Portal Privacy Policy 

Last updated: July 2, 2026

South Dakota Workforce Scholarships (“SDWS,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy. This policy describes how we collect, process, retain, and disclose personal data about you when providing services to you through our websites and applications that link to this policy (our “Services”) and our practices for using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.
This policy applies only to information we collect:South Dakota Workforce Scholarships (“SDWS,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy. This policy describes how we collect, process, retain, and disclose personal data about you when providing services to you through our websites and applications that link to this policy (our “Services”) and our practices for using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.


This policy applies only to information we collect:

  • Through the Services.
  • In communications, including email, text, chat, and other electronic messages, between you and the Services.

It does not apply to information collected by: 

  • Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by SDWS or any third party that does not link to this policy; or
  • Any third party, including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or through the Services.

We may provide additional or different privacy policies that are specific to certain features, services, or activities.
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we treat it. By interacting with our Services or providing us with your information, you agree to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described in this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to this Policy). Your continued use of the Services after we make changes as described here is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.


Children’s and Minors’ Data
Our Services are intended for users who are at least 13 years of age, and the Services are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13, and if we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information. If you are between 13 and 17 years of age (a minor), you may use the Services and provide personal data only with the involvement and verifiable consent of your parent or legal guardian. By providing personal data through the Services, a minor represents that their parent or legal guardian has reviewed and consented to this Privacy Policy and to the minor’s submission of personal data. 


The Personal Data That We Collect or Process
“Personal data” is information that identifies, relates to, or describes, directly or indirectly, you as an individual, such as your name, email address, telephone number, home address, postal address, Social Security number, date of birth, student identification number, or other identifiers we may use to contact you or to administer the South Dakota Freedom Scholarship Program.


The types and categories of personal data we collect or process include:

  • Account and contact information, including name, address, email address, phone number, username, and other contact information you provide us.
  • Content, documents, and other materials you submit in connection with your scholarship or in communications you send to us.
  • Government identifiers, including your Social Security number.
  • Education and scholarship information, including your school, date of birth, and a financial-aid eligibility determination that your school provides to us.

Some of the information identified above is considered sensitive data under certain laws. If required under applicable law, we will collect and process sensitive personal data only with your consent. If you choose not to provide or allow us to collect some information, we may not be able to provide you with requested features, services, or information.

We also collect:

  • Statistics or aggregated information. Statistical or aggregated data does not directly identify a specific person, but we may derive non-personal statistical or aggregated data from personal data. For example, we may aggregate personal data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific Services feature.

If we combine or connect non-personal statistical or technical data with personal data so that it directly or indirectly identifies an individual, we treat the combined information as personal information.

How We Collect Your Personal and Other Data
You Provide Information to Us


We collect information about you when you interact with our Services, such as when you create or update an account, submit materials, or upload documents in connection with your scholarship, including employment verification following graduation.
Automatically Through Our Services
The application portal does not use cookies, web beacons, or other automated data-collection technologies. We collect personal data only when you provide it to us, and we receive your financial-aid eligibility determination from your school as described below. 
Information From Other Sources
We may receive personal data about you from other sources and combine it with information we collect directly from you. For example, in connection with administering the Freedom Scholarship Program, we may receive employment verification or related information from your employer or educational institution, and we may receive information from service providers we engage to perform services on our behalf, such as our customer relationship management provider and email platform providers. 

How We Use Your Information
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal data, to:

  • Provide you with the Services and any contents, features, information, products, or services that we make available through the Services.
  • Fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
  • Provide you with notices about your account and your scholarship application.
  • Improve our Services, including by analyzing your information and creating aggregated data derived from your information, to develop, maintain, analyze, improve, measure, and report on our Services and their features and how users interact with them.
  • Carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any agreements entered into between you and us.
  • Notify you when Services updates are available and about changes to any products or services we offer or provide though them.
  • In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
  • For any other purpose with your consent.

The usage information we collect, whether connected to your personal data or not, helps us improve our Services and deliver a better and more personalized experience by enabling us to:

  • Estimate our audience sizes and usage patterns.
  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize the Services according to your individual needs and interests.
  • Speed up your searches.
  • Recognize you when you return to our Services.

Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models
We do not collect, use, or sell personal data for the purpose of training large language models.


Who We Disclose Your Information To
We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. 
We may also disclose personal data that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:

  • To our affiliates.
  • To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our organization and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal data confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
  • To a successor organization in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other transfer of some or all of SDWS’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal data held by SDWS is among the assets transferred.
  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
  • With your consent.

We may also disclose your personal data:

  • To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
  • To enforce or apply our Portal Terms of Use and other agreements.
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of our organization, our applicants, or others.

The categories of personal data we may disclose include:

  • Account and contact information.
  • Content and documents you elect to provide to us.

Financial Aid Eligibility Information
To evaluate scholarship applications, we receive from an applicant’s school or university a determination of whether you qualify for financial aid. The applicant’s school makes that determination based on the applicant’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We do not receive the FAFSA, Student Aid Report, or any federal tax information, only the eligibility determination schools provide. Schools are responsible for obtaining applicants’ consent, as required by law, before sharing this determination with us. We use the eligibility determination only to evaluate, award, and administer scholarships and related financial assistance; we do not sell it, and we do not disclose it to any other person without an applicant’s express permission or request, except as required by law.


How We How We Protect Your Personal Data
We use commercially reasonable administrative, physical, and technical measures designed to protect your personal data from accidental loss or destruction and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. However, no website, mobile application, system, electronic storage, or online service is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal data transmitted to, through, using, or in connection with the Services. In particular, email, texts, and chats sent to or from the Services may not be secure, and you should carefully decide what information you send to us via such communications channels. Any transmission of personal data is at your own risk. We maintain the personal data you provide to us in a customer relationship management platform and we and our service providers use access controls, encryption, and other safeguards designed to protect your personal data. If we determine that your personal information has been acquired by an unauthorized person through a breach of system security, we will notify you, and, where applicable, the South Dakota Attorney General, in accordance with South Dakota law. 
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. You are responsible for taking steps to protect your personal data against unauthorized use, disclosure, and access. 


How We Retain Your Personal Data
We keep the categories of personal data described in this policy for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described or for as otherwise legally permitted or required, such as maintaining the Services, operating our organization, complying with our legal obligations, resolving disputes, and for safety, security, and fraud prevention. This means that we consider our legal and business obligations, potential risks of harm, and nature of the information when deciding how long to retain personal data. At the end of the retention period, personal data will be deleted, destroyed, or deidentified.


Governing Law
This Portal Privacy Policy and any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to it are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of South Dakota, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.


Changes to this Policy
We may update this policy from time to time, and we will provide notice of any such changes to the policy as required by law. The date the policy was last updated is identified at the top of the page. We will notify you of changes to this policy by updating the “last updated” date and posting the updated policy on the Services. We may email or otherwise communicate reminders about this policy, but you should check our Services periodically to see the current policy and any changes we have made to it.

Contact Information
To exercise your rights or ask questions or comment about this policy or our privacy practices, contact us at: 
South Dakota Workforce Scholarships
Attn: Elli Haerter
elli@sdworkforcescholarships.org  
To register a complaint or concern, please contact us here.