OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Student Information System
(Web for Student)
Electronic Commerce Privacy Policy

This site is owned and operated by Oregon Institute of Technology. Your privacy on the Internet is of the utmost importance to us.  Oregon Institute of Technology does not sell or otherwise provide any information collected on the Student Information System web site (Web for Student) to any external entity except as expressly stated on this site, or as otherwise required by law. OIT does not knowingly collect personal information from children under age 13. This policy is subject to compliance with the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), Oregon Revised Statutes, and Oregon Administrative Rules. The Privacy Policy below applies to the Web for Student site, your Web for Student account, and any information you provide on this site. Please be sure to check other sites for their privacy policies.

  1. Introduction
  2. Information We Collect
  3. Our Use and Disclosure of Information
  4. Information Security
  5. Acceptance of Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
  6. Links to Other Web Sites
  7. Contacting Us

A. Introduction

The primary purpose of the OIT web site is for University related activities only. In order to operate the web service and to reduce the risk of fraud, OIT must ask you to provide us information about yourself. This Privacy Policy describes the information we collect and how we use that information. OIT respects the privacy of your personally identifiable information. This information may include name, address, social security number, and will be used only in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information. However, as described in more detail in Part C below, the Oregon Public Records Law may apply to information collected. Under the Oregon Public Records Law, all information collected at this site becomes a public record unless an exemption in law applies. Chapter 192 of the Oregon Revised Statutes contains the Oregon Public Records Law. Under this law, there are circumstances in which some of your information will be shared with third parties, so it is important for you to review this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to all services offered on the OIT web site.

B. Information We Collect

Network Information
Information collected automatically is analyzed to help us understand how you use our web services and how we can improve our site to better meet your needs. Like most other web sites, the following information is collected automatically:

  • IP Address
  • Type of browser and operating system used to access our site
  • Date and time the user accessed our site
  • Information regarding which pages users access or visit
  • If you link to our site from another web site, we collect the address of the other web site

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this site may monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. If security monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, system personnel may provide the results of such monitoring to appropriate officials. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the state law and federal statutes including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.

Email Information
If you send us an electronic mail message with a question or comment that contains personally identifying information, we will only use the personally identifiable information to respond to your request and analyze trends. We may redirect your message to another government agency or person who is in a better position to answer your question. If you provide us with your email address when you register as a customer or make a purchase from us, we may send you a notice of new events, products, and services. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from any mailing lists to which you are added.

Required Information
To access Web For Student, you must provide your Student Identification Number and Personal Identification Number (PIN). In order to make payments through Web for Student or CASHNet, you must provide credit card or bank account information. This required information is necessary for us to process transactions, issue a new PIN if you forget or lose your PIN, protect you against credit card fraud, and to contact you should the need arise in administering your account.

Transactional Information
When you use Web for Student or CASHNet for transactions such as registering and paying for classes, making a payment to OIT, or applying for admission to OIT, we ask you to provide information related to each transaction such as the amount of the payment, the courses you wish to register for, or information needed for determining admission status. Information provided by the user is the minimal data needed to successfully complete a web transaction. We retain this information for each of your transactions through Web for Student and through CASHNet.

Our Use of "Cookies"
"Cookies" are small files of data that we send to your computer to allow us to recognize you as a
Web for Student customer. We send a "session cookie" to your computer if and when you log in to your Web for Student account by entering your Student ID and PIN. These cookies allow us to recognize you if you visit multiple pages in our site during the same session, so that you don't need to re-enter your PIN multiple times. Once you log out or close your browser, these session cookies expire and no longer have any effect. Our cookie files are encoded so that your information can only be interpreted by OIT.

C. Our Use and Disclosure of Information

Internal Uses
We use the information we collect about you in order 1) to provide our services and process your transactions and 2) to provide customer service. Specifically, we use your information to help you complete a transaction, to communicate back to you, to update you on service and benefits, and to personalize our web sites for you.

We give access to personally identifiable information about our users only to those OIT employees who need to know that information in order to provide products or services to you.

Disclosure to Other Web for Student Customers
Non-employee Web for Student customers can only view their own information based on the individual Student ID and PIN they login with. Employee Web for Student customers can view information needed in order to provide services to you (i.e., class rosters, phone numbers, admission application information).

Disclosure to Third Parties
OIT will not share any of your personally identifiable information with third parties except in the limited circumstances described below, or with your express permission (and to employees as described above), or to comply with applicable law. OIT will not sell, rent, or lease your personally identifiable information to others.

  1. If required by the Oregon Public Records Law, we share information with third parties. Some information is exempt from our disclosure. For example, student information is generally exempt from disclosure in compliance with the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Under the Public Records Law, you may ask us not to disclose a public record that contains your home address and telephone number under some circumstances. Oregon Revised Statutes 192.445 explains how to request non-disclosure.
  2. We share information with organizations that help us process the transactions you request and protect our customers' transactions from fraud, such as sharing your credit card number with a service that screens for lost and stolen card numbers.
  3. We disclose the information we collect, as described in Section B above, to organizations that perform services on our behalf or to other financial institutions with whom we have joint service agreements (i.e., we disclose information to Klamath Community College so that Financial Aid eligibility can be determined when students attend both institutions). These organizations are subject to confidentiality agreements with us and other legal restrictions that prohibit using the information except to provide the specified related services, unless you have affirmatively agreed or given your prior permission for other uses.
  4. We disclose information that we in good faith believe is appropriate to cooperate in investigations of fraud or other illegal activity, or to conduct investigations of violations of our Acceptable Use Policy.
  5. We disclose information in response to a subpoena, warrant, court order, levy, attachment, order of a court-appointed receiver or other comparable legal process, including subpoenas from private parties in a civil action.
  6. We disclose information to your agent or legal representative (such as the holder of a power of attorney that you grant, or a guardian appointed for you).
  7. We share aggregated statistical data with our business partners or for public relations. For example, we may disclose that a specific percentage of our students are Oregon residents. However, this aggregated information is not tied to personally identifiable information.

Internet Address Information
We use IP addresses, browser types, and access times to analyze trends, administer the site, improve site performance, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use, and to conduct investigations on fraud, illegal activity, and other violations of our Acceptable Use Policy.

D. Information Security

OIT is committed to handling your information with high standards of information security. While no computing environment is 100% secure, we take every precaution to protect the user's information. When a user submits sensitive information via the web, that information is protected both online and off-line.

OIT does not store your credit card information. OIT uses VeriSign or CASHNet to verify your credit card information. VeriSign or CASHNet may only use your credit card information for those purposes.  VeriSign or CASHNet will have access to your credit card number as necessary to perform the verification function, but they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information and are prohibited from using your credit card information except to provide services to OIT. We restrict access to your personally identifiable information to employees who need to know that information in order to provide products or services to you.

If you are transacting business with us over the Internet, the security of your information is protected by:

  1. Implememnting the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, which covers all of our secure servers;
  2. Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology to transmit confidential information between your browser and our Web servers; and
  3. Keeping our databases and our Web servers separate, and protecting each with an electronic and physical firewall.

The security of your Web for Student account also relies on your protection of your Web for Student PIN. We strongly urge that you never share your Web for Student PIN with anyone. OIT representatives will never ask you for your PIN, so any e-mail or other communication requesting your PIN should be treated as unauthorized and suspicious. If you do share your Web for Student PIN with a third party for any reason, the third party will have access to your account and your personal information, and you may be responsible for actions taken using your PIN. If you believe someone else has obtained access to your PIN, please change it immediately by logging in to your account at http://www.oit.edu/web4login and also contact us right away as described in Section G below.

Tips for Safe Transactions

  1. Use an SSL-capable browser such as MS Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Netscape Navigator 4.7 (or higher ) with 128-bit encryption (40-bit encryption secures your information, but 128-bit provides more security).
  2. Don't walk away from your computer when in communication with our servers.
  3. Safeguard your PIN and other identifying numbers and do not share them with others.
  4. Keep personal information such as your mother's maiden name and identifying numbers (including your Social Security, driver's license, passport, and credit card numbers) in a safe and secure place. Do NOT share this information unless you know the purpose for which it will be used.
  5. Before anyone else uses your computer, clear your cache or restart your browser (this eliminates copies of Web pages that have been stored in your hard drive). The preference menu in your browser can tell you how to clear your cache.
  6. Always use the Exit function when ending your Web for Student session, especially if you plan to leave your browser open.

E. Acceptance of Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions

By using this site, you signify that you understand how your privacy is protected and how your personal information will be used. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Your continued use of the OIT Web for Student site following the posting of any changes signifies that you are comfortable with changes to the privacy policy and have accepted those changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us as described in Section G below.

F. Links to Other Web Sites

Our web site may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that OIT is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. The user is encouraged to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by OIT Web For Student. Other OIT web sites, as well as non-OIT web sites, may have their own privacy policy which should be reviewed.

G. Contacting Us

If you have questions about our web site or concerns regarding privacy, you may e-mail webmaster@oit.edu, call (Public Affairs Office 541-885-1161) Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm PST, or write us at Oregon Institute of Technology, Attn: Web Content Manager, 3201 Campus Drive, Klamath Falls, OR  97601.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10-30-06