Data Privacy Notice

Data Privacy Notice

Tri-County Technical College is committed to safeguarding and maintaining the privacy of your personal information. In providing its website and services, the College must collect and use (or process) personal data about visitors. This Privacy Notice describes practices related to the collection and processing of personal information when users visit the College’s websites.

For purposes of clarity, “processing” as used in this notice includes the collection, use, storage, transmission, disclosure, and destruction of personal information. This Privacy Notice applies to all information collected by the College and its third-party service providers, including but not limited to websites and applications that post a link to this Privacy Notice.

By continuing to use and interact with College websites and providing your personal information, you are accepting the terms of this Privacy Notice. 

Information Collected

In general, Tri-County Technical College collects and processes two types of information through its websites: (1) information voluntarily provided by you in order to receive requested information and/or services, and (2) information automatically collected upon your navigation to one of its websites.

Information You Provide

The College collects the information that you provide when you request information; use a device to interact with a website; create an account; log in; register for courses, programs or activities; complete a web form; add or update your account information; or otherwise interact or communicate with the College (including via its websites or other electronic means). The College then processes the information you provide.

Information Automatically Collected

When you use College websites, they automatically collect information about the devices you use to do so (e.g., computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.). The College collects your device identifier, web browser, IP address, and browsing information via “cookies” and “web beacons.” The College also automatically collects information about how you use the websites, such as what you have searched for and viewed on the websites. The information automatically collected will be associated with any personal information you have provided.

Cookies and Other Technologies Used by the College and Third-Party Service Providers

The College collects information automatically through various means such as cookies, web beacons, etc.

Cookies

College websites use cookies (small text files placed on your device) to keep track of information about your browsing preferences. Your decision to set your web browser to accept or disable cookies is a personal choice. However, without cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of the features and functionality of the College’s websites, including those related to your preferences.

Web Beacons

Tri-County Technical College uses web beacons to collect data from individuals who interact with Tri-County’s websites. These technologies, which are often small, transparent images, when loaded collect information about the requestor. This could include your IP address and the date and time a website was accessed. Web beacons work in conjunction with cookies, so if cookies are disabled, we are unable to collect unique information about you.

Processing Your Information

The College processes personal data for a variety of reasons, including to:

• Carry out operations and manage the educational, research, and administrative needs of the College community
• Improve its websites and services
• Respond to your requests or inquiries
• Provide newsletters, articles, service or safety alerts/announcements, event invitations, and other information that we believe may be of interest to you
• Request gifts and donations
• Analyze your use of College websites and perform other market research activities, such as interest-based advertising, targeted advertising, and online behavioral advertising in order to determine the content that would be of interest to you
• Comply with and meet legal obligations, enforce agreements, and protect the health, safety, rights, and/or property of the College and its community
• Prevent, investigate, and take actions regarding unlawful or criminal activity (including fraud or other misconduct), security or technical concerns, or unauthorized access to or use of the College’s data, users’ personal information, and College data systems

The College will process your personal data consistent with the consent you have provided for a stated purpose, or as necessary to advance the College’s legitimate interests; perform a contract with you (or for your benefit) or fulfill a request you have made; comply with a legal obligation; and/or to protect the vital interest of you or another person.

How Information is Shared

The College may share your personal data with its third-party service providers to provide services or to support the College’s activities. These activities include, for example, online course support for students, benefit services for faculty and staff, or study abroad and international educational or teaching opportunities. The College’s third-party service providers are not authorized to disclose personal data except as necessary to perform services on the College’s behalf or to comply with legal requirements. In certain instances, in order to provide services and to support the College’s activities, or as required by law, the College may share your personal data among other departments. In all of these instances, the information provided to the third-party service provider or other department will be limited to the extent necessary to provide the user-requested information and/or services, or as required by applicable law enforcement agencies.

Third-Party Websites and Content

College websites may contain links to other websites as a convenience to you. These websites typically operate independently from the College’s websites and if you decide to use these links, you will leave the College’s websites. The College is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such other websites and does not make any representations or endorsements about them. If you decide to leave the College’s websites and access any third-party website, we strongly suggest you review the privacy notices or policies of that third-party website, as the College’s policies will no longer govern. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and information gathering practices, of these third-party sites.

Your Personal Accounts

Although the College has security measures in place to protect the personal data you provide to it, you are encouraged to take steps on your own to protect your information by, for example, logging out of online applications, closing all web browsers after use of a website, and keeping your account and passwords confidential. You should be aware that any information you post or disclose in news groups, forums, message boards, and similar contexts may become public. You should always exercise caution before disclosing any personal data or other information in such contexts.

Retention of Information and Security

Personal data you provide to the College will be retained in accordance with the College’s record retention schedule, applicable laws, or until such time the service requested is no longer available. The College maintains administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of the information you provide when visiting or using College websites. The College implements appropriate security measures to promote the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of any information in the possession (or control) of the College. The College utilizes Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption technology for instances where Tri-County Technical College websites process your personal information. The purpose of TLS is to protect your information from being viewed by an unauthorized person. Additionally, some features on Tri-County websites may enable credit card transactions in order for you to purchase goods and services. Tri-County Technical College subcontracts the processing of online transactions to third-party service providers that comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Children and Minors

If you are a U.S. resident under the age of 18, do not provide any personal information on this website or through any of its features without parental consent. For more information, U.S. residents may consult the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. 

If you believe that the College has collected personal information about a child or minor, please contact us immediately at the address listed in the “Contact” section below so that the College can take appropriate action.

Contact

If you wish to ask questions, raise concerns, or make a report with respect to this Privacy Notice or regarding how Tri-County Technical College processes personal information, please contact us at webmaster@tctc.edu.

Updates to this Privacy Notice

The College, in its sole discretion, may modify this Privacy Notice at any time. We recommend you read the Notice periodically. If we make any significant changes to this Privacy Notice that increase the College’s rights to use personal information that we previously collected about you, we will obtain your consent through an email to your registered email address or by prominent posting on the College’s websites. If the College intends to further process collected personal information for a purpose other than that for which the information was collected, prior to that further processing, the College shall provide you with information on that other purpose with additional information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing.