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Data Privacy & Legal Notice - Columbus State University

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Legal Affairs, Ethics and Compliance Division

Data Privacy & Legal Notice

This Notice establishes Columbus State University's ("CSU") data privacy and legal notice with respect to the gathering and dissemination of information we obtain from you on CSU's websites located at columbusstate.edu ("Site") and with any applicable privacy standards and legal requirements in regard to the data collected.

CSU is the operator of this Site, although software, hosting and other functions may be provided by third parties ("Service Providers"). This Data Privacy and Legal Notice ("Notice") describes the type of information CSU and its Service Providers collect from visitors to this Site, what we do with that information, and how visitors can update and control the use of information collected by this Site.

This Notice does not necessarily describe information collection policies on other sites, such as separate sites operated by our Service Providers that CSU does not control. Many of the resources linked from CSU's site are not maintained by CSU. CSU cannot monitor all linked resources, only those pages that fall directly within USG's World Wide Web structure. CSU is in no way responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these linked resources, and the statements, views, and opinions expressed therein are neither endorsed by nor do they necessarily reflect the opinion of CSU. Any links to non-CSU information or resources are provided as a courtesy. They are not intended to endorse nor do they constitute an endorsement by CSU of the linked materials.

This Notice may be changed from time to time and without notice. Continued use of the Site after any such changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms. If you do not agree to abide by these new terms or any future terms, please do not use the Site. This site is not directed to children under 13 years of age, and children under 13 years of age shall not use this Site to submit any personal information about themselves. (In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA").)

Information Collected

When visiting the Site, CSU may collect certain routing information, including, but not limited to, the Internet Protocol ("IP") address of your originating Internet Service Provider ("ISP"), and information provided by "cookies" stored on your hard drive. USG may also collect aggregate information about the use of the Site, including, but not limited to, which pages are most frequently visited, how many visitors the Site receives daily, and how long visitors stay on each page. CSU may disclose and publish aggregate information on an aggregate basis to any party through any means, but such aggregate information will not disclose any personal information. Any information collected through this Site may also be used in aggregate by system administrators in the administration of the Site. This information helps CSU understand aggregate uses of the site, track usage trends, and improve services. Visitors may also be required to provide certain personal information in order to access various features and information on the Site. Such information may include, among other things, name, address, and phone number. If you do not want to provide such information, you may choose not to access those features of the Site. Any personal information that you choose to provide through the Site will be protected in accordance with the provisions of this Notice. If you have specific questions regarding the collection and use of your personal data, please submit a Data Subject Request.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data that may be stored by a Web browser. Cookies are often used to remember information about preferences and pages visited. This information is stored for visitor's convenience and also may be used in the aggregate to monitor and enhance the Site. For example, when you visit some sites on the Web you might see a "Welcome Back" message. The first time you visited the site a cookie may have been set on your computer; when you return, the cookie is read again. You can refuse to accept cookies, disable cookies, and/or remove cookies from your hard drive. However, if you do not accept cookies from the Site, you may lose access to the Site or experience decreased performance of the Site.

Security and Accuracy of Confidential Information

CSU does its best to reasonably ensure that the personal information obtained from you is accurate. Visitors may review the information saved or submitted via the Site at any time up to the point when it is purged. In the event that there is an error in your personal information, we will correct the information upon your request.

We have put in place reasonable physical, technical, and administrative safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access to our use of the information collected online. While we strive to protect visitor's personal information by encryption and other means, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of the information you transmit to us, and if you choose to use the Site, you do so at your own risk.

Please keep in mind that any information you disclose on our Site can be collected and used by visitors to the Site. If you post any data within a public forum on any CSU websites that data is now public.

Sharing of Information

CSU is committed to maintaining the privacy of your personal information. CSU does not actively share personal information gathered from the Site. However, there may be some instances in which CSU will need to do so as required by law (including but not limited to the Georgia Open Records Act), as necessary to protect CSU interests, and/or with Service Providers acting on CSU's behalf. CSU also complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"), which generally prohibits (with some exceptions) the release of education records without student permission. CSU's FERPA information.

Questions

If you have questions about this Notice or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent or if you wish to correct information held by CSU, please contact us at dataprivacy@columbusstate.edu.

Privacy Notice

Lawful Basis for Collecting and Processing Personal Data

Columbus State University is part of the USG system of organizations and institutions of higher education involved in education, research, and community development. In order for CSU to educate its students both in class and online, engage in world-class research, and provide community services, it is essential and necessary, that CSU have lawful basis to collect, process, use, and maintain data of students, employees, applicants, research subjects, visitors and others involved in its educational, research, and community programs. The lawful basis includes, without limitation, admission; registration; delivery of classroom, online, and study abroad education; grades; communications; employment; applied research; development; program analysis for improvements; and records retention. Examples of data that CSU may need to collect in connection with the lawful basis are: name, email address, IP address, physical address or other location identifiers, photos, as well as some sensitive personal data obtained with prior consent. Please USG has its own privacy notice and policy posted on its website, which may be an expansion of CSU notices and/or policies.

Definition

Data subject is any person whose personal data is being collected, held or processed.

Most of CSU's collection and processing of personal data will fall under the following categories:

  1. Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by USG or third parties in providing education, employment, research and development, and/or community programs.
  2. Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.
  3. Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which CSU is subject.
  4. The data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes. There will be some instances where the collection and processing of personal data will be pursuant to other lawful bases. Types of Personal Data and Special Categories of Sensitive Personal Data, where CSU gets this data and why CSU receives personal data and special categories of sensitive personal data from multiple sources. Most often, this data comes directly from the data subject or under the direction of the data subject who has provided it to a third party (for example, application for admission to another USG institution through use of a common application).

Individual Rights of the Data Subject

Individual data subjects can expect the following, if requested:

  • Information about how CSU is collecting the data;
  • The CSU Data Privacy Committee Chair contact information;
  • The purposes and legal basis/legitimate interests of the data collection/processing;
  • Information about who received any personal data;
  • If CSU intends to transfer personal data to another country or international organization;
  • The period the personal data will be stored;
  • The existence of the right to rectify incorrect data or erase applicable personal data, restrict or object to processing, and the right to data portability;
  • The existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time;
  • The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (regulators, etc.);
  • Why the personal data are required and possible consequences of the failure to provide the data;
  • The existence of automated decision-making, including profiling; and,
  • If the collected data are going to be further processed for a purpose other than that for which it was collected

Note: Exercising of these expectations is a guarantee to be afforded a process and not the guarantee of an outcome. Any data subject who wishes to exercise any of the above-mentioned expectations may do so by filing or submitting such request at dataprivacy@columbusstate.edu.

Security of Personal Data

All personal data and special categories of sensitive personal data collected or processed by CSU must comply with CSU Cybersecurity Plan, as authorized by the Board of Regents Policy Manual Section 10.4 Cybersecurity: https://www.usg.edu/policies. Anyone suspecting that his or her sensitive personal data has been exposed to unauthorized access, report your suspicion to helpdesk@columbusstate.edu. Otherwise, questions concerning more general data privacy can be sent to dataprivacy@columbusstate.edu. CSU will not share your information with third parties except as necessary to meet one of CSU's lawful purposes.

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