Privacy Policy Scope
Pratt’s Privacy Policy pertains to the handling of Personally Identifiable Information (as defined herein) by Pratt Institute and its centers, schools, foundations, subsidiaries, and affiliates (“Pratt,” “Institute,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) through our websites, products, and services, including but not limited to academic advising, admissions, educational programs, career centers, research, community service, health services, meal plans, and other services provided by Pratt (the “Services”).
This Privacy Policy covers all individuals who are natural persons (not a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity) and Pratt handles their Personally Identifiable Information. This Privacy Policy applies to all members of the Pratt community including all faculty, staff, students, third-party contractors, vendors, volunteers, and agents and members of the public who are engaged in Pratt Services and/or have access to Personally Identifiable Information obtained as part of Pratt Services.
Pratt’s websites may contain links to and from various third-party websites. When following a link to any of these third-party websites, please note that these websites may have their own privacy statements. Pratt does not accept any responsibility or liability for policies of third-party websites; please check these policies before submitting any Personally Identifiable Information to third-party websites.
Definition of Personally Identifiable Information
Generally, “Personally Identifiable Information” is any information that relates to an identifiable person, such as your name, email address, and image, and may be defined more specifically by applicable laws and regulations. For example, if you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), United Kingdom (“UK”), or People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), “Personally Identifiable Information” includes all personal data as defined in the EEA General Data Protection Regulation or UK General Data Protection Regulation, or all personal information as defined in the PRC Personally Identifiable Information Protection Law, respectively. Personally Identifiable Information does not include information that has been fully anonymized to make it impossible to identify specific natural persons and impossible to restore. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the Personally Identifiable Information you submit to Pratt.
Services Use Agreement
By using our Services, you consent and agree that we may collect, use, and disclose such Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and as permitted or required by law. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to us. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, or if you choose not to provide us with any required Personally Identifiable Information, we may not be able to provide you with the Services and information that we offer. Consent can be withdrawn at any time by contacting the Pratt Technology Desk at services@pratt.edu.
How is Personally Identifiable Information Collected?
Information Collected from You
We may collect Personally Identifiable Information provided directly by you, for example, when you become a student or employee of Pratt Institute, or when you fill out an online form requesting information, send us an email message, or otherwise contact us; post on a public forum; or respond to our surveys. Personally Identifiable Information collected directly may include, but is not limited to, your name, contact information, social network identifiers, demographic information, assignments you submit to instructors, and course data, such as student responses to quizzes, exams, and surveys. You should not include any Personally Identifiable Information or other information of a sensitive nature, whether relating to you or another person, on assignments, exams, or surveys, except for information requested or required to participate or submit such assignments, exams, or surveys.
Users should exercise caution when posting information on our websites, chat rooms, social networks, or similar forums. Any information disclosed in these areas may be accessed and used by others. We do not have control over and are not responsible for any Personally Identifiable Information posted in these forums.
Information Collected from Other Sources
We may obtain Personally Identifiable Information about you from third parties including public and private databases or companies or institutions that may sponsor or facilitate your participation in our Services. This information may include names, contact information, interests, location data, and other similar information.
Information We Collect by Automated Means
Like most other website operators, we also collect Personally Identifiable Information through automated processes (e.g., cookies) that provide information about how users interact with our websites. A cookie is a small amount of data collected and placed on your device when you access our websites and online Services. It is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive or tablet or mobile device. When you visit our sites or use our online Services, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or a similar technology.
For more details on the use of cookies and how to control or opt out of the cookies that are set on a computer or mobile device, please see Pratt’s Cookie Notice.
How is Personally Indentifiable Information Used?
We will only collect, store, access, use or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information when permitted or required by applicable law and there is a legitimate reason and legal basis for doing so, for example, we may use your Personally Identifiable Information to contact you in various ways, such as sending email messages about important matters.
In most cases, we use your Personally Identifiable Information when necessary to fulfill a legitimate interest of Pratt in furtherance of its mission or to fulfill statutory duties or responsibilities, for example to comply with state and federal legal obligations. Other bases for the lawful processing of Personally Identifiable Information may include the existence of a contractual relationship between you and Pratt and where you have given your consent. Where the legal basis is individual consent, collection, and use will be consistent with the consent that was provided.
How is Personally Identifiable Information Disclosed and Shared?
When Personally Identifiable Information is required or permitted to be disclosed, we will disclose the least amount of Personally Identifiable Information reasonably necessary to fulfill the relevant obligations or to achieve the relevant goals. We may disclose Personally Identifiable Information about you in the following circumstances:
Internal and Related Organizational Use
We share Personally Identifiable Information with employees, including faculty, researchers, medical staff, financial aid counselors, human resources staff, law enforcement officers, and others associated with Pratt in order to carry out activities in furtherance of our Services and mission. We may also share Personally Identifiable Information with organizations related to Pratt.
Law Enforcement and Government Agencies
We may share your Personally Identifiable Information with various government authorities in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; to establish or exercise our legal rights or to protect our property; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law. In such cases we reserve the right to raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us. We also may share your Personally Identifiable Information when we believe it is appropriate to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal or suspected illegal activities; to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Pratt Institute, the Site, our users, students, employees, or others; and in connection with this and other agreements.
Third Parties
We do not rent, sell, or trade Personally Identifiable Information to third parties. We may share Personally Identifiable Information with third parties that provide services or products, support operations, or otherwise help us carry out activities in furtherance of our Services and mission. For example, Pratt provides you with the ability to pay for online courses and other Services using your Pratt Card or a credit card through a third-party payment processing service provider; when you make such a payment, our service provider – not Pratt Institute – collects and processes your credit card information.
Other examples of third parties with whom we may share your Personally Identifiable Information include learning platform providers, financial aid servicers, cloud storage service providers, and providers of our administrative management and enterprise resource planning systems. These third parties are prohibited from using your Personally Identifiable Information for their own purposes. To the extent applicable law requires Pratt to obtain individual consent and/or provide notice to you prior to sharing your Personally Identifiable Information, we will obtain the necessary individual consent and/or provide the necessary notice in accordance with applicable law and prior to sharing. Any sharing of Personally Identifiable Information will be consistent with this consent and notice.
Sharing with Your Consent
We will share your Personally Identifiable Information when we have your consent to do so.
Anonymized Information
We may provide anonymized information developed from Personally Identifiable Information to third parties. Such anonymized Information, which cannot identify specific natural persons and is impossible to restore, is outside the scope of this Privacy Policy.
Public Disclosure
We will only publicly disclose Personally Identifiable Information after we obtain explicit consent, or when applicable laws or regulations require or allow us to publicly disclose Personally Identifiable Information.
FERPA
The confidentiality, privacy, and accuracy of a student’s record is maintained to the maximum extent possible. Student records are utilized and released only for the legitimate purposes and pursuits of students, faculty, staff, and the larger community. Any person who wishes to view a student’s record or a portion thereof must request permission in writing which notes the date, the name of the user, and the student concerned, reason for access, and materials duplicated, if any.
Information Retention
We keep your Personally Identifiable Information for no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is used. The length of time we retain Personally Identifiable Information for depends on the purposes for which we collect and use it and/or as required to comply with applicable laws and to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.
Confidentiality
We consider the confidentiality and security of your information to be of the utmost importance. We will use industry standard physical, technical and administrative security measures to keep your Personally Identifiable Information confidential and secure and will not share it with third parties, except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, or unless such disclosure is necessary in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others, as permitted by applicable law. Because the Internet is not a completely secure environment, we cannot guarantee the security of Personally Identifiable Information, and there is some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way to capture your information over the Internet. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information. Please note that e-mails communications are typically not encrypted and should not be considered secure. Pratt cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of email, electronic documents, or other materials transmitted via the network. Any messages that are confidential as a matter of law should not be communicated via email.
Managing Your Personally Identifiable Information
As provided under applicable law and subject to any limitations in such law, you may have certain rights and choices in relation to your Personally Identifiable Information. Your rights and choices will vary depending on the laws and regulations that apply in relation to the Services we provide to you. If you would like further information in relation to your rights or would like to exercise any of them, you may also contact us via services@pratt.edu.
International Transfer
Pratt Institute Services are primarily operated and managed on servers located and operated within the United States. In order to provide our Services to you, we may send and store your Personally Identifiable Information outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to, from, and within the United States. Accordingly, if you reside or are located outside of the United States, your Personally Identifiable Information may be transferred outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to, from, and within countries that may not or do not provide the same level of protection for your Personally Identifiable Information. We are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information when it is transferred.
Pratt Card
Any personal information collected for the PrattCard, including personal images, will only be used for Institute purposes and within the established guidelines. Any data collected on the use of the Institute facilities and Services by the cardholder will be treated in the same manner. Information regarding the cardholder will not be provided to third parties unless required by law or with written permission of the cardholder. Information regarding cardholder(s) is considered strictly confidential and is securely maintained. Cardholder information will only be shared in the following manner unless the cardholder has signed a privacy waiver; completion of a transaction, verification of account, compliance with judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena.
Web Accessibility
Pratt Institute is committed to its policy that persons with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to benefit from the goods, Services, privileges, advantages, and accommodations offered by Pratt Institute. In keeping with that policy, Pratt Institute has retained an accessibility consultant to implement and maintain compliance with the relevant portions of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA (WCAG 2.0 AA) as well as state and federal accessibility requirements. As part of this commitment, we are continually improving our website at www.pratt.edu to make it more accessible. If you encounter any difficulty using our website, have suggestions about improving the usability or accessibility of the website, or would like to know more about Pratt Institute’s commitment to accessibility, please contact the service desk by emailing services@pratt.edu.
Information from Individuals Under Age 13
Consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), We do not knowingly collect Personally Identifiable Information from children under 13 years of age on our general websites.
Policy Changes and Contact Information
Please note that we review our privacy practices periodically, and that these practices and this Privacy Policy are subject to change. Any change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon publication. Your continued use of the Services constitutes agreement with this Privacy Policy and any updates. If you have any privacy-related questions, suggestions, unresolved problems, or complaints you may contact us via services@pratt.edu.
Last updated: June 27, 2024