Date of Last Revision: August 4, 2008
Meritus University is committed to protecting your privacy. We want you to know what information we collect, how we use that information, and how you can request that this information be updated or corrected. The University reserves the right to amend or otherwise modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please re-visit this page periodically to check for updates.
- Definitions
- Information We Collect
- Information Collected Automatically
- Information You Provide to Us
- How We Use This Information
- Student Educational Records
- Third Party Service Providers and Business Transactions
- Consent
- Withdrawal of Consent
- Marketing Information – Opt Out
- Our Security Measures
- Call Monitoring
- Internet Technologies Used
- Children's Privacy
- Links From Our Sites to Other Websites
- Privacy Policy Changes
- How to Access Your Information and For General Inquiries
Definitions
As used in this Privacy Policy, the following terms have the following meanings:
"Educational Partners" means our parent, the Apollo Group, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, and the educational entities any of the foregoing are providing services to.
"Financial Information" means specific Personal Information of a financial nature such as your credit card number.
"information" means any information collected and includes: "Personal Information", "Financial Information", "Web Analytical Information" or any other information collected from you through our Site(s).
"Marketing Information" means your Web Analytical Information and your Personal Information such as your name, address, e-mail address and telephone number that the University collects, uses and discloses for the marketing and promotional purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.
"Personal Information" means information about an identifiable individual and is more particularly defined or limited under applicable privacy legislation.
"Site" or "Sites", means the University's website located at www.meritusu.ca as well as any other University-controlled or authorized sites (including, without limitation, any third party vendor sites), regardless of domain name or IP address.
"University", "we", "us", and "our" refer to Meritus University.
"Unrelated Entities" means persons or entities that are not related to, subsidiaries of or affiliated to the Apollo Group, Inc.
"Web Analytical Information" means internet generated information automatically collected as a result of accessing our Sites. This information may be linked with Personal Information. If this information is linked with other information identifying you personally alone or in combination with other information, then such information will also be considered Personal Information.
Information We Collect
We collect various types of information through our Sites, when we talk to you on the phone and in person with University representatives where print materials may be used to collect information from you. Some of this information is collected automatically through various web and internet technologies and other information is collected when you provide it in response to an advertisement, a survey, a request for information, or when you register for our educational or other services.
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Information Collected Automatically
A non-exclusive list of the types of Web Analytical Information automatically sent to us each time you visit one of our Sites includes:
- IP address
- Collection Date
- MediaID (creative)
- Site ID
- Publisher Name
- Creative Size (728x90, etc)
- Connection Speed
- Is_rich (whether media is in a rich media format)
- Day of Week
- Time of Day (hour)
- Language settings
- Country (relating to IP address, if available)
- State (relating to IP address, if available)
- DMA (relating to IP address, if available)
- City (relating to IP address, if available)
- Domain (.com, .net, .mil, .org, .edu, etc.)
- SIC Code
Our collection of Web Analytical Information lets us see how users are finding, and navigating our sites, and it tells us which pages are visited the most often so we can make our Sites more useful and relevant. In addition, this information may be linked with Personal Information to accomplish the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
Information You Provide to Us
In addition to the Web Analytical Information automatically collected when you visit our Sites, the University also collects, uses and discloses Personal Information that you provide to us when you respond to an advertisement or survey, register for our educational or other services, order merchandise from us, request information regarding one of our educational programs, etc. The University collects, uses and/or discloses your Personal information when you provide it to us voluntarily. While the exact nature of the Personal Information may vary depending on the type of response or service being requested, the following is a non-exclusive list of the types of information that may be collected to the extent it is necessary and is applicable for the intended purposes:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Street Address
- City
- State
- Country
- Postal Code
- Address Type
- E-mail address
- Valid Day or Evening Telephone Number
- Confirmation of the age of majority
- Campus (based on postal code list)
- Apollo Institution interested in
- Current degree program of interest
- Current modality of interest (online, on-ground or Flexnet)
- Publisher Code (SiteID)
- Citizenship
- # of Previous Credits
- Military Affiliation
- Credits earned outside of Canada
- High School Diploma
- Lead Source
- Student Id number
- Credit Card Number
- Other Financial Information
Other information after you become a University student such as course assignments, marks etc. relating o your enrollment at the University and that may be required to be collected in the normal course of your studies at the University.
How We Use This Information
We use the information we automatically collect to help us better plan our Sites to meet your needs.
With respect to the Personal Information you provide to us, the University recognizes that by choosing to provide us with your Personal Information, you are demonstrating your trust in us and we take that trust seriously. We will not sell, rent or lease your Personal Information to others except as specifically described below.
We may collect, use and disclose Personal Information for purposes disclosed to you or apparent at the time of collection, and may collect, use and disclose Personal Information for the following purposes:
- to provide requested products and services;
- to respond to your inquiries;
- to administer promotions to which you have indicated an interest;
- for our internal marketing purposes which include, but is not limited to, using the information to refine our Sites, the delivery of our Sites and other content, sending you material about products, services, updates, etc. that we think may be of interest to you from the University or one of our Educational Partners;
- for sharing with our Educational Partners or any Unrelated Entities who are performing financial, marketing, or other educational and business services on our behalf.
- for selling, renting or otherwise benefiting from the transfer of your Marketing Information to Unrelated Entities who may provide you with offers or other materials that such companies believe may be of interest to you if you have consented to receiving such offers or materials;
- to manage our business and to improve the delivery of services and products;
- to analyze risk and business results;
- to detect and prevent fraud or to protect our legitimate interests;
- to pay for services provided to us, or to obtain payment for services that we provide to others;
- to meet legal, regulatory, industry self-regulatory, insurance, audit, security and processing requirements;
- to maintain business records for reasonable periods;
- and/or as may be required or permitted by Canadian and foreign laws and regulatory requirements applicable to the University, our Educational Partners or our affiliates, subsidiaries, agents and service providers.
If you have indicated an interest in receiving information from us at the time you register for products or services or otherwise, e.g. by filling out the forms that are available on our Sites or through interactions with the University's representatives, we may use your Marketing Information to communicate with you by e-mail, postal mail, telephone and/or mobile devices about products or services that may be of interest to you either from us, from our Educational Partners or from Unrelated Entities.
Student Educational Records
If you subsequently become a student at the University, your educational records will be handled as outlined in the University Calendar. To obtain a copy of the "Students' Rights to Privacy and Access to Educational Records" policy, contact: ppo@staff.meritusu.ca.
Third Party Service Providers and Business Transactions
As indicated in the previous section of this Privacy Policy, where applicable, the University may transfer your Personal Information to agents, mandataries or third party service providers (including Educational Partners of the University such as our parent corporation with a head office located in the State of Arizona in the United States of America) that we use to administer or provide products, services or information on our behalf. Because the University operates in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and Canada, some of these service providers may be located outside of the jurisdiction in which you reside, and your Personal Information may be collected, used, disclosed, stored and processed in these other jurisdictions for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might differ than those in Canada. While we require these agents, mandataries, service providers and affiliates to use your Personal Information only to perform the services we have retained them to provide and we take reasonable steps to ensure that your privacy is protected in accordance with applicable Canadian laws, please be advised that, by using our Sites, you understand that your information may be transferred across borders as described in this Privacy Policy such that the information will be subject to the laws of those other jurisdictions, including lawful requirements to disclose Personal Information to government authorities in those jurisdictions.
We may also use and disclose your Personal Information to parties connected with the contemplated or actual financing, securitization, insuring, sale or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets, including for the purposes of determining whether to proceed with such transaction or fulfilling any records or other reporting requirements to such parties. In the event of any actual acquisition, such information may be transferred as part of the transaction to the acquirer.
Consent
Consent to the collection, use and disclosure of Marketing Information and Personal Information may be given by you in various ways. Your consent can be express (for example, orally, electronically or on a form you may sign describing the intended uses and disclosures of the Marketing Information or the Personal Information) or implied (for example, when you provide information necessary for a service you have requested). Your consent will be given in circumstances where notice has been provided to you about our intentions with respect to your Marketing Information and Personal Information and you have not withdrawn your consent for an identified purpose, such as by using an "opt out" option, as applicable. Consent may be given by your authorized representative (such as a legal guardian or a person having a power of attorney).
Generally, by providing us with your Marketing Information and Personal Information, we will assume that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such information for the purposes identified or described in this Privacy Policy or otherwise described to you at the time of collection.
We may be required or permitted under statute or regulation, whether in Canada, the United States or elsewhere, to collect, use or disclose your information without your consent, for example to comply with a court order, to comply with local, provincial or federal regulations or a legally permitted inquiry by a government agency, or to collect a debt owed to us. We reserve the right to co-operate with local, provincial, national and international authorities in investigation of improper or unlawful activities, and this may require the disclosure of your information in our possession or control.
Withdrawal of Consent
You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Marketing Information or Personal Information at any time, subject to contractual and legal restrictions and reasonable notice. Note that if you withdraw your consent to certain uses of your Personal Information, we may no longer be able to provide certain of our products or services. Note also that where we have provided or are providing services to you, your consent will be valid for so long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or otherwise at the time of collection, and you may not be permitted to withdraw consent to certain necessary uses and disclosures (for example, but not limited to, maintaining reasonable business and transaction records and disclosures to Canadian and foreign government entities as required for the University to comply with applicable laws).
Marketing Information – Opt Out
We may use your Marketing Information for the purpose of providing you with additional information on our products or services and may communicate this Marketing Information to our Educational Partners and Unrelated Entities who may use it to provide you with products or information they believe you may be interested in. At any time, if you do not wish your Marketing Information to be used for these purposes, you can choose to no longer receive commercial or promotional e-mails from us and you may please express your choice where indicated on the applicable form when using our Sites or contact ppo@staff.meritusu.ca. Please note, however, that such a request will only remove you from our list. We are not responsible for the use any Unrelated Entities may make of the information once it has been transferred and you will need to contact such entity to have your information removed from their database.
Your Financial Information will only be used to conclude the transaction or order you have placed. It will not be sold, rented, or otherwise transferred to an Unrelated Entity outside of this purpose, except in the case of a reorganization, merger or acquisition of our shares or assets or those of our parent company Apollo Group, Inc.
Our Security Measures
We will take commercially reasonable measures to secure and store your information to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. We utilize industry standard security measures when accepting your credit card information during the online ordering process, as well as whenever we ask you to login to any of the University's online student and faculty services, such as our Library or the Student and Faculty Web. Although we will utilize such measures, we do not guarantee you against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information under our control. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% 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 take care with how you handle and disclose your Personal information and should avoid sending Personal Information through insecure e-mail.
Call Monitoring
It is important to the University that its representatives carry out their respective duties in accordance with the University's policies and procedures to ensure that a high quality of service is provided to students and other members of the public that call the University for any reason. Accordingly, the University may record and monitor all incoming and outgoing calls for training of the University's representatives and for quality assurance purposes. To the extent such recordings are done, they are only retained as long as necessary to adequately discharge these purposes and, unless a specific recording needs to be retained for legal reasons, recordings are usually destroyed within 30 days after the time of the call. If you wish your calls to the University not to be recorded for any reason, please remember to advise the representative you are dealing with at the University at the start of your call.
Internet Technologies Used
Cookies, web beacons and other relevant internet technologies are used on our Sites to allow us to accomplish the uses set out above as well as to deliver Sites messaging and to keep track of your information. These small pieces of program code reside in your computer and browser and can be removed. If you desire to remove such technologies you may do so, but this may render our Sites unusable to you. You can opt out of cookies or the other internet technologies used by disabling these features in your browser program. Consult your browser's "Help" menu for assistance in changing cookie settings or removing cookie files.
Children's Privacy
We are very sensitive to the issue of children's privacy. Our Sites are neither developed for, nor directed at children under 13. If you believe your child has provided us with Personal Information, or registered at one of our Sites and would like to have this information removed, please contact ppo@staff.meritusu.ca.
Links from Our Site to Other Websites
Some of our Sites may contain links to websites external to the University. When you access these external websites, the providers of the websites (Unrelated Entities) may have access to certain information about you. Please be aware that once you have left our Sites, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any websites which we do not directly control and the collection, use and disclosure of information about you by the Unrelated Entities will be subject to the privacy policy applicable at those other websites.
Privacy Policy Changes
As indicated at the beginning of this Privacy Policy, Meritus University may update this Privacy Policy or revise it from time to time. If you are concerned about how your Personal Information is used or disclosed you should contact us as described below or check back at this Site periodically to obtain a current copy of this Privacy Policy. We urge you to review this Privacy Policy frequently to obtain the current version. Your continued provision of Personal Information or use of our services following any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
How to Access Your Information and For General Inquiries
If you want access to or wish to update any of your Personal Information or have any inquiries about our information handling practices generally, please contact our Privacy Officer at ppo@staff.meritusu.ca or Suite 301, 30 Knowledge Park Drive, Fredericton, NB E3C 2R2.