Introduction

NextGen Cyber Academy ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website nextgencyberacademy.com and related services. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website, take our quizzes, join our waitlist, enroll in our programs, or interact with us through social media, email, text message, or our Discord community.

By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

• Contact information: First name, last name, email address, phone number
• Application information: Career goals, experience level, reasons for interest in cybersecurity
• Quiz responses: Answers to our Cybersecurity Career Readiness Assessment
• Payment information: When you purchase our services, payment is processed through Stripe. We do not store your credit card information on our servers.
• Communications: Messages you send us via email, text message, social media, or Discord
• Referral program: if you join our referral program, your name, email address, how you want to be paid (for example, your PayPal or Zelle details) and, before your payouts reach $600 in a calendar year, the tax information on IRS Form W-9

Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked
• Device information: Browser type, operating system, device type
• Cookies and tracking: We use cookies and similar technologies to track activity on our website and improve your experience
• Email engagement: Open rates and click-through rates on emails we send you
• Referral links: if you reach our website through a referral partner's link (a web address ending in ?ref= and a code), our website saves that code in your browser for up to 90 days, in a first-party cookie named ngx_ref and in your browser's local storage, so the partner's discount can be applied at checkout. If you then give us your email address for the first time, we record which partner's link you came through, so we can credit that partner if you enroll. We count visits through each link without recording anything about the visitor, and we never give referral partners your name or contact details

Information from Third Parties

• Social media: When you interact with us on Instagram, Facebook, or other platforms, we may receive your public profile information
• Payment processor: Stripe provides us with transaction confirmations and billing details (not full card numbers)

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our services
• Process applications and enrollments for our bootcamp programs, including creating your account on our learning platform
• Send you quiz results, educational content, and program updates
• Communicate with you about our services, including marketing emails and, if you opted in, text messages
• Process payments through Stripe
• Provide access to our Discord community
• Respond to your inquiries and support requests
• Analyze website usage to improve our content and user experience
• Run our referral program: apply referral discounts, credit referral partners for students they refer, and pay their commissions
• Comply with legal obligations

Email and Text Message (SMS) Communications

When you give us your email address through our forms, quizzes, or waitlist, we may send you:

• Transactional emails (quiz results, application confirmations, payment receipts, course access)
• Marketing emails (program updates, educational content, promotions)

We send text messages only to people 18 or older who separately agreed to receive them by checking one or both of the optional text message boxes on the form on our Contact page (https://nextgencyberacademy.com/contact-us): one for non-marketing texts (enrollment confirmations, cohort start dates and deadlines, class reminders and course access help) and one for marketing texts (program updates, special offers and discounts). Text message consent is separate from signing up for email and is never bundled with it: giving us your email address or phone number, or buying from us, is not by itself consent to receive text messages. We text you only about the kinds you checked, from (470) 706-1191, as described in the Text Message Program section of our Terms of Service. When you check a box we record your mobile number, which boxes you checked, the wording you agreed to and when, as a record of your consent.

Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of any purchase. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help or STOP to cancel at any time. After you reply STOP, we will send one message confirming you have been unsubscribed.

Mobile information is never shared. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. All of the categories of sharing described in this policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by:

• Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in, or replying "unsubscribe" to, any marketing email
• Replying STOP to any text message
• Contacting us at [email protected]

Unsubscribing from marketing will not affect transactional communications related to your enrollment or account.

How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with:

• Service providers that help us operate our business, only as needed to provide our services: GoHighLevel (CRM, email and text messaging), Stripe (payments), LearnWorlds (our online learning platform), Zapier and Make.com (workflow automation), ManyChat (Instagram automation), Discord (community), Railway (hosting for our Discord assistant), GitHub (private, access-controlled backups of our Discord assistant's operating data, which never include resume text), and Anthropic (the AI model that powers our Discord assistant, which processes the messages you send it)
• Legal compliance: When required by law, regulation, or legal process
• Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets

Text messaging opt-in data and consent are excluded from all sharing described above.

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encrypted data transmission (SSL/TLS)
• Secure payment processing through Stripe (PCI-compliant)
• Access controls for our internal systems
• Regular review of our data collection and storage practices

However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Delete your personal information (subject to legal obligations)
• Opt out of marketing communications
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected].

Children's Privacy

Our services are available to individuals aged 14 and older. Users between the ages of 14-17 may use our services with parental or guardian consent and supervision. We may collect personal information from minors aged 14-17 only with verified parental consent. For a student aged 14 to 17, we collect the parent or guardian's name and email address on our post-purchase consent form and use them only to confirm and record that consent. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 14 has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected] and we will promptly delete that information.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to:

• Remember your preferences
• Analyze website traffic and usage patterns
• Track the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns
• Remember a referral code from a referral link (cookie ngx_ref and local storage, up to 90 days), and whether you have already signed up for our emails or closed our email sign-up pop-up (local storage), so we don't ask you again
• Remember which ad, post or website first brought you to our site, from the campaign tags in the link you followed (local storage ngx_src, up to 90 days), and record it with your email sign-up so we can tell which of our campaigns work

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

Third-Party Links

Our website and communications may contain links to third-party websites (Discord, Stripe, social media platforms). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on our website with a new "Last updated" date. Your continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

NextGen Cyber Academy LLC
8735 Dunwoody Place #12316, Atlanta, GA 30350
Phone: (470) 706-1191
Email: [email protected] (privacy requests: [email protected])
Website: nextgencyberacademy.com