OptimalResume.com, Inc. ("SkillsFirst," "OptimalResume," "ThinkOptimal," "we," "us," "our" and terms of similar meaning) understands that your privacy rights are important to you. Therefore, we provide this Privacy Policy in order to describe our privacy practices, including how we collect, use, process, store, and disclose your information and data in the course of providing our Services (as that term is defined in our Terms of Use also referred to as the "Terms"). We encourage you to read and understand our Terms and this Privacy Policy before using our Services. By accepting the Terms and Privacy Policy in registration for the Services, you expressly agree and consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and subject to our Terms.
When processing personal information, such as names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and/or telephone numbers, OptimalResume may, depending on the circumstances, be a data controller or a data processor. When OptimalResume is the data controller, this means we decide how your personal information is processed and for what purposes, although our ability to process your personal information is subject to your rights under this privacy policy and applicable law, which we have described below. Whether as the data controller or data processor, we have implemented numerous technical and organizational measures to protect the processing of personal information processed through this website. However, Internet-based data transmissions may in principle have security gaps, so absolute protection may not be guaranteed. We have put in place procedures to manage an actual or suspected personal information breach. In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of such a breach of security, we will notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this Privacy Policy and as required by law. All capitalized terms that are not otherwise defined herein are defined in the Terms.
What Information Do We Collect?
Our primary purpose in collecting personal information from you is to enable us to provide the Services that you have requested and registered for in a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized manner. This allows us to provide services and features that most likely meet your needs, and to customize our Service to match your needs. We only collect personal information about you that we consider necessary for achieving this limited purpose. Equally important, the collection of personal information enables collaboration between Users to interact in ways that are appropriate for their Roles and People Group Assignments within the Organization or Program using the Services. For example, i) Organization Administrators and Organization Staff need to be able to see each other’s information in order to communicate and collaborate on a SkillsFirst Organization and its related content, and ii) a Pathway Career Coach needs to see some basic information about his or her assigned Pathway Participant in order to communicate with and coach that Pathway Participant. We can also create efficiency using your data, e.g., your basic profile data can be moved from your profile into your resume header, saving time in building that document. (More on these topics is described in the Our Disclosure of Your Information and How We Use Your Information sections below.)
Personal and Identifying Information
In general, you can browse the public pages of our Services without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself. However, the various types of Users of our Services must provide various contact and identity information and other personal information that we refer to as Registration Information, as required for us to provide the Services. Once the Registration Information has been provided to us, you consent to our processing of the personal information contained in your Registration Information, and you are no longer anonymous to us.
Automatic Redaction of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
In our continuous effort to protect your privacy, we have implemented an automatic redaction feature.
This feature is designed to identify and remove Personal Identifiable Information (PII) from the data before it is processed for resume analysis and other services using OpenAI technology.
The specific types of PII that are automatically redacted using Amazon Comprehend include Age, Email, Name, Phone, and URL.
While we recommend you exercise caution and redact sensitive information, this automated process adds an additional layer of privacy protection.
To enhance user privacy and data protection, we have implemented an automatic redaction feature specifically for our GPT-related functions.
This feature is activated when users execute specific actions within our resume and cover letter builders, including 'Run Resume Parsing,' 'GPT AI Scan,' 'GPT AI Skills Gap Analysis,' 'GPT AI Keywords' in the resume builder, and 'GPT AI Scan,' 'GPT AI Job Alignment Suggestions,' 'GPT AI Keyword Suggestions' in the cover letter builder. When these actions are initiated, your document text is sent to Amazon Comprehend, which identifies and returns the positions of PII within the text. The system then parses the response, removes text from identified positions, and subsequently sends the redacted text to OpenAI for further processing. This ensures that your sensitive personal information is not exposed during these AI-driven analyses.
Use of Third-Party Services (OpenAI Integration)
We utilize OpenAI's GPT technology to enhance our resume analysis and other career-related tools. To uphold your privacy, we automatically redact PII from your data before submitting it to OpenAI. This integration aims to provide advanced, AI-driven insights while ensuring your sensitive information remains confidential.
When using OpenAI services through SkillsFirst, be assured that your PII is automatically redacted from documents during specific GPT-related functions as described in the 'Automatic Redaction of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)' section. This is part of our commitment to your privacy and the confidentiality of your data.
Joining a SkillsFirst Organization
To join an Organization on SkillsFirst, certain minimum personal information (i.e., your name, email address and password) is required to be submitted in order to register for SkillsFirst and to join an Organization on the Network. When you join an Organization, your name and email is automatically visible to Organization Administrators and Organization Staff who manage that Organization’s participation in SkillsFirst. As you use the Services, you can from time to time provide additional personal information on SkillsFirst. For all Users, we may collect, and you consent to the use of, your Registration information including your name, password, email address; About information including your current title, headline, summary, and alternate email address; Education information such as your institution name, location, degree, start date, and graduation date/expected graduation date; Work Experience information such as your organization name, location, job title, occupation, job family, industry sector, start date, and end date; Target Job information such as your target. job title, industry sector, and occupation; Collaboration Preferences information such as help you provide and help you need (e.g., informational interviewing, career advice, and content feedback preferences); Competencies information such as your knowledge, skills, and abilities; Occupations information such as your previous occupations, current occupations, target occupations, and occupations matching your interests; O*NET Interest Profiler results including your RIASEC scores and careers that fit your interests and preparation level; and other personal information that may be requested by your sponsoring organization to deliver the service or that you choose to include or communicate to OptimalResume or other Users through your use of the Services, to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst.
Your SkillsFirst User profile includes an avatar picture and header picture. Your initials automatically become your default avatar picture, however you may elect to upload an avatar picture, such as a professional photograph, to replace your initials. You can also elect to upload a header picture, but it is not required. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, your avatar picture and header picture to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. When you join an Organization as an Organization Administrator or Organization Staff, by default all people in your Organization can see both your avatar picture and header picture. When you join an Organization as an Organization Collaborator, by default all Organization Administrators, Organization Staff, and Organization Collaborators can see both your avatar picture and header picture. When you join an Organization as an Organization Basic or Organization Guest, by default all Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can see both your avatar picture and header picture.
When you join an Organization as an Organization Administrator or Organization Staff for work purposes, only your Basic Profile Data (Name, Avatar Picture (your default avatar picture is your initials), Header Picture, Current Title, Headline, and Summary) is automatically visible to all people who join the Organization, and you are allowed to contact and share with all people who join the Organization. When you join an Organization as an Organization Collaborator, your Basic Profile Data (Name, Avatar Picture (your default avatar picture is your initials), Header Picture, Current Title, Headline, and Summary) is automatically visible to Organization Administrators, Organization Staff, and Organization Collaborators, and you are allowed to contact and share with Organization Administrators, Organization Staff, and Organization Collaborators. When you join an Organization as an Organization Basic or Organization Guest, your Basic Profile Data (Name, Avatar Picture (your default avatar picture is your initials), Header Picture, Current Title, Headline, and Summary) is automatically visible to Organization Administrator or Organization Staff, and you are allowed to contact and share with Organization Administrators and Organization Staff.
To enhance organization collaboration, Organization Administrators and Staff may create custom organization people groups and add you to custom organization people groups. Organization Administrators and Staff create settings for custom organization people groups, including which (other) organization people groups can see the custom group and the basic profile data of group members, and also which organization people groups can contact and share with the custom organization people group members. If you are assigned to a custom organization people group, additional Organization Members may be able to view your basic profile data, and you may be able to see the basic profile data of additional Organization Members.
When you join an Organization on SkillsFirst, you have the option to add dashboard widgets on your member profile. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, personal information added in your dashboard widgets. We do not control the content of personal information you add in your user profile dashboard widgets. When you join an Organization as an Organization Administrator or Organization Staff, your profile dashboard widgets are automatically visible to all people who join the organization. When you join an Organization as an Organization Collaborator, your dashboard widgets are automatically visible to Organization Administrators, Organization Staff, and Organization Collaborators. When you join an Organization as an Organization Basic or Organization Guest, your dashboard widgets are automatically visible to Organization Administrators and Organization Staff. If you are assigned to a custom organization people group, additional Organization Members may be able to view your dashboard widgets, and you may be able to see the dashboard widgets of additional Organization Members.
In addition, we may collect, and you consent to the use of, Additional Profile Data including About information such as alternate email address and phone; Education information such as your institution name, location, degree, start date, and graduation date/expected graduation date; Work Experience information such as your organization name, location, job title, occupation, job family, industry sector, start date, and end date; Target Job information such as your target job title, industry sector, and occupation; Collaboration Preferences information such as help the you provide and the help you need (e.g., informational interviewing, career advice, and content feedback preferences); Competencies information such as your knowledge, skills, and abilities; Occupations information such as your previous occupations, current occupations, target occupations, and occupations matching your interests; and O*NET Interest Profiler results including your RIASEC scores and careers that fit your interests and preparation level. Your Additional Profile Data is private by default. You have the option to share your Additional Profile Data according to your Organization People Group assignments. When you join an Organization as an Organization Administrator or Organization Staff, by default you may share your Additional Profile Data with all people who join the organization. When you join an Organization as an Organization Collaborator, by default you may share your Additional Profile Data with Organization Administrators, Organization Staff, and Organization Collaborators. When you join an Organization as an Organization Basic or Organization Guest, by default you may share your Additional Profile Data with Organization Administrators and Organization Staff. Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can see your Additional Profile Data that you share with any Organization People Groups. Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can automatically see your Additional Profile Data that you share with any Organization People Groups.
Additionally, you may choose to upload content in your personal galleries or use SkillsFirst career tools to create content that is stored in your personal galleries. We collect and use content added to your personal galleries to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst, which you consent to.
Your Personal Galleries Content is private by default and is not visible to others unless you choose to share it. When you do share your content, you can assign specific permissions. However, be aware that when shared with Organization People Groups, your content becomes visible in Organization Galleries to people in those groups. If you share your Personal Galleries Content directly with specific organization members, your content automatically becomes visible in the recipient’s Personal Galleries.
In the context of our platform, 'private' means that only you and those you explicitly share your content with can view it through the SkillsFirst interface. Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can automatically see your Personal Galleries Content that you share with any Organization People Groups, and they can control and limit access to content in Organization Galleries. They also have the right to remove your shared content from Organization Galleries at any time.
Should you choose to share your content with OpenAI for content analysis and feedback, certain parties may access your data. We encourage you to review OpenAI's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details. Also, organizations that utilize our REST API may access your content, including private content, to provide employment services or for other internal use. This access is in line with our privacy policy and the terms agreed upon by your sponsoring organization. If your sponsoring organization terminates its subscription to SkillsFirst or chooses to stop using the Service, Organization Administrators at the sponsoring organization may export any of your Personal Galleries Content linked to the Organization.
We do not control the content of personal information in your personal galleries, but we are committed to maintaining your trust by respecting and protecting your privacy. Please refer to our Terms of Use for a more detailed explanation of how your Personal Galleries Content is managed, shared, and accessed.
Organization Administrators and Staff can add content in Organization Galleries. Any content created by Organization Administrators or Organization Staff in Organization Galleries is considered "Organization Content" and is automatically visible, modifiable, downloadable, shareable, and removable by all Organization Administrators and Organization Staff.
You may also create notes and messages to interact with other users and improve collaboration on SkillsFirst. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, your notes and messages to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. Note we do not control the content of personal information in your notes or messages. When you join an Organization, your notes and messages are private unless you choose to share them with other users. You have the option to share your notes and messages according to your Organization People Group assignments. Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can automatically see any notes or messages that you share with any Organization People Groups. When you join an Organization as an Organization Administrator or Organization Staff for work purposes, the messages you share with Organization People Groups are considered "Organization Content" and are automatically visible, modifiable, downloadable, shareable, and removable by all Organization Administrators and Organization Staff.
We will tell you if any information is required to be submitted. If you decline to provide any such required information, you may not be able to establish a User account, or you may not be able to use particular Network services or features. So long as the particular information is not required, you may decline to provide it, but our ability to determine the Network services and features that you would most benefit from will be adversely affected. In addition, to the extent that any Organization offers programs that are only available to particular persons (for example, job counseling available only for unemployed individuals), the Organization will be unable to quickly determine your eligibility to participate based on information within the Network. We generally do not collect and discourage users from including personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, other health data, or data concerning one’s sex life or sexual orientation. However, some Organizations and Organizations that operate the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ may require SkillsFirst to collect some of this information that it considers relevant for achieving its particular purposes within the SkillsFirst Network. We encourage Organizations to only request the minimum amount of personal information that is relevant to the purposes of the applicable Organization or program and to retain that information only for so long as it is needed for those purposes.
Joining the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at a SkillsFirst Organization
You may be invited to join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ by an Organization on SkillsFirst. You are not required to accept this invitation. When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an organization, all of the content you create as part of the program is considered "Pathway Program Content" and is controlled by the Organization operating the Pathway. This is because Organizations operating the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ may require continued access to your User Pathway Program Content if the program is discontinued, and in order to provide continued services to you and for compliance and other reporting. Specifically, Pathway Administrators control all Pathway Program Content, including all content in Participant Activities, Participant Career Coaching Forms, Participant Assessment Scores, Participant Career Profiles, Participant Placements, Participant Appointments, Pathway Announcements, and Pathway Employer Career Profile Forms. Pathway Program Content is automatically visible, modifiable, downloadable, shareable, and removable by all Pathway Administrators. Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators can only see Pathway Program Content of their assigned Pathway Participants. Pathway Employers can only see their Employer Career Profile Forms and Participant Career Profiles shared with them by Pathway Participants; Pathway Employers cannot see other Pathway Program Content.
As a user in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™, you may choose to create notes and messages to interact with other users and improve collaboration. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, these notes and messages to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. Note that we do not control the content of personal information in these notes or messages. Your notes and messages are private unless you choose to share them with other Pathway users. Organization Administrators and Organization Staff can automatically see any notes or messages that you share with any Organization People Groups. Messages shared by Pathway Administrators with Pathway People Groups, and messages shared by Pathway Employers with the Organization operating the Pathway, are considered Pathway Program Content and automatically visible, modifiable, downloadable, shareable, and removable by all Pathway Administrators.
When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Administrator, by default you have an Administrator User Pathway Profile with your name and avatar picture. Your Administrator User Pathway Profile is automatically visible to all Pathway Users, and all Pathway Users may contact you and share with you.
When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Career Coach, by default you have a Career Coach User Pathway Profile with your name, avatar picture, assigned Pathway Participants, Placements, Appointments, Participant Career Profiles, History, Files and Notes. Your Career Coach User Pathway Profile is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators, and all Pathway Administrators may contact and share with you. Other Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators and your assigned Pathway Participants can see your Career Coach User Pathway Profile; however, they can only see your name and avatar picture on your Career Coach User Pathway Profile, and they may contact and share with you.
When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Resource Navigator by default you have a Resource Navigator User Pathway Profile with your name, avatar picture, assigned Pathway Participants, Placements, Appointments, Participant Career Profiles, History, Files and Notes. Your Resource Navigator User Pathway Profile is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators, and all Pathway Administrators may contact and share with you. Other Pathway Resource Navigators and Pathway Career Coaches and your assigned Pathway Participants can see your Resource Navigator User Pathway Profile; however, they can only see your name and avatar picture on your Resource Navigator User Pathway Profile, and they may contact and share with you.
When you choose to join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Participant, the Organization operating the program may require you to share additional information about yourself in order to provide career coaching services to you and to assist you finding employment with program partners. This information may be necessary for reporting or demonstration of compliance under the terms of funding grants, accreditation audits, evaluating the success of institutional outcomes, and/or applicable law. Each Organization operating the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ determines the intake-registration information collected from its Pathway Participants and may include information about your contact details, personal characteristics, economic status, veteran’s information, assistance information, education, special initiatives participation, WIOA participation, and more. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, this required intake-registration information to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. As a Pathway Participant, your intake-registration information is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators and to your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and assigned Pathway Resource Navigators who operate the program and work together to provide career coaching and related support services to you. Other Pathway Users and Pathway Employers cannot access your intake-registration information. Pathway Administrators, Pathway Career Coaches, Pathway Resource Navigators, and Pathway Employers are not required to provide intake-registration information because they do not receive career coaching services.
As a Pathway Participant in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization, additional information may be collected from you during the program on career coaching forms customized by the Organization operating the program. Career coaching forms may collect personal information about you regarding your general coaching readiness, work and education history, awareness of labor market information sources, information about your interests, best-fit occupations, target jobs, skills, strengths and growth opportunities, information about your planned job progression, planned next actions and more. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, this career coaching forms information to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. As a Pathway Participant, your career coaching forms information is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators and to your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and assigned Pathway Resource Navigators who operate the program and work together to provide career coaching and related support services to you. Other Pathway Users cannot see your career coaching forms information, and Pathway Employers cannot access your career coaching forms content unless you include such content on your Participant Career Profile and share it with Pathway Employers participating in the program.
When necessary and with permission from Pathway Administrators, Pathway Career Coaches, Pathway Resource Navigators, and Pathway Administrators may assist Pathway Participants in completing career coaching forms or specific data fields on career coaching forms. As a Pathway Participant in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization, you will collaborate with Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators to develop an evidence-based career profile that can be shared with employers participating in the program. You may choose to upload content in your career profile including cover letters, resumes, foundational assessment scores, honors & awards, letters of recommendation, references, training credentials, transcripts, career Pathway maps, and more. Note we do not control the content of personal information you add in your evidence-based career profiles. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, this career profile information to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. As a Pathway Participant, your Participant Career Profile content is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators and to your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and assigned Pathway Resource Navigators who operate the Pathway and work together to provide services to you. Note that Pathway Administrators may require approval of your Participant Career Profile before you can share it with program employers. Other Pathway Users cannot see your Participant Career Profiles content. Pathway Employers cannot access your Participant Career Profiles until you share it directly with them. You can remove access to your career profile from Pathway Employers at any time.
When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Participant, by default you have a Participant User Pathway Profile with your name, avatar picture, email, Pathway steps progress, assigned Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators, completed and remaining Activities, Participant Career Profiles, Referral Information, Placements, Appointments, History, Files and Notes. Your Participant User Pathway Profile is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators and to your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators. Other Pathway Users cannot see your Participant User Pathway Profile. All Pathway Administrators and your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators may contact and share with you.
When you choose to join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Employer, additional information may be collected from you during the program on Employer Career Profile Forms that are automatically shared with the Organization operating the program for the purposes of identifying qualified job seekers for employment. Note that Pathway Administrators may require approval of your employer career profile form before it is visible by Pathway Participants, Pathway Career Coaches, and Pathway Resource Navigators. You can customize your Employer Career Profile Form with a name, description, industry sector, and occupations. You can create career profile instructions for Pathway Participants and create settings that specify required information from Pathway Participants including cover letters, resumes, foundational assessment scores, honors & awards, letters of recommendation, references, training credentials, transcripts, career Pathway maps, and more. You can customize career profile settings for assigned Pathway Career Coaches, including required referral information such as referral narrative, background experience, referral type, community partner name, community partner contact info, career coaching completed, career pathway MAP completed, structured interview practice completed, signed release form uploaded, background check completed, background check discussed with Participant, typing assessment, computer badges, and training assessment, and required job application information including applying for, application date, and previous employment/application history. Note we do not control the content of information you add in your Employer Career Profile Forms. We may collect, and you consent to the use of, this Employer Career Profile Forms information to provide the services that you have requested or registered to receive through SkillsFirst. Pathway Participants select employers’ career profile forms to which they wish to submit their personal information. Note that Pathway Administrators may require approval of Participant Career Profiles by assigned Pathway Career Coaches before they can be submitted to Pathway Employers. Pathway Participants control access to their Participant Career Profiles, and Participants can remove employer access to their career profiles at any time. Note that Employer Career Profile Forms and Participant Career Profile submissions are Pathway Program Content and are controlled by the Organization operating the Pathway.
When you join the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization as a Pathway Employer by default you have an Employer User Pathway Profile, your name, avatar picture, People, Placements, Appointments, Participant Career Profiles, History, Files and Notes. Your Employer User Pathway Profile is automatically visible to all Pathway Administrators, and all Pathway Administrators may contact and share with you. Pathway Resource Navigators, Pathway Career Coaches, and Pathway Participants cannot see your Employer User Pathway Profile, and they may not contact or share with you.
Payment Information
Some accounts on the Services are paid accounts. If you have signed up for a paid account, we use service providers to process payments of Users who wish to pay by credit card.
Information Collected Automatically
In order for you to use the Services, we automatically collect some information about you. Unless otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, OptimalResume aggregates this type of information from all of its Users and only uses such information in aggregate form and not to identify any individual User. Please review the section on Aggregated Data below.
Cookies
Our Internet pages utilize cookies. Cookies are text files that are stored in a computer system via an Internet browser. We only use cookies that are essential for the Services to work properly. We do not use tracking cookies or cookies for analytics, advertising, or other functional services like survey and chat tools. When you use the Services, you consent to our use of these essential cookies. We use essential cookies for:
We use essential cookies for:
- Sign-in and Authentication. We use cookies to authenticate you. When you sign in, we store a unique ID number and the time you signed in, in an encrypted cookie on your device. This cookie allows you to move from page to page within the site without having to sign in again on each page.
- Security. We use cookies to process information that helps us secure our products, as well as detect fraud and abuse.
- Performance: We use cookies to make sure that our websites remain up and running by redirecting traffic to a load balancer.
You may, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies through our website by means of a corresponding setting of the Internet browser used, and may, as a result, deny the future setting of cookies. Furthermore, already set cookies may be deleted at any time via an Internet browser or other software programs. This is possible in all popular Internet browsers. If you deactivate the setting of cookies in the Internet browser used, not all functions of our website may be entirely usable.
Server Log Files
Our Internet pages collect a series of general data and information when a data subject or automated system calls up the website. This general data and information are stored in the server log files. The following may be collected: (1) the browser types and versions used, (2) the operating system used by the accessing system, (3) the website from which an accessing system reaches our website (so-called referrers), (4) the sub-websites, (5) the date and time (so-called timestamp) of access to the Internet site, (6) an Internet protocol address (IP address), (7) the internet service provider (ISP) of the accessing system, and (8) any other similar data and information that may be used in the event of attacks on our information technology systems. When using this general data and information, we do not draw any conclusions about the data subject. Rather, this information is needed to (1) deliver the content of our website correctly, (2) optimize the content of our website, (3) ensure the long-term viability of our information technology systems and website technology, and (4) provide law enforcement authorities with the information necessary for criminal prosecution in case of a cyber-attack. Therefore, except in case of an attack on our systems, we analyze pseudonymously collected data and information statistically, with the aim of increasing the data protection and data security of our enterprise, and to ensure an optimal level of protection for the personal information we process. The pseudonymous data of the server log files are stored separately from all personal information provided by a data subject.
Our Disclosure of Your Information
We will not share your personal information with third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with your User Account settings and permissions. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your explicit consent. As discussed above, some SkillsFirst accounts are paid accounts. Users are not provided access to your personal information simply because they have paid accounts; their access to your personal information is under the same terms and conditions as any other User in the SkillsFirst Network.
Additionally, if you choose to share your content with OpenAI for content analysis and feedback, certain parties may access your data. We use OpenAI's technology for resume parsing, scanning, and skills gap analysis. We encourage you to review OpenAI's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details. Also, organizations that utilize our REST API may access your content, including private content, to provide employment services or for other internal use. This access is in line with our privacy policy and the terms agreed upon by your sponsoring organization. The following describes some of the ways that your information may be disclosed in the normal provision of the Services to you.
Data Shared with Other Users through the Service
The data collected through the use of the Services, including personal information, may be shared with other Users upon your consent and in each instance in accordance with the permissions set to your User Account. In the case of the Organization that invited you to participate in SkillsFirst, Organization Administrators and Organization Staff automatically have some visibility to your personal information (see "Joining a SkillsFirst Organization" above). In the case of joining the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at an Organization, Pathway Administrators and your assigned Pathway Career Coaches and Pathway Resource Navigators automatically have some visibility to your User Pathway Profile and User Pathway Profile content (see "Joining the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ at a SkillsFirst Organization" above). Also, the Services may permit you to interact and share content with other Users, for example share notes, take interviews, review resumes and cover letters, etc. When you submit your content in these ways, you will be sharing your personal information with identified recipients. If you choose to share your content with "Anybody With Link," people outside the SkillsFirst Network with access the link will have access to your shared content. If you choose to share any of your personal information with a specific Organization People Group, such as the Organization Staff People Group, it will be available to all Users in the Organization Staff People Group from time to time within the SkillsFirst Network. For example, if you choose to share certain personal information with all Organization Staff People Group, and additional Organization Staff later join the Network, these new Organization Staff will have access to that personal information. If you are concerned about new Organization Staff having access to your personal information, you should consider granting access only to specific named Users. In such a case, you can always choose to grant access to additional Organization People Groups or Users in the future using the permissions feature of your User Account. All User Originated Content posted by a User in any area of the Services will be identifiable to that User’s username, and you consent to such use. Our agreements with Organizations and Users obligate them to use personal information made available through SkillsFirst only for uses consistent with the purposes of the SkillsFirst Network. For example, if an individual is given a role as an Organization Collaborator, and functions as a mentor within the SkillsFirst Network, our terms of use contract with that User requires use of your personal information only for purposes related to the provision of mentoring services to you, and related communication. Similarly, our contract with a Pathway Employer in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ would require use of your personal information only for purposes related to your suitability for employment by that employer.
Aggregated Data
You consent to our aggregation of your data, and you further consent to our use and disclosure of such information for a variety of purposes, including data analytics. However, in these situations, we do not disclose any information that could be used to identify you personally.
Public Areas of the Services
Users may be able to post User Originated Content that is viewable by all other Users through the Services. For example, students can elect to share their resume with the Organization Administrators People Group and Organization Staff People Group, and such content will automatically be visible by Administrators and Staff in a public area (e.g., Organization Galleries).
Subsidiaries and Affiliates; Service Providers.
You consent to our use of affiliates, subsidiaries, and unrelated service providers in the operation of the Services, and you consent to our disclosure of personal information to them in order to provide the services you have requested. For example, we may use the services of third-party hosting companies to host the operation of our Sites. This may involve the hosting of data, including personal information, on servers operated by those hosting companies. We may also use service providers to process payments of Users who wish to pay by credit card. We take care to use only service providers that we believe are reputable, who have agreed to comply with all applicable laws, and who are able to maintain the security of personal information and confidential information.
Law and Harm; Jurisdictions
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Privacy Policy, we may preserve or disclose your information if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation, or legal request; to protect the safety of any person; to address fraud, security, or technical issues; or to protect our or any other person’s rights or property. However, nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any legal defenses or objections that you may have to a third party’s request, including requests made by government or regulatory authorities, to disclose your information.
Sale of Business
You also consent to our disclosure of personal information to an acquirer or its agents in the course of any sale process regarding the sale of our SkillsFirst business. If we do this, the disclosure will be subject to confidentiality arrangements customary in such transactions and the acquirer’s rights to your personal information will be subject to the same restrictions and limitations as are set forth in this Privacy Policy.
User Control Over Content Access
As a user, you control over who can access your Personal Galleries Content. You may choose to share your content with specific individuals, groups, or organizations at your discretion, and you may also modify or revoke these access permissions at any time. This is an essential part of our commitment to your privacy and the confidentiality of your information. However, there are some specific exceptions where your control might be limited: 1) Content Sharing with Organizations Using our REST API: Organizations that use our REST API can access your content, including those labeled as private, for the purposes of providing employment services or other internal uses. Even in these instances, your content is handled in accordance with our privacy policy and the agreed-upon terms with your sponsoring organization. 2) Content Export by Sponsoring Organizations: In cases where your sponsoring organization terminates its subscription to SkillsFirst or decides to cease using the Service, the organization's administrators may export any of your Personal Galleries Content linked to that organization. This includes both shared and private content. This provision is necessary to ensure a smooth transition for the organization and its members. We advise you to regularly review and manage your sharing settings and remain informed about the policies of your sponsoring organization. We at SkillsFirst are committed to providing you with the tools and information necessary to maintain control over your personal information
Transparency and User Control
We remain transparent about our data processing practices, particularly regarding the automated redaction of PII. You retain control over your data and the choice to engage in functions that trigger this redaction process. Our commitment to privacy includes keeping you informed and empowered regarding the use of your data within SkillsFirst.
How We Use Your Information
SkillsFirst provides you the tools to keep your personal information up to date and you have the power to change or revoke access to your Additional Profile Data, Personal Galleries Content, and Participant Career Profiles. The exception is Basic Profile Data which is automatically visible to some members of the Organization for basic organization management, administration, and reporting (see "Joining a SkillsFirst Organization" above). We endeavor to collect and retain only the personal data needed to provide the Services; to ensure that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal information from loss, alteration, misuse, unauthorized access, and disclosure as it is transmitted, stored, or otherwise processed, and to use appropriate measures to securely destroy personal information when it is no longer needed. You consent to our access and use of your Registration Information, Basic Profile Data, Additional Profile Data, Personal Galleries Content, and Participant Career Profiles Content, and other information we obtain from you, and other information we obtain from your current and past activities on the Services, to (1) provide the Services to you; (2) resolve service disputes; (3) troubleshoot problems; (4) measure consumer interest in our products and services, inform you about job opportunities, services, events and updates; (5) customize your experience; (6) detect and protect against error, fraud and other criminal activity; (7) enforce our Terms; (8) provide you with system or administrative messages; (9) and as otherwise agreed to by you and described to you at the time of collection or in an updated version of this Privacy Policy.
As part of our commitment to your privacy and data security, our processing of your personal information now includes an automated step to redact PII during specific GPT-related functions. This added measure is crucial in maintaining the confidentiality of your data, particularly when used for services leveraging OpenAI's technology, such as resume analysis.As part of the Services, we use automated decision making to maximize the impact of your participation in SkillsFirst. For example, SkillsFirst provides evidence-based career planning tools that use personal information and results of assessments to provide Pathway Participants with customized advice and recommendations and offer Users search tools that use personal information to match Users with Organizations seeking Users with particular skills, but only in the limited purpose of the SkillsFirst Network. For example, the results of interest profilers and assessments can help recommend occupations to Pathway Participants in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ program. Additionally, SkillsFirst contains extensive libraries of competencies required for certain types of occupations and may suggest the available courses offered by the educational institution relevant to the development of those skills. The voluntary sharing of content tagged to particular occupations or competencies can help Organization Members and employers discover qualified people who can demonstrate their skills through evidence and artifacts.
Duration of Storage of Your Personal Information
The criteria used to determine the period of storage of personal information are the underlying purpose for which the data was obtained and the related legal requirements. We retain your personal information as long as your account is active at your Sponsoring Organization. After your Sponsoring Organization terminates the Services, we will remove your personal information from production within 30 days. However, please note that your personal information will be stored on backups for an additional 65 days, after which it will be fully erased. Exceptions apply if you participate in the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™, where additional terms or policies regarding the use and disclosure of personal information you provide to the Organization operating the program may provide for a different retention period.
If you wish to retrieve your personal information from SkillsFirst before your organization's termination date, you can download the information directly from the website. Upon termination of services, administrators at your organization may also choose to export your content. Please refer to our Terms for more information on how we handle account information when you terminate your User Account.
When the need for retaining the information no longer exists, the corresponding data is routinely deleted, as long as it is no longer necessary for the fulfillment of the purpose for which it was collected
Further processing
If we wish to use your personal information for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Policy, or by existing consent or contractual obligations, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.
Contact Details
Our point of contract for questions related to data protection is:
OptimalResume.com, Inc.
PO
Box 2513
Banner Elk, NC 28604
Phone: +1 (877) 998-7654
Email: privacyinfo@optimalresume.com
If you have any concerns about the collection, use, or processing of personal information, please contact us using the contact information provided above. In the event of a privacy related issue or complaint, we will investigate and attempt to promptly resolve any complaints and disputes regarding use and disclosure of personal information.
Security
Your OptimalResume User Account is protected by a password that you choose to protect your
privacy and security. It is your sole responsibility to create, and periodically change, a
strong password in order to prevent unauthorized access to your account, and to protect your
password appropriately, and limit access to your computer or mobile device. OptimalResume
runs its computing services on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. AWS has been
architected to be one of the most flexible, reliable, scalable, and secure cloud computing
environments available today. Our security practices are designed to be no less rigorous
than accepted industry practices for security, such as the use of standard Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) certificates to ensure a safe and secure environment. All data in transit is
encrypted using SSL, a cryptographic protocol that is designed to protect against
eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. All data is encrypted at rest using one of
the strongest block ciphers available, Advanced Encryption Standard 256 (AES-256), a
symmetric key encryption standard using 256-bit encryption keys.
While we strive to protect your information and data, we cannot guarantee the security of your User Account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure and other factors, may compromise the security of User information at any time.
In addition to our robust security measures, the automatic redaction of PII during certain GPT-related functions further secures your data against potential privacy breaches. This proactive approach is an integral part of our overall strategy to safeguard your personal information.
Other Information Collectors
Except as otherwise expressly included in this Privacy Policy, this document only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you through the Services. To the extent that you disclose your personal information to other parties through the Services or outside the Services to Users or other parties, different rules may apply to their use, collection, and disclosure of the personal information you disclose to them.
As noted above, Organizations or Organizations operating the 7-Step Career Pathway Model™ may have additional terms or policies regarding the use and disclosure of personal information you should review before providing personal information to the Organization or Organization operating the Pathway. Since we do not control the information use, collection, or disclosure policies of third parties, you are also subject to the privacy policies of such other parties. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others, including to employers that you are introduced to through the Services.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
OptimalResume may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time.
The use of information we collect is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time the information is used; therefore, it is important for you to review this Privacy Policy each time it is updated. If we make any material changes, we will change the "Last Updated" date set forth at the top of this Privacy Policy and post the new Privacy Policy here: https://skillsfirst.com/privacy-policy. We will also notify you by posting an announcement on the Site(s). You should consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Except to the extent that your express consent to any change or update is required under data protection law, your continued use of the Services signifies your continued assent to the terms of this Privacy Policy, as updated or amended at that time