This Privacy Notice applies to information collected on official Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) websites and mobile apps that we own and/or control, identified by the "aacc.edu" domain, including www.aacc.edu. Links may be provided to third-party websites for convenience, but that does not imply AACC endorsement or control over their content or policies. We recommend users review each website's privacy notice.
The college may use personal information and other data collected for:
AACC is committed to protecting your online and data privacy. This notice covers how we collect and share information on our main website, secondary sites and mobile apps. It offers an overview of our personal information handling practices and privacy protection measures.
Information accessed through AACC's mobile app is used solely for college-related purposes, and we employ security measures to prevent unauthorized access, use, loss or alteration of data. We encourage users to review the privacy notices of visited websites. By using AACC's sites or our mobile app, you agree to the data practices described in this privacy notice.
At AACC, we work to responsibly handle and protect the personal data entrusted to us. Our websites, accessible through the AACC mobile app, may contain personally identifiable information (PII) collected during admissions, registration, gifts or employment processes. We strictly use PII for those purposes, safeguarding it with access controls and complying with college policies, procedures and relevant federal and state laws. We will retain your personal data only for so long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as otherwise required or permitted by law.
AACC has the right to collect personal information from students and faculty for educational purposes and is the controller of all collected information in automated or manual formats (electronic and paper repositories). AACC collects personally identifiable information from employees for administrative purposes.
Personal information includes data that can be used on its own to trace or identify a person. This may include, but is not limited to:
The AACC mobile application limits access to personal information through appropriate authentication and authorization protocols. AACC does not sell or share nonpublic PII with a third party, unless necessary to complete a transaction in the ordinary course of business, or as required by state or federal law or regulations such as the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), Md. Code, Gen. Prov., § 4-101 et. seq., or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99.
AACC websites collect information as a result of your request to access information, participate in educational programs or courses, pursue employment opportunities or engage in other services related to official college business. Nonpersonal information collected may include:
Through the AACC mobile application, access to AACC websites may gather and store information about your website visit. This information can include:
AACC’s websites accessed, through the AACC mobile application, uses browser cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on your computer by a website to help personalize your online experience. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. You can accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the AACC mobile application and AACC websites.
AACC collects and uses information about user visits to allow the college to monitor website performance, make improvements to site navigation and content and better market to prospective students and other audiences. The college may also collect and use PII provided by site visitors for educational programs (e.g., related to admission and financial aid), administrative purposes (e.g., related to employment) or college engagement (e.g., attending a college sponsored event). We may occasionally process other PII for other legitimate and specific purposes. When these situations occur, we will endeavor to inform users of such occasional processing activities.
Our legal basis for processing the PII described relies on one or more of the following:
PII about enrolled students is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Review AACC's FERPA Policy.
AACC's goal is to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures. The college will take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect the information you share with us from unauthorized access or disclosure. The college strives to implement security measures that protect the loss, misuse and alteration of data collected. The college maintains a computer security policy.
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our services is at your own risk. You should only access the services within a secure environment. Finally, email messages sent to college email addresses are subject to interception. Contact the college by phone or U.S. mail if you do not wish to provide personal information electronically.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. § 6501 et. seq. and 16 CFR Part 312, includes certain requirements for operators of websites and/or online services in order to protect the privacy and online safety of children under 13 years of age. AACC does not knowingly collect information or create profiles for children under the age of 13 to AACC’s website or the AACC mobile application.
Individuals located in Europe should use the web services contact information listed below to request information or act based on the rights granted under GDPR. The college will assist you in learning more about what we do with your PII and the purpose for which it is used as well as obtaining copies of the information we have about you. In addition, you can have incorrect information corrected or have information deleted if its storage is impermissible, is no longer needed, or not subject to any exception under GDPR. We reserve the right to deny a request if we believe the change will violate any law or legal requirement. When contacting us, we may ask you to verify your identity in order to help us validate and respond to your request.
AACC may occasionally update this Privacy Notice to reflect institutional, regulatory and customer feedback. AACC encourages you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how the college is protecting your information. If we make material changes to this Privacy Notice, we will notify you via a notice on the website and/or by highlighting material changes in this notice. The date the Privacy Notice was last revised is identified at the top of this page. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our website. Continued use of this website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes.
Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) is the owner of its websites and mobile applications.
If there are questions or comments regarding this Privacy Statement, contact AACC at webservices@aacc.edu. To be able to reply to your request, we may need to ask you for further identification data to be used only for the purpose of replying to your request. The college address is:
Anne Arundel Community College
101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012