Last updated 7/7/2020
Use of the www.vcom.edu website is governed by the Terms of Use. This Privacy Policy states the website privacy practices for Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (referred to herein as “VCOM”, “we” or “us”) applicable to this website (www.vcom.edu). This policy outlines the information we collect about you when you visit this website, including the information you voluntarily choose to provide to us. This policy may differ from those of www.vcom.edu subdomains or other organizational domains.
This policy explains the types of information we may collect, or that you may provide when you use this website, and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information. By using this website, you agree to this policy.
Online profile updates
If you complete a request for information or mailing list form and share personally identifying information with us, this information will be used to provide you with the content you request. We may use your contact information to send you further information about us or to contact you when necessary. We will not sell your information.
Sending us an email
You may decide to send us personally identifying information, for example, in an email message containing a question or comment. We use personally identifying information from email primarily to respond to your requests. We may forward your email to VCOM employees who are better able to respond to you. We may also use your email to contact you in the future about our programs that may be of interest to you. If you sign up for one of our email lists, we will only send you the kinds of information you have requested. You may opt out of our mailing lists at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link within the email.
Device information
We may collect device-specific information such as your hardware model, operating system version and mobile network information. We may also collect information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access our websites such as IP address, geolocation information, browser type, date and time of your request, browser language or other information of this nature. We may use this information in an aggregate fashion to track access to our website. In addition, we may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide:
- To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our organization;
- To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it;
- For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information;
- With your consent;
- To comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, including responding to any governmental or regulatory request;
- To enforce our rights;
- If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights of our students, staff, faculty, administrators, community or others; or
- To detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
Cookies
Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer unless you block or limit them. We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our organization.
Cookies may be set by an organization other than VCOM. Since the cookie policies of these sites change over time, you should determine their policies by visiting the privacy policy pages of these sites directly. You may disable or limit cookies through your individual browser options, although this may reduce some site functionality. Open the “Help,” “Tools” or “Edit” menus within your browser to view instructions for disabling cookies. You may also manually delete any previously stored cookies by following instructions specific to your browser. Any information collected prior to cookie deletion may still be used, however we will not collect any additional information once cookies are disabled.
Some sections of our website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc., or other similar third party tools. We also use Google Ads and other advertising services. These services use cookies to help us analyze how users use our website. This information will be transmitted to and stored by the third party on its servers. The third party will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of this website, compiling reports on website activity, and providing other services relating to Internet usage. The third party may also transfer this information to other parties where required to do so by law, or where such parties process the information on the third party vendor's behalf. By using our website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google and other third parties in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
You may opt out of Google Analytics tracking use of cookies by utilizing the Google Analytics Opt-out browser add-on. Updates to your browser may affect the functionality of the opt-out add-on; check your specific browser for details. You may opt out of other interest-based advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out site.
Remarketing
We use advertising remarketing services which will advertise us or our website across other websites that you visit. Google and other third-party vendors may show our ads on websites that you visit after visiting our website, and our ads will be shown on other websites because you visited our website in the past. You can opt out of this remarketing campaign through the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out site.
Links to third-party websites
We may provide hyperlinks to other websites as a convenience. As per the Terms of Use, we do not control third-party websites and are not responsible for the content of any linked-to third-party websites or any hyperlink in a linked-to website. Moreover, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of third-party websites.
Web beacons and other technologies
We may use standard internet technology, such as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) and other similar technologies, to track your use of our website. The website and related communications may contain small electronic files known as web beacons that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain content and verifying system and server integrity). We also may include web beacons in our email messages or other communications to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon. The information we obtain in this manner enables us to customize our websites and to measure the overall effectiveness of our websites, content, programming, or other activities.
Information protection
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the appropriate use of information we gather about you, we have taken commercially reasonable steps to protect such information once obtained by us. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100 percent secure. It is possible for collected information to be disclosed without our permission or knowledge (for example, if an internet host is “attacked”, or is compromised by a virus). For this reason, VCOM disclaims any warranty or representation of privacy or non-disclosure of information collected through the use of our website.
Children and privacy
We do not operate websites or online services directed to children. We do not solicit or knowingly collect any information from visitors under 13 years of age. Do not use this website if you are not yet 13.
Changes to this policy
We may update or amend this privacy policy from time to time. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will post the revised policy on this page. The date this policy was last revised is identified in the policy heading. You are responsible for periodically reviewing this policy to check for any changes.
Questions about this policy
Your privacy is important to us. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, you can contact us at webadmin@vcom.edu. Additionally, our mailing address and phone number are available on this website.