Effective Date: June 1, 2018

Hobart and William Smith Colleges (the "Colleges" "we," "us" and "our") is committed to safeguarding all personally identifiable information we obtain about our customers and visitors, whether internal or external. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose and store information you provide to us through our website at www.hws.edu (the "Site").

This Privacy Policy describes:

  • Information that we collect when you interact with the Site
  • How we use and process the information that we collect
  • How we may share information with third parties
  • The security of your information

1. Scope; Links to Other Site

This Privacy Policy applies only to the information collected on the Site. The Site may contain links and widgets related to third-party websites such as social networks ("Third Party Site") with which we have no affiliation. A link to any Third Party Site does not mean that we endorse it or the quality or accuracy of information presented on it. If you decide to visit a Third Party Site, you are subject to its privacy policy and practices and not this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to carefully review the legal and privacy notices of all other digital Site that you visit.

2. Information We Collect

The only personally identifiable information the Colleges collects via our Site is that which is voluntarily provided by our customers and visitors. For example, you may provide personally identifiable information to us via the "Contact" forms on our website. "Personally identifiable information" may include contact information such as your first name, last name, email address, phone number, payment card-related information, as well as any other personally identifiable information you may input as free text in a comment box. Our website analytics tools may also automatically collect your IP address when you use the Site.

We also automatically collect usage data when you use the Site. "Usage data" is information about an individual's web or mobile application activity that, by itself, does not identify the individual, such as operating system you are using, the date and time stamp of your visit, domain name, referring URLs, and internet service providers. We collect usage data through the use of "cookies" and similar data collection tools. For more about cookies, see Section 3 of this Privacy Policy.

3. Cookies and Other Information Collection Tools

What are cookies? A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website or use an online service. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site or online service to recognize your browser. Cookies may store unique identifiers, user preferences and other information.

Why do we use them? Cookies help us improve the Site by providing us with information about which parts of the Site are most popular, enabling us to analyze technical and navigational information about the Site and helping us to detect and prevent fraud. We also use cookies and other data collection tools (such as web beacons and server logs) to help improve your experience with the Site. For example, we use Google Analytics to help analyze how users use the Site. These tools use cookies to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information in an anonymous form. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Site (including IP address) is transmitted to our data collection tool service providers. This information is then used by us to evaluate visitors' use of the Site and to compile statistical reports on website activity for the Colleges. If you would like to opt-out from the use of your information by Google analytics, you may use Google's analytics opt-out browser add-on designed for this purpose.

How do I control cookies? Web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to manage and delete cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Some web browsers provide settings that allow a user to reject cookies or to alert a user when a cookie is placed on the user's computer, tablet or mobile device. Most mobile devices also offer settings to reject mobile device identifiers. Although users are not required to accept cookies or mobile device identifiers, blocking or rejecting them may prevent access to some features available through the Site.

4. How Information is Used

We may use the information we collect for any of the following purposes:

  • to provide the Site to our customers and to you and to improve the Site;
  • to operate, improve, and personalize the products and services we offer, and to give each user a more consistent and personalized experience when interacting with us;
  • to provide you with information about products and services that we think may be of interest to you;
  • for customer service, security, to detect fraud or illegal activities, and for archival and backup purposes in connection with the provision of the Site;
  • for research and analysis purposes;
  • to communicate with users; and
  • to enforce our [Terms of Use] or other applicable policies.

5. How We Share Information We Collect

Hobart and William Smith Colleges will share personally identifiable information about you with other companies or people when one or more of the following conditions apply:

  • We have your consent to share the information;
  • We need to share your information to provide the product or service you have requested;
  • We need to send the information to companies who work on behalf of the Colleges to provide a product or service to you. (Unless we tell you differently, these companies do not have any right to use the personally identifiable information we provide to them beyond what is necessary to assist us.);
  • We are responding to subpoenas, court orders or legal process; or
  • We find it necessary to protect and defend the legal rights or property of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

6. Security of Your Information

We employ reasonable security measures designed to protect the security of information submitted through the Site. However, the security of information transmitted through the Internet can never be guaranteed. We are not responsible for any interception or interruption of any communications through the Internet or for changes to or losses of data. Users of the Site are responsible for maintaining the security of any password, user ID or other form of authentication involved in obtaining access to password protected or secure areas of any of our Site. In order to protect you and your data, we may suspend your use of the Site, without notice, pending an investigation, if any breach of security is suspected. Access to and use of password protected and/or secure areas of the Site are restricted to authorized users only. Unauthorized access to such areas is prohibited.

7. Effective Date and Changes to Privacy Policy

The Effective Date of this Privacy Policy is set forth at the top of this webpage. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time in our discretion. Changes will be posted to this webpage. We encourage you to return to this webpage frequently so that you are aware of our current privacy practices. Your continued use of the Site after the Effective Date constitutes your acceptance of the amended Privacy Policy. The amended Privacy Policy supersedes all previous versions.

8. Children

We do not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information from any person under the age of 16. No parts of our Site are directed to or designed to attract anyone under the age of 16.

9. Do Not Track

The Site does not support Do Not Track with respect to the Site at this time. Do Not Track is a privacy preference that you can set in your web browser to indicate that you do not want certain information about your webpage visits collected across websites when you have not interacted with that service on the page. For all the details, including how to turn on Do Not Track, visit www.donottrack.us.

10. Visitors from the EU

We provide the Site from servers located in the United States. If you provide personal data to us, we will transfer your personal data to the United States where our servers are located. We will only transfer your personal data to the United States through the use of appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission or with your consent. If the transfer of your personal data or processing of your personal data is based on your consent, you may contact us at webmaster@hws.edu to withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent we will not be able to provide you with the Site.

We process personal data to fulfill our contractual obligations to users who obtain products and services from us, in furtherance of our legitimate interest in providing the Site and the services available on the Site or, if we request your consent to process your personal data when you provide it, with your consent. You may have the right to access your personal data, correct inaccuracies in your personal data, request the erasure of your personal data and restrict the processing of your personal data. For more information about how you can access, rectify and erase your personal data, please see the Section of this Privacy Policy entitled, "User Right to Access, Correct and Delete User Data," above. In addition, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory data protection authority.

11. Notices

If you are having difficulty submitting a form or you have unanswered questions, please call the Support Center Help Desk at (315) 781-4357, or e-mail helpdesk@hws.edu.