This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices for the Office of Admissions of Michigan State University in association with offering information and services through the website: admissions.msu.edu. Please note that this privacy statement does not apply to any other websites maintained by Michigan State University.
The Board of Trustees of Michigan State University is the sole owner of information collected by this website. This website collects general information from you that does not identify you personally. Information collected on this website is used solely for the purposes of offering the associated Activities, information and services to you as a visitor of the website and to improve the website. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement. We do not collect Personally Identifiable Information from you, other than what you supply to us on a voluntary basis. However, in order to participate in some Activities, you might be asked to voluntarily provide some Personally Identifiable Information. This could be in connection with the following:
This website also collects Anonymous Traffic Data each time you interact with the website. This anonymous traffic data is collected from cookies, third-party tracking cookies, and server logs.
"Cookies" are small text files used to collect information about website activity. This website uses cookies to remember if users have logged in while on our website. This website also users cookies to allow users to automatically login to other Michigan State University websites to which this website refers users through the login page at login.msu.edu. This allows users to avoid logging in more than once, thereby saving time. Closing all browser windows and tabs will log the user out of all MSU websites and remove these cookies.
In addition, users have the option of disabling or not accepting cookies by changing the preferences on their browsers. If users opt to disable cookies, they will still be able to use the public sections of our website. However, they will not be able to use any functionality requiring a login (e.g. accessing secured content, posting to the message boards, etc).
No Personally Identifiable Information (email address, name, etc.) is collected through our use of cookies. Accepting cookies while on this website will not put the user at risk for direct marketing from other websites or entities.
This website also sets a persistent tracking cookie from Google.com, using Google Analytics, to aid our collection of Anonymous Tracking Data. Reports provided by Google Analytics aggregate this Anonymous Tracking Data allowing us to track usage of our website. This information helps us understand how users find our websites, which sections of the website are being read, and informs improvements to our content.
Text messaging (including SMS and MMS messages) may be used to convey important information to individuals at various stages of their engagement with Michigan State University.
Users will only be contacted via text message only if they have first consented by opting in. Consent to opt in may be obtained through various channels, including but not limited to:
Users can opt out of receiving text communications from at any time by texting 'STOP' or 'OPT OUT'.
If a user does not choose to attend Michigan State University, we will assume an opt-out and remove them from future text message communications.
The types of text messages that may be sent include, but are not limited to:
You have the right to:
To ensure anonymity of our visitors, this website does not connect or associate Personally Identifiable Information to the persistent tracking cookie used to generate anonymous traffic data.
Our use of Google Analytics has been configured to not share data with other Google products and tools. By avoiding any link between Personally Identifiable Information and our gathering of web statistics, our use of Google Analytics is consistent with Google's Terms of Service and MSU policies that protect student information. For more information about Google's privacy practices or for information on how to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking of your web browsing please refer to Google's privacy policy.
Our Web servers will create log files which contain all or some of the following information:
Your connection speed as it relates to your optimal speed for listening or watching video online (stored via a cookie).
If you choose to provide personally identifiable information through this website, we will not willfully disclose it to any third party without first receiving your permission. However, we may be required to release personal information if required to do so by law, University policy, or contractual obligation.
We may use your personally identifiable information for the purposes and activities associated with this website and related services limited to the administrative unit offering this website.
We do not share, exchange, rent or sell any personally identifiable information to political parties or candidates for political office.
If you do not want personal information which you voluntarily supply used by us for the Purposes and Activities associated with this website, you may "opt-out." Please note, however, under certain circumstances, opting out may prevent your participation in Activities for which personal information is needed.
When you engage in financial transactions at our website, you may be asked for a credit card number. The server that processes your credit card information is secure and your credit card number will be encrypted as it passes through the internet. Such information is also saved in an encrypted format or in internal systems that are protected by an internal firewall system. This website complies fully with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
We may share aggregate demographic information with partners to the extent necessary to facilitate provisioning service for this website/service. This information does not include and is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person. We only share this information so that we can secure funding and sponsorship to continue to support our effort to provide information freely to users and benchmark the growth of our website. As a public institution, these aggregate statistics may be subject to release in accordance with requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
This website contains links to other websites. Please be aware that we do not control or claim any responsibility for the privacy practices or content of such other websites. We encourage users to be aware when they leave our website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.
This website takes reasonable precautions to protect our users' information, and we have security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of information under our control.
Occasionally, our website requests information from users via web surveys. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include demographic data (such as zip code and age), but no personally identifiable information will be collected. Survey results will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and performance of this website.
If we decide to change our privacy statement, we will announce the changes on our home page so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy statement in effect when the information was collected. However, if at any point we wish to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that provided in the privacy statement in effect at the time it was collected, we will notify users by email to request their consent. Users will decide whether or not we use their information in this different manner.
By using our website you consent to our privacy statement.
Your questions, comments and concerns are always welcome. Please send us your feedback regarding the privacy statement or any other issues.