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Privacy Policy

Houtz Cello Academy Effective: February 08, 2026

Information We Collect: We collect only what is necessary to provide cello lessons, sponsorships, and donation services:
Parents/Guardians: name, email address, phone number, income verification documents (for sponsorships only), necessary data for improving website functionality.
Sponsored Students: first/last name, grade level, photograph, video playing cello, short bio, monthly lesson videos
Non-sponsored Students: first/last name, grade level, Donors: name, email address, donation amount/history, payment method (processed by mymusicstaff or stripe)
Payment Data: handled securely by Mymusicstaff or Stripe
Website Usage: IP address, browser type, pages visited, browsing behavior.
How We Use Your Information:
We use this information only in the following ways (all uses involving a student’s information require explicit parental consent):
Schedule and deliver lessons:
Send lesson reminders and progress updates to parents
With parental consent: display student’s first name, grade, photo, and bio on the sponsorship page (for sponsered students only)
With parental consent: share monthly 15-second lesson progress videos with donors (for sponsered students only).
Process and acknowledge donations:
Send donors updates about the student they support (with parental consent)
Promotional Use (with separate explicit parental consent): We may feature a student’s first name, photo, short bio, and/or short video clips on our website, social media, newsletters, or fundraising materials to promote the academy and the sponsorship program.
You will always be asked for separate, clear permission before any such use, and you may revoke it at any time by contacting us at houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com
Improve site functionality and user experience: We may use anonymized or aggregated website usage data (e.g., which pages are visited most) to make the site faster, easier to navigate, and more helpful.
Sharing and Disclosure:
We share information only as follows: Assigned Donor: receives student’s first name, grade, photo, bio, and monthly video (parental consent required)

Payment Information and Billing

When you enroll for cello lessons, you may provide payment information (such as credit card or bank account details) through the MyMusicStaff platform and/or Stripe to facilitate billing and payment for lessons.

We do not collect, process, or store your credit card or other payment details directly. All payment information is collected, stored, and processed securely by MyMusicStaff and/or Stripe. These processors are fully compliant with PCI-DSS standards, which are the industry requirements for securely handling cardholder data.

MyMusicStaff enables features such as storing payment methods on file (for recurring or automated billing via Auto Pay), generating invoices, and processing charges on your behalf. Any stored payment information is managed entirely within your MyMusicStaff account and subject to MyMusicStaff's Privacy Policy and the security practices of their payment partners.

We only access basic billing-related information (such as invoice status, payment history, and confirmation of successful transactions) as needed to manage your lesson scheduling and account. We do not retain or use your full payment card details for any purpose.

For more details on how your payment data is handled, please refer to:

Your use of payment features through MyMusicStaff and/or Stripe indicates your consent to this collection and processing as described.


Legal Requirements: We never sell, rent, or trade personal information. Donations are not tax-deductible — we are a private studio.Photographs and Videos: Explicit parental consent is required before any photo or video is used or shared. Student photos and videos are used only for donor updates, the sponsorship page. Parents or donors may request removal, blurring, or deletion anytime by emailing houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com
Data Security: All data is stored in password-protected systems. Payment data is encrypted and handled exclusively by Stripe. Access is limited to authorized personnel only. Your Rights (Parents, Students, and Donors) To access, correct, delete, or restrict your (or your child’s) personal information, withdraw consent for photos/videos (including promotional use), or opt out of communications, you must contact us directly. We do not offer self-service tools for these actions. Please email houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com with your request. We will process it as soon as reasonably possible. For children under 13: All collection and use occurs only with verifiable parental consent (COPPA compliant). Third-Party Links Our site may link to Stripe or Wix. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. Changes to This Policy We may update this policy. The latest version will always be posted here with the effective date.
Contact Us Houtz Cello Academy Email: houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com

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