OU Web Privacy Statement

At Oakland University, we strive to respect the privacy of our website visitors because your privacy is important to us. Using the Internet should be a pleasant experience, and we want to help you make it enjoyable. This privacy statement describes what information we collect and how that information is protected and used with those ideas in mind.

Information Gathered
Websites you visit may gather information about you. Sometimes you are asked to supply information such as your name, address or email address. Other times processes built into the website gather information.

We may ask you for information to answer a request that you have submitted to Oakland University. An example would be your name and address for mailing or emailing admissions or employment information. Information sent to Oakland University via Web data entry may be read, filed, stored, forwarded, responded to or printed by Oakland University staff members for the purpose of answering and tracking your request. In some cases, the university may outsource the collection of information, such as with admissions or employment applications, and your information may be read, filed, stored, forwarded, responded to or printed by employees of a third-party vendor providing services under contract with the university.

You may be asked to enter your name, address, telephone number, email address or other information on an Oakland University website. This information may be kept and used for future communications.

The university may release your personal information to third parties under provisions of OU's Administrative Policies and Procedures. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act governs student data and information, and usage of website information must comply with this law.

Google Analytics
We may also use Google Analytics to collect site usage data and to analyze overall usage of the site. Google Analytics uses cookies to track user sessions so that it can collect data about how users navigate the site. The data collected never includes names, usernames, or email addresses. We are working towards anonymizing all IP addresses that are collected. However some individual IP addresses are currently collected on some of our systems, but they are not associated with individual users. You may prevent Google Analytics from collecting data by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser. Google has more detailed information on how your data is being utilized.

Collection of Other Information
Most information we gather does not identify you personally. We automatically collect information such as the type and identity of the Internet service provider you are using, your Internet protocol (IP) address, the time spent on the website, or the navigation path you took on the website. We use the gathered information to improve application performance, navigation, flow and content of the website to provide you with the best possible information service.  We may gather personally identifiable information when you are using your personal services.

Special Disclosure Cases
Oakland University may disclose user information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) Oakland University's rights or property, other Oakland University users, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. Such disclosures are processed in alignment with university policies, particularly the policy Oakland University Policy for Use of University Information Technology Resources. We reserve the right to use information to identify any visitors who refuse to comply with the Oakland University Policy for Use of University Information Technology Resources and to identify visitors who threaten our service, site, customers or others. The university may disclose information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.

E-Commerce Transactions
Some of our website features may use applications to collect data to facilitate an e-commerce transaction. In most cases, Oakland University uses an outside service with an approved banking relationship to process credit card transactions. All credit card information is encrypted and only the information needed to complete a transaction history is stored on our secure server. Payment card data are not stored in Oakland University systems and servers.

Public Forums, Directories, Chat Rooms and Mail Lists
This privacy statement does not protect you when you use Oakland University public forums. As a service to our users, Oakland University may offer directories, chat rooms, bulletin or message boards, or mailing list groups for our website visitors. Any information shared in a directory, chat room, bulletin board, or other posting or online discussion is public information and may be seen, disclosed to or collected by third parties that do not adhere to this privacy statement.

Other Links
The Oakland University website may contain destination links to other independently run websites for Oakland University student groups or organizations and to some third-party sites outside the "oakland.edu" domain. Oakland University is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such websites. These destination links are provided only for your convenience, and as such, you access them at your own risk. Any information you reveal on any such site is not subject to this privacy statement, therefore, you should consult the privacy policies of each site you visit. However, we wish to ensure the integrity of our website and its destination links, so any comments pertaining to any sites accessed through destination links on our website are greatly appreciated.

Security
Oakland University treats your personal information as an asset that must be protected against loss and unauthorized access. This website has information security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. We restrict access to our data center and server rooms to authorized personnel and limit access to personal information to those employees who have a legitimate business need to access such information. Despite these security measures, we do not represent or warrant that personal information will be protected against loss, misuse or alteration by third parties.

Privacy Policy Changes
We may change this privacy statement at any time by posting revisions to our website. Your use of the website constitutes acceptance of the provisions of this privacy statement and your continued usage after such changes are posted constitutes acceptance of each revised privacy statement. If you do not agree to the terms of this privacy statement or any revised statement, then please exit the website immediately.

Reporting Personal Privacy Issues
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, your personal information, the practices of this website or your interaction with this website, please complete the Contact OU form.