Science of Speed: Privacy Policy

Terms Used in this Document

COPPA refers to Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a Federal regulation enacted in 1998. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the purpose of COPPA is “to give parents control over what information is collected from their children online and how such information may be used.” Children under the age of 13 are protected by COPPA. Click here for more information.

Operator refers to the organization responsible for the maintenance of this Web site (Science-of-Speed.com) and the information it contains.

Site, or this site refers to Science-of-Speed.com, operated by Pitsco, Inc. of Pittsburg, Kansas.

A third-party organization is defined as any organization other than those subsidiaries of the Technological Literacy Group, Inc., including, but not limited to, Pitsco Ideas & Solutions, Pitsco LEGO Educational Division, Synergistic Systems, Pathways, and Hearlihy.
Tips refer to user suggestions (displayed on this Web site) regarding effective techniques for designing, building, or racing CO₂ cars.

Visitor refers to any individual who directs their Web browser to www.science-of-speed.com and peruses the content displayed on the site.

Operator and Contact Information

Pitsco, Inc. of Pittsburg, Kansas, operates this site. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy. Please reference the Web Development Department to be sure your inquiry is handled efficiently.

Online Help Desk:
Go to the Help Desk

Address & Location:
Pitsco, Inc.
Web Development Dept.
P.O. Box 1708
Pittsburg, KS 66762

Phone:
800-835-0686

Purpose

This Web site is intended as a service to technology and science educators and students, CO₂ racing enthusiasts, and as a value-added benefit to Pitsco customers. When we collect information from our users, we do so to better serve them — in order to mail requested materials, answer questions, and respond to inquiries.

We do not sell to or share with third-party organizations the customer information collected on this site. We do not contact users whose information we collect on the site for the purposes of direct marketing without the user’s permission.

We collect information from users for the following reasons:

Catalog requests — Site visitors may request a catalog in printed form.
Inquiries and customer service requests — Visitors may submit inquiries or requests via an online form.
Tip submissions — Visitors may submit tips for display on the site. (We are not obligated to display the tip; it's entirely at our discretion.)
Cookies — These are used to enhance a visitor’s browsing experience.
Online Showroom — Visitors may submit racecar photos and information for the expressed purpose of our displaying them on the site. (We are not obligated to display the car and information; it's entirely at our discretion.)

This site, to the best of our knowledge, is in full compliance with COPPA regarding the methods used to collect and use information provided by the site visitors.

Catalog Requests

This Web site has an online form for requesting a printed catalog. Upon receiving a request, we mail the catalog using the mailing address provided and add the individual to our master mailing list for future catalog mailings. In some cases, we may send other marketing materials to individuals on our mailing list.

The information we collect and store for catalog requests

Name
Organization name
Address
City, state, and zip code
Country
Job description
Areas of interest

We do not knowingly accept catalog requests from users under the age of 13. Because the catalog request form, as well as the catalog itself, is intended for educators, it is assumed that individuals submitting catalog requests are adults.

Inquiries and Customer Service Requests

Web site users may submit inquiries about products, order status, and so forth.

We collect and store the individual’s information in order to answer the question or fulfill the request.

Tip Submissions

Users may submit tips or suggestions regarding effective techniques for designing, building, or racing CO₂ cars. We will review these tips, and at our discretion, may choose to display them on the site. When we display a tip, we give credit to the person who submitted the tip by listing their name, city, and state.

We do not knowingly accept tip submissions from users under the age of 13. Before users complete our Tip Suggestion form, they must certify they are 13 or older by clicking a clearly labeled checkbox. If the users fail to check the box, they are denied the ability to submit the tip.

Cookies

Cookies are used on the site to display ancillary content (tips, featured cars, and product ads) in a non-repetitive manner. The cookies are never associated with any personally identifiable information. The cookies are also transient in nature, meaning they are removed from the users’ machines when users leave the site.

The function of the site is not dependent on cookies being enabled in users’ browsers.

Online Showroom

The car photos of the top 16 finalists from each CO₂ racing event at the Technology Student Association (TSA) national conference are displayed on this site. When appropriate, we display competitor information as well.

This is done for the benefit of our site visitors and for the competitors whose cars we are displaying. As we provide this service, we strive to comply with federal regulations and parents’ wishes.

Information We Collect
For each car that we display, we collect corresponding information:

Competitor’s full name
School
City and state
Racecar information (car number, type, mass, drag, race time, and rank)

How We Collect the Information
TSA competitor information is rarely collected online — we collect the data from paper forms submitted by competitors during event check-in at the national TSA conference.

Exceptions: The information may be collected online or via e-mail when:

We failed to collect the information at the event. In this case the information will be voluntarily supplied by the competitor or his/her parent or guardian. *
A non-TSA car photo and information are submitted to us over the Web. * We may choose to display car photos (and information) that are sent to us in this manner at our discretion.

* If the child is under 13, we require a signed form that gives us verifiable parental consent to collect and use the information.

What We Do with the Information
Children under 13 years of age are protected by COPPA. If we have reason to believe that an individual is under 13, we will display only minimal information.** We handle all middle school competitor information this way because it’s possible a middle school competitor may be under 13.

**Minimum Information Displayed for Middle School Competitors

Competitor’s first name and last initial
Racecar information (car number, type, mass, drag, race time, and rank)

If the competitors are 13 years of age or older, we display the information listed below on our site for public viewing. It is assumed that all competitors in the TSA high school events are at least 13 years of age.

Full Information Displayed for High School Competitors

Competitor’s full name
School
City and state
Racecar information (car number, type, mass, drag, race time, and rank)

If a parent provides verifiable consent, we display the full information.

What We Don’t Do with the Information

The competitor information is used exclusively for display on the site. Information is NOT used for direct marketing purposes (individuals will not be contacted for reasons of a marketing nature); information will NOT be sold or distributed to any third-party organization.

Parental Consent
We require parental consent to display a child’s information (full name, school, city, and state) under the following conditions:

The child was a finalist in TSA a middle school event.
The child is under 13 years of age.

Click here to download a consent form that can be completed and sent to us by mail or fax.

Mail your consent form to:

Pitsco, Inc.
Web Development Dept.
P.O. Box 1708
Pittsburg, KS 66762

Or fax it to:

800-533-8104

Revoking Consent
If your minor child’s information is displayed on our site and you want it removed, contact us and we will happily comply.