Web Site Privacy Policy

The following policy applies to users of hostos.cuny.edu and is intended to explain what types of information is gathered from users and how that information is used. CUNY employees should also refer to the CUNY Computer User Policy which outlines CUNY's internal policy for the use and protection of CUNY computer resources.

The City University of New York (CUNY) is committed to respecting your privacy. As an unregistered user, you can visit most of cuny.edu without revealing any personal information. However, in order to personalize your view of our site and gain access to certain information systems, you must register and provide some personal information. We do not collect any personal information about you unless you provide that information voluntarily. Any personal information you choose to provide us will only be used by CUNY to conduct official CUNY business. CUNY does not sell, rent, loan, trade or lease personal information collected on this site.

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.

To protect your privacy and prevent unauthorized use, please keep your IDs and passwords in a secure place. Also, whenever you use CUNY systems from a public workstation, be sure to logout of the systems and close all web browser windows before you leave the public workstation.

INFORMATION COLLECTED AND STORED AUTOMATICALLY

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of text placed on your computer by a web server. We occasionally use ''session'' cookies on some parts of cuny.edu to enhance your experience of the site and to help you move through it easily. Session cookies created on your computer by CUNY servers do not contain personal information. We may use a session cookie to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. Session cookies are temporary and are automatically deleted during operation of your browser or when your browser is closed.

If you register to personalize cuny.edu you will be asked for permission to store a ''persistent'' cookie on your computer's hard drive. This permanent cookie will allow the web site to recognize you and your access privileges when you visit again, and to tailor the information presented to you. CUNY uses persistent cookies only with your permission.

Most web browsers may be customized to refuse new cookies or delete existing cookies. Rejecting or deleting cookies may limit your ability to take advantage of some features of this web site and could result in the loss of any customized setting.

Logs and Network Monitoring

We maintain log files of all access to cuny.edu and also monitor network traffic for purposes of site management and security. We use this information to help diagnose problems with the server and to carry out other administrative tasks. We also use log analysis tools for such purposes as creating summary statistics to determine which information is of most interest to users, identifying system problem areas, and determining technical requirements. The following information is typically collected in these files:

• the Internet Protocol address and domain name of your Internet Service Provider and/or computer, if your computer has an IP address assigned directly to it;
• the type of browser and operating system you use;
• the date and time you visited cuny.edu;
• the web pages or services you accessed at cuny.edu and amount of time spent at each page; and
• the web page from which you accessed cuny.edu and from which any page on this site was linked.

None of the foregoing information is deemed to constitute personal information by the New York State Internet Privacy and Security Act.

INFORMATION COLLECTED BY E-MAIL AND ONLINE TRANSACTIONS

If you send us an e-mail, we will collect your e-mail address and the contents of your message. We will use your e-mail address and the information included in your message to respond to you, to address the issues you identify, and to improve this web site. We may also use your e-mail address to notify you about updates, services, special events or activities offered by CUNY or its colleges. If you would prefer not to receive e-mail or other communications from CUNY, contact us at webmaster@hostos.cuny.edu.

If you complete a transaction such as an online application or an information request form, we will collect the information, including personal information, that you volunteered in completing the transaction. We will use this information only for the purposes for which the transaction was intended.

We may redirect your e-mail message or information you provided through an online transaction to a CUNY office other than the one which originally received the message or information in order to better respond to you.

The information we collect is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video and graphic information formats included in the message or transaction.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. You are cautioned, however, that we will treat personal information submitted in an e-mail as though it was submitted by an adult, and it may, unless exempted from access by federal or state law, be subject to public access.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE

We may collect or disclose personal information without your consent if the collection or disclosure is:

• necessary to perform CUNY's statutory duties or necessary to operate a program authorized by law, or authorized by state or federal statute or regulation;

• made pursuant to a court order or by law;

• for the purpose of validating your identity; or

• of information to be used solely for statistical purposes that is in the form that cannot be used to identify any particular person.

Further, the disclosure of information, including personal information, collected through this website is subject to the provisions of the U.S. Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act and New York State's Freedom of Information Law.

We may also disclose personal information to federal or state law enforcement authorities to enforce CUNY's rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to CUNY's information technology assets.

RETENTION OF INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE

We retain the information collected through this web site in accordance with the CUNY records retention and disposition policy. The retention period differs depending on the type of information collected. Questions regarding the records retention and disposition policy should be addressed to:

CUNY Central Office Records Access Officer
The City University of New York
535 E. 80th Street
New York, NY 10021

ACCESS TO AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE

You may submit a request to the CUNY records access officer to determine whether personal information pertaining to you has been collected through this web site. Your request must be in made in writing and must be accompanied by reasonable proof of your identity. Reasonable proof of identity may include verification of a signature, inclusion of an identifier generally known only to you, or similar appropriate identification. The address of the records access officer is:

CUNY Central Office Records Access Officer
The City University of New York
535 E. 80th Street
New York, NY 10021

The records access officer will, within five 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 days from the date of the acknowledgment.

If we have collected your personal information through cuny.edu and that information is to be provided to you pursuant to your request, the records access officer will inform you of your 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

We limit employee access to personal information collected through cuny.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, we have implemented procedures to safeguard the integrity of CUNY's 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 cuny.edu as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information.

For security purposes and to maintain the availability of cuny.edu for all users, we employ software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage this web site.

LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY SITES

HOSTOS.CUNY.EDU contains links to, and may be linked from, sites outside of CUNY. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, terms of use, or the content of such web sites. A link to an outside web site from hostos.cuny.edu does not constitute an endorsement or sponsorship of such web site or its content.

CHANGES TO POLICY AND DISCLAIMER

We may change this policy from time to time, and reserve the right to do so without notice. 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 hostos.cuny.edu.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions regarding this privacy policy, please contact: webmaster@hostos.cuny.edu.

Excerpted from www.cuny.edu: http://www.cuny.edu/website/privacy.html

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