Test Accommodations Privacy Policy

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) approves reasonable accommodations regarding test accommodations for candidates who have qualified disabilities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) and who provide appropriate documentation in a timely manner. This Privacy Policy covers information that candidates supply to ICF when requesting accommodations on an ICF exam.

All accommodation requests and supporting documentation are confidential and will be treated as such in compliance with ICF’s privacy policy. ICF will only release personal and/or personal health information to authorized persons or organizations, on a confidential, need-to-know basis, specifically for the purposes of reviewing and making decisions regarding accommodations requests. This may include selected ICF staff as well as contracted external disability experts. Accommodations-related documentation will not be discussed with or re-released to any other third party. Accommodations requests and supporting documentation are considered personal health information, and as such, are not kept with other academically-related, demographic, or registration-related information.

Information We Collect and How We Use It

The information collected may include the following:

• Basic contact information.
• Medical information concerning the nature of your mental or physical impairment and how it limits major life activities.
• Information about how your mental or physical impairment affects your ability to take your test under standard conditions.
• Information regarding treatment, medication, devices, or auxiliary aids you commonly use, or plan to use while taking your exam.
• Your history of using classroom, workplace, and testing accommodations.
• A rationale for why the requested accommodation(s) is/are necessary and appropriate relative to your impairment(s).

ICF limits its need for information to only that which is necessary to make an informed accommodations decision. ICF may also use aggregated, non-identifying information for research and statistical purposes.

Disclosure of Personal Information

ICF may disclose your information to qualified experts, contracted by ICF, who assist in reviewing your supporting documentation and determining appropriate accommodations. Otherwise, sensitive information is disclosed only on a “need to know” basis to ICF employees, except where required by law. ICF does not disclose information about the nature of your disability to a test-delivery vendor except to the extent necessary to facilitate the delivery of the approved accommodations or for emergency medical or safety purposes.

Access, Data Integrity, and Retention

ICF does not return accommodations-related documentation or provide copies of documentation to candidates or others, so you should keep a copy of everything you submit.

ICF has implemented important safeguards to protect your privacy, including a secure method for transferring your confidential information to us via a HIPAA-compliant web portal. ICF utilizes security safeguards and incorporates administrative, technical, and physical safeguards over your data and systems to protect your information from loss, unauthorized disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction.

ICF retains (in electronic format only) your personal information and supporting documentation related to your test accommodation request for five (5) years, except as otherwise required by law. ICF may keep a record of the accommodations decision itself (but not the supporting documentation) in perpetuity, so we can assist you in the future if you should request verification of accommodations.