UNL Online Privacy Policy

Our Commitment to You

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln safeguards the privacy of all visitors to our websites and applications. This notice describes our privacy policy as it relates to the collection, protection, and disclosure of information resulting from the use of university websites and apps; both information that is collected automatically and information you provide voluntarily. In particular, we do not redistribute or sell personal information collected through our websites and apps.

Law and Policy

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) complies with all applicable state and federal privacy statutes, including, but not limited to, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Nebraska Public Records Law, the University of Nebraska System's Policy for Responsible Use of University Computers and Information Systems, and UNL Data Security Guidelines.

The University will also comply with lawful subpoenas or court orders; the scope of these may include data gathered through websites and apps.

Scope

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, by and through its academic research and administrative units and programs, owns, controls, operates and maintains, or maintains a contractual relationship with, a number of websites and apps. This policy applies to these sites and apps.

Intent

This policy statement is intended to clarify the relationship between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the data of Nebraska students, faculty and staff, friends of the university and all users of its websites and apps. Individual units of the university may provide clarification or extension to this policy regarding their handling of private data. Any such clarification must refer to "UNL Online Privacy Policy," with a link to this policy. No additional clarifications may weaken the privacy protections described herein. All entities of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are required to comply with this privacy policy.

Information we collect automatically

While you are using our pages we collect anonymous traffic data using cookies, small files related to the website or app you're viewing that provide a kind of 'short-term memory' for that app or site. Types of information in cookies might include general information about your visit, sometimes aggregated with data from other visits, that helps us understand how users are interacting with the website or app, or helps the app or site to function properly. It may include data such as the Internet address you were connected to during your visit, the name of the web page from which you entered our site, which of our resources you visited, in what order, and for how long.

Most UNL sites use the Google Analytics service. Other data-collection and analysis tools may be used at UNL, providing they do not collect any form of Personally Identifiable Information (often referred to as 'PII').

In addition, all web servers throughout the Internet collect basic details on connections in their server logs, including requesting IP addresses, resources requested, time of the request and whether the request was successful.

How we use this data

We aggregate information from the above sources to help us improve our websites and apps by understanding how they are used and to maintain technical quality of systems and services.

Information you provide voluntarily

To access private data, websites and apps require user authentication. Once logged in, you may be asked to provide information such as name, email address, address, birthday, student ID number, etc. While authenticated, you may also access and interact with private information, such as grades, enrollment, class activity or other privileged information. Such information remains under your control and may only be shared with others by your direct action. UNL sites may provide tools to enable you to share information with others, but in no circumstance will any data be shared outside of the university and/or its contracted providers without your direct action and knowledge.

How we use this data

UNL may use voluntarily provided information, including your identity information, to tailor the content of web pages or other communications to your needs, interests or role(s).

Links to Other Sites, or Content Embedded into our Site(s) from External Sources

University of Nebraska-Lincoln websites and apps may include links to other websites and/or apps, or may display content from external services or providers. Except as part of formal business relationships between UNL and service vendors, a link from a UNL site does not imply endorsement of a destination site. While UNL strives to be a good steward of third-party embedded content, these third parties may have their own privacy policies. UNL is not responsible for the privacy practices of these external third parties. For your own protection, you should review the privacy policy of any site linked to from our website or any site to which you provide personal information.

Questions, Comments or Suggestions

If you would like to communicate with us about this policy, please contact the UNL Web Developer Network Board at wdn-board@unl.edu.

To report a violation of this policy

If you believe that your personal information has been released without consent, please contact the Information Security Team at security@unl.edu.