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Last updated: December 30, 2019

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how �������� (“WCU”) treats the Personal Information we collect. Personal Information may be collected on our websites, via software applications, mobile applications, and information collected when accessing our Wi-Fi services (collectively, the “Sites”). This Policy applies to website visitors, current and potential students, alumni, candidates, employees, and any other user of services offered through our Sites, including any websites, software applications or mobile applications operated by or on our behalf. This policy applies to both online and offline collection, storage, processing and transfer of Personal Information.

When this policy mentions “WCU”, “we”, “our” or “us”, it refers to the institution responsible for your information under this Privacy Policy.

Certain affiliated sites, mobile applications, services, or partners may be subject to additional privacy policies or privacy disclosures relating to the relevant services provided. In the event of any direct conflict between any additional policies and this policy, the additional privacy policies related to each site will control.

Please note that WCU does not sell your Personal Information.

WCU may amend or otherwise modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please revisit this page periodically to check for updates. The date of last revision is shown at the top of this document.

PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE HANDLE YOUR INFORMATION. BY INTERACTING WITH WCU, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND THAT WE WILL COLLECT, USE AND SHARE YOUR INFORMATION AS SET FORTH BELOW.

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND PURPOSES

Prospective Students

• Contact Information
• Areas of Interest
• Web-based Data

Applicants for Enrollment

• Academic History
• Demographic Information
• Financial Information
• Employment History

Admitted Students and Alumni

• Background Check
• Biometric Data
• Media
• Sensitive Health / Medical Information

Prospective Job Applicants

• Contact Information
• Employment History
• Demographic Data
• Background Check
• Sensitive Health / Medical Information
• Academic History
• Web-based Data

Employees

• Biometric Data
• Media
• Financial Information
• Sensitive Health / Medical Information

Web analytical Information is automatically collected when you visit our Sites. WCU also collects and uses Personal Information that you provide to us voluntarily online or offline when you contact us, respond to an advertisement, request information, apply to the University as a potential student, employee or contractor, visit one of our locations, receive a photo ID at a WCU location, register for classes; apply for financial aid, order educational or other products and services, interact on social networks, apply to on our clinical partners, or use our career services, learning assessments or other interactive tools. While the exact nature of the Personal Information may vary depending on the type of response or service requested, throughout your affiliation with WCU, we may collect Information about you to the extent it is necessary and applicable for the intended purposes.

The information we collect through your inquiries, interactions, and the application processes is necessary to provide relevant information, to evaluate candidates for admission, employment or contracting, and to provide general services related to such inquiries.

Personal information collected through the financial aid application process is used to determine financial aid opportunities and eligibility.

Enrolled students and alumni may provide additional information to WCU to provide any services related to an academic institution and to coordinate with partners, health facilities, clinical placement facilities, transportation providers, potential employers, campus events, service activities, commencement ceremonies, and all other events an employee, contractor, student or alumnus may attend or participate in.

Photographs, biometric data, and background check information may be collected as necessary for security purposes and to comply with relevant clinical, licensing, and employment requirements.

WCU may combine all of the information we collect or receive about you for the stated purposes and may aggregate or deidentify your information for analytical, statistical, academic, legal, and business purposes.

We will keep your information only for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer retention is required or permitted by law.

We may delete or de-identify your information sooner if we receive a verifiable deletion request, subject to exemptions under applicable law. The retention period that applies to your information may vary depending on the services you use and your interaction with WCU.

To be removed from any future communication, email or otherwise, click here.

2. WHEN AND WITH WHOM WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We may share your information with:

Partners

We may share your information with third party partners. Depending on the partnership, we may share certain information including contact information (at your direction), identification and demographic information, transactional information, research and feedback, and social media information.

Social Networks

We may share your information with social media platforms, for example, if you click on a Facebook “like” button, the “like” may appear on your Facebook account. To control this sharing of information, please review and adjust your privacy settings for the relevant social network. Depending on your privacy settings and actions on such network, we may share contact information, identification and demographic information, user-generated content, device information and identifiers, connection and usage data, and social media information.

Service Providers

We engage vendors to perform services for academic and business purposes on our behalf and share information with them to enable them to provide us with such services, including career services, research and analytics, hosting, transaction and payment processing, marketing, fraud prevention, identity management, acquisition and other services. Service providers may use such information for their operational purposes in order to provide their services to us.

Federal, State, Academic, Law Enforcement and Other Authorities

We share any of the categories of information we collect, as appropriate, with these third parties to comply with reporting or disclosure requirements; protect and enforce the legal rights, privacy, and safety of WCU, our students and employees; protect against possible fraud or other illegal activity, and to otherwise comply with appropriate administrative and legal processes.

Sale or Transfer of All or Part of Our Business or Assets

In the event that WCU is involved in a merger, acquisition, transfer of control, bankruptcy, reorganization or sale of assets, or diligence associated with such matters, we may sell or transfer the information described in this Privacy Policy as part of that transaction.

3. YOUR RIGHT TO REQUEST DISCLOSURE

You have the right to request the disclosure of our collection, use, disclosure, and sale of personal information.  You may also request the disclosure of specific pieces of information.  WCU will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Those following request or disclosures may be made by calling 866-508-2684 or by e-mail to Privacy@westcoastuniversity.edu:

• Request Categories of Information: You may request that we tell you the categories of personal information we collect, the categories of sources from which personal information is collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting the personal information, the categories of third parties with which the business shares personal information, or the categories of personal information that were disclosed for a business purpose.
• Request Specific Information: You may request that we tell you about some of the specific personal information that we hold about you,
• Request Deletion: You may request that we delete information that we hold about you, you can either click here for such request, or send an email to Privacy@westcoastuniversity.edu. Note that certain information about you may not be deleted if required by law or relevant academic authorities. Also note that we may not be able to provide you with certain services upon a deletion.Prior to providing the requested information, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity through confidential information we have on file. We will respond within the time period prescribed by applicable law.
  At any time, you may also:
• Request to change or correct any incorrect data we have about you.
• Express any concern you have about our use of your data.

4. YOUR CHOICES

Cookies and Similar Technologies

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, �������� may use cookies to store information about you. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from our web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive.

Generally, we may use cookies to:

• Remind us of who you are and to access your information (stored on our computers) in order to deliver to you a better and more personalized service. For example, a cookie is set when you register or “Sign In” and is modified when you “Sign Out” of our services.
• Automate certain areas of the �������� websites or online forms.
• Estimate our audience size. Each browser accessing the �������� website is given a unique cookie which is then used to determine the extent of repeat usage, usage by a registered user versus by an unregistered user, and to help target advertisements based on user interests and behavior.
• Measure certain traffic patterns, which areas of the �������� website you have visited, and your visiting patterns in the aggregate. We use this research to understand how our users’ habits are similar or different from one another so that we can make each new experience on the �������� website a better one. We may use this information to better personalize the content, and promotions that you and other users will see on our sites.

�������� also collects IP Addresses, browser information and other computer information to report aggregate information to our marketing department.

You also have choices with respect to cookies. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. Please refer to your browser’s help page for further information about your options for controlling or monitoring cookies.

Mobile App and Connected Devices

Depending on the device you use, you may be able to manage your advertising and location preferences through your device settings. Many operating systems provide their own instructions on how to prevent the delivery of tailored in-application advertisements. We do not control how the applicable platform operator allows you to manage personalized in-application advertisements. You should review your device manufacturer’s support materials and/or the device settings for the respective operating systems for more detail on how to manage such preferences.

You can stop all collection of information by a mobile app by uninstalling the relevant mobile application.

Third-Party Online Services

WCU’s Sites may contain links to third party services. These other sites, even if cobranded with WCU may collect information about you and use this information in accordance with their own privacy policies and terms of service. We do not control those third parties’ policies or practices.  In some circumstances, we may link to some websites on behalf of others and those entities may place or permit the placement of cookies and other tracking technology. We are not responsible for these tracking practices.

5. HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION

We use industry-standard security and take commercially reasonable measures to secure and store your Information to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the Information under our control.

Unfortunately, no data transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. As a result, although we will utilize such measures, we do not guarantee you against the loss, misuse, or alteration of Information under our control, and you provide Information to us at your own risk. You should always be cautious in the handling and disclosure of your Personal Information and should avoid sending Personal Information through insecure online or other methods.

6. MONITORING COMMUNICATION

We may monitor and retain incoming and outgoing communications for quality assurance purposes, to assist with training our representatives, and to retain records of such interactions.

7. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

WCU, in some cases, offers programs where students and staff travel internationally to work and study with international partners. We may transfer relevant Personal Information to partners outside of the United States to provide appropriate services. Data privacy laws vary from country to country and they may not be equivalent to, or as protective as, the laws of the United States. We take industry-standard measures to ensure that reasonable safeguards are in place to the help ensure an appropriate level of protection for your information. By providing us with your information for these purposes, you acknowledge any such transfer, storage, or use.

Unfortunately, no data transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. As a result, although we will utilize such measures, we do not guarantee you against the loss, misuse, or alteration of Information under our control, and you provide Information to us at your own risk

8. UPDATES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect changes to our practices or the law. We will publish and date Privacy Policy updates on our website.

The date at the top of this Privacy Policy tells you when it was last updated. If we make material changes to the way we collect or use your information, you will be provided with appropriate notice, including, but not limited to, by posting the updated Privacy Policy on this website, and providing notice in accordance with legal requirements. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when the revised Privacy Policy is posted. By continuing to use WCU services following any changes to this Privacy Policy, you acknowledge you have read and understand the updated Privacy Policy, and you understand that we will collect, use, and share information as stated therein.

9. CONTACT US

For any questions in relation to this Privacy Policy please contact us at Privacy@westcoastuniversity.edu or WCU, ATTN: Legal Department, 151 Innovation Drive, Irvine, CA 92617.