Privacy policy

Polaris Travel & Placement Services (“Polaris”, “we”) helps people from Jamaica take up work, training and cultural exchange opportunities overseas. Doing that means handling personal information about you. This page explains what we hold and what rights you have over it.

What we collect

We only ask for information we actually use.

When you send an enquiry

The interest form on our home page collects your first and last name, email address, phone number, the programme you are interested in, and where you are in your education or career.

When you register for a programme

Creating an account adds your date of birth, gender, home address, city and parish, your level of study and any certificate you hold, whether you have travelled abroad before, and whether you have ever been convicted of an offence. We also store a password, which is encrypted and which nobody at Polaris can read.

The conviction question is asked because exchange programme sponsors and visa authorities require it. It is sensitive information and we treat it that way.

While your application is running

Through your portal you may upload documents and payment receipts, and you may add a profile photo. We keep the correspondence between you and our team, and a record of the payments confirmed against your application.

Why we collect it

To assess your suitability for a programme, to prepare and support your application, to contact you about it, to meet the requirements of the exchange programmes we place people into, and to keep the records the law requires us to keep.

Cookies

This site sets one cookie. When you sign in to the applicant portal we store a session cookie so that you stay signed in as you move between pages. It is removed when you sign out. Without it the portal cannot work, so it is not something you can turn off while remaining signed in.

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. We do not profile you, we do not run advertising pixels, and we do not sell or share your information for marketing.

Our forms are protected by Google reCAPTCHA, which checks that a person rather than a machine is submitting them. reCAPTCHA sets its own cookies and shares information with Google, and Google’s privacy policy and terms of service apply to that. We also load our typeface from Google Fonts, which means Google receives the network request your browser makes for it.

Who else handles your information

We share your information where it is necessary to deliver the programme you have applied for — which includes the exchange programme sponsors and the prospective host employers who make placement decisions — and where we are required to by law.

We also rely on service providers to run our systems:

• DigitalOcean — hosts our website, database and uploaded files.

• SendGrid — delivers the emails we send you.

• Google — provides reCAPTCHA and the site’s typeface.

These providers process information on our instructions. Some of them, and some programme sponsors and employers, are outside Jamaica, so your information may be stored or handled abroad.

How long we keep it

We keep your information for as long as we need it to provide the programme and to meet our legal obligations, and then we remove it or strip it of anything that identifies you. If you would like your records removed sooner, ask us.

Keeping it safe

Traffic to this site is encrypted, passwords are stored in a form that cannot be reversed, uploaded documents are held in private storage, and access to applicant records is limited to staff whose role requires it. No system is perfect, but if something goes wrong that affects you, we will tell you.

Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the information we hold about you;

• correct anything that is wrong or out of date;

• delete your information, where we are not required to keep it;

• stop contacting you about programmes.

Email info@polarisja.com and we will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your request, you can complain to the Office of the Information Commissioner in Jamaica.

Children

Our programmes are for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has registered with us, contact us and we will remove the record.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and change the date at the top of it.

Contact us

Polaris Travel & Placement Services
Shop 19, Brumalia Town Centre
2 Perth Road, Mandeville, Jamaica
info@polarisja.com
876-677-0709