policies. Please read our Privacy Policy which explains how we treat your personal information and protect your privacy when you use our Service. Please see our Privacy Policy for a description of the procedures 1) by which a child, parent or legal guardian of a child may review, access or delete the personal information of a student; and 2) by which the Sponsoring Partner Institution may access and delete account information and Education Records. Additionally, please see our Privacy Policy for more information on the administrative, technical and physical safeguards we maintain to protect against unauthorized use, disclosure of or access to personal information. By using our Service, you agree that Sparkler can use such data in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We won’t materially change your rights under the Privacy Policy without notification.
Additional Terms for Sponsoring Partner Personnel
If you are a teacher, program leader, doctor, support staff, or other similar professional or staff personnel supporting families and students (“Sponsoring Partner Personnel”) accessing the Service on behalf of a Sponsoring Partner as defined in our Privacy Policy (the “Sponsoring Partner”), the following additional terms apply to you:
Permissions and Authority: You agree that you are acting on behalf of (or have permission from) your Sponsoring Partner to enter into this Agreement and to use the Service as part of your program. Only Sponsoring Partner Personnel who are current employees of the Sponsoring Partner may use the Service on the Sponsoring Partner’s behalf. The Sponsoring Partner Personnel is responsible for obtaining any necessary approvals from their organization’s authorities and administrators before using the Service. Upon termination of a Sponsoring Partner Personnel or other staff member’s employment with the Sponsoring Partner, such individual must return and cease using all login details and student access he or she has in his or her possession. If at any time you learn a user of the Service claims to be affiliated with your Sponsoring Partner who is not, in fact, affiliated with your Sponsoring Partner, you will notify sparkler immediately at privacy@playsparkler.org.
User Data Protection
Sparkler understands that it is important for us and for our Sponsoring Partner organizations to comply with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and related regulations. Certain information that may be provided to Sparkler by Program Personnel that is directly related to a student and maintained by an Institution, may be considered an education record (“Education Record”) under FERPA or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) under HIPAA. Additionally, certain information, provided to Company by Sponsoring Partner Personnel about a student, such as student name and grade level, may be considered directory information under FERPA (“Directory Information”) and thus not an Education Record. A school may not generally disclose personally identifiable information (“PII”) from an eligible student’s education records to a third-party without written consent of the parent and/or eligible student or without meeting one of the exemptions set forth in FERPA (“FERPA Exemption(s)”), including the exemption for Directory Information (“Directory Information Exemption”) or disclosure to school officials with a legitimate educational interest (“School Official Exemption”).
As Sponsoring Partner Personnel or a Sponsoring Partner providing Directory Information or any Education Record to Sparkler, you represent, warrant and covenant to Sparkler, as applicable, that your Institution has:
i. Complied with the Directory Information Exemption, including, without limitation, informing parents and eligible students what information the Institution deems to be directory information and may be disclosed and allowing parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that schools not disclose directory information about them; and/or
ii. Complied with the relevant exemptions, including, without limitation, informing parents in their annual notification of FERPA and HIPAA rights that the Institution defines “school official” to include service providers and defines “legitimate educational interest” to include services such as the type provided by Sparkler; or
iii. Obtained all necessary parental or eligible student written consent to share the PII, Directory Information, and Educational Records with Company, in each case, solely to enable Company’s operation of the Service.
It is important that Sponsoring Partner Personnel not provide information to Sparkler from any student or parent that has opted out of the disclosure of PII or Directory Information. Sparkler depends on our Sponsoring Partners to ensure that their actions comply with the FERPA and HIPAA provisions regarding the disclosure of PII, Directory Information, and the relevant exemptions for any student information that will be shared with Sparkler, just as Sparkler works to ensure that its actions comply. Sparkler is not in a position to provide legal advice regarding whether the school’s existing FERPA or HIPAA disclosures are sufficient. To the extent that Program Personnel have questions regarding these issues, they should consult the school’s own legal counsel for more information.
Sparkler will never share PII contained in Education Records or Health Records with third parties except (i) as directed by a Sparkler parent user (i.e., parent sharing with a teacher, medical office, or another caregiving adult); or (ii) to our service providers that are necessary for us to provide the Service, as stated in our Privacy Policy. PII contained in Education or Medical Records are never used or disclosed for third-party advertising or any kind of first- or third-party behaviorally-targeted advertising to students or parents. This section shall not be construed to limit the ability of Sparkler to use student information or Educational and Medical Records for adaptive learning or customized student learning purposes.
Sparkler may use Directory Information and Education and Medical Records that have been de-identified for product development, research or other purposes (“De-Identified Data”). De-Identified Data will have all direct and indirect personal identifiers removed, this includes, but is not limited to, name, date of birth, demographic information, location information and school identity. Sparkler agrees not to attempt to re-identify the De-Identified Data and not to transfer the De-Identified Data to a third-party unless that party agrees not to attempt re-identification.
Sparkler Technology
The Service and the Sparkler Technology are intended solely for the personal, non-commercial use of our users and may only be used in accordance with this Agreement. “Sparkler Technology” means all past, present and future content of the Service, including, all the software, hardware and technology used to provide the Service (including Sparkler proprietary code and third-party software), user interfaces, materials displayed or performed on the Service, such as text, graphics, articles, photographs, images, illustrations and the design, structure, sequence and “look and feel” of the Services, and all other intellectual property, including all Sparkler Marks. “Sparkler Marks” means the trademarks, service marks, logos, or any other trade name, trademarks, service marks and other distinctive or proprietary brand features of Sparkler.
Sparkler Technology is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Using our Service does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Service or the Sparkler Technology. You agree that, as between you and Sparkler, all the intellectual property rights in the Sparkler Service and Sparkler Technology, which does not include User Submissions (as defined below), are owned by Sparkler or its licensors. These terms do not grant you the right to use any Sparkler Marks.
You are not allowed to use, store, copy, reproduce, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, upload, create derivative works from, display, license, sell or otherwise exploit the Sparkler Technology for any purposes other than as expressly permitted under this Agreement. You will not decompile, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to obtain the source code of any Sparkler Technology. You will not access the Service to build a product using similar ideas, features, functions, interface or graphics of the Service.
You may not use content from our Services, including User Submissions, unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any copyright or other legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.
You may download a single copy of the Sparkler App for personal, non-commercial use only.
Modification to Agreement
We may modify this Agreement or Guidelines to, for example, reflect changes to the law or changes to our Services. You should look at the Agreement regularly. We’ll post notice of material modifications to this Agreement on this page. Changes will not apply retroactively and will only become effective when (a) you use the Service after you know about the change, or (b) thirty days after they are posted (whichever is sooner). However, changes addressing new functions for a Service or changes made for legal reasons will be effective immediately. Your continued use of the Services, following notice of the changes to the Agreement or Guidelines, constitutes your acceptance of our amended terms, policies or guidelines. If you do not agree to the modified Agreement, you should discontinue your use of the Service.
Your Representations and Warranty
You warrant, represent and agree that you will not provide any User Submissions or otherwise use the Service in a manner that (i) infringes, violates or misappropriates another’s intellectual property rights, rights of publicity or privacy, or other rights; (ii) violates any international, federal, state or local law, statute, ordinance or regulation or which would render Company in violation of any applicable laws or regulations, including without limitation HIPAA and FERPA (the “Laws”); (iii) is harmful, fraudulent, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, or otherwise objectionable; or (iv) jeopardizes the security of your account in any way, such as allowing someone else access to your account or password. Additionally, you represent, warrant and agree that you (i) possess all rights necessary to provide your User Submissions and grant Company the rights in this Agreement and (ii) you will comply with the Laws in connection with your use of the Service.
Acceptable Use and Conduct
We do our best to keep Sparkler safe, but we cannot guarantee it. We need your help to keep Sparkler safe, which includes the following commitments by you when using our Service:
1. You will only use the Service as permitted by law, including applicable export or re-export control laws and regulations.
2. You will not post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam or advertisements) on or through the Service.
3. You will not collect users’ content or information, or otherwise access the Service, using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots, spiders, or scrapers) without our prior permission.
4. You will not engage in unlawful multi-level marketing, such as a pyramid scheme, on the Service.
5. You will not upload viruses or other malicious code, files or programs.
6. You will not collect, solicit or otherwise obtain login information or access an account belonging to someone else.
7. You will not collect, use or disclose data, including personal information, about other users without their consent or for unlawful purposes or in violation of applicable law or regulations.
8. You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user or use the Service in any manner that is threatening, abusive, violent, or harmful to any person or entity, or invasive of another’s privacy.
9. You will not post or approve any User Submission or use the Service in a manner that infringes, violates or misappropriates any third-party’s intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, privacy rights or contractual rights.
10. You will not post or approve content that: is hate speech, discriminating, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
11. You will not use the Service to do anything unlawful, deceptive, misleading, illegal, unethical, malicious, or discriminatory.
12. You will not do anything that could disable, overburden, or impair the proper working or appearance of the Service or prevent other users from using the Service, such as a denial of service attack or interference with page rendering or other Service functionality.
13. You will not use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service, including any users’ content or information, or otherwise access the Service, – except for Internet search engines (e.g., Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file, or “well-behaved” web services/RSS/Atom clients. We reserve the right to define what we mean by “well-behaved.”
14. You will not employ misleading names, email or IP addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin on any account or content transmitted to or through the Service.
15. You will not use the Service in any commercially unreasonable manner or in any manner that would disparage Sparkler.
16. You will not impersonate a Sparkler employee, or any other person, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
17. You will not use the Service in any manner that is harmful to minors. Without limiting the foregoing, you will not transmit or post any content anywhere on the Service, including any User Submission, that violate child pornography laws or that otherwise violates any child sexual exploitation laws. Sparkler absolutely does not tolerate this and will report any suspected instances of child pornography or child endangerment, including reporting any of your user registration information, to law enforcement, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
18. You will not copy, modify, or distribute any text, graphics, or other material or content available through the Service without our prior written permission, or if such content is a User Submission, the prior written consent of such user.
19. You will not facilitate or encourage any violations of this Agreement or our policies, including, without, limitation, to facilitate the unlawful distribution of copyrighted content.
Any violation of the above may be grounds for termination of your right to access or use the Service.
WARRANTY DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
We provide our Service using a commercially reasonable level of skill and care and we hope that you will enjoy using them. But there are certain things that we don’t promise about our Services.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE SERVICE (AND ANY ASSOCIATED CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS, USER SUBMISSIONS, SPARKLER TECHNOLOGY OR SOFTWARE) ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. COMPANY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE SPARKLER TECHNOLOGY, SERVICES, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS, USER SUBMISSIONS, AND CONTENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF QUALITY, ACCURACY, PERFORMANCE, AVAILABILITY, MERCHANTABILITY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, SPARKLER MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS OR USER SUBMISSIONS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE TO YOUR LIKING, BE ERROR FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT ALL ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE SERVICES ARE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. SOME FEATURES ARE EXPERIMENTAL AND HAVE NOT BEEN TESTED IN ANY MANNER.
ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE APPLICATION OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT THE USER’S OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND THE USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO THEIR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ACCESSING OR DOWNLOADING ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
ANY INFORMATION MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THROUGH OUR SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE OPINIONS AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS OF ANY SPONSORING PARTNER PERSONNEL, ARE NOT INTENDED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR ANY PROFESSIONAL, EDUCATIONAL, MEDICAL, LEGAL, PSYCHIATRIC, EMPLOYMENT OR OTHER ADVICE. WITHOUT LIMITATION OF THE DISCLAIMER PARAGRAPHS SET FORTH ABOVE, COMPANY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY CONCERNING, ANY ACTION BY ANY PERSON FOLLOWING THE INFORMATION OFFERED OR PROVIDED WITHIN OR THROUGH OUR SERVICE. IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS OR SITUATION IN WHICH YOU REQUIRE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, THEN YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH AN APPROPRIATELY QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN THE RELEVANT FIELD.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, SHALL SPARKLER OR ITS SUCCESSORS, AFFILIATES, CONTRACTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS, SPONSORING PARTNERS OR AGENTS (“COMPANY PARTIES”), BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, COST OF COVER, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF SPARKLER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO (i) THIS AGREEMENT; (ii) YOUR USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS, OR USER SUBMISSIONS; OR (iii) ANY INTERACTION WITH ANY THIRD-PARTY THROUGH OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE, INCLUDING OTHER USERS.
IN NO EVENT WILL SPARKLER OR THE COMPANY PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU IN THE AGGREGATE (FOR ALL POTENTIAL CLAIMS BY YOU) FOR ANY DAMAGES INCURRED IN EXCESS OF THE GREATER OF ANY FEES YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID TO COMPANY FOR USE OF THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE EVENTS GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).
CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF YOU RESIDE IN SUCH A JURISDICTION, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
Registration and Security
As a condition to using Service, you may be required to register with Company and select a password and username or provide additional contact information (“Company User ID”). You must provide Company with accurate, complete, and updated Company User ID information. You may not select or use as a Company User ID a name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person. You will not provide any false information or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission. You represent, warrant and covenant all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate. Company reserves the right to refuse registration of or cancel a Company User ID in its discretion. You shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password or QR Code and will not share with anyone or let anyone else access your account. You may not transfer your account to anyone without express prior written consent of Company. Company will not be liable for any direct or indirect loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your Company User ID, password or QR code, either with or without your knowledge or for a failure to comply with this Section. However, you may be held liable for losses incurred by Sparkler or another party due to someone else using your Company User ID, password, or QR code.
You expressly agree to (a) immediately notify Sparkler of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security of your account or a child’s personal information, and (b) ensure that you properly logout from your account at the end of each session.
Indemnity
You will indemnify, defend, and hold Company, its parents, Sponsoring Partners, subsidiaries, affiliates, contractors, service providers, officers, and employees harmless from and against all damages, losses, demands, liabilities, settlements, costs and expenses of any kind (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) from any claim or demand made by any third-party relating to or arising out of (i) your access to, use, or misuse of the Service, (ii) your violation of this Agreement (including any failure to obtain or provide any necessary consent and/or violation of applicable laws or regulations), (iii) the infringement by you or any third-party using your account of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity, including in connection with your User Submissions, (iv) your breach or alleged breach of your representations and warranties under this agreement and any other user or (v) if you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, the acts or omissions of your users.
Sparkler reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter without the prior written consent of Sparkler. Sparkler will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.
Copyright Protection
It is Sparkler’s policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA“). Sparkler may remove any allegedly infringing content without any liability to you. Sparkler will promptly terminate without notice any User’s access to the Service where the User is a “repeat infringer” of copyrights. Sparkler, however, reserves the right to identify and terminate Users under any circumstances it deems appropriate, including after only a single instance of allegedly infringing behavior by that User. Please see Sparkler’s Copyright Policy for further information.
Third Parties and User Interactions
User Disputes . Sparkler is not responsible for the actions, content, information or data of other third parties, including other users (which includes Sponsoring Partner Personnel). You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Services, and any other parties with whom you interact through the Service. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to become involved in any way with these disputes.
Release . If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and contractors) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes, including damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use , privacy or data. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor or the released party.” And, if you are not a California resident, you waive any applicable state statutes of a similar effect.
Term and Termination
This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Service through an approved Sponsoring Partner unless your account is terminated as provided in this Agreement (“Term”). You may terminate your use of the Service or your account at any time by contacting us at privacy@playsparkler.org. Please see our Privacy Policy for what information is deleted when you terminate or delete your account. Company may suspend or terminate your access to the Service or your account at any time, for any reason (without cause or for your violation of any term of this Agreement), and without warning or notice, which may result in the loss of information associated with your account. Upon termination of your account, your right to use the Service will immediately cease. All provisions of this Agreement which, by their nature, should survive termination, shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, and limitations of liability.
Dispute Resolution
a. Generally: In the interest of resolving disputes between you and Company in the most expedient and cost effective manner, you and Company agree that any and all disputes arising in connection with these Terms of Service shall be resolved by binding arbitration. Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, may allow for more limited discovery than in court, and can be subject to very limited review by courts. Arbitrators can award the same damages and relief that a court can award. Our agreement to arbitrate disputes includes, but is not limited to all claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of these Terms of Service, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory, and regardless of whether the claims arise during or after the termination of these Terms of Service. You understand and agree that, by entering into these Terms of Service, you and Company are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.
b. Exceptions: Notwithstanding subsection (a), we both agree that nothing herein shall be deemed to waive, preclude, or otherwise limit either of our right to (i) bring an individual action in small claims court, (ii) pursue enforcement actions through applicable federal, state, or local agencies where such actions are available, (iii) seek injunctive relief in a court of law, or (iv) to file suit in a court of law to address intellectual property infringement claims.
c. Arbitration: Any arbitration between you and Company will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, “AAA Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as modified by these Terms of Service, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules and filing forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879, or by contacting Company.
d. Notice; Process: A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send a written notice of the dispute to the other, by certified mail or Federal Express (signature required), or in the event that we do not have a physical address on file for you, by electronic mail (“Notice”). Company’s address for Notice is: Sparkler Learning, 157 Columbus Avenue, NY 10023 United States of America. The Notice must (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (b) set forth the specific relief sought (“Demand”). We agree to use good faith efforts to resolve the claim directly, but If we do not reach an agreement to do so within 30 days after the Notice is received, you or Company may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by you or Company shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator makes a final decision and award, if any; provided that if our dispute is finally resolved through arbitration in your favor, Company shall pay you the greater of (i) the amount awarded by the arbitrator, if any, and (ii) the greatest amount offered by Company in settlement of the dispute prior to the arbitrator’s award.
e. Fees: In the event that you commence arbitration in accordance with these Terms of Service, Company will reimburse you for your payment of the filing fee, unless your claim is for greater than $10,000, in which case the payment of any fees shall be decided by the AAA Rules. Any arbitration hearings will take place at a location to be agreed upon in New York, NY, provided that if the claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a non-appearance based telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought in the Demand is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. In such case, you agree to reimburse Company for all monies previously disbursed by it that are otherwise your obligation to pay under the AAA Rules. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the decision and award, if any, are based. The arbitrator may make rulings and resolve disputes as to the payment and reimbursement of fees or expenses at any time during the proceeding and upon request from either party made within 14 days of the arbitrator’s ruling on the merits.
f. Arbitration Opt-out. You can decline this agreement to arbitrate by emailing us at privacy@playsparkler.org within thirty (30) days of the date that you first agree to these Terms of Service (“Opt-Out Period”). Your email must be sent from the email address you use for your Account, and must include your full name, residential address and a clear statement that you want to opt out of arbitration. If you opt out of arbitration pursuant to this Section f, then Sections c, d, and e of this section “Dispute Resolution” do not apply to you. This opt-out doesn’t affect Section g (No Class Actions) below. If you have any questions about this process, please contact at privacy@playsparkler.org.
g. No Class Actions: you and Company agree that each may bring claims against the other only in your or its individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding. Further, unless both you and Company agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.
Timing for Filing
Any claim must be commenced within one (1) year after the date the party asserting the claim first knows or reasonably should know of the act, omission or default giving rise to the claim. If applicable law prohibits a one (1) year limitation period for asserting claims, any claim must be asserted within the shortest time period permitted by applicable law.
Miscellaneous
The failure of either party to exercise, in any respect, any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. Company shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond Company’s reasonable control. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with Company’s prior written consent. Company may transfer, assign or delegate this Agreement and its rights and obligations without restriction. This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to the conflict of laws provisions thereof. To the extent any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of this Agreement is permitted to be brought in a court of law, such claim shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York, NY, and for all purposes of this Agreement, you and Company consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Company shall be allowed to apply for equitable remedies (including injunctions) in any court of competent jurisdiction. Unless and solely to the extent that you or your Institution have a separate written agreement with Company that governs your use of the Service (in which case such agreement will control), we both agree that this Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding of the parties and supersedes and cancels all previous written and oral agreements, communications and other understandings relating to the subject matter of this Agreement, and that the Agreement may not be modified, except as otherwise provided herein. This Agreement and any subsequent versions of this Agreement posted to the Website will be deemed a writing signed by both parties. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of this Agreement and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind Company in any respect whatsoever.
For information about how to contact Company, please visit our website at www.playsparkler.org.