Commitment to Privacy
SUNY Broome Community College values individuals’ privacy and actively seeks to preserve the privacy rights of those who share information with us. Your trust is important to us and we believe you have the right to know how information submitted through a college Web site is handled.
As explanation of SUNY Broome’s online information policy and practices and to assist you in better protecting your privacy, we provide the following privacy notice.
Privacy Policy
SUNY Broome Community College’s Information Technology Services department is responsible for the maintenance of the College’s networks, computers and storage systems. ITS staff routinely monitor usage data such as network connection times, CPU and disk utilization, security audit trails, and network loading.
Administrators, faculty, staff, and students using the SUNY Broome network information systems and/or the Internet should realize that their communications are not necessarily protected from viewing by third parties. Unless encryption is used, no one should send information over the Internet if they consider it to be private.
If, at any time, a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy is in question, SUNY Broome reserves the right to examine email, personal file directories, and other information stored on computers connected to the SUNY Broome network. This examination assures compliance with internal policies, supports the performance of internal or external investigations, and assists with the management of the college’s information systems.
In general, SUNY Broome stands that no information will ever be transferred from a user’s computer system or accounts to any other entity, without the users express written permission.
No attempt will be made to sell the email addresses of users who are listed in SUNY Broome’s computer information systems, or to provide addresses to any other company or organization, without the express written permission of the user.
Privacy Notices
The following information explains the Internet privacy policy and practices the college has adopted for its official Web sites. However, in legal terms, it shall not be construed as a contractual promise, and the college reserves the right to amend it at any time without notice. Privacy and public records obligations of the college are governed by applicable New York statutes, including, but not limited to, the University of the State of New York, State Education Department Internet Privacy and Security Policy, and by any applicable U.S. federal laws.
Site Definitions
College Web space includes hundreds of web areas with varying levels of college involvement and commitment as outlined below.
- Official College Web Sites
Except as noted, the information in this privacy notice applies to all official SUNY Broome Community College Web sites, which are defined as – the Web pages of college, departments, divisions or other units and any other sites specifically designated as official by a vice president, dean, department head or director. Official pages are generally recognizable by a standard page header and/or footer carrying the college logo, contact information and reference to this privacy statement.
- Unofficial Web Sites
Within the SUNY Broome Community College domain – signified by the address “sunybroome.edu” or within the range of Internet protocol addresses assigned to SUNY Broome Community College – you may find Web sites over which the college has no editorial responsibility or control. Such sites are considered unofficial and include, but are not limited to, the Web pages of individual faculty members or students and the Web pages of student organizations and other entities not formally a part of the college. While SUNY Broome encourages compliance with this Web Privacy Statement at such sites, in order to better understand the policies and practices under which they operate, please consult the privacy statements of individual sites or seek information directly from the persons responsible for those sites
The Information We Collect
The Web Privacy Statement speaks generally to the information collected by or submitted to official SUNY Broome Community College Web sites (see the definition above). Still the amount and type of information collected may vary somewhat from web page to web page. Therefore, in addition to this general explanation of policy and practice, the college encourages departments, divisions and other units contributing to its official Web pages to post, as necessary, more specific privacy notices pertaining to the collection and use of any personal information associated exclusively with those pages. Thus it is wise for you to read page-specific notices to ensure you understand the privacy policies and practices applicable to a particular area. If no further information is given, privacy is based on this document.
When you access official SUNY Broome Web pages, certain client information and essential and nonessential technical information (collectively referred to as access information) listed below is automatically collected. No other information is collected through our official Web sites except when you deliberately send it to us (for example, by clicking a link to send us an e-mail). Examples of the information you might choose to send us are listed below as “optional information.”
- Access Information (automatically collected)
Client information: the Internet domain and Internet address of the computer you are using.
Essential technical information: identification of the page or service you are requesting, type of browser and operating system you are using; and the date and time of access.
Nonessential technical information: the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our Web site, and the “cookie information” used to direct and tailor information based on your entry path to the site.
- Optional information (deliberately sent)
when you send us an e-mail: your name, e-mail address, and the content of your e-mail.
when you complete online forms: all the data you choose to fill in or confirm. This may include credit card information if you are making a payment, as well as information entered in other online forms.
The Way We Use Information
As a general rule, SUNY Broome does not track individual visitor profiles. We do, however, analyze aggregate traffic/access information for resource management and site planning purposes. SUNY Broome reserves the right to use log detail to investigate resource management or security concerns.
- Access Information:
Client information is used to route the requested Web page to your computer for viewing. In theory, the requested Web page and the routing information could be discerned by other entities involved in transmitting the requested page to you. We do not control the privacy practices of those entities.
We may keep client information from our systems indefinitely after the Web page is transmitted, but we do not cross-reference it to the individuals who browse our Web site. However, on rare occasions when a “hacker” attempts to breach computer security, logs of access information are retained to permit a security investigation. In such cases the logs may be further analyzed or forwarded together with any other relevant information in our possession to law enforcement agencies.
As indicated above, client information may be retained after transmission of the requested Web page and might be available for inspection.
Essential and nonessential technical information lets us respond to your request in an appropriate format [or in a personalized manner] and helps us plan Web site improvements. To expedite this process, some official SUNY Broome Community College Web pages use “cookies.” Usually a cookie enables the college Web site to tailor what you see according to the way you entered the site (i.e., if you entered by pushing a button identifying yourself as a student / faculty, your subsequent views of information might be tailored for student / faculty audiences).
We also use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our Web site. For example, we may determine that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our Web site, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out a particular registration form. But we do not disclose information that could identify those specific individuals.
- Optional Information:
Optional information enables us to provide services or information tailored more specifically to your needs, to forward your message or inquiry to another entity that is better able to do so, and to plan Web site improvements.
We use the information you provide about yourself or about someone else when placing a request for service only to complete that order or request. We do not share this information with outside parties, except to the extent necessary to complete that order or request.
We generally use return e-mail addresses only to answer the e-mail we receive. Such addresses are generally not used for any other purpose and by college are not shared with outside parties.
Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the purpose described without a clear notice on the particular site and without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.
Providing Information is Your Choice
There is no legal requirement for you to provide any information at our Web site. However, our Web site will not work without routing information and the essential technical information. Failure of your browser to provide nonessential technical information will not prevent your use of our Web site but may prevent certain features from working. For any optional information that is requested at the Web site, failure to provide the requested information will mean that the particular feature or service associated with that part of the Web page may not be available to you.
Our Commitment To Data Security
SUNY Broome Community College is dedicated to preventing unauthorized data access, maintaining data accuracy, and ensuring the appropriate use of information. We strive to put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial safeguards to secure the information we collect online. These security practices are consistent with the policies of the college and with the laws and regulatory practices of the State of New York.
How To Contact Us
Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies and practices, please call us at 607-778-5011 or send us an e-mail at webmaster@sunybroome.edu. If you wish to review or change information gathered about you via an official SUNY Broome Community College web site but you do not know how, the college webmaster will assist in locating the persons responsible for that site so that you may make your request directly to them.
