Privacy Statement

Last Updated: April 20, 2023

Our Commitment to Privacy

This Privacy Notice explains how National Matching Program^® (“NMP^®”) collects, uses, and may disclose Personal Information (defined below) that you provide or that is generated in connection with the National Matching Program services, as well as any other Personal Information that is collected through our websites, applications, and technology platforms (collectively, the Services”). We use your Personal Information to ensure accurate processing and to engage in research for specific purposes. NMP takes seriously the safety and security of our Services and the Personal Information we collect. This Privacy Notice describes our privacy practices with respect to information that identifies you or which could reasonably be used to identify you, which we refer to as “Personal Information” herein.

Note that we act as a data processor with respect to certain aspects of the Services, such as when we process a match for and provide results to a particular client. In those situations, you should refer to the privacy practices of our client for pertinent information about the handling of your Personal Information.

In other situations, such as when we provide matches simultaneously for multiple clients or in connection with your NMP account registration or our research and analysis, we act as a data controller. This Privacy Notice describes our handling of your Personal Information for those situations. 

Please Read This Privacy Notice Carefully

By using the Services or otherwise, by choosing to provide us with your Personal Information, you acknowledge that we process your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

Personal Information We Collect and Use

NMP collects Personal Information to provide you with the Services, to engage in research for specific purposes, to improve our products and services, and for typical business purposes (including security and anti-fraud purposes).  Depending on the Services for which you have registered, the information we collect may include the categories described below.

Data We Collect from You
Account Registration. We may collect your name, date of birth, educational and/or professional identification numbers (such as identifiers with accrediting entities, schools, government entities, or other entities (including an NMP identifier, if applicable)), education information (such as your training and registration/licensure information), professional or employment information, contact information (such as your email address), educational or institutional history (such as test scores), other qualifications, demographic details (such as your race, gender, disability, and other details), and any other specific information requested by the Services. We process this information to provide the Services to you or or client(s), to verify your identity, for our research and analysis purposes, to improve our products and services, and in the normal course of our business operations.

Communications. We receive information through and maintain a record of the communication(s) we have with you (such as by email, letter, telephone call, message sent to us through our social media platforms, and feedback). We process this information when you contact us or when we contact you to respond to your requests and in the normal course of our business operations.

Payment Details. We may collect your payment card details when facilitating a payment by credit card for the Services. Your card details are transmitted to and processed by our third-party payment processor.

Preferences. We will collect information about your preferences, such as ranking orders, when you participate in our Services, and we use that information to provide the Services and for our research and analysis purposes. Ranking-related information, including the results of ranking-based matches, is shared with our client(s).

Social Media. If you post information on a webpage we establish on a social media platform, we may use the information to respond, to promote our business and services, and in the normal course of our business operations. We may collect personal identifiers, such as your social media username and other personal characteristics that you have made publicly available on the social media website, in accordance with applicable law. Note that the third-party operators of social media websites also receive such information, and their use of your Personal Information is governed by their own privacy policies.

Data Collected from Other Sources. We may verify the information you provide or, at your instruction, collect information from third parties (such as licensing authorities, educational institutions, or credentialing authorities) to include as part of your profile in connection with a matching process.

De-identified Data; Sharing of Pseudo-Anonymized Data for Research Purposes. We may aggregate and de-identify Personal Information we receive, and we may use and disclose the de-identified data for any legitimate business or commercial purpose, including for research and analytics purposes, to improve our products and services, for academic studies in relevant fields (such as the field of preference and selection sciences), and to facilitate our service providers work for us. In some cases, we may pseudo-anonymize Personal Information and provide it to third-party researchers, but we will only do so subject to confidentiality obligations (including an obligation not to attempt to re-identify the data), and we do not provide those researchers with a “key” or “index” to any pseudo-anonymized data set.

Automatically Collected Data: Cookies and Similar Technologies

When you use our Services, we and our partners or vendors, such as analytics service providers, collect information by automated means. This may include the use of cookies and similar technologies such as web beacons, pixels, and web server logs.

We may use such technologies to collect personal identifiers (such as your IP address), information about your device (such as your browser characteristics, device IDs and characteristics, and operating system version), and information concerning your usage of our Services (including the link you used to reach a given webpage). We use this information to improve the overall quality of your online experience and learn about how our website is used, including to review and analyze traffic flows and feature usage to determine how many users have visited web pages, viewed particular content, or opened messages or alerts. This helps us establish, maintain, and manage our relationship with you and also helps us to optimize and provide the Services for your and our clients’ use and benefit, to improve our marketing activities, and to enforce our service terms and prevent malicious conduct.

In some cases, our third-party partners may process information collected by cookies and similar technologies that we permit them to use on the Services. Please see our Cookie Notice below for more details. With respect to any social media pages that we may use, please see the privacy policies and cookie policies of the applicable social media providers as to their automated data collection practices.

We, like many other website operators, currently use cookies or similar technologies provided by Google Analytics to collect and process website usage data and better understand and personalize your use of the Services. Google Analytics collects information like demographic data, how often users visit our Services, what pages they visit when they do so, and what website they used prior to coming to our Services. Google Analytics may use various technologies, including cookies or similar technologies, to identify your browser or computer device. To learn more about Google Analytics and how to opt-out, please click here: Opt out of Google Analytics.

You may be able to change a web browser’s settings to block and delete cookies when you access the Services through that web browser. However, if you do that, the Services may not work properly; also, we will still receive basic information (such as the last URL visited) when you navigate to the Services. Our Services do not currently respond to browser do-not-track signals.

Data We Share

We may share any of the categories of Personal Information listed above for our business and commercial purposes as described below.

Clients. We share match results and your profile information with our client(s) (along with any other information you upload for purposes of disclosure to our client) in connection with the Services as requested by you. In some cases, preference-related information may also be shared.

Affiliates. We may share information, including Personal Information, with our affiliates and any successors thereto in the normal course of our business operations for business purposes such as to communicate with you and to promote and provide our Services. In this regard, Personal Information may be shared with one of our affiliates for use in providing a service to us.

Service Providers. We share information, including Personal Information, with service providers that process such information to perform services for us in connection with the Services or our other business operations. Such service providers are not permitted to use such information for their own marketing purposes.

Legal and Similar Disclosures. We may share some of your Personal Information with, or obtain data from, law enforcement or a court, our advisors, attorneys, and other third parties who participate in the legal process if we believe doing so is required or appropriate to address suspected fraud, comply with legal requirements and law enforcement requests (such as a court order or subpoena); comply with legal process (such as discovery); or protect your, our, our clients’, or others’ rights, property, or safety.

Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of company assets, or transition of service to another provider, your Personal Information may be shared with the other parties and advisors involved under an obligation of confidentiality in connection with the negotiation of such transaction, and your Personal Information may be transferred as part of such a transaction (subject to compliance with applicable laws) and may thereafter be used by our successor in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Notice in all material respects.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We keep your Personal Information in pseudonymized form only for as long as is reasonably necessary or contractually obligated to achieve the purposes for which it was collected to provide services to you or so that we can comply with the law.

We will actively review the information we hold, and when there is no longer a user, legal, or business need for us to hold it, we will delete it. When we delete any information, it will be deleted from our active database but may remain in our backups until it is overwritten.

How We Protect Your Data

NMP recognizes it has a responsibility to treat with care the Personal Information it collects about you arising from using our Services and to respect your privacy. You must, however, guard and protect the confidentiality of your account credentials, and you may not share such credentials with anyone (and you must notify us immediately if the security of your credentials is compromised). Our access to Personal Information is restricted to individuals who require access for legitimate purposes, such as providing services to you or performing research. We strive to process your information securely, in accordance with this Privacy Notice and in accordance with information security requirements imposed by applicable law. Note, however, that certain aspects of Internet communications are inherently not completely secure.  

Location of Your Data / Data Transfer

NMP is located in the United States and is subject to the applicable laws of the United States. We will store and process information we receive about you, as described in this Privacy Notice, in the United States. If you are located outside the United States and provide information to us, you agree and consent to processing in the United States as described in this Privacy Notice and in accordance with applicable United States law.

Privacy Rights

In most cases, we provide you with the right to opt out of the use of your Personal Information for research purposes, and you may exercise that right using functionality provided on our website or by contacting us using the contact information provided below. More generally, certain jurisdictions impose specific legal requirements and privacy rights with respect to Personal Information, and we will comply with restrictions and any requests you submit as required by applicable law.

Access to your Personal Information is available through your login credentials (username and password) for the Services. During the NMP matching process, you may have an opportunity to correct or update most information you have provided using our Services. If you are an existing NMP-registered participant, you can log in to your NMP account to update your Personal Information maintained there. In the alternative, you may correct and update certain types of information (e.g., date of birth, name spelling) by contacting NMP directly using the contact information provided below.

Links to Third-Party Websites

The Services may contain links to other websites, and other websites may link to the Services. This Privacy Notice does not apply to Personal Information that you submit to the websites of our business partners or any other third parties or that are collected by them from you, even if those third-party websites are linked to our Services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. When you visit another website – via a link from the Services or otherwise – you should review the privacy policy of that other website. This Privacy Notice applies solely to information provided or obtained on our Services.

No Use by Children Under the Age of 13

The Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, you may not use our Services. We do not knowingly collect, maintain, or use Personal Information from children under 13 years of age. If we believe that any information has been posted by a child under the age of 13, we will promptly delete that information. Parents may contact us using the methods set forth below to request that information concerning their child be removed from our Services.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, requests, or concerns related to this Privacy Notice, please contact the NMP at support@nationalmatchingprogram.org or at:

National Matching Program
455 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Suite 310
Washington, DC 20001

Changes To This Privacy Notice

NMP has the right, at any time and from time to time, to make changes to this Privacy Notice. If the changes are material, we will provide reasonable notice (generally at least 30 days). Any changes to this Privacy Notice will be posted on the Services for a reasonable period of time and will be effective when posted unless another date is referenced. We recommend you review this Privacy Notice on a regular basis so that you know the current terms and conditions that apply to you.  If you use any of our Services after any changes are effective, you agree that the then-current Privacy Notice will apply to Personal Information that is thereafter collected.

Cookie Notice

We use cookies and similar tools to facilitate and improve the performance and security of our Services and to enhance user experience.

The Services may utilize or permit several different categories of cookies, as follows:

• Essential cookies – Some cookies may be essential for the proper operation of the Services. For example, they may facilitate page navigation or assist with security checks.
• Functional cookies – These cookies allow us to remember your preferences and allow us to make the Services experience better for you.
• Performance/analytics cookies – These cookies allow us to analyze how visitors use our Services and to measure Service performance. This allows us to provide a quality experience by customizing our offering and quickly identifying and fixing any issues that arise. For example, we might use performance cookies to keep track of what content is popular or to learn what links between pages are most effective or why some pages are receiving error messages.
• Advertising cookies – These cookies may be used to highlight articles, other content, or services that we think will be of interest to you based on your use of the Services. They may also be utilized by third parties when a third-party content feed has been included in the Services so that you can view videos and social media streams.

Does anyone else use cookies on our Services?
We do use or allow certain third parties to serve cookies on the Services. We may allow third parties to serve cookies to help identify fraudulent or automated traffic on the Services. As described above, third parties that provide content feeds may serve cookies. We may use third-party cookies to help us with market research, improving functionality, and enforcing website terms and policies. For example, like many companies, we use Google Analytics to help us evaluate our website traffic. You can see how Google Analytics uses cookie information across various websites by visiting https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, or any successor webpage that Google may provide.

What specific cookies do we use?

Opting out of the use of cookies
Your browser may allow you to disable certain cookies. The third-party listed for a given cookie may provide an opt out tool for that cookie. Note that disabling cookies may in some instances impact the functionality of the Services. Opt-out functionality for Google Analytics can be found here.

You may learn more about advertising networks and opt out of receiving personalized advertisements on this browser or device from advertisers who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative or who subscribe to the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by visiting the opt-out options of each of those organizations. Links to those sites are set forth below.

Network Advertising Initiative:

• Browser Opt-Out: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices   

Digital Advertising Alliance:

• Browser Opt-Out: http://www.aboutads.info/choices   

Note that, when you opt out of personalized advertising, you may continue to see online advertising on the Services and/or our ads on other websites and online services. Also, given that many opt-outs themselves use a cookie to effectuate an opt-out preference, you may need to opt out again if you clear cookies on your browser.

What about changes to this cookie notice?
We may revise this Cookie Notice from time to time in order to reflect changes in our use of cookies, changes in the law, changes in our services, or best practices. We encourage you to review this Cookie Notice periodically.