Privacy Policy

Westchester Community College respects the privacy of all visitors to our web site and does not provide any of our personal information to third parties without your permission, unless compelled by law or court order to do so, and does not sell any personal information to third parties for purposes of marketing, advertising, or promotion. However, the college reserves the right to share data with our marketing partners for marketing reporting purposes and for remarketing and retargeting college messages to individuals who visit our website or contact the college.

The following Westchester Community College Privacy Policy explains what information is being collected and how it will be used.

Endorsements and Accuracy of Content

Westchester Community College provides access to distributed and local networked resources as a service to the campus community and the community at large. The availability of networked information via Westchester Community College’s information services does not constitute endorsement of the content or accuracy of that information by Westchester Community College.Sections linked to this site are maintained by independent groups and individuals. The views expressed in these home pages are those of the page authors; comments regarding those pages should be directed to them.

Equal Opportunity Institution

Westchester Community College is an equal opportunity institution and adheres to the policy that no person on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or genetic information is excluded from or is subject to discrimination in any program or activity.

Commitment to Privacy

At Westchester Community College, we are committed to protecting your privacy and making it easier for individuals and businesses to interact with Westchester Community College. We recognize that it is critical for individuals and businesses to be confident that their privacy is protected when they visit www.sunywcc.edu. You can travel through most of www.sunywcc.edu without giving us any information about yourself. Sometimes we do need information to provide services that you request, and this commitment of privacy explains our online information practices.

Voluntary Communication

This policy is consistent with the provisions of the following:

Internet Security and Privacy Act
Freedom of Information Law
Personal Privacy Protection Law

Collected Information

When a party visits www.sunywcc.edu, Westchester Community College automatically collects and stores the following information about the visit:
• The Internet Protocol address of the computer that accessed the web site
• The type of browser, its version, and the operating system on which that browser is running
• The web page from which the user accessed the current web page
• The date and time of a request
• The pages visited and the amount of time spent at each page

None of the above-mentioned information is deemed to constitute personal information by the Internet Privacy and Security Act. The information that is collected automatically is used to improve www.sunywcc.edu’s content and to help Westchester Community College understand how users are interacting with its website. This information is collected for statistical analysis and to determine what information is of most and least interest to users. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and Westchester Community College is not authorized to sell or otherwise disclose the information collected from www.sunywcc.edu for commercial marketing purposes.

Information Collected from E-mail or Online Transaction
When email is received by Westchester Community College through www.sunywcc.edu, the College collects the e-mail address, the contents of the message, and associated data, including text characters, audio, video, and graphic information formats. The College responds to the e-mail address and the content of the message. The e-mail address is not collected for commercial purposes and Westchester Community College is not authorized to sell or otherwise disclose personal or corporate e-mail addresses for commercial purposes.

The information collected by Westchester Community College through www.sunywcc.edu, including volunteered personal information, is used by Westchester Community College for the purposes that may be reasonably ascertained from the nature and terms of the transaction in which the information was submitted.

Aggregate Information
The College may anonymize personal information, including website usage information, either by combining it with information about other individuals or by removing characteristics that may reveal individual or corporate identity. The College may use and share with third parties the anonymized information. The Personal Privacy Protection Law does not restrict the College’s right to aggregate or de-personalize personal information and share such anonymized information with third parties.

Information regarding minors (children under the age of 13)
Westchester Community College does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 or create profiles of children under the age of 13. Users are cautioned, however, that the collection of personal information submitted in an e-mail will be treated as though it was submitted by an adult unless otherwise stated, and may, unless exempted from access by federal or State law, be subject to public access.

Disclosure of Information Collected Through This Website
The collection of information through www.sunywcc.edu and the disclosure of that information are subject to the provisions of the Internet Security and Privacy Act. Westchester Community

College will only collect personal information through www.sunywcc.edu or email (See Information Collected from E-mail or Online Transaction above) or disclose personal information collected through www.sunywcc.edu or email if the user has consented to the collection or disclosure of such personal information. The voluntary disclosure of personal information to Westchester Community College by the user, constitutes consent to the collection and disclosure of the information by Westchester Community College for the purposes for which the user disclosed the information to Westchester Community College.

Westchester Community College may collect personal information from www.sunywcc.edu if the collected information is:

1. to be used to validate the identity of the user; or
2. to be used solely for anonymized statistical purposes.

Subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law, Westchester Community College may unilaterally disclose personal information collected from www.sunywcc.edu if the disclosure is:

1. necessary to perform the statutory duties of Westchester Community College, or necessary for Westchester Community College to operate a program authorized by law, or authorized by state or federal statute or regulation;
2. made pursuant to a court order or law;

Unauthorized Access (hacking)
Westchester Community College may disclose personal information to federal or state law enforcement authorities to enforce its rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to Westchester Community College’s information technology assets.

Access to and Correction of Personal Information Collected through www.sunywcc.edu Any user may submit a request to Westchester Community College‘s privacy compliance officer to determine whether personal information pertaining to that user has been collected through www.sunywcc.edu. Any such request shall be made in writing and must be accompanied by reasonable proof of identity of the user. Reasonable proof of identity may include verification of a signature, inclusion of an identifier generally known only to the user, or similar appropriate identification. The address of the privacy compliance officer is:

Director, Strategic Marketing and Communications
Westchester Community College
75 Grasslands Road Valhalla, New York 10595

The privacy compliance officer shall, within five (5) business days of the receipt of a proper request, provide access to the personal information; deny access in writing, explaining the reasons therefore; or acknowledge the receipt of the request in writing, stating the approximate date by which the request will be granted or denied, which date shall not be more than thirty (30) days from the date of the acknowledgment.

In the event that Westchester Community College has collected personal information pertaining to a user through www.sunywcc.edu and that information is to be provided to the user pursuant to the user’s request, the privacy compliance officer shall inform the user of his or her right to request that the personal information be amended or corrected under the procedures set forth in section 95 of the Public Officers Law.

Retention of Information Collected through www.sunywcc.edu
The information collected through www.sunywcc.edu is retained by Westchester Community College in accordance with the records retention and disposition requirements of the New York State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. In general, the Internet services logs of Westchester Community College, comprising electronic files or automated logs created to monitor access and use of Agency services provided through www.sunywcc.edu, are retained indefinitely. Information concerning these records retention and disposition schedules may be obtained through the Internet privacy policy contact listed in this policy.

Confidentiality and Integrity of Personal Information Collected
Westchester Community College is strongly committed to protecting personal information collected through www.sunywcc.edu against unauthorized access, use or disclosure.

Consequently, Westchester Community College limits employee access to personal information collected through www.sunywcc.edu to only those employees who need access to the information in the performance of their official duties. Employees who have access to this information follow appropriate procedures in connection with any disclosures of personal information.

In addition, Westchester Community College has implemented procedures to safeguard the integrity of its information technology assets, including, but not limited to, authentication, authorization, monitoring, auditing, and encryption. These security procedures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day operations of www.sunywcc.edu as part of the College’s continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as electronic transmission of information.

For web site security purposes and to maintain the availability of www.sunywcc.edu for all users, Westchester Community College employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage www.sunywcc.edu.

Cookies
www.sunywcc.edu uses technologies, including cookies. Cookies are text files placed on your computer by a web server, enabling the site to recognize you and keep track of your preferences. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by changing your browser settings. If you choose to decline cookies, some features on this website may not work properly.

Use of E-Mail
In spite of the good intentions of the college to respect the privacy of individuals, it should be understood that it is impossible to assure the privacy of e-mail. Not only may email be sent to someone other than the intended recipient (either through mis-addressing or forwarding), but email sent as plain text may also be intercepted as it travels over the network

The use of College resources, including computing and networking equipment and services, purchased with College funds, is intended for college business. While it is not the intention of the College to actively monitor communications or files stored or transmitted on College systems or devices, individuals must understand that under certain circumstances they may not have a right to privacy to such information. Such circumstances include, but are not limited to:

•compliance with legal requirements or process;
•investigation of a suspected violation of law; and
•regulation or College policy – to maintain the integrity of the College’s computing systems.

Freedom of Information Requests
Under the “Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)”, except as otherwise provided by federal law or state statute, all records maintained or kept on file are considered public records and are subject to inspection by members of the public. Email and any information collected in the course of visiting a web site are considered public records and may be subject to Freedom of Information disclosure. In some cases email messages about students may fall under the FERPA definition of ‘education records’ and therefore be subject to the provisions of FERPA regarding the release of the information and the student’s right to inspect and review the information.

Disclaimer
The Westchester Community College Privacy Policy does not apply to websites linked through www.sunywcc.edu. The user is subject to the privacy policy of the linked website.

Neither Westchester Community College, nor any agency, officer, or employee of Westchester Community College warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published on www.sunywcc.edu, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked to www.sunywcc.edu., and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from www.sunywcc.edu. does so at their own risk.

Westchester Community College reserves the right to revise and update its privacy policy at any time by posting such revised privacy policy on the Westchester Community College home page.

Internal, college-wide emails are to be concerned with college business. The College does not condone the dissemination of political or personal messages through college-wide emails, unless specifically approved by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications. In certain cases, if the messages are deemed to be connected to specific college events, clubs, or college-sponsored enterprises, such messages will be approved. All such messages must be approved in advance by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Wireless Statement
The College does not guarantee the security of personal information transmitted through its wireless network, despite the firewall protection.

Definitions
The following definitions apply to, and appear in italics, in this policy:

Personal information: For purposes of this policy, “personal information” means any information concerning a natural person which, because of name, number, symbol, mark, or other identifier, can be used to identify that natural person.

User: shall have the meaning set forth in subdivision 8 of section 202 of the State Technology Law.