Immaculata University Privacy Statement

This privacy statement addresses the collection and use of information from Immaculata University domain websites, applications and systems and applies to all subdomains (immaculata.edu), websites, portals (myiu.edu) and applications and explains our practices concerning the collection, use and disclosure of information. Information collected by Immaculata University will be used only as outlined in this privacy statement. Immaculata University is not responsible for the content of other websites or for the privacy practices of websites outside the scope of this notice.

Key Points

Key points of this privacy statement are listed here. For detailed information, please read the subsequent sections of this statement.

• Immaculata has legitimate business needs for collecting and processing personal information described within this privacy statement and collects two types of information via our websites:
  • Information anonymously collected upon a user’s visit to Immaculata University websites.
    • Web servers automatically collect technical information from user devices solely for internal use, such as to see what pages are most frequently visited. Cookies or digital pixels (small text files that websites save on your device when you visit the site) may be used for enabling websites to remember your actions and preference). Additionally, Immaculata University uses third-party analytics tools to collect information automatically upon user visits.
  • Information provided by the user to receive requested information and/or services.
    • We may ask you to voluntarily provide information voluntarily to make products and services available to you, to maintain and manage our relationship with you, to provide associated services to you, or to better understand and serve your needs. This information is generally retained if you continue to maintain a relationship with us. Providing the requested information indicates your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of this information.
  • You may opt out of our email communication by clicking “unsubscribe” links at the bottom of the messages and following the subsequent instructions.
  • You may opt out of text messaging by typing “STOP” and sending a text message. For mobile communication, Immaculata’s process is to obtain consent before texting, manage and record opt-ins and opt-outs, and re-establish consent when necessary
  • We may share aggregate, non-personally identifiable information with other entities or organizations. We do not share any personally identifiable information (PII) with other entities or organizations, except when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our website and applicable laws, or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website.
  • Students typically should not be required to physically turn their computers or webcams to conduct visual scans of their surroundings whether using online proctoring application or a web conferencing application for online exams.
  • We operate under the assumption that all visitors to our websites are over the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children who visit our websites. Immaculata will provide notice to and obtain the consent of the parents or guardians of students regarding any additional information collection practices specific to online programs.
  • We maintain commercially reasonable physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your personal information in accordance with data protection legislative requirements. While we are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to university websites and applications, and you do so at your own risk.
  • We will retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which we obtained your personal information and any other permitted purposes permitted by law, and in compliance with our data retention policies.
  • You may update the personal information that you provide directly to us at any time. If you would like to review, correct, update or delete personal information that you have provided to us or that we have collected automatically or from other sources, you may contact us at abuse@immaculata.edu.

Information Gathering

Immaculata University is a higher education institution and has legitimate business needs for processing personal information identified within this privacy statement. Continued use of our website indicates consent to the collection, use and disclosure of this information as described in this notice. Some technical information is retained in aggregate for up to 36 months. Personal information is controlled and secured and retained as necessary to provide university products and services. Immaculata University collects two types of information from users.

• Information anonymously collected upon a user’s visit to Immaculata University websites.
• Information provided by the user to receive requested information and/or services.

Anonymously Collected Information

When you view pages on our sites, the web server automatically collects certain technical information from your computer or device and about your connection (see list below). Immaculata University uses this information solely for internal purposes, such as to see what pages are most frequently visited as well as what applications and functions are utilized to improve our sites and application support. Additionally, Immaculata University uses Google’s Universal Analytics, a web metrics service, to collect information automatically upon a user’s visit. For more information regarding Universal Analytics, see Google’s privacy policy. Our server(s) and/or site(s) and system(s) collect the following information.

• The domain name from which you visit
• Internet Service Provider and Internet Protocol (IP) Address
• Aggregate information on pages visited
• Your browser type and the referring website
• The duration, date and time of visit
• Your screen resolution and operating System

Information Provided by the User

Other than the automatically collected information about your visit described above, or cookies and anonymous identifiers described below, we may ask you to provide information voluntarily (through forms or other manual input) to make products and services available to you, to maintain and manage our relationship with you, to provide associated services to you, or to better understand and serve your needs. This information is generally retained if you continue to maintain a relationship with us. You are providing this information wholly voluntarily. However, not providing the requested information (or subsequently asking that the data be removed) may affect our ability to deliver the products or service for which the information is needed. Providing the requested information indicates your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of this information as described in this notice. Information we may actively collect could include information volunteered by the visitor, such as interests, preferences, survey information and/or site registrations.  This information could be used to customize the content of our site specific to your inquiries. Examples of this information includes:

• Contact information, such as your full name, email address, mobile phone number, and address;
• Username and password;
• Any other information you choose to provide to us.

Cookies and Anonymous Identifiers

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences to improve the user experience. See the following examples of cookies:

• Customize web page content based on visitors’ browser type or other information;
• Record aggregate information collected by Google Universal Analytics;
• Enable logging in to certain sites, including completing the process of applying to Immaculata;
• News content uses cookies to anonymously gather statistics on stories you viewed;
• Improve the user experience and interaction with systems and websites;
• Fulfill your requests for products, services, and information;
• Prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities in accordance with Acceptable Use Policy.

If you prefer not to receive cookies, you may configure your browser not to accept them at all, or to notify and require approval before accepting new cookies. Some web pages/sites may not function properly if the cookies are turned off or you may have to provide the same information each time you visit those pages.

Choices Regarding Communication and Messaging

You may opt out of our email communication by clicking the “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the message and following the subsequent instructions. You may opt out of text messaging by typing “STOP” and sending a text message. Regarding mobile communication Immaculata’s process is:

• Obtain consent before texting
• Manage and record opt-ins and opt-outs
• Re-establish consent when necessary

Information Sharing

We may share aggregate, non-personally identifiable information with other entities or organizations. We do not share any personally identifiable information (PII) with other entities or organizations, except when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our website and applicable laws, or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website.

Use of Third-Party Services

Immaculata University websites use third party websites (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter) to help enhance features, provide a robust and personalized user experience, and analyze how users use the sites. The third-party tools typically utilize cookies but may also use pixel gifs or beacons. Cookies, pixel tags and beacons are used to obtain information about the device being used to view a webpage, including the time spent on the site, the user’s operating system and browser type, demographic data and similar information. The information generated via these cookies about your use of Immaculata University websites is transmitted to these third-party tools. This information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of the websites and to compile statistical reports on activity from our websites.

We may use Google Analytics to aggregate and track non-identifiable visitor information for the following business purposes: remarketing across devices with Google Analytics, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, DoubleClick (Google Ads), Google Analytics Demographics, Google Analytics Advertising Features and Interest Reporting.

Disclosure of Information

Other than sharing your information with other appropriate university personnel, business units and contracted partners to ensure the quality, functionality and security of our website, or to manage your relationship with us, we will not disclose personally identifiable information about your use of the site except under the following circumstances.

• With your prior written (including email) consent.
• When we have given you clear notice that we will disclose information you voluntarily provide.

With appropriate external parties, such as law enforcement agencies, in order to investigate and respond to suspected violations of law or university policy. Any such disclosures shall comply with all applicable laws and university policies.

Desk and Room Scanning During Proctoring

Students typically should not be required to physically turn their computers or webcams to conduct visual scans of their surroundings whether using online proctoring application or a web conferencing application for online exams. While proctoring is a tool to promote academic integrity, faculty members should carefully consider the necessity of using the software before implementing it in their courses and review other options to improve assessments.

Children and Privacy

Immaculata University is concerned about protecting children/minor’s privacy. A child/minor is anyone under the age of 18. However, this excludes enrolled university students under the age of 18; these students are subject to all applicable university policies, including the Student Conduct Code.

As a nonprofit higher education institution, we operate under the assumption that all visitors to our websites are over the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children who visit our website. If a visitor known to be a child (that is an individual under the age of 13, as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) sends an email to abuse@immaculata.edu, we only will use it to respond to the writer and not to create profiles or otherwise retain the information.

The university does provide youth programs, including programs that utilize online software programs and third-party applications, and in certain circumstances, it is required to collect and use personal information from parents, guardians or participants for the purpose of providing, operating, improving and promoting the programs. During the registration for such programs, Immaculata will provide notice to and obtain the consent of the parents or guardians of the student regarding any additional information collection practices specific to the online program. Any information is collected solely for the purpose of offering the program, and not for advertising the services of the third party or other commercial purposes.

Security

No data transmission over the internet or website can be guaranteed to be secure from intrusion. However, we maintain commercially reasonable physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your personal information in accordance with data protection legislative requirements. While we are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to university websites and applications, and you do so at your own risk. However, once we receive your information, we will use reasonable safeguards consistent with prevailing industry standards and commensurate with the sensitivity of the data being stored to maintain the security of that information on our systems. Immaculata complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws regarding the privacy and security of information. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which we obtained your personal information and any other permitted purposes permitted by law, and in compliance with our data retention policies.  For example, we will retain and use your personal information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

FERPA Rights 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA” or the “Act”) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. An eligible student under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution at any age. Persons who unsuccessfully applied for admission to the College or who are offered admission but never attended the College are not covered by the Act.

GDPR Rights

Immaculata University is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), individuals within the EU have rights regarding their personal data including: right to be informed: right of access: right of rectification: right to be forgotten; right of portability; right to restrict processing; right to object. A copy of Immaculata’s GDPR policy can be obtained from abuse@immaculata.edu.

Information Correction and Deletion

You may update the personal information that you provide directly to us at any time.  For example, you may review, correct, update, and delete certain account information by logging into your account.  If you would like to review, correct, update or delete personal information that you have provided to us or that we have collected automatically or from other sources, you may contact us at abuse@immaculata.edu. Before processing your request, we may need to verify your identity, in which case we may request additional information from you or send you a one-time use access code to the email address or phone number associated with your account.  We will use reasonable efforts to respond to your request promptly.  We generally will not charge a fee for processing or responding to your request, apart from in exceptional circumstances.  In those cases, we will explain the reasons and indicate the amount in question.  Should we need to refuse your request, we will explain to you the reasons for this.

Privacy Statement Changes

Immaculata University may make appropriate changes to this notice in the future. Any such changes will be consistent with our commitment to respecting privacy. This privacy statement will be updated as necessary.

Version: 1.1 Last update: May 12, 2023

Contact Information

If you have questions or concerns about this privacy statement or if you feel that a Immaculata University website is not following its stated privacy statement and communicating with the owner of said website does not resolve the matter, or if you have general questions or concerns about privacy or information technology policy at the university, please contact the chief information officer via email at cio@immaculata.edu.