The privacy policy describes Catholic Distance University’s practices with respect to personal information provided to Catholic Distance University via the Application Portal, the Student Portal, the Faculty Portal, the Canvas mobile app, and when you visit our website. This Privacy Statement does not apply to your use of a third-party site linked to on this website. Please refer to the privacy statement of that third-party site to understand how they handle your personal information.

 

When and how do we collect your information?

Information You Provide to Us

Information is collected from you when you:

• Request information about our degree or certificate programs. Your personal information is used to answer your questions and to contact you regarding your interest in our programs. It is not shared with outside parties.
• Apply to become a student using our online applications. This personal information is collected and provided securely to our Admissions offices. Catholic Distance University keeps the information you provide confidential and uses it only for purposes related to your request. Upon your acceptance as a student at Catholic Distance University, our internal security policies govern the use and release of student information.
• Register for events (such as the Annual Gala) using online registration. Information such as name, email address, phone number, and physical address may be requested. If you pay for event registration online, we may also collect a valid credit card number, expiration date and billing address, which we will use for the purpose of the single transaction only. Credit card information is not stored by us but it is used by the third- party provider that processes credit card transactions on our behalf to fulfill your request.

Order and pay for products online at our online bookstore. Information such as name, email address, phone number, and physical address may be requested. If you purchase one of our products, we may also collect a valid credit card number, expiration date and billing address, which we will use for the purpose of the single transaction only. Again, credit card information is not stored by us but it is used by the third-party provider that processes credit card transactions on our behalf to fulfill your request.

 

Information Gathered Automatically

The following information is typical of what may be collected and stored automatically from all users accessing the website to browse or download information:

• Internet address of computer being used
• Web pages requested
• Referring web page
• Date and time
• Type of web browser being used

This information is used to assess what information is of most interest to users, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas. (For more information, see section on the use of Google Analytics).

 

Use of Google Analytics

Catholic Distance University’s website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use our site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website includes your IP address. This information will be transmitted to and stored by Google on its servers. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity, and providing other services relating to Internet usage, such as serving advertisements based on your interest in CDU. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf.

CDU may employ other similar analytics services from time-to-time; for specific information, contact us at cdu@cdu.edu.

 

How do we use your personal information?

To communicate effectively with visitors to our website, we may ask you for personally identifiable information that can include name, email address, or phone number. Catholic Distance University will never sell or trade personally identifiable information you voluntarily provide to us such as name, email address, or phone number, to other colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, or businesses unless one or more of the following conditions apply:

• We have your consent to share the information.
• We are sharing such information in response to subpoenas, court orders, or legal processes.

We use the personal data you provide to us to:

• Provide you with personalized service;
• Operate this website and understand its use for statistical purposes (number of site
  visits, average time visitors spend at the site, etc.) and security purposes;
• Manage and process inquiries, registrations, donations and other interactions with you;
• Send you information we believe may be of interest to you.

 

With whom do we share your personal information?

We do not sell, share, or otherwise disclose any personal information you provide to us through the Catholic Distance University website such as email address, name, or phone number, except as provided in this Privacy Policy.

We may share information that you provide us with third-party service providers who help us to provide our services and operate. As required by law, such sharing of information will be subject to an agreement with each such service provider, requiring such service provider to comply with data protection requirements. We use service providers, which may change from time to time, to undertake some of the following activities:

• Process payment;
• Operate our websites and other IT systems;
• Administer our e-mail lists;
• Offer publications or other products for sale on our site, for which in some cases you may automatically be directed away from our website to our third-party service providers;
• Comply with applicable laws and regulations.
• Conduct data analytics.

 

Additional Third Party Pixel and Cookies

When you visit our website, log in, register or open an email, cookies, ad beacons, and similar technologies may be used by our online data partners or vendors to associate these activities with information they or others have about you, including your email address. We (or service providers on our behalf) may then send communications and marketing to these email addresses. You may opt out of receiving this advertising by visiting https://app.retention.com/optout.

 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Catholic Distance University complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, better known as the Buckley Amendment or FERPA. This act generally provides that students have the right to access their educational records, and with limited exceptions, educational institutions cannot release educational records to non-school employees without consent of the student. In the event of conflict with Catholic Distance University’s online privacy policy, FERPA will govern.

For detailed information and procedures with regard to a student’s rights under FERPA, students may send a request to the Registrar, 300 South George Street, Charles Town, WV 25414.

Any student alleging failure of the university to comply with FERPA may file a complaint with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA), United States Department of Education, 4511 Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201.

 

Do we have security measures in place to protect your Personal Information?

Catholic Distance University takes steps to protect your personal information from unauthorized access. While we take reasonable measures to protect the information you submit via the website against loss, theft, and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. No internet, email, or mobile application transmission is ever fully secure or error free. Email or other messages sent through the website may not be secure. You should use caution whenever submitting information through email or the website and take special care in deciding which information you provide us.

 

Your Choices Regarding Your Information

Catholic Distance University will not use or share the personal information we collect on the website in ways unrelated to the purpose for which you provided the information without first obtaining your permission, and you can change your mind at any time.

If we collect your information and you are not presented with a choice, it indicates that the information you submit will only be used for purposes related to your request. If you wish to opt out of receiving communications from us, contact us at cdu@cdu.edu.

Catholic Distance University may use information you provide to us to inform you of changes to our website or to provide you other news and information that we believe would be of interest to you. At your request, Catholic Distance University will remove any contact information you have provided from its files. To make your request, email us at cdu@cdu.edu.

 

Updating Your Information in Our Systems

Catholic Distance University maintains and updates personal information that you provide to us. You may ask us to update and correct your information by contacting us at cdu@cdu.edu.

 

General Data Protection Regulation

An EU data subject is any person whose personal data is being collected, held or processed. We only collect and process personal data from EU data subjects if we have a legal basis which include:

• Legitimate interest We process your personal data based on our legitimate interests in communicating with you and managing your interactions with you.
• Compliance with applicable laws or performance of a contract We process your personal data as necessary for the performance of a contract or as necessary for us to comply with a relevant legal obligation (e.g. where we are required to make disclosures to courts or regulators.)
• Public interest We process your personal data for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest (e.g., the tracking of human rights violations.)
• Consent In limited circumstance we will use your consent as the basis for processing special categories of information or prior to sending you electronic communications.

EU Data Subject Rights

If you are an EU Data Subject, you have the following rights of this EU Data Subject Rights section. To exercise these rights, please email us at cdu@cdu.edu with a description of your request.

• Right to Access – You have right to access personal information that Human Rights Watch holds about you.
• Right to Rectification – You have a right to request us to correct your personal information where it is inaccurate or out of date.
• Right to be Forgotten (Right to Erasure) – You have the right, under certain circumstances, to have your personal information erased. Your information can only be erased if your data is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and we have no other legal ground for processing the data.
• Right to Object to Processing -You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information at any time, on legitimate grounds, except if otherwise permitted by applicable law, or to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. If you raise an objection, we have an opportunity to demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate interests which override your rights and freedoms.
• Right to Restrict Processing – You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal information, but only where:
  • its accuracy is contested, to allow us to verify its accuracy; or
  • the processing is unlawful, but you do not want it erased; or
  • it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, but we still need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
  • you have objected to processing of your data, and verification of overriding grounds is pending.
• Right to Data Portability -You have the right to data portability, which requires us to provide personal information to you or another controller in a commonly used, machine readable format, but only where the processing of that information is based on (i) your consent; or (ii) the performance of a contract to which you are a party.
• Right to Decline Automated Decision Making You have the right to not be subject to decisions based solely on automated decision making, which produce legal or significant effects for you, except where these are (i) necessary for a contract to which you are a party; (ii) authorized by law; (iii) based on your explicit consent.

 

Your California Privacy Rights

Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code permits California residents to request from a business, with whom the California resident has an established business relationship, certain information about the types of personal information the business has shared with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of the third parties with whom the business has shared such information during the immediately preceding calendar year. You may make one request each year by emailing us at cdu@cdu.edu or by writing us at Catholic Distance University, 300 South George Street, Charles Town, WV 25414.

 

Children’s Personal Data

Our website is intended for users of all ages. If you are under the age 13, we will not process any of the personal data that you may have submitted to us until we have promptly received the express consent from your parent or legal guardian. If this consent is not promptly provided to us, any data that you may have submitted during the account creation process will be immediately purged from our system to make certain that we are not retaining any of your data. For questions about our compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act please contact cdu@cdu.edu.

 

Information Collected From Other Websites and Mobile Applications and Do Not Track Policy

Your browser or device may offer you a “Do Not Track” option, which allows you to signal to operators of websites, web applications, mobile applications and services (including behavioral advertising services) that you do not wish such operators to track certain of your online activities over time and/or across different websites or applications. Our website does not support Do Not Track requests at this time.

 

External Links

Catholic Distance University’s website may contain links to external websites not owned by, or officially affiliated with, Catholic Distance University. Catholic Distance University is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

 

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or the practices of this website, please contact us at cdu@cdu.edu or send mail to:

Catholic Distance University
Attn: Director of Communications
300 South George Street,
Charles Town, WV 25414