Effective: May 17, 2018
Revised: Sept. 30, 2022

Privacy Statement

This privacy statement has been adopted to address the collection and use of information from Temple University domain websites, applications and IT services. This notice applies to Temple University, its subdomains (temple.edu), websites and applications as well as explains our practices concerning the collection, use and disclosure of information. Information collected by Temple University will be used only as outlined in this privacy statement.

Other units at the university may collect and use information in different ways. Therefore, when visiting and using other university websites and applications, review the privacy notices for the sites being visited. Temple University is not responsible for the content of other websites or for the privacy practices of websites outside the scope of this notice.

No data transmission over the internet or website can be guaranteed to be secure from intrusion. However, we maintain commercially reasonable physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your personal information in accordance with data protection legislative requirements.

Privacy Statement Changes

Because Internet technologies continue to evolve rapidly, Temple University may make appropriate changes to this notice in the future. Any such changes will be consistent with our commitment to respecting privacy. This privacy statement will be updated as necessary.

Information Gathering

Temple University collects two types of information from users.

1. Information anonymously collected upon a user’s visit to Temple University websites.
2. Information provided by the user in order to receive requested information and/or services.

Anonymously Collected Information

When you view pages on our sites, the web server automatically collects certain technical information from your computer or device and about your connection (see list below). Temple University uses this information solely for internal purposes, such as to see what pages are most frequently visited as well as what applications and functions are utilized in order to improve our sites and application support. Additionally, Temple University uses Google’s Universal Analytics, a web metrics service, to collect information automatically upon a user’s visit. For more information regarding Universal Analytics, see Google’s privacy policy.

Our server(s) and/or site(s) collects the following information.

• The domain name from which you visit our site
• Internet Protocol (IP) Address
• Internet Service Provider
• Aggregate information on pages visited
• The referring website
• The date and time of visit
• The duration of visit
• Your browser type
• Your screen resolution
• Operating System
• Aggregate information collected by Google Analytics
• Application access through TUportal and utilization 

Continued use of our website indicates consent to the collection, use and disclosure of this information as described in this notice. Some technical information is retained in aggregate for up to 26 months.

Temple University is a multinational organization and has legitimate business needs for processing personal information identified within this privacy statement. The university owns no services that collect, store and process information within the China territory.  Before we provide your personal information outside the territory of China, we will meet the applicable requirements of laws and regulations of China on crossborder transfer of personal information and will require affiliates to protect your personal information at the levels not lower than those required by applicable laws and regulations of China.

Information Provided by the User

Other than the automatically collected information about your visit described above, or cookies and anonymous identifiers described below, we may ask you to provide information voluntarily (through forms or other manual input) in order to make products and services available to you, to maintain and manage our relationship with you, to provide associated services to you, or to better understand and serve your needs. This information is generally retained as long as you continue to maintain a relationship with us. You are providing this information wholly voluntarily. However, not providing the requested information (or subsequently asking that the data be removed) may affect our ability to deliver the products or service for which the information is needed. Providing the requested information indicates your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of this information as described in this notice. Information we may actively collect could include information volunteered by the visitor, such as interests, preferences, survey information and/or site registrations.  This information could be used to customize the content of our site specific to your inquiries. 

Information Sharing

We may share aggregate, non-personally identifiable information with other entities or organizations. We do not share any personally identifiable information (PII) with other entities or organizations, except when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our website and applicable laws, or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website.

Cookies and Anonymous Identifiers

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences over a period of time so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.

For the purposes of this privacy statement, a cookie may also refer to an anonymous identifier (a random string of characters that is used for the same purposes as a cookie on certain platforms, including some mobile devices) when cookie technology is not available.

How do we use cookies?

In order to customize the information and services offered to you, our site uses cookies to

• customize web page content based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor, or their browser, sends;
• record aggregate information collected by Google Universal Analytics;
• allow users to comment on articles;
• display TUalert messages;
• provide certain ‘like’ or ‘share’ buttons;
• enable logging in to certain sites, including completing the process of applying to Temple; and
• our news content uses cookies to anonymously gather statistics on how you got there and what stories you viewed.

How can I control cookies?

If you prefer not to receive cookies, you may configure your browser not to accept them at all, or to notify and require approval before accepting new cookies. Some web pages/sites may not function properly if the cookies are turned off or you may have to provide the same information each time you visit those pages.

In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), individuals within the EU will automatically receive a notification as you enter a site, asking for consent to capture this cookie data. If you choose to withdraw your consent at a later time, use your browser’s settings to review and delete cookies stored by Temple’s websites. 

Learn more by visiting temple.edu/cookies-policy.

Use of Third-party Services

Temple University websites use third party websites (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter) to help enhance features, provide a robust and personalized user experience, and analyze how users use the sites. The third-party tools typically utilize cookies but may also use pixel gifs or beacons. Cookies, pixel tags and beacons are used to obtain information about the device being used to view a webpage, including the time spent on the site, the user’s operating system and browser type, demographic data and similar information. The information generated via these cookies about your use of Temple University websites is transmitted to these third-party tools. This information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of the websites and to compile statistical reports on activity from our websites.

We may use Google Analytics to aggregate and track non-identifiable visitor information for the following business purposes: remarketing across devices with Google Analytics, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, DoubleClick (Google Ads), Google Analytics Demographics, Google Analytics Advertising Features and Interest Reporting.

If you would like to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking, Google has provided a plugin for most browsers that enables this functionality. Learn more about how the plugin works and how to install it. Google Analytics also provides you with the ability to modify and delete the information that Google tracks for remarketing purposes by visiting Google’s ad settings page. You can also disable collection of any demographic data on that page. Additionally, you are able to modify and delete the information that Google tracks for remarketing purposes by visiting Google’s ad settings page. You also have the option of disabling collection of any demographic data on that page.

In addition, Temple University websites may contain links and integrate with other websites and applications owned by third parties as a convenience to the user. These websites and applications operate independently of Temple University and have their own privacy policies. Some cookies also have the ability to carry all or parts of the information stored within the file generated on Temple’s website to other websites that the user may visit or to third parties. If a user decides to use these third-party links, they will leave the Temple University websites. Temple University is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third-party websites and does not make any representations or endorsements about them. If a user decides to leave Temple’s websites and access any third-party site, it will be at the user’s own risk. 

Disclosure of Information

Other than sharing your information with other appropriate university personnel, business units and contracted partners to ensure the quality, functionality and security of our website, or to manage your relationship with us, we will not disclose personally identifiable information about your use of the site except under the following circumstances.

• With your prior written (including email) consent.
• When we have given you clear notice that we will disclose information that you voluntarily provide.
• With appropriate external parties, such as law enforcement agencies, in order to investigate and respond to suspected violations of law or university policy. Any such disclosures shall comply with all applicable laws and university policies.

Desk and Room Scanning During Proctoring

Students should not be required to physically turn their computers or webcams to conduct visual scans of their surroundings whether using Proctorio, Zoom or another method for proctoring exams online. The discontinuation of the practice of room scanning at Temple University will improve the student experience during virtual assessments. As a university, we strive for academic integrity across all courses, and have offered artificial intelligence (AI) proctoring software to support this goal. While proctoring can still be one tool to promote academic integrity, faculty members should carefully consider the necessity of using the software before implementing it in their courses and review other options to improve assessments.

Children and Privacy

Temple University is concerned about protecting children/minor’s privacy. A child/minor is anyone under the age of 18. However, this excludes enrolled university students under the age of 18; these students are subject to all applicable university policies, including the Student Conduct Code.

As a nonprofit higher education institution, we operate under the assumption that all visitors to our websites are over the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children who visit our website. If a visitor known to be a child (that is an individual under the age of 13, as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) sends an email to privacy@temple.edu, we only will use it to respond to the writer and not to create profiles or otherwise retain the information.

The university does provide youth programs, including programs that utilize online software programs and third-party applications, and in certain circumstances, it is required to collect and use personal information from parents, guardians or participants for the purpose of providing, operating, improving and promoting the programs. During the registration for such programs, Temple will provide notice to and obtain the consent of the parents or guardians of the student regarding any additional information collection practices specific to the online program. Any information is collected solely for the purpose of offering the program, and not for advertising the services of the third party or other commercial purposes.

Security

Due to the rapidly evolving nature of information technologies, no transmission of data over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. While we are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to university websites and applications, and you do so at your own risk. However, once we receive your information, we will use reasonable safeguards consistent with prevailing industry standards and commensurate with the sensitivity of the data being stored to maintain the security of that information on our systems.

In addition, we will comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws regarding the privacy and security of information.

We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.

Information Correction and Deletion

If you believe that the information we have about you is incorrect, you are welcome to contact us so we can update it and keep your data accurate. Any data that is no longer needed for the purposes specified in this notification will be deleted. For privacy reasons, you have the right to ask for certain personal information relating to you to be removed. Please direct all requests to the chief privacy officer or data processing officer via email at privacy@temple.edu.

Contact Information

If you have questions or concerns about this privacy statement or if you feel that a Temple University website is not following its stated privacy statement and communicating with the owner of said website does not resolve the matter, or if you have general questions or concerns about privacy or information technology policy at the university, please contact the chief privacy officer via email at privacy@temple.edu.