Privacy Policy

American Aerospace Technical Academy (AATA) Effective: May 15, 2026

AATA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides Nondestructive Testing (NDT) apprenticeship training. We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains what we collect, why, where it goes, and how you can control it.

What we collect

When you enroll through our website or chatbot, we collect:

  • Identity & contact info - first name, last name, email, mobile phone
  • Mailing address - street, city, state, ZIP (so we can ship your books and certificates)
  • Class preference - Day or Night
  • Consent timestamp - the moment you agree to this policy
  • Apprenticeship form data (DAS 1) - Social Security Number, military service history, ethnicity, education level, signature. This is collected on the State of California Apprentice Agreement (DAS 1) form, which we send you by email after enrollment.

We do not collect:

  • Banking, credit card, or payment information through the chatbot
  • Browsing history beyond your direct interactions with our site
  • Data from cookies for advertising or tracking

Why we collect it

We use your information only for:

  1. Enrolling you in AATA's apprenticeship program
  2. Submitting your DAS 1 form to the State of California Division of Apprenticeship Standards (legally required for the program)
  3. Coordinating your enrollment with Foothill College (which administers the apprenticeship)
  4. Shipping your ASNT books via FedEx
  5. Mailing your completion certificates at the end of the program
  6. Sending you class-related communications (schedule, reminders, etc.)
  7. Maintaining your student record

We do not:

  • Sell your data to anyone
  • Share it with marketers, advertisers, or data brokers
  • Use it for anything outside enrollment and program administration

Where your data is stored

Data Where it lives Why
Name, email, phone, address, class AATA's Salesforce CRM (US-hosted) Student record, internal operations
Signed DAS 1 PDF AATA's Salesforce + Box (US-hosted) Audit trail, sent to State of California
DAS 1 form contents (SSN, etc.) State of California Division of Apprenticeship Standards Legally required for apprenticeship registration
Foothill College enrollment Foothill College's records Required to receive 27 college credits
Book payment info The payment processor you choose (Zelle, PayPal, Cash App, or credit card) We never see or store payment info ourselves

Third parties who receive your data

In short: only the parties required to make the apprenticeship work.

  • State of California Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS 1 form)
  • Foothill College (apprenticeship administrator)
  • Box (encrypted storage of signed DAS 1 PDF)
  • Salesforce (CRM platform - your data is hosted in their US data centers)
  • FedEx (shipping address only, for book delivery and certificate mailing)
  • Anthropic (the AI service powering our enrollment chatbot - your conversation messages are sent to Anthropic's API for response generation; Anthropic does not retain your data for training per their published API terms)

We have data processing agreements (or equivalent contractual protections) with each of these vendors.

How long we keep it

  • Active student records: while you're enrolled, plus 7 years after program completion (required for State of California audit purposes)
  • Inactive / withdrawn applicants: 2 years from last activity, then deleted on request
  • Chatbot conversation logs: 30 days, then deleted
  • DAS 1 PDFs: indefinitely (State of California recordkeeping requirement)

Your rights

You have the right to:

  • Know what personal data we have about you
  • Correct any inaccurate data
  • Delete your data (subject to legal retention requirements above)
  • Opt out of any non-essential communications
  • Receive a copy of your data in a portable format
  • Lodge a complaint with the California Attorney General if you believe we've mishandled your data

To exercise any of these rights, email info@aatatraining.org with your request and the email address you enrolled under. We will respond within 45 days as required by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA).

We will never retaliate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

California-specific disclosures (CCPA / CPRA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act:

  • We do not sell your personal information. We have not sold or shared personal information for monetary or other valuable consideration in the past 12 months and have no plans to do so.
  • Categories of data collected: identifiers, commercial information (enrollment), professional/employment info (apprenticeship), education info (DAS 1).
  • Sources: directly from you (chatbot, email, phone) and from Box/Foothill (when they communicate enrollment status back to us).
  • Right to limit use of sensitive personal information (SSN, etc.): we already limit SSN use exclusively to State of California apprenticeship reporting - there is no other use to opt out of.

Children

AATA's program requires students to be 18 or older. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has submitted information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

  • All data in transit between you, our chatbot, Salesforce, and Box is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS
  • Salesforce and Box are SOC 2 Type II certified
  • Access to student records inside AATA is limited to staff who need it for enrollment and program administration
  • We do not store passwords or payment information

Changes to this policy

If we materially change how we handle your data, we will email enrolled students at least 30 days in advance and update the "Effective" date at the top of this page.

Contact us

Email: info@aatatraining.org Phone: 323-761-9066 Mailing address: American Aerospace Technical Academy, [add your physical address here] Website: https://www.aatatraining.org

For questions specifically about this policy or to exercise your privacy rights, please use info@aatatraining.org with the subject line "Privacy request".

AATA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN: [add EIN if you want to include it].