Privacy Policy

West Hills Community College District (WHCCD) is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you a safe online experience. WHCCD complies with applicable federal and state laws governing the collection and use of your data. Additionally, WHCCD complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) as it pertains to the collection and use of student records.

This Statement of Privacy applies to the WHCCD Website (westhillscollege.com) and other websites that WHCCD owns and controls and governs data collection and usage. By using the WHCCD website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

 

Collection of your Personal Information
West Hills CCD collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. We may collect such personally identifiable information from you when you complete online forms such as admissions or employment applications, or for research, public service, or administrative purposes. Additional personal information, such as credit card information, may be requested in the future for purchases or for enrollment purposes — but currently, West Hills CCD is free for California residents.

We also collect anonymous demographic information, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests, and favorites. WHCCD collects this anonymous demographic information for statistical purposes and analyses of user behavior to measure interest in the various areas of our website and other websites that WHCCD owns and controls. The re is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of our site.

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through WHCCD public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. Note: WHCCD does not read any of your private online communications.

 

Third Party Links
When visiting our websites, you may encounter links to web pages and sites which are not owned or controlled by West Hills CCD. We make no warranties or claims regarding services from these sites, and no such warranties or claims should be implied or assumed. We encourage you to review the privacy statements and policies of websites you choose to visit so that you can understand how those sites collect, use, and share your information. We are not responsible for the privacy policies, statements, or other content on websites outside of the West Hills CCD-owned family of websites.

 

Use of your Personal Information
We collect and use your personal information to operate our website and to deliver the services you’ve requested. We also use your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from West Hills CCD. We may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.

The information we collect — including personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide by completing forms, applications or transactions — is used by West Hills CCD only for the purposes for which it was provided and will not be shared with unauthorized third parties without your consent, except as permitted under applicable law. WHCCD does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. We may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those specific cases, your personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, we may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you e-mail or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to WHCCD, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.

West Hills CCD keeps track of the websites and pages our customers visit within our online properties in order to determine which services are most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising to customers whose behavior indicates they are interested in a particular subject area.

Our sites will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process served on WHCCD or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of WHCCD; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of WHCCD, or the public. The disclosure of information, including personally identifiable information, collected through the WHCCD Web site is subject to the provisions of applicable law, including FERPA.

 

Use of Cookies
Our website uses “cookies” to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a webpage server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The use of cookies also helps us enhance your online experience. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize West Hills CCD pages, or register with WHCCD sites or services, a cookie helps WHCCD recall your specific information on subsequent visits, simplifying the process of recording your personal information, such as billing and shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same West Hills CCD site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved so you can easily use the site features you customized. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our website.

 

Security of your Personal Information
WHCCD secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. We protect your information by using physical, administrative, and technical security measures to reduce the risk of potential misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification of information. Examples of some of our security safeguards include firewalls, data encryption, and physical access controls. We secure the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, e.g. the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

 

Changes to this Statement
We will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect customer feedback and to ensure compliance with applicable laws. If changes are made to this Privacy Statement, any such changes will be available on this page. WHCCD encourages you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how we’re protecting your information.

 

Contact Information
We welcome your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that we haven’t (or aren’t) adhered to this statement, or if you have any questions regarding our data collection and data protection practices, please contact us. We will use reasonable efforts to promptly respond to your inquiry, and to identify and resolve your concern.