Website Privacy Notice

Respecting the privacy of individuals who visit our website is important to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (“WVSOM”). Our website, www.wvsom.edu, as well as any sub-websites accessed through our main site (collectively referred to herein as “Website”) does not capture personal information about visitors without their prior consent. We endeavor to collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purposes for which our Website was created. This Privacy Notice explains our practices with regard to visitor information.

1. WVSOM strives to protect your personal information no matter how it is processed or where it is stored. This Privacy Notice applies to all visitors who visit any pages of our Website.
2. WVSOM may collect some or all of the following information about visitors who view or download information from our Website: date and/or time the visit occurred; unique Internet Protocol (“IP”) address of visitor; IP address of the server; amount of data or “bytes” sent/received from the web server to Website visitor and vice versa; Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) status or request, identifying the web page or file requested by the Website visitor; type of web browser or software that made the request to the web server; Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) that referred to the requested file; and the version of HTTP used by the Website visitor’s web browser software.
3. If WVSOM chooses to collect the type of information as described in Paragraph 2 of this Privacy Notice, it may be used for the following purposes: (a) to improve the content of our Website; (b) to help us understand how visitors are using the Website; (c) to analyze the amount of visitors using the Website; (d) to continually improve the value of the materials available on our Website; (e) to make overall improvements to the Website and the ways in which it interacts with visitors; and (f) to further the overall mission of WVSOM.
4. The information contained in our Website logs is not personally identifiable information, as defined in Paragraph 6 of this Privacy Notice, and we make no attempt to link such information with the individuals who browse the Website. Some of the statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the Website or shared with other state government agencies to aid in the provision of better service to the public.
5. Our Website may use “cookies” to provide you with more personalized service or to help make our Website work better for you, the visitor. Cookies are small text files that are transferred from websites, applications or services and stored on your device. If cookies are used, they may be either temporary or persistent. Temporary cookies identify and track users within websites, applications or services, and are deleted when you either close your browser or leave the website. Persistent cookies are used to remember who you are and to remember your preferences within a given website, application or service, and will stay on your device after you close your browser or leave the website. Persistent cookies can be controlled on your device’s settings. You may choose not to accept cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your device. You may also delete cookies that have been placed on your device.
6. Personally identifiable information (“PII”) is information about a person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. It includes, for example, an individual’s name, street address, email address, or phone number. PII will not be collected by WVSOM on the Website unless an individual voluntarily sends an email, fills out an online form, or otherwise inputs personal information in some format. Such action shall be deemed consent to collect any such information entered. Your choice not to participate in these activities will not impair your ability to access certain information; however, it may impair your ability to obtain certain services from WVSOM through the Website. Unless specifically protected under state or federal law, any information provided may be inspected by the public and/or disclosed in a legal proceeding.
7. Email messages sent to any WVSOM email address, whether from an email address or through a form on our Website, will be treated the same as any other written communication. They may be subject to public inspection and/or legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before they are destroyed.
8. Any information provided by a visitor to our Website such as the completion and electronic filing of a form or survey, will be considered to be voluntarily provided by the visitor and will be treated in the same manner as information provided in written form by email, letter or fax, or in person during a visit to WVSOM. Such information provided may be subject to public inspection and/or legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed. It may be shared with another agency of the state of West Virginia for appropriate action, if necessary. It may be disclosed under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
9. Surveys will be used for the purpose stated. If PII is collected it may be subject to public inspection and/or legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed.
10. Our Website makes use of various modern technologies to automatically collect information about the use of the Website. Such information is not PII. Information automatically collected may include, but is not limited to, the following: IP address and domain name used to access the Internet; web browser/operating system used to access the Website; third-party website used to link to our Website; date and time our Website was accessed; and web browsing history, such as sites/pages visited during the session, any information the browser may have requested and the response from your browser, page sizes, and marketing email or website that referred you to our Website.
11. WVSOM may partner with third parties (i.e. Paypal) to provide various products and services for which you may voluntarily sign up or register for. Those third parties may have access to personal information WVSOM collects in order to fulfill their obligations to WVSOM. We will only share that personal information necessary for the third party to provide the product or service that you signed up for. We take reasonable steps to ensure that these third parties are obligated to protect your information on our behalf. WVSOM will never sell or trade information collected online without your prior consent.
12. Our Website may contain links to third party websites. WVSOM is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of any such websites. It is the visitor’s sole responsibility to check the privacy policies on any such websites for more information.
13. WVSOM may release personal information collected, if legally required by law, regulation, Court Order, subpoena, or other legal instrument. As an agency of the State of West Virginia, WVSOM is subject to open records laws such as the Freedom of Information Act.
14. WVSOM takes reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is protected. Our Website uses industry standard encryption when collecting your personal information. We also utilize industry appropriate technical, administrative, and physical controls to protect the confidentiality and security of personal information. Internally, we limit access to your personal information to those employees or agents who we believe have a reasonable need to use the information to provide products or services to you, or to perform their jobs.
15. Our Website has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information under our control. If PII is voluntarily provided by the user (i.e. by entering it into a form), it is encrypted before being transmitted across the WVSOM network. If PII is sent to WVSOM by a third party, it shall be encrypted and secured by WVSOM.
16. WVSOM has put in place policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, Institutional Policy GA-31, to address suspected data security breaches. You will be notified of any suspected data breaches to the extent required by applicable policies, procedures, laws and regulations.
17. Any PII collected and retained by WVSOM that may be from a WVSOM student shall, when applicable, be protected from disclosure as an educational record subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
18. WVSOM retains the information collected under this Privacy Notice in accordance with applicable law and/or WVSOM’s Record Retention Policy.
19. This Privacy Notice provides basic information about WVSOM’s privacy policy, potential uses of personal information, and your privacy rights. Should you have additional questions, you may contact Kim Ransom, Chief Technology Officer, at (304) 647-6820, and/or Jeffrey Shawver, Vice President for Legal & Governmental Affairs and General Counsel at (304) 647-6325.
20. This Privacy Notice may be revised from time to time to remain in compliance with changing technology, industry standards, or legislation. WVSOM shall not, and shall have no duty to, inform our Website visitors of any such changes to this Privacy Notice. It is recommended that visitors check this page periodically for updates.

Effective 04-14-23