Privacy Policy

Introduction

Thank you for visiting the Grays Harbor College Web site and reviewing our Privacy Notice. This statement addresses collection, use, and security of and access to information that may be obtained through use of the Grays Harbor College Web site. This notice covers the following topics:

  • Information Collected and How it is Used
  • Personal Information and Choice
  • Public Access to Information
  • Nondisclosure of Certain Personal Information
  • Cookies
  • Security
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Information

Information Collected and How it is Used

Information collected if you only browse this site.
If you do nothing during your visit to our Web site but browse, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:

  1. The Internet Protocol Address and domain name used. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet Protocol Address to direct Internet traffic to you. This address can be translated to determine the domain name of your service provider (for example, xcompany.com or yourschool.edu);
  2. The date and time you visited this site;
  3. The Web pages or services you accessed at this site; and

The information we automatically collect or store is logged and used by Grays Harbor College only to improve the content of our Web services and to help us understand how people are using our services. Grays Harbor College analyzes the Web site logs to determine how our Web site is being used, so that we may continually improve the site's usefulness to the public.

What we collect if you volunteer information.
If during your visit to our Web site you participate in a survey, send an e-mail, or perform some other transaction on-line, the following additional information will be collected:

  • The e-mail address, and contents of e-mail, for those who communicate with us via e-mail.
  • Information volunteered in response to a survey.
  • Information volunteered through an on-line form for any other purpose.

The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us.

We use your e-mail to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you may identify, to further improve our Web site, or to forward the e-mail to another agency for appropriate action. Survey information gathered during class registration is used to help us determine if you qualify for Worker Retraining Financial Aid and/or Training Completion Aid; Determine the amount of federal funding we receive to operate our programs; Determine the amount of federal funding we receive to purchase new equipment and to support student services. Information from other online forms is used to send information to those interested in participating in a GHC sport or other activity.

Personal Information and Choice

You may choose whether to provide personal information online.

Personal information is information about a natural person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes such things as an individual's name, address, and phone number. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.

We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us e-mail, participating in a survey, or completing an on-line form. You may choose not to contact us by e-mail, participate in a survey or to provide any personal information using an online form. Your choice to not participate in these activities will not impair your ability to browse the Grays Harbor College Web site and read or download any information provided on the site.

If personal information is requested on the Web site or volunteered by the user, state law and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.

If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the [college name contact person or position] as shown in the Contact Information section of this statement.

Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children online or by e-mail will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may be subject to public access.

Public Access to Information

In the State Of Washington, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs including the privacy of individuals. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws.

All of the information collected at this site becomes public records that may be subject to inspection and copying by members of the public, unless an exemption in law exists. Statue RCW 42.17. 260(1) states that:

Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall make available for public inspection and copying all public records, unless the record falls within the specific exemptions of subsection (6) of this section [RCW 42.17.260(6)], RCW 42.56.210, 42.17.315, or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records. To the extent required to prevent an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy interests protected by RCW 42.56.210 and 42.17.315, an agency shall delete identifying details in a manner consistent with RCW 42.56.210 and 42.17.315 when it makes available or publishes any public record; however, in each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained fully in writing.

In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Notice and the Public Records Act or other law governing the agency's disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other applicable law will control.

The complete Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is available at: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/

Nondisclosure of Certain Personal Information

You may be required to provide certain personal information in order to use GHC's Web-enabled applications. In many cases, the information is required in order to verify your identity. You may choose not to provide this information online, but if you choose not to provide it we will be unable to provide you with the service over the Web and you will have to provide the information in person or via the mail.

The following laws and regulations may prevent Grays Harbor College from disclosing the personal information about you except for directory information. Only directory information can be released without student's authorization. Students must sign a release in order to have any other information disclosed or to withhold all information. Education information may be released to other institutions that have requested the records and in which the student seeks or intends to enroll. Information may be released to a third party without student's consent if an emergency situation exists or if information is requested officially by means of a subpoena, court order or legal report. Additionally, Congress requires student information to be released to military recruiters if officially requested. Directory information may include student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major fields of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student, and other similar information.

  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
    Section 438, Public Law 90-247 Title IV, as amended, 88 Stat 571-574 (20 USC 1232g) otherwise known as the Buckley Amendment Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
     
  • RCW 42.56.210 (a) and (ss) exempts the following from public inspection and copying: (a) Personal information in any files maintained for students in public schools, patients or clients of public institutions or public health agencies, or welfare recipients; (ss) Credit card numbers, debit card numbers, electronic check numbers, card expiration dates, or bank or other financial account numbers supplied to an agency for the purpose of electronic transfer of funds, except when disclosure is expressly required by law.

Review and Correction of Personally Identifiable Information

You can review any personally identifiable information the Grays Harbor College collects about you by using the information in the Contact Information section at the end of this Notice. You may recommend changes to your personally identifiable information you believe to be inaccurate by submitting a written request that credibly shows the inaccuracy. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections (RCW 43.41A.140).

Cookies

To better serve our users, we are now using "cookies" to customize your browsing experience with Grays Harbor College. Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your Web browser.

Cookies created on your computer by using this Web site do not contain personally identifying information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store the following information on your computer:

  • Session login information
  • Limited personal information, such as name

Advertiser Cookies

Grays Harbor College works with an advertising agencies which assists us in advertising our Web site. In connection with their marketing efforts on our behalf, those agencies utilize "cookies" and other tracking technologies and it may also permit selected third parties to do so. For the most part, the agencies only use what are referred to as "session cookies", which are cookies that expire upon the conclusion of your visit to our site. These types of cookies are widely used to facilitate a consumer's interaction with a Web site. These agencies also use cookies or permits its third party partners to use cookies that enable them to show you advertisements for our site when you visit other sites in the agencies network or in third-party networks. This is the sole use of the Advertising Cookies-they are not being used to track you in any other way. Moreover, these agencies do not link the information in the Advertising Cookies or any other cookie to any personal information that you may have provided.

Analytics

We use analytics services to help analyze how users use the Site and Apps. These services use cookies and scripts to collect and store information such as how users interact with our Apps, errors users encounter when using our apps, device identifiers, how often users visit the Site, what pages they visit, and what other sites they used prior to coming to the Site. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our Site, our Apps, and our Services. Please see the following links for more information about Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html, http://www.google.com/privacy.html, and http://www.google.com/analytics/tos.html.

Security

Grays Harbor College, as developer and manager of its Websites, has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information maintained by the college. These measures are designed and intended to prevent corruption of data, block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information, and to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession.

This information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via Grays Harbor College Web sites.

Disclaimer

The Grays Harbor College Web site has many links to other Web sites. These include links to Web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the Grays Harbor College Web site and this Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another Web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

Neither the State of Washington, nor any agency, officer, or employee of the State of Washington warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.

Grays Harbor College Contact Information

You may contact Grays Harbor College as follows:

To review your personal information, or request correction of your personal information:

Public Records Officer
Grays Harbor College
1620 Edward P. Smith Drive
Aberdeen, WA 98520
360-538-4234
360-538-4293 fax