Privacy Policy – Tampa Truck Driving School

Effective Date: February 18, 2025 | Last Updated: February 18, 2025

1. Who We Are

Tennessee Truck Driving School (also operating as Tampa Truck Driving School), collectively referred to as "we," "our," or "us," is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information of our students, prospective students, website visitors, and users who interact with us through third-party platforms, including Facebook and Instagram ("Meta Platforms").

Our website address is: https://tampatruckdrivingschool.com

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information when you interact with us through our websites, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, messaging platforms (including Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages, SMS/text messaging), and any other digital services we operate.

This policy complies with applicable federal and state laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Florida Information Protection Act, and Meta Platform's Developer Policies and Terms of Service.

2. What Personal Data We Collect and Why

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you contact us, enroll in our programs, or communicate with us through any channel, we may collect:

Full name, email address, phone number, and mailing address
Date of birth and government-issued identification (required for CDL enrollment)
Payment and billing information (processed securely through Stripe)
Employment history and educational background
Any other information you voluntarily provide in messages, forms, or comments

2.2 Information Collected Through Meta Platforms (Facebook & Instagram)

When you interact with us through Facebook Messenger or Instagram Direct Messages, we may receive:

Your Meta user ID and public profile name
Profile picture (as made available by your privacy settings)
Messages, attachments, and media you send to our business pages
Metadata associated with your messages (timestamps, read receipts)
Information you voluntarily share during conversations (e.g., contact details, enrollment inquiries)

We do NOT access your private posts, friends lists, photos, or any information beyond what is necessary to respond to your direct messages and provide our services.

2.3 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

IP address, browser type and user agent string, device type, and operating system
Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URLs
Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 7)

2.4 Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor's IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

2.5 Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

Service Delivery: To process enrollment applications, manage student accounts, schedule classes, and communicate program updates.
Customer Communication: To respond to inquiries received via Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages, SMS, email, or phone.
CRM Management: To maintain accurate records in our customer relationship management system for enrollment tracking, follow-ups, and student support.
Payment Processing: To securely process tuition payments, fees, and refunds through our payment processor (Stripe).
Marketing & Outreach: To send promotional messages, program updates, and newsletters (with your consent and in compliance with applicable laws).
Compliance: To comply with federal and state regulations, including DOT and FMCSA requirements for CDL training programs.
Website Improvement: To analyze usage patterns and improve our websites, communication systems, and services.

4. Meta Platform Data Usage

This section specifically addresses how we handle data received through Meta's Messenger Platform and Instagram Messaging API, in compliance with Meta's Platform Terms and Developer Policies.

4.1 Purpose Limitation

Data received through Meta Platforms is used exclusively to:

Respond to user-initiated inquiries about our truck driving programs
Provide customer support and enrollment assistance
Send follow-up communications within Meta's 24-hour standard messaging window
Send approved message tags for relevant updates (e.g., appointment reminders, application status updates)

4.2 What We Do NOT Do With Meta Platform Data

We do NOT:

Sell, license, or share Meta Platform data with third parties for advertising or data brokerage purposes
Use Meta Platform data to build or augment user profiles for advertising purposes unrelated to our services
Use Meta Platform data to discriminate against any individual or group
Transfer Meta Platform data to any data broker or information reseller
Use Meta Platform data after a user requests deletion or revokes access

4.3 Data Retention for Meta Platform Data

Messaging data received through Meta Platforms is retained in our CRM system for the duration of the customer relationship plus a maximum of 24 months following the last interaction. Users may request earlier deletion at any time (see Section 10).

5. SMS/Text Messaging Program

Tennessee Truck Driving School (operating as Tampa Truck Driving School) offers an SMS/text messaging program to provide customers and prospective students with appointment reminders, enrollment updates, lead follow-up communications, and promotional/marketing messages related to our truck driving programs and services.

By providing your mobile phone number and opting in to our text messaging program, you consent to receive recurring automated text messages from Tennessee Truck Driving School. Message frequency varies based on your interactions with us and the type of messages you have opted in to receive.

Message and data rates may apply. Your mobile carrier's standard messaging and data rates may apply to the messages we send and your responses.

5.1 Opt-In and Consent

You may opt in to receive text messages from us through the following methods:

Submitting your phone number via a contact form or enrollment form on our website
Providing verbal or written consent in person at one of our locations
Texting a keyword (such as "START" or "YES") to our designated phone number

By opting in, you are confirming that you are the subscriber or customary user of the mobile number provided and that you agree to receive text messages from Tennessee Truck Driving School.

Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services from us.

5.2 Opt-Out

You may opt out of receiving text messages at any time by replying STOP to any message you receive from us. After opting out, you will receive a final confirmation message and will no longer receive text messages from us unless you re-subscribe. You may also contact us directly at the information provided below to request removal from our messaging program.

5.3 Help

For assistance with our text messaging program, reply HELP to any message you receive from us or contact us using the information below.

5.4 Mobile Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, loan, trade, lease, or otherwise transfer for profit any phone numbers or personal information collected through our SMS/text messaging program to any third party for marketing or promotional purposes. Your mobile opt-in data and consent information will not be shared with or sold to third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes at any time.

6. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal information to any third party. We may share your personal information only in the following limited circumstances:

Stripe: Payment processing — name, email, payment card details (tokenized)
Twilio: SMS communications — phone number, message content
Heroku (Salesforce): Application hosting & CRM database — all CRM data (encrypted at rest and in transit)
Meta Platforms: Messaging API integration — messages sent/received, user IDs
Government Agencies: Regulatory compliance (DOT, FMCSA, state DMVs) — student records as required by law

All third-party service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes specified. We do not share, sell, or disclose your personal information, including mobile phone numbers and SMS opt-in data, to third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

7. Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

8. Embedded Content From Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including mobile phone numbers, Meta Platform data, and SMS-related data, from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

All data encrypted in transit using TLS/SSL encryption
Database encryption at rest on our hosting platform (Heroku/PostgreSQL)
Role-based access controls limiting employee access to personal data
Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
Secure authentication and session management for all CRM users
Payment data handled exclusively by PCI-DSS compliant processors (Stripe) — we never store raw credit card numbers

Data Breach Procedures

In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify affected individuals and relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

10. How Long We Retain Your Data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

SMS opt-in and opt-out records are retained as required by applicable regulations and industry best practices.

Meta Platform messaging data is retained for the duration of the customer relationship plus a maximum of 24 months following the last interaction. Users may request earlier deletion at any time.

11. Your Rights Over Your Data

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

Right to Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us.
Right to Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to Deletion: You may request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Right to Opt-Out: You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by replying STOP to any SMS message, clicking "unsubscribe" in any email, or contacting us directly.
Right to Data Portability: Where applicable, you may request your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
Right to Restrict Processing: You may request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided below. We will respond to your request within 30 days (or sooner as required by applicable law).

12. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, we will promptly delete it.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. We will post the updated policy on our website with the revised "Last Updated" date. Material changes will be communicated through our website and/or direct notification.

14. Where We Send Your Data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Data may be processed by our third-party service providers (Stripe, Twilio, Heroku, Meta Platforms) on servers located in the United States.

15. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Tampa Truck Driving School
4710 East Broadway Ave, Tampa, FL 33605
Phone: 813-405-0055
Email: flrecruiting@drivebigrigs.com
Website: https://tampatruckdrivingschool.com

This privacy policy complies with Meta Platform Developer Policies, applicable U.S. federal and state privacy laws, and industry best practices.