Bridgewater State University values individuals’ privacy and understands its importance. This statement discloses the privacy practices for Bridgewater State University’s website www.bridgew.edu. In addition, this statement governs the use and disclosure of information collected on this website.
Information Collection and Use
If a website visitor shares personal information with Bridgewater State University by sending a message or filling out an electronic form, the information is used only for the purpose authorized. Bridgewater only collects information from within secure (https) pages to ensure the information transmitted is secure. The University is the sole owner of the information collected on this site and will not sell, share, or rent information to others in ways different from what is disclosed.
Log Files
When visiting www.bridgew.edu, the server records the Internet domain and IP address from which the website visitor accessed the site. When searching from within our website, the search inquiry is logged. Bridgewater periodically reviews log data to troubleshoot problems as well as to tune search results for greater relevancy. The University uses IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, troubleshoot problems and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. This improves usability of the website. Since IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information (PII), this practice does not result in the identification of your personal e-mail address or other sensitive information.
Sharing
Bridgewater State University partners with third party companies to provide services such as credit card processing. These companies do not retain, share, store, or use PII for any secondary purposes. These parties are not allowed to use PII except for the purpose of providing these services.
Third-Party Tracking and Advertising
The University utilizes third-party tracking and advertising tools such as Google Analytics and Google AdWords. These tools allow us to analyze aggregate visitor behavior to build more engaging content and serve ads to users on topics that may interest them. The tools collect non personally identifiable information about visits to the website and interactions with the institution. Bridgewater does not sell or rent the information collected.
These tools may collect the following non-personally identifiable information:
- Internet protocol (IP) address for your computer/device
- Internet service provider
- Website from which you arrived
- Operating system, device and web browser software
- Date and time of your visit
- Pages you visit on this site
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the website visitor’s device containing information about the visitor. Usage of a cookie does not disclose PII while on www.bridgew.edu site. Once the visitor closes their browser, the cookie terminates. For instance, by setting a cookie on Bridgewater’s site, the website visitor might not have to log in with a password more than once, therefore, saving time. Visitors who do not want this feature may disable cookies within their web browser’s preferences settings.
Pixel Tags
Pixel tags (also referred to as web beacons) are transparent GIFs that load when a website visitor goes to a page or email. Bridgewater uses the information collected to target emails and to serve internet-based advertising on third-party websites. For example, a prospective student who visited bridgew.edu may see an ad for Bridgewater while visiting a social media site. Visitors who do not want pixel tags to collect any unique information, may disable cookies within their web browser’s preferences and turn off HTML display in their email software.
Links
Bridgewater’s website contains links to other sites. The University is not responsible for the privacy practices of third party sites. We encourage our individuals to read the privacy statements of every website that collects PII. If you have any questions about Bridgewater’s privacy procedures, please send an email to webteam@bridgew.edu.
Title: Web Privacy Statement
Approved By: Raymond Lefebvre
Date of Last Revision: April 10, 2018