Last Modified: July 15, 2016
1. Introduction. Bridgewater College (referred to in this Website Terms of Use and Privacy Policy as “BC”, the “College”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) encourages use of this website and other official BC websites (collectively, the “BC Websites”) as a way to share information and knowledge in support of BC’s mission of educating “the whole person.” This Website Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (this “Website Policy”) should not be construed as a contractual promise, and the College may, without notice, update and make additions, deletions, or other modifications to this Website Policy from time to time. We encourage you to review this Website Policy each time you visit the BC Websites so that you will know of any material changes. Each visitor to the BC Websites is referred to in this Website Policy as “you” or “your”. This Website Policy only applies to the BC Websites which can be accessed by the public and does not apply to websites or website pages where access is restricted to certain authorized users, such as students or employee of the College. Access to and/or use of these websites or website pages, and any services accessible thereon, may be governed by separate license agreements, terms of service, and/or College policies.
2. Additional Terms. Certain features of the BC Websites and some of the College’s other online products and services are subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by us (“Additional Terms”). If there is a conflict between the relevant Additional Terms and this Website Policy, the Additional Terms will control.
3. Unofficial Websites. Some websites hosted on BC servers or accessible via BC domain names are not official BC websites, including personal webpages of students, faculty, and staff, whether or not they carry a disclaimer. Unofficial sites do not represent the College in any way. Any content contained in or accessible from unofficial websites does not reflect the views of Bridgewater College and BC does not endorse, warrant, or otherwise take responsibility for the contents of unofficial webpages or of any material accessible from unofficial webpages.
4. Links to Third Party Websites; Third Party Services. We may provide links on the BC Websites to other websites that are not under our control (“Third Party Sites”). These links are provided for convenience or reference only and do not indicate (a) any affiliation between the College and a Third Party Site; or (b) the College’s approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of a Third Party Site or the organization or individual operating such Third Party Site, and/or (c) any of the information or content contained on such Third Party Site, including products or services that may be sold or advertised on a Third Party Site. We accept no responsibility for, and we expressly disclaim, any warranties or liability relating to, the accuracy, relevancy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of materials displayed on or contained in any Third Party Site. Your access and use of any Third Party Site is at your own risk. Your use of any Third Party Site will be governed by the terms and conditions posted at such Third Party Site, including any privacy policy posted on such Third-Party Site. Your rights and obligations with respect to any of the products, services, information, or other content available at any Third Party Site will be determined by the terms and conditions, if any, posted at such Third Party Site. We encourage you to review the terms and conditions and any privacy statements posted on a Third Party Site, or to contact the operator of a Third Party Site prior to using or providing any information on such Third Party Site.
There may be areas on the BC Websites where you can sign up for services or purchase products offered by third parties without leaving, or appearing to leave, the BC Websites (“Third Party Services”). Access to Third Party Services via the BC Websites is provided for convenience only, and we assume no responsibility or liability for any transaction you undertake with a third party relating to your access, use or purchase of any Third Party Services. Your access, use or purchase of any Third Party Services is at your own risk and you must look solely to the provider of any Third Party Services with respect to all issues, claims and legal matters relating thereto. You may be required to accept or agree to certain terms, policies or restrictions in connection with your access to, use or purchase of any Third Party Services. These terms, policies and restrictions do not impose legal liability or obligation on use. We encourage you to carefully read all such terms, polices or restrictions as they may impose legal liability or obligations on you to third parties.
5. Privacy Policy. The College respects the privacy of visitors to official BC websites, and the following information describes our policies regarding the collection and use of information through the BC Websites. This Website Policy does not apply to information we receive from you or others apart from the BC Websites.
5.1. Definitions. As used in this Website Policy:
5.1.1. “Personal Information” means personally-identifiable information (information relating to an individual that can be used to identify, locate, or contact that individual, alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information), such as: name, home or physical address, e-mail address, phone number, or personal characteristics (such age or date of birth, race, and gender), Sensitive Information (as defined below), or any other information about an individual that we collect through the BC Websites and maintain in personally identifiable form in combination with other personally-identifiable information.
5.1.2. “Sensitive Information” means Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, login or authentication credentials (such as passwords) for Third Party Sites or third party accounts, or other similar information.
5.1.3. “Non-Personal Information” means information or content other than Personal Information, including, for example, aggregated or anonymized information about our users and other information that does not identify any individual.
5.2. Children Under Age 13. The College is committed to protecting the privacy of children under the age of thirteen (13) years (each a “Child” and collectively, “Children”). The BC Websites are not designed for or marketed to Children, and the College does not knowingly collect Personal Information from Children through the BC Websites. If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a Child, we will delete that information.
5.3. Types of Information Collected.
5.3.1. Visitor Information. We may automatically collect information about you when you visit the BC Websites, such as the pages and other materials you access, the amount of data transferred, the links you click, the amount of time you spend interacting with each page, and other information about your interactions with the BC Websites, as well as certain standard information that your browser sends to every website that you visit, including your Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating environment (such as browser type and version, browser plugins installed, operating system version, regional and language settings, screen size and/or resolution, windows size, and page size), access dates and times, and referring websites. The BC Websites may use cookies, flash cookies, web beacons, and other technologies for a variety of purposes, such as saving and retrieving information about you, your visit, and assisting in displaying relevant information to you. We may use such technologies to share non-Personal Information with third parties or to retrieve Non-Personal Information from third parties. At this time, the BC Websites do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals sent to us by your browser.
5.3.2. Google Analytics. We may, from time to time, use a tool called “Google Analytics” (including Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting features) to collect information about your use of the BC Websites, which helps us provide content that is relevant to you and optimized for the devices that you use (such as smartphones and tablets). We respect and value your privacy, and we never combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with Personal Information. We use the information we receive from Google Analytics only to improve the BC Websites and our content and marketing. Google’s use and sharing of information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using Google’s Ad Settings tool. As an added privacy measure, you can use the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
5.3.3. Information You Provide. In order to use certain BC Websites, or portions of certain BC Websites, you must create an account (a “BC Website Account”). When you create and use your BC Website Account, you may provide us with a wide variety of information, such as your name, age, gender, postal address, physical address, e-mail address, phone numbers, messages you send us, and other types of information. We will store and use such information only in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
5.4. Use of Non-Personal Information. We may use Non-Personal Information (including, for example, aggregated information about our visitors or information that does not identify any individual) for any purposes whatsoever (including without limitation, advertising, marketing, enhancing, designing, or developing products and/or services, and research), and we may share Non-Personal Information with others, including our partners, affiliates, and our service providers.
5.5. Use of Personal Information.
5.5.1. We will only store and use your Personal Information as is reasonably necessary or appropriate in connection with your use of the BC Websites, including: (a) to contact you in connection with your use of the BC Websites, including to respond to your inquiries; (b) for authentication and identification purposes; (c) to process your application for admission to BC; (d) to provide you with notices about your BC Website Account and your application for admission; (e) to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide such information to us; (f) in any other way we may describe when you provide the information; (g) to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights; (h) to provide you with relevant advertising and promotions; (i) to ensure your compliance with any applicable Additional Terms and/or to investigate any potential breach of such Additional Terms; and (j) to protect our networks, data, software, or business interests. We may transfer, process, maintain, and store your Personal Information and other information in any country (or in multiple countries), including countries other than your country of residence or the country or countries where you access the BC Websites.
5.5.2. We are committed to protecting your privacy and we will not sell, lease, or disclose your Personal Information to any third party except as described in this Privacy Policy. We do not share Personal Information with our advertisers unless you opt-in to such sharing as described in Section 5.7 below.
5.5.3. In addition to using and disclosing your Personal Information in the manner described above and elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we may disclose your Personal Information:
5.5.3.1.to any person, entity or organization which you consent for us to disclose your Personal Information to;
5.5.3.2. to our affiliates (such as the Bridgewater College Alumni Association), our business partners and agents who provide hosting services, and website and technical support providers, as is necessary or required in connection with the operation, maintenance, and support of the BC Websites;
5.5.3.3. to any person, entity or organization in order to facilitate the provision of the BC Websites and to fulfill any requests for information or product orders you make, such as providing your name and payment information to our third party payment processor if you purchase any products that we may offer from time to time;
5.5.3.4. to comply with any legal requirements, subpoena, discovery requests, or court orders, to defend any legal or administrative proceedings, or as we believe in good faith is necessary to comply with any laws or legal requirements;
5.5.3.5. as we believe is necessary or appropriate in an emergency situation, including without limitation, to prevent criminal activity, personal injury or property damage;
5.5.3.6. to law enforcement, financial institutions, or other appropriate authorities in connection with any investigation of suspected criminal or fraudulent activity by any person or entity; and
5.5.3.7. if we believe it is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of the College, our affiliates (such as the Bridgewater College Alumni Association), our students, staff, or faculty, or other third parties.
5.6. Opt-In Sharing Features. We will not knowingly disclose your Personal Information to a third party if we know or have reason to believe that the third party will use your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes, unless you choose to opt-in to such sharing.
5.7. Security. We have implemented measures designed to secure your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. You are responsible for safeguarding the username and password associated with your BC Website Account and notifying us immediately if you suspect your username and password or your BC Website Account have been compromised. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information transmitted to or through the BC Websites. Any transmission of Personal Information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained in the BC Websites.
5.8. Third Party Sites; Third Party Services. The terms of this Privacy Policy only apply to the BC Websites and not to any Third Party Sites which may be linked to or which you can access from the BC Websites. We have no control over how any of your information may be collected or used by the owner or operator of any Third Party Site, and we strongly encourage you to carefully read any privacy policy posted on a third Party site before providing any of your information while visiting such Third Party Site. Further, third parties may collect information from you in connection with your access, use or purchase of Third Party Services and this Privacy Policy does not apply to such information or how it may be used by the third party provider of such Third Party Services. Third parties who offer Third Party Services may have a separate privacy policy governing how they collect and use your information and we encourage you to carefully read any such privacy policy before accessing, using or purchasing any Third Party Services.
5.9. Access to and Change of Personal Information. You may contact us at any time to: (a) request the removal of the Personal Information you provided to us from our databases; and (b) update your Personal Information. However, certain information associated with financial transactions and student records may be retained permanently for legal, tax, and business reasons. In addition, because certain Personal Information may be necessary to provide the BC Websites to you, you understand that the removal of that Personal Information may require us to delete your BC Website Account. When your Personal Information is updated or deleted, copies of such information may remain in our backups for a period of time.
6. Intellectual Property. All intellectual property associated with, or incorporated within, the BC Websites and the content available on the BC Websites, including without limitation, all articles, photos, and other media and documents (each, a “Work”), together with all Intellectual Property Rights (as defined below) therein and thereto are owned by BC (or the third party owners thereof). This Website Policy does not grant to you, and you shall not acquire, any right, title, or interest in and to the BC Websites, any Work, any content available on the BC Websites, or any Intellectual Property Rights associated with any of the foregoing, except for the following limited license: BC grants you a personal, non-commercial, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable license to access and make personal use of the BC Websites. This limited license includes the right to download and/or print each Work that is made available for printing or downloading on the BC Websites for your personal use. You may not use any Work in any manner that suggests an association between the College and any other person, entity, or organization. You may not (a) upload or post any of the materials on the BC Websites to any other website, or (b) publicly make available, display, distribute, or perform any of the materials on the BC Websites, or (c) engage in hotlinking with respect to any materials on the BC Websites. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the College may terminate the foregoing limited license at any time, and for any reason, upon notice to you. As used in this Website Policy, “Intellectual Property Rights” means intellectual property rights arising from or in respect of the following, whether protected, created or arising under the laws of the United States or any other jurisdiction: (i) fictional business names, trade names, company and corporate names, trademarks and service marks (whether registered or unregistered, including any applications for registration of any of the foregoing), logos, Internet domain names, and trade dress rights, together with the goodwill associated with any of the foregoing (collectively, “Marks”); (ii) inventions, patent applications, and patents issued therefrom in the United States and in all other countries, including all continuations, divisionals, continuations-in-part, inventions registrations, re-examinations, registrations, renewals, utility models, reissues and the like corresponding thereto (collectively, “Patents”); (iii) copyrights and registrations and applications therefor (collectively, “Copyrights”); (iv) proprietary and confidential information which constitute trade secrets, such as proprietary and confidential know-how, inventions, discoveries, concepts, ideas, methods, processes, designs, formulae, technical data, drawings, specifications, and data bases in each case excluding any of the foregoing to the extent the rights therein comprise or are protected by Copyrights or Patents (collectively, “Trade Secrets”); (v) publicity rights, including without limitation the right to use a Person’s name, image, photo, portrait, voice, sound-alike, likeness, and persona for advertising, marketing, promotional, trade, business, and commercial purposes (collectively, “Publicity Rights”); and (vi) moral rights and privacy rights (collectively, “Other IP Rights”).
7. Claims of Intellectual Property Infringement.
7.1. Generally. The College respects the Intellectual Property Rights of others, and we expect each visitor of the BC Websites to do the same. We take claims of infringement of Intellectual Property Rights seriously, and we will respond appropriately to any such claims that content on the BC Websites infringes a third party’s Intellectual Property Rights (“Infringing Content”).
7.2. Reporting Claims of Copyright Infringement. If you believe that any of your copyrighted works are improperly posted, displayed, or accessible on the BC Websites, you may request the removal of such works as described in BC’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Take-Down Policy, located at: https://www.bridgewater.edu/legal/dmca-take-down-policy (the “DMCA Take-Down Policy”).
7.3. Reporting Claims of Other Intellectual Property Infringement. If you believe any content accessible on or through the BC Websites infringes your Intellectual Property Rights (other than your copyrights), you may request removal of such content (or access thereto) from the BC Websites by submitting written notification to the College’s Intellectual Property Agent (identified in the DMCA Take-Down Policy). The written notice (an “Infringement Notice”) must include all of the following:
- Your physical or electronic signature.
- Identification and description of the Intellectual Property Rights you believe to have been infringed. If you are reporting a claim of trademark infringement, your written notice must identify the exact trademark, service mark, or other mark (and if the mark is anything other than standard characters, you must include a copy of the mark), a description of the goods or services for which you believe you have trademark rights, the registration number and office of registration (if applicable), and a description of the reason why you believe the content (“Alleged Infringing Content”)causes a likelihood of confusion with or dilution of your mark.
- Identification of the Alleged Infringing Content you believe to be infringing in a sufficiently precise manner to allow us to locate it. Adequate information by which we can contact you (such as your name, mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail address).
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the Alleged Infringing Content is not authorized by the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights, the owner’s agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in the written notice is accurate.
- A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you are the authorized owner of the Intellectual Property Rights or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Upon receipt of an Infringement Notice, we may act in any manner that we deem reasonable and appropriate, including without limitation, temporarily or permanently removing the Alleged Infringing Content described in such Infringement Notice.
8. Disclaimer of Warranties. Your use of the BC Websites is at your own risk, and the BC Websites and all content and information available on or through the BC Websites (including all Works) are provided “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS” and “AS AVAILABLE,” without any warranties or conditions whatsoever, to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law. While we will make reasonable efforts to provide accurate and timely information and content on the BC Websites, you should not assume that any content or information provided (including any Work) is always up-to-date, accurate, or complete, or that the BC Websites contain all of the relevant information available. We make no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the BC Websites or of any Work or other content or information on the BC Websites, and we disclaim any and all responsibility or liability related thereto. Your use of, and reliance upon, any Work and any other content and information on the BC Websites is at your sole risk. we expressly disclaim all warranties, express or implied, relating to THE BC WEBSITES and all content and information available on OR THROUGH THE BC WEBSITES (including all Works) to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, including without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
9. Contacting Us. You may contact us by mail at: 402 East College Street, Bridgewater, VA 22812 or by phone at: (540) 828-8000.
