JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Privacy Policy

(last updated on January 4, 2023)

General Information

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) respects your right to privacy. ISAC is committed to ensuring that your personal, professional and financial information is secure.. We have taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of our communications and computing infrastructure, including but not limited to authentication, monitoring, auditing, and encryption. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day practices of the entire ISAC operating environment as part of our continuing commitment to risk management.

Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be used as you make full use of our online services. “Personal information” means any information by which you can be personally identified. Personal information includes your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, drivers license, Social Security number and the like. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.

This policy applies to the following ISAC sites:

isac.org
collegeillinois.org
idapp.com
edfinancial.com/idapp
illinoiscan.org
collegechangeseverything.org

Details about how this policy applies to users of the B4 College Alerts mobile application can be found in the section below titled “Using the B4 College Alerts mobile app.” 

Reading or downloading information

You browse our sites anonymously, and personal information is not collected. We gather and analyze data regarding usage of our websites, including domain name (the name of your Internet service provider), the number of hits to our sites, pages visited, and time and length of a user’s session. We use this information to evaluate and improve the content, appearance and utility of the sites and to track our visitors’ use of the sites for internal market research or other business purposes.

Completing a survey or filling out an application for a College Illinois!® prepaid tuition contract, scholarship or grant, or to attend a seminar

ISAC collects personal information only when you voluntarily submit such information to us, such as when placing an order for materials through the site; joining our mailing list; completing an application for a College Illinois!® prepaid tuition contract, scholarship, or grant; responding to survey questions; or registering for a seminar. If you choose not to participate in these activities, your choice will in no way affect your ability to use any other feature of ISAC’s websites.

After you have submitted your application online or completed the survey, we recommend that you end your browser session before leaving your computer.

If you complete a survey, we only collect, retain and use information about you where we reasonably believe it will assist us in managing our business. We collect and retain survey information about you in order to protect and administer your accounts; provide products, services, and other opportunities to you; and help us design or improve our products and services.

If you are registering for a seminar, we will collect your information and use it to secure your place at the seminar, and contact you with confirmation or changes to the seminar. The only unique identifier used is your e-mail address. This identifier will not be disseminated to a third party unless the application so states and provision is made for you to opt-out and/or, in return for specific consideration, you agree and give express permission to do so.

We, along with the outside companies with which we work, if applicable, may keep the information you provide to us, along with information we collect from outside sources, so that we can offer services related to your needs. We only collect, retain and use information about you for specific business purposes – and, upon your request, we will tell you why we are collecting and retaining it.

Using the B4 College Alerts mobile app

In order to use the B4 College Alerts mobile app, you must provide the last four numbers of your Social Security number, your date of birth and your zip code. This data is used only by ISAC and only to track your progress in completing the financial aid and college application processes. We do not transmit your data to any third party. ISAC only matches the data you provide to data we receive from the United States Department of Education so we can identity whether you have filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The data you provide is stored in a database maintained by ISAC and will be deleted without unreasonable delay. You are not legally required to provide this data, and you may still receive alerts relating to applying for financial aid and college without submitting the information. If, at any time, you want to request that ISAC delete any data that was collected through the app, please send an email to isac.studentservices@illinois.gov or call 800-899-ISAC (4722). If there are any changes to this privacy policy, we will send you advance notice through the mobile app.

Sending us an e-mail

If you send us an e-mail containing comments, concerns or suggestions, we will use your e-mail address only to send you a response. Your e-mail address will not be forwarded to any third parties without your permission.

Using our calculators or planning tools

Personal information is stored only temporarily to complete the calculations required by the user. None of the calculated results or information is retained by ISAC. The only information that is retained is that someone anonymously used one or our tools.

Using links we provide to other sites

ISAC’s websites contain links to other websites. While we make every effort to protect your information on ISAC’s sites, please be aware that we do not control the policies or content of other sites and cannot protect personal information you provide on other sites (including those we may link to). Please do not assume that our privacy policy covers those other sites.

Collecting information from minors

ISAC’s websites collect online contact information from minors without prior parental consent or parental notification. This information is used to process scholarship and grant applications.

Reviewing or updating personal information

You may request at any time to review personal information ISAC has about you. In addition, at any time you may request that ISAC correct any such personal information or that such personal information be removed from ISAC’s marketing databases.

To review or update information provided to:

College Illinois!® Prepaid Tuition Program
  E-mail: Current Contract Holders: isac.529helpillinois.gov
General Info Requests: isac.529info@illinois.gov
  Telephone: 877-877-3724
  Write: College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program
500 West Monroe, Third Floor
Springfield, IL  62704-1876
IDAPP
  E-mail: customerservice@edfnancial.com (FFELP loans)
webcservice@ecsi.net (alternative loans)
  Telephone: 800-961-IDAP (4327)
    8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday (Central Time)
  Write: Illinois Designated Account Purchase Program
P.O. Box 707
1755 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 60015
ISAC
  E-mail: isac.studentservices@illinois.gov
  Telephone: 800-899-ISAC (4722)
    8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday (Central Time) 
  Write:  Illinois Student Assistance Commission
1755 Lake Cook Road
Deerfield, IL 60015

Opt in/Opt out policy

You are given the opportunity to “opt-in” or “opt-out” of having your information used for purposes not directly related to our websites or services at the point where we ask for the information. For example, we allow you to “opt-in” to receive e-mails from us regarding product information, newsletters, filing deadlines and research. We will use e-mail addresses only for the purpose of sending you ISAC materials. You always have the option of opting out as described within the text of any e-mail we send.

Disclaimer

ISAC’s websites are provided as a public service. Every effort has been made to offer the most current, correct and clearly expressed information possible on each site. Nevertheless, inadvertent errors in information may occur. If inaccurate, misleading or otherwise inappropriate information is brought to our attention, a reasonable effort will be made to fix or remove it.

The information contained in the sites, whether expressed or implied, is not legally binding upon ISAC. No action by the user should be taken in reliance upon the information contained herein. ISAC disclaims any responsibility or liability for the user’s loss due to his/her reliance upon said information. Information should be verified by the user by contacting ISAC.

ISAC is obligated to act in compliance with policies, rules and statutes which govern the programs cited herein. Accordingly notwithstanding any information contained in ISAC’s websites, such policies, rules and statutes shall control.

ISAC reserves the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time. You should check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of ISAC’s sites following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy will mean that you accept those changes.