Overcome The Barrier Inc. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Updated: October 19th, 2023

Welcome to Overcome the Barrier! 

Our Terms of Service have been updated. Therefore, please, read these Terms of Service carefully before using the Website and/or Services. If you do not accept these Terms of Service, including the agreement to arbitrate on an individual basis any claims between you and OCTB, please, do not use the Website and do not click “Sign up as a Student/Tutor” (or similar) or otherwise use the Services.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1. Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (hereinafter - the “Terms”) describe the terms and conditions applicable to your access and use of the website and the website software related mobile device application made available through or in connection with the “Services”. The OCTB website means www.octb.us, and its sub-domains (the “Website”) and is an online platform intended to be used by students (and/or their parents) and tutors in connection with the Services.

The use of the Services of OCTB (as defined above) is subject to these Terms of Service (the “Terms”) and any other rules or policies that are published on the Website that apply to specific activities in which you participate (for example, OCTB Enterprise or Student competitions).

You agree that by using Services and providing the respective consent, you are agreeing to enter into a legally binding contract with OCTB and indicate your unconditional acceptance of these Terms, on your own behalf and, if you are a Parent or Company, on behalf of the Student represented by you who uses our Services.

You are entering into these Terms with Overcome the Barrier Inc. (referred to as “OCTB”, “we” and “us”), a corporation registered and organized under the laws of the state of Delaware. These Terms, as well as the Refund and Payment Policy, Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy and OCTB Blog Privacy Policy, are legally binding agreements governing relationship between OCTB and any User or visitor of the Website and Services.

As a User or a visitor of our Services, the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to the Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy, OCTB Blog Privacy Policy and the respective updates. For more information about when, where, and why we collect personal data, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, your rights in respect of your personal data, please refer to our Privacy Policy and/or OCTB Blog Privacy Policy.

1.2. Services of OCTB

You may be accessing and using the Website, Service and Software of OCTB as (i) a Student, (ii) a Parent, (iii) a Tutor, (iv) a Company or(v) a visitor simply using the functionality, including that of the Blog, and/or reviewing the content, that is publicly available on the Website. Throughout these Terms “you” or “your” may refer as applicable to the Student, the Parent, each Tutor and Company accessing or using any of our Services (each the "User").

Our platform allows students (“Students”) and their parents/legal representatives/legal guardians (“Parents”) and companies enrolled in OCTB Enterprise (“Companies”) searching for tutors, and tutors (“Tutors”) searching for Students, to connect for and deliver and pay for or receive payment for online and one-to-one lessons (the “Lessons”) on a subscription (“Subscription”) or pay-as-you-go basis. The “Services” include the Website and any OCTB related mobile device application (the “Software”), our online discussion forums and chat rooms, other services and features available through the Software, and OCTB Blog and its applicable features, including articles writing and commenting (the “Blog”). OCTB does not provide tutoring services, and OCTB does not match Tutors with Students, Parents or Companies.

1.3. OCTB Enterprise

Companies may be enrolled in OCTB Enterprise, whose Employees (aka Students) will use the Services with the aim to connect with the Tutors for online and one-to-one Lessons of languages learnings on our online platform.

Companies can easily track Employees' (Students’) completed Lessons, add or remove Employees (Students), control, refill or shift their balances through the Dashboard.

Companies enrolled in OCTB Enterprise are provided with a report, which is displayed on the Dashboard to monitor their Employees’ (Students) language learning performance.

1.4. Amendments to these Terms

We reserve the right to change these Terms from time to time for any reason by posting of the updated Terms to our Website with indication of the modification date at the top of this page. Please check this page to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. The additional notifications on any amendments will be sent to your email.

By continuing to use the Services following amendment of these Terms, you consent to be bound by the Terms as amended.

2. OBLIGATIONS

2.1. Services Eligibility 


OCTB Services are available only to, and may only be used by, individuals who are 18 years and older who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. Individuals under the age of 18 can use our Services only in conjunction with and under the supervision of a Parent. In this case, the Parent is responsible for any and all activities of the Student.

2.2. Verification

As part of the Services, we attempt to verify Tutors' ID (passport, driver’s license etc.) and claimed educational credentials (educational background documents, as diplomas, certificates etc.). The Tutor has to upload a copy of the Tutor’s ID and educational document(s). As a Tutor passes a verification a special Badge applies to the Tutor’s profile and the uploaded copies of documents get deleted from our servers.

We do not control and are not responsible for any information provided by any Tutor with the aim of such verification. Furthermore, we do not endorse or make any representations or warranties regarding the reliability of the verification or Tutors themselves.

OCTB cannot confirm that each User is who they claim to be. You agree and understand that you assume all risks when using the Services, including without limitation any and all of the risks associated with any online or offline interactions with other Users.

While we use good faith efforts to confirm that each Tutor on our Website is a legitimate instructor, we are not able to provide any assurances regarding the trustworthiness of Tutors and the information they provide via our Website. When interacting with other Users you should exercise caution and common sense to protect your personal safety and property, just as you would when interacting with other persons whom you don’t know. Neither OCTB nor its affiliates or licensors is responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the Services. OCTB and its affiliates and licensors will not be liable for any claim, injury or damage arising in connection with your use of the Services.

OCTB may or may not utilize third party consumer reporting agencies that perform, among other things, criminal background checks, sex offender registry checks, motor vehicle records checks, credit checks, and identification verifications (“Consumer reports”). OCTB does not endorse or make any representations or warranties regarding the reliability of such consumer reports or the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any information in the consumer reports. OCTB does not independently verify information in the consumer reports.

You hereby consent to OCTB collecting, using and disclosing the information in the consumer reports. You understand and agree that OCTB may, in its sole discretion, review and rely on the information in the consumer reports in deciding whether to suspend or terminate a User or to investigate a complaint about a User, but that OCTB shall not be responsible or liable in any way in the event that any information in the consumer reports about any person, including without limitation any User, is not accurate, timely or complete. Users who are the subject of consumer reports may contact the service provider to dispute the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of such information. OCTB reserves the right to suspend and/or terminate User based on information in the consumer reports or for any other reason in OCTB's sole discretion.

2.3. Privacy

You may use the Website and Blog without providing personally identifiable information. To use the Services we may require provide us consensually your personal data. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for additional information on our practices for handling, processing and securing user’s personal data. When you choose to register for or participate in Services or other events in relation to the Services, you agree that you will provide accurate, complete, and up to date personal data as requested on the screens that collect information from you.

2.4. Payment

We use third party payment services (Stripe, and exceptionally PayPal or TransferWise) to bill you, as Students, through an online account payment in lieu of directly processing your credit/debit card information. Please read more about the privacy security in our Privacy Policy. These payment services are enabling your transfer and receipt of funds as payment for Services provided on the Website. If you make payments via our Website or through any related service, you agree that your activities are subject to our additional payment terms specified in the Refund and Payment Policy. We also use third party payment services (Stripe, PayPal, TransferWise) for making the payouts for Tutors, and those payment services process such transactions, please check additional payment terms specified in the Refund and Payment Policy.

2.5. Refund

OCTB strives to ensure clear understanding of financial relations between Students and Tutors with respect to the Services we provide. In case you are not satisfied with the Services or any other reason applicable you may be eligible for a refund in accordance with the terms outlined in the Refund and Payment Policy on the Website, is incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any refunds at any time are at our sole discretion only. Companies using OCTB’s Services are not eligible for refunds. Funds may be reallocated between Company employees (Students) in the event that a Company deems an employee no longer eligible for OCTB’s Services, or in the case where a Company Employee (Student) elects to change Tutors.

3. RIGHTS AND LIMITS

3.1. Your License to OCTB In case you are a Student, OCTB hereby grants to you, on the Terms set forth herein, a nontransferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, limited right to access and use the Services and the Software solely for your non-commercial, personal use and subject to the policies and restrictions that we post on our Website from time to time In case you are a Tutor, OCTB hereby grants to you, on the Terms set forth herein, a nontransferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, limited right to access and use the Services and the Software solely for the delivery of your personal services to your clients (i.e. Students) and subject to the policies and restrictions that we post on our Website from time to time.

You agree not to view, copy, or procure content or information from the Website and Software by automated means (such as scripts, bots, spiders, crawlers, or scrapers), or to use other data mining technology or processes to frame, mask, extract data or other materials from the Website and Software (except as may be a result of standard search engine or Internet browser usage), unless formally authorized by OCTB under separate written agreement.

No materials from the Services may be copied, reproduced, modified, republished, downloaded, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means without OCTB's prior written permission or as expressly provided in these Terms.

Where you purchase a Subscription or a license to access the Services, you may not share that Subscription or license with others.

OCTB may impose reasonable limits on your scope of access to the Services, including limits on time or number of information accessed or devices used to access such Services, to prevent unauthorized third party access to or use of the Services.

All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
3.2. Your Account

Certain of our Services are reserved for registered users on our Website. To become a registered user you must register on our Website for login credentials to be provided or enabled by OCTB (“Login Credentials”) based on the type of access applicable to your use of the Website (whether Student or Tutor). You agree that you are responsible for protecting your Login Credentials from unauthorized use, and you are responsible for all activity that occurs under those Login Credentials. You agree to notify us immediately if you believe that any of your Login Credentials have been or may be used without your permission so that appropriate action can be taken.

You may use the Blog and its features without a registered user status. This shall not preclude the application of these Terms and other OCTB’s applicable documents to your use of Blog, in particular when you submit your article(s) or leave comment(s) on the Blog.

You may not (i) create more than two accounts (one as a Tutor and one as a Student) to access the Website, (ii) share your Login Credentials with any third party nor (iii) transfer your account to any third party. OCTB is not responsible for any loss or damage caused by, or expense incurred by you as a result of, your failure to safeguard your Login Credentials. You agree that you shall not rent, resell, or remarket the Website, or provide access to the Services to any third party. We are not responsible for losses or damage caused by your failure to safeguard your login and password. OCTB may terminate any Login Credentials in its sole discretion; You will not be entitled to create a new account to access the Website if your prior Login Credentials have been terminated by OCTB.

Upon registering for our Services an account for Students may automatically be created for you. You may edit your account with additional information at your sole discretion. Additional information may help you to get more from the Services, for instance, finding a necessary Tutor. At the same time, you are not required to provide additional information, not specifically necessary for the registration, it is your choice. The security of any personal data you choose to share within your account is subject to our Privacy Policy.

Upon registering for our Services a profile for Tutors is automatically created for you. Please be advised that provision of your photo and video introduction is an obligatory term to use our Services. You may edit your profile with additional information at your sole discretion. Additional information may help you to get more from the Services, for instance, finding Students. At the same time, you are not required to provide additional information, not specifically necessary for the registration. Therefore, it is your choice whether to include additional data to your profile, or not, such as country, language skills, education and work experience. The security of any personal data you choose to share within your account is subject to our Privacy Policy.

3.3. Direct Interactions

OCTB does not take part in direct interactions between Students and Tutors except when we consider it advisable:

  1. a. to ensure compliance with these Terms;
  2. b. to improve our Services; or
  3. c. as stated in our Refund and Payment Policy.

OCTB does not have control over transactions between Users except as stated in our Refund and Payment Policy. OCTB does not control Tutor Package provided by Tutors, any reviews or ratings provided by Users, nor of the actions or omissions whatsoever of any User.

Students acknowledge and agree that Services are provided for the purpose of facilitating learning, not cheating. You agree not to inquire about the hiring of or to hire Tutors to complete assignments, write papers, take quizzes or otherwise do work on your behalf. Further, you agree not to use Services for any purpose that violates the academic honesty policy or other conduct policies of your school, university, academic institution or workplace.

 

3.4. Representations and Warranties
Tutor-Specific Representations.

If you utilize the Services as a Tutor, (i) You represent and warrant that for each provided Lesson you have the right to provide services contained in such Lessons for the purposes of these Terms and that you are capable of fulfilling any offers contained in such Lessons; (ii) You warrant that you will keep all your availability up to date on the Platform by notifying OCTB of any changes that would affect the accuracy of such availability; (iii) You hereby grant to OCTB and its Users, the right to view and distribute your Lessons without restriction and you acknowledge that your Lessons may be widely disseminated and viewed by large numbers of people; (iv) You acknowledge and agree that OCTB may display advertisements on the Services in connection with your Lessons without any payment obligation to you; (v) You acknowledge and agree that OCTB may improve the video that You provided for your profile on the Website, the improvements can be made by cutting the video to a specific size, adding the OCTB logo on the video, improving the quality of sound in the video, publishing the video on the OCTB channel with adding the description and link to the Tutor’s profile; (vi) You agree to use good faith efforts to provide Students a professional-quality tutoring experience; (vii) you are legally eligible to provide tutoring in the jurisdiction where you provide tutoring; (viii) you have complied and will comply with all laws and regulations that are applicable to you; and (ix) you operate an independent enterprise with respect to which you have obtained all business licenses and permits necessary to legally provide tutoring services.

Student-Specific Representations.

If you utilize the Website as a Student or Parent, (i) You agree to honor the Lessons you have booked with Tutors via the Website; (ii) You agree that you will not circumvent or manipulate our fee structure, the billing process, or fees owed to OCTB or the Tutor; fail to deliver payment for items purchased by you from the Tutors; and (iii) You agree to use good faith efforts to interact with the OCTB admin Tutor online for the Tutor Sessions.

3.5. Tutors’ Introduction Video and Profile Picture

Tutors grant OCTB the rights to use Tutor’s Introduction video, name and profile picture for marketing, advertising or promotional purposes. OCTB may publish Tutor’s Introduction videos and profile pictures to our official channels in third-party social media advertising system, video hosting and streaming services, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or others, as to ensure accessibility and visibility to OCTB Students regardless of location. You may always request to remove any Introduction videos published to our official channels in third-party social media, video hosting and streaming services by writing to admin@octb.us. 

3.6. Lesson Recording

You acknowledge and agree that, from time to time, OCTB may record videos of your Lessons. This recording is intended solely for the purpose of ensuring the quality of OCTB Services. Recordings will not be shared externally, used for individual targeting, or used for any sales, marketing, or other promotional purposes.

By using OCTB services, you agree and give consent for such recordings that is gratuitous, unsolicited, and without restriction. You agree that OCTB may use these recordings without fiduciary, or other obligation, and without any additional compensation.

You may opt out of any recordings of your Lessons or request to remove any existing recordings by writing to admin@octb.us 

3.7. Referral Program

Students (henceforth the Student Referrer) and Tutors (henceforth the Tutor Referrer) may invite another individual who is not, and has never been, a registered user of OCTB (henceforth the Referee) with a referral link. Clicking on this referral link entitles the Referee to a free demo Lesson, and whatever promotion is running at that time, which can be found inside individual user panel located at https://platform.octb.us/individuals/

Referral links are valid only for the user to whom they are sent and may only be redeemed by the Referee to whom they are sent. We reserve the right to terminate any accounts found in violation and remove any OCTB Credits or Referral Bonus accumulated in violation of these Terms with or without notice.

Students

Once the Referee has completed seven regular paid Lessons, both the Referee Student and the Student Referrer will be entitled to ten free Lessons each. These free Lessons will be 45 minutes long. We will refer to this free Lessons as "Credits". OCTB Credits are valid only in exchange for Lessons taken on OCTB and may not be exchanged for cash. OCTB Credits will be valid as long. as the Referee Student and the Student Referrer maintain an active Subscription.

Tutors

Once the Referee Student has completed seven regular paid Lessons the Tutor Referrer will be entitled to $10 in his next paycheck.

3.8. Limits

While using the Services, you agree that you will:

  1. Comply with all applicable laws, including, without limitation, privacy laws, intellectual property laws, anti-spam laws, tax laws etc.;
  2. Provide accurate information to us and keep it updated;
  3. Use the Services and Website in a manner that is lawful, relevant and proper to the applicable laws.

Any use of the Website that OCTB, in its sole discretion, found inappropriate and/or offensive may result in suspension and/or termination of a User with or without notice. 

While using the Services, you agree that you shall not manipulate the price of any goods or services offered within the Services, in any manner. Furthermore, you shall not disrupt or otherwise interfere in any way with any other User's use of the Services. By accessing our Services or any chat room, online discussion forum, or other Service provided through our Website that allow Users to communicate to other Users (“Public Areas”).

You agree to be abided by the following standards of conduct and You agree that You will not, and will not authorize or facilitate any attempt by another person to use our Website to:

  1.  Transmit any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, offensive, obscene, pornographic, lewd, lascivious, or otherwise objectionable, as determined by OCTB;
  2. Circumvent or manipulate our fee structure, the billing process, or fees owed to OCTB or the Tutor; fail to deliver payment for items purchased by you, unless the Tutor of such Tutor Package has materially changed the package's description, a clear typographical error is made, or you cannot reach the Tutor;
  3. Fail to deliver Lessons purchased from you, unless the Student or Parent fails to meet the posted terms, or you cannot reach the Student or Parent;
  4. Manipulate the price of any item or interfere with other Users’ Listings;
  5. Use a name or language that OCTB, in its sole discretion, deems offensive;
  6. Post false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, or libelous content (including personal data);
  7. Post hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable Content;
  8. Post Content which infringes another's copyright, trademark or trade secret;
  9.  Advertise or offer to sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose through the Service which are not relevant to the services offered through the Service;
  10. Post unsolicited advertising or unlawfully promote products or services;
  11. Take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings system when it becomes available (such as displaying, importing or exporting feedback information from the Website or using it for purposes unrelated to OCTB);
  12. Harass, threaten or intentionally embarrass or cause distress to another user, person or entity;
  13. Impersonate another person;
  14. Promote, solicit, or participate in any multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes;
  15. Exploit children under 18 years of age;
  16. Engage in disruptive activity such as sending multiple messages in an effort to monopolize your position;
  17. Adapt, alter, license, sublicense or translate the Service for your own personal or commercial use;
  18. Introduce viruses, worms, Trojan horses and/or harmful code to the Website;
  19. Obtain unauthorized access to any computer system through the Website;
  20. Transfer your OCTB account (including feedback) and Login Credentials to another party without our consent;
  21. Harvest or otherwise collect information about Users, including email addresses, without their consent;
  22. Invade the privacy of any person, including but not limited to posting personally identifying or otherwise private information about a person without their consent (or their Parent’s consent in the case of a child under 18 years of age);
  23. Solicit personal data from children under 18 years of age;
  24. Violate any federal, state, local, or international law or regulation;
  25. Encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal or civil offense. All submissions made to Public Areas will be public, and OCTB will not be responsible for the action of other Users with respect to any information or materials posted in Public Areas.

4. WEBSITE CONTENT

Users have a personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive right to access and use the Content of this Website subject to these Terms. The “Content” means all information, text, materials, images, data, links, software, or other material accessible through the Website or Services, whether created by us or provided by another person for display on the Website or through the Services. The Content may contain typographical errors, other inadvertent errors or inaccuracies. We reserve the right to make changes to document names and content, descriptions or specifications of products or services, or other information without obligation to issue any notice of such changes. You may view, copy, download, and print Content that is available on this Website or through the Services, subject to the following conditions:

  1. The Content may be used solely for internal informational purposes. No part of this Website or its Content may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any other purpose.
  2. The Content may not be modified;
  3. Copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices may not be removed.
Nothing contained on this Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use this Website or any Content displayed on this Website, through the use of framing or otherwise, except: (a) as expressly permitted by these Terms; or (b) with our prior written permission or the permission of such third party that may own the trademark or copyright of material displayed on this Website.

5. CONTENT SUBMITTED BY USERS

We are not responsible or liable for the conduct of Users or for views, opinions and statements expressed in Content submitted for public display through our Website. We do not prescreen information posted online. We are acting as a passive conduit for such distribution and may not be responsible for Content. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information in Content expressed or made available by Users are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of OCTB. We neither endorse nor guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any such Content. You are responsible for ensuring that Content submitted to this Website is not provided in violation of any copyright, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of another person or entity. You shall be solely liable for any damages resulting from any infringement of copyrights, trade secret, or other intellectual property rights, or any other harm resulting from Your uploading, posting or submission of Content to this Website.

We have the right, but not the obligation, to randomly monitor Content submitted to our Website through an online discussion forum or chat room, to determine compliance with these Terms and any other applicable rules that we may establish, as well as for the purpose of Services' improvement. We have the right in our sole discretion to edit or remove any material submitted to or posted through this Website. Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to remove any material that OCTB, in its sole discretion, finds to be in violation of these Terms or otherwise objectionable, and You are solely responsible for the Content that You post to this Website.

If you believe that your intellectual property rights have been infringed, please submit your complaint to admin@octb.us. You may report all types of intellectual property claims including, but not limited to, copyright, trademark, and patent claims. We respond quickly to the concerns of rights owners about any alleged infringement, and we terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

Lobbying.

Federal law restricts lobbying activities by tax-exempt organizations. “Lobbying” includes certain activities intended to influence legislation. Content posted by Users does not constitute lobbying by OCTB but may constitute lobbying by You or an organization that You represent. You are responsible for complying with any applicable lobbying restrictions.

6. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

The Website may contain links to non-OCTB websites. These links are provided to You as a convenience and/or ancillary for the Services use, and OCTB is not responsible for the content of any linked website. Any non-OCTB website accessed from the Services is independent from OCTB, and OCTB has no control over the content of that website. In addition, a link to any non-OCTB website does not imply that OCTB endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content or use of such website. Use of any third-party website is subject to its terms of service and privacy policy. We request that our Users exercise caution and good judgment when using third-party websites.

7. ADVERTISEMENT

We will not include your content in advertisements for the products and services of third parties to others without your separate consent.

OCTB may run advertisements and promotions from third parties on the Website. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of advertisers other than OCTB found on or through the Website, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. OCTB is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such non-OCTB advertisers on the Website.

8. NO IMPLIED ENDORSEMENTS

In no event shall any reference to any third party or third-party product or service be construed as an approval or endorsement by OCTB of that third party or of any product or service provided by a third party. Likewise, a link (including without limitation external websites that are framed by the Services as well as any advertisements displayed in connection therewith) to any third-party website does not imply that we endorse or accept any responsibility for the content or use of such a website. OCTB does not endorse, warrant or guarantee any product or service offered by any third party through an online discussion forum or chat room accessible through this Website and will not be a party to or in any way monitor any transaction involving any third-party providers of products or services. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you are responsible for exercising appropriate judgment and caution.

9. SCOPE OF SERVICE

OCTB maintains this Website as a service to the user community that visits the Website subject to these Terms. You are responsible for obtaining and paying for any equipment and Internet service necessary to accessing our Services. We may alter, suspend, or discontinue this Website or the Services in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, without notice. The Services may also periodically become unavailable due to maintenance or malfunction of computer equipment or for other reasons. We may provide access to third party services and products from time to time or to our own products or Services. You acknowledge that the Website and any mobile applications are evolving and that the form and nature of the Website or mobile applications, including the Services, may change from time to time without notice to you.

10. RELATIONS BETWEEN OCTB AND USERS

The Services are not an employment service and OCTB does not serve as an employer of any User unless separately subject to a signed, written employment contract signed by both the User and OCTB. Users may use OCTB Services only for the purpose of to provide tutoring to or receive tutoring from other Users using the Services and subject to these Terms.

As such, OCTB will not be liable for any tax or withholding, including but not limited to unemployment insurance, employer’s liability, workers’ compensation insurance, social security or payroll withholding tax in connection with your use of Services or Users’ services. You understand and agree that if OCTB is found to be liable for any tax or withholding tax in connection with your use of Users’ services, then you will immediately reimburse and pay to OCTB an equivalent amount, including any interest or penalties thereon.

In all cases of use of this Website, Users are acting as independent contractors and not as OCTB’s or any other party’s employee, agent, franchisee or servant. Accordingly, you will be solely responsible for all costs incurred by you or your organization. You shall not hold yourself out as having authority to make contracts or promises on behalf of OCTB. No User is entitled to participate in any OCTB vacation, group medical or life insurance, disability, profit sharing or retirement benefits, or any other fringe benefits or benefit plans offered by OCTB to its employees.

The Services provide connection to Tutors who are willing to be engaged by Students and Parents or Companies as independent contractors. As independent contractors, each Tutor decides when and how often the Tutor will be available to provide tutoring to Students (while offering a minimum of 20 hours of availability throughout the week). Each Tutor is expected to use the OCTB platform to its full extent, and in such a way that the three exercises of Vocabulary, Fill-in-the-blank, and Multiple Choice be generated by the platform.

Students are responsible for selecting the right Tutor for their needs. All tutoring sessions should be supervised by a responsible adult.

Tutors may perform services for others or do other types of work (either as an independent contractor or employee or other) while these Terms are in effect, including with OCTB’s competitors if desired, provided that such other activities do not require Tutor to violate the Terms.

11. ASSIGNMENT

You may not assign or transfer these Terms in whole or in part to any third party. These Terms shall bind and inure to the benefit of the parties to these Terms and their respective successors, permitted transferees, and permitted assigns.

12. FEEDBACK

You acknowledge and agree that we may provide you with a mechanism to provide feedback, suggestions, and ideas, if you choose, about our Services (the "Feedback") and public feedback from Users with whom you have transacted.

Feedback regarding OCTB. By submitting any Feedback you provide us a written consent to use your Feedback in improvement and promoting the Services; you agree that submitting a Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction and will not place us under any fiduciary or other obligation, and that we are free to use the Feedback without any additional compensation to you, and/or to disclose the Feedback on a non-confidential basis or otherwise to anyone.

You further acknowledge that, by accepting your Feedback submission, OCTB does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to OCTB, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you. You agree that we may, in our sole discretion, use the Feedback you provide to us in any way, including in future enhancement and modifications to our Services. You hereby grant to us and our assigns a perpetual, worldwide, fully transferable, sublicensable, irrevocable, royalty free license to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, anddisplay the Feedback in any manner for any purpose, or without it in any media, software, or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future, without any obligation to provide attribution or compensation to you or any third party.

Feedback Regarding Users. You acknowledge that feedback results for you may consist of comments and ratings left by other Users and that OCTB may calculate a composite feedback number based on these individual ratings. Tutors agree to be rated by Students along several criteria, as determined by OCTB. OCTB provides its automatic feedback and rating system as a means through which Users can express their opinions publicly, and OCTB does not monitor or censor these opinions or investigate any remarks posted by Users for accuracy or reliability unless a User brings the posting to OCTB's attention. You may be held legally responsible for damages suffered by other OCTB Users or third parties as a result of these remarks if a court finds that these remarks are legally actionable or defamatory. OCTB is not legally responsible for any feedback or comments posted or made available on this Website by any Users or third parties, even if that information is defamatory or otherwise legally actionable. You agree to report violations or abuses of our rating and feedback system immediately by contacting Customer Service.

13. NOTIFICATIONS

Unless you otherwise indicate in writing, OCTB will communicate with you by email, regular mail or by posting communications on this Website. You consent to receive communications from us electronically and you agree that these electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You will be considered to have received a communication when we send it to the email address you have provided to OCTB on this Website, or when we post such communication on this Website. You should keep your email address updated on this Website, and you should regularly check this Website for postings. If you fail to respond to an email message from OCTB regarding violation, dispute or complaint within 2 (two) business days, we will have the right to terminate or suspend your use of Services. All notices to OCTB intended to have a legal effect concerning these Terms must be in writing and delivered either in person or by means evidenced by a delivery receipt, to the following address: 1309, Beacon St., Suite 300, Brookline, MA 02446.

To stop receiving specific communications from OCTB, please, submit a notification to us by email at admin@octb.us in order to change the types and frequency of such communications.

14. TERMINATION

We may terminate any User’s access to our Website in our sole discretion, for any reason and at any time, with or without prior notice. It is our policy to terminate Users who violate these Terms, as deemed appropriate in our sole discretion.

We may terminate a Tutor’s use of the Services (a) immediately for failure to comply with the Terms; (b) for other cause, including, but not limited to, sexual or other unwelcome harassment, threats or intimidation, fraud, falsification of documents or qualifications; or (c) upon 30 days’ advance written notice for any reason.

We may also delete, or ban access to or use of all related information and files. OCTB will not be liable to Users or any third-party for any modification, suspension, or termination of the Service, or loss of related information.

You may request to have your account deleted at any time. In case you are not using your OCTB account or profile for more than 180 (one hundred eighty) days following the last payment (and held no Lessons (no scheduled and no confirmed for the last 180) and/or we did not received any payments), it will be considered expired and may get deactivated and your remaining balance will be expired. Any remaining balance will be irreversibly lost and nonrefundable.

Companies enrolled in OCTB Enterprise whose Employees (Students) have not used their OCTB account for more than 180 (one hundred eighty) days following the last payment (and held no Lessons (no scheduled and no confirmed for the last 180) and/or we did not receive any payment) will have their balance expired . Any remaining balance will be irreversibly lost and nonrefundable.

Even after your right to use the Services is terminated or suspended, these Terms will remain enforceable against you.

15. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

All intellectual property in the design and layout of this Website, Software and the material and information published on its pages belongs to and is vested in OCTB or its licensors. You may not copy any part of this Website or otherwise do anything in relation to any part of the Website. You may not otherwise use or reproduce any of this Website or the material contained within it in any manner other than those listed above without first obtaining the prior written permission of OCTB.

Unless otherwise noted, all Content contained on this Website is the property of OCTB and/or its affiliates or licensors, and is protected from unauthorized copying and dissemination by United States copyright law, trademark law, international conventions and other intellectual property laws. The service marks and trademarks of OCTB, including without limitation OCTB and the OCTB logos are service marks owned by OCTB, Inc. Any other trademarks, service marks, logos and/or trade names appearing via the Service are the property of their respective owners. You may not copy or use any of these marks, logos or trade names without the express prior written consent of the owner.

OCTB grants you permission (which may be revoked at any time for any reason or no reason) to use the Website and the Software for the Services as provided herein and in accordance with these Terms and solely for your own personal, non-commercial use (except as provided herein), provided you do not remove any trademark, copyright or other notice contained on such pages. No other use is permitted. OCTB reserves all of its statutory and common law rights against any person or entity who violates this paragraph.

You may not link or frame to any pages of the Website or any content contained therein, whether in whole or in part, without prior written consent from OCTB. You may like or follow OCTB or share links to the Website via social networking technology referenced on the Website. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

Except as expressly authorized by OCTB or by Content providers, you agree not to reproduce, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute, mirror, frame, republish, download, transmit, or create derivative works of the Content of others, in whole or in part, by any means. You must not remove or modify any copyright or trademark notice, or other notice of ownership.

16. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. DMCA NOTICE

Since we respect content owner rights, it is OCTB’s policy to respond to alleged infringement notices that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"). If you believe that any materials on our Services infringe upon your copyright, you may request that they be removed. Please notify OCTB's copyright agent as set forth in the DMCA. For your complaint to be valid under the DMCA, your request must bear a signature (or electronic equivalent) of the copyright holder or an authorized representative and must include the following information

  1. An electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
  2. Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and where it is located on the Website;
  4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit OCTB to contact you, such as your address, telephone number, and email address;
  5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or law; and
  6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

The above information must be submitted to the following address:4604 49th St N #5008, Saint Petersburg FL 33709 Email: admin@octb.us.

Under federal law, if you knowingly misrepresent that online material is infringing, you may be subject to criminal prosecution for perjury and civil penalties, including monetary damages, court costs, and attorney's fees.

Please note that this procedure is exclusively for notifying OCTB and its affiliates that your copyrighted material has been infringed. The preceding requirements are intended to comply with OCTB’s rights and obligations under the DMCA, including 17 U.S.C. §512(c), but do not constitute legal advice. It may be advisable to contact an attorney regarding your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws.

In accordance with the DMCA and other applicable laws, OCTB may also at its sole discretion limit access to the Service and/or terminate the accounts of any Users who infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.

17. CONFIDENTIALITY

You may obtain direct access via the use of the Services to certain confidential information of OCTB, its affiliates or Users, including but not limited to personally identifiable information, technical, contractual, product, program, pricing, marketing and other valuable information that should reasonably be understood as confidential (“Confidential Information”). You agree to hold Confidential Information in strict confidence and not use the Confidential Information except for the purposes set forth in these Terms and not disclose such confidential information to any third party. All right, title and interest in the Confidential Information remains with OCTB, its affiliates and its Users.

No obligation is imposed upon you with respect to Confidential Information that you can establish by legally sufficient evidence: (a) you possessed prior to your receipt from OCTB, without an obligation to maintain its confidentiality; (b) is or becomes generally known to the public through no act or omission by you, or otherwise without violation of the Terms; (c) you obtained from a third party who had the right to disclose it, without an obligation to keep such information confidential; (d) you independently developed without the use of Confidential Information and without the participation of individuals who have had access to it, or (e) in response to a valid order by a court or other governmental body, or as otherwise required by law, or as necessary to establish the rights of either party under these Terms and as disclosed after prior notice to OCTB adequate to afford OCTB the opportunity to object to the disclosure.

18. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

Use of the Services is entirely at your own risk. OCTB disclaims all liability in connection with any interactions, correspondence, transactions, and other dealings that you have with any third parties, including without limitation Students, Parents or Tutors found on or through the Website (including on or via linked websites or advertisements) are solely between you and the third party (including issues related to the content of third-party advertisements, payments, services, delivery of goods, warranties (including product warranties), privacy and data security, and the like. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information in any content on this Website. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through this Website.

You acknowledge that the Website and all Services, text, images, and other information on or accessible from this Website are provided "as is" and are based in part on listings provided by Tutors, which are not verified by OCTB, and that any Tutor packages, listings or other content acquired through the use of the Website is at your sole risk and discretion. OCTB and its affiliates and licensors are not liable or responsible for any results generated through the use of the Website. We provide no warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Specifically, but without limitation, OCTB does not warrant that: (i) the information available on this Website is free of errors; (ii) the functions or services (including but not limited to mechanisms for the downloading and uploading of content) provided by this Website will be uninterrupted, secure, or free of errors; (iii) defects will be corrected, or (iv) this Website or the server(s) that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components. Neither OCTB nor its affiliates or licensors is responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, between users.

In addition, notwithstanding any feature a Student or Parent may use to expedite Tutor selection, each Student or Parent is responsible for selecting their Tutor and negotiating a contract and OCTB does not warrant any goods or services purchased by a Student or Parent and does not recommend any particular Tutor. OCTB does not provide any warranties or guarantees regarding any Tutor’s professional accreditation, registration or license.

OCTB expressly disclaims any liability or claims that may arise between Users of its Services. You are solely responsible for your interactions with all other Users and any disputes that arise from those interactions with other Users. OCTB is not obliged but may attempt to assist in resolving disputes between Users.

19. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

(a) Disclaimer. In no event shall OCTB be liable to any user of this Website or any other person or entity for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, loss of data, loss of use, or costs of obtaining substitute goods or services) arising out of the use, inability to use, unauthorized access to or use or misuse of the Website or any information contained thereon, whether based upon warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, even if has been advised of the possibility of such damages or losses. Limitation. You agree OCTB’s total cumulative liability in connection with these Terms, the Website, the Software, the Services, the Content, or any listing or services whether in contract, tort, or otherwise, shall not exceed the amounts, if any, you paid in commissions to OCTB for the Services in the then- prior three months.

(b) Waiver of Class Action. Any claims brought by you or OCTB must be brought in that party' individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding.20. EXCLUSIONS

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

21. INTERNATIONAL

This Website may be accessed from countries other than the United States. This Website and the Services may contain products or references to products that are only available within the United States and U.S. territories. Any such references do not imply that such products will be made available outside the United States. If you access and use this Website outside the United States you are responsible for complying with all applicable local laws and regulations. We make no representation that information on this Website is appropriate or available for use outside the united states. Those who choose to access this Website from outside the United States do so on their own initiative and at their own risk.

22. EXPORT CONTROL

The laws of the United States of America prohibit the transmission, export and re-export of certain products, services, downloadable software and data (technical data) to particular persons, territories and foreign states. Nothing from the Services may be exported, in any way, in violation of United States law.

United States export control regulations prohibit U.S. businesses, such as OCTB, from offering services to users in specific sanctioned regions.

In order to comply with these regulations, it is not allowed for users in the following areas to access all or certain parts of our Website:

  • Iran,
  • Sudan,
  • Crimea,
  • Cuba,
  • Syria,
  • North Korea.

Depending on your exact location, you may encounter an IP or payment purchase block when attempting to enroll in or otherwise access our Website.

23. INDEMNIFICATION

By using the Services, you agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend OCTB and its subsidiaries, affiliates, shareholders, officers, directors, agents, licensors, suppliers, other partners, employees, and representatives from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and all costs and expenses of defense, including but not limited to, attorneys' fees, resulting directly or indirectly from a claim by a third party that arises in connection with Your use of the Services, including but not limited to ( a) acts and/or omissions on or off the Website; (b) violation of any rights of another, including without limitation any alleged infringement of intellectual property or other right of any person or entity relating to the Website; (c) breach of these Terms; (d) disputes with or between other Users; (e) use and/or misuse of the Website, including without limitation any information, content and/or materials thereon; (f) violation of any applicable law or regulation; (g) inaccurate, untimely, incomplete or misleading User information, including without limitation with respect to registration, profile or eligibility; (h) misstatements and/or misrepresentations; (i) use of links to third party websites, including without limitation such websites' availability, terms of use, privacy policy, information, content, materials, advertising, products and/or services; (j) User information and any acts or omissions with respect to such User information; (k) use of any information in third-party reports; (l) use of third-party payment processing services; (m) use of phone support services; and/or (n) use of any services or products or any contracts or arrangements made or provided based on information, content and/or materials obtained on or through the Website. You further agree that you will cooperate as requested by OCTB in the defense of such claims. OCTB reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by Users, and you shall not, in any event, settle any claim or matter on behalf of OCTB without the written consent of OCTB.

In the event that you have a dispute with one any User/s, you hereby release OCTB (and its officers, directors, agents, investors, subsidiaries, employees, contractors and any other third parties related to the Services) from any and all claims, demands, or damages (actual or consequential) of every kind, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way related with such disputes.

If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “ A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”

24. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Any dispute arising out of consumer claims shall be finally resolved by individual arbitration before a single arbitrator conducted in the English language in Delaware, USA under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

All disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be finally resolved by individual arbitration. The arbitration will be conducted at a location of OCTB’s choice. The individual arbitration must be before a single arbitrator conducted in the English language under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

Any arbitration under these Terms will be between an individual User and OCTB. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and except as expressly provided below, you and OCTB expressly waives any entitlement to resolve disputes in court or on a class, collective or representative basis. You and OCTB shall appoint as sole arbitrator a person mutually agreed by You and OCTB or, if You and OCTB cannot agree within thirty (30) days of either party’s request for arbitration, such single arbitrator shall be selected by the AAA upon the request of either party.

The parties shall bear equally the cost of the arbitration except (a) to the extent prohibited by applicable law; (b) that if the arbitrator determines that costs unique to arbitration (i.e., filing, administration and arbitrator’s fees) would preclude a Tutor from asserting a claim in arbitration, the arbitrator may require OCTB to pay a greater share of such costs unique to arbitration; and (c) the prevailing party shall, to the extent permitted or required by applicable law, be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in connection with the arbitration in such an amount as may be determined by the arbitrator.

All decisions of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on both parties and enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding this, application may be made to any court for a judicial acceptance of the award or order of enforcement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, OCTB shall be entitled to seek temporary injunctive relief, security or other equitable remedies from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware or any other court of competent jurisdiction.

25. GOVERNING LAW

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, excluding: the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods; the 1974 Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods; and the Protocol amending the 1974 Convention, done at Vienna April 11, 1980; provided, however, that to the fullest extent permissible under law the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C.§ 1 et seq.) shall govern Section 24 of these Terms (entitled Dispute Resolution).

26. NON-SOLICITATION

Without limitation, the Services may not be used to solicit for any other business, website or service. You may not solicit, advertise for, or contact in any form Users for employment, contracting, or any other purpose not related to the Service facilitated through OCTB without express written permission from OCTB. You may not use the Service to collect usernames and/or email addresses of Users by electronic or other means without the express prior written consent of OCTB.

27. HEADINGS

The headings and captions used in these Terms are used for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing or interpreting these Terms.

28. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. SEVERABILITY

These Terms, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with OCTB in connection with the Services, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and OCTB concerning the Services. If any part of these Terms is held to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that part will be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

29. CONTACTS

For additional information and in case you have any questions about these Terms, please contact admin@octb.us. 

 

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Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us.

Updated: May 6th, 2021

 

Data Controller: OCTB Overcome the Barrier, Inc.

 address: 4604 49th St N #5008, Saint Petersburg FL 33709 

email: admin@octb.us 

Overcome the Barrier is committed to protecting your personal data. We attempted to create this Privacy Policy in the most clear and plain language possible. Likewise, we tried to the best of our ability to provide you with our privacy commitments in a transparent and easily accessible way. That said, we hope you will get all necessary details in order to be assured that your personal data is safe with us. 

Before you give us your consent on the processing of your personal data or provide us with your personal data within any form on our website, we kindly ask you to read carefully this Privacy Policy, so we can be sure that you completely understand the conditions under which we would cooperate. 

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of the Services of Overcome the Barrier, as defined in our Terms of Service. Overcome the Barrier offers you options concerning data we process, use and share as described in this Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. This Privacy Policy explains when, where, and why we process personal data about people who use Overcome the Barrier, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, your rights in respect of your personal data, as well as how we keep it secure. As regards the use of Overcome the Barrier Blog, this Policy is further specified through the Overcome the Barrier Blog Privacy Policy.

GENERAL

 Anyone can access our Website without the necessity to register an account. Therefore, limited use of the Services is always possible without the provision of your personal details (for example, browse the Website, check how Overcome the Barrier works, look through the list of tutors, read the Overcome the Barrier Blog, review the variety of services etc.). However, whenever you access the Website we collect log information and put cookies on your device, by which we track your activity on the Website. You can always opt out from cookies except from those, without which the Website cannot work. 

When you are a registered User Overcome the Barrier may collect from you and process Cookie identifiers and those data you specifically provide us with upon registration, including first name, last name, email, phone number, Skype ID or social network ID (if assigned through Facebook or Google+ or if accessing Google Calendar), time zone, interface language, IP address, and device type, as well, whereas in case of Telegram subscription, your Telegram ID may also be processed by Overcome the Barrier. 

Specifically, if you are a tutor, we may also collect and process, besides the aforementioned information, the other data provided by you, including zip-code, gender, year of birth, city of living, and education experience. 

Registered Users may additionally provide us with added profile pictures as well as chosen currency to perform actions pursuant to our Refund and Payment Policy. 

You can find out more about the specific cases of data collection and the purposes of processing of such data in a separate section of this Privacy Policy. 

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please check this page to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. We will post those changes on this page and update the Privacy Policy modification date at the top of this page. The additional notifications on any amendments will be sent to your email. Any questions regarding this Policy and our services should be sent to admin@octb.us. 

  1. What is personal data and what is processing of personal data. Main definitions 

Personal data is any information relating to you and that alone or in combination with other pieces of information gives the opportunity to a person that collects and processes such information to identify you as an individual.

Processing of the personal data means any operation with your personal data, whether or not by automated means, as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction. 

Data subject is any identified or identifiable natural person, whose personal data is processed by the controller responsible for the processing; means you as a user of Overcome the Barrier. 

Consent of the data subject/user is any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject/user's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her. 

  1. Overcome the Barrier’s lawful bases for processing 

Overcome the Barrier processes your personal data only when we have lawful bases. Specifically, Overcome the Barrier processes your personal data if: 

  • processing is based on the consent you have given. As such our newsletters, collection, analysis, and publication of user feedback and reviews, analysis of video lessons, and placement of different types of cookies is based on your consent; 
  • processing is necessary to provide our services to you according to our Terms of Service which constitute a contract between you and us as regards to information services of Overcome the Barrier;
  • processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. Those legitimate interests are: 

- compliance with the U.S. financial and accounting legislation; 

- the assessment of Overcome the Barrier’s business efficiency by analyzing website traffic and financial performance indicators; 

- promotion of Overcome the Barrier through social media networks, media outlets, and affiliates, such as bloggers or influencers; 

- performance of the contracts with enterprise clients and provision of reports on their employees’ performance. 

- user session control and fraud prevention, ensuring the appropriate protection of personal data; 

- tutor verification and development of high-quality learning programs with tutors. 

  • where necessary, compliance with applicable legislation (e.g., data subject request processing); 
  • in exceptional cases, to protect your vital interests or vital interests of another natural person; or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us.

In all cases, we will notify you about the applied legal basis for processing and other relevant details, before we start processing of your personal data on the specific legal basis, unless we are not able to do so in accordance with our obligations under any applicable legislation. 

  1. Data We Collect: Scope

Overcome the Barrier collects from you only the following information and only for the stated below purposes: 

(1) Account for students 

Overcome the Barrier collects and processes personal data submitted by you upon registration and further editing of settings in your Account. For the registration purposes, you submit your login credentials (username and passwords), first name, last name, email, and phone number. You may edit your Account with additional information at your sole discretion. Additional information may help you to get more from the Services, for instance, finding a necessary tutor. At the same time you are not required to provide additional information, not specifically necessary for the registration, it is your choice.

 (2) Account for tutors 

Overcome the Barrier collects and processes personal data submitted by you upon registration and further editing of your Profile. For the registration purposes, you submit your login credentials (username and passwords), first name, last name and email. You may edit your Profile with additional information at your sole discretion. Additional information may help you to get more from the Services, for instance, finding students. At the same time, you are not strictly required to provide additional information, not specifically necessary for the registration. Therefore, it is your choice whether to include additional data to your profile, or not, such as zip code, country, language skills, education and work experience. 

Some personal data, such as users’ names, and location that is listed in your user profiles or derived from IP Addresses may be publicly visible to other users on the Services or to the web. 

(3) Posting of Information 

We process personal data freely submitted to you on Overcome the Barrier. This may be survey you fill in on Overcome the Barrier or feedback you provide us with. Irrespective of whether you are a registered user or not, this shall also cover situations when you post an article(s) or comment(s) on the Overcome the Barrier Blog, as specified in the Overcome the Barrier Blog Privacy Policy. 

Overcome the Barrier may also process information provided by you (including content and messages) that you post on/through our Website, including personally identifiable information. By so doing, you acknowledge that any information you share through the Services will be available to Overcome the Barrier and to other users of the Services (students/tutors). You also acknowledge that parts of your content cannot be deleted from the Service as it may be connected to the Lessons created by you and used by other users (students/tutors). 

From our turn and unless you opt-out, we retain this information as necessary to resolve disputes, provide customer support and troubleshoot problems as permitted by law. We reserve the right to terminate the accounts of visitors who use these services in a manner inconsistent with the Terms of Service. 

(4) Service Use, Cookies and other Similar Technologies 

When you use our Services, we monitor and analyze web traffic and keep track of your behavior while using our Services. We may receive the information about your IP address, proxy server and operating system, the web browser or your mobile carrier and location based on phone settings. Please, specifically refer to our Cookies Policy for further details as to our use of cookies and similar technologies. 

(5) Billing information 

Details of transactions you carry out through our Website (as ID, date and time of transaction). 

(6) Enterprise

When you wish to share your contact details for more information regarding Overcome the Barrier Enterprise one-on-one online language training for international teams, as name, email, company name and phone number. 

(7) Sensitive data 

Unless you expressly agree, Overcome the Barrier does not process your sensitive data. 

  1. Data We Collect: Purposes 

We may process your personal data you provided us voluntarily with for the purposes defined below. From our perspective, we process your personal data to personalize the use of Overcome the Barrier to the fullest extent possible and to provide you with the high-quality Services under the Terms of Service.

(1) Provision of Services 

Primarily, we process your personal data to authorize access to our Services and to fulfill our obligations under the Terms of Service for Services provision. Specifically, we use your personal data upon registration to help others (be it a tutor or a student) to find your account or profile, schedule, give and/or take lessons, and track your learning progress. 

In order for you to use the Services you will need to provide payment (e.g. credit card details) and billing information through our partners – third party payment providers, which process your personal data encrypted and securely. Please see our Refund and Payment Policy for more information. 

For enterprise customers, we process personal data of their employees to create their accounts and connect with the most suitable tutors for further learning. Based on the data about lessons taken by such students, we provide the enterprise customer with statistical reports on their employees’ performance.

Please note, that without the information provided by you under our Terms of Service, we will be unable to provide you with the functionality of our platform, connect you with other users, allow you to communicate with them and take/give lessons. 

(2) Payment Services 

We use third-party payment providers to bill you through an online account payment in lieu of directly processing your credit/debit card information. Your paid balance for one or more lessons is safe in your account as we use an integrated iframe for checkouts from our partners-payment providers (Stripe, PayPal, TransferWise) and tutors get payment for each confirmed lesson securely through third-party payment providers (Stripe, PayPal, TransferWise). Correspondingly all transactions are secured as our partners-payment providers use SSL encryption protection. All payment information is stored encrypted and securely by Braintree, a PayPal service. We do not store your payment information on our servers. 

(3) Referral program

For referral service purposes, we generate a personalized referral link for you to share with your friends to sign them up. 

(4) Communications 

We may also contact you via email and other ways, including through publicly available notices, for the Services-related purposes (welcoming letter, security and legal notices, announcements, Overcome the Barrier updates, reminders, suggestions etc.). We could also use your data to enable you to communicate with other users through Overcome the Barrier. 

We may contact you by email and other ways, including through publicly available notices, for servicerelated purposes (welcome letter, security and legal notices, announcements, Overcome the Barrier updates, reminders, suggestions etc.). 

Your contact data (including email, phone number, Skype name etc.) may also be used for gathering feedback. We may contact you to participate in research to improve the user experience of our product. The research will be used for internal purposes only, including: 

-Feature development and product updates; 

-Marketing activities, including publishing them on the Overcome the Barrier website or on other information resources; 

-Customer Support updates; 

-Other service updates for improving your experience. 

Your feedback will not be video recorded, audio recorded, or webcast by the Interviewer without obtaining consent from you first. The same applies to your voice and/or image recording. 

Having received the communications from us, you are always able to opt-out to such communications in each message, excluding legal notices, or change of user settings on Overcome the Barrier. 

(5) Marketing and promotion of Overcome the Barrier

We may process your first name, last name and email on our mailing list or for the newsletter and send you messages with some commercial or promotional information about our Services. But don’t worry, we will request your consent first, and you may always opt-out from our marketing messages, using the mechanisms described under the respective link in each message, and through the user settings available on Overcome the Barrier. 

To promote the Overcome the Barrier platform through blog and influencer channels, we allow individuals to participate in the affiliate program on our Website. When we receive the information to participate in the affiliate program, we process this information to register you as an affiliate and further track the progress of the promotion of our platform.

 Also, please pay attention that we may use the information provided by you as feedback. The latter, under Section 12 of the Terms of Service, may be used by Overcome the Barrier without any additional compensation to you. 

(6) Analytics and Development 

In order to find the points of interest in our Services and for the purposes of analytics, we monitor and analyze web traffic and keep track of your behavior within our Services. This enables us to provide services that are relevant to you and boost the quality of our Services. The data concerned within this activity are Cookies and Usage data, such as the parts of our Services you visit, the date and duration of your visit, and type of the device you used during your visit. All your data stated in this paragraph is collected and further processed in a manner that does not allow your identification. For these purposes, we use Google Analytics and Hubspot.

We may also carry out polls and surveys through Overcome the Barrier using external GDPR-compliant services. You are not obliged to respond to them and you may opt-out of such polls and surveys through user settings. In order to inform, optimize and serve you relevant advertising based on your past use of our Services, we may process your Usage Data and Cookies. Please, follow our Cookies Policy for additional information. 

(7) Tutor verification and program preparation 

To ensure a high quality of lessons given by tutors on Overcome the Barrier, we collect and process tutor credentials to verify their eligibility to teach subjects claimed by them. Besides that, we cooperate with the tutors and use their information to help them develop the learning programs. 

(8) Support and Platform Supervision

In case of any disputes on Overcome the Barrier and other Services-connected issues, we may use data (including communications) to resolve such matters, supervise user behavior on the platform, and respond to any complaints or requests. 

(9) Competitions participation 

From time to time, we conduct learning-focused competitions for individuals that meet certain criteria. Participants are required to fill in the registration forms to register for the competition and prove they are eligible. We process this information exclusively to organize and conduct the competition, determine the winner(s), and contact them regarding the results and prizes.

(10) Compliance with legal requirements 

We process certain payment information to comply with applicable legal requirements in the field of finances and/or accounting. We also may process the data collected on the platform in connection with legal requests we receive from you or any other competent person and/or body, and we may use this information to exercise, defend and/or establish our legal rights.

(11) Fraud prevention 

Certain information, such as your login information, payment information and your behavior on the platform are subject to our supervision to prevent fraudulent activities on the platform and assisting you in managing your user sessions. 

(12) Changes 

If Overcome the Barrier decides to change the purposes of processing specified above, we will inform you about such changes prior to the use of your personal data within the newly set purposes. The notification on such changes will be sent to your email and you will have to provide your consent for the amended purposes unless the additional purpose of processing is compatible with those listed above. 

In case you do not want to provide us the requested personal data for the purposes specified above, you may not have access to certain functions of the Services. 

  1. How We Share personal data 

In order to provide high-quality services, Overcome the Barrier hires people, enters into the agreements with independent contractors as well as cooperates with other services providers, companies and organizations strictly under data processing agreement (DPA). For those reasons, some of your personal data can be passed to the persons mentioned. Overcome the Barrier uses only secure places of storage with servers located in the United States, and other services and applications listed below. 

As we mentioned above, we also use some services to collect, manage, analyze or otherwise process your data: 

(1) Hubspot, with headquarters located in Cambridge, USA

(2) Google Analytics. The resource serves as an additional measurement solution to carry out essential analytical work within our Services. 

(3) Intercom We rely on Intercom for further marketing advances on Overcome the Barrier. 

(4) PayPal, Stripe, TransferWise. These are payment providers and services enabling your transfer and receipt of funds as payment for services provided via our Services. 

These well-known service providers will help us to ensure that your data is secure within Overcome the Barrier. 

Overcome the Barrier has contractors and subsidiaries in other countries, including those outside the USA, who may have access to your personal data. At the same time, in all cases we pass your personal data to other persons we ensure that your personal data is being protected and used only within the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy. This is achieved by using only certified services and products, signing data processing agreements for protection of personal data with contractors and partners, as well as taking technical measures to ensure the information is protected when stored, used and while being processed and transferred. 

By ticking the respective box when providing us with your personal data you agree to such transfer and processing within the purposes set in this Privacy Policy. 

  1. How long will the personal data be processed and stored by Overcome the Barrier? 

Your personal data will be stored by Overcome the Barrier no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data is processed. 

Generally, Overcome the Barrier retains your personal data as long as your account is active. In case your account expires or you decide to delete your account Overcome the Barrier retains your personal data not longer than 90 days after the account is expired. 

However, in case of conflict situations in progress Overcome the Barrier may store personal data for 180 days period or more if the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims and for compliance with a legal obligation which requires processing by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject in case of an expired account or in case data subject requested to delete his personal data. Upon the expiry of this period or earlier, if a conflict situation is settled, all personal data gets deleted. 

In case your last activity on Overcome the Barrier, as of the last payment date, was more than 180 (one hundred eighty) days ago, your account will be considered expired and will be deleted, along with your account or profile all personal data processed by Overcome the Barrier will be erased. 

As you are entitled to delete your account or profile after such a request it will be permanently removed within 30 days or earlier from our active systems, servers and back-ups. 

By deleting your account or profile all your personal data will be removed as well within 90 days. Personal Data collected when you registered on our mailing list or for the newsletter will be stored as long as you are interested in receiving our emails. We consider that you’re interested in this until you unsubscribe from the mailing list or from the newsletter by clicking the respective link contained in each of our emails. 

After the expiration of the retention period, Overcome the Barrier shall terminate the processing of your personal data, unless otherwise is set by the relevant legislation.

  1. Your rights as data subject regarding your personal data 

Overcome the Barrier processes: 

  1. a) right of confirmation - to obtain from Overcome the Barrier the confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you is being processed; 
  2. b) right of access to your personal data processed by Overcome the Barrier; 
  3. c) right to rectification – ask Overcome the Barrier to have incomplete personal data requiring corrections completed; 
  4. d) right to erasure (right to be forgotten) – request Overcome the Barrier to erase personal data. In most cases Overcome the Barrier will erase it unless otherwise required by legislation; 
  5. e) right of restriction of processing. For example, you could contest the accuracy of your personal data or in case Overcome the Barrier is not interested in processing of your personal data any longer, but you want Overcome the Barrier to do this for different reasons, for example, to bring some claim for somebody and, instead of the erasure of information, its processing will be just restricted. 
  6. f) right to data portability - to have your personal data transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible and when doing so does not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others; 
  7. g) right to object to processing of your personal data by Overcome the Barrier when the processing is related to the performance of our task carried in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us. The other case is if we process your data for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party and you believe that such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. If you make a request with objection to processing, we will no longer process the personal data unless we are able to demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing; 
  8. h) Right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us. After we at Overcome the Barrier receive such withdrawal request from you, we will process it in a timely manner and we will no longer process your personal data, unless otherwise is set by law. 

If one of the aforementioned reasons applies, please contact us, as instructed at the end of this Privacy Policy. We shall promptly ensure that the request is complied with immediately. These requests are free of charge. 

If you believe that our use of your data violates your rights, you can lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority.

Please, note that when the processing of your personal data is carried for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to such processing without providing any justification and we will no longer process your data with such direct marketing purposes. 

  1. Other Privacy Commitments 

(1) Cross-border transfers 

We process your personal data both within the United States and outside the United States. Although countries where we process data may have different laws, we take measures to ensure high privacy compliance (namely, as provided in Section 5 of this Privacy Policy). 

(2) Time for reply and reaction 

Overcome the Barrier will provide information on action taken on your request related to your rights specified above within one month of receipt of the request for the longest. That period may be extended by two further months if Overcome the Barrier is overwhelmed by the number of requests or the request at issue is complicated and requires a lot of action. Overcome the Barrier will inform you of any such extension within one month of receipt of the request, together with the reasons of such delay. 

(3) Security 

Overcome the Barrier takes technical and organizational measures to ensure the information is processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of information, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage. For example, Overcome the Barrier uses verified contractors that might have access to the data with which the relevant data processing agreements are signed. 

(4) Children’s privacy 

The privacy of children is one of our concerns. Overcome the Barrier Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 18 without the express permission of their parent or legal guardian. If you are under the age of 18 you will need to get your parent’s/legal guardian’s permission before submitting any personal data to Overcome the Barrier. We may process the personal data of children under the age of 18, provided that data has been consensually provided by parents/legal guardians for the express purpose of using Overcome the Barrier Services. 

Overcome the Barrier is acting in compliance with COPPA. It requires us to inform parents and legal guardians about how we collect, use, and disclose personal information from children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children and minors. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing their children to never provide information on our Website without their permission. 

(5) Breach notifications 

If any personal data of yours would be under the breach, we would inform you and the respective data protection agencies as to the accidents without undue delay, if there are high risks of violation of your rights as data subject. We would also do our best to minimize any such risks. 

(6) “DoNotTrack” requests 

Overcome the Barrier does not share personal data with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Also, our Services do not support “Do Not Track” requests. 

(7) California Privacy Rights 

In case you are a resident of California, the California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits you to request information regarding the disclosure of your personal data by Overcome the Barrier, Inc. or its subsidiaries to a third party for the third party's direct marketing purposes. This right granted to California residents applies only to their activities within the State of California. To make such a request, please send an email to admin@octb.us. 

  1. Legal Matters 

Overcome the Barrier considers your use of its Service to be private. However, we may disclose your personal data stored in our databases, in order to: 

(1) comply with the law or legal process served on us; 

(2) enforce and investigate potential violations of this Privacy Policy; including use of this Service to participate in, or facilitate activities that violate the law; 

(3) investigate potential fraudulent activities; or

(4) protect the rights, property, or safety of Overcome the Barrier, its employees, its customers or the public. 

  1. Governing law 

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed with the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, and, when applicable, Regulation 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of Personal Data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (“GDPR”), effective as of 25 May 2018. 

We hope this Privacy Policy helped you to understand how your personal data will be dealt here at Overcome the Barrier. We will take care of your personal data, so you can use our Services and not to be concerned over your privacy. Should you have anything to tell us, e-mail us at admin@octb.us. We will be happy to receive any information or comment from you to make our platform better for our users. 

Your Overcome the Barrier Team

Payment and Refund Policy

(Last Updated on 14 April, 2022)

Your purchase of and payment for lessons shall be regulated by this Refund Payment and Refund Policy, which is incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, the Terms of Service.

Overcome the Barrier strives to ensure clear understanding of financial relations between Students and itself with respect to the services we provide. This policy applies to all services and features made available through the Website and any related Overcome the Barrier mobile device application (collectively, the “Services”).

Financial transactions

Overcome the Barrier receives financial transactions from Users through a third-party service provider (Stripe and exceptionally Transferwise, Paypal or Binance). Overcome the Barrier will monitor these financial transactions, and assumes the responsibility for paying its Tutors for the teaching services they provide.

Under no circumstances may the Students contact the Tutors, directly or indirectly, about any subject related to payment.

Subscription Terms

The “Subscription Billing Date” is the date when you purchase your first Subscription. The Subscription will begin on the Subscription Billing Date and continue for the subscription period that you select on your account (such period, the “Initial Subscription Period”), and will automatically renew for successive periods of the same duration as the Initial Subscription Period (the Initial Subscription Period and each such renewal period, each a “Subscription Period”) unless you cancel the Subscription, or we terminate it. If you activate a Subscription, then you authorize Overcome the Barrier or its third-party payment processors to periodically charge, on a going-forward basis and until cancellation of the Subscription, all accrued sums on or before the payment due date. For information on the “Subscription Fee”, please see our https://platform.octb.us/individuals/appointment?show_payment_options=1  page. Your account will be charged automatically on the Subscription Billing Date and thereafter on the renewal date of your Subscription Service for all applicable fees and taxes for the next Subscription Period. You must cancel your Subscription Service before it renews in order to avoid billing of the next periodic Subscription Fee to your account. Overcome the Barrier or its third-party payment processor will bill the periodic Subscription Fee to the payment method associated with your account or that you otherwise provide to us. You may cancel the Subscription Service by contacting us at admin@octb.us. YOUR CANCELLATION MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE THE RENEWAL DATE IN ORDER TO AVOID CHARGE FOR THE NEXT SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD.

Pricing Options

There are two types of Subscriptions available to Legacy Students :

  1. 1. A Standard Subscription; and
  2. 2. A Rollover Subscription. 

Under a Standard Subscription, Lessons expire at the end of the Subscription Period if the Student does not take them. Under a Rollover Subscription, Lessons can roll over to the next Subscription Period, but the Student must maintain an active Subscription to schedule and take the Lessons. 

New Students can only purchase individual Lessons on a pay-as-you-go basis (“Pay-As-You-Go Lessons”). Under Pay-As-You-Go Lessons option, lessons expire if the Student does not take them. The expiration date changes depending on the number of minutes selected and is visible.

The pricing for each Lesson option is available on the https://platform.octb.us/individuals/appointment?show_payment_options=1  page. Overcome the Barrier reserves the right to determine pricing for the Services. Overcome the Barrier will make reasonable efforts to keep pricing information published up to date. We encourage you to check our https://platform.octb.us/individuals/appointment?show_payment_options=1 page periodically for current pricing information.  Overcome the Barrier may change the fees for any feature of the Services, including additional fees or charges, if Overcome the Barrier gives you advance notice of changes before they apply. Overcome the Barrier, at its sole discretion, may make promotional offers with different features and different pricing to any of Overcome the Barrier’s Users. These promotional offers, unless made to you, will not apply to your offer or these Terms.

Scheduling Lessons

It is the Student’s responsibility to schedule each Lesson during the applicable Subscription Period. Lessons cannot be retroactively scheduled. A Student must have an active Subscription or have purchased Pay-As-You-Go Lessons to schedule and take Lessons.

Cancellation of a Lesson

Lessons can be cancelled any time up to 24 hours before the Lesson is due to start and rescheduled thereafter.

Otherwise, you will be charged the full amount for the scheduled Lesson and will not receive a refund.

You can cancel/reschedule Lessons through your Overcome the Barrier account easily by clicking the ‘Cancel’ button in the ‘Schedule’ section beside the scheduled Lesson anytime up to 24 hours before your Lesson.

Refunds of Individual Lessons; Tutor Changes

You can change Tutors as many times as you like.

If a scheduled Lesson is cancelled due to the Tutor’s error, we will credit you a free Lesson with another Tutor of your choice.

If the Tutor is not showing up to a class, please take a screenshot of the meeting showing that the Tutor has not initiated the meeting or is not letting you into the meeting. This is the only proof we will have of the Lesson not having taken place, and only then are we able credit you a free Lesson with another Tutor of your choice.

To request a credit, please email admin@octb.us with the following information within 24 hours of the original Lesson time:

  • Date and time of Lesson
  • Reason for requesting the credit
  • Name of your Tutor
  • Documentation of the Tutor’s error (i.e., a screenshot as described above)

Refunds for Subscriptions

You may cancel your Subscription at any time. Refunds will only be granted if you request a refund within 15 days of the payment to be refunded. The refund will be prorated based on either (a) the unused Lesson minutes purchased, or (b) the number of unscheduled Lessons purchased, whichever results in the lesser refund amount. Refunds will not be given for Lessons which have already been taken. Any Lessons which have already been scheduled will be canceled if you request a refund. Refunds will be limited to the Lesson minutes or unscheduled Lessons purchased with your most recent Subscription or Pay-As-You-Go Fee. The value of any unused Lesson minutes or unscheduled Lessons purchased with previous payments will not be refunded and will remain in your account until you choose to re-active your Subscription. For information regarding your potential refund amount, please contact us at admin@octb.us.

Overcome the Barrier is not responsible for any kind of fee charged by payment systems and will not cover it when initiating a refund. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any refunds at any time are at our sole discretion only.

In case you chose a refund option, its speed and availability of refunded funds on your bank account will depend solely on the terms and policies of your bank regarding the speed of transactions.

No refund will be issued for a User who has lost access to their account through no fault of Overcome the Barrier.

No refund will be issued in the event a User loses connection due to any error not caused by Overcome the Barrier, including without limitation the absence of Internet access or a device malfunction.

Authorization and Chargebacks

You authorize Overcome the Barrier to charge all sums for the orders that you make and any level of Service you select as described in these Terms or published by Overcome the Barrier, including all applicable taxes, to the payment method specified in your account. If you pay any fees with a credit card, then Overcome the Barrier may seek pre-authorization of your credit card account prior to your purchase to verify that the credit card is valid and has the necessary funds or credit available to cover your purchase. 

In the event of a chargeback by a credit card company (or similar action by another payment provider allowed by us) in connection with your purchase of any Lesson(s), you agree that we may suspend access to any and all accounts you have with us.

Fees, incurred as the result of chargebacks or other payment disputes brought by you, your bank, or a payment provider, and disputes that require accounting or legal services shall be covered by you.

Expired account

In case your last activity on Overcome the Barrier as of the last payment date is for more than 180 (one hundred eighty) days, your account will be considered expired and may get deleted. Along with your account or profile all personal data processed by Overcome the Barrier may be erased.

Deletion of an account

You may request to delete your Account at any time. In case Overcome the Barrier shall suspend or terminate your Account because of a breach of any of our policies, including disrespectful or inappropriate behavior towards any employees of Overcome the Barrier, you understand and agree that you shall receive no refund or exchange for any unused Lessons or any portion of the Service, any content or data associated with your account, or for anything else.

Payment Services

We use third party payment services to bill you through an online account payment system in lieu of directly processing your credit/debit card information. Your paid balance for one or more Lessons is safe in your account as we use an integrated iframe for checkouts from our partners-payment providers (Stripe, PayPal) and Tutors get payment for each confirmed Lesson. Correspondingly all transactions are secured as our partners-payment providers use SSL encryption protection. All payment information is stored encrypted and securely by Braintree, a PayPal service. We do not store your payment information on our servers.

Data provided by you

You agree and understand that billing information, which you provide to make payments for Lesson(s) through Overcome the Barrier, namely your credit card information and/or PayPal account information, is processed by our partners-payment providers (Stripe, PayPal) only.

Overcome the Barrier do not collect, store or otherwise process your billing information.

You agree that Overcome the Barrier will not be responsible for any failures of the third party to adequately protect such information. The processing of payments will be subject to the terms, conditions and privacy policies of our partners-payment providers in addition to this policy.

You acknowledge that we may change our partners-payment providers and require them to transfer your information to other service providers that encrypt your information using secure socket layer technology (SSL) or other comparable security technology.

Payments and Taxes

Available payment methods through our Services are:

 Visa/ Mastercard

All payments shall be made through the Services. Upon receiving payment from a Student (or a Parent on a Student’s behalf), Overcome the Barrier will hold such payment and disburse it to the applicable Tutor on a pro rata basis on a per Lesson basis. All Users agree that they will not sell or buy Tutor services or materials from another User other than through our Services.

Tutors, Students and Parents will be liable for all transaction fees on the services related to the delivery and consumption of services through our Website.

Registering to become a user of Overcome the Barrier is free. Parties are responsible for paying all fees and applicable taxes associated with delivery and consumption of services through our Website, as well as for using the tools with a valid payment method. We charge Tutors a commission for our Services. Tutor’s failure to pay required fees shall be a material breach of this Policy and Terms of Service.

Payouts

Tutors get payment for each confirmed Lesson by a Student to their account on the platform. To make the payout Tutors may use our third-party payment services (PayPal, Payoneer, TransferWise, Binance) for the secured transactions. Please read more about the privacy and security of such transactions in our Privacy Policy.

Disclaimers

Overcome the Barrier is not a bank or any type of a financial institution, we do not provide any financial services or advice. Any payments made via our platform are made solely for the purpose of consumption and delivery of educational services between Students and Tutors. Such payments may not be made and used for any fraudulent, criminal or illegal activity as defined by the law.

The exchange rates provided on our Website do not always reflect the real market situation for a specified date. Such exchange rates are provided for the comparative and informational purposes only in order to help you get the best possible Services on our Website. In order to get the real exchange rates on a specific date, please, advise your bank or any other official financial institution. 

The exchange rates provided on our Website do not always reflect the real market situation for a specified date. Such exchange rates are provided for the comparative and informational purposes only in order to help you get the best possible Services on our Website. In order to get the real exchange rates on a specific date, please, advise your bank or any other official financial institution. 

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Cookies Policy

(Last Updated on May 7th, 2021)

 We would like you to know more about our use of cookies. That is why this document was drafted. It explains what cookies are, how we use cookies, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies. 

This Cookies Policy is a part of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, together with your consents comprising our agreement with you. 

Overcome the Barrier does use cookies 

Pursuant to Section 3 of our Privacy Policy, Overcome the Barrier ("us", "we", or "our") uses cookies and other technologies on the http://www.octb.us website and the Overcome the Barrier mobile application (the "Services"). By using the Services and clicking the respective buttons on our banners, you consent to the use of cookies for the purposes we describe in this policy. 

Cookies are… 

Those small files comprising bits of text are installed on your computer or mobile device each time you open the respective Service. They enable our server to provide you with the information that is customized with your needs when you use some service for the next time. Usually your browser tells our systems if any cookies files were installed in your computer and as a result, we may analyze the information the cookies files give us. 

Kinds of cookies and purposes Overcome the Barrier uses them 

Overcome the Barrier uses the cookies for the following purposes when entering the Service: 

- to enhance your user experience: it enables Overcome the Barrier to keep you sign in if you wish, so there is no need for you to reenter the sign in information each time you come to Overcome the Barrier Services; 

- to enable us to see your actions and preferences on the Services, analyze this information and provide you more relevant information on the Services you are currently using or may use; 

- to enable the behavioral advertising: if you searched something or someone on our Services some time ago, the cookies remembered that and would remind you on your related needs later. 

More specifically, here are the categories of cookies and description of their nature and purposes:

Categories of Use   

  Description 

  Authentication 

  If you’re signed in to Overcome the Barrier, cookies help us to customize and enhance your experience on our Services. 

Preferences, features and services 

Cookies can tell us which language you prefer and what your communications preferences are.

Performance, Analytics and Research 

  Cookies help us learn how well our site and plugins perform in different locations. We also use cookies to understand, improve, and research products, features, and services. 

Advertising

Overcome the Barrier may use cookies in order to provide you with more relevant advertising when you use the Services. Cookies will enable us to know more about your prior visits on Overcome the Barrier and your activity within Overcome the Barrier, including the date and time of visits, time spent on the Website as well as the pages viewed and websites previously visited. Overcome the Barrier may process such data through the external services, including but not limited to Adwords. 

                                            

Further opting-out from the use of cookies

 If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser as specified below (separate support pages for each browser). 

Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use all of the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display properly, since the Services will no longer be personalized to you. It may also stop you from saving customized settings.

If you use Overcome the Barrier without changing your browser settings, we’ll assume that you’re happy to receive all cookies within our Services. 

Find more information about cookies 

You can learn more about cookies and the following third-party websites: 

- AllAboutCookies: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ 

- Network Advertising Initiative: http://www.networkadvertising.org/  

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Blog Privacy Policy

(Last Updated on May 7th, 2021)

As we previously highlighted, Overcome the Barrier is deeply committed to protecting your personal data to make your use of Services comfortable and safe. 

With this in mind, we adopted Privacy Policy that applies to the use of all Services of Overcome the Barrier, as defined in our Terms of Service, as well as Cookies Policy and this Overcome the Barrier Blog Privacy Policy (“Policy”). 

This Policy provides additional details regarding when, where, and why we collect personal data of people who use Overcome the Barrier Blog (“Blog”). 

Overall, in course of your use of the Blog, Overcome the Barrier may collect from you Cookie identifiers and those data you specifically provide us with while writing the article(s) or commenting them, subscribing to our newsletter, social media platform etc. 

We may change our Privacy Policy and this separate Policy from time to time, so please check this page to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. 

We will post those changes on this page and update the public documents accordingly. 

Any questions regarding our privacy policy approaches should be sent to admin@octb.us

  1. When do we process your personal data? 

In the course of using the Blog, you may write an article(s) and comment the article(s), subscribe to Overcome the Barrier’s newsletter,  Blog’s updates or social media platform, and do other technically possible actions. By so doing, you may provide us with a list of your personal data. 

Overcome the Barrier will process such personal data. 

Importantly, here at Overcome the Barrier we can provide services only in case you are aged 18 or older. If you are under 18, you will need to get your parent’s/guardian’s permission before submission of any personal data to Overcome the Barrier. If you are underage, and there are no data as to your parent’s/guardian’s permission to use our Blog, we will not collect or process your personal data, and you will have limited use of our Blog. 

  1. What categories of data does Overcome the Barrier process? 

Overcome the Barrier will process your personal data voluntarily submitted by using the Blog in the ways specified in section 1 of this Policy. 

These data may include: 

  • Name (first and/or last); 
  • Email; 
  • Phone number; 
  • Photographs if specifically provided; 
  • Other personal data you may add to your article or comment. 

Overcome the Barrier may additionally collect cookie identifiers, as specified in our Cookies Policy. Generally, when you use the Blog, we monitor and analyze web traffic and keep track of your behavior while using the Blog. We may receive the information about your IP address, proxy server and operating system, the web browser or your mobile carrier and location based on phone settings. 

You acknowledge that any information you share on the Blog will be available to the Blog’s audience. 

You also acknowledge that parts of your content cannot be deleted from the Blog as it may be used by other users. 

Unless you submit your sensitive data on the Blog after reading this Policy, Overcome the Barrier does not process your sensitive data. 

  1. What is our basis for processing? 

Overcome the Barrier will process your personal data listed in section 2 pursuant to your freely given consent before providing us with such data. 

  1. What is the purpose of personal data processing? 

We may use the data you provided us with for the purposes defined below. 

  1. Provision of Services 

Primarily, we collect and process your personal data to authorize full access to our Blog, including the possibility to write article(s) and comment them. Specifically, we use data you provided us with upon using the Blog to identify the author of publication or the comment or in order to be able to provide you with the specific updates concerning the Blog.

2. Communications

By extension, we are also aimed at enabling proper communication within the Blog between the identified Blog users. Besides that, we use your personal data, given while subscribing to our newsletter or updates, to contact you via email and other ways to provide you with the requested information. Please, note that you retain the right to opt-out to such communications in each message, excluding legal notices.

3. Marketing 

If you subscribed to our newsletter and other updates, we may use your personal data on our mailing list or for the newsletter and send you messages with some commercial or promotional information about Overcome the Barrier generally and the Blog specifically. But don’t worry, you may always opt-out from our marketing messages, using the mechanisms described under the respective link in each message, and through the user settings available on Overcome the Barrier.

4. Advertising 

We may collect your first name, last name and email in order to occasionally send you information on products, services, special deals, and promotions. You can sign up for these emails from us on our registration page. Out of respect for your privacy, we present the option not to receive these types of communications. Please see the “Choice and Opt-out.” 

We remind you that you are entitled to make choices as to the ways how your personal data are used through the user settings. From our perspective, we use your data to personalize the use of Overcome the Barrier to the fullest extent possible and to provide you with the high-quality Services under the Terms of Service. 

  1. Storage and Access 

We do not share personal information with third-parties nor do we store information we collect about your visit to this blog for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off anytime by modifying your internet browser's settings. 

In order to provide high-quality services, Overcome the Barrier hires people, enters into the agreements with independent contractors as well as cooperates with other services providers, companies, and organizations. For those reasons, some of your personal data can be passed to the persons mentioned. Overcome the Barrier uses only secure places of storage with servers located in Ireland and the United States, and other services and applications listed below. Overcome the Barrier has contractors and subsidiaries in other countries, including those outside the European Economic Area, who may have access to your personal data. At the same time, in all cases we pass your personal data to other persons we ensure that your personal data is being protected and used only within the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy. This is achieved by using only certified services and products, signing agreements on protection of personal data with contractors and partners (including the Standard Data Protection Clauses Adopted by the European Commission and compliant with the EU data protection laws), as well as taking technical measures to ensure the information is protected when stored, used and while being processed and transferred. 

By ticking the respective box when providing us with your personal data you agree to such transfer and processing within the purposes set in this Privacy Policy. 

  1. Changes 

If Overcome the Barrier decides to change the purposes of processing specified above, we will inform you of such changes prior to the use of your personal data within the newly set purposes. The notification of such changes will be sent to your email and you will have to provide your consent for the amended purposes unless the additional purpose of processing is compatible with those listed above. In case you do not want to provide us the requested personal data for the purposes specified above, you may not have access to certain functions of the Blog. Limited use of the Blog is always possible without the provision of your personal data to us. 

  1. How long will the personal data be processed and stored by Overcome the Barrier? 

Generally, Overcome the Barrier retains your personal data as long as: 

  • there are your article(s) or comment(s) posted on the Blog; 
  • you are subscribed to the newsletter or other Overcome the Barrier’s updates. 

However, this shall not preclude Overcome the Barrier from processing your personal data for a longer period when it is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed and justified by Overcome the Barrier’s legitimate interests. 

  1. Overcome the Barrier’s Privacy Policy 

The use of Overcome the Barrier’s Services is, as a rule, subject to the Overcome the Barrier’s Privacy Policy. Since our Blog makes up a part of Overcome the Barrier’s Services, your use of the Blog is subject to the Privacy Policy in conjunction with the specific provisions set forth in this Policy. 

Therefore, please, refer to following parts of the for the Overcome the Barrier’s general privacy policy details: 

  • Section 1 for general aspects of privacy, including the definition of such terms as personal data and processing; 
  • Section 5 as regards the external services we use while processing personal data; 
  • Section 7 in order to find out the list of your rights regarding your personal data 
  • Section 8 for other Overcome the Barrier’s privacy commitments, including cross-border transfer, security measures, breach notifications 

We hope this Policy helped you to understand how your personal data will be dealt here at Overcome the Barrier if you use our Blog. Do not be afraid – we will take care of it, so you can explore our website and not to be concerned about your privacy. Should you have anything to tell us, e-mail us at admin@octb.us. We will be happy to receive any information or comment from you to make our platform a better place for work. 

Your Overcome the Barrier team 

Contact information admin@octb.us

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Teacher Policy (Last Updated on 24 June, 2021)

If you want to teach a language on the OCTB Platform, you must read and agree to be bound by these policies for Teachers ("Teacher Policy"). Capitalized terms (including the term "OCTB") used but not defined in this Teacher Policy have the meanings ascribed to such terms in our Terms of Service, which is available at www.OCTB.us/tos (the "OCTB Terms").
If you do not accept this Teacher Policy in full, you are not authorized to teach on the OCTB Platform and you are not eligible to receive any benefits from OCTB for any Services you provide.
This Teacher Policy is designed to encourage the highest standards of Teacher behavior in their relationships with Students by setting clear expectations, and to provide the principles to guide Teachers in their daily conduct when providing Services and interacting with Students. However, our Teachers come from all over the world and are thus accustomed to a variety of different cultural norms. As a result, this Teacher Policy attempts to adopt universally accepted standards of respect and tolerance. This Teacher Policy does not attempt to address every potential situation that could arise when Teachers interact with Students on the OCTB Platform, but instead provides principles for ethical and professional behavior that can serve as guidance regarding OCTB expectations.

1. Teacher Registration and Service Description

1.1 Teacher Registration

In order to become a "Teacher", you must first submit a complete application located at https://www.octb.us/tutors or https://share.hsforms.com/1rBL1pDTGRNGqYB6KOXFA0g3t4ll ("Teacher Application") together with a copy of your passport or other official identification card issued by the applicable government authorities by emailing karina@octb.us. Your completed Teacher Application will be evaluated by OCTB for approval. If your Teacher Application is approved, you will be invited to a training, during which you will have the ability to create and manage a Teacher profile on the OCTB Platform, and you can begin providing "Services", including offering and providing paid lessons ("Lesson") to Students.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, OCTB may obtain (i) background check reports from public records or through third party venders regarding matters such as criminal convictions or sex offender registrations, and/or (ii) identity verification check reports. As a condition of applying to become a Teacher, you agree and authorize us to use your personal information, such as your full name and date of birth, to obtain such reports. In order to obtain such identity verification check reports, you further agree and authorize us to provide the copy of your passport or official identification card you submitted with a third party vender, such as Sum&Substance.

1.2 Service Description

All Teachers must create a profile complete with bio and mini bio on the OCTB Platform. When creating the profile, you agree to the following: 

  1. Write a specific, full bio as shown in the following link https://knowledge.octb.us/write-your-full-bio ; (see examples here https://www.octb.us/our_teachers)
  2. Provide your general availability one month in advance in schedule section of your user panel
  3. Continuously update your exact availability in schedule section of your user panel (click on the following link for instructions https://knowledge.octb.us/how-to-update-your-availability)
  4. Set up your zoom personal meeting room as shown on the following link https://knowledge.octb.us/how-to-set-up-your-personal-zoom-meeting-room
  5. Update your picture in your gmail account that you are going to use to login to our platform as shown in the following link https://knowledge.octb.us/step-4-update-your-picture-in-your-gmail
  6. Share your google calendar with admin@octb.us and give permission to make changes to your calendar
  7. Continuously update your availability in your google calendar as it will be used to assign demo lessons
  8. Conduct all the lessons that are automatically scheduled through OCTB platform based on the availability provided by you and outlined in bullet points 5 & 6
  9. Accept the invitation from OCTB slack account
  10. Notify OCTB staff in the appropriate slack channel about:
    • Demos conducted
    • Students running late
    • Students not showing up
    • Any issues that arise, including but not limited to students connection issues
    • Urgent matters such as technical issues with your equipment or internet connectivity as well as absence of electricity
  11. Provide OCTB with your personal cell phone number in order to reach out in urgent matters via whatsap or text message
  12. Attend the group meetings when they are scheduled, or individual zoom calls with the OCTB admin when asked to. If unable to attend, please make sure to watch a video recording of the meeting.
  13. If you have a PC clean your temporary files WEEKLY in your computer as shown in the following link https://knowledge.octb.us/step-6-clean-your-computer
  14. Do not offer services with the intent to commit fraud, provide services other than those outlined in your description, or offer any services in exchange for positive feedback or at no cost;
  15. Do not advertise any third-party teaching service, platform, software, or application; and
  16. Do not include any personal contact information, including but not limited to, email, telephone number, or social media
    account number.

2. Services Guidelines


2.1 Service Request

Once you get booked for a lesson by a Student, you agree to the following:

  1. Use the OCTB Platform to teach the lessons requested from Students;
  2. Give students host permission during zoom calls to record lessons
  3. Respond promptly to all communications, whether from a Student or from OCTB;
  4. Show best efforts to help your student book all the classes he is entitled to per week. Always check how many lessons the student booked with you for the week compared to the number of lessons he should be having, and encourage him to book remaining unbooked lessons.
  5. Maintain a record of all important details of the communication between you and the Student. For the avoidance of doubt, communication may be conducted via emails, instant messages, telephone or in-person conversations, and important details generally includes information related to the scope of your lessons, your time frames and availability to conduct classes, your feedback to Student, any schedule changes, any delay of providing your Service, and completion of Lessons; and
  6. Conduct all booked lessons and promptly respond with accepted time/date change. Do not ignore requests and allow them to expire.

2.2 Demo Lessons Policy

Demo lessons are crucial to our business. Therefore, you agree to give your best effort when conducting demo lessons, according to the following procedure:

  1. Check the notes in hubspot about the student, in order to best prepare for the lesson.
  2. Start your zoom 2 min before the demo lesson. Under no circumstances may you arrive late to a demo lesson.
  3. Introduce yourself, and start the lesson. You must absolutely make corrections and insert new words in the platform for intermediate students; or at least insert new words for beginner students.
  4. With 5 min left in the lesson, explain to the student what he can expect in terms of the lesson content if he decides to continue with you.
  5. Paste the message found in the Slack channel Steps-for-a-good-demo so that the student can contact the admin immediately if they wish to.
  6. Finish the lesson, and immediately write in the Slack channel Demos how the lesson went.
  7. If you conducted 4 consecutive demo lessons without any of those students having signed up, we will ask you to go through additional training with the OCTB staff

2.3 Regular Lessons Policy

All Teachers are expected to comply with the following policies when providing a Lesson:

  1. Commit to your scheduled Lesson. A confirmed Lesson is a commitment you make with a Student and with OCTB. Reschedule or cancel as a last resort and only after you have communicated this with your Student and OCTB staff member via slack in the appropriate slack channel.  The first time you declare you are unable to give a class that a student previously booked with you, the OCTB admin will give you a warning. The second time, you will get one more warning. The third time, you will have a $5 penalty.  The fourth time, a $10 penalty. And so on, over a 3-month period.
    If you know you will be away and unable to respond to Students for a certain period, take the responsibility to notify your Students of your absence and update the availability information on your OCTB Account schedule section accordingly.
  2. Make records in Hubspot. Teachers should maintain a record of all important details of communications with the Students pursuant to Section 2.1(3). If there is a dispute between Teacher and Student, OCTB will request both Teacher and Student to provide evidence in the format of screenshots, and such screenshots shall contain all information related to such dispute, such as the date, time and other communication details.
  3. We have a 0 tolerance for arriving late to class, even by one minute. Start classes on time. Teachers should start any Lesson at the time scheduled with the Student, and should initiate contact with the Student, particularly with a first-time Student.
  4. Connect with the Student. Teachers should connect with their Students on Zoom.
  5. Waiting for a late Student. If a Student is late for a scheduled Lesson, the Teacher should wait for the Student until the end of the period for the scheduled Lesson. The Teacher should be available to start the Lesson at any time during the scheduled period for the Lesson. The Teacher is not, however, required to make up for lost time due to the Student's late arrival.
  6. If the student does not enter teacher’s zoom link, the teacher must notify a member of OCTB customer service via slack channel no later than 5 minutes after the lesson is supposed to start.
  7. For intermediate students, always complete the conversation part and the corrections part of the lesson, and always add New Words. For beginner students who cannot yet formulate their own sentences, ensure you at least insert New Words for every lesson.
  8. End Lesson on time. Teachers should politely let Students know that their lessons are ending by reminding them before the end of the Lesson time period. You may politely tell the Student that you need to prepare for an upcoming Lesson with another Student.
  9. Rescheduling a Lesson due to Student’s absence. If a Student fails to attend a Lesson and requests to reschedule the class, the teacher should refer the student to the cancellation policy available at Cancellation Policy.


2.3 Cancellation and Rescheduling

If you will be unable to teach at the time previously booked by a Student, you agree to (i) immediately inform OCTB customer support that you are unable to teach at the scheduled time, and provide OCTB customer support with an explanation. If you were unable to inform OCTB in advance due to an emergency, you are required to give an explanation to the OCTB Customer Support as soon as you are able to do so. You will be allowed no more than two of these instances per month.
After obtaining the consent from the Student, a Teacher may cancel or reschedule any scheduled lesson (including a Lesson) at any time that is more than 24 hours before such class is scheduled to start. Canceling or rescheduling classes must be handled through the OCTB Platform, and by following the cancellation and rescheduling process.
Except in the rare case of true emergencies, no lessons may be cancelled or rescheduled by a Teacher or Student within 24 hours of the start time of the lesson.

2.4 Payment and Feedback

After you provide any classes, you agree to the following:

2.4.1 Technicalities

  1. To accept payment either through Paypal or transferwise.
  2. OCTB will cover all the processing fees that are associated with you receiving your pay into your Paypal account
  3. You are responsible for processing fees that these platforms apply when you decide to transfer that money to your bank account
  4. In the payment menu of your account, please enter your email address corresponding to the appropriate method (paypal or transferwise).
  5. Use the OCTB Payment Service to handle all financial matters related to your lessons conducted; 

2.4.2 Terms of Payment

  1. Payment schedule: The Teacher shall receive the pay for the exact minutes of classes he/she has given in a biweekly period every 1st and 16th of the month. The pay is $2/hour.
  2. Bonus: in addition to the regular pay, the Teacher shall receive a %50 bonus (i.e. one extra dollar per hour) for the lessons conducted with students who continue studying with the Teacher. To ensure this, the bonus comes with a 2-week delay. This bonus is also contingent upon the Teacher’s compliance with the terms of this contract (including but not limited to conducting all lessons assigned to you, starting lessons on time, continuously maintaining your availability up to date for the month ahead, ensuring prompt communication with your students and the OCTB admin, etc., adhering to typing and correction process vital to our language teaching methodology)

2.4.3 Absent or Late Student

  1. The Teacher shall be compensated for every lesson booked, even if the student does not show up for the lesson.
  2. The teacher shall not be compensated for lessons that were initially booked, but then cancelled at least 24 hours before the start of the lesson.
  3. The Teacher shall not be compensated for extra time he shall invest outside of the duration of the lesson. Therefore, the Teacher has no obligation to extend a lesson due to the late arrival of a student.

2.4.4 Taxes

Teachers shall be solely responsible for determining their applicable tax related duties in connection with the income obtained from their Teacher Services, and shall also be solely responsible for remitting to the relevant authority any applicable taxes that need to be paid. OCTB cannot and does not offer tax-related advice to any Members.

2.4.5 Prohibition

The teacher may, under no circumstances, accept payments from Students outside of the OCTB framework. If a student offers you to do so, you must report this immediately to admin@OCTB.us

2.5 Additional Guidelines

You also agree to the following additional guidelines in connection with providing your Services on the OCTB Platform:

  1. Maintain the privacy of OCTB Students pursuant to the OCTB Privacy Policy, including refraining from requesting any personally identifiable information from Students, such as birth date, age, government issued identification number, phone number, or home address;
  2. Maintain the privacy of your own personal information, including details related to your compensation (as defined in the OCTB Payment Policy);
  3. Maintain records of all invoices and payments in connection with your Teacher Services;
  4. Cooperate with OCTB in any anti-fraud actions and in resolving any disputes; and
  5. Report any violation of the OCTB Terms or any other OCTB Policies, including misuse of ratings and feedback.

3. Service Standards

3.1 Be Culturally Sensitive

Respect the values and traditions of your Students. Unless specifically requested by the Student, please avoid asking about the following:

  1. Your Student’s personal life. For example, do not ask a Student whether he or she is married, or whether he or she has a girlfriend or boyfriend.
  2. Your Student’s political affiliations. For example, do not ask a Student whether he or she supports a particular political party or ideological view.
  3. Your Student’s religious affiliations. For example, do not ask a Student if he or she believes in God or identifies with a particular religious group.

3.2 Be Patient and Polite

Since Students come from different backgrounds and have different language abilities, it is important to be patient and polite. Help them through their language learning difficulties. Be encouraging, not discouraging.

  1. Do not berate, yell at, or insult a Student. Do not tell a Student he or she is dumb or insult their current level of language ability.
  2. Do not use rude or offensive language with a Student. Instead, use respectful language and speak to Students with professional courtesy.
  3. Do not lose your temper with a Student.

If you are not sure that whether you are able to handle a situation with composure, you are welcome to contact OCTB customer service for help, or to suggest that a Student contact OCTB customer service to resolve an issue.

3.3 Be Professional

Teachers must take the initiative in communicating with and managing Students. In addition to the Teacher Services guidelines described in Section 2 (Teacher Services Guidelines), Teachers are expected to provide Teacher Services in a professional manner, which includes:

  1. Being responsive. You should respond to messages from Students promptly. When you receive a communication from a Student, you should respond within 24 hours OR before the start time of the booked lesson (whichever is sooner). The OCTB Platform will send you notifications when a Student sends you a message or you will find a calendar invite if the student books a lesson, but we recommend that you login to your OCTB Account at least twice a day to check and respond to messages and check for your updated schedule in the schedule section of your user panel.
  2. Actively manage your calendar and profile. Maintain your calendar to accurately reflect the times you are available to conduct classes. When you login to your OCTB Account, you should check and adjust your time availability schedule, and update your status. Students can book lessons at any time, so Teachers who actively manage their profile will naturally attract more Students. If you plan to take time off from teaching, reach out to OCTB customer support, update your exact availability in your profile and your gmail calendar accordingly so that you will be removed from active Teacher listings.
  3. Respect Student privacy. Recording audio or video of a Student is not permitted without the Student’s prior written or recorded consent.
  4. Teach your language. Students are paying you to teach them a new language. Do not use this time to practice the Student’s native language. Instead, give Students more speaking time.
  5. Provide accurate and respectful feedback. OCTB provides a feedback and rating system to allow Students to publicly express their opinions to their Teacher’s instruction quality. OCTB does not monitor, censor, or investigate feedback and rating posts unless a problem is brought to our attention. If you believe a particular Student’s feedback or rating is improper, untrue or violates OCTB Terms or OCTB Policies, please report the incident to OCTB customer service.

4. Violation of this Teacher Policy

You are expected to perform any Lessons Booked in a manner that satisfies the teaching standards described above and results in a consistently high level of Student satisfaction. You are in breach of this Teacher Policy, if you:

  1. Fail to deliver any Lessons Booked;
  2. Fail to take reasonable efforts to resolve a dispute with a Student;
  3. Create unacceptable levels of Student dissatisfaction; or
  4. Violate any OCTB Terms or any other OCTB Policies.

OCTB reserves the right to take any of the following actions at any time and in its sole discretion:

  1. Cancel your listed Lessons Booked;
  2. Limit your OCTB Account privileges;
  3. Adjust your Teacher Pay balance and/or freeze or suspend your Pay;
  4. Suspend or terminate your OCTB Account; or
  5. Contact law enforcement or seek legal remedies.

5. Teacher Content

The terms of this section regarding Teacher Content applies to all Teachers providing their Services on the OCTB Platform, in addition to the terms of Section 10 (Member Content) of the OCTB Terms.

5.1 Teacher Content Ownership

Any articles, video or any other materials used in your classes or submitted to the OCTB Platform in connection with your classes, such as your introduction video (the "Teacher Content"), constitute Member Content. As a result, pursuant to this section and Section 10 (Member Content) of the OCTB Terms, you own the copyright to your Teacher Content, and OCTB does not claim any ownership rights in any Teacher Content.

5.2 Student License to Teacher

You hereby grant each Student who books lessons with you a right to use, view and copy your Teacher Content that you use during the class to such Student solely for personal and noncommercial educational purposes. You acknowledge that all of the representations, warranties, license grants and other provisions contained in Section 10 (Member Content) of the OCTB Terms apply to all of your Teacher Content that you submit to the OCTB Platform.

5.3 OCTB License to Teacher Content

In addition to the license you grant to OCTB to use, view, copy, modify, distribute, publish and otherwise exploit your Member Content (including your Teacher Content) pursuant to Section 10 (Member Content) of the OCTB Terms, you hereby grant OCTB a license to use your Teacher Content (including your introduction video) and information about your teaching style in marketing, advertising and promotion of the OCTB Platform in any medium. For the avoidance of doubt, OCTB may publish your introduction video to OCTB’s official channels in third-party video hosting and streaming services, such as Youtube, Vimeo, Youku. OCTB will remove any Teacher introduction videos from our official channels on third-party video hosting and streaming services upon written request from such Teacher sent to OCTB customer service. You also grant OCTB the right to use your profile name as part of our marketing, advertising and promotion of the OCTB Platform.

6. Prohibitions

In addition to complying with the restrictions regarding improper use of the OCTB Platform described in Section 11 (Restrictions) of the OCTB Terms, you agree not to, and will not assist, encourage, or enable Students or other Teachers to:

  1. Provide or post false, misleading, inaccurate, or plagiarized information on the OCTB Platform, including in your Teacher profile, course content, lesson history and feedback.
  2. Fail to establish or maintain your OCTB Teacher profile to ensure that it contains complete, accurate, and updated information.
  3. Teach for free or in exchange for positive feedback or ratings from Students.
  4. Teach, including offering and providing Lessons, to any "fake" Students that uses OCTB Account created by yourself or any third party to drive up your lesson counts and ratings in bad faith.
  5. Forge or alter your education background, curriculum vitae, work experience or certificates.
  6. Advertise or promote third party language learning services.
  7. Encourage or allow Students to work with you outside of the OCTB Platform or accept payment outside of the OCTB Platform. If a Student asks you to teach outside of the OCTB Platform, please remind the Student that lessons must be scheduled and paid for through the OCTB Platform. You can report the Student or contact OCTB customer support via OCTB slack channel.

In the event that you violate the prohibitions set forth in this section, OCTB reserves the right to immediately suspend or deactivate your OCTB Account. OCTB also reserves the right to confiscate any earned money (as defined in the Payment Policy), and you may lose access to your lesson and teaching history on the OCTB Platform. If you believe that others have violated these prohibitions, or if you are not sure whether any specific actions would violate these prohibitions, please contact OCTB customer support immediately.

7. Contacting Customer Service

If you wish to report a violation of this Teacher Policy, OCTB Terms or any other OCTB Policies, or have any questions or need assistance, please contact OCTB customer service as follows:
Email: admin@OCTB.us
Slack: https://octb.slack.com/

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Data Deletion Instructions (Last Updated on 24 January, 2022)

Personal Data Deletion Request

If you want to delete your personal data please send an email to admin@octb.us using the following format:

To whom it may concern,
This notice is to inform you that I would like to have my personal data deleted from your records. My contact information is as follows:
Full Legal Name: ____________
Address:
——————————————
Telephone Number: __________
Email: _____________________
The reason I am requesting deletion of my personal data is as follows: consent is being revoked for personal data processing.
The information that I am specifically aware of, that you process or retain, is as follows:
email
name
telephone
address
If you process other personal data that belongs to me, which I may not be aware of, please consider this request to apply to that data, as well. I would like all of my personal data deleted from your systems.
Please respond in writing to confirm that my request has been honored.
Sincerely,

______________________
 

 

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