Hudson Valley Community College's Privacy Policy

Using www.hvcc.edu - Our Commitment to Privacy

At Hudson Valley Community College, we are committed to protecting your privacy and making it easier and more efficient for individuals and businesses to interact with Hudson Valley Community College. We recognize that it is critical for individuals and businesses to be confident that their privacy is protected when they visit www.hvcc.edu. You can travel through most of www.hvcc.edu without giving us any information about yourself. Sometimes we do need information to provide services that you request. In this respect, it is important that you understand what we do with this information and the steps that we take to protect your privacy.

Hudson Valley Community College does not collect any personal information (as that term is defined under the New York State Internet Security and Privacy Act) about you unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an email, completing online forms, or completing the online application.

This policy is consistent with the provisions of the New York State Internet Security and Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Law, and the Personal Privacy Protection Law.

Information Collected Automatically When You Visit www.hvcc.edu

When visiting www.hvcc.edu, Hudson Valley Community College automatically collects and stores the following information about your visit:

  • the Internet Protocol address of the computer that accessed our website
  • 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 webpage
  • the date and time of the user's request
  • the pages that were visited and the amount of time spent at each page

None of the above-mentioned information constitutes personal information as that term is defined by the Internet Privacy and Security Act. The information that is automatically collected is used to improve www.hvcc.edu's content and to help Hudson Valley 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 our users. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and neither Hudson Valley Community College nor any of its employees, agents or affiliates are authorized to sell or otherwise disclose the information collected from www.hvcc.edu for commercial marketing purposes.

Information Collected When You Email www.hvcc.edu or Complete a Transaction

During your visit to www.hvcc.edu you may send an email to Hudson Valley Community College. Your email address and the contents of your message will be collected. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats included in the message. Your email address and the information included in your message will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to improve our website, or to forward your message to another SUNY campus for appropriate action. Your email address is not collected for commercial purposes and neither Hudson Valley Community College nor any of its employees, agents or affiliates are authorized to sell or otherwise disclose your email address for commercial purposes.

During your visit to www.hvcc.edu you may complete a transaction such as an online application or any online forms. The information collected by Hudson Valley Community College, including personal information volunteered by you in completing the transaction, is used by Hudson Valley Community College and may be disclosed by Hudson Valley Community College for those purposes that may be reasonably ascertained from the nature and terms of the transaction in which the information was submitted.

Hudson Valley 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 email will be treated as though it was submitted by an adult, and may, unless exempted from access by federal or state law, be subject to public access.

Disclosure of Information Collected Through www.hvcc.edu

The collection of information through www.hvcc.edu and the disclosure of that information are subject to the provisions of the Internet Security and Privacy Act. Hudson Valley Community College will only collect personal information through www.hvcc.edu or disclose personal information collected through www.hvcc.edu if the user has consented to the collection or disclosure of such personal information. The voluntary disclosure of personal information to Hudson Valley Community College by the user constitutes consent to the collection and disclosure of the information by Hudson Valley Community College for the purposes for which the user disclosed the information to Hudson Valley Community College.

However, pursuant to the Internet Security and Privacy Act, Hudson Valley Community College may collect or disclose personal information without consent if the collection or disclosure is: (1) necessary to perform the statutory duties of Hudson Valley Community College, or necessary for Hudson Valley Community College to operate a program authorized by law, or authorized by federal or state statute or regulation; (2) made pursuant to a court order or by law; (3) for the purpose of validating the identity of the user; or (4) of information to be used solely for statistical purposes that is in a form that cannot be used to identify any particular person.

Further, the disclosure of information, including personal information, collected through www.hvcc.edu is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law.

Retention of Information Collected Through www.hvcc.edu

The information collected through www.hvcc.edu is retained by Hudson Valley Community College in accordance with the records retention and disposition requirements of the New York State Arts & Cultural Affairs Law. Information on the requirements of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Law may be found at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/mr_laws_acal5705.shtml.

In general, the Web server logs of Hudson Valley Community College, comprising electronic files or automated logs created to monitor access and use of services provided through www.hvcc.edu, are retained for one year and then destroyed. Information concerning these records retention and disposition schedules may be obtained through the Internet privacy policy contact listed in this policy.

Access to and Correction of Personal Information Collected Through www.hvcc.edu

Any user may submit a request to Hudson Valley Community College's privacy compliance officer to determine whether personal information pertaining to that user has been collected through www.hvcc.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 of Communications and Marketing
Hudson Valley Community College
80 Vandenburgh Avenue
Troy, New York 12180

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 when 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 Hudson Valley Community College has collected personal information pertaining to a user through www.hvcc.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.

Confidentiality and Integrity of Personal Information Collected Through www.hvcc.edu

Hudson Valley Community College is strongly committed to protecting personal information collected through www.hvcc.edu against unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Consequently, Hudson Valley Community College limits employee access to personal information collected through www.hvcc.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, Hudson Valley 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.hvcc.edu as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information.

For website security purposes and to maintain the availability of www.hvcc.edu for all users, Hudson Valley Community College employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage www.hvcc.edu.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by the user's browser on the hard drive of your computer. Temporary session cookies are utilized in certain portions of the www.hvcc.edu website.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this privacy policy should not be construed as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided through www.hvcc.edu.

Contact Information

For questions regarding this Internet privacy policy, please contact our privacy officer via email at privacy@hvcc.edu or by regular mail at:

Director of Communications and Marketing
Hudson Valley Community College
80 Vandenburgh Avenue
Troy, New York 12180

Definitions

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

Personal Information: shall have the same meaning as set forth in the Internet Security and Privacy Act, State Technology Law, Section 202(5) as follows: 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 same meaning as set forth in the Internet Security and Privacy Act, State Technology Law, Section 202(8) as follows: Any natural person who uses the Internet to access a state agency website.

(Policy Date - 07/18/2002)